and, with legs separated, rested themselves on their perinæums and
gave themselves up to indecent manual motions.” They were delirious at
this time from demonomanical excitement. Madam de Belfiel claimed to
be sitting on seven devils, Madam de Sazilli had ten demons under her,
while Sister Elizabeth modestly asserted her number of imps to be five.

During the exorcisms these poor women _fell sound asleep_, which
induces Calmeil to think “the condition of these women resembled
closely that of _magnetic somnambulists_.” This supposition would
permit us to explain the impossibility of the nuns telling on certain
days what they had said or done during the course of a nervous attack.
The days when they escaped _contortions_—when they were to the
contrary violently exalted by the nature of these tactile and visceral
sensations—they recalled too much, for the power of reflection
disgusted these unfortunates with their own vile and uncontrollable
acts and assertions.

This epidemic had continued fifteen months, and all the Ursuline nuns
had been attacked by the epidemic when Laubardemont, one of the secret
agents of the Cardinal Richelieu, arrived at Loudun to examine into the
alleged Demonidolatry said to exist in the convent. The Cardinal had
given this agent absolute and extended power. Urbain Grandier, who was
the author of a libel against Richelieu, was arrested for complicity
in this sorcery, and brought before a commission of Justices, whose
members had been chosen by Laubardemont. He was confronted by the nuns,
invited to exorcise them, and then subjected to most cruel tortures.
Iron needle points were stuck in his skin, all over the body, in order
to find anæsthetised points, which were the pretended marks of the
Devil.

Notwithstanding his protestations of innocence, the Judges taking
the acts of the accusers while in the poor priest’s presence, for
his appearance was the signal for scenes of the most violent frenzy,
condemned the man to be tied to a gallows alive. There he was subjected
to renewed tortures, while the various muscles of his body were torn
apart and his bones broken.

The punishment of Urbain Grandier did not put an end to the epidemic
of hysterical demonomania among the Ursulines, for the malady extended
to the people of the town, even to the monks who were charged with
conducting the exorcisms; but the vengeance of his Red Eminence
(Cardinal Richelieu) was satisfied.

Many commentaries have been made since then on this outbreak of
Demonidolatry among the Ursulines. These we have no desire to reproduce
nor to discuss, as it would only tend to show the ancient ignorance
prevailing regarding diseases of the nervous system, and the want of
character and weakness of the physicians of that epoch, together with
the fanaticism of the monks and priesthood. One thing, however, appears
to be worthy of remembrance; that is the analogy between the convulsive
symptoms observed among the nuns and the phenomena of somnambulism
described by Calmeil. This fact appears to us as so much the more
remarkable, as the learned doctor of Charenton was a declared adversary
of magnetism, and published his work almost half a century since—that
is, in 1845.

The sleep into which the nuns fell during the period of exorcism,
the forgetfulness of the scenes witnessed where they had played such
a _role_, are, to our mind, only phenomena of hypnotism, and the
resemblance is so strong that we do not believe it would be impossible
to artificially reproduce another epidemic of hysterical demonomania.

Let us for an instant accept the _hypothesis_ of a convent, where
twenty young nuns are confined. Of these at least ten will be subject
to hypnotism. Let us now admit that these recluses, living the
ordinary ascetic and virtuous life of the cloister, plunged deeply in
the mysticisms of the Catholic faith, receive one day as confessor
and spiritual director a man of energetic character, knowing all the
practices of _hypnotism_ and of _suggestion_—a disciple let us say
of Puel, Charcot, De Luys, Barety, Bernheim—a perfect neurologist.
Now, if this man cared to magnetize individually each of these nuns
in the silence and obscurity of the confessional, and should then
suggest to them that they were _possessed_ by all the demons known to
sorcery, what would occur? Let us suppose again that he should carry
his physiological power further and put his _subjects_ into an ecstacy,
catalepsy or lethargy—into a condition where marked hallucinations
might occur and nervous excitation be provoked, how long would it be
before this man could make these women similar to those who once lived
in the convent of the Ursulines at Loudun?

We have not admitted this fiction for the purpose of having any one
conclude that the possessed of Loudun were the mere playthings of
some person who used hypnotism in an interest that we ignore; but, if
this fact may be considered possible by the will of an individual,
who can affirm at this day that there does not exist an unknown
force, intelligent or not, capable of producing the same pathological
phenomena observed long ago? What we call, in 1888, hypnotism in the
amphitheatres of our universities, we reserve for another chapter,
where we will give revelations much more extraordinary, and also more
supernatural; our chapter on the neurology of the nineteenth century
will, we promise, be _very interesting_.

Let us yet remark that the hystero-demonomaniacal manifestations were
not peculiar to the Ursulines of Loudun. They have been observed in
many convents in the same conditions of habits and prolonged fastings
among debilitated young girls; from long vigils spent in prayer and
nervous depression, caused by over-religious discipline; by mystical
exhortations from a man invested in a sacred character, on whom fall
all the discussions, all the entreaties, and all the thoughts of the
girls in the cloister.

The history of the nuns of Loudun was identically reproduced under
the same conditions among the sisters of Saint Elizabeth’s Convent
at Louviers, in 1643, three years after the execution of poor Urbain
Grandier for witchcraft.

In a short time eighteen nuns were attacked with hysterical
demonomania; they had active hallucinations of all the senses,
convulsions, and delirium. Like the Ursulines, they blasphemed,
screamed, and gave themselves over to all manner of strange
contortions, claiming to be _possessed_ by demons, describing in
obscene terms the orgies of the witch vigil (_Sabbat_), perpetrating
all varieties of debauchery, even unknown to the vilest prostitutes;
after this they finally accused one or more persons of bewitching them
through sorcery.

The nuns of Louviers, for instance, after being duly exorcised
according to the Canons of the Church, accused as the author of their
affliction, and as a bad magician, their old time confessor, the Abbot
Picard, who died before their symptoms were developed; then they
accused another priest, by the name of Francois Boulle, and several of
their companions, notably Sister Madeleine Bavan. These innocent people
were tried by the Parliament of Rouen, who ordered that the body of the
priest, Picard, should be exhumed, carried to the stake, there tied to
the living body of Francois Boulle, and after being burnt their ashes
should be cast to the winds. This execution, in the open air, occurred
in the seventeenth century, in the “Old Market Place” at Rouen, at the
spot where Joan d’Arc had also been burnt alive for being _possessed_,
as was claimed, by supernatural beings. What a comment on intelligence
in an age of partial enlightenment!

In order to close this chapter on hysterical demonomania among
religious orders, of which we have given some examples, we shall
cite an interesting relation left us by the Bishops and Doctors of
Sorbonne, together with the testimony of the King’s deputies, regarding
the _possession_ of nuns at the Convent of Auxonne. Here there were
always convulsions and screams, with blasphemy, aversion to taking the
sacraments, possession, and exorcisms; and there was, undoubtedly, the
phenomenon of _suggestion_ observed with much precision.

We might say that the nuns of Auxonne were accessible to suggestion;
for, at the command or even the thought of the exorcists, they fell
into a condition of somnambulism; in this state they became insensible
to pain, as was determined by pricking Sister Denise under the
finger-nail with a needle; they had also the faculty of prosternating
the body, making it assume the form of a circle,—in other words, they
could bend their limbs in any direction.

The Bishop of Chalons reports that “all the before mentioned girls,
secular as well as regular, to the number of eighteen, _had the gift of
Language_, and responded to the exorcists _in Latin_, making, at times,
their entire conversation in the classical tongue.

“Almost all these nuns had a full knowledge of the secrets and inner
thoughts of others;[78] this was demonstrated particularly _in the
interior commandments_, which had been made by the exorcists on
different occasions, which they obeyed exactly ordinarily, _without the
commandments being expressed to them either by words or any external
sign_.

“The Bishop himself, among others, experimented on the person of Denise
Pariset, to whom, _giving a command mentally to come to him immediately
and be exorcised_, whereupon the aforesaid nun immediately came to him,
although her residence was in a quarter of the village far removed
from the Episcopal residence. She said on these occasions that she was
commanded to come; and this experiment was repeated several times.

“Again, in the person of Sister Jamin, a novice, who on hearing the
exorcism, told the Bishop his interior commandment made to the Demon
during the ceremony. Also, in the person of Sister Borthon, who, being
_commanded mentally_ to make her agitations violent, immediately
prostrated herself before the Holy Sacrament, with her belly against
the earth and her arms extended, executing the command at the same
instant, with a promptitude and precipitation wholly extraordinary.”[79]

Here, I believe, are facts so well authenticated of transmission of
thought or of mental _suggestions_, perhaps _voluntarily unknown_ to
certain modern neurologists. These neuropaths of Auxonne presented
still more extraordinary phenomena; at the word of command they
suspended the pulsations of the pulse in an arm, in the right arm, for
example, and transfered the beatings from the right arm to the left
arm, and _vice versa_. This fact was discovered by the Bishop, and
many ecclesiastics verified the same, and “it was promptly done in the
presence of Doctor Morel, who recognized and makes oath to the fact.”

We cannot dwell too long on the Demonomania of the Middle Ages, to
which we have, perhaps, added some historical facts which are new and
which we believe it to be our duty to publish, seeing a connection with
modern hypnotism. We shall thus open a new field for investigation on
strange affections, classed up to the present time in all varieties
of monomania, but which appear to us to belong to a variety of mental
pathology independent of insanity, properly speaking. If it were
otherwise it would be necessary to recognize as crazy persons, not only
the Demonomaniacs of the Middle Ages, but also the Jansenists, who went
into trances, and the choreics and convulsionists (_convulsionnaires_)
of the eighteenth century. They were certainly not crazy, those who
came to the mortuary of Saint Medard, to the tomb of the Deacon Paris,
to make an appeal against the Papal bull of Clement XI. And was it
not another cause than auto suggestion, to which it is necessary to
attribute the nervous phenomena that the _appelants_ exhibited during
thirty consecutive years?

The exaltation of religious ideas, so often advanced by psychologists,
cannot account for these phenomena. I have seen palpable proofs of
this in the various accidents that suddenly overcame sceptics and
strong-minded men of modern times, who came as amateurs to assist at
the experiments on convulsive subjects. These symptoms, as is well
known, are usually ushered in by violent screams, rapid beatings of
the heart, contractions of muscles, and analogous nervous symptoms.

Besides, it is incontestible that many patients and infirm people
obtain an unhoped for cure following convulsive cries; while others, in
a state of health, are taken with hallucinations and delirium. I have
seen patients who would lacerate certain portions of the body that were
the seat of burns, and continue to walk, cry, gesticulate, and abuse
themselves, like insane persons in a real state of dementia.

The Jansenists did not speak, had no compacts with demons, no
exorcisms at which Inquisitors and their acolytes could suggest ideas
of demonomania; and notwithstanding their great austerities and the
most rigorous fasts, we note among the _convulsionnaires_ of Saint
Medard only the ideas of possession by the Holy Spirit and divine
favors obtained through the protection of the kind-hearted Deacon; and
meantime, those possessed by God, as by the Devil, were subjects of
somnambulism, to trances, lethargy, catalepsy, and other phenomena.[80]

The last analogy, finally, between the two nervous epidemics, was the
Royal authority, a special form of _suggestion_ in the Middle Ages,
which put an end to sorcery or witchcraft as well as to Jansenism.

                      HYSTERIA AND PSYCHIC FORCE.

Among the phenomena observed in demonomaniacal hysteria there are
some, as we have remarked, that modern neurologists have wished to
_pass over in silence_, because it was impossible to give a rational
explanation. It arose from that mysterious force which acts upon the
human personality and its faculties and produces _supernatural results_
in contradiction to well known scientific laws, known in one sense as
_Psychic Force_, but which is nothing else than _modern spiritualism_.

This force, a power possessed in a high degree not only by hysterical
persons, but all varieties of neuropaths, who are designated as
_mediums_ by spiritual psychologists, _cannot be doubted by real
scientists to day_.

The demonologists of the Middle Ages have often mentioned it in the
demonomaniacs, and attributed it to possession by evil spirits; and,
if not pathologists, _they did not disdain to occupy themselves with
something that tends to simplify the study of the physiology of the
nervous system_; but to minds of the modern type, that consider science
as synonymous with truth, it seems strange and incomprehensible that
our learned investigators should have been overpowered by the fear of
the criticism that might overtake them because _they cannot explain
purely and simply an inexplicable fact, a truth, real positive and
certain_.

Not being ourselves timorous to this prudence, which is, they claim,
one of the conditions, _sine qua non_, to be a candidate for the
Institute of France, we shall now pursue our investigations with the
historical documents regarding the medical Middle Age we possess, and
thus loyally seek a scientific interpretation for facts observed in
modern spiritualism or _psychic force_.

