682  Egyptian  Secrets  and  Magical  Spirit      J  Am'cjc^im arm' 
however,  that  the  quackery  and  mysticism  that  did  much  to  discredit 
alchemy  during  its  later  period  were  the  products  of  an  ignorant  and 
superstitious  age  and  the  result  of  the  inability  to  read  and  under- 
stand some  of  the  ancient  manuscripts. 
The  recent  revelations  of  the  extent  to  which  the  charms,  in- 
cantations and  queer  ceremonies  of  witch-craft  still  flourish  in  some 
of  the  rural  sections  of  Pennsylvania  bears  evidence  that  even  today 
many  people  are  following  along  the  lines  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition and  are  calling  upon  the  witch  doctor  for  relief. 
In  one  instance  two  verdicts,  aggregating  $15,000  in  damages, 
were  awarded  to  the  father  of  two  girls  over  which  the  witch  doctor- 
had  acquired  almost  absolute  control.  On  one  occasion  he  bored  a 
hole  in  a  tree  with  an  auger,  clipped  off  the  girls'  hair  and  placed 
it  in  the  hole,  meantime  mumbling  mystic  words. 
The  newspapers  reported  a  case  only  a  short  distance  from 
Allentown,  Pa.,  where  a  man  and  his  wife  were  shot  because  the 
would-be  murderer  believed  that  they  had  bewitched  him. 
Another  interesting  news  item  was  to  the  effect  that  a  witch 
doctor  had  been  arrested  in  Reading,  Pa.,  for  having  obtained  money 
under  false  pretense.  This  was  said  to  have  caused  a  fine  flutter 
among  the  best  people  of  Berks  County  who  feared  that  he  might 
betray  some  of  their  family  secrets. 
The  most  fertile  soil  for  the  development  of  a  belief  in  the 
efficacy  of  the  black  art,  magical  spirit  art,  quack  doctors, 
witch  doctors  or  any  other  form  of  pow-wowing  is  found  in 
the  mind  of  the  ignorant  and  uneducated.  Like  the  people  of  the 
dark  ages  their  tendency  seems  to  be  to  look  to  the  supernatural,  the 
magical  and  the  mystifying.  They  are  not  acquainted  with  the  facts 
so  their  efforts  are  bent  toward  creating  a  world  after  their  own 
imagination.  Books  like  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  Book  of  Moses  and 
The  Egyptian  Secrets  are  interesting  to  us  only  as  a  matter  of 
curiosity.  Yet,  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  harm  that  may  be 
done  by  allowing  them  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  people  of  this  type. 
Our  most  effective  weapon  in  combatting  the  evils  that  may  arise 
from  the  indiscriminate  use,  at  the  present  time,  of  magical  cures 
and  ancient  secrets  is  found  in  our  educational  system.  Every 
effort  should  be  made  to  advance  the  standards  of  our  country 
school  in  order  that  their  influence  may  be  as  effective  and  as  far- 
reaching  as  possible. 
