THE REVIVAL OF WITCHCRAFT. 519 



pie come to the clinique, and there are not many strangers, and so I was told that 

 it was not worth while my coming for the next week or two, and Dr. Luys did 

 not expect me. 



She then gave us a long list of her capacities, which run 

 through the whole gamut of the phenomena described in the vol- 

 umes of the professor at La Charite. She was duly put to sleep, 

 and then I produced my tube. I had on the mantelpiece a num- 

 ber of tubes which I had taken at random from the laboratory of 

 my brother-in-law, M. Vignal, containing a great variety of crys- 

 talline substances. These, however, she had already spied on the 

 mantelpiece on coming in, and she said, " Oh, I must warn you 

 that I am not at all susceptible to dry powders in tubes, only to 

 fluids, and you won't get any effects with those." Respecting her 

 scientific prudery and affected hypnotic exclusiveness, I humored 

 her by immediately sending to the neighboring chemist for some 

 tubes containing alcohol, valerian, cherry -laurel water, distilled 

 water, and solution of burned sugar. One of the medical frequent- 

 ers of the Charite' was kind enough to go and get them, and he 

 was good enough to see also that all the tubes were incorrectly 

 labeled. A private mark on the corks indicated the true con- 

 tents, which were duly entered in the notes of the sitting. I now 

 said to him, " Kindly give me the valerian," in a low voice which 

 she was supposed not to hear. This was duly placed in contact 

 with the skin of the neck, the actual contents of the tube being 

 alcohol. Then came the cat performance to perfection. I will do 

 Jeanne (the other name under which this lady will be found spoken 

 of in the lectures of Dr. Luys) the justice to say that she was by 

 far the most accomplished performer of the three of his subjects 

 whom I saw go through this performance at my rooms and at the 

 Charite" under similar circumstances. She scratched, she mewed 

 to perfection, she washed imaginary whiskers, she spat, she licked 

 her hands, she lapped milk from a saucer ; and when you " pressed 

 the button " at her back she sat up rigid as on hind quarters and 

 caressed her face with her paws with a truly feline grace. She 

 came back to her chair, or was supported back, for she was still 

 supposed to be in deep somnambulism, and we brought into use 

 the tube which was labeled cherry-laurel water, but which really 

 contained valerian. Now commenced another performance, which 

 among the trained subjects of the Charite' is supposed to be iden- 

 tified with the " effect at a distance " of the fluid described on the 

 label. After a decent period of waiting she fell slowly on her 

 knees, her face assumed the characters of ecstasy, her eyes were 

 fixed on space, and her features composed with great art to an 

 affected expression of pious rapture ; the hands were held up im- 

 ploringly, then her head dropped and her arms folded across her 

 breast as in prayer. Her hands presently were extended and her 