Among these documents we will choose as a type the “Trial made to
deliver a girl possessed by the Evil Spirit, at Louviers.” This suit,
which dates back to 1591, is in reality a series of trials written
up by several magistrates, in the presence of numerous witnesses,
reporting with precision all facts observed by them—facts interpreted,
it is true, with ideas of the demonidolatry of the sixteenth century,
but having a character whose authenticity is undisputed, and _even
undiscussed_. The first trial is thus conceived:[81]

“On Saturday, the 18th day of August, 1591, in the morning at Louviers,
in the aforesaid place, before us, Louis Morel, Councillor of the King,
Provost General and Marshal of France for the Province of Normandy,
holding Court in the service of the King in the villages and castles of
Pont de l’Arche and Louviers, with one lieutenant, one recorder, and
fifty archers, assisted by Monsieur Behotte, licentiate of law, Judge
Advocate and Lieutenant General of Monsieur the Viscount of Rouen, in
the presence of Louis Vauquet, our clerk.” * * *

This old document, in French now almost obsolete and difficult of
translation,[82] goes on to state that in a house at Louviers,
belonging to Mrs. Gay, two officers, belonging to the troops occupying
the town, who had temporary quarters with Gay, complained to their
commandant that “a spirit in the house mentioned tormented them.”
Now, this house was occupied by three ladies: Madame Gay, one of her
friends, a widow named Deshayes, and a servant girl called Francoise
Fontaine.

Captain Diacre, who was commandant of the village, found on
investigation the general disorder of the residence, the furniture
turned upside down, the two ladies terrified, and the servant girl with
several wounds on her body. The latter was suspected of being in league
with the Devil, and was arrested and cast into the prison of the town.
On her person was found a purse containing a teston (old French coin),
a half teston, and a ten-sous piece. The trial proved nothing. The
ladies might have had nightmare, the officers might have been drunk,
the noises heard might have been the result of a thousand different
causes, but it is necessary to mention this case in order to comprehend
the subsequent trials.

The second trial, witnessed, tried, and authenticated by the same
authorities, determined the fact that Francoise Fontaine was born at
Paris, Faubourg Saint Honore, and that at the age of twenty two years
she had already witnessed similar phenomena in a house “haunted,” said
she, “by evil spirits that frightened her so much that she went to a
neighbor’s to sleep while her mistress was absent from home.” This
statement was proved correct in six subsequent trials containing the
depositions of Marguerite Prevost, Suzanne Le Chevalier, Marguerite Le
Chevalier, and Perrine Fayel.

The following trial states that on Saturday, the 31st of August, 1591,
before Louis Morel, Councillor of the King, assisted by his clerk,
Louis Vauquet, etc., etc.,

“Came Pierre Alix, first jailer and guard of the prison, who threw
himself on his two knees before us, holding the prison keys in his
hand, pale and overcome by emotion; for which action we remonstrated,
when he stated to our great astonishment that he did not wish to
longer act as prison guard, for the reason that the evil spirit that
tormented the aforesaid Francoise Fontaine likewise tormented him, and
also the prisoners, who desired to break jail and fly in order to
save themselves, having a presentement that the aforesaid Francoise
Fontaine, was in a dungeon or pit, and _that she had removed a great
iron door that had fallen upon her afterwards_; and several persons
having ran to her along with the jailer found the aforesaid Fontaine
acting as though possessed by an evil spirit, with her throat swollen,”
etc.

Let us pass over an interminable recital made by Francoise Fontaine
to the priests and counsellors of the King, relative to _diabolic
possession_, to which she had been subject all her life. Also, as to
the testimony of many witnesses as to her performance while in jail;
as, for instance, “the body of Francoise rose in the air about four
feet, without being in contact with anything, and she floated towards
us in the air,” etc., etc.

Francois Fontaine claimed that she had consented to belong to the
Demon, who was “a black man with whom she had cohabited.” Considered
from a medical standpoint the girl was a victim to hysterical
demonomania.

Let us make a few more extracts from the records of this trial:

“As the aforesaid Fontaine told us these things, being meantime on
her two knees before us, who were seated on a raised platform, the
aforesaid Fontaine fell forward on her face as though she had been
struck from above, and the candles in the chandeliers of the room
were extinguished, except those on the clerk’s table, the which were
roughly blown upon several times without being put out, when no visible
person present was near them to blow, and these candles were raised out
of their candlesticks, lighted as they were, and rubbed against the
ground in an attempt to extinguish them, and the which were finally
extinguished with a great noise, without any human hand appearing near
them; the which so astonished the priest, the advocate, the first
jailer, the archers guard, who were present, that they retired, leaving
us alone, the hour being then nine o’clock at night.

“Finding myself alone, I recommended my soul to God, and exclaimed in
a loud voice the words, ‘My God, give me grace not to lose my soul to
the Devil, and I command thee O, Demon, by the power I have invoked, to
leave the body of Francoise Fontaine! Again I repeat the command!’”

At the same instant the exorcist felt himself seized by the legs, arms
and body, and tightly held in the arms of an unknown force, which felt
hot and blew a warm breath, while blows were rained on the Judge’s body
as though he were beaten by a heavy piece of wood. He was struck on the
jaw and under the ear hard enough to draw blood, etc.

At the eleventh trial it was found that Francoise Fontaine was bodily
raised out of bed during the night by an unseen force, and this fact is
duly authenticated by witnesses.

In the following trial the same phenomena were produced in the church
at Louviers, during the mass of exorcism, where:

“Francoise Fontaine floated from the earth into the air, higher than
the altar, as though lifted up by the hair by an unseen hand, which
quickly alarmed the assistants, who had never before witnessed such an
occurrence,” etc.

In presence of these facts Francoise was led back to prison, and it was
decided by the clerical council, assisted by two eminent physicians,
Roussel and Gautier, to cut off the girl’s hair, as was the custom when
witches were arrested.

During this operation, which was performed publically by Dr. Gautier,
the same phenomenon was reproduced. For says the veracious old French
chronicle: “Francoise est de rechef enleuee en l’air fort hault, la
tete en bas, les pieds en hault sans que ses accoustrementz se soient
renuersez, au trauers desquelz il sortoit par deuant et par derriere
grande quantite d’eaue et fumee puante.”

Like the many preceding trials, with experiments, which are duly
attested by magistrates, physicians and the clerk, seven person in all,
who witnessed the phenomena, as to material facts, we cannot suspect
people whose honesty was never doubted; for it was through their
influence that Francoise Fontaine was set at liberty, after all her
inexplicable symptoms had disappeared and her nervous malady abated.

In order to render an account of the _supernatural_ phenomena observed
by early demonographers and attributed to evil spirits, let us briefly
glance at the experiments made regarding _Spiritualism_ by a few brave
physiologists of our own epoch, who have dared to investigate the
analogy existing between these two orders of phenomena.

Among the modern experimenters who have made a scientific study of this
subject—let us call it _Psychic Force_, if you will—we will mention Mr.
Crookes, member of the Royal Society of London, the (English Academy
of Sciences), the master mind, the most illustrious in modern science;
the discoverer of thallium, radiant matter, photometer of polarization,
spectral microscope—a chemist and physicist of the first order,
accustomed to the most minute experimental investigations.

The experiments of this _savant_ have been arranged by him in three
classes, as follows:

    CLASS I.—_Movement of weighty bodies with contact, but without
                          mechanical effort._

This movement is one of the most simple forms of the phenomenon
observed; it presents degrees that vary from trembling or vibration
of the chamber and its contents up to the complete elevation in the
air, when the hand is placed above, of a weighty body. We commonly
object that when they touch an object put in motion, they push, draw
or raise it. I have experimentally proved that this is impossible in a
great number of cases; but, as a matter of evidence, I attach little
importance to that class of phenomena considered in themselves, and
have only mentioned them as a preliminary to other movements of the
same kind, but without contact.

“These movements (and I may truly add all other similar phenomena) are
generally preceded by a particular breeziness of the air, amounting
sometimes almost to a true wind. This air disperses leaves of paper and
lowers the thermometer several degrees.

“Under some circumstances, to the subject of which I shall, at some
future day, give more details, I have not found any of this air; but
the cold was so intense that I can only compare it to that experienced
by placing the hand at a short distance from mercury in a state of
congelation.” (_Crookes_).

I have obtained, like the eminent “member of the Royal Society of
London,” the movement of weighty bodies by contact very easily, not
only lifting massive tables of a weight altogether out of proportion
and far superior to the force of a very robust man, but have also seen
this furniture move in a given direction; I have even noted a small
square table keep time in beating with a determined cadence. This
phenomenon, well known to all experimenters, may be reproduced without
the assistance of a powerful medium; it was well known in times of
antiquity, but is not mentioned in the writings on sorcery during the
Middle Ages.

As extraordinary as these facts seem, they are no more singular than
those observed by W. Crookes, and very recently by Zoellner,[83]
Professor in the University of Leipsic and correspondent of the French
Institute, in presence of Professors Fechner, Braune, Weber, Scheibner,
and the celebrated surgeon, Thiersch. It was with Slade, an American
medium as extraordinary as Home, that Zoellner experimented. These
experiments may be thus briefly mentioned:

1. Movements made by psychic force, through the medium of Slade, of a
magnet enclosed in a compass box.

2. Blows struck on a table, a knife raised in air, without contact, to
the height of a foot.

3. Movement of heavy bodies. Zoellner’s bed was drawn two feet from the
wall, Slade remaining seated with his back to the bed, his legs covered
and in full view of the experimenters.

4. A fire-screen broken with noise, without contact with the medium,
and the fragments thrown five feet.

5. Writing produced on several experimental occasions between two
slates belonging to Zoellner, and held well in view.

6. Magnetization of a steel needle.

7. Acid reaction given to neutral substances.

8. Imprints of hands and naked feet on smoked surfaces or surfaces
powdered with flour, which did not correspond with the hands and feet
of the medium, who remained meantime in full view of the experimenters,
while Slade’s feet were covered with shoes.

9. Knots tied in bands of copper sealed at both ends and held in the
hands of Slade and Zoellner, etc.

We find the same tests and facts observed by Mr. Crookes and the French
experimenters, who, following his example, have sought to account for
_Psychic Force_.

   CLASS II.—_Phenomenon of percussion and other analogous noises._

The popular name of _spiritual rapping_ gives a very poor idea of this
class of phenomena. On different occasions during his experiments, Mr.
Crookes heard blows of a delicate variety, such as might be produced by
the point of a needle; a cascade of sounds, as acute as those coming
from an induction coil in full activity; sharp blows or detonations in
the air; acute notes of a metallic variety; rasping sounds similar to
that heard from a machine with rubbing action; noises like scratching;
twittering chirps like a bird, etc.

“I have observed these noises,” says Crookes, “with the majority of
mediums, each of whom has a special peculiarity. They were more varied
with Mr. Home; but, for force and certainty of result, I have never met
a medium who approached Kate Fox. For several months I experimented,
it may be said, in an unlimited manner, and verified the different
manifestations induced by the presence of this lady, and I especially
examined the phenomenon relative to these noises.

“With mediums, it is necessary in general that they be methodically
seated for the _seance_ before noises are heard, but with Miss Kate Fox
it was sufficient to merely place her hand on any object, no matter
what, and violent blows were heard, like a triple sound of beating, and
sometimes so loud as to be heard at different pieces of furniture in
the room.

“In this manner, I have heard these noises on a living tree, on a
fragment of glass, on a membrane extended in a frame—for instance, a
tambourine—on the top of a cab, and on the edge of the parquet railing
in the theatre.

“However, effective contact is not always necessary. I have heard
the noise sound inside walls, when the hands and feet of the medium
were tightly held; when Miss Fox was seated in a chair; when she was
suspended above the platform; finally, when she had fallen on a sofa in
a dead faint.

“I have heard these same noises on the harmonica; I have felt them on
my shoulder and under my hands; I have heard them on a leaf of paper
held between the fingers by the aid of a wire passed through one corner.

“With a perfect knowledge of the numerous theories advanced, in
America principally, to explain these knocks or spirit rapping, I have
verified them by all methods I could imagine, so that I have acquired
a positive conviction as their objective reality, and the absolute
certainty that it was impossible to produce these sounds by artifice or
some mechanical means.

“An important question is here asked that deserves attention, _i.e._
‘_are these noises governed by an intelligence?_’[84]

“From the commencement of my investigations, I have recognized the fact
that the power which produced the phenomena, was not simply a fluid
force, but that _it is associated with an intelligence, or follows its
directions_.”

During the three years that I have experimented in psychology with Dr.
Puel and his friends, there has been no _seance_ where we have not
been able to determine more or less important phenomena of percussion.
An experiment I love to make is that of striking my fingers on the
table, either to imitate the music of a band with drum accompaniment
with some known air, and the same sound is immediately produced on the
under surface of the piece of furniture, with the same rhythm appearing
to be invoked by an invisible hand performing under the table. This
phenomenon is manifested sometimes spontaneously upon my demand or
that of my assistant. I observed it one evening at my own house for
more than a quarter of an hour from, the moment I entered the room;
in this case the noise was a rolling, which appeared to arise from
the metallic surface of a table. It was a member of my family who
called my attention to the abnormal noise, so much the more curious,
inasmuch as I could produce it at will, giving shades and variations
expressed by the movements of my hand. In order to respond in advance
to any objection, I will say it was two o’clock in the morning when
this phenomenon was produced, and there was no passing carriages in the
street to make any kind of a vibration.

These phenomena of percussion are sometimes produced with a most
extraordinary intensity, as in the observations of Kate Fox in the
house at Hydesville; these were probably only phenomena of percussion
similar to those observed at Louviers, in the home of Madame Gay,
under the mediumship of Francoise Fontaine, in 1591, manifestations
which were then attributed to the Devil, or later to a condition of
hallucinations, among the witnesses, according to the _materialistic
psychologists_ of the nineteenth century.

