;KEE THOUSAND YEARS 
 OF MENTAL HEALING 
 
 'fr! 1'T
 
 iRARY 
 
 tS!TY Of 
 UPOONIA 
 .N DIE9O
 
 BOOKS BY GEORGE B. CUTTEN 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing. 
 
 Illustrated net $1.50 
 
 The Physiological Phenomena of Chris- 
 tianity net $2.50 
 
 The Psychology of Alcoholism. Illustrated. 
 
 net $1.50
 
 THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF 
 MENTAL HEALING
 
 BAS-RELIEF REPRESENTING THE GALLIC AESCULAPIUS 
 DISPATCHING A DEMON
 
 THREE THOUSAND YEAES OF 
 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE BARTON CUTTEN, PH.D. 
 
 (YALE) 
 PRESIDENT OF ACADIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 ct<j^ NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 1911
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BT 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published February, 1911 
 
 ClOOW
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 artemug SlSiipman Satoper, JD.D,, &.IUD* 
 
 PEBSIDENT OP ACADIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 1869-1896 
 
 HE HID FROM US HIS HEART WHILE WE THOUGHT THAT HE LOVED 
 ONLY HIS STUDIES J WE LATER LEARNED THAT HE LAID 
 EMPHASIS ON THAT WHICH HE LOVED ONLY LESS TRUE 
 KNOWLEDGE, IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT INTRO- 
 DUCE IT TO THOSE THAT HE LOVED MOST 
 HIS PUPILS. HE TAUGHT AS NONE OTHER
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE present decade has experienced an intense 
 interest in mental healing. This has come as a 
 culmination of the development along these lines 
 during the past half century. It has shown itself 
 in the beginning of new religious sects with this as 
 a, or the, fundamental tenet, in more wide-spread 
 general movements, and in the scientific study and 
 application of the principles underlying this form 
 of therapeutics. 
 
 Many have been led astray because, being igno- 
 rant of the mental healing movements and vagaries 
 of the past, the late applications, veiled in meta- 
 physical or religious verbiage, have seemed to them 
 to be new in origin and principle. No one could 
 consider an historical survey of the subject and 
 reasonably hold this opinion. It is on account of 
 the ignorance of similar movements, millenniums old, 
 that so much, if any, originality can be credited to 
 the founders. 
 
 The object of this volume is to present a general 
 view of mental healing, dealing more especially 
 with the historical side of the subject. While this is 
 divided topically, the topics are presented in a com-
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 paratively chronological order, and thereby trace the 
 development of the subject to the present century. 
 
 The term "mental healing" is given the broadest 
 possible use, and comprehends any cures which may 
 be brought about by the effect of the mind over the 
 body, regardless of whether the power back of the 
 cure is supposed to be deity, demons, other human 
 beings, or the individual mind of the patient. 
 
 It is hoped that this may contribute to the knowl- 
 edge of a subject which is of such wide-spread pop- 
 ular interest. 
 
 GEORGE BARTON CUTTEN. 
 
 WOLFVILLE, NOVA SCOTIA, 
 
 December 1, 1910.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION MENTAL HEALING ... 3 
 
 II. EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 19 
 
 III. THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ... 35 
 
 IV. RELICS AND SHRINES 61 
 
 V. HEALERS 110 
 
 VI. TALISMANS 138 
 
 VII. AMULETS 158 
 
 VIII. CHARMS 189 
 
 IX. ROYAL TOUCH 224 
 
 X. MESMER AND AFTER 249 
 
 XI. THE HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 273 
 
 INDEX . ... 309
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BAS-RELIEF REPRESENTING THE GALLIC JSSCULAPITJS 
 
 DISPATCHING A DEMON Frontispiece 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 CURE THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF A HEALING SAINT . 72 
 
 VALENTINE GREATRAKES 134 
 
 SIR KENELM DIGBY 152 
 
 KING'S TOUCH-PIECES 226 
 
 F. A. MESMER 252 
 
 JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE 276 
 
 GEORGE O. BARNES 290 
 
 MARY BAKER EDDY 302
 
 THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF 
 MENTAL HEALING
 
 CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTION MENTAL HEALING 
 
 "Tis painful thinking that corrodes our clay." ARMSTRONG. 
 
 "Oh, if I could once make a resolution, and determine to be well! " 
 
 WALDERSTEIN. 
 
 "The body and the mind are like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining, 
 rumple the one and you rumple the other." STERNE. 
 
 " I find, by experience, that the mind and the body are more than 
 married, for they are most intimately united; and when the one 
 suffers, the other sympathizes." CHESTERFIELD. 
 
 "Sublime is the dominion of the mind over the body, that for a 
 time can make flesh and nerve impregnable, and string the sinews 
 like steel, so that the weak become so mighty." STOWE. 
 
 "The surest road to health, say what they will, 
 Is never to suppose we shall be ill; 
 Most of those evils we poor mortals know 
 From doctors and imagination flow." CHURCHILL. 
 
 THE fact that there is a reciprocal relation be- 
 tween mental states and bodily conditions, acting 
 both for good and ill, is nothing new in human 
 experience. Even among the most crude and un- 
 observing, traditions and incidents have given 
 witness to this knowledge. For centuries stories of 
 the hair turning white during the night on account 
 of fright or sorrow, the cause and cure of diseases 
 through emotional disturbances, and death, usually 
 directly by apoplexy, caused by anger, grief, or joy, 
 have been current and generally accepted. On the 
 other hand, irritability and moroseness caused by
 
 4 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 disordered organs of digestion, change of acumen or 
 morals due to injury of the brain or nervous system, 
 and insanity produced by bodily diseases, are also 
 accepted proofs of the effect of the body on the 
 mind. 
 
 Recent scientific investigation has been directed 
 along the line of the influence of the mind over the 
 body, and to that phase of this influence which 
 deals with the cure rather than the cause of disease. 
 In addition to what the scientists have done along 
 this line, various religious cults have added the 
 application of these principles to their other tenets 
 and activities, or else have made this the chief 
 corner-stone of a new structure. There are some 
 reasons why this connection with religion should 
 continue to exist, and why it has been a great help 
 both to the building up of these particular sects and 
 the healing of the bodies of those who combine re- 
 ligion with mental healing. 
 
 We must not forget that in early days the priest, 
 the magician, and the physician were combined in 
 one person, and that primitive religious notions are 
 difficult to slough off. Shortly before the beginning 
 of the Christian era there were some indications that 
 healing was to be freed from the bondage of religion, 
 but the influence of Jesus' healing upon Christians, 
 and the overwhelming influence of Christianity upon 
 the whole world, delayed this movement, so that it 
 did not again become prominent until the sixteenth
 
 MENTAL HEALING 5 
 
 century. About this time, when therapeutics as a 
 science began to shake off the shackles of religion 
 and superstition, another startling innovation was 
 noticeable, viz., the division of mental healing into 
 religious and non-religious healing. This change 
 came gradually, and as is usual in all reform, cer- 
 tain prophets saw and proclaimed the real truth 
 which the people were not able to follow or receive 
 for centuries. 
 
 Paracelsus, who lived during the first half of the 
 sixteenth century, wrote these shrewd words: 
 "Whether the object of your faith is real or false, 
 you will nevertheless obtain the same effects. Thus, 
 if I believe in St. Peter's statue as I would have be- 
 lieved in St. Peter himself, I will obtain the same 
 effects that I would have obtained from St. Peter; 
 but that is superstition. Faith, however, produces 
 miracles, and whether it be true or false faith, it will 
 always produce the same wonders." We have also 
 this penetrating observation from Pierre Ponpo- 
 nazzi, of Milan, an author of the same century: 
 "We can easily conceive the marvellous effects 
 which confidence and imagination can produce, par- 
 ticularly when both qualities are reciprocal between 
 the subject and the person who influences them. 
 The cures attributed to the influence of certain 
 relics are the effect of this imagination and con- 
 fidence. Quacks and philosophers know that if the 
 bones of any skeleton were put in the place of the
 
 6 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 saint's bones, the sick would none the less experi- 
 ence beneficial effects, if they believed they were 
 near veritable relics." 
 
 What seemed to be a movement whereby mental 
 healing should be divided so that only a portion of 
 it should be connected with religion proved to be 
 too far in advance of its time, and not until the 
 advent of Mesmer was this accomplished. Healing 
 other than mental, however, did obtain its freedom 
 at this time. While Mesmer and his followers empha- 
 sized non-religious mental healing, it should not be 
 thought that mental therapeutics was ever entirely 
 separated from the church. There have always been 
 found some sects which laid particular emphasis on it, 
 and both Roman Catholic and Protestant orthodox 
 Christianity have always admitted it. It has been 
 considered, even if not admitted, that the power of 
 the Infinite was more clearly shown by the healing of 
 the body than by the restoration of the moral life. 
 It is natural, then, that the sects which showed this 
 special proof of God's presence and power would 
 grow faster than their spiritual competitors, but 
 that they would decline more rapidly and surely 
 than those which espoused more spiritual doctrines. 
 
 On the other hand, it is not difficult to see why 
 mental healing would be helped by its connection 
 with religion. Religion grips the whole mind more 
 firmly than any other subject has ever done, and 
 when one accepts the orthodox conception of God,
 
 MENTAL HEALING 7 
 
 he naturally expects to come in contact with One 
 whose sympathies are in favor of the cure of his 
 diseases, and whose power is sufficient to bring about 
 this cure. With this basis there is set up in the mind 
 of the patient an expectancy which has always 
 proven to be a most valuable precursor of a cure. 
 The devout religious attitude of mind is one most 
 favorable for the working of suggestion, and persons 
 of the temperament adapted to the religious ex- 
 pression most valued in the past are those who 
 could be most readily affected by mental means. 
 For these reasons, it can be easily understood why 
 mental healing has continued to be associated with 
 religion, and why when thus associated it has been 
 so successful. 
 
 To those not very familiar with mental healing, 
 it has seemed strange that any law could be formu- 
 lated which would comprehend every variety. In 
 the following pages many different forms will be 
 described, and in examining the subject it will be 
 found that many and varied are the explanations 
 given for the results produced. We find also a gen- 
 eral distrust of all the others, or else a claim that 
 this particular sect is the only real and true ex- 
 ponent of mental healing, and that it produces the 
 only genuine cures. Those which claim to be 
 Christian sects, however divergent the direct ex- 
 planation of their results, give the final credit to 
 God, and base their modus operandi upon the Bible
 
 8 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 in fact, they claim to be the direct successors of 
 Jesus and his disciples in this respect. 
 
 We find, however, that the healer connected with 
 the Christian sect has no advantage over his Mo- 
 hammedan or Buddhist brother, and that neither is 
 able to succeed better than the non-religious healer 
 in all cases. We recognize that when one class of 
 healers fails in a case another may succeed, but the 
 successful one is just as liable to fail in a second 
 case when the first one cures. What particular form 
 of suggestion is most effective in any given case de- 
 pends upon the temperament of the individual and 
 his education, religious training, and environment. 
 When we consider the whole matter we are forced to 
 the conclusion that mental cures are independent 
 of any particular sect, religion, or philosophy; some 
 are cured by one form and some by another. Not 
 the creed, but some force which resides in the mind 
 of every one accomplishes the cure, and the most 
 that any religion or philosophy can do is to bring 
 this force into action. 
 
 As a general rule, one sharp distinction is noticed 
 between the religious and the non-religious healers, 
 viz., the religious healer sees no limit to his healing 
 power, and affirms that cancer and Bright's disease 
 are as easily cured, in theory at least, as neuralgia 
 or insomnia; the non-religious healer, sometimes 
 designated as the "scientific healer," on the con- 
 trary, recognizes that there are some diseases which
 
 MENTAL HEALING 9 
 
 are more easily cured than others, and that of those 
 others some are practically incurable by psycho- 
 therapeutic methods. 
 
 The line has been drawn in the past between func- 
 tional and organic diseases, the former including 
 diseases where there is simply a derangement of 
 function, like indigestion, and the latter compre- 
 hending the diseases where the organ is affected, 
 like ulcer of the stomach. The more we know about 
 diseases the less sure we seem to be about their 
 classification; some of which we were formerly sure 
 have recently caused us considerable doubt. For 
 example, we have formerly classed cancer as an or- 
 ganic disease and consequently incurable by mental 
 means. The question is now asked, "Is cancer an 
 organic disease, or is it some functional derangement 
 of the epithelium tissue which causes it to grow in- 
 definitely until it invades some vital organ?" 
 
 A further question arises due to further study. 
 Some of the latest investigators claim that most if 
 not all persons have cancer at some time in life, 
 but that anti-toxin or some other remedy is supplied 
 by the body itself, and the growth is stopped and the 
 tissue absorbed. The question then seems to be 
 pertinent, "If the body can produce the cure within 
 itself, and this would be functional, why cannot 
 mental means stimulate the body to produce it?" 
 or "Does not mental influence stimulate the body 
 to produce it?" What the cancer experts tell us of
 
 10 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 the wide-spread extension of the disease and its 
 spontaneous cure, the tuberculosis experts affirm of 
 tuberculosis, and certainly of the latter disease spon- 
 taneous cures are not uncommon. We also know 
 that mental influence may, in fact does, have an 
 indirect but no less beneficial influence in the cure 
 of tuberculosis. From these examples one seems to 
 be forced to either one of two conclusions, either of 
 which is contrary to generally accepted ideas, viz., 
 first, that these are not organic diseases; or, second, 
 organic diseases are aided or cured by means of 
 mental healing. In general, however, the distinc- 
 tion holds good; the so-called functional cases are 
 amenable to cure by mental means, and the organic 
 are much less so. 
 
 Coming back, then, to the common law which 
 underlies all cases or forms of mental healing, we 
 find two general principles upon which it is built 
 the power of the mind over the body, and the im- 
 portance of suggestion as a factor in the cure of the 
 disease. The law may be tersely stated in the first 
 person as follows: My body tends to adjust itself so 
 as to be in harmony with my ideas concerning it. 
 This law is equally applicable to the cause or cure of 
 disease by mental means. To apply this law in a 
 universal way as far as mental healing is concerned, 
 we should notice that however the thought of cure 
 may come into the mind, whether by external or 
 auto-suggestion, if it is firmly rooted so as to im-
 
 MENTAL HEALING 11 
 
 press the subconsciousness, that part of the mind 
 which rules the bodily organs, a tendency toward 
 cure is at once set up and continues as long as that 
 thought has the ascendency. 
 
 Hack Tuke quotes Johannes Miiller, a physiolo- 
 gist who lived during the first half of the last cen- 
 tury, as follows: "It may be stated as a general fact 
 that any state of body which is conceived to be ap- 
 proaching, and which is expected with certain con- 
 fidence and certainty of occurrence, will be very 
 prone to ensue, as the mere result of the idea, if it 
 do not lie beyond the bounds of possibility." This 
 is a fair statement of the law from the stand-point of 
 consciousness, but does not include all of the vast 
 influence of subconscious ideas which are so potent 
 in the cure of diseases by mental means. Mailer's 
 observation was in advance of his times, but could 
 not be expected to include the results of the latest 
 researches of modern science. 
 
 For a great many years physicians have recog- 
 nized that not only are all diseases made worse by 
 an incorrect mental attitude, but that some diseases 
 are the direct result of worry and other mental dis- 
 turbances. The mental force which causes colored 
 water to act as an emetic, or postage-stamps to pro- 
 duce a blister, can also produce organic diseases of 
 a serious nature. The large mental factor in the 
 cause of diseases is generally admitted, and it seems 
 reasonable to infer that what is caused by mental
 
 12 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 influence may be cured by the same means. There 
 is no restriction in the power of the mind in causing 
 disease, and should we restrict the mind as a factor 
 in the cure? The trouble seems to be in the ex- 
 planation. People ask, "How can the mind have 
 such an effect upon the body?" and to the answer 
 of this question we must now turn our attention. 
 
