FASCINATION (from the Greek συνερανύ, to fascinate or bewitch), a sort of witchcraft supposed to operate either by the eye or the tongue.
Ancient writers distinguish two sorts of fascination, one performed by looking, or the efficacy of the eye. Such is that spoken of by Virgil in his third eclogue:
Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.
The second by words, and especially by malignant praises. Such is that mentioned by the same poet in his seventh eclogue:
Aut, si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem
Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro.
Horace alludes to both kinds in his first book of epistles:
Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam
Limat, non odio obscuro, morsuque venenat.