           CLASS III.—_Alteration of the weight of bodies._

The experiments made by Mr. Crookes, in regard to the alterations
in the weight of bodies, enters the category of psychic phenomena
examined with the most mathematical exactitude, by the aid of accurate
registering apparatus. It is in these experiments that the celebrated
English physician was able to witness _Psychic Force_ developed by his
_medium_.

The description and designs of the apparatus thus used may be found in
the “_Moniteur de la Policlinique_,” of the 7th and 14th of May, 1882,
and in “_Le Spiritisme_” of Dr. Paul Gibier, published in the year 1887.

This article is too lengthy for reproduction in this work, but we have
the right to consider it as the point of departure for experimental
psychology, for not only have they not been denied in France and other
countries, but _they have been recognized as absolutely true_, by
several colleagues of Mr. Crookes, belonging to the _Royal Society of
London_.

 CLASS IV.—_Movements of heavy bodies at a distance from the medium._

“There are numerous instances in which heavy objects, such as tables,
chairs, ropes, etc., have been moved when the medium never touched
them. I will mention a few striking cases.

“My own chair turned half way around while my feet were on the floor.

“In full view of all the people present, a chair started from a far
off corner and advanced slowly to a table while we were watching its
movement.

“On another occasion an arm chair came from to the place we were
seated, and then, on my demand, slowly returned backward a distance of
three feet.

“During three consecutive _seances_, a small table crossed the room
under conditions I had especially fixed in advance, in order to
respond victoriously to all objections that might possibly be raised
against the reality of the phenomenon.

“I repeated on several occasions the experiment considered as
conclusive by the “_Dialectic Society_,” that is to say, the movement
of a heavy table in a full glare of light, the backs of chairs being
turned towards the table about one foot of distance, each person being
in a kneeling posture upon his chair, the hands placed upon the back
above the table, but not touching it.

“On one of these occasions, the experiment took place while I walked
all around the table in order to see how each person was placed.”
(_Crookes_).

In our own seances, with Madam Rosine, L.B., we have seen, ten or
twelve times at least, a small table on rollers, advance towards us as
though moved by a force of attraction or repulsion.

A similar phenomenon was very often produced in my office, under the
mediumistic influences of M. D. with a strength of extraordinary
propulsion, which seemed to originate in brute force. The traces of
violent shocks of a table against my bureau still remain to testify to
the results of this occurrence.

   CLASS V.—_Chairs and tables raised from the earth without contact
                           with any person._

“A remark usually made when cases of this kind arise is: ‘Why do these
things only occur with chairs and tables? Is this a privilege solely
enjoyed by pieces of furniture?’ I wish to answer this by stating that
I simply observed facts and report them without pretending to enter
into the _why_ and _how_; but, in truth, it is very evident that if any
inanimate object of a certain weight can be lifted from the earth in
the ordinary dining room, it could as easily be anything else than a
chair or table.

“That such phenomena are not limited to furniture I have numerous
proofs, as have other experimenters; the _intelligence_ or _force_,
whichever it may be, that produces the manifestations, can only operate
with materials that are at its disposition.

“On five distinct occasions a heavy dining table was raised from the
floor for a height varying from some inches to a foot and a half, under
special imposed conditions that made fraud impossible.

“On another occasion a heavy table was raised to the ceiling, in full
light, _while I held the feet and hands of the medium_.

“At another time the table raised itself above the floor, without any
one touching it, but under conditions I had previously imposed in such
a manner as to render the proof of the fact incontestable.” (_Crookes._)

The phenomena observed in this class of experiments belong to those of
_movement without contact_. Although these are difficult to obtain, I
have noticed them several times; I have seen, in my own home, a massive
table raised some distance from the floor ten or fifteen seconds after
all contact had ceased. Dr. Gibier had the advantage of obtaining
complete levitation and seeing the table _turn and touch the ceiling
with its four feet_, under the mediumistic influence of Mr. Slade. The
Doctor affirms this fact in his own book on the subject.

In the trial of August 31st, 1591, a phenomenon similar to the one
narrated befell Francoise Fontaine, _i.e._, the fall of an iron door
on the unfortunate girl; the elevation in the air of a washtub and
its being emptied in the presence of the jailer and the prisoner
Aufrenille. Francois Fontaine was evidently a _medium_ with _psychic
effects_.

             CLASS VI.—_Raising human beings in the air._

“This phenomenon has taken place in my presence four times, although in
obscurity. The conditions under which these movements were performed,
however, were completely satisfactory; but the ocular demonstration of
such a thing is necessary to prevent the effects of our preconceived
opinions; for example, upon that which is _naturally possible or
impossible_, I shall only mention here cases in which the deductions of
reason have been affirmed by the sense of vision.

“I saw, one day, in the quality of spectator, a chair on which a lady
was seated raised from the floor several inches.

“On another occasion, in order to avoid being suspected of producing
the phenomenon by artificial means, the lady knelt on the chair, so
that the four legs of the piece of furniture were visible to every
eye; then the chair was lifted from the floor three inches, remaining
suspended in the air for ten seconds, when it slowly descended to the
floor again.

“Another time, but separately, two children were raised to the ceiling
in their chairs, under a full glare of light, under conditions entirely
satisfactory to me, for I was on my knees and attentively watched the
feet of the chairs in order to see that no one touched them.

“The most remarkable examples of levitation I have observed have taken
place with Mr. Home. On three occasions I have seen him lifted to the
ceiling of the room. On the first occasion he was seated in a chair,
the second time he was kneeling on a chair, and the third experiment
he stood on the chair. In all these instances I had every facility for
examining the phenomena at the moment they occurred.

“Over a hundred instances where Mr. Home was raised from the floor in
the presence of numerous witnesses have been published, and I have had
the oral testimony of at least three witnesses to these exhibitions,
_i.e._, Count Dunraven, Lord Lindsay, and Captain Wynne.

“To reject the numerous depositions presented on this subject would be
to reject all human testimony on any other subject; for there are no
facts in history, be they sacred or profane, that are supported on such
a solid basis of proof.

“The number of witnesses who will testify to the levitations of Mr.
Home is overwhelming. It is to be greatly desired that persons whose
testimony would be accepted as conclusive by the scientific world would
seriously examine with patience these facts.

“The majority of ocular witnesses of these phenomena are still living,
and will most assuredly bear witness; but in a few years it will be
difficult, if not impossible, to obtain such _direct evidence_ as in
the case of Home.” (_Crookes._)

It is to this class of phenomena that the case of Francois Fontaine
belongs, the authenticated facts of which, officially recorded and
witnessed, are matters of history; her levitations in the prison at
Louviers cannot be doubted.

The cataleptic symptoms accompanying the ascentional movements of this
woman bear witness as to the special neuropathic condition in which she
was found—a condition to-day in which most mediums develop _psychic
force_, either spontaneously or following hypnotic maneuvers.

One of the benefits to future science will be the explanation given to
these phenomena now considered supernatural; things that our learned
Academicians refuse to believe in, _although not investigating_,
insisting that such phenomena are hallucinations, the mere assertions
of writers and those who witness them; while these so-called _savants_,
who laugh spiritualism to scorn, claiming it a fraud and imposture, are
themselves afraid to be convinced by scientific experimentation.[85]

   CLASS VII.—_Movement of small objects without personal contact._

“Under this title I propose to describe certain particular phenomena of
which I have been a witness.

“I shall content myself to here allude to some facts all the more
surprising, since those who have witnessed them did so under
circumstances that rendered all deception impossible; it would be
foolish to attribute these results to fraud, for the phenomena were
not observed in the house of a medium, but in my own home, where any
previous preparation was out of the question.

“A medium was taken to my dressing room and seated in a certain portion
of the chamber under the watchful eyes of a number of attentive
witnesses, and played an accordion _I held in my own hand_ with the
keys upside down; this same accordion then floated in the air, playing
as it remained suspended.

“This medium could not secretly introduce to my home a machine strong
enough to rattle my windows and remove Venetian blinds to the distance
of eight feet; to tie knots in my handkerchief and carry it to a
far-off corner of a large room; to play notes on a piano at a distance;
to make a plate float around the room; to raise a water carafe from
a table; to make a coral necklace stand up on one of its limber
extremities; to put a fan in the usual society motions; or to start the
pendulum of a clock when the time piece was sealed in glass and screwed
tightly to the wall.” (_Crookes._)

These same phenomena are produced by Fakirs. A certain number of fig or
other leaves are perforated by bamboo sticks stuck in the ground. The
charmer extends his hands, the leaves move up along the long sticks on
which they are strung.

Another experiment: a vase is filled with water and spontaneously
moves over a table, leans, oscillates, is raised a perceptible height,
without a drop of water being spilled.

Musical instruments render sounds, play melodious airs, under the eyes
of the investigator, at some distance from the Fakir and without the
latter making any apparent movement. Dr. Gibier cites these phenomena,
witnessed by persons entitled to every confidence.

During seances at the home of my friend Dr. Fuel, with Madam L. B., we
have witnessed similar phenomena. Several times my _confrere_ and I
have seen damask curtains at his office windows shake and open; have
heard the sound of a small trumpet placed in the center of a table, in
the dark, it is true, but we were holding each other’s hands in the
circle and used all possible precautions not to be duped or humbugged.

                  CLASS VIII.—_Luminous apparitions._

“These manifestations are weak and generally require a darkened room.
I wish to recall to my readers the fact that on these occasions I have
taken all the necessary precautions to avoid being deceived by light
due to luminous oils (of which phosphorous might form the basis) or
other means. Besides, I have endeavored in vain to imitate these lights
artificially.

“I have seen under experimental conditions of the most severe sort, a
solid body having its own light about the size of a goose egg float
around the room without noise at a height not to be touched even by
standing on ones toes, afterwards softly descend to the floor.

“This luminous globe remained visible for more than ten minutes before
disappearing; it struck the table on three occasions, making the noise
produced by any hard and solid body of the same size.

“During this time, the medium was seated in an arm chair, in an
apparent condition of insensibility.

“I have seen luminous sparks disport themselves above the heads of
various persons.

“I have obtained response to questions by means of flashes of light,
any number of times in front of my own face.

“I have seen sparks of light rise from the table and to the ceiling and
fall back on the table with a distinct noise of solidity.

“I have obtained, alphabetically, a communication, by means of flashes
of light, produced in mid air, before my eyes, while my hand moved
around in the rays of the communicating light; I have seen a luminous
cloud float up and rest on a picture.

“On several occasions, under similar conditions of severe control,
a body solid in appearance but crystalline, having a light of its
own, has been placed in my hand by a hand not belonging to any person
present in the room. In _the full glare of light_, I have seen a
luminous body fly to the top of a heliotrope placed on top of a
_console_, break off a small branch of the plant and carry it to the
hand of a lady present.

“I have sometimes seen similar luminous clouds _visibly condense,
assume the form of a hand_, and carry small articles to people, but
these phenomena properly belong to another class of manifestations.”
(_Crookes_).

The only phenomena of this nature that I have noticed were produced
under the following circumstances: One evening, after commencing some
experiments with Madam L. B., in the parlor of Dr. Puel, we were
obliged to cut the _seance_ short owing to a convulsive hysterical
attack that overcame the medium—an attack which lasted more than an
hour and which was only stopped by the application of metallic plates
to the thorax. Having regained consciousness, the lady, with her
husband and Dr. Puel, retired to the latter’s consultation office,
where I was summoned a few moments later by my _confrere_. Madam L. B.
was standing, supported by my two friends,[86] while from her chest
arose phosphorescent vapors, which grew more dense and thick as the
lights in the room were turned down. These phenomena lasted more than a
quarter of an hour, during which Madam L. B. uttered long and painful
groans. These vapors had the odor of phosphorus, and seemed to rise
from the epigastric region.

I was called some months later to attend to Madam L. B., whom I found
in a condition of profound anæmia and mental prostration, reminding me
of the _seance_; I prescribed granules of phosphoric acid for her with
excellent results.

   CLASS IX.—_Apparition of hands, either luminous or visible under
                           ordinary light._

“One finds himself frequently touched by hands, or something having the
form of hands, during _dark seances_, or under circumstances which do
not permit us to see these forms; but _I have seen these hands_.

“I shall not speak here of instances in which the phenomenon occurred
in obscurity, but will simply choose some of the _numerous instances_
in which I have seen the hands _in the light_.

“A small hand, of charming shape, has risen from the table and extended
me a flower; this hand appeared and disappeared three times at
intervals and gave me every opportunity to convince myself that it was,
in appearance, as real as my own. This occurred in a full light, in my
own room, while I held the hands and feet of the medium.

“On another occasion, a small hand and arm, similar to those of a
child, appeared to play around a lady seated near me; this arm floated
to my side, struck my arm lightly and pulled my coat several times.

“Another time, I saw an arm and hand tear the petals from a flower
placed in Mr. Home’s _boutonniere_ and hold the same before the faces
of parties sitting near him.

“On this occasion, and with other witnesses, who saw the same
manifestations, a hand touched the keys of an accordeon and played the
instrument, while the medium’s hands were visible meantime, and even
held at times by persons seated near him.

“The hands and fingers have always appeared solid and like those of any
living person; at times, however, they appeared nebular, condensations
in the form of hands.

“These phenomena were not visible to the same extent to all the persons
present. For example, one person would see a flower or other small
object; another person would see a small cloud of luminosity fly over
the flower; another, still, would notice a nebulous hand; while others,
again, would simply see the movement of the flower.