 We all recognize that involuntarily certain bodily 
 effects take place. We blush when we do not wish 
 to; we betray our fears by our blanched faces. 
 Some other factors of mind than the conscious mental 
 processes have charge, and rule certain functions. 
 The heart, the respiratory apparatus, the glands, 
 and digestive organs all carry on their regular func- 
 tions during sleep and also better without our 
 direction when we are awake. What is the explana- 
 tion of this? We have recently been saying that the 
 subconsciousness rules these physical organs, and 
 through this that the effects already referred to 
 take place. So much has been written recently 
 regarding the subconsciousness that anything more 
 at this time would be superfluous; suffice it to say 
 that the general conclusions on that subject are 
 accepted as the basis of faith cure. We may, how- 
 ever, go further in our endeavor to explain. 
 
 In such mental troubles as psychasthesia much 
 has lately been heard about psycho-analysis and re- 
 education. What does that mean in the language 
 of the psychology of a few years ago? In cases of
 
 MENTAL HEALING 13 
 
 unreasonable fears or phobias, for example, there 
 is a firmly rooted system of ideas which refuses to 
 depart at the command of consciousness. We ana- 
 lyze the mental store to find out the cause of the 
 unreasonable persistence, and sometimes, quite fre- 
 quently in fact, have to resort to hypnosis or 
 hypnodization to find the initial trouble. It is then 
 corrected, and re-education consists in living over 
 again from the first experience, the events con- 
 nected with that fear and correcting them up to 
 date. In this process minutes only are used where 
 the original experiences took weeks. Putting it in 
 other words, we have certain systems of ideas; as a 
 psychological fact of long standing we know that 
 other elements may be injected into that system so 
 as to change it, or that one system may be destroyed 
 and another system built up to take its place. This 
 is the secret of cures of this nature of mental 
 troubles the irritating factor, the thorn in the 
 mind, is extracted. 
 
 We have heard in modern psychology of the hot 
 and cold places in consciousness, or, to use other 
 terms for the same idea, the central and peripheral 
 ideas, meaning the ideas which dominate conscious- 
 ness, and those which are in the background. The 
 mind can readily attend to only one thing at a time; 
 if that be pain, for example, that takes up all of our 
 attention. On the other hand, if for some reason 
 some other ideas suddenly become central, then the
 
 14 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 pain is driven away to the periphery and we say we 
 have no pain, or we have less pain. The sufferer 
 from neuralgia experiences no pain as he responds 
 to the fire alarm, and the toothache stops entirely 
 as we undergo the excitement and fear of entering 
 the dentist's office. Serious lesions yield to pro- 
 found emotion born of persuasion, confidence, or 
 excitement; either the gouty or rheumatic man, 
 after hobbling about for years, finds his legs if pur- 
 sued by a wild bull, or the weak and enfeebled in- 
 valid will jump from the bed and carry out heavy 
 articles from a burning house. The central idea is 
 sufficient to command all the reserve energy, and 
 that idea which has suddenly and unexpectedly 
 become central may remain so. What Chalmers 
 called "the expulsive power of a new affection" in 
 the cure of souls, is the precise method of operation 
 in the cure of some bodily ills. 
 
 I have here made two suggestions which may 
 help to show how mental healing may be brought 
 about. Not simply the alleviation of bodily ills, 
 but the complete cure may result from the influence 
 on the subconsciousness. A large number of cures 
 are brought about by faith in certain religious prac- 
 tices, this faith amounting to a certainty in the 
 minds of the patients before the cure is started or 
 while it is in progress. Trustful expectation in any 
 one direction acts powerfully through the subcon- 
 sciousness because it absorbs the whole mind, and
 
 MENTAL HEALING 15 
 
 thus competition with other ideas, either consciously 
 or subconsciously, is largely excluded. It is this 
 which acts in mental healing under the caption of 
 faith, although some abnormal conditions may also 
 arise to assist the suggestion. 
 
 That this confident expectation of a cure is the 
 most potent means of bringing it about, doing that 
 which no medical treatment can accomplish, may 
 be affirmed as the generalized result of experiences 
 of the most varied kind, extending through a long 
 series of ages. It is this factor which is common to 
 methods of the most diverse character. It is no- 
 ticeable that any system of treatment, however 
 absurd, that can be puffed into public notoriety for 
 efficacy, any individual who by accident or design 
 obtains a reputation for a special gift of healing, is 
 certain to attract a multitude of sufferers, among 
 whom will be many who are capable of being really 
 benefited by a strong assurance of relief. Thus, 
 the practitioner with a great reputation has an ad- 
 vantage over his neighboring physicians, not only 
 on account of the superior skill which he may have 
 acquired, but because his reputation causes this 
 confident expectation, so beneficial in itself. 
 
 There have been fashions in cures as in other 
 things. At one time a certain relic, or healer, would 
 attract and cure, and shortly afterward it would be 
 deserted and inefficacious, not because it had lost 
 its power, but because it had lost its reputation,
 
 16 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 and the people had consequently lost their faith in 
 it. Some other relics would then acquire a reputa- 
 tion, spring into popular favor, and the crowds 
 would flock to them. We have many modern in- 
 stances of this kind. If sufficient confidence in the 
 power of a concoction, a shrine, a relic, or a person 
 can be aroused, genuine cures can be wrought re- 
 gardless of the healing properties of the dose. 
 
 The whole system of mental therapeutics may be 
 divided into two parts; what we may designate as 
 metaphysical cure denies that either matter or evil 
 exists, and heals by inspiring the belief that the 
 disease cannot assail the patient because he is pure 
 spirit; the other class, faith cure, recognizes the 
 disease, but cures by faith in the power of divinity, 
 persons, objects, or suggestion. 
 
 Without doubt the best example of the former 
 theory and the most successful application of it are 
 found in Christian Science. Perhaps it is not so 
 difficult to understand the frame of mind which 
 brought about this theory on the part of Mrs. Eddy. 
 Here was an hysterical, neurotic woman who knew 
 nothing all her life but illness and misfortune. She 
 had suffered much from many physicians and was 
 none the better but rather worse. One physician 
 had called her disease one thing, another had desig- 
 nated it another, until confusion and uncertainty 
 were increased with every physician consulted. She 
 began to despair of ever either knowing about her
 
 MENTAL HEALING 17 
 
 disease or of having it cured. As a last resort she 
 went to Quimby, and he told her there was no disease 
 and no need of suffering. He denied the suffering, 
 and she accepted his teaching; she followed him in 
 denying disease and then matter, and kept on with 
 her theory of negation and denial until she evolved 
 her present theory. It was a natural reaction from 
 all conceivable pains characteristic of hysteria, to 
 no pain; from all conceivable diseases which differ- 
 ent physicians had opined, to no disease; from the 
 infirmity of body with its inhibitory discomfitures, 
 to no body. The history of the founder of Christian 
 Science is its best raison d'etre, especially from a 
 psychological stand-point, and the rather strange 
 thing is that a reaction from an abnormality, going 
 as it naturally does to another abnormality, should 
 find a response in the religious cravings of so many; 
 the philosophy undoubtedly would not attract as it 
 does were there not connected with it, in the prac- 
 tical working of the system, the lure of mental 
 healing. 
 
 Faith cure, the other form of mental healing, has 
 such a variety of forms that it is practically im- 
 possible to describe a typical one. Faith in some 
 power, or, what amounts to the same thing, the un- 
 critical reception of suggestions concerning the cure, 
 is the common factor in all forms. 
 
 The question naturally arises, Which is the best 
 form of mental healing? There is no best form for
 
 18 MENTAL HEALING 
 
 all diseases and all persons. For example, it matters 
 not how new associational systems are formed so 
 long as they are substituted for the pernicious ones. 
 It may be in the common experiences of every-day 
 life, through the pleading of a friend, during sleep 
 or trance, in some abnormal state of a hypnotic 
 character, or during religious ecstasy, and we cannot 
 well say in any given case that one form will be more 
 efficacious than another. Mental healing creates 
 nothing new, but simply makes use of the normal 
 mechanism of the mind and body. The question 
 then is, What method of mental healing is most 
 likely to stimulate the mental mechanism so that 
 physiological processes will be set up leading to a 
 cure? The great power of faith and expectancy 
 may decide the question, and the answer may be in 
 favor of the form in which the patient has the most 
 faith, either on account of its reputation, or on ac- 
 count of some prejudice on the part of the patient.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 "The office of the physician extends equally to the purification 
 of mind and body; to neglect the one is to expose the other to 
 evident peril. It is not only the body that by its sound constitu- 
 tion strengthens the soul, but the well-regulated soul by its authori- 
 tative power maintains the body in perfect health." PLATO. 
 
 "Aristotle mapped out philosophy and morals in lines the world 
 yet accepts in the main, but he did not know the difference between 
 the nerves and the tendons. Rome had a sound system of juris- 
 prudence before it had a physician, using only priest-craft for heal- 
 ing. Cicero was the greatest lawyer the world has seen, but there 
 was not a man in Rome who could have cured him of a colic. The 
 Greek was an expert dialectician when he was using incantations 
 for his diseases. As late as when the Puritans were enunciating 
 their lofty principles, it was generally held that the king's touch 
 would cure scrofula. Governor Winthrop, of colonial days, treated 
 ' small-pox and all fevers ' by a powder made from ' live toads baked 
 in an earthen pot in the open air.' " HUNGER. 
 
 "There is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some 
 time been said by some philosopher. Fontenelle says he would 
 undertake to persuade the whole republic of readers to believe that 
 the sun was neither the cause of light or heat, if he could only get 
 six philosophers on his side." GOLDSMITH. 
 
 A GLANCE at the history of medicine will show 
 three fairly well defined periods. The beginning of 
 the first is hidden in the uncertain days of pre- 
 historic ages and the period continues down to early 
 Christian times perhaps the end of the second 
 century when Galen died. The second period ex- 
 tends from this time to the fifteenth or sixteenth 
 centuries, and the third period embraces the last 
 
 19
 
 20 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 three or four centuries. The second period was al- 
 most wholly stationary, and this, we are ashamed 
 to say, was largely due to the prohibitive attitude 
 of the church. The science of medicine, then, is 
 almost wholly the result of the investigations and 
 study of the last period. This means that medicine 
 is one of the youngest of the sciences, while from the 
 very nature of the case it is one of the oldest of 
 arts. 
 
 From the beginning of the art of therapeutics, 
 mental healing has been a large factor in the cure. 
 This was not recognized, of course, for only in the 
 last century has the psychic element been admitted 
 to any extent as a therapeutic agent. We can read 
 back now, however, and see what a large element 
 this really was. The cruder the art, the more 
 powerful was the mental influence. The ways of 
 primitive therapeutics are completely hidden from 
 us except what we can gather from the races which 
 retained their primitive practices in historic times. 
 We can well understand, though, that the concoc- 
 tions of medicine-men and witch-doctors could have 
 little effect except in a suggestive way. Snakes' 
 heads, toads' toes, lizards' tails, and beetles' wings 
 have a small place in the pharmacopoeia of to-day, 
 except as placebos, and it is extremely doubtful if 
 they were ever valuable for any other purpose. 
 
 The object of the primitive practitioner seems to 
 have been to make an impression upon the patient
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 21 
 
 either by the explanation of his disease or by the 
 effort made to effect a cure. The explanation most 
 frequently given was that demons were responsible 
 for the trouble, and the cure of the disease was an 
 attempted exorcism of the demon. The more fan- 
 tastic the ceremony, the more likely the cure, on 
 account of the mental influence upon the patient. 
 The primitive man's religion and therapeutics were 
 inextricably interwoven and, unless we make an ex- 
 ception of the past few years, this has always been 
 an unprofitable union for one or both. All the 
 early civilizations with the exception of the Greeks, 
 as well as the Christian nations up to the sixteenth 
 century, were handicapped by this partnership, and 
 it was only by divorcing the two that therapeutics 
 was able to make the great advance during the last 
 period. The nature of the primitive religions was 
 responsible to a great extent for the nature of the 
 method of healing, therefore, appeasing the offended 
 deity and exorcising the demon were therapeutic as 
 well as religious ceremonies. 
 
 The Chinese of to-day, except in some of the sea- 
 board cities, must be classed among the earliest 
 civilizations, for their mode of living has not changed 
 much in the last two or three milleniums. Their 
 system of medical practice partakes of the character 
 of that found among the early people, with some 
 slight modifications which show some relationship 
 to the European practice during the Dark Ages.
 
 22 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 All sorts of disgusting doses are administered, and 
 incantations and exorcisms are among the most 
 effective methods of healing. For example, Hardy 
 reports that a missionary told him of his being called 
 in to see a man suffering from convulsions; he found 
 him smelling white mice in a cage, with a dead fowl 
 fastened on his chest, and a bundle of grass attached 
 to his feet. This had been the prescription of a 
 native physician. 
 
 Medicines are made from asses' sinews, fowls' 
 blood, bears' gall, shaving of a rhinoceros' horn, 
 moss grown on a coffin, and the dung of dogs, pigs, 
 fowl, rabbits, pigeons, and bats. Cockroach tea, 
 bear-paw soup, essence of monkey paw, toads' eye- 
 brows, and earth-worms rolled in honey are common 
 doses. The excrement of a mosquito is considered 
 as efficacious as it is scarce, and here, as in Europe 
 in the Middle Ages, the hair of the dog that bit you 
 is used to heal the bite and to prevent hydrophobia. 
 An infusion from the bones of a tiger is believed to 
 confer courage, strength, and agility, and the flesh 
 of a snake is boiled and eaten to make one cunning 
 and wise. Chips from coffins which have been let 
 down into the grave are boiled and are said to pos- 
 sess great virtue for catarrh. Flies, fleas, and bed- 
 bugs prepared in different ways are given for various 
 diseases. Medicines are given in all forms, and not 
 infrequently pills are as large as a pigeon's egg. If 
 any of these medicines ever had any beneficent
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 23 
 
 effect it must have been through mental rather than 
 through physical means. 
 
 Nevius has left us in no doubt concerning the be- 
 lief in demons among the Chinese, and of the effect 
 this belief has on their theory of disease. Certain 
 forms are daily observed to drive away the evil 
 spirits. For this purpose Taoist priests are hired 
 to recite formulae, ring bells, and manipulate bowls 
 of water, candles, joss-sticks, and curious charms. 
 Sometimes the family insists that one of the priests 
 shall ascend a ladder, the rounds of which are 
 formed of swords or knives with the sharp edge 
 uppermost, and go through his exorcisms at the 
 top. Instead of the priest, the mother may make a 
 fire of paper and wave a small garment of her sick 
 child over it. 
 
 A relative or friend of a sick person will visit a 
 temple and beat the drum, which notifies the god 
 that there is urgent need of his help. To be sure 
 that the god hears, his ears are tickled, and the part 
 of the image which corresponds to the afflicted part 
 of the sick person's body is rubbed. Some ashes 
 from the censor standing before the image may be 
 taken to the sick-room and there reverenced. Holy 
 water is brought from the temple, boiled with tea, 
 and drunk as a certain cure for disease. Spells are 
 written on paper and burned; the ashes are then 
 put into water and drunk as medicine. Charms and 
 magical tricks of all kinds are tried in order to drive 
 away the demon.
 
 24 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 There were schools of medicine in Egypt in the 
 fifteenth century before the Christian era, and the 
 Egyptians made great progress in the study and 
 practice of medicine. Notwithstanding this, we 
 find many examples of mental healing, or at least 
 attempts at healing by mental means, among the 
 recipes and prescriptions which have come down to 
 us. Poor and superstitious persons, especially, had 
 recourse to dreams, to wizards, to donations, to 
 sacred animals, and to exvotos to the gods. Charms 
 were also written for the credulous, some of which 
 have been found on small pieces of papyrus, which 
 were rolled up and worn, as by the modern Egyp- 
 tians. 
 
