76 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the house, rescued her, already half-suffocated, from a horrible 

 death. 



About a year ago an old ^voman named Theresia Kleitsch 

 was crucified at Rekeseley, in Hungary, on suspicion of having 

 bewitched the stalls of her neighbors and thus caused many 

 cattle to die of murrain. Not long since, in a village near Moscow, 

 a woman seventy-three years of age, named Darya, was clubbed 

 and stoned to death by the inhabitants because she was supposed 

 to have an " evil eye," which brought sickness and other misfor- 

 tunes upon her neighbors. Seven of the chief culprits were sen- 

 tenced to four years' hard labor in Siberia. When brought to 

 trial they pleaded not guilty, declaring that the old hag was well 

 known to be a witch, and that they were perfectly justified in not 

 suffering her to live. 



The measures recently devised to suppress a witch at Lupest, 

 in Hungary, are the more noteworthy because they emanated 

 from the civil authorities. The death of an old woman who had 

 the reputation of being in solemn covenant with the devil was 

 the occasion of public rejoicings. In the midst of the festivities 

 it was announced that a villager's cow had died suddenly and 

 under suspicious circumstances. The common council, after an 

 official investigation, reported that the cow had been bewitched 

 by the deceased beldame, and, in order to prevent her from doing 

 further harm, commanded that a stallion should be brought and 

 made to leap over her grave. The horse, however, showed signs 

 of fright and refused to j^imp, and this circumstance greatly 

 added to the public excitement. Finally, it was decreed by the 

 common council that the body of the witch should be exhumed 

 and stabbed with red-hot pitchforks. This proceeding proved 

 effective, and the old hag ceased to trouble her former neighbors. 



In the little town of Gif, about twelve miles from Paris, was a 

 girl nineteen years of age, who had suffered for several months 

 from an aggravated form of hysteria accompanied by catalepsy. 

 One of the most distinguished Parisian physicians. Dr. Dumontpal- 

 lier, made a diagnosis of the disease, declared it to be curable, and 

 offered to treat it gratuitously if the parents would send the 

 patient to one of the city hospitals. This generous offer was de- 

 clined, owing to the intervention of the village priest, who had 

 meanwhile informed the family that it was a clear case of de- 

 moniacal possession, with which the Church alone was competent 

 to cope, and had applied to Monseigneur Goux, Bishop of Ver- 

 sailles, for permission to proceed with the exorcism. The right 

 reverend ecclesiastic not only granted this request, but also sent 

 the director of the theological seminary of Versailles to assist 

 him in the conjuration. Both appeared at the bedside of the 

 maiden in full canonicals, each with a crucifix in his hand and 