“I have seen, on several occasions, an object move with the appearance
of a luminous cloud and perfectly condense into the form of a hand;
under such circumstances the hand is visible to all persons present.

“It is not always a simple form, for often the hand perfectly resembles
that of a living person, and has every element of grace; the fingers
move; the flesh presents a human appearance, the same as though that of
a living person; at the wrist or arm this form may become nebulous, and
end in a luminous cloud of vapor.

“To the touch the hand appears cold, icy as in death at times; while on
other occasions it feels warm and living, clasping my hand like that of
an old friend would.

“I have retained one of these hands in mine, _firmly resolved not to
let it escape_; it made no resistance nor effort to disengage itself,
but appeared to gradually resolve itself into vapor.” (_Crookes_).

I have heard many persons affirm that they perceived hands that
touched them in _full light_. I never had this experience, but I can
testify that during eight or ten sittings I and five or six persons
who assisted me felt these hands perfectly; and among these hands were
those belonging to a small child, and _certainly_ no small child was in
the house; these baby hands were soothing and caressing. Our medium was
still Madam L. B., who, during the _seance_, was held down tightly on
a sofa by Madam P., whose scrupulous attention may be relied on where
_science_ is at stake, for all our experimentations of this sort were
in the dark. Several times the small baby hands were put in my sleeve,
and seemed to take pleasure in pulling off my cuffs and taking them to
other persons in the room. My eyeglass was also taken by the infantile
fingers and carried to one of the circle.[87]

                      CLASS X.—_Direct writing._

This is the expression we employ to designate a writing not produced by
any person present, and Mr. Crookes gives the following description of
this phenomenon:

“I have often received words and messages written on paper (on which I
had made private marks) under the most severe conditions of control;
and I have heard, in the dark, the noise of the pencil moving across
the paper. The precautions previously taken by me were so strict that
my mind is perfectly convinced, as if the characters of the writing
were formed under my own eyes.

“But, as space will not permit me to enter into complete details, I
shall simply choose two cases in which my eyes as well as my ears were
witnesses of the operation.

“The first case I shall cite took place, it is true, in _dark seance_,
but the result was none the less satisfactory.

“I was seated near the medium, Miss Fox, and there were only two
persons present, my wife and a relative of ours; I held both hands of
the medium in one of mine, while her feet were on top of my own. There
was paper before us on the table and my hand held the pencil.

“A luminous hand descended from above, and, after hovering near me for
a few seconds, took the pencil from my hand, writing rapidly on the
paper, threw the pencil over our heads and gradually faded in obscurity.

“The second case may be considered and registered as a discovery.
A good discovery is often more convincing than the most successful
experiment.

“This occurred in the light of my own room, in the presence of Mr. Home
and a few friends. Different circumstances, unnecessary to enumerate
here, had shown that evening that _the psychic power was very strong_.
I expressed the desire of witnessing the production of a real written
message, similar to that I had one of my friends mention a short
time before. At the instant this wish was uttered an alphabetical
communication was given which read, ‘_We will try_.’

“A pencil and some sheets of paper were placed on the center of the
table. Soon _the pencil stood on its point and advanced_, by jerks,
then fell over. It raised itself again and fell over; it tried a third
time but with no better result.

“After three fruitless attempts, a small piece of wood which laid near
on the table slid towards the pencil and raised itself some inches
above the table. The pencil now raised itself anew, supporting itself
against the wood, and the two made an effort to write on the paper;
this did not succeed and a new trial was made. On the third attempt the
wooden lath abandoned its efforts and fell back to its old position on
the table; the pencil remained in the position where it fell on the
paper, and an alphabetical message said to us, “_We have tried to do
what you have asked, but our power is exhausted_.” (Crookes.)

In India, the Fakirs easily obtain direct writing; they spread fine
sand on a table or other smooth surface and place on this sand a small
pointed stick made of wood. At a given moment this stick rises and
traces characters on the sand, which are responses to questions put by
the lookers on.[88]

In the experiments made with our friend Dr. Puel, we obtained writing
on over twenty slates. A bit of chalk was placed on a new slate and
this slate was placed on a table at some distance from the medium,
Madam L. B., the experiments being made with all the cautions possible.
A previous examination of both surfaces of the slate put away all
doubts as to any fraud in that respect. I, meantime, held the hands of
Madame L. B., the medium, who was always in a hypnotic condition during
such experiments, at which several persons usually assisted—persons who
were known to be capable of observing and recording facts with coolness
and deliberation.

All these communications have a signature, and many of them date
1900 as the epoch when _modern spiritualism_ shall be scientifically
recognized by the world.

Dr. Gibier, who made interesting experiments with Mr. Slade, like
us, obtained spontaneous writing on many slates, of which he gives
reproductions in his remarkable work, _a book that he had the courage
to write and to which his celebrated name is affixed_.[89]

We do not find in any Middle Age documents such spontaneously written
communications; at least Demonographers do not mention them in their
writings, for if they had it would have been a most striking proof of
the analogy of magic with modern spiritualism and Indian Fakirism,
which serves as an intermediary in the history of Occultism.

              CLASS XI.—_Forms and figures of phantoms._

“These phenomena are rarely ever witnessed. The conditions required
for their appearance seeming so delicate, and so little prevents their
production, that it is only on very few occasions that I have witnessed
satisfactory results. I will cite two cases:

“At twilight, in a _seance_ by Mr. Home, given at a private house, the
blinds of a window, back of the medium about eight feet, were seen to
move, then all the persons sitting near the window perceived a shadowy
form that grew darker and then semi-transparent, like that of a man
trying the shutters with his hand. While we gazed at this object in the
twilight it evanesced and the window shutters ceased to move.

“The following example is still more striking. As in the preceding
case Mr. Home was the medium. A phantom form came from the corner
of the room, took an accordeon in its hand, and glided around the
room playing the instrument beautifully. This phantom was visible to
all those present for the space of several minutes, Mr. Home being
perfectly visible at the same time. Then this shade approached a lady
in the room, when the frightened woman uttered a scream and the phantom
vanished.” (_Crookes._)

We regret that space will not permit our giving the experiments made on
Miss Cook and Katie King, spectres which became so tangible that they
were photographed.

This History given by Crookes regarding spiritual photography is well
nigh incredible, but Dr. Crookes has remarked concerning doubters and
his personal experiments, “_I do not say that it is possible, I say
that it is_.”

These apparitions of forms and figures of phantoms were more common
to the Middle Ages than at the present day, if we are to believe the
numerous cases cited by Pierre Le Loyer.[90]

This celebrated author in fact, will not admit that there is any
doubt on this subject; a matter he has thoroughly studied, for he
says in this preface of his work—“_Aussi est traicte des extases et
rauissements: de l’essence, nature et origine des Ames, et de leur
estat apres le deces de leurs corps; plus des Magiciens et Sorciers, de
leur communication avec les malins esprits; ensemble des remedes pour
se preseruer des illusions et impostures diaboliques_.”

In analyzing passages from this curious document, we will immediately
see the correlation that exists between what was called in other times
sorcery or magic, and spiritualism. In speaking of these spectres
which form in the air, and under our eyes, Pierre Le Loyer writes: “We
know them by the coldness of their touch and their bodies, which are
soft, their hands receding from ours like soft cotton when pressed, or
a snow-ball squeezed in a child’s hand. They tarry no longer than it
pleases them, returning again into their element.”

Further along, Le Loyer adds: “A bad spirit questioned by a sorcerer
why his body was not warm, responded that it was not in his power to
give it heat.”

But, meantime, he attributed these apparitions to evil spirits and
demons; finally, our author seeks to explain “what is this body seen
and touched of these demons, so to speak, of the air, water and earth?”

“These devils appear indifferently to all persons; they themselves
affect the society of certain, individuals some much more than others.”

“To these sorcerers and witches (_mediums_), they ordinarily show
themselves in a visible form, and will come to those who call them.”

“As to persons subject to these sort of things, they are usually those
young and tender of age, cold and imperfectly organized beings; by such
we can speak with power; old men and eunuchs, and withal melancholy
persons.”

“All those these devils dominate over, are estranged from their
natural, beings, and not infrequently become maniacs.”

Our author in his chapter on the essence of souls, affirms, that “that
the ancient oracles _were only the Oracles of the souls of men_,” and
to be specific, he gives a long list of names. He remarks, “there were
in Greece, temples known to be psychomantic, and in such places were
received responses from the souls of different men. It was for this
reason too, that the souls for the same reason watched over the places
where the bodies of generous and noble barons had been burned.”

Further along Le Loyer mentions the origin of the _power that the
spirits possess of manifesting themselves to us_, but our author
_disagrees with the modern theories that makes them derive their power
from the medium_, for he remarks that the spirits can act “_through
their own powers_,” and are governed only by their own intelligence.
“They are not off so far,” adds he, “and the distance between us and
the spirits is so slight that we may easily communicate;” however, he
says, meantime: “They are commanded by God and conform to his will.”

Finally, he considers man as an inferior being to the spirits of the
dead—in fact, he states: “The soul appears to derive nothing from
another, and, as an invisible spirit, it acts with us as a passive
agent, being too proud to control that which is inferior; and I deny,”
says he, “that the true souls of the dead obey either charms or magical
words.”

Of the future of the soul after death he remarks to one of his
opponents, whose opinions he refuted, that “_this soul, whatever it
may be, in a state of health or not purged, comes by degrees and not
at one bound into the full fruition and happiness of God_;” and these
degrees, according to Le Loyer, are like prisons where the penalties
for misdeeds done in the flesh are to be satisfied. He admits, however,
that some spirits make more rapid progress than others. These, to his
mind, are the judgments of God after death, and the fire mentioned in
Scriptures. Such is the manner in which he explains away the ideas of
the images of Paradise and Hell, the promises to the virtuous and the
wicked. He cites (_apropos_ of manifestations before courts of justice)
houses “where spirits have appeared and made all manner of noises, that
disturbed the tenants at night.” He speaks of Daniel and Nicholas
Macquereau, who rented a house for a term of years. “They had been
living there but a short time when they heard the noises and hubbub
made by invisible spirits, who allowed them neither sleep nor repose.”
The court cancelled the lease, thus _admitting that there were places
haunted by spirits_.”[91]

      CLASS XII.—_Particular examples which seem to indicate the
               intervention of a superior intelligence._

“It has already been demonstrated that these phenomena are governed by
an Intelligence; an important question is to know what is the source of
this Intelligence.

“Is this the Intelligence of the _medium_ or some one else present in
the room? Or is this Intelligence exterior? I do not wish to commit
myself on this point at present in a positive manner. I will say that I
have observed several circumstances which appeared to demonstrate that
the will and the intelligence of the medium have a great influence on
the phenomena. I have likewise observed others which seemed to prove
in a conclusive manner the intervention of an intelligence entirely
independent of all persons found in the room where the _seance_ was
given.

“Space will not permit me to give here all the arguments that might
serve to prove these propositions, but I will briefly mention one or
two circumstances chosen from among a number of others. I have several
times seen phenomena take place simultaneously, some of them being
unknown to the medium. I have seen Miss Fox write automatically a
message for a person present, while a message for another person was
given alphabetically by means of _raps_, and during all the time of
these manifestations she conversed on a subject entirely different
from the two others.

“The following case is, perhaps, still more astonishing. During a
_seance_ with Mr. Home, a small wooden lath, that I have previously
mentioned, came across the table to me, in full light, and gave me a
message by striking lightly on my hand; I repeated the alphabet and
the lath struck me at the proper letters; the other end of this wooden
stick was some distance off from the hands of Mr. Home.

“The blows were so distinct and clear, the wooden lath was so evidently
under the invisible power that governed its movements, that I said:
‘Can the intelligence that governs the movements of this lath change
the character of the movement and give me a telegraphic message by
means of the Morse alphabet, by blows struck on my hand?’

“I had every reason for thinking that the Morse alphabet was entirely
unknown to all the other persons present, and I knew it only
imperfectly myself.

“Immediately after I had said this the character of the raps changed
and the message was continued in the manner I demanded. The letters
were given too rapidly for me to catch but a word now and then,
consequently I lost the message; but I had heard sufficient to convince
me that there was a good Morse operator at the other extremity of the
line, no matter what place it might be in.

“Another example: A lady wrote automatically by the aid of Planchette.
I sought to discover the means to prove what she wrote was not due to
_unconscious cerebration_. Planchette, as it always does, affirmed
that, although the movements were made by the hands and arms of the
operator, there was an intelligence coming from an invisible being,
who played on her brain like an instrument of music and thus put her
muscles in motion.

“I then remarked to this Intelligence, ‘Can you see what is contained
in this chamber?’ And Planchette answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘Can you read this
journal?‘ said I, placing my finger on a copy of the _London Times_
that happened to be back of me on a table, but which I could not see.
‘Yes’ responded Planchette. ‘Very well,’ said I, ‘write the word now
covered by my finger.’ Planchette commenced to move and the word
‘however’ was slowly written. I turned around and saw that the word
‘however’ was covered by the end of my finger. I had not looked at the
paper when I attempted this experiment, and it was impossible for the
lady, had she tried, to see any word in the journal, as she was seated
at a table and the _London Times_ lay on a table back of me with my
body interposed.” (_Crookes._)

In the experiments in typtology at which I have assisted, to
all the demands addressed to _psychic force_ the responses have
always presented a particular character independent of that of the
assistants.[92]

I have sometimes tried to concentrate my will upon the answer awaited,
and have always failed in my attempts at mental pressure.