 The Ebers papyrus, an important and very ancient 
 manual of Egyptian medicine, has thrown much 
 light on early Egyptian practices. It shows that 
 an important part of the treatment prior to 1552 
 B. C., consisted in the laying on of hands, combined 
 with an extensive formulary and ceremonial rites. 
 The physicians were the priests, and among the in- 
 teresting contents of this manuscript are several 
 formula? to be used as prayers while compounding 
 medicaments. Some of the prescriptions given here 
 are accompanied by exorcisms which were to be 
 used at the same time. Many of the prescriptions 
 could have had little but mental influence because 
 the remedies recommended consisted of horrible 
 mixtures of unsavory ingredients, the theory, if we 
 can judge by the medicines, being that the more dis-
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 25 
 
 gusting the dose the more efficacious the remedy; 
 this is true from a mental stand-point. 
 
 Demonism was not unknown; in fact, it underlay 
 much of the treatment. People did not die, but they 
 were assassinated. The murderer might belong to 
 this or to the spirit world. He might be a god, a 
 spirit, or the soul of a dead man that had cunningly 
 entered a living person. The physician must first 
 discover the nature of the possessing spirit, and then 
 attack it. Powerful magic was the weapon used, 
 and the healer must be an expert in reciting incan- 
 tations and skilful in making amulets. On ac- 
 count of this, the Egyptians became the most skilled 
 in magic of any people, and have their equals only 
 in the Hindus of to-day. The experiences of Joseph 
 and Moses, as recorded in the Bible, give us some 
 idea of their skill at that time. After the exorcism 
 the physician used medicine to relieve the disorders 
 which the presence of the strange being had pro- 
 duced in the body. 
 
 Maspe*ro gives us the following information: 
 "The cure- workers are divided into several cate- 
 gories. Some incline towards sorcery, and have 
 faith in formulas and talismans only; they think 
 they have done enough if they have driven out the 
 spirit. Others extol the use of drugs; they study 
 the qualities of plants and minerals, describe the 
 diseases to which each of the substances provided 
 by nature is suitable, and settle the exact time
 
 26 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 when they must be procured and applied; certain 
 herbs have no power unless they are gathered 
 during the night at the full moon, others are effi- 
 cacious in summer only, another acts equally well 
 in winter or summer. The best doctors carefully 
 avoid binding themselves exclusively to either 
 method." 1 
 
 Among the early Egyptians the human body 
 was divided into thirty-six parts, each of which was 
 thought to be under the particular government of 
 one of the aerial demons, who presided over the 
 triple divisions of the twelve signs. The priests 
 practised a separate invocation for each genius, 
 which they used in order to obtain for them the 
 cure of the particular member confided to their 
 care. We have the authority of Origen for saying 
 that in his time when any part of the body was 
 diseased, a cure was effected by invoking the demon 
 to whose province it belonged. Perhaps this is 
 why the different parts of the body were assigned 
 to the different planets, and later to different saints. 
 It undoubtedly accounts for the fact that an Egyp- 
 tian physician treated only one part of the body 
 and refused to infringe on the domain of his brother 
 physician. 
 
 Incubation was commonly practised at the tem- 
 ples of Isis and Serapis as it was afterward among 
 the Greeks. This "temple sleep" was closely akin 
 
 1 G. Masp^ro, Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria, chap. VII.
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 27 
 
 in its effects to hypnotism and was undoubtedly 
 efficacious in the case of some diseases. 
 
 The Babylonian system of therapeutics was not 
 unlike the Egyptian as far as incantations were con- 
 cerned. Many of these have been discovered. The 
 formulas usually consist of a description of the dis- 
 ease and its symptoms, a desire for deliverance from 
 it, and an order for it to depart. Some draughts 
 were given which may have had some medicinal 
 effect, but they were supposed to be enchanted 
 drinks. Knots were supposed to have some magical 
 effect on diseases, and conjurations were also wrought 
 by the power of numbers. The Book of Daniel 
 shows the official recognition given to magicians, 
 astrologers, and sorcerers. 
 
 The Jews seem to have got their early medical 
 knowledge from the Egyptians, and changed it only 
 in so far as their religion made it necessary, for with 
 them as with others the healing art was a part of the 
 religion, and the Levites were the sole practitioners. 
 Much valuable medical knowledge was mixed with 
 much that could only have had a mental influence. 
 Disease was considered a punishment for sin, and 
 hence the cure was religious rather than medical. 
 The disease might be inflicted by God direct, and 
 the cure would be a proof of his forgiveness; it 
 might also be inflicted by Satan or the spirits of the 
 air with the permission of Jehovah, and the cure 
 would then be brought about by exorcism.
 
 28 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 There seems to have been a rather elaborate 
 system of demonology among the Jews, who were at 
 one time the chief exponents of the doctrine, and 
 consequently the principal exorcists. Among the 
 Jews a prominent "demoness of sickness is Bath- 
 Chorin. She touches the hands and lower limbs by 
 night. Many diseases are caused by demons." 
 According to Josephus, "to demons may be ascribed 
 leprosy, rabies, asthma, cardiac diseases, nervous 
 diseases, which last are the specialty of evil demons, 
 such as epilepsy." Incantations were in use among 
 the later Jews, and amulets of neck-chains like 
 serpents and ear-rings were employed to protect 
 the wearers against the evil eye and similar 
 troubles. 
 
 In India, medicine became a separate science very 
 early, according to the sacred books, the Vedas. 
 Notwithstanding this, demonology played a large 
 part in the production of disease according to their 
 theories, and religious observances were helpful in 
 the cures. 
 
 Among the oldest documents which we possess 
 relative to the practice of medicine, are the various 
 treatises contained in the collection which bears the 
 name of Hippocrates (460-375 B. C.). He was the 
 first physician to relieve medicine from the trammels 
 of superstition and the delusions of philosophy. 
 
 The Greeks undoubtedly believed in demons, but, 
 different from the nations around them, considered
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 29 
 
 the demons to be well-intentioned. Homer (c. 1000 
 B. C.) speaks frequently of demons, and in one in- 
 stance in the Odyssey tells of a sick man pining 
 away, "one upon whom a hateful demon had gazed." 
 Empedocles (c. 490-430 B. C.) taught that demons 
 "were of a mixed and inconstant nature, and are 
 subjected to a purgatorial process which may finally 
 end in their ascension to higher abodes." Yet he 
 attributed to them nearly all the calamities, vexa- 
 tions, and plagues incident to mankind. Plato 
 (427-347 B. C.) writes of demons good and bad, 
 and Aristotle (384-322 B. C.), the son of a physi- 
 cian, speaks directly of "demons influencing and in- 
 spiring the possessed." Socrates (470-399 B. C.) 
 claimed to have continually with him a demon a 
 guardian spirit. 
 
 In Greece, in early days, physicians were looked 
 upon as gods. Even after the siege of Troy, the 
 sons of the gods and the heroes were alone supposed 
 to understand the secrets of medicine and surgery. 
 At a late period ^Esculapius, the son of Apollo, was 
 worshipped as a deity. When we speak of the art of 
 healing in Greece, one naturally thinks of the ap- 
 parent monopoly of the ^Esclepiades, who minis- 
 tered unto the Grecian sick for centuries. 
 
 The original seat of the worship of ^Esculapius was 
 at Epidaurus, where there was a splendid temple, 
 adorned with a gold and ivory statue of the god, 
 who was represented sitting, one hand holding a
 
 30 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 staff, the other resting on the head of a serpent, the 
 emblem of sagacity and longevity; a dog crouched 
 at his feet. The temple was frequented by harm- 
 less serpents, in the form of which the god was sup- 
 posed to manifest himself. According to Homer, 
 his sons, Machaon and Podalirius, who were great 
 warriors, treated wounds and external diseases only; 
 and it is probable that their father practised in the 
 same manner, as he is said to have invented the 
 probe and the bandaging of wounds. His priests, 
 the jEsclepiades, however, practised incantations, 
 and cured diseases by leading their patients to be- 
 lieve that the god himself delivered his prescriptions 
 in dreams and visions; for this imposture they were 
 roughly satirized by Aristophanes in his play of 
 "Plutus." It is probable that the preparations, 
 consisting of abstinence, tranquillity, and bathing, 
 requisite for obtaining the divine intercourse, and, 
 above all, the confidence reposed in the ^Esclepiades, 
 were often productive of benefit. 
 
 The excavations of Cavvadias at Epidaurus have 
 furnished us with much interesting material con- 
 cerning the cures performed at this ancient shrine, 
 five hundred years before the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian era. If the modern physician still recognizes 
 ^Esculapius as his patron saint, he must have great 
 respect for mental healing. It appears certain from 
 inscriptions found upon "stelae" that were dug up 
 at Epidaurus and published in 1891, that the system
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 31 
 
 of ^Esculapius was based upon the miracle-working 
 of a demi-god, and not upon medical art as we now 
 know it. The modus operandi was unique in some 
 details. The patients, mostly incurables, . came 
 laden with sacrifices. After prayer, they cleansed 
 themselves with water from the holy well, and 
 offered up sacrifices. Certain ceremonial acts were 
 then performed by the priests, and the patients were 
 put to sleep on the skins of the animals offered at the 
 altar, or at the foot of the statue of the divinity, 
 while the priests performed further sacred rites. 
 The son of Apollo then appeared to them in dreams, 
 attended to the particular ailments of the sufferers, 
 and specified further sacrifices or acts which would 
 restore health. In many cases the sick awoke sud- 
 denly cured. Large sums of money were asked for 
 these cures; from one inscription we learn that a 
 sum corresponding to $12,000 was paid as a fee. 
 The record of the cure was carved on the temple as 
 at Lourdes to-day, e. g. : 
 
 "Some days back, a certain Caius, who was blind, 
 learned from an oracle that he should repair to the 
 temple, put up his fervent prayers, cross the sanc- 
 tuary from right to left, place his five fingers on the 
 altar, then raise his hand and cover his eyes. He 
 obeyed, and instantly his sight was restored, amid 
 the loud acclamations of the multitude. These 
 signs of the omnipotence of the gods were shown in 
 the reign of Antoninus."
 
 32 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 "A blind soldier, named Valerius Apes, having 
 consulted the oracle, was informed that he should 
 mix the blood of a white cock with honey, to make 
 up an ointment to be applied to his eyes for three 
 consecutive days. He received his sight, and re- 
 turned public thanks to the gods." 
 
 "Julian appeared lost beyond all hope, from a 
 spitting of blood. The gods ordered him to take 
 from the altar some seeds of the pine, and to mix 
 them with honey, of which mixture he was to eat 
 for three days. He was saved, and came to thank 
 the gods in the presence of the people." * 
 
 It was not until five centuries later, when credulity 
 concerning miracles was on the wane, that the 
 priests began to study and to apply medical means 
 in order to sustain the reputation of the place, and 
 to keep up its enormous revenues. 
 
 Temples similar to this one at Epidaurus existed 
 at numerous places, among which were Rhodes, 
 Cnidus, Cos, and one was to be found on the banks 
 of the Tiber. The temple at Cos was rich in votive 
 offerings, which generally represented the parts of 
 the body healed, and an account of the method of 
 cure adopted. From these singular clinical records, 
 Hippocrates, a reputed descendant of ^Esculapius, 
 is reported to have constructed his treatise on 
 Dietetics. 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, "A Medical View of the Miracles at Lourdes," Nine- 
 teenth Century, October, 1895.
 
 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 33 
 
 For a long time after the age of Hercules and the 
 heroic times, invalids in Greece sought relief from 
 their sufferings from these descendants of J^scula- 
 pius in the temples of that god, which an enlightened 
 policy had raised on elevated spots, near medicinal 
 springs, and in salubrious vicinities. Those men 
 who pretended in right of birth to hold the gift of 
 curing, finally learned the art of it. The preserva- 
 tion in the temple of the history of those diseases, 
 the cure of which had been sought by them, aided 
 greatly in this happy culmination. 
 
 Of ^Esculapius himself, it is said that he employed 
 the trumpet to cure sciatica; he claimed that its 
 continued sound made the fibres of the nerves to 
 palpitate, and the pain vanished. In line with this 
 treatment, Democritus affirmed that diseases are 
 capable of being cured by the sound of a flute, when 
 properly played. 
 
 Herbs were also used among the Greeks, but al- 
 most wholly in the form of charms rather than on 
 account of what we claim now as real medicinal 
 value. For example, great virtues were ascribed to 
 the herb alysson which was pounded and eaten with 
 meat to cure hydrophobia. If suspended in the 
 house, it promoted the health of the inmates and 
 protected both men and cattle from enchantments; 
 when bound in a piece of scarlet flannel round the 
 necks of the latter, it preserved them from all 
 diseases.
 
 34 EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
 
 There seems to have been no independent school 
 of Roman medicine. From early times there was a 
 very complicated system of superstitious medicine, 
 as a part of the religion, which is supposed to have 
 been borrowed from the Etruscans. This compre- 
 hended both the theory and cure of disease. The 
 Romans got along for centuries without doctors; 
 in fact, doctors were a Grecian importation, not 
 made until about two centuries before Christ.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 "The Alchemist may doubt the shining gold 
 
 His crucible pours out, 
 But faith, fanatic faith, once wedded fast 
 
 To some dear falsehood, 
 Hugs it to the last." 
 
 "Death is the cure of all diseases. There is no catholicon or uni- 
 versal remedy I know, but this, which though nauseous to queasy 
 stomachs, yet to prepared appetites is nectar, and a pleasant potion 
 of immortality." BROWNE. 
 
 " I'll tell you what now of the Devil: 
 He's no such horrid creature; cloven-footed, 
 Black, saucer-ey'd, his nostrils breathing fire, 
 As these lying Christians make him." MASSINGEK. 
 
 "If the cure be wrought, what matters it to the happy invalid 
 . . whether the cure is wrought by the touch of the Divine hand 
 or the overpowering influence of a great idea upon the nervous 
 system? If our hunger be appeased, it matters little whether it is 
 by manna rained down from heaven, or a wheaten loaf raised from 
 the harvest field. Miraculous water from the rock does not quench 
 the thirst better than that which bubbles from the village spring." 
 
 BERDOE. 
 
 THE advent of the Christian religion into the 
 world, while purporting to minister especially to the 
 spiritual life, had a wide-reaching and potent in- 
 fluence on the art of healing the body. We cannot 
 sum up the effect by saying that this influence was 
 either wholly good or bad its relation to therapeu- 
 tics was a mixed one. It can be truthfully said that 
 nothing has retarded the science of medicine during 
 
 35
 
 36 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 the past two thousand years so much as the iron 
 grip of decadent orthodoxy, and, on the other hand, 
 no power has caused men and women so to sacrifice 
 time, money, and even life itself for the care and 
 nurture of the sick, as the example and precepts of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 For eighteen centuries this paradoxical position 
 was held by the church, and the antithetical atti- 
 tudes of hindrance and help continued to exist. As 
 valuable as was the spirit instilled into the hearts 
 of His followers by the tenderness of the Master, it 
 was never sufficient to counterbalance the deterrent 
 effects of the religion which they espoused. The re- 
 tardation was caused by two related beliefs which 
 permeated the church: The first was the doctrine 
 of the power of demons in the lives of men, especially 
 in the production of disease; and the second was the 
 prevalence of the idea of the possibility and prob- 
 ability of the performance of miracles, particularly 
 in the healing of diseases. 
 
