8o TFIE POPULAR SCIiJNCE MONTHLY. 



pleasure. When the mother returned home and was washing her 

 child she heard the melancholy mewing of a cat near the house, 

 and was now thoroughly convinced of the truth of the wizard's 

 statements. Margaret Klein, an estimable maiden of twenty-two, 

 was on this account decried and shunned by nearly every person 

 in the village, and was finally compelled, for the sake of her good 

 name, to prosecute Frau Frenzel, who was sent to jail for five 

 days and condemned to pay the costs of the trial. 



It is hardly necessary to multiply instances of this kind. 

 They are of constant occurrence and endlessly repetitious, the 

 tautological echo of old superstition, a striking illustration of the 

 persistency of tradition and the poverty of the popular imagina- 

 tion. The question as to when the last witch was burned has been 

 frequently discussed by historians, who differ as to the exact date, 

 but generally agree that it was not later than the second half of 

 the eighteenth century. As a matter of fact, a woman named 

 Agrafena Ignatyeva was burned as a witch by her fellow-country- 

 men at Vratshevo, in the Russian province of Novgorod, in 1879, if 

 not with the co-operation at least with the collusion of the local 

 authorities, and we have no reason to suppose that she was or 

 will be the last victim of this cruel delusion. 



The unpleasant smell of garlic which so often offends the nos- 

 trils of travelers in Servia and other countries of eastern and 

 southern Europe is due in a great measure to the notion that 

 witches have a strong aversion to this plant. It is chiefly for this 

 reason that the common people not only eat it, but also rub them- 

 selves and their children with it, especially on going to bed, so as 

 not to be visited by any wandering night hag who might other- 

 wise strike the sleeper on his breast with her magic wand, open 

 his side, and devour his heart ; the wound would then close up 

 without leaving any scar to show the cause of his death. 



In some districts of Dalmatia it is still customary to throw all 



the women into the water on a specified day to see whether they 



will sink or swim. A rope is attached to each one in order to 



save from drowning those who prove their innocence by sinking. 



The witches who float are also pulled out, and after being rather 



roughly handled are made to promise to renounce the devil on 



pain of being stoned. The Dalmatians are evidently of Heine's 



opinion, that 



"Geuau bei Weibern 



Weiss man nicht wo der Engel 



Aufhort und der Teufel anfangt." 



Hence they deem it necessary to apply their simple but decisive 

 test occasionally, and the prevalence of an epidemic or epizooty is 

 pretty sure to be followed by a general immersion of the fairer 

 and frailer sex. 