1 have likewise determined that these answers cannot be dictated by
the mind of the medium, whose scientific and literary knowledge were
not always equal to the message received. This observation coincides
with the facts observed among pretended Demonomaniacs, who had in their
attacks the gift of language, responding in Latin to the exorcists,
making entire discourses in this language, of which they knew not the
first elements.

Under the name of _phenomena of ecstasy_, Dr. Gibier described, after
his experiments with the medium Slade, his displacement by a stronger
spirit to that of his usual control. Says Gibier, the phenomena
produced from thence were “a certain discoloration of the medium’s
face, which became red, a sort of grin contracting the muscles of the
visage, the eyes were convulsed upwards, and after some nystagmatic
movements of the ball of the eye the eyelids closed tightly, gritting
of the medium’s teeth was heard, and a convulsive sign, indicating the
commencement of his _possession_ by a strange spirit. After this short
phase, which was painful to behold, the medium’s face fell into a smile
and the voice, as well as the attitude, was completely modified to that
of a different person. Slade thus transformed to his regular control,
saluted all our party most graciously.”

Among the experiments made by Dr. Gibier to control this condition of
_incarnation_ (the English call it _trance_), we might cite that of
a comparison of the dynamometric force of the medium in his natural
condition and the _trance_ state. In the first case, by reason of two
previous attacks of hemiplegia, Slade’s muscular force gave 27 kilos to
the right and 35 kilos to the left. In the second state there were 63
kilos to the right and 50 kilos to the left. Meantime, Dr. Gibier, no
more than ourselves, deems it proper to consider the trance state other
than a hypothesis, “a foreign element, introduced in the scene, and
like it present in the experiences of suggestion and catalepsy.”

If we cannot give a scientific explanation of these phenomena, it
is our duty to examine them as others and retrace their history,
especially seeking those points of coincidence with the proofs
furnished by the history of demonomania and diabolic possession of the
Middle Ages; for we are convinced that these phenomena were dominated
by the same unknown force, interpreted differently by reason of the
philosophic and religious ideas of the epoch at which they were studied.

          CLASS XIII.—_Varied cases of a complex character._

Under this title Mr. Crookes cites facts that cannot be classed
otherwise by reason of their complex character. As an example, he
reports two cases: one being an experiment in typtology between
himself, Miss Fox, and another lady. He proved that a bell that
belonged in his business office was brought to the table, as a proof
announced by the intellectual force, that communicated with him, _of
its strength_. The chamber in which this was done was separated from
the office by a door which he previously securely locked with a key,
and he was absolutely positive that the bell in question was in his
office.

“The second case I desire to report,” says Mr. Crookes, “took place
one Saturday night under a full glare of light, Mr. Home and my family
being the only persons present.

“My wife and I, having passed the day in the country, had brought home
flowers with us that I had gathered; on arriving at home we had given
them to a servant to put in water. Mr. Home came shortly after and we
went into the dining room. At the instant we seated ourselves, the
domestic brought the flowers, arranged in a vase; I placed them in the
center of the table, which was not covered by a cloth. It was the first
time Mr. Home had seen these flowers.

“Immediately a message came, given by the rap alphabet, which said,
‘It is impossible for matter to pass through matter, but we will show
you that we can do it.’ We waited in silence, and soon a luminous
apparition was seen floating over the bouquet of flowers, and then,
in full view of all my family at the table, a branch of China grass,
fifteen inches in length, which ornamented the middle of the bouquet,
slowly rose from the bunch of flowers, descended from the vase and
moved across the table, and my wife saw a hand stretched out from under
the table and seize the flower; at the same moment she was struck three
times on the left shoulder and the noise made by the slaps was so loud
we all heard it; then the luminous hand dropped the China grass to the
floor and disappeared. Only two persons of my family saw the hand, but
every one at the table noticed the different movements of the plant
stalk, as I have before described them.

“During the time that this phenomena lasted we all saw Mr. Home’s hands
on the table, where they rested motionless, and they were at least
eighteen inches from where the plant stalk disappeared.

“It was a dining-room table that opened in folds, it did not lengthen,”
etc.

As a contribution to the facts mentioned in this class, I may report
the famous experiments with the bracelet made by Dr. Puel—experiments
that I have witnessed a dozen times at least—as well as numerous other
persons. A bracelet made of brass, without opening or solder, cut by
a machine out of a solid piece of metal, was placed on the forearm
of Madame L. B. The lady’s hands rested flat on the table, or were
held in the hands of those experimenting. At a given moment, often
in the middle of a conversation, Madame L. B. uttered a piercing cry
and at the same instant the bracelet would fall on the floor, or on
some piece of furniture, with great force. Several times, under the
same circumstances,—that is to say, when the lady’s hands were firmly
pressed down on the table by those experimenting,—I have seen the
bracelet _pass from one arm to the other_.

So, in opposition to all laws of physics, it appears that matter can
pass through matter; I affirm the reality of this, and others, who
are no more victims to hallucination than I, can also testify to the
truth of this statement. And no matter what may be the consequences to
my professional reputation, and utterly without regard for anything
that may be said by critics, I boldly maintain, as if under oath, that
my senses lead me to this imposed conviction. Besides, I am far from
being alone in believing what I have seen, whether or no it be “_in
harmony with our acquired knowledge_;” to the names of French, English
and German _savants_ I have cited, there are experimenters in all
countries who have the courage to believe the evidence offered by their
own senses, as witness that celebrated English geologist, who, after
ten years of investigation with the phenomena under control, _declared
spiritualism to be true_, drawing from his experiments the following
conclusions: “_Who shall determine the limits of the possible, limits
that science and observation accumulate each day? Let us examine, let
us doubt, but not be so daring as to deny the possibility of such
occurrences_” (Barkas).

If now we have established the balance-sheet of facts attributed to the
Demonomania of the Middle Ages, and compared them to the experiences of
experimental psychology, we are not only led to recognize a striking
analogy between them, but also to interpret them by the hypothesis of
an intelligent force of an intensity proportionate to certain nervous
pathological conditions. It is necessary to remember, in fact, that,
according to the Ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, the phenomena
necessary to recognize _possession_ among Demonomaniacs were:

1. The faculty of knowing thoughts, even though they are not expressed.

2. Intelligence in unknown languages.

3. The faculty of speaking foreign tongues which are unknown to the
party speaking them.

4. A knowledge of future events.

5. A knowledge of what is transpiring in far-off places.

6. Development of superior psychal force.

7. Suspension of persons or bodies in the air for a considerable space
of time.

No less interesting is it than to compare these phenomena to those
observed by the thirty-three members of the commission appointed by
the “Dialectic Society of London.” The following was this committee’s
report, after eighteen months’ investigation:

1. Noises of varied nature, apparently arising from the furniture,
floor or walls of the room, accompanied by vibrations which are often
perceptible to the touch, are present without being produced by
muscular action or any mechanical means whatever.

2. Movements of heavy bodies occur without the aid of mechanical
apparatus of any sort, and without equivalent development of muscular
force on the part of persons present, and even frequently without
contact or connection with any one.

3. These noises and movements are produced often at the moment wished
for and in the manner demanded by persons present, and, by means of
a simple code of sounds, respond to questions and write coherent
communications.

4. The response and communications obtained are, for the most
part, hackneyed and commonplace, but sometimes they give facts and
information only known to one person in the room.

5. The circumstances under which the phenomena are present vary, the
most striking feature being that the presence of certain persons seems
necessary to their production, and that the presence of some people
serves as a check; but this difference does not seem to depend on
the belief or the unbelief of those present as to the nature of the
phenomena.

The testimony, oral and written, received by the commission affirmed
the reality of phenomena much more extraordinary still, such as heavy
bodies rising in the air (men in certain cases floated through the
atmosphere) and remaining in suspension without tangible support;
apparitions of hands and forms belonging to no human beings, but
seemingly alive, judging by their aspect and motions.

This report was signed by _savants_ of the first order, as sceptical
before commencing their investigations as the most positive
Materialists of our academies of science. Let us cite, among the
celebrated names of men known throughout the world for their
learning and scientific veracity, those of the great naturalist and
_collaborateur_ of Darwin, Russell Wallace, Professor A. Morgan,
President of the Mathematical Society of London and Secretary of
the Royal Astronomical Society; F. Varley, Chief Engineer of the
Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Company and member of the Royal Society of
London.

Mr. Morgan does not fear to add to the report the following lines: “I
am perfectly convinced, from what I have seen and heard, in a manner
that renders doubt impossible, that _Spiritualists_, without doubt, are
upon a track that will lead to the advancement of the psychal sciences;
their opponents are those who seek to trammel all progress.”

Mr. Varley writes to the celebrated Professor Tyndall: “I am obliged to
investigate the nature of the force that produces these phenomena, but,
up to the present time, I have been unable to discover anything save
the source from which this _psychic force_ emanates, _i.e._, from the
vital systems of the mediums. I am only studying, however, a thing that
has been the object of investigation for two thousand years; brave men,
whose minds are elevated above the narrow prejudices of our century,
seem to have sounded the depths of the subject in question,” etc.

This opinion of the learned English physicist proves, once more, that
we are right in connecting Demonomania to the magic of antiquity and to
modern spiritualism. One must be perfectly blind or of poor judgment
not to see the connecting links that unite these various phenomena. And
if our men of science dare no longer say that these facts are worthy
of credit, although refusing to investigate the same, it is because
they lack courage, it is because they dare not brave the criticism
of pretended strong-minded men and the jests of the ignorant. If the
_vulgum pecus_, the amorphous matter that stuffs the superior element
of society, contest the value of the works of Crookes, Wallace, Morgan,
Varley, Gibier, Zoellner, Mapes, Hare, Oxon, Sexton, and others, they
can only be included in the same class of people who ridiculed Galileo,
Harvey, Jenner, Franklin, Young, Davy, Jussieu, Papin, Stephenson,
and Galvani, with all the authors of great discoveries and scientific
truths, who have invariably been combatted by the pseudo-scientific
and half-fledged goslings whose names adorn our so-called colleges and
other mutual admiration societies.[93]

Why, then, longer refuse to study _a force_ recognized by some of the
most eminent men among modern civilized nations and by the modest
pioneers who first studied these phenomena in France? If the number of
experimenters named be not sufficient to convince sceptics, let them
enter into a full study of present-day psychology, and find a host of
the greatest modern neurologists.

Nine years of study has led Mr. Oxon, Professor at the University of
Oxford, to formulate the following propositions on _Psychic Force_,
which corroborate the results obtained by his colleagues in England,
Germany, and America, and which still constitute another proof of the
identity of the phenomena:

“1. A force exists which acts by means of a special type of human
organization, a force that we call _psychic force_.

“2. It is demonstrated that this force is, in certain cases, governed
by an intelligence.

“3. It is proved that this intelligence is often other than that of the
person or persons through whose influence it acts.

“4. This Force, thus governed by an exterior intelligence, at times
manifests its action, independent of other methods, by writing coherent
phrases, without the intervention of any known mode of writing.

“5. The evidence of the existence of this force governed by an
intelligence rests on

“(_a_) The evidence observed through the senses.

“(_b_) The fact that _the force_ often uses a language unknown to the
medium.

“(_c_) The fact that the subject matter treated is very frequently
superior to the medium’s knowledge or education.

“(_d_) The fact that it has been found impossible to produce the same
results by fraud under the conditions in which these phenomena are
obtained.

“(_e_) The fact that these special phenomena are not only produced in
public and by paid mediums, but likewise in a family circle where no
strangers are admitted.”

Without writing to prejudice the question, I believe, in my turn, that
I can solemnly affirm that this force has intimate connection with the
soul, the mind or the ministerial part of our being, as it is called;
that it acts on our ideas as well as on our physiological functions,
and it is to my mind the destiny of humanity to investigate its essence
and study its phenomena, its manifestations and all its sensible
effects by all our senses and means of investigation.

It is high time that secular boasting of the materialistic scientists
be checked, and that they should recognize the fact that force does
not arise from matter alone but exists independent of it and primarily
submits to its laws.

Starting, then, with the proposition that an unknown force exists, to
whose influence we unconsciously submit, science should investigate
this force, isolate, and control it, if it be in our power so to do.

Instead of opposing an ignorant skepticism to modern discoveries
in _psychic force_, our learned Academicians should investigate
the acquired facts for inspiration in future work, remembering
that good thought of Laplace: “We are so far from knowing all the
agents of Nature and their different modes of action, that it is
not philosophical to deny the existence of phenomena simply because
they cannot be explained in the actual condition of our present
knowledge.”[94]

Such are the conclusions I believe I have a right to draw from my
historical studies on the Demonomania of the Middle Ages. Let me
briefly recapitulate my personal views on the subject:

1. There exists a psychic force, intelligent, inherent to humanity,
manifesting itself, under determined conditions, by various phenomena,
with an intensity more or less great.

2. Certain human beings, known as mediums, who are very sensitive to
the action of magnetism, facilitate the production of these phenomena,
considered as supernatural in the actual state of our present
scientific knowledge, and in apparent contradiction with all known
physical and physiological laws.