 A rather complicated science of demonology had 
 come down from primitive sources through Egyptian, 
 Babylonian, and Greek civilization, although the 
 demons of the Greeks were principally good spirits. 
 At the time of Christ, however, the Jews were the 
 most ardent advocates of demonology, and hence 
 the chief exorcists. They expelled demons partly 
 by adjuration and partly by means of a certain 
 miraculous root named Baaras. They considered
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 37 
 
 it nothing at all out of the ordinary to meet men 
 who were possessed by demons, and just as common 
 an experience to see them healed by having the 
 demon exorcised. Josephus assures us that in the 
 reign of Vespasian he had himself seen a Jew named 
 Eleazar perform an exorcism; by means of adjura- 
 tion and the Baaras root he drew a demon through 
 the nostrils of a possessed person, who fell to the 
 ground on the accomplishment of the miracle, while 
 on the command of the magician the demon, to prove 
 that it had really left its victim, threw down a cup 
 of water which had been placed at a distance. 
 
 Knowing as we do the close relationship between 
 Judaism and Christianity, it does not surprise us to 
 discover that the Christians inherited the doctrine 
 and practice of the Jews in this matter. This is 
 more readily understood when we remember the 
 connection of Jesus with cases of demoniacal pos- 
 session, and Paul's frequent references to the spirits 
 of the air. Following the example of their Master, 
 Christians everywhere became exorcists. Through 
 the influence of Philo's writings, Jewish demonology 
 was propagated among Christian converts, and the 
 Gnostics quickly absorbed and spread the notion of 
 preternatural interposition. Next to the belief in 
 the second coming of Christ, the doctrine which 
 most influenced the action of the early church was 
 that of a spiritual world and its hierarchy. Terres- 
 trial things were ruled by all sorts of spiritual beings.
 
 38 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 Some philosophers, as well as the founders of dif- 
 ferent religions, expelled demons, and the Christians 
 fully recognized the power possessed by the Jewish 
 and gentile exorcists; the followers of Christ, how- 
 ever, claimed to be in many respects the superior of 
 all others. The fathers maintained the reality of 
 all pagan miracles as fully as their own, except that 
 doubt was sometimes cast on some forms of healing 
 and prophecy. Demons which had resisted all the 
 enchantments of the pagans might be cast out, 
 oracles could be silenced, and unclean spirits com- 
 pelled to acknowledge the truth of the Christian 
 faith by the Christians, who simply made the sign 
 of the cross, or repeated the name of the Master. 
 
 The power of the Christian exorcists was shown 
 by still more wonderful feats. Demons, which were 
 sometimes supposed to enter animals, were expelled. 
 St. Hilarion (288-371), we are told, courageously 
 confronted and relieved a possessed camel. "The 
 great St. Ambrose [340-397] tells us that a priest, 
 while saying mass, was troubled by the croaking of 
 frogs in a neighboring marsh; that he exorcised 
 them, and so stopped their noise. St. Bernard 
 [1091-1153], as the monkish chroniclers tell us, 
 mounting the pulpit to preach in his abbey, was in- 
 terrupted by a crowd of flies; straightway the saint 
 uttered the sacred formula of excommunication, 
 when the flies fell dead upon the pavement in heaps, 
 and were cast out with shovels! A formula of ex-
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 39 
 
 orcism attributed to a saint of the ninth century, 
 which remained in use down to a recent period, 
 especially declares insects injurious to crops to be 
 possessed of evil spirits, and names, among the 
 animals to be excommunicated or exorcised, moles, 
 mice, and serpents. The use of exorcism against 
 caterpillars and grasshoppers was also common. In 
 the thirteenth century a bishop of Lausanne, find- 
 ing that the eels in Lake Leman troubled the fish- 
 ermen, attempted to remove the difficulty by exor- 
 cism, and two centuries later one of his successors 
 excommunicated all the May-bugs in the diocese. 
 As late as 1731 there appears an entry on the mu- 
 nicipal register of Thonon as follows: 'Resolved, that 
 this town join with other parishes of this prov- 
 ince in obtaining from Rome an excommunication 
 against the insects, and that it will contribute pro 
 rata to the expense of the same.'" 
 
 Scripture was cited to prove the diabolical char- 
 acter of some animals during the Middle Ages. 
 Says White: "Did anyone venture to deny that 
 animals could be possessed by Satan, he was at once 
 silenced by reference to the entrance of Satan into 
 the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and to the cast- 
 ing of devils into swine by the Founder of Christi- 
 anity himself." ' 
 
 Notwithstanding the pleasing theory adopted by 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 p. 113.
 
 40 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 the earlier Christian writers that the powers of dark- 
 ness were unable to harm the faithful without the 
 permission of divinity, to whom demoniacal spirits 
 were ultimately subjected, unlimited power was 
 conceded to those beings who existed under divine 
 sanction. Demoniacal aeons or emanations were 
 acknowledged to be the primitive source of earthly 
 sufferings, pestilence among men, sickness and other 
 bodily afflictions, but inflicted with the consent of 
 God, whose messengers they were. 
 
 Early Christian writers boldly asserted that all 
 the disorders of the world originated with the devil 
 and his sinister companions, because they were 
 stirred with the unholy desire to obtain associates 
 in their miseries. It was impossible to fix a limit 
 to the number of these malevolent spirits constantly 
 provoking diseases and infirmities upon men. They 
 were alleged to surround mankind so densely that 
 each person had a thousand to his right and ten 
 thousand to the left of him. Endowed with the 
 subtlest activity, they were able to reach the re- 
 motest points of earth in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 According to Salverte, Tatian, a sincere defender 
 of Christianity, who lived in the second century, 
 "does not deny the wonderful cures effected by the 
 priests of the temples of the Polytheists; he only 
 attempts to explain them by supposing that the 
 pagan gods were actual demons, and that they intro- 
 duced disease into the body of a healthy man, an-
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 41 
 
 nouncing to him, in a dream, that he should be 
 cured if he implored their assistance; and then, by 
 terminating the evil which they themselves had pro- 
 duced, they obtained the glory of having worked the 
 miracle." 1 
 
 So firm was the belief that Christians could exor- 
 cise these demons that from the time of Justin 
 Martyr (100-163), for about two centuries, there is 
 not a single Christian writer who does not solemnly 
 and explicitly assert the reality and frequent em- 
 ployment of this power. In his Second Apology, 
 Justin says: "And now you can learn this from 
 what is under your own observation. For number- 
 less demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in 
 your city, many of our Christian men exorcising 
 them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was cruci- 
 fied under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, 
 rendering helpless and driving the possessing demons 
 out of the men, though they could not be cured by 
 all the other exorcists, and those who used incanta- 
 tions and drugs." 
 
 IrenaBus (130-202) held that mankind, through 
 transgressions of divine command, fell absolutely 
 from the time of Adam into the power of Satan. 
 On the other hand, he assures us that all Christians 
 possessed the power of working miracles; that they 
 prophesied, cast out devils, healed the sick, and 
 sometimes even raised the dead; that some who had 
 
 1 E. Salverte, Philosophy of Magic (trana. Thompson), II, p. 94.
 
 42 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 been thus resuscitated lived for many years among 
 them, and that it would be impossible to reckon the 
 wonderful acts that were daily performed. 1 
 
 Tertullian (160-220) insisted that a malevolent 
 angel was in constant attendance upon every per- 
 son, but in writing to the pagans in a time of per- 
 secution he challenged his opponents to bring forth 
 any person who was possessed by a demon or any 
 of those prophets or virgins who were supposed to 
 be inspired by a divinity. He asserted that all 
 demons would be compelled to confess their dia- 
 bolical character when questioned by any Chris- 
 tians, and invited the pagans, if it were otherwise, 
 to put the Christian immediately to death, for this, 
 he thought, was the simplest and most decisive 
 demonstration of the faith. 
 
 Lecky tells us of the attitude of the fathers 
 toward demonism in the following words: "Justin 
 Martyr, Origen, Lactantius, Athanasius, and Minu- 
 cius Felix, all in language equally solemn and ex- 
 plicit, call upon the pagans to form their own 
 opinions from the confessions wrung from their own 
 gods. We hear from them, that when a Christian 
 began to pray, to make the sign of the cross, or to 
 utter the name of his Master in the presence of a 
 possessed or inspired person, the latter, by screams 
 and frightful contortions, exhibited the torture that 
 was inflicted, and by this torture the evil spirit was 
 
 1 W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, I, p. 378.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 43 
 
 compelled to avow its nature. Several of the 
 Christian writers declare that this was generally 
 known to pagans." 1 
 
 Origen (185-254) said: "It is demons which 
 produce famine, unfruitfulness, corruptions of the 
 air, pestilence; they hover concealed in clouds in 
 the lower atmosphere, and are attracted by the 
 blood and incense which the heathen offer to them 
 as gods." He thought, though, that Raphael had 
 special care of the sick and the infirm. Cyprian 
 (186-258) charged that demons caused luxations 
 and fractures of the limbs, undermined the health, 
 and harassed with diseases. Up to this time it was 
 the privilege of any Christian to exorcise demons, 
 but Pope Fabian (236-250) assigned a definite 
 name and functions to exorcists as a separate order. 
 To-day the priest has included in his ordination 
 vows those of exorcist. Gregory of Nazianzus (329- 
 390) declared that bodily pains are provoked by 
 demons, and that medicines are useless, but that 
 demoniacs are often cured by laying on of conse- 
 crated hands. St. Augustine (354-430) said: "All 
 diseases of Christians are to be ascribed to these 
 demons; chiefly do they torment fresh-baptized 
 Christians, yea, even the guiltless new-born infants." 
 
 Baltus 2 says: "De tous les anciens auteurs ec- 
 cle*siastiques, n'y en ayant pas un qui n'ait parle de 
 ce pouvoir admirable que les Chretiens avoient de 
 
 1 Ibid., I, p. 383. * Rtponse a I'histoire des oracles, p. 296.
 
 44 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 chasser les demons," and Gregory of Tours (538- 
 594) says that exorcism was common in his time, 
 having himself seen a monk named Julian cure by 
 his words a possessed person. This testimony of 
 Gregory's concerning the prevalence of exorcisms 
 at the end of the sixth century is interesting in view 
 of the facts that the Council of Laodicea, in the 
 fourth century, forbade any one to exorcise, except 
 those duly authorized by the bishop, and that in 
 the very beginning of the fifth century a physician 
 named Posidonius denied the existence of possession. 
 The fathers of the church, however, ridiculed the 
 solemn assertion of physicians that many of these 
 alleged demoniacal infirmities were attributable to 
 material agencies, and were fully persuaded in their 
 own minds that demons took possession of the 
 organism of the human body. 
 
 At about this time, such a broad-minded man as 
 Gregory the Great (540-604) solemnly related that 
 a nun, having eaten some lettuce without making 
 the sign of the cross, swallowed a devil, and that, 
 when commanded by a holy man to come forth, the 
 devil replied: "How am I to blame? I was sitting 
 on the lettuce, and this woman, not having made 
 the sign of the cross, ate me along with it." This 
 is but an example of the ideas concerning the en- 
 trance of demons into the possessed. 1 Besides the 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 p. 101.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 45 
 
 possibility of being taken into the mouth with one's 
 food, they might enter while the mouth was opened 
 to breathe. Exorcists were therefore careful to 
 keep their mouths closed when casting out evil 
 spirits, lest the imps should jump into their mouths 
 from the mouths of the patients. Another theory 
 was that the devil entered human beings during 
 sleep, and at a comparatively recent period a king of 
 Spain, Charles II (1661-1700), kept off the devil while 
 asleep by the presence of his confessor and two friars. 1 
 Shortly before the reign of Gregory, there came 
 into vogue the fashion of exorcising demons by 
 means of a written formula rather than by the 
 earlier means of making the sign of the cross and 
 invoking the name of Jesus. The theory of demon- 
 ology was never very clear nor consistent. By 
 some it was claimed that in the practice of the 
 magical arts evil spirits provided cure for sickness, 
 others maintained that they could not heal any 
 diseases, and hence the true test of Christianity was 
 the ability to cure bodily ills. A compromise posi- 
 tion was that demons were only successful in elim- 
 inating diseases which they had themselves caused. 
 There was not a little doubt in some cases about the 
 character of the possessing spirits, and it behooved 
 people to be careful; demons might use men as 
 habitations, and while posing as good angels vitiate 
 health and provoke disease. 
 
 1 H. T. Buckle, History of Civilization in England, II, p. 270.
 
 46 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 At the beginning of the seventh century, we have 
 an account of an exorcism by St. Gall (556-640), 
 and during the Carlovingian age the healing at 
 Monte Cassino was based on the Satanic origin of 
 disease. When the conversion of northern races to 
 Christianity began, demonology received a stimulus. 
 An unlimited number of demons, similar in individu- 
 ality and prowess, were substituted for the pagan 
 demons, and the pagan gods were added as addi- 
 tional demons. When proselytes were taken into 
 the church, care was taken to exorcise all evil 
 spirits. During the baptismal service the Satanic 
 hosts, as originators of sin, vice, and maladies, were 
 expelled by insufflation of the officiating clergy- 
 man, the sign of the cross, and the invocation of 
 the Triune Deity. The earliest formulas for such 
 expulsion directed a double exhalation of the 
 priest. 1 
 
 In all epidemics of the Middle Ages, such per- 
 sons as were afflicted by pestilent diseases were 
 declared contaminated by the devil, and carried to 
 churches and chapels, a dozen at a time, securely 
 bound together. They were thrown upon the 
 floor, where they lay, according to the attestation 
 of a pitying chronicler, until dead or restored to 
 health. 
 
 Unsound mind was universally accepted as a 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 201.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 47 
 
 specific distinction of diabolical power, and caused 
 by the corporeal presence of an impure spirit. 
 Imbeciles and the insane were, throughout the 
 Middle Ages, especially conceded to be the abode 
 of avenging and frenzied demons. In aggravated 
 cases, the actual presence of the medicinal saint was 
 necessary; in less vexatious maladies, the bare im- 
 position of hands, accompanied by plaintive prayer, 
 quickly healed the diseased. 1 
 
 As early as the fifth century before Christ, Hip- 
 pocrates of Cos asserted that madness was simply a 
 disease of the brain, but notwithstanding the reit- 
 eration of this scientific truth the church repudi- 
 ated it, and as late as the Reformation, Martin 
 Luther maintained that not only was insanity 
 caused by diabolical influences, but that "Satan 
 produces all the maladies which afflict mankind." 
 Even much later, however, when other diseases 
 were assigned a physical origin, insanity was still 
 thought to be demoniacal possession. As late as 
 Bossuet's time, lunacy was thought to be the work 
 of demons. The cultured and progressive Bishop 
 of Meaux, while trying to throw off the shackles of 
 superstition, delivered and published two great 
 sermons in which demoniacal possession is de- 
 fended. To show how the idea has clung, notwith- 
 standing the advancement and enlightenment of 
 
 1 For a full discussion of this subject, see A. D. White, History of 
 the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, pp. 97-134.
 
 48 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 late years, we may notice a trial which took place 
 at Wemding, in southern Germany, in 1892, of 
 which White tells us. 
 
 "A boy had become hysterical, and the Capuchin 
 Father Aurelian tried to exorcise him, and charged 
 a peasant's wife, Frau Herz, with bewitching him, 
 on evidence that would have cost the woman her 
 life at any time during the seventeenth century. 
 Thereupon the woman's husband brought suit 
 against Father Aurelian for slander. The latter 
 urged in his defence that the boy was possessed of 
 an evil spirit, if anybody ever was; that what had 
 been said and done was in accordance with the 
 rules and regulations of the Church, as laid down in 
 decrees, formulas, and rituals sanctioned by popes, 
 councils, and innumerable bishops during ages. All 
 in vain. The court condemned the good father to 
 fine and imprisonment." * 
 
 I cannot refrain from quoting in this connection 
 the now famous epitaph of Lord Westbury's, sug- 
 gested by the decision given by him as Lord Chan- 
 cellor in the case against Mr. Wilson in which it was 
 charged that the latter denied the doctrine of eternal 
 punishment. The court decided that it did "not 
 find in the formularies of the English Church any 
 such distinct declaration upon the subject as to re- 
 quire it to punish the expression of a hope by a 
 clergyman that even the ultimate pardon of the 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 p. 128.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 49 
 
 wicked who are condemned in the day of judg- 
 ment may be consistent with the will of Almighty 
 God." The following is the epitaph: 
 
 RICHARD BARON WESTBURY, 
 
 Lord High Chancellor of England. 
 
