FL YING-MA CHINES. . 3 



means to the sinful or good end in view. The broomstick took a 

 pre-eminent position as a flying-machine. What a pity it is that our 

 ancestors should have so persistently fought against and finally suc- 

 ceeded in surpressing the broomstick ! What could be more simple 

 and effective ? Perhaps by proper treatment the witches might have 

 been persuaded to instruct the rest of the world in its use. In those 

 days, dragons and magicians and good and evil spirits made out-of- 

 doors at night rather dangerous, and good people remained at home, 

 with holy water on hand for an emergency. Here is an example from 

 Remigius. Says he : " There is no doubt the following will be consid- 

 ered incredible by all and ridiculous by many ; yet I can aver that two 

 hundred persons testified to its truth. On regular and stated days 

 these people assembled in a crowd on the banks of some lake or river, 

 secluded from the observation of passers-by ; and there they were in 

 the habit of lashing the water with wands received from demons, until 

 such time as vapors and mists were produced in large quantities, and 

 with these they were wont to soar on high. The exhalations thus pro- 

 voked condensed themselves into thick and darkling clouds, agitated 

 and swept the heavens, assisted in their atmospheric war by the evil 

 spirits whom they wrapped in their folds, and at length in a hail-storm 

 smote the earth in their fury. . . . Salome and Dominica Zabella, how- 

 ever, add that, before they thus agitated the water, they were in the 

 practice of throwing into it an earthen pot, in which a little previous 

 a demon had been inclosed, together with some stones of such size as 

 they wished the hail to be. . . . Decker Maygeth states that he and his 

 confederates in crime used to receive candles from a demon of an azure 

 color, and sail with them some distance from the margin of the lake, 

 hold the light downward and let it drop freely into the water ; that 

 after that they scattered and spread some medicinal powder over the 

 surface ; that they then, with black rods, bestowed on them by de- 

 mons, most vehemently lashed the waters, accompanying the action 

 with a repetition of incantations to produce the desired results. Then 

 the sky became overcast with clouds, and discharged torrents of rain 

 and hail on those localities which they had pointed out." This incan- 

 tation, Remigius says, " is not an invention of modern ages. It is not 

 the invention of old hags whose mental powers were depraved by de- 

 mons, or perverted by visions or dreams. It was practiced by men of 

 keen intellects and acute investigation, who minutely observed, criti- 

 cally examined, and deliberately adopted their convictions." 



Here is a description, according to Kircher, of a flying-machine in- 

 vented by one of the fathers of the Church : Some of the fathers in 

 India had been " cast into prison, and while they continued ignorant 

 of any means of effecting their liberation, some one, more cunning than 

 the rest, invented an extraordinary machine, and then threatened the 

 barbarians, unless they liberated his companions, that they would be- 

 hold in a short time some wonderful portents and experience the visible 



