On Popular Illuftons, 45 



at the very moment when the afliftants perceived 

 them. This laft opinion was adopted by 

 Wieriis, and certainly was a nearer approach 

 to truth than the others, as it has been found 

 that fecuring a patient's bands has prevented 

 him from vomiting the dura materies*, of which 

 his pockets were full. A fingle inftance will 

 fhew, however, that Wierus was exceffively 

 embarrafled by this hypothefis-j-. A girl com- 

 plained of fudden pain in her fide, and afferted 

 that file felt a knife (ticking in it, which fhe had 

 juft borrowed from her fifter j her relations 

 laughed at this as an idle fancy, but on the 

 burfting of an abcefs which had formed on the 

 feat of the pain, the point of a knife became 

 vifible, and the inftrument was extrafted by a 

 furgeon from Wolfenbuttel. Wierus, being 

 a phyfician, knew very well that a knife fix 

 inches long could not be thruft into the cellular 

 fubftance without any external appearance of 

 wound or haemorrhage; therefore he fuppofes 

 the devil to have laid the knife upon the abcefs, 

 fo as to difcover the point, but to have con- 

 cealed the handle by an illufion, reliquam culteUi 

 partem pr,ejligiis velajfe. Buc as the knife was 

 rufty, he believes the demon had kept it in fome 

 dunghill, and as its fubftance was corroded, he 

 mud have fteeped it in an acid. This is a 



" Hutchinfon'g Efl*. on Witchcraft. f P. 307, & feq. 



fufficient 