 He was an eminent Christian, 
 
 An energetic and merciful Statesman, 
 
 And a still more eminent and merciful Judge. 
 
 During his three years' tenure of office 
 He abolished the ancient method of conveying land, 
 The time-honored institution of the Insolvents' Court, 
 
 And 
 
 The Eternity of Punishment. 
 
 Toward the close of his earthly career, 
 
 In the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 
 
 He dismissed Hell with costs, 
 And took away from Orthodox members of the 
 
 Church of England 
 Their last hope of everlasting damnation." ' 
 
 In the Middle Ages there was a strange and in- 
 congruous mixture of medicine and exorcism. No- 
 tice the following prescriptions : 
 
 "If an elf or a goblin come, smear his forehead 
 with this salve, put it on his eyes, cense him with 
 incense, and sign him frequently with the sign of 
 the cross." 
 
 "For a fiend-sick man: When a devil possesses a 
 man, or controls him from within with disease, a 
 spew-drink of lupin, bishopwort, henbane, garlic. 
 Pound these together, add ale and holy water." 
 
 1 Nash, Life of Lord Westbury, II, p. 78.
 
 50 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 "A drink for a fiend-sick man, to be drunk out of 
 a church bell : Githrife, cynoglossum, yarrow, lupin, 
 flower-de-luce, fennel, lichen, lovage. Work up to 
 a drink with clear ale, sing seven masses over it, 
 add garlic and holy water, and let the possessed sing 
 the Beati Immaculati; then let him drink the dose 
 out of a church bell, and let the priest sing over 
 him the Domine Sancte Pater Omnipotens" * 
 
 Three methods of driving out demons from the 
 insane were used: the main weapon against the 
 devil and his angels has always been exorcism by 
 means of ecclesiastical formula and signs. These 
 formulas degenerated at one time to the vilest 
 cursings, threatenings, and vulgarities. A second 
 means was by an effort to disgust the demon and 
 wound his pride. This might simply precede the 
 exorcism proper. To accomplish this purpose of 
 offending the demons, the most blasphemous and 
 obscene epithets were used by the exorcist, which 
 were allowable and perfectly proper when address- 
 ing demons. Most of these are so indecent that 
 they cannot be printed, but the following are 
 some examples: 
 
 "Thou lustful and stupid one, . . . thou lean 
 sow, famine-stricken and most impure, . . . thou 
 wrinkled beast, thou mangy beast, thou beast of all 
 beasts the most beastly, . . . thou mad spirit, . . . 
 thou bestial and foolish drunkard, . . . most greedy 
 
 1 Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wort-cunning, and Star-craft of Early 
 England, II, p. 177.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 51 
 
 wolf, . . . most abominable whisperer, . . . thou 
 sooty spirit from Tartarus! ... I cast thee down, 
 O Tartarean boor, . . . into the infernal kitchen! 
 . . . Loathsome cobbler, . . . dingy collier, . . . 
 filthy sow (scrofa stercorata), . . . perfidious boar, 
 . . . envious crocodile, . . . malodorous drudge, 
 . . . wounded basilisk, . . . rust-colored asp, . . . 
 swollen toad, . . . entangled spider, . . . lousy 
 swineherd (porcarie pedicose), . . . lowest of the 
 low, . . . cudgelled ass," etc. 1 
 
 The pride of the demon was also to be wounded 
 by the use of the vilest-smelling drugs, by trampling 
 underfoot and spitting upon the picture of the devil, 
 or even by sprinkling upon it foul compounds. 
 Some even tried to scare the demon by using large- 
 sounding words and names. 
 
 The third method of exorcism was punishment. 
 The attempt was frequently made to scourge the 
 demon out of the body. The exorcism was more 
 effective if the name of the demon could be ascer- 
 tained. If successful in procuring the name, it was 
 written on a piece of paper and burned in a fire pre- 
 viously blessed, which caused the demons to suffer 
 all the torments in the accompanying exorcisms. 
 All forms of torture were employed, and in the 
 great cities of Europe, "witch towers," where 
 witches and demoniacs were tortured, and "fool 
 towers," where the more gentle lunatics were im- 
 
 1 M. H. Dziewicki, "Exorcize Te," Nineteenth Century, XXIV, p. 
 580.
 
 52 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 prisoned, may still be seen. The treatment of the 
 insane in the Middle Ages is one of the darkest blots 
 on the growing civilization. 
 
 The exorcism being completed, when some of the 
 weaker demons were put to flight an after service 
 was held in which everything belonging to the pa- 
 tient was exorcised, so that the demon might not 
 hide there and return to the patient. The exor- 
 cised demons were forbidden to return, and the 
 demons remaining in the body were commanded to 
 leave all the remainder of the body, and to descend 
 into the little toe of the right foot, and there to rest 
 quietly. 
 
 After the Reformation, two contests shaped them- 
 selves in the matter of exorcisms. The Protestants 
 and the Roman Catholics vied with each other in 
 the power, rapidity, and duration of the exorcisms. 
 Both put forth miraculous claims, and with as much 
 energy denied the power of the other. They agreed 
 in one thing, and that was the erroneous position 
 and teaching of the physicians. This, however, 
 was but a continuation of that rivalry between the 
 advancement of science and the conservation of 
 theology, which is as old as history. In our exam- 
 ination of the influence of Christianity upon mental 
 healing, it may be well for us to glance at the dis- 
 couraging attitude of Christianity toward medicine. 1 
 
 1 For a full discussion of this subject, see A. D. White, History of 
 the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, pp. 1-167.
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 53 
 
 The usurpation of healing by the church, which 
 was a most serious drawback to the therapeutic art, 
 will be traced in the following chapters; there are, 
 however, some other ways in which the church re- 
 tarded the work of physicians. Chief among these 
 was the theory propagated by Christians that it was 
 unlawful to meddle with the bodies of the dead. 
 This theory came down from ancient times, but was 
 eagerly accepted by the church, principally on ac- 
 count of the doctrine of the bodily resurrection. 
 In addition to this, surgery was forbidden because 
 the Church of Rome adopted the maxim that "the 
 church abhors the shedding of blood." A recent 
 English historian has remarked that of all organiza- 
 tions in human history, the Church of Rome has 
 caused the spilling of most innocent blood, but it 
 refused to allow the surgeons to spill a drop. 
 
 Monks were prohibited the practice of surgery in 
 1248, and by subsequent councils, and all dissections 
 were considered sacrilege. Surgery was considered 
 dishonorable until the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. 
 The use of medicine was also discouraged. Down 
 through the centuries a few churchmen and many 
 others, especially Jews and Arabs, took up the study. 
 The church authorities did everything possible to 
 thwart it. Supernatural means were so abundant 
 that the use of drugs was not only irreligious but 
 superfluous. Monks who took medicine were pun- 
 ished, and physicians in the thirteenth century
 
 could not treat patients without calling in ecclesi- 
 astical advice. 
 
 We are told that in the reign of Philip II of Spain 
 a famous Spanish doctor was actually condemned 
 by the Inquisition to be burnt for having performed 
 a surgical operation, and it was only by royal favor 
 that he was permitted instead to expiate his crime 
 by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he died in 
 poverty and exile. 
 
 This restriction was continued for three centu- 
 ries, and consequently threw medical work into the 
 hands of charlatans among Christians, and of Jews. 
 The clergy of the city of Hall protested that "it were 
 better to die with Christ than to be cured by a Jew 
 doctor aided by the devil." The Jesuit professor, 
 Stengal, said that God permits illness because of His 
 wish to glorify Himself through the miracles wrought 
 by the church, and His desire to test the faith of men 
 by letting them choose between the holy aid of the 
 church and the illicit resort to medicine. 
 
 There was another reason for the antagonism 
 of the church to physicians; the physicians in 
 this case were inside the church. The monks con- 
 verted medicine to the basest uses. In connection 
 with the authority of the church, it was employed 
 for extorting money from the sick. They knew 
 little or nothing about medicine, so used charms, 
 amulets, and relics in healing. The ignorance and 
 cupidity of the monks led the Lateran Council, un-
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 55 
 
 der the pontificate of Calixtus II, in 1123, to forbid 
 priests and monks to attend the sick otherwise than 
 as ministers of religion. It had little or no effect, 
 so that Innocent II, in a council at Rheims in 1131, 
 enforced the decree prohibiting the monks frequent- 
 ing schools of medicine, and directing them to con- 
 fine their practice to their own monasteries. They 
 still disobeyed, and a Lateran Council in 1139 
 threatened all who neglected its orders with the 
 severest penalties and suspension from the exercise 
 of all ecclesiastical functions; such practices were 
 denounced as a neglect of the sacred objects of their 
 profession in exchange for ungodly lucre. When 
 the priests found that they could no longer confine 
 the practice of medicine to themselves, it was stig- 
 matized and denounced. At the Council of Tours 
 in 1163, Alexander III maintained that through 
 medicine the devil tried to seduce the priesthood, 
 and threatened with excommunication any eccle- 
 siastic who studied medicine. In 1215, Innocent 
 III fulminated an anathema against surgery and 
 any priest practising it. Even this was not effect- 
 ual. 1 
 
 What we see in connection with dissection and 
 surgery and medicine was repeated at a later date 
 with inoculation, vaccination, and anesthetics. 
 There were the same objections by the church on 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with the History and 
 Practice of Surgery and Medicine, pp. 51 f.
 
 56 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 theological grounds, the same stubborn battle, and 
 the same inevitable defeat of the theological position. 
 
 So long as disease was attributed to a demoniacal 
 cause, so long did exorcisms and other miraculous 
 cures continue, and so far as these cures were effi- 
 cacious, they must be classed as mental healing. 
 Probably they continued longer in insanity and 
 mental derangement on account of the beneficent 
 and soothing effect of religion upon a diseased mind. 
 Priestly cures of all kinds were largely, if not wholly, 
 suggestive, and no history of mental healing would 
 be complete without a resume of ecclesiastical thera- 
 peutics. Many vagaries of healing which the church 
 introduced might be mentioned to show to what ex- 
 tent the people may be misled in the name of re- 
 ligion. For example, the doctrine of signatures, to 
 be later discussed, was disseminated by priests and 
 monks, and if these medicines were ever effective it 
 must have been by mental means. 
 
 The demon theory of disease, which began before 
 the age of history, and continued down through the 
 savage ages and religions, through the early civiliza- 
 tions, through the gospel history, and dominated 
 early Christianity, was finally, in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, to be vigorously assailed and largely overcome. 
 The cost of this was considerable; attached as it was 
 to the Christian church, it seemed necessary to de- 
 stroy the whole Christian fabric in order to unravel 
 this one thread. Atheism ; therefore, was rampant,
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 57 
 
 and science and atheism became almost synonymous, 
 and continued so until the church freed science from 
 its centuries of bondage and allowed it to develop 
 so as to be again in these days a co-laborer. 
 
 In pleasing contrast to the destructive and deter- 
 rent efforts of the church against the development 
 of medicine is the helpful care of the sick exer- 
 cised by Christians. The example of Jesus as 
 shown by his tender sympathy, his helpful acts, 
 and his instruction to his followers, bore fruit in 
 the relief and care of sufferers by individuals and 
 religious asylums. About the year 1000 and later, 
 the infirmaries which were attached to numerous 
 monasteries, and the hospitia along the routes of 
 travel which opened their doors to sick pilgrims, 
 were but the development of a less portentous at- 
 tempt on the part of individuals and societies to 
 care for the sick. The Knights of St. John, or the 
 Hospitalers as they were called, assumed as their 
 special duty the nursing and doctoring of those in 
 need of such attention, especially of sick and in- 
 firm pilgrims and crusaders. 
 
 Hospitals for the sick, orphanages for foundlings, 
 and great institutions for the proper care of paupers 
 developed with immense strides, and during the 
 twelfth century expanded into gigantic proportions. 
 In the ensuing age, the mediaeval mind was fired 
 with a faith in the efficacy of unstinted charity; 
 members of society, from holy pontiff to the hum-
 
 58 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 blest recluse by the wayside, rivalled each other in 
 gratuities of clothing and food, founding of hospitals, 
 and endowment of beneficent public institutions. 
 St. Louis's highest claim to pious glory arose from 
 his restless and unstinted charities to the indigent 
 and sick. Even the lepers, which were shunned or 
 segregated, were treated by Christian institutions; 
 and saints and saintesses found pious expression 
 for their humility in personal attendance and even 
 loving embraces of these unsightly beings covered 
 with repulsive sores. For the last millennium there 
 has not been a time when Christian love and benev- 
 olence have not sought the opportunity of minister- 
 ing to the sick. 
 
 One can easily recognize the effect which this fact 
 would have on mental healing. The church fostered 
 the ideas of exorcism and the cures by relics and 
 shrines, and deprecated the use of medicine. If the 
 hospitals and infirmaries were almost wholly in the 
 hands of the monks and churchmen, there was little 
 hope for the development of other than ecclesias- 
 tical mental healing. The untold good which Chris- 
 tian ministrations to the sick accomplished must 
 be acknowledged, but it was not an unmixed benefit 
 to the race as a whole. 
 
 We may more easily see, perhaps, the connection 
 between the church and the development of medi- 
 cine, and the despotic power of the church in this 
 regard, when we remember that physicians were
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 59 
 
 formerly a part of the clergy, and it was not until 
 1542 that the papal legate in France gave them per- 
 mission to marry. In 1552 the doctors in law obtained 
 like permission. An early priestly physician has sur- 
 vived to fame by the name of Elpideus, sometimes 
 confused with Elpidius Rusticus. He was both a 
 deacon of the church and a skilled surgeon, and was 
 very favorably mentioned by St. Ennodius as a 
 person of fine culture. He was sufficiently dex- 
 terous and skilful to heal the Gothic ruler, Theo- 
 doric, of a grievous illness. 1 Salverte gives us addi- 
 tional examples: "Richard Fitz-Nigel, who died 
 Bishop of London, in 1198, had been apothecary to 
 Henry II. The celebrated Roger Bacon, who flour- 
 ished in the thirteenth century, although a monk, 
 yet practised medicine. Nicolas de Faraham, a 
 physician to Henry III, was created Bishop of 
 Durham; and many doctors of medicine were at 
 various times elevated to ecclesiastical dignities." 2 
 The grip of the church accomplished its purpose, 
 and science, especially the science of medicine, was 
 strangled, almost to the death. Even the people 
 of the time recognized the shortcomings of the phy- 
 sicians. Henricus Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), 
 writing in 1530, said with pleasant irony that physic 
 was "a certaine Arte of manslaughter," and that 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Ecoiwmy During the Middle Ages, 
 pp. 142 f. 
 
