When he [Mr. Brown] was translating the gospel of St. Mark he, of course, had to translate the passage about Herod swearing to give the damsel what she asked, even to the half of his kingdom, and he had to investigate the question of the natives’ idea of an oath, and he found that the most solemn oath a man could take, was: "Sir, if I am not telling the truth I hope I may shake hands with (touch the hand of) my mother-in-law."2

2 , N.S., 9: 17 [Secretary’s report of the discussion of a paper].