3. In certain nervous conditions, natural or provoked, this Force can
possess the human organism and bring about, temporarily, either a
change in one’s personality or an alteration in one’s sensations and in
the intellectual and moral faculties.

            MEDICINE IN THE LITERATURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES.

All _savants_ who have studied the literary and historical part of
medicine fully recognize the powerful interest it offers, especially
that medicine portrayed in the works of poets and dramatic authors of
the Middle Ages. It is in the works of these writers, in fact, that we
find the most exact appreciation of medical ideas of the epoch, because
we can judge their morals, criticise their faults, account for their
tendencies—all without bringing in medical science at any given moment,
with its teachings, errors, and prejudices.

In all that concerns the Middle Ages, we shall find this first in
the writings of philosophers, in certain dramatic works, known under
the name of _Moralities_, because their purport was to demonstrate,
under the form of an allegory, a precept of morality. The personages
of such dramatic scenes always represent ideas, often abstract and
usually fantastic,—The World, Justice, Good Company, Gourmands, Dinner,
Banquet, Experience, Gout, Jaundice, Dropsy, and Apoplexy. A second
class, errors and prejudices, are seldom wanting in some poetical
works, in _comedies and farces_, _satirical_ and _indecent_ poems, that
recall some of the early productions of the Latin Theatre. Eventually
impressed with the Gallic spirit of levity, these short pieces,
enjoyed by clerks and small tradesmen, contain cutting criticisms on
the weaknesses of mankind, doctors in particular. These plays are
considered the embryo of the French stage, which, later, has been
immortalized by the most illustrious of our writers of comedy.

An unaffected gayety often breaks out in brilliant, sparkling dialogues
in these frivolous farces, and assures the instant success of the
play. The public laughed in high glee, without prudery, at the broad I
insinuations and comical acts in such representations. So the writers
of that period went into raptures when they chanced to make a hit with
their satirical tirades, that amused the passing age. Sometimes the
clergy were satirized as well as the doctor; even the Pope himself
received the attention of the comedians, as witness the carnival of
1511. Even the avarice of Louis XII. was ridiculed. Comedy’s procession
represented Justice by its attorneys, shysters and police; but, above
all, comedy delighted to burlesque the doctor, _Facultas saluberrema
medicinæ parisiensis_, ridiculing them like the rest of the world,
without the least respect for their robe or bonnet.

Pray, what do these jolly, railing spirits of the Middle Ages say of
our medical ancestors of the good old times? Master Jehan Bouchet, for
example, with his piece, _Traverseur des voyes perilleuses_, and Pierre
Gringore under the pseudonym of _Mere Sotte_, and Nicholas Rousset and
Coustellier, and Jacques Grevin and Pierre Blanchet, and all other
members of that joyous group without care, without pretension, but
not without talent. If professional honor was never really put on
trial by these wits, the pedantic gravity of our medical forefathers,
their formidable doctoral accoutrement, their consultations, sentences
formulated in horrible and barbarous Latin, were all the objects of
raillery and piquant epigrams. We shall find also, in other works we
propose to analyze, the same false ideas of the public regarding the
healing art as exists to-day; the same tendency to always lead one into
error, and unjustly accuse the medical profession of all the accidents
that happen to a patient—this, too, notwithstanding all ancient codes
of hygiene and all the ages of experience.

When a physician prescribed, for example, in the case of one attacked
by fever, the daily libations were stopped, and we always find the
neighbors and boon companions of the sufferer enter the sick room for
the purpose of criticizing the doctor’s prescriptions and orders,
and such persons excited the patient by their remarks on medical
despotism. This has always been the case since doctors and patients
were created, not only in the Middle Ages, but at all epochs. Olivier
Basselin bears testimony to this fact in one of his charming _Vaux de
Vire_[95] poetical compositions, roundelays and Bacchic songs, dating
back to the sixteenth century; this sonnet is not long;[96] it relates
to a drunkard to whom only barley water is given, and who recovers his
health, according to the veracious poet, through a charitable friend,
who breaks the doctor’s orders and fills the patient up with wine. We
have often read this poem with pleasure, and give a condensed extract:

    One of my neighbors sick was lying,
      Gasping with weak and feverish breath:
    “Alas! they’ll kill me,” said he, sighing,
      “Forbidding wine; and barley water’s death.

    “Alas! my thirst is great, annoying;
      I’d like one drink before I die;
    Neighbor, with you one glass enjoying;
      Pray quickly to the vintner’s hie.

    “Dear friend, my wish don’t be denying,
      Always to me you’ve been a brother;
    Now, for the wine in haste go flying,
      We’ll take one parting glass together.

    “Since doctors made me quit a-drinking,
      My flask I’ve left yon in my will.
    These doctors, I can’t help a-thinking,
      Don’t cure as often as they kill.”

    Thus spoke my neighbor, sick and weary.
      Of wine he drank full bottles five;
    The fever left him blithe and cheery;
      He’s still a-drinking, and _alive_.

The Bibliotheque of the French Theatre contains a great number of other
dramatic compositions, as well as comedies and farces, in which doctors
carry principal _roles_, it is true, but more often are introduced for
the mere purpose of giving the author a chance for pleasantry at the
expense of medicine; and these characters sometimes exceed the limit of
license. Some of these works are gems of literary art. We may cite, for
instance, the “Farce of the Doctor who Cures all Diseases,” by Nicholas
Rousset; the “Discours Facetieux” of Coustellier; “The true Physician,
who Cures all Known Diseases;” and several besides, “La Medecine de
Maistre Grimache,” “Le Triomphe de treshaulte et tres puissante Dame
Verolle,” of Francois Juste; “Mary and the Doctor,” “The Sweetheart of
the Family Physician,” as well as some farces by Tabarin—works dating
back to the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

But we shall only take up the study of a few works that have a
veritable literary medical interest, and shall confine ourselves
to the study of the “Farces de Maitre Pathelin, du Munyer et de la
Folie du Monde;” to the moralities of “A’aveugle et du Boiteux, de
Folie et d’Amour;” to the comedies of “La Tresoriere et de Lucelle;”
to the tragedy “De la Goutte,” and to the book of “Gargantua et de
Pantagruel.” This will suffice to give an idea of medicine as portrayed
in the literature of the Middle Ages.

                     THE FARCE OF MASTER PATHELIN.

The farce of Master Pathelin, whose author was Pierre Blanchet, is
certainly the richest jewel in the crown of the old French Theatre;
it was what inspired Moliere in several of his works. Represented
for the first time in 1480, this celebrated farce is one of the most
precious literary monuments for the study of Middle Age morality. It
is a _chef d’œuvre_ of spirit, malice, comedy, and _naivete_, in which
medicine is found in every scene, either in the simulation of disease,
with consultations, with drugs, and, most amusing of all, the eternal
ingratitude of the sick.

All the educated world knows the subject of Master Pathelin: A lawyer
without a case or client; a man living on his wits and expedients,
making dupes and yet retaining a certain degree of professional
correctness in his language and his artifices. Guillemette, his wife,
is his worthy accomplice. It is she who reproaches him with not having
more clients and his reputation of earlier days; of starving her to
death by famine. It is she who excites him by ironically saying:

    “Maintenant chascun vous appelle
    Partout; avocat dessoubz l’orme,
    Nos robes sont plus qu’estamine
    Reses.”

And Pathelin responds that he cannot get their clothing out of pawn
without redeeming or stealing it—both things out of the question, as
he has no money and will not commit a crime. It is then that the worthy
couple hit on the credit system to renew their wardrobe. It is for this
purpose he goes to a draper’s to purchase cloth to make new clothes. On
entering the shop he uses the salutation of the period, “God be with
you,” and politely inquires after the shopkeeper’s health, which to
him is very dear. Then he asks after his father’s health, telling him
he resembles his sire like an old picture. Finally, he takes sixteen
yards of fine cloth, and, telling the draper to call at his house in
the evening for his money and to eat, as Master Pathelin expresses
it, “a Rouen goose roasted,” having invited the astonished tradesman
to dine with him, the lawyer walks out with the cloth without paying.
Arriving home he relates his adventure to the delighted Guillemette,
who is overpowered with bewilderment, however, when she learns that the
draper is invited to a roast goose supper. At first it is suggested
that they borrow a tailor’s goose, but fear that the draper will not
appreciate the joke and demand his money legally induces the worthy
couple to adopt a strategem. It is very simple: Master Pathelin is
to feign insanity, or rather that maniacal form of excitation so
frequently employed even at the present day by those who seek to avoid
the consequences of crimes—an excitation principally characterized by
uncontrollable loquacity, mobility of ideas, incoherence, and pretended
illusions.

These scenes of simulation are extremely curious and interesting. As
soon as the draper enters the wife warns him not to make a noise in the
house:

    “He’s lying in bed. Don’t speak!
    Poor martyr! he’s been sick a week.

But the draper refuses to accept the explanation. It cannot be a week,
he says, for

    “’Tis only this afternoon, you see,

   Your husband bought cloth from me.”

Then the voice of the attorney is heard in the next room shouting to
his wife:

    “Guillemette? Un peu d’eue rose!
    Haussez moy, serrez-moy derriere!
    Trut! a qui parlay. Je? L’esguiere?
    A boire? Frottez moy la plante.”

Rose water in that century was employed to reanimate the strength
of sick people. Among apothecaries it was called _aqua cordialis
temperata_. Rose water was prescribed in the following cases: “_In
mortis subitis et malignis, ubicunque magnus est virium lapsus
præscribitur; quemadmodum etiam prodest a morbo convalescentibus, ad
vires instaurandas._”

Pathelin simulates hallucinations of sight, and uses all manner of
words employed by magicians in their conjurations; he asks the draper
and Guillemette to put a charm around his neck such as are used to
frighten away demons. He then, in his ravings, abuses the doctors for
their malpractice and not understanding the quality of his urine.([97])
Notwithstanding all this the draper is not convinced and demands his
money. We all know what importance was attributed to the examination of
the urine in olden times, long before any search was made for albumen,
sugar, or other morbid principles that it might contain. Charlatans
especially exploited in this field of medicine, practicing it illegally
in the country under the name of _water jugglers_ or _water judges_.
Such men still practice in Normandy and certain northern provinces of
France.

The intestinal functions had also more or less importance in the eyes
of the public, and the physician was not always consulted as when to
give physic. People sent to an apothecary and ordered a clyster with
cassia and other ingredients, according to the following formula of
the pharmacopœia: “_Cassia Pro Clysteribus. Est eadem pulpa cassiæ cum
decocto herbarum aperitirarum extracta et saccharo Thomæo condita.
Oportet autem illas herbas adhibere recentes, parumque decoquere, alias
viribus aperitivis omnio privantur; siccæ autem per se carent virtute
illa aperitiva._”

In the “Revue Historique” of Angers we find a document bearing on the
private life of Cardinal Richelieu; it has for its title: “Things
furnished for the person of His Most Eminent Highness, the Cardinal
Duke Richelieu during the year 1635, by Perdreau, apothecary to his
Excellency.” During the one year the Cardinal had used seventy-five
clysters and twenty-seven cassia boluses, without counting other
laxative medicines and bottles of tisane, his purgative bill amounting
to 1401 livres and 14 sous. It is evident that Richelieu was a badly
constipated Cardinal.

It was a fine period for apothecaries, and we might add that Moliere
did them considerable harm.

Let us return to Master Pathelin. He was allowed a short breathing
spell for Guillemette, fought off the obdurate creditor by making him
leave the room a few moments while her husband used the bedpan.

But this respite is of short duration; the draper soon returns to
demand his cloth back or his money, although the wife declares her
husband “is dying in frenzy.” Then commences another scene of maniacal
simulation in this wonderful psychological play. In his pretended
delirium, Pathelin indulges in Limousin _patois_, Flemish, Lower
Breton; his words grow unintelligible and incoherent in order to
convince the draper of his insanity.

    “Mere de Diou, la coronade,
    Par fie, y m’en voul anar,
    Or renague biou, outre mar,
    Ventre de Diou, zen diet gigone,
    Castuy carrible, et res ne donne.”

Let us pass from a wild Flemish harangue, that possesses but little
interest even to those understanding the dialects.

The psychic symptoms, which dominate in the simulated delirium of
Master Pathelin, are especially incoherent in language with mobility
of ideas. The author of this fine comedy had evidently observed
the progressive instability of thought among certain maniacs, the
impossibility of fixing their attention, the too rapid succession of
ideas without order; in fact, that absolute incoördination, a kind of
cerebral automatism, which is the announcement of the breaking-down
of intellectual faculties and the prelude of absolute dementia. In
his ravings, Pathelin descants on the _Mal de Saint Garbot_, or,
more properly speaking, Garbold; this was dysentery, although such a
scholar as Genin translates it as meaning hemorrhoids. Saint Garbold
who was Bishop of Bayeux in the seventh century, was driven out from
his episcopal chair by his diocesans, and, in order to be avenged, sent
them dysentery.

We may remark, in this connection, that during the Middle Ages many
maladies were called after the Saints, whose aid they invoked in given
diseases; _Saint Ladre_ or _Lazare_, for leprosy; _Saint Roch_, for
the plague; _Saint Quentin_, for dropsy; _Saint Leu_, _Saint Loupt_,
_Saint Mathelin_, _Saint Jehan_, _Saint Nazaire_, _Saint Victor_, for
epilepsy, fever, deafness, madness, etc.