 8 E. Salverte, Philosophy of Magic (trans. Thompson), II, p. 96.
 
 60 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 "well neare alwaies there is more daunger in the 
 Physition and the Medicine than in the sicknesse 
 itself e." He also gives the following picture of a 
 fashionable doctor of his time: "Clad in brave ap- 
 paraile, having ringes on his fingers glimmeringe 
 with pretious stoanes, and which hath gotten fame 
 and credence for having been in farre countries, or 
 having an obstinate manner of vaunting with stiffe 
 lies that he hath great remedies, and for having con- 
 tinually in his mouth many wordes halfe Greeke 
 and barbarous. . . . But this will prove to be true, 
 that Physitians moste commonlye be naught. They 
 have one common honour with the hangman, that 
 is to saye, to kill menne and to be recompensed 
 therefore." l 
 
 1 E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 151. 
 
 For further references to the effect of demonism, see J. F. Nevius, 
 Demon Possession and Allied Themes; J. M. Peebles, The Demonism 
 of the Ages and Spirit Obsessions; articles on " Demon," " Demonism," 
 "Demoniacal Possession," and "Devil," in the Catholic Encyclo- 
 pedia, the New International Encyclopedia, and the" Encyclopedia 
 Britannica.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 "A fouth o' auld knick-knackets, 
 Rusty aim caps and jinglin' jackets, 
 Wad baud the Lothians three, in tackets, 
 
 A towmond guid; 
 An' parritch pats, and auld saut backets, 
 
 Afore the flood." BURNS. 
 
 "For to that holy wood is consecrate 
 A virtuous well, about whose flowery banks 
 The nimble-footed fairies dance their rounds 
 By the pale moonshine, dipping oftentimes 
 Their stolen children, so to make them free 
 From dying flesh and dull mortality." FLETCHER. 
 
 "Ne was ther such another pardoner, 
 For in his male he hadde a pilwebeer, 
 Which that he saide was oure lady veyl; 
 He seide, he hadde a gobet of the seyl 
 That seynt Peter hadde, whan that he wente 
 Uppon the see, til Jhesu Crist him pente. 
 He hadde a cros of latoun ful of stones, 
 And in a glas he hadde pigges bones. 
 But with these reliques, whanne that he fond 
 A poure persoun dwelling uppon lond, 
 Upon a day he gat him more moneye 
 Than that the persoun gat in monthes tweye. 
 And thus with feyned flaterie and japes, 
 He made the persoun and the people his apes." 
 
 CHAUCER. 
 
 A WIDE-SPKEAD movement developed in the early 
 church as a result of which innumerable miracles of 
 healing were credited to the power of saints, in- 
 directly through the medium of streams and pools 
 of water which were reputed to have some connec- 
 
 61
 
 62 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 tion with a particular saint, or through the efficacy 
 still clinging to the relics of holy persons. 
 
 On account of the growth of the belief in demon- 
 ism in the Christian church, and the need of super- 
 natural means to counteract diabolic diseases, 
 saintly relics came into common use for this pur- 
 pose, and afterward when demonism was not so 
 thoroughly credited as the cause of diseases, relics 
 were still considered to hold their power over physi- 
 cal infirmities. In addition to this, the missionary 
 efforts and successes of the church had some influ- 
 ence in establishing and continuing cures by relics 
 and similar means. The missionaries found that 
 their converts had formerly employed various amu- 
 lets and charms for the healing of diseases, and 
 that they continued to have great faith in them for 
 that purpose. To wean them from their heathen 
 customs, Christian amulets and charms had to be 
 substituted, or, as was sometimes the case, the 
 heathen fetich was continued, but with a Christian 
 significance. 
 
 The early Scandinavians carried effigies carved 
 out of gold or silver as safeguards against disease, 
 or applied those made out of certain other materials, 
 as the mandragora root or linen or wood, to the dis- 
 eased part as a cure of physical infirmities. Some 
 of these images were carried over into Christianity, 
 for in Charlemagne's time, headache was frequently 
 cured by following the saintly recommendation to
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 63 
 
 shape the figure of a head and place it on a cross. 
 Fort tells us that "The introduction of Christianity 
 among the Teutonic races offered no hindrance to a 
 perpetuation, under new forms, of those social ob- 
 servances with which Norse temple idolatry was so 
 intimately associated. Offering to proselytes an 
 unlimited number of demoniacal seons, similar in 
 individuality and prowess to those peopling the in- 
 visible universe, Northern mythology readily united 
 with Christian demonology." 1 
 
 The relics of the saints came to be the favorite 
 substitute for the heathen charms. With the ac- 
 ceptance of the demoniacal cause of disease, exor- 
 cism by relics gradually grew in importance until 
 it was firmly established and a preferred form in 
 the sixth and subsequent centuries. Down to this 
 time there still existed a feeble recognition of a pos- 
 sible system adapted to the cure of maladies, so far, 
 perhaps, as the practice was restricted to municipal- 
 ities. The rapid advancement of saintly remedies, 
 consecrated oils, and other puissant articles of eccle- 
 siastical appliance, enabled and encouraged numer- 
 ous churchmen to exercise the ^Esculapian art; this, 
 together with the ban put upon physicians and sci- 
 entific means, soon gave the church the monopoly 
 of healing. Perhaps the most thorough attestation 
 of the contempt into which physicians had fallen, 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 201.
 
 64 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 compared with saintly medicists, is the fact that 
 cures were invariably attempted after earthly medi- 
 cine had been exhausted. 1 
 
 Islam, Buddhism, and other religions have their 
 shrines where some pilgrims are undoubtedly cured, 
 but Christianity seems to have had the most varied 
 and numerous collection. As early as the latter 
 part of the fourth century miraculous powers were 
 ascribed to the images of Jesus and the saints which 
 adorned the walls of most of the churches of the 
 time, and tales of wonderful cures were related of 
 them. The intercessions of saints were invoked, 
 and their relics began to work miracles. 2 
 
 St. Cyril, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and others 
 of the early church fathers of note maintained that 
 the relics of the saints had great efficacy in the cure 
 of diseases. St. Augustine tells us: "Besides many 
 other miracles, that Gamaliel in a dream revealed to 
 a priest named Lacianus the place where the bones 
 of St. Stephen were buried; that those bones being 
 thus discovered, were brought to Hippo, the diocese 
 of which St. Augustine was bishop; that they raised 
 five persons to life; and that, although only a por- 
 tion of the miraculous cures they effected had been 
 registered, the certificates drawn up in two years 
 in the diocese, and by the orders of the saint, were 
 nearly seventy. In the adjoining diocese of Calama 
 
 1 Ibid., pp. 142 and 156. 
 
 * G. P. Fisher, History of the Christian Church, p. 117.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 65 
 
 they were incomparably more numerous." l This 
 great and intellectual man also mentions and evi- 
 dently credits the story that some innkeeper of his 
 time put a drug into cheese which changed trav- 
 ellers who partook of it into domestic animals, and 
 he further asserts after a personal test that pea- 
 cock's flesh will not decay. 
 
 St. Ambrose declared that "the precepts of medi- 
 cine are contrary to celestial science, watching, and 
 prayer." When the conflict between St. Ambrose 
 and the Arian Empress Justina was at its height, the 
 former declared that it had been revealed to him that 
 relics were buried in a certain spot which he indicated. 
 When the earth was removed, there was exposed a 
 tomb filled with blood, and containing two gigantic 
 skeletons with their heads severed from their bodies. 
 These were pronounced to be the remains of St. 
 Gervasius and St. Protasius, two martyrs of gigantic 
 physical proportions, who were said to have been 
 beheaded about three centuries before. To prove 
 beyond doubt the genuineness of these relics, a 
 blind man was restored to sight by coming in con- 
 tact with them, and demoniacs were also cured 
 thereby. Before being exorcised, however, the 
 demons, who were supposed to have supernatural 
 and indubitable knowledge, declared that the relics 
 were genuine; that St. Ambrose was the deadly 
 enemy of hell ; that the doctrine of the Trinity was 
 
 1 W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, I, pp. 378 f.
 
 66 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 true; and that those who rejected it would cer- 
 tainly be damned. To be sure that the testimony 
 of the demons should have its proper weight in the 
 controversy, on the following day St. Ambrose de- 
 livered an invective against all who questioned the 
 miracle. 1 
 
 Late researches concerning the Catacombs of 
 Rome have thrown much light upon the early use 
 of relics. The former opinion of the Catacombs was 
 that they were used for secret worship by the per- 
 secuted Christians, but now we know that they were 
 burial-places under the protection of Roman law, 
 with entrances opening on the public roads. Their 
 chapels and altars were for memorial and communion 
 services. Great reverence was felt for the bodies of 
 all Christians, so that for the first seven centuries 
 the bodies were not disturbed, and relics, in the 
 modern sense of the word, were unknown. People 
 prayed at the tombs, or if they wished to take some- 
 thing away, they touched the tomb with a handker- 
 chief, or else they took some oil from the lamps 
 which marked the tombs. These mementos were 
 regarded as true relics, so that when the Lombard 
 Queen, Theodelinda, sent the abbot John for relics 
 to put in her cathedral at Monza, he came back with 
 over seventy little vials of oil, each with the name of 
 the saint from whose tomb the oil was procured, 
 and many of them are still preserved. 
 
 1 Ibid., I, p. 379.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 67 
 
 The oil from altar lamps was of therapeutic 
 value, as St. Chrysostom tells us in speaking of the 
 superiority of the church over ordinary houses. 
 "For what is here," he asks, "that is not great and 
 awful? Thus both this Table [the altar] is far more 
 precious and delightful than that [any table at home], 
 and this lamp than that; and this they know, as 
 many as have put away diseases by anointing them- 
 selves with oil in faith and due season." If the 
 body of a saint lay beneath the altar, the oil was 
 then known as the "Oil of the Saints," and was 
 even more efficacious for healing. Notice the follow- 
 ing quotations on the subject taken from Dearmer's 
 work. 
 
 "Far more common are stories of healing by oil 
 from a lamp burnt in honor of Christ or the saints. 
 The following examples are from the East. The 
 wounded hand of a Saracen was healed by oil from a 
 lamp before the icon of St. George." 
 
 "St. Cyrus and St. John appeared to a person 
 suffering from gout, and bade him take a little oil 
 in a small ampulla from the lamp that burnt before 
 the image of the Saviour, in the great tetrapyle at 
 Alexandria, and anoint his feet with it." 
 
 "Similar stories are found in Western writers. 
 Thus Nicetius of Lyons, by means of the oil of the 
 lamp which burnt daily at his sepulchre, restored 
 sight to the blind, drove demons from bodies pos- 
 sessed, restored soundness to shrunken limbs," etc. 
 
 "An epileptic was cured by oil from the lamp 
 that burnt night and day at the tomb of St. Sev- 
 
 erm."
 
 68 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 "It was revealed to a blind woman, that oil from 
 the lamp of St. Genevieve would restore her sight, 
 if the warden of the church were to anoint her with 
 it. A week after she brought a blind man, who was 
 healed in the same manner." l 
 
 At the time of Gregory of Tours, application was 
 made of sainted reliquaries as a remedy against the 
 devil and his demons. Gregory narrates the mirac- 
 ulous efficacy of a small pellet of wax, taken from 
 the tomb of St. Martin, in extinguishing an incen- 
 diary fire started by his Satanic majesty, which was 
 instigated by malicious envy, because this omnipotent 
 talisman was in the custody of an ecclesiastic! This 
 Turonese bishop records many instances of cures 
 being effected at Martin's tomb. He himself was 
 relieved of severe pains in the head by touching the 
 disordered spot with the sombre pall of St. Martin's 
 sepulchre. This remedy was applied on three dif- 
 ferent occasions with equal success. Once he was 
 cured of an attack of mortal dysentery by simply 
 dissolving into a glass of water a pinch of dust scraped 
 from the tomb of St. Martin and drinking the strange 
 concoction. At another time, his tongue having 
 become swollen and tumefied, it was restored to its 
 natural size and condition by licking the railing of 
 the tomb of this saint. He knew of others who had 
 been equally successful. An archdeacon, named 
 Leonastes had sight restored to his blind eyes at the 
 
 1 P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, pp. 268 f.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 69 
 
 tomb of St. Martin, but unfortunately the fact that 
 he later applied to an Israelitish physician caused 
 his infirmity to return. Even a toothache was 
 cured by St. Martin's relics. 
 
 The following is an apostrophe to the relics of St. 
 Martin by Bishop Gregory: "Oh ineffable theriac! 
 ineffable pigment! admirable antidote! celestial 
 purge! superior to all drugs of the faculty! sweeter 
 than aromatics! stronger than unguents together; 
 thou cleanest the stomach like scammony, the lungs 
 like hyssop, thou purgest the head like pyre-thrig!" 1 
 
 From the end of the fifth century the exercise of 
 the medical art was almost exclusively appropriated 
 by cloisters and monasteries, whose occupants boldly 
 vended the miraculous remedial properties of relics, 
 chrism, baptismal fluids, holy oil, rosy crosses, etc., 
 as of unquestioned virtue. In these early days 
 living saints seem to have rivalled dead ones in 
 their power over diseases, but of these we shall 
 speak in a later chapter. 
 
 A renewed interest sprang up when pilgrims be- 
 gan to return from their journeys to Palestine, 
 bringing with them, as was natural, some souvenirs 
 of their sojourn. A most interesting quotation 
 from Mackay reveals the condition of these times. 
 "The first pilgrims to the Holy Land brought back 
 to Europe thousands of apocryphal relics, in the 
 purchase of which they had expended all their 
 
 1 J. Moses, Pathological Aspects of Religions, p. 133.
 
 70 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 store. The greatest favorite was the wood of the 
 true cross, which, like the oil of the widow, never 
 diminished. It is generally asserted, in the tradi- 
 tions of the Romish Church, that the Empress 
 Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, first 
 discovered the veritable 'true cross' in her pil- 
 grimage to Jerusalem. The Emperor Theodosius 
 made a present of the greater part of it to St. Am- 
 brose, Bishop of Milan, by whom it was studded 
 with precious stones and deposited in the principal 
 church of that city. It was carried away by the 
 Huns, by whom it was burnt, after they had ex- 
 tracted the valuable jewels it contained. Frag- 
 ments, purporting to have been cut from it, were, in 
 the eleventh and twelfth centuries, to be found in 
 almost every church in Europe, and would, if col- 
 lected together in one place, have been almost suffi- 
 cient to have built a cathedral. Happy was the 
 sinner who could get a sight of one of them; hap- 
 pier he who possessed one! To obtain them the 
 greatest dangers were cheerfully braved. They 
 were thought to preserve from all evils and to cure 
 the most inveterate diseases. Annual pilgrimages 
 were made to the shrines that contained them and 
 considerable revenues collected from the devotees. 
 
