Witch bottles. Faculty AD LIB.
One of the popular amulets against evil forces in the 17th and 18th centuries was the so-called “witch’ bottles”. The bottle was filled with the urine of a patient (in whose illness the witch was suspected), cuttings of his hair and nails were added, the resulting mixture was seasoned with nails, corked, and buried under a threshold or fireplace. With such a bottle, any attempt to cast a jinx on the inhabitants of the house would cause the witch unimaginable torment.