Satanic toenail clippings.

If the Devil really must trim his toenails in our kitchen then all that I ask is that he sweep up the clippings before he leaves.

Fear not, the Talpas haven't suffered an overnight Satanical visitation. Devil's toenails are the fossilised remains of Gryphaea arcuata an ancient and extinct type of oyster that flourished in our seas some 200 million years ago. The thick, curved shells are reminiscent of a badly manicured "Devil's toenail", hence their common name. Once there was a common folk belief that carrying one of these fossils would prevent rheumatism. The contorted shape of the fossils also resemble arthritic joints, and in Scotland, Devil's toenails were used to cure joint pain, on the basis of the sympathetic-medicine approach of like curing like.

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