 "Next in renown were those precious relics, the 
 tears of the Saviour. By whom and in what manner 
 they were preserved, the pilgrim did not enquire. 
 Their genuineness was vouched by the Christians of
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 71 
 
 the Holy Land, and that was sufficient. Tears of 
 the Virgin Mary, and tears of St. Peter, were also 
 to be had, carefully enclosed in little caskets, which 
 the pious might wear in their bosoms. After the 
 tears, the next most precious relics were drops of the 
 blood of Jesus and the martyrs, and the milk of the 
 Virgin Mary. Hair and toe-nails were also in great 
 repute, and were sold at extravagant prices. Thou- 
 sands of pilgrims annually visited Palestine in the 
 eleventh and twelfth centuries, to purchase pre- 
 tended relics for the home market. The majority 
 of them had no other means of subsistence than the 
 profits thus obtained. Many a nail, cut from the 
 filthy foot of some unscrupulous ecclesiastic, was 
 sold at a diamond's price, within six months after 
 its severance from its parent toe, upon the supposi- 
 tion that it had once belonged to a saint or an apostle. 
 Peter's toes were uncommonly prolific, for there 
 were nails enough in Europe, at the time of the 
 Council of Clermont, to have filled a sack, all of 
 which were devoutly believed to have grown on 
 the sacred feet of that great apostle. Some of them 
 are still shown in the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 The pious come from a distance of a hundred Ger- 
 man miles to feast their eyes upon them." 1 
 
 While some of these relics enumerated by Mackay 
 seem to be such apparent frauds that none could 
 credit them, they were surpassed in audacity by one 
 
 1 C. Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, II, pp. 303 f.
 
 72 . RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 offered for sale at a monastery in Jerusalem. Here 
 was presented to the prospective buyers one of the 
 fingers of the Holy Ghost. 1 
 
 In addition to the popular relics already noted, 
 an extensive and lucrative trade was carried on in 
 iron filings from the chains with which, it was 
 claimed, Peter and Paul were bound. These filings 
 were deemed by Pope Gregory I as efficacious in 
 healing as were the bones of saints or martyrs. 2 
 
 As an example of healing at shrines in early days, 
 I will reproduce Bede's description of a cure effected 
 at the tomb of St. Cuthbert in 698. " There was in 
 that same monastery a brother whose name was 
 Bethwegan, who had for a considerable time waited 
 upon the guests of the house, and is still living, hav- 
 ing the testimony of all the brothers and strangers 
 resorting thither, of being a man of much piety and 
 religion, and serving the office put upon him only 
 for the sake of the heavenly reward. This man, 
 having on a certain day washed the mantels or 
 garments which he used in the hospital, in the sea, 
 was returning home, when on a sudden about half- 
 way, he was seized with a sudden distemper in his 
 body, insomuch that he fell down, and having lain 
 some time, he could scarcely rise again. When at 
 last he got up, he felt one-half of his body from the 
 
 1 J. W. Draper, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science, 
 p. 270. 
 2 J. Moses, Pathological Aspects of Religions, pp. 132 f.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 73 
 
 head to the foot, struck with palsy, and with much 
 difficulty he got home with the help of a staff. The 
 distemper increased by degrees, and as night ap- 
 proached became still worse, so that when day re- 
 turned, he could not rise or walk alone. In this weak 
 condition, a good thought came into his mind, which 
 was to go to church, the best way he could, to the 
 tomb of the reverend Father Cuthbert, and there on 
 his knees, to beg of the Divine Goodness either to 
 be delivered from that disease, if it were for his 
 good, or if the Divine Providence had ordained him 
 longer to lie under the same for his punishment, 
 that he might bear the pain with patience and a 
 composed mind. He did accordingly, and support- 
 ing his weak limbs with a staff, entered the church, 
 and prostrating himself before the body of the man 
 of God, he with pious earnestness, prayed, that 
 through his intercession, our Lord might be propi- 
 tious to him. In the midst of his prayers he fell as 
 it were, into a stupor, and as he was afterwards 
 wont to relate, felt a large and broad hand touch 
 his head where the pain lay, and by that touch all 
 the part of his body which had been affected with the 
 distemper, was delivered from the weakness, and 
 restored to health down to his feet. He then awoke, 
 and rose up in perfect health, and returning thanks 
 to God for his recovery, told the brothers what had 
 happened to him; and to the joy of them all, re- 
 turned the more zealously, as if chastened by his
 
 74 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 affliction, to the service which he was wont before 
 so carefully to perform. The very garments which 
 had been on Cuthbert's body, dedicated to God, 
 either while living, or after he was dead, were not 
 exempt from the virtue of performing cures, as may 
 be seen in the book of his life and miracles, by such 
 as shall read it." l It should be noticed that in this 
 account God alone seemed to have been the healer. 
 
 Nearly every country had its long list of saints, 
 each with his special power over some organ or dis- 
 ease. This saintly power, however, was not applied 
 directly, but through their relics or through shrines 
 consecrated to them. Melton, in his Astrologaster, 
 says: "The saints of the Romanists have usurped 
 the place of the zodiacal constellations in their 
 governance of the parts of man's body, and that 
 'for every limbe they have a saint.' Thus St. Otilia 
 keepes the head instead of Aries; St. Blasius is ap- 
 pointed to governe the necke instead of Taurus; St. 
 Lawrence keepes the backe and shoulders instead of 
 Gemini, Cancer, and Leo; St. Erasmus rules the 
 belly with the entrayles, in the place of Libra and 
 Scorpius; in the stead of Sagittarius, Capricornus, 
 Aquarius, and Pisces, the holy church of Rome hath 
 elected St. Burgarde, St. Rochus, St. Quirinus, St. 
 John, and many others, which governe the thighes, 
 feet, shinnes, and knees." 
 
 But the influence of the saints is distributed more 
 
 1 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ed. J. A. Giles, bk. IV, chap. XXXI.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 75 
 
 minutely, as e. g., "Right Hand: the top joint of the 
 thumb is dedicated to God, the second joint to the 
 Virgin; the top joint of the fore-finger to St. Barna- 
 bas, the second joint to St. John, and the third to 
 St. Paul; the top joint of the second finger to Simon 
 Cleophas, the second joint to Tathideo, the third to 
 Joseph; the top joint of the third finger to Zaccheus, 
 the second to Stephen, the third to the evangelist 
 Luke; the top joint of the little finger to Leatus, 
 the second to Mark, the third to Nicodemus." 
 Thus the body was cared for. 
 
 Pettigrew makes the following enumeration which 
 shows the division of labor among the saints in the 
 Middle Ages. In this, not the different portions of 
 the body but the various diseases and infirmities 
 are distributed. 
 
 "The following list, though doubtless very im- 
 perfect, will yet serve to show how general was the 
 appropriation of particular diseases to the Roman 
 Catholic saints: 
 
 St. Agatha, against sore breasts. 
 
 St. Agnan and St. Tignan, against scald head. 
 
 St. Anthony, against inflammations. 
 
 St. Apollonia, against toothache. 
 
 St. Avertin, against lunacy. 
 
 St. Benedict, against the stone, and also for 
 poisons. 
 
 St. Blaise, against the quinsey, bones sticking in 
 the throat, etc. 
 
 St. Christopher and St. Mark, against sudden death.
 
 76 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 St. Clara, against sore eyes. 
 
 St. Erasmus, against the colic. 
 
 St. Eutrope, against dropsy. 
 
 St. Genow and St. Maur, against the gout. 
 
 St. Germanus, against diseases of children. 
 
 St. Giles and St. Hyacinth, against sterility. 
 
 St. Herbert, against hydrophobia. 
 
 St. Job and St. Fiage, against syphilis. 
 
 St. John, against epilepsy and poison. 
 
 St. Lawrence, against diseases of the back and 
 shoulders. 
 
 St. Liberius, against the stone and fistula. 
 
 St. Maine, against the scab. 
 
 St. Margaret and St. Edine, against danger in par- 
 turition. 
 
 St. Martin, against the itch. 
 
 St. Marus, against palsy and convulsions. 
 
 St. Otilia and St. Juliana, against sore eyes and 
 the headache. 
 
 St. Pernel, against the ague. 
 
 St. Petronilla, St. Apollonia, and St. Lucy, against 
 the toothache. 
 
 , and St. Genevieve, against fevers. 
 
 St. Phaire, against hemorrhoids. 
 
 St. Quintan, against coughs. 
 
 St. Rochus, and St. Sebastian, against the plague. 
 
 St. Romanus, against demoniacal possession. 
 
 St. Ruffin, against madness. 
 
 St. Sigismund, against fevers and agues. 
 
 St. Valentine, against epilepsy. 
 
 St. Venise, against chlorosis. 
 
 St. Vitus, against madness and poisons. 
 
 St. Wallia and St. Wallery, against the stone. 
 
 St. Wolfgang, against lameness." l 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected urith the History and 
 Practice of Medicine and Surgery, pp. 55-57.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 77 
 
 Wax from the tapers illuminating the altar which 
 enclosed St. Gall's mortal remains was an instanta- 
 neous cure for toothache, diseased eyes, and total 
 deafness; a vase used by the martyred Willabrod 
 for bathing thrice a year, still holding its partially 
 solidified water by divine invocation after her 
 death, had great remedial energy in diverse ail- 
 ments; the water in which the ring of St. Remigius 
 was immersed cured certain obstinate fevers; and 
 the wine in which the bones of the saints were 
 washed restored imbeciles to instant health. In 
 the thirteenth century, hairs of saints, especially of 
 St. Boniface, were used as a purge, and a single hair 
 from the beard of St. Vincent, placed about the 
 neck of an idiot, restored normal mental operations. 
 With the water in which St. Sulpicius washed her 
 hands aggravated infirmities were instantly cured; 
 and in the twelfth century, an invalid being advised 
 in a dream to drink the water in which St. Bernard 
 washed his hands, the Abbot of Clairvaux went to 
 him, gave him the wash water, and healed an incur- 
 able disease. Flowers reposing on the tomb of a 
 saint, when steeped in water, were supposed to be 
 especially efficacious in various diseases, and those 
 blooming in aromatic beauty at the tomb of St. 
 Bernard instantly cured grievous sicknesses. 1 The 
 belt of St. Guthlac, and the felt of St. Thomas of 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 pp. 224 f., 273-277, 457.
 
 78 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 Lancaster, were sovereign remedies for the head- 
 ache, whilst the penknife and boots of Archbishop 
 Becket, and a piece of his shirt, were found most 
 admirably to aid parturition. Fragments of the 
 veil of the saintess Coleta, and the use of her well- 
 worn cloak, immediately cured a terrible luxation, 
 and a cataleptic patient was restored to sanity by 
 drinking from her cup. 
 
 To show how thoroughly the idea of the efficacy 
 of these relics must have been indued in the thought 
 of the times, White quotes the following: "Two 
 lazy beggars, one blind, the other lame, try to avoid 
 the relics of St. Martin, borne about in procession, 
 so that they may not be healed and lose their claim 
 to alms. The blind man takes the lame man on 
 his shoulders to guide him, but they are caught in 
 the crowd and healed against their will." He also 
 says: "Even as late as 1784 we find certain authori- 
 ties in Bavaria ordering that anyone bitten by a 
 mad dog shall at once put up prayers at the shrine 
 of St. Hubert, and not waste his time in any at- 
 tempts at medical or surgical cure." l 
 
 In addition to what Dr. White says here about 
 the treatment for threatened hydrophobia in the 
 eighteenth century, we find a curious mixture of 
 science and superstition in the nineteenth century 
 in connection with the same trouble. Early in this 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 pp. 40 f.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 79 
 
 century physicians discovered that the most effect- 
 ual remedy against the bite of a rabid animal was 
 the cauterization of the wound with a red-hot iron. 
 In Tuscany, however, the iron which they heated 
 was one of the nails of the true cross, and in the 
 French provinces it was the key of St. Hubert. 
 This, though, was only to be used in the hands of 
 those who could trace their genealogy to this noble 
 saint. At the abbey of St. Hubert, in the diocese 
 of Liege, the intercession of the saint still continued 
 to be sufficient to effect a cure, provided it was 
 seconded by some religious ceremonies, and a diet 
 which would reassure the patient. 
 
 After the discovery of the "true cross," portions 
 of this relic were much used for aid in any emer- 
 gency. In addition to sanitary and healing powers, 
 fragments suspended to a tree manifested the proper 
 location of sacred edifices. St. Magnus, who seems 
 to have carried pieces around with him, completely 
 vanquished demons who frequented a locality se- 
 lected for a chapel. Eyesight was restored to a 
 humble merchant seeking the blood-stained marks 
 upon the chapel of this same St. Magnus. The 
 blind man was feeling his uncertain way to the 
 place, where these discolorations reappeared more 
 distinctly after each washing with heavy layers of 
 lime. 
 
 St. Louis, almost in the agonies of earthly disso- 
 lution, with rigid body, rigorous limbs, and fluctu-
 
 80 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 ating spirit, was brought to full health by the appli- 
 cation to his moribund body of a piece of the true 
 cross, about the year 1244; and later in the century 
 miracles took place at his tomb. M. Littre, in his 
 Fragment de Medecine Retrospective, describes seven 
 miracles which occurred at his tomb, some of which 
 cures, however, were very gradual. We are also 
 told that when a humble hunchback bowed the 
 knee in adoration at the tomb of St. Andreas, his 
 irresistible faith instantly released him from his un- 
 natural rotundity. In 1243 a Ferrara writer was at 
 Padua, and while attending vespers at the tomb 
 where the sainted body of the Minorite Anthony 
 reposed, he affirms that he saw a person who had 
 been mute from his birth recover his voice and 
 speak audibly. 
 
 Saintly remedies were used to cure hemorrhages, 
 readjust luxations, unite fractures, remove calculi, 
 moderate the agonizing pangs of parturition, restore 
 vision to the blind, and hearing to the deaf in fact, 
 in an endeavor to perform cures which modern 
 medicine and surgery are counting among their 
 greatest and most recent triumphs. Some things 
 even more strange were attempted: paradoxical as 
 it may seem, they were used to cover up crime. 
 Fort tells us that among nuns and consecrated 
 women in convents, some erring sisters applied the 
 preventive talismanic influence of a sacred shirt or 
 girdle to suppress the manifestation of conventual
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 81 
 
 irregularities of a sexual character. Animals as well 
 as human beings were treated for sickness, and relics 
 were used to free captive birds and animals. At a 
 banquet, a costly urn was shattered by ecclesiastics, 
 and through the power of Odilo it was restored to 
 its original integrity. At the tombs of both St. 
 Severin and St. Gall, when the light had been 
 quenched, miraculous fire burst forth to renew the 
 splendor. 1 
 
 The allotment of certain diseases to certain saints 
 did not end with the Middle Ages. I have in my 
 hand a little manual entitled: De V Invocation 
 miraculeuse des Saints dans les maladies et les besoins 
 particuliers, par Mme. la Baronne d'Avout, published 
 in 1884. An invocation is given for every day in 
 the year to some particular saint, who is thought to 
 be especially efficacious in the cure of some specific 
 disease. I shall quote but one for illustration. 
 
 "30 MAI 
 S. HUBERT DE BRETIGNY 
 
 Pres Noyons (Oise). 
 Honore au diocese de Beauvais. 
 
 "L'illustre saint Hubert, apdtre des Ardennes, fut 
 son protecteur et lui donna son nom. II lui obtint 
 les plus heureuses dispositions pour la vertu. Lui 
 aussi herita du pouvoir de guerir de la rage. 
 
 "Les habitants de Noyon et des environs n'ont 
 pas cesse de recourir a son intercession. Les per- 
 
 : G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 273.
 
 82 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 sonnes qui touchent ses reliques ou portent sur elles 
 son nom beni esperent echapper pendant leur vie 
 aux atteintes des demons, de la rage et du tonnerre. 
 "A Aire, diocese de Frejus, on invoque aussi sainte 
 Quitere centre la rage. 
 
 INVOCATION 
 
 "Dieu tout-puissant, qui avez forme le cceur de 
 vos saints avec une admirable bonte, aim qu'ils 
 deviennent pour nous une source de bienfaits et de 
 consolation; assistez-nous dans le pressant besoin 
 ou nous nous trouvons et sauvez-nous de la mort, 
 par les prieres at les merites de saint Hubert de 
 Bretigny, afin que nous puissions vous louer et vous 
 benir. Par N.-S. J.-C. Ainsi soit-il. 
 
 "Saint Hubert, qui preservez de la morsure des 
 betes enragees, ou qui guerissez leur morsures mortelles, 
 priez pour tons les affliges qui vous invoquent." 
 