The _mal Saint Andreux_, _mal Saint Antoine_, _mal Saint Firmin_, _mal
Saint Genevieve_, _mal Saint Germain_, _mal Saint Messaut_, _mal Saint
Verain_, designated erysipelas, scurvy, etc. Drunkenness was called the
_mal Saint Martin_.

Syphilis naturally had its patron Saint; in fact, it was known as _mal
Saint homme Job_, _Saint Merais_, _Saint Laurant_, _mal Saint Eupheme_,
etc. In fact, all diseases had as an attachment the name of one or more
Saints, at whose shrine the afflicted might implore aid.

But to return to Master Pathelin: After numerous tirades he finishes
by acknowledging his deceit to the draper. This is an epitome of the
farce of Master Pierre Pathelin, a medical study that had an immense
run in the fifteenth century and remains a valuable document regarding
French morality in the Middle Ages, as interesting to the student of
psychology as to the Theatre. Some years after this (1490) the sequel
to Master Pathelin appeared, called the “Last Will of Pathelin,” which
is also full of strange medical conceits appertaining to the age in
which it was written. In this piece, Pathelin, after years of fraud
and deceit, really becomes ill and sends for the lawyer and priest,
abandoning the doctor to a certain extent. In his will he leaves all
his ailments to different religious orders and charitable institutions,
as, for instance, one _item_ of his will reads as follows:

    “Au quatre convens aussi,
    Cordeliers, Carmes, Augustins,
    Jacobins, soient ors, on Soient ens,
    Je leur laisse tous bons lopins,
    A tous chopineurs et y vrongnes,
    Notre vueil que je leur laisse
    Toutes goutes, crampes et rongnes,
    Au poing, au coste, a la fesse,” etc.

But enough of Master Pathelin. Let us now turn to the consideration of
another curious farce.

                          LA FARCE DE MUNYER.

This farce, whose author was Andre de la Vigne, dates back, like
preceding one, to the fourteenth century. The miller of the Middle
Ages, the ancestor of our present Jack-pudding (French slang for
miller), was in antique times the most rascally and cheating type of
trader, from whence the old Gascon proverb, “One always finds a thief
in a miller’s skin.”

In this farce we see the miller “lying in bed as though sick,” uttering
long groans and sighing over the pains he professes to endure—groans,
however, to which his wife appears insensible. He commences thus:

    “Now am I in sore distress,
      My sickness hard to cure,
    My sore discomfort is not less.
      Heart-ache I can’t endure.”

To this his wife responds indifferently, although the miller persists
in asking for a bottle of good wine, saying that his “reins and belly
need the supreme consolation of the bottle.” The wife obstinately
refuses her husband the wine, remarking that he cannot “repair his
stomach by filling the belly;” but, instead, she sends for the priest,
who is, moreover, her lover, and carries on a flirtation with the holy
man in the presence of her husband, for the purpose of making the
invalid rise from his sick-bed; but, thinking his end near, the miller
demands that he shall be permitted to die in the faith, or “_mourir
catholiquement_.” He confesses to the priest, avowing all his thefts,
his frauds, his falsification and _amours_, and is prepared to render
his soul.

But the miller has absorbed some of the popular ideas of his day,
professed by certain philosophers of the time; he believes that, at the
moment of death, the soul of man escapes by his anus, and warns the
priest to absolve him from his sins, saying:

    “Mon ventre trop se determine.
    Helas! Je ne scay que je face;
    Ostez vous!”

The priest answers:

    “Ha! sauf vostre grace!”

Then the miller remarks:

    “Ostez vous, car je me conchye.”

The wife and the priest pull the sick man to the edge of the bed and
place him in such a position that, if the doctrine of soul departure by
the anus be true, they may witness the miller’s final performance. The
phenomenon of rectal flatulence is now observed, when suddenly to the
consternation of the wife and priest, a demon appears, and placing a
sack over the dying miller’s anus catches the rectal gas and flies off
in sulphurous vapor. In the next act we see the Devil appear before his
patron Lucifer bearing the sack supposed to contain the damned soul of
the miller received in the aforesaid sack at the moment it escaped from
the anus. The devil is commanded by Lucifer to empty the sack at the
feet of Proserpine who is busily engaged in cooking in Hell’s kitchen,
but in place of the miller’s soul they only find _spoiled bran_; the
rascal has cheated even in death.

It seems strange that earlier comedy writers all showed a tendency to
make their principle scenes pathological burlesques. Thus in many plays
the heroes and heroines were attacked by colic in order to excite the
laughter of the audience, when the buffoon would imitate by signs the
act of defecation. This peculiar French gayety and lack of prudery
is fully evidenced in the comic effects of Pourceaugnac with the
detersive, insinuative and carminative clysters of Moliere.

This farce, had in former days, an immense success, and is still
occasionally played, being considered a _chef d’œuvre_ of malice and
humor by our best critics and most distinguished authors. In France
the audience always laugh when a thief while plundering is suddenly
taken with pains in his bowels and diarrhœa, while a rectal syringe
flourished aloft as a weapon of defense will bring down the gallery in
a storm of applause.

                        L’AVEUGLE ET LE BOITEUX

Is another play in which medicine acts a part, by the same author of
the preceding farce; the plot is as follows: A blind man and a lame man
implore public charity on a deserted road; the blind man deplores his
fate as never having seen the light, and the lame man bitterly bemoans
not being able to walk but a few steps at one time, on account of the
gout which has rendered him paraplegic. These two make a mutual avowal
of their infirmities and agree to form a copartnership for mutual
assistance; the lame man climbs on the blind man’s shoulders and they
start out the road in search of charitable persons who may aid them
with alms. On going some little distance the beggars hear a noise; this
is made by a procession of monks going on a pilgrimage to the tomb of
Saint Martin. “What do they say?” asks the blind man; to which the lame
man responds:

    They tell of things curious and quaint,
    Of miracles, wonderous, if true,
    Performed by a newly made saint,
    For whose aid each monk goes to sue;
    This Saint cures all ills he can find,
    Even fits, ulcers, fevers and gout;
    He _healeth the halt_ and the blind
    In a manner that’s past finding out.

We all know the eternal popular faith and belief in the ability of the
Saints to cure every malady that flesh is heir to. However, in the
present instance, it seems that one of the requirements necessary to
be healed was a perfect spirit of resignation to all ills on the part
of the sufferer—_now this is the case of our two mendicants_, who now
become alarmed at the idea that they may be cured and thus deprived
of a method of earning their daily bread, _i.e._, by beggary, so they
undertake a number of subterfuges to escape the pious pilgrimage, which
gives rise to many amusing adventures and situations, which might be
well utilized by some modern playwriter. In the end the two mendicants
escape from going with the pilgrim monks to visit the Saint’s shrine,
as the blind man detests the light and the lame man is too lazy to
walk, in fact both are admirably suited with their afflictions. It is
during one of these scenes that the lame man relates to the blind man
the best methods for deceiving the public by simulating maladies, and
making a regular profession of begging. He discloses all the secrets of
those who in the Middle Ages sought public commiseration to earn alms;
he remarks:

    “Puisque de tout je suis reffait,
    Maulgre mes deus et mon visage,
    Tant feray, que seray deffaict,
    Encore ung coup de mon corsaige,
    Car je vous dis bien que encor scay—je”

    “La grant pratique et aussi l’art,
    Par onguement et par herbaige,
    Combien que soye miste et gaillart,
    Que huy on dira que ma jambe art
    Du cruel mal de Sainct Anthoyne,” etc.

In this lengthy poem, too long to transcribe from the French, the
lame mendicant gives a list of herbs, through means of which various
diseases may be simulated, especially those maladies of the skin that
are repulsive to the majority of mankind; thus he describes the itch
produced by certain varieties of the _clematis_ and the appearance of
leprosy induced by the use of an ointment of which _veronica_ formed
the basis. He also describes how to produce the disease of _Saint
Fiacre_, an affection characterized by warts and ulcers around the
anus. It is useless to add there is nothing new under the sun. Let us
now turn our attention to another play, _i.e._;

                           LUNACY AND LOVE.

This is a play with six characters, written in 1556, by Louise Labe,
sometimes called the _Belle Cordiere_.

Love, at all periods of time, has served as an inexhaustible subject
of analysis and observation, not only to poets and novelists, but
also to moralists, and especially physicians. Psychologists have
always considered love, when excessive, as an evidence of insanity.
Esquirol says that “love has lost its empire in France, indifference
having captivated the hearts of our people, who, given over to amorous
passions, having neither purity nor exhaltation, engender attacks of
erotic lunacy.” This learned alienist has also discovered that out
of 323 cases of insanity among the poor, love figured as a cause in
forty-six cases; and out of 167 cases among the rich, twenty-five
persons went insane on account of love. These close relations between
“Lunacy and Love,” admitted since mankind _entered into society_, have
served as a text for the Middle Ages, as is witnessed by the title of
the play we have mentioned; a work the more curious, for reason of its
_finesse_, notwithstanding the jests employed by its author as the
following analysis will witness.

Love and Lunacy arrive at the same moment at a festival to which
Jupiter has convened all the Gods. Lunacy, full of arrogance, wishes
to enter the banquet-hall before Love, and in order to do so turns
everything topsy-turvy to secure his end. The vindictive Love, in
order to be avenged, discharges a flight of arrows from the historical
quiver; but Lunacy avoids these by becoming invisible, and in his wrath
pulls out Love’s eyes, but afterwards skilfully puts them back in place
with a bandage.

Love, in despair at being blinded, goes to implore the help of his
mother. The latter desires the boy to remove the bandages from his
eyes, but his efforts are useless; they are full of knots. Venus calls
on Jupiter for justice for the injury done her boy. The Father of Gods
accepts the position of arbitrator and cites the offender to appear
before his tribunal. Mercury acts as attorney for Lunacy and Apollo
does the special pleading for Love. In the cross-examination, Love
tries to inform Jupiter of the fashions of loving, and tells him if
he desires true affection and happiness to descend to earth, drop all
appearances of greatness, and, under the guise of a simple mortal, seek
to captivate some earthly beauty. Apollo, speaking for his client,
young Cupid, is so eloquent that all the assemblage of Gods is seduced
by his oratory, and condemns Lunacy without even giving him a hearing.
But Jupiter is impartial in his tribunal, and allows Mercury to argue
for the defense. The latter pleads, in turn, with such eloquence
that one-half the jury is ready to say that Lunacy is not guilty—at
least among Olympian jurors. Jupiter is undecided; he is very wise,
however, and makes the following decision. “Owing to the differences of
witnesses and the importance of the case, we have set the case for a
re-hearing in three times seven times nine centuries—18,900 years—until
which time Folly, or Lunacy, shall lead the Blind (Cupid) anywhere she
chooses to go; and, at the end of the time named, should Cupid’s eyes
be restored, the Fates may decree otherwise.”

Lunacy and Love are thus rendered inseparable and eternal on earth;
they are connected together for the happiness of humanity and the
delight of psychologists, philosophers and moralists, who will always
find in these subjects something new for meditation and study. Need we
add, also, that the alienists will secure any number of clients owing
to Jupiter’s decision?

Let us now turn to a brief mention of

                         THE TREASURER’S WIFE.

This comedy, by Jacques Grevin, a medical poet, born at Clermont, was
written in the sixteenth century. This physician, from his earliest
youth, was enamored with the daughter of one of his confreres, Charles
Etienne; she was a noted beauty, but preferred another doctor, Jean
Liebaut, the author of “La Maison Rustique,” to our poet. In order to
console himself for the loss of his sweetheart, Grevin commenced to
write rhymes, and even surpassed Jodelle, the author of “Cleopatra and
Dido,” by his fecundity. He followed Marguerite de France, wife of the
Duke of Savoy, to whom he was family physician, to Turin, and died
there in 1570.

He left several plays in verse, the principal one of which was “La
Tresoriere,” an adulterous comedy relating to the intrigue of a
financier’s wife. It is only of medical interest inasmuch as it alludes
to syphilis, which at the time this play was written prevailed in
Europe almost as an epidemic, and as a study of the morals of the epoch
is not without interest to the syphilographer. The author, probably
owing to his early disappointment in love, had but a poor opinion of
the virtue of the women in his century, and makes many odd comparisons,
as, for instance:

    “Woman, ’tis often been said,
      Resembles a church lamp bright,
    That hangs on the altar overhead,
      And outshines the candles at night;
    She sheds an equal light on all,
    But without her light, no shadows fall.”

He was no believer in the morality of the aristocratic classes, and
alludes to the laxity of social rules and the spread of syphilis in the
following lines:

    “Aussi la femme a beau changer
    Un familier a l’etranger,
    L’etranger au premier venu,
    Toujours son cas est maintenu
    En son entier, si d’aventure
    Elle n’y mele quelqu’ ordure.”

The reference to the syphilis is here found in the two last lines; if
she has a love affair, there is ordure in the result. The allusion in
other passages is much more apparent, but too impolite for an English
rendering.

Let us now turn to another curious old French play,

                   LUCILLE AND INNOCENCE UNCOVERED.

Pharmacists, even at the present day, notwithstanding the rigid laws
to the contrary, often sell narcotics without a prescription. That the
modern druggist only follows the custom of his ancestor is evidenced
by this comedy of the sixteenth century, by Louis Le Jars, _i.e._,
“Lucille.”

