Henry E. Sigerist 545 



to copulate with her. Secondly, he can excite a man to that act, or freeze his desire for it, by 

 the virtue of secret things of which he best knows the power. Thirdly, he can so disturb a 

 man's perception and imagination as to make the woman appear loathsome to him: since 

 he can, as has been said, influence the imagination. Fomthly, he can directly prevent the 

 erection of that member which is adapted to fructification, just as he can prevent a local 

 motion. Fifthly, he can prevent the flow of the vital essence to the members in which lies the 

 motive powers; by closing as it ^vere the seminary ducts, so that it does not descend to the 

 generative channels, or falls back from them, or does not project from them, or in any of 

 many ways fails in its fimction. 



More specifically witches were supposed to "impede and prevent the power 



of procreation" in the following way:" 



Extrinsically they cause it at times by means of images, or by the eating of herbs; sometimes 

 by other external means, such as cocks' testicles. But it must not be thought that it is by the 

 virtue of these things that a man is made impotent, but by the occidt power of devils' illusions 

 witches by this means procure such impotence, namely, that they cause a man to be imable to 

 copulate, or a \\'oman to conceive. 



The Malleus Maleficarum states that "God allows the devil to afflict sinners 

 more than the just."" and in the case of impotence "the infirmity we are con- 

 sidering can only be due to the sin of incontinence. For, as we have said, God 

 allows the devil more power over that act than over other human acts, because 

 of its natural nastiness, and because by it the first sin was handed down to 

 posterity." 



The victim of a spell was therefore frequently branded as a sinner. The 



remedies were five:^ 



In conclusion we may say that there are five remedies which may lawfully be applied to 

 those who are bewitched in this way: namely, a pilgrimage to some holy and venerable shrine; 

 true confession of their sins with contrition; the plentiful use of the sign of the Cross and 

 devout prayer; lawful exorcism by solemn words, the n.atiue of which will be explained later; 

 and lastly, a remedy can be effected by prudently approaching the witch . . . 



Johann Weyer who in his De Praestigiis Daeynoniirn, published in 1563, so 

 courageously opposed witch-hunting, discussed also the question of impo- 

 tence.^" He pointed out that such a condition could result from various natural 

 causes and that it could also be produced incidentally by drugs. One should 

 therefore not think of sorcery whenever such a case occurs, nor accuse inno- 

 cent people. Weyer did not deny that the devil could disturb a man's gen- 

 erative function, but he was most violent in affirming that the devil would 

 certainly not need the intermediary of some filthy old wench. He discarded as 

 lies various stories told about impotence caused or cured by magical means. 

 In the case of a gentleman who was cured by anointing himself with bile of a 

 raven and some kind of an oil after a recipe of the book of Cleopatra,^' Weyer's 

 conclusion was that erroneous beliefs can harm an individual but can also 

 relieve him. 



Impotence is no longer a mystery, and we can understand the condition 

 without taking recourse to the devil. Impotence, however, like other nervous 

 disorders and particularly sexual neuroses is still a playground for superstitions 

 and quackery. 



