Hollmau.] o50 [MayC, 



widow became impressed ■witli a boatman with whom she casually be- 

 came acquainted, and as he evinced no response to her numerous mani- 

 leslatious of regard, she adopted the following method to comptl Jam to 

 love her even against his will. With the blade of a penknife she scraped 

 her knee until she had secured a slight quantity of the cuticle, baked it in 

 a specially prepared cake and sent it to him, though with what result is 

 not known. This woman was known to have hud the utmost foith in the 

 charm. 



Another class of conjurers direct their attention to the cure of sick and 

 bewitched cattle and other domestic animals ; to casting " lucky bullets ;" 

 furnishing charms to prevent another man from firing off a gun, usually 

 termed "stealing fire " or "taking fire;" giving charms to prevent dogs 

 Irom barking, or biting, etc. 



It is true that any one acquainted with these methods may himself prac- 

 tice them, but in sonie there is more certainty of success, it is alleged, if 

 an adept first apply to a recognized conjurer for verification of the method 

 ot procedure, otherwise such conjurer, if slighted, might place a counter- 

 charm in the way of success. 



As already intimated, witches are supposed to possess abilities in curing 

 the sick, and such as may have been charmed by other witches and con- 

 jurers ; but there is a belief, also, that some of these beings have the 

 power of transforming themselves, and their victims, into other animals. 

 The following instance is said to have occurred in Northern Lehigh 

 county, many years ago :* A vicious black sow Avas frequently encoun- 

 tered by people on the highway, but no one knew to whom the animal 

 belonged. One day, as the sow became too aggressive in pursuit of her 

 victim, tlie person thus annoyed picked up a heavy piece of wood and 

 threw it, breaking one of the animal's legs. It was learned subsequently 

 that a witch living in that neighborhoDd had broken her leg on the same 

 da}'' and at the same hour, and it was firmly believed that the witch and 

 the animal — which was never encountered afterwards — were one and the 

 same. 



The following is a similar instance of alleged transformation caused by 

 a witch, and although the circumstance is said to have occurred during 

 the early part of the present century, it is still mentioned as inexplicable 

 and supernatural by the present residents. The story, in brief, is as fol- 

 lows :f Near Trexlertown, Lehigh couniy, dwelt a farmer named Weiler. 

 Ills wife and three daughters had, by some means or other, incurred the 

 enmity of a witch who lived but a short distance away, when the latter, 

 it is supposed, took her revenge in the following manner. Whenever 

 visitors came to the Weiler residence, the girls, without anj' premonition 

 whatever, would suddenly be changed into snakes, and alter crawling 

 back and forth along the top ridge of the wainscoting for several mm- 



* Reportdl bj' the writer in Journal Am. Folk-lore, Boston and N. Y., ii, 1889, p. 32, 

 t J. Am. Folk-lore, cit. sup., p. 33. Reported by tbe present writer. 