The plot is as follows: At the moment a rich banker gives the hand
of his daughter Lucille to the Baron Saint Amour, he learns that the
former has been already secretly married to one of his clerks, a young
man named Ascagne. In his wrath the banker places a pistol at Ascagne’s
head, offering him at the same moment a goblet of poison, giving him
his choice as to the manner of death. Ascagne chooses poison, and
bravely drinks half the goblet and falls down, apparently inanimate.
The father then has the body of Ascagne carried into his daughter’s
presence, and also the remaining half-goblet of poison; the young woman
does not hesitate to drain the other half of the poison to the dregs,
and drops to the floor, like Ascagne, without consciousness.

Almost immediately following this double poisoning, a courier arrives
and demands Ascagne, who turns out to be the son of the King of Poland.
The banker is in despair, and sends post-haste for the apothecary
who furnished the poison, and the druggist forthwith declare that
the mixture is only a narcotic, the effects of which he can soon
neutralize. Scene of overpowering tenderness and joy, and marriage over
again to a real Prince.

It sometimes happens that physicians themselves give away opiates
without regard for the rights of the _medicamentarius renenum coquens_
of the neighborhood. Jean Auvray, Member of the French Parliament
and poet, evidences this fact in a tragio-comedy entitled “Innocence
Uncovered.” This little play is only a rural version of Phedra and
Hippolyte. Marsilie, in fact, is in love with Fabrice, the son of
Phocus, her husband, by a former marriage. Her passion for the young
man is so violent that she falls ill, and in a visit made her by
Fabrice the latter learns of the love his step-mother bears him, but
loyally repulses her advances. Marsilie, reflecting on the infamy of
her conduct, wishes to kill herself in a fit of remorse; but to prevent
this and calm her, Fabrice promises that if she will not suicide
he will visit her when his father is absent from home. Phocus soon
starts on a journey. Marsilie recalls to Fabrice the promise he made,
but Fabrice answers her offers with contempt and quits her presence
overcome with horror. Acting under the advice of her maid servant,
through fear that the young man may tell his father of her perfidy,
Marsilie consents to poison Fabrice, and sends her _valet_, Thomas, to
see a doctor and thus secure poison. The unfortunate _valet_ is very
much embarrassed and cannot tell the physician exactly what he desires,
and in order to obtain some deadly drug he details the symptoms of
an imaginary malady, and descants in the following manner: “Sir, for
several days past my master, who exceeds the Persians as a gourmand
in the cooking of delicious meats, gave a grand dinner party, equal
to that of the Gods at the wedding festival of Thetis. Now, know
that I, his principal servant, sat behind him; there by his order I
tasted every dish brought in by the butler, when such a terrible fury
broke forth in my belly that I was overcome with fright and agony. The
rumblings and grumblings in my interior were only comparable to the
reverberation of thunder claps among the highest crags of Tartarus.
Hell was astonished and our castle walls shook,” etc., etc.

This narration, which is made in French rhyme and is too long for
reproduction, naturally leads the doctor to prescribe for the impudent
_valet_, who proposes to pay him a hundred crowns for enough poison to
kill his master. The physician is angry and revengeful at the same time
at the _valet’s_ dreadful proposition, but, restraining himself, he
accepts the gold and gives Thomas in place of poison only a soporific
liquor; this the valet brings to his mistress, Marsilie. Now, Antoine,
the only son of Marsilie by Phocus, returning from the chase, sees the
flagon of liquor, and, mistaking it for wine, swallows the contents
at one draught. He falls to the floor unconscious and all believe
him dead. Marsilie accuses Fabrice of poisoning his stepbrother; the
unfortunate young man is taken before the judge, who condemns him to
death; he is about to be executed, when the physician enters on the
scene, tells all that has passed, and restores to life the supposed
dead Antoine.

Marsilie is tried and found guilty and repudiated by her husband and
family; and Fabrice becomes dearer than ever to his father. Without
making further commentaries on this piece, we see the place occupied
on the stage by medicine in the Middle Ages and the social standing of
the physician in polite society. We also note the _irregular_ practice
of the doctor, as well as the high standard of professional honor he
maintained in many instances.

                               THE GOUT.

This tragedy, in poetic form, was composed towards the close of the
sixteenth century by J. D. L. Blambeausaut. It has only three scenes,
and depicts the triumph of the gout. The poet describes an old man
overcome by the multiple pains of podagra, praying to obtain some
slight respite from the atrocious and agonizing pain he endures. The
Gout, an ever malevolent deity, rejects the old man’s prayer for
help, but carries him into a gathering of doctors who are vaunting, in
mutual admiration society fashion, their power in jugulating all forms
of disease and exalting their specifics for every known affection.
In order to punish these arrogant disciples of Æsculapius for their
presumption, the Gout gives them all the disease that bears his name,
and afterwards jeers at their impotent efforts to cure themselves of
aching joints.

This tragedy, name given by the author of the poem, is a very curious
treatise on the gout in rhyme, in which we find all the pathogenetic
theories given credence before the time that medical chemistry revealed
the action of an excess of uric acid in the organism. The blood, bile,
peccant humors settling in the parts affected were, as we all know,
causes attributed to diathesis by the majority of medical authors of
the Middle Ages. Thus the gout-afflicted man, in his imprecations
against what he calls “the torturer of humanity,” comes to say:

    “From the top of my head to the end of my toes
    I am cruelly tortured by agony’s woes,
    Filled up with black blood and billious humor,
    My flesh seems to pulsate like a sore tumor.
    The eating and gnawing I can’t describe well;
    My tendons all ache with the twinges of Hell,
    While through my fingers pains cut like a knife
    And add to my torment! I’m weary of life.”

Meantime our patient does not appear to have a robust faith in the
humoral theories of his physician, for he adds, in accursing the malady
that has ruined his health, that it permits him no repose:

    “Mal que jamais l’homme n’a pu comprendre
    Qui le plus sage induirait a se pendre.”

That is to say, that the doctors do not understand how to manage the
disease, a common idea among patients who are not cured of their malady
as speedily as they desire.

In one of the scenes the gout addresses a pompous eulogy on its power
over humanity, and inveighs against those physicians who discover a new
specific against gout every day. This list of remedies for the disease
is appalling; we cull but a few to satisfy the reader’s curiosity:

    “One advises flea wort and a parsley pill,
    One eats fruit at morning, when with gout he’s ill,
    One chews leaves of lettuce, one takes wild purslain;
    Another smells pond lilies, when he doth complain.
    Some remedies most curious are for gout deemed good,
    Such are herbs and simples to purify the blood;
    Angelica and gentian, the iris and green thyme,
    Along with fresh culled myrtle will cure it all the time;
    Hyssop and lavender, cherry and water cress,
    Basil, hops and anise, all make the pain grow less.
    Lentills, sage and savory, when the bowels they unbind,
    And the marvelous merchoracan that comes from far off Ind.
    There’s the beauteous laurel leaf that crowneth bard and king,
    Privet and cardamoms, whose praise we often sing.
    And there’s the sleeping poppy, what peace within it resides,
    Culled by the Turkish houris in the garden Hesperides;
    There’s the soothing comfrey and the glorious hoarhound,
    And the magic betal nut, in tropic isles that’s found;
    There’s the fragrant _fleur de lis_, when with pain you cry,
    There’s the odorous sheep dung, given always on the sly.
    Some dote on peach blossoms; some on saffron red,
    Some like hyoscyamus mixed with piss-a-bed;
    There’s bread crumbs and fennel mixed with young carrots
    Pounded in a mortar along with eschalots.
    There are some who use an ointment this disease to heal,
    Made of rinds of citron and golden orange peel,
    With frankencense and veratria root, to ease gouty pain,
    Applied to the great toes on the leaves of green plantain.
    There’s saltpeter ointment too, when to the foot applied
    It makes the patient furious wroth, or else he’s terrified,
    Giving the gout new twinges, and the sufferer spasms
    Only eased by eggs and flour in a soft cataplasm.
    Some patients take a razor and their own flesh deeply cut;
    The wound then duly poulticed is with meal and Cyprus nut.
    Some take red cabbage when other methods fail
    And eat it with vinegar mixed with the slime of snail;
    Some use biting dressings made from ugly lizards,
    Pounded up with doe’s hoof and weasel gizzards.
    Many think a certain and most efficacious cure
    Is a little blue stone ointment mixed with man’s ordure,
    And a celebrated surgeon, a knight of great renown,
    Used virgin urine as a cure for all the men in town.
    Some wear charms like foxes’ tails, or a beaver tooth;
    Others boil a new born caul and chew it up, forsooth,”
    etc., etc., _ad nauseam_.

Such are a few of the drugs employed against the gout, and certainly we
cannot enumerate all the remedies spoken of by this malevolent demon.
The treatment of Alexander Trallian, for example, is no less odd than
many of the recipes given in this poetic formulary; it was composed of
myrrh, coral, cloves, rue, peony and birthwort pounded together and
mixed in certain proportions, and prescribed as an antidote to the gout
for the space of 365 days, in the following manner: To be taken for
100 consecutive days, and then omitted for thirty days; then taken for
another 100 days, with fifteen days omission afterwards; finally, every
other day for 360 days. Circumcision was also a remedy, only applicable
to Christians for obvious reasons.[98]

This treatment is an example of the methodical system, and “rests
upon superstitious gifts,” says Sprengel. But there are some merits
discoverable even in this apparent superstition, _i.e._, the great
truth that the gout is a constitutional disease produced by luxury, and
consequently incurable by medicines; a severe regimen being imposed, at
the same time foolish prescriptions were given; it was the dieting and
not the formula that made Alexander Trallian’s treatment so successful.
However, it must not be forgotten that some medicines had a powerful
effect in attenuating the violence of the gouty attack; it was for
this reason that Cœlius Aurelianus resorted to purgatives and mineral
waters; and among the drugs used by chance in the Middle Ages were
found the flowers and bulbs of colchicum; the haughty Demon of Gout
dared not treat this remedy with disdain.

Meantime the _Gout_ addressed the following lines to the physicians and
_mires_ of the age.

    “Gardez vous, Siriens;
    Menteurs magiciens,
    Vendeurs de theriaque,
    Qu’elle ne vous attaque.”

To call the doctor of ancient times a “_vender of Theriacum_” was an
insult to professional pride. This absurd remedy was invented by one
of Nero’s slaves, and held a high place in public estimation. “It was
laid down in the pharmacopœias, _ad ostentationem artis_,” says Pliny,
“and enjoyed a reputation that was never justified by its thirty-six
ingredients and the varied assortment of inert gums entering into its
composition.”

In the third scene of the tragedy, the Demon Gout, recalls to the
memory of the doctors of the Middle Ages, its illustrious victims of
antiquity.

    “Priam, disposed to run, had gout;
    Achilles was too lame to get about;
    Bellerophon’s saddle toes complained;
    Ædipus had big joints that pained;
    Plisthenes on his feet, all swollen stood,
    Cursing the gout that coursed with his blood.”

How many other of the great have wept with the gout?

Then calling his faithful servitors, Pain, Insomnia, and Indigestion,
the Demon Gout bids them plunge his fiery darts into his enemies, to
burn them with an unquenchable flame:

    “Toy, brule ici par des douleurs nouvelles
    Le chef premier, les cuisses et tendons,
    Toy, convertis leur nerfs en noir charbons,
    Et vous aussi, d’une fureur soudaine,
    Froissez leurs mains, rendez leur drogue vaine.”

With this superb peroration, he afflicts all good doctors with the
gout and rheumatism. Since that day physicians the world over, says
our talented author, J. D. L. Blambeausaut, have been the victims of
this horrible malady. Let us now turn to the consideration of a curious
hygienic play, no less interesting than that of the Gout,

   CONDEMNATION OF HIGH LIVING AND PRAISE OF DIET AND SOBRIETY.[99]

This moral play, to which we might give the title of hygienic poetry,
appeared in 1507, under the name of its author, Nicolas de la Chesnaye,
along with another work, the latter in prose, on the “Government of the
Human Body.”

Nicolas de la Chesnaye was not only a poet but a doctor. He was a
physician of enough importance to be personal friend and medical
attendant of Louis XII, at whose instigation the poetical play was
written. This work is considered by many French critics to be a classic
of its kind; it is a poem dealing with all the curious manners and
customs of the time, and treats of morality and the stage. In a
prologue Nicole de la Chesnaye informs us how he came to be a poet, or,
rather, a writer of verses to be recited on the public stage, in which
were embodied the hygienic and dietetic precepts of the epoch, together
with the medical doctrines in vogue. Let us cite a few lines from this
prologue: “Oh, ye who write or attempt to follow copies of ancient
works, ye should strive to omit such phrases as are difficult to be
understood by the masses of the people; endeavor then to not exceed in
quantity and quality their mental capacity and your own understanding.
On such an occasion as this, I, who am ignorant as compared to many
among ye, have had the hardihood to compose and put in rhyme this
little play of mine upon morality. The intention of this work is to
make an exterminating war on gluttony, debauchery, inebriety, and
avariciousness, and to praise and extol temperance, virtue, sobriety,
and generosity, to the end of improving mankind. So in this work I have
given the personages of my play the names of different maladies, as,
for example, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Dropsy, Jaundice, Gout, etc., etc.”

The object of the author’s play is thus plainly stated at the outset.
In the first act we see Dinner, Supper, and Banquet conniving against