 While there was probably some advance when 
 the saints of the church took the place of the zodi- 
 acal constellations in the government of the human 
 body, the church prevented the development along 
 scientific lines, although there were many ramifica- 
 tions of saintly influence. Not the least among 
 these was the healing efficacy of holy wells, pools, 
 and streams, which had been empowered in some 
 way by the saints. In some cases the bones of holy 
 men have been buried in different parts of the con- 
 tinent, and after a certain lapse of time, water was 
 said to have oozed from them, which soon formed 
 a spring and cured all the diseases of the faithful.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 83 
 
 Perhaps the cure of leprous Naaman by bathing 
 in the Jordan, and the restoration of the sight of the 
 blind man by washing in the Pool of Siloam may 
 have served as examples which the credulous were 
 only too ready to follow. We must also note, how- 
 ever, as a reason for their use, that in classical times 
 the greater number of thermal waters, more fre- 
 quently used then than in the present day, remained 
 consecrated to the gods, to Apollo, to ^Esculapius, 
 and, above all, to Hercules, who was named latri- 
 cos, or the able physician. At any rate, many wells 
 and fountains were dedicated to different saints, 
 and various rites were performed there at Easter 
 and other particular days, where offerings were also 
 made to the saints. 
 
 In Ireland, many such sacred places have been 
 visited by the sick for centuries, and England and 
 Scotland have them also. Not only in the British 
 Isles, but in all parts of Europe they were much 
 frequented in the Middle Ages, and they are not 
 without their visitors to-day. As late as 1805 the 
 eminent Roman Catholic prelate, Dr. John Milner, 
 gave a detailed account of a miraculous cure per- 
 formed at a sacred well in Flintshire. Gregory of 
 Tours was one of the first to notice the healing power 
 of springs in connection with the saints. He as- 
 serted that the diseases of the sick and infirm were 
 banished upon the contact of a few drops of water 
 drawn from a spring dug by St. Martin's own hands.
 
 84 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 From Fosbrooke's British Monachism we learn 
 that "on a spot called Nell's Point, is a fine well, to 
 which great numbers of women resort on Holy 
 Thursday, and, having washed their eyes in the 
 spring, they drop a pin into it. Once a year, at 
 St. Mardrin's well, also, lame persons went on Cor- 
 pus Christi evening, to lay some small offering on 
 the altar, there to lie on the ground all night, drink 
 of the water there, and on the next morning to take 
 a good draught more of it, and carry away some of 
 the water each in a bottle at their departure. At 
 Muswell Hill was formerly a chapel, called our Lady 
 of Muswell, from a well there, near which was her 
 image; this well was continually resorted to by 
 way of pilgrimage. At Walsingham, a fine green 
 road was made for the pilgrims, and there was a 
 holy well and cross adjacent, at which pilgrims used 
 to kneel while drinking the water. It is remarkable 
 that the Anglo-Saxon laws had proscribed this as 
 idolatrous. Such springs were consecrated upon 
 the discovery of cures effected by them. In fact," 
 Fosbrooke adds, "these consecrated wells merely 
 imply a knowledge of the properties of mineral 
 waters, but, through ignorance, a religious appro- 
 priation of their properties was made to supernat- 
 ural causes." 
 
 "Holywell, in the county of Flint," we are in- 
 formed by Salverte, "derives its name from the 
 Holy Well of St. Winifred, over which a chapel was
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 85 
 
 erected by the Stanley family, in the reign of 
 Henry VII. The well was formerly in high repute 
 as a medicinal spring. Pennant says that, in his 
 time, Lancashire pilgrims were to be seen in deep 
 devotion, standing in the waters up to the chin for 
 hours, sending up prayers, and making a prescribed 
 number of turnings; and this excess of piety was 
 carried so far, as in several instances to cost the 
 devotees their lives." * 
 
 Pennant also tells us of a small spring outside the 
 bathing well at Whiteford, which was once famed 
 for the cure of weak eyes. The patient made an 
 offering of a crooked pin, and at the same time re- 
 peated some words. The well still remains, but the 
 efficacy of its waters is lost. In recounting his tour 
 of Wales, the same author describes the church of 
 St. Tecla, virgin and martyr, at Llandegla. He 
 says: "About two hundred yards from the church, 
 in a Quillet called Gwern Degla, rises a small spring. 
 The water is under the tutelage of the Saint, and to 
 this day held to be extremely beneficial in the fall- 
 ing sickness. The patient washes his limbs in the 
 well; makes an offering into it of four-pence; walks 
 round it three times; and thrice repeats the Lord's 
 Prayer. These ceremonies are never begun till 
 after sun-set, in order to inspire the votaries with 
 greater awe. If the afflicted be of the male sex, like 
 
 1 E. Salverte, The Philosophy of Magic (trans. Thompson), II, 
 p,93.
 
 86 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 Socrates, he makes an offering of a cock to his 
 ^Esculapius, or rather to Tecla Hygeia; if of the 
 fair sex, a hen. The fowl is carried in a basket, 
 first round the well; after that into the church-yard; 
 when the same orisons and the same circum-ambu- 
 lations are performed round the church. The vo- 
 tary then enters the church; gets under the com- 
 munion table; lies down with the Bible under his or 
 her head; is covered with the carpet or cloth, and 
 rests there till break of day; departing after offer- 
 ing sixpence, and leaving the fowl in the church. 
 If the bird dies, the cure is supposed to have been 
 effected, and the disease transferred to the devoted 
 victim." * 
 
 "At Withersden," says Hasted, "is a well, which 
 was once famous, being called St. Eustache's well, 
 taking its name from Eustachius, Abbot of Flai, 
 who is mentioned by Matt. Paris, An. 1200, to have 
 been a man of learning and sanctity, and to have 
 come and preached at Wye, and to have blessed a 
 fountain there, so that afterwards its waters were 
 endowed by such miraculous power, that by it all 
 diseases were cured." 2 Unfortunately, wells do 
 not always benefit the bathers. Lilly 3 relates that 
 in 1635 Sir George Peckham died in St. Winifred's 
 Well, "having continued so long mumbling his pater 
 nosters and Sancta Winifreda ora pro me, that the 
 
 1 Tour of Wales, I, p. 405. 2 Hasted, Kent, III, p. 176. 
 
 1 History of His Life and Times, p. 32.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 87 
 
 cold struck into his body, and after his coming forth 
 of that well he never spoke more." 
 
 The people of the Highlands of Scotland regarded 
 fountains with particular veneration. According to 
 the Statistical Account of Scotland, the minister of 
 Kirkmichael, Banffshire, said: "The sick who resort 
 to them for health, address their vows to the pre- 
 siding powers, and offer presents to conciliate their 
 favor. These presents generally consist of a small 
 piece of money, or a few fragrant flowers. The same 
 reverence in ancient tunes seems to have been en- 
 tertained by every people in Europe." Near Kirk- 
 michael there was a fountain dedicated to St. 
 Michael, and once celebrated for its cures. "Many 
 a patient have its waters restored to health, and 
 many more have attested the efficacy of their virt- 
 ues. But, as the presiding power is sometimes 
 capricious, and apt to desert his charge, it now lies 
 neglected, choked with weeds, unhonored and un- 
 frequented." * 
 
 The most noted well in Perthshire is in Trinity 
 Gask. Again from the Statistical Account we quote : 
 "Superstition, aided by the interested artifices of 
 Popish Priests, raised, in times of ignorance and 
 bigotry, this well to no small degree of celebrity. 
 It was affirmed that every person who was baptized 
 with the water of this well would never be seized 
 with the plague. The extraordinary virtue of Trin- 
 
 1 Statistical Account of Scotland, VII, p. 213, and XII, p. 464.
 
 88 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 ity Gask well has perished with the downfall of 
 superstition." * 
 
 Pinkerton, in speaking of the river Fillan in Scot- 
 land, says: "In this river is a pool consecrated 
 by the ancient superstition of the inhabitants of 
 this country. The pool is formed by the eddying 
 of the stream round a rock. Its waves were many 
 years since consecrated by Fillan, one of the saints 
 who converted the ancient inhabitants of Caledonia 
 from paganism to the belief of Christianity. It has 
 ever since been distinguished by his name, and 
 esteemed of sovereign virtue in curing madness. 
 About two hundred persons afflicted in this way are 
 annually brought to try the benefits of its salutary 
 influence. These patients are conducted by their 
 friends, who first perform the ceremony of passing 
 with them thrice through a neighbouring cairn: on 
 this cairn they then deposit a simple offering of 
 clothes, or perhaps a small bunch of heath. More 
 precious offerings used once to be brought. The 
 patient is then thrice immerged in the sacred pool. 
 After the immersion, he is bound hand and foot, 
 and left for the night in a chapel which stands near. 
 If the maniac is found loose in the morning, good 
 hopes are conceived of his full recovery. If he is 
 still bound, his cure remains doubtful. It some- 
 times happens that death relieves him, during his 
 confinement, from the troubles of life." 
 1 tind., XVIII, p. 487.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 89 
 
 Mrs. Macaulay, 1 speaking of a consecrated well 
 in St. Kilda, called Tobirnimbuadh, or the spring of 
 diverse virtues, says that "near the fountain stood 
 an altar, on which the distressed votaries laid down 
 their oblations. Before they could touch sacred 
 water with any prospect of success, it was their 
 constant practice to address the genius of the place 
 with supplication and prayer. No one approached 
 him with empty hands. . . . Shells and pebbles, 
 rags of linen or stuffs worn out, pins, needles, or 
 rusty nails were generally all the tribute that was 
 paid." 
 
 Collinson 2 mentions a well in the parish Wembton, 
 called St. John's Well, to which in 1464 "an immense 
 concourse of people resorted: and . . . many who 
 had for years labored under various bodily dis- 
 eases, and had found no benefit from physick and 
 physicians, were, by the use of these waters (after 
 paying their due offerings), restored to their primi- 
 tive health." 
 
 Brome, in his Travels, 1700, observes: "In Lo- 
 thien, two miles from Edinburg southward, is a 
 spring called St. Katherine's Well, flowing continu- 
 ally with a kind of black fatness, or oil, above the 
 water, proceeding (as it is thought) from the parret 
 coal, which is frequent in these parts; 'tis of a mar- 
 vellous nature, for as the coal, whereof it proceeds, 
 
 1 C. S. Macaulay, History of St. Kilda, p. 95. 
 'Somersetshire, 111, p. 104.
 
 90 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 is very apt quickly to kindle into a flame, so is the 
 oil of a sudden operation to heal all scabs and tumors 
 that trouble the outward skin, and the head and 
 hands are speedily healed by virtue of this oil, 
 which retains a very sweet smell; and at Aberdeen 
 is another well very efficacious to dissolve the stone, 
 to expel sand from the reins and bladder, being 
 good for the collick and drunk in July and August, 
 not inferiour, they report, to the Spaw in Germany." 1 
 Grose tells us of a well dedicated to St. Oswald, 
 between the towns of Alton and Newton. The 
 neighbors have the opinion that a sick person's 
 shirt thrown into the well will prognosticate the 
 outcome of the disease; if it floats the sick one will 
 recover, if it sinks he will die. To reward the saint 
 for the information, they tear a rag off the shirt and 
 hang it on the briers near by; "where," says the 
 writer, "I have seen such numbers as might have 
 made a fayre rheme in a paper-myll." Similar 
 practices are related by other authors. Ireland 
 formerly had a sanctified well in nearly every parish. 
 They were marked by rude crosses and surrounded 
 by fragments of cloth left as memorials. St. Ro- 
 nague's Well, near Cork, was very popular at one 
 time. Near Carrick-on-Suir is the holy well of 
 Tubber Quan, the waters of which are reputed to 
 have performed many miraculous cures. The well 
 
 1 I am much indebted to J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, pp. 1-17, 
 for some of the quotations used in the discussion of this subject.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 91 
 
 was dedicated to two patron saints, St. Quan and 
 St. Brogawn. These saints are supposed to exert 
 a special influence the last three Sundays in June. 
 "It is firmly believed/' says Brand, "that at this 
 period the two saints appear in the well in the shape 
 of two small fishes, of the trout kind; and if they do 
 not so appear, that no cure will take place. The 
 penitents attending on these occasions ascend the 
 hill barefoot, kneel by the stream and repeat a 
 number of paters and aves, then enter it, go through 
 the stream three times, at a slow pace, reciting 
 their prayers. They then go on the gravel walk, 
 and traverse it round three times on their bare 
 knees, often till the blood starts in the operation, 
 repeat their prayers, then traverse three times 
 round a tree on their bare knees, but upon the 
 grass. Having performed these exercises they cut 
 off locks of their hair and tie them on the branches 
 of the tree as specifics against headache." 
 
 After being three times admonished in a dream, 
 a man washed in St. Madern's Well in Cornwall and 
 was miraculously cured, so say Bishop Hall and 
 Father Francis. Ranulf Higden, in his Polychron- 
 icon, relates the wonderful cures performed at the 
 holy well at Basingwerk. The red streaks in the 
 stones surrounding it were symbols of the blood of 
 St. Wenefride, martyred by Carodoc. 
 
 The Scotch considered certain wells to have heal- 
 ing properties in the month of May. In the Ses-
 
 92 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 sions Records (June 12, 1628) it is reported that a 
 number of persons were brought before the Kirk 
 Sessions of Falkirk, accused of going to Christ's 
 Well on the Sundays of May to seek their health, 
 and the whole being found guilty were sentenced to 
 repent ' ' in linens ' ' three several sabbaths. " In 1 657 
 a number of persons were publicly rebuked for visit- 
 ing the well at Airth. The custom was to leave a 
 piece of money and a napkin at the well, from which 
 they took a can of water, and were not to speak a 
 word either in going or returning, nor on any ac- 
 count to spill a drop of the water. Notwithstand- 
 ing these proceedings, many are known to have 
 lately travelled many miles into the Highlands, 
 there to obtain water for the cure of their sick 
 cattle." l 
 
 To-day, probably the most efficacious waters are 
 to be found at the sacred fountain at La Salette 
 and at the holy spring at Lourdes. 
 
 We have another specific form of healing which 
 should be noticed. It was especially common in 
 Eastern churches, and was found to some extent in 
 the West. I refer to Incubation, or "Temple-sleep." 
 This practice came down through early civilizations 
 and was an adopted practice among Christians. 
 The patient went to some church well known for its 
 cures, which was provided with mattresses or low 
 
 1 Superstitions Connected vrith . . . Medicine and Surgery, pp. 
 57-fil.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 93 
 
 couches, and attended by priests and assistants. 
 Devotions being finished he lay down to sleep. 
 Sometimes he slept immediately, at other times 
 sleep must be wooed by fast and vigil. At any 
 rate, during the sleep he dreamed that the saint 
 touched him, or prescribed some remedy, and in 
 the first case he awoke cured, and in the second the 
 prescribed medicine brought about the relief. 
 
 Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote 
 about 640 as follows: "Cyrus appeared to the sick 
 man in the form of a monk, not in a dream, as he 
 appears to many; but in a waking vision, just as he 
 was and is represented. He told the patient to rise 
 and to plunge into the warm water. Zosimos said 
 it was impossible for him to move, but when the 
 order was repeated, he slid like a snake into the 
 bath. When he got into the water, he saw the 
 saint at his side, but when he came out, the vision 
 had vanished." Beside the cure of this paralytic 
 at the church of Cyrus and John, he mentions the 
 cure of many other diseases by this method of in- 
 cubation. Among them are dumbness, blindness, 
 barrenness, possession, scrofula, dyspepsia, a broken 
 leg, deformities of limbs, lameness, gout, diseases of 
 the eyes, cataract, ulcer, and dropsy. 
 
 Among the churches of Greece and southern 
 Italy incubation is still common. The climate may 
 have some effect in limiting the area of this practice. 
 Miss M. Hamilton furnishes us with some modem
 
 94 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 examples. In speaking of a new picture of St. 
 George in the church at Arachova, she says: "It is 
 a votive offering of a Russian, who came a paralytic 
 to Arachova in July, 1905. He spent several weeks 
 praying and sleeping in the church, and departed 
 completely cured. The festival of St. George is 
 held on April 23rd. They have three days of dan- 
 cing and feasting, and at night all suppliants bring 
 their rugs and sleep round the shrines in the church. 
 Every year many of the sick are found to be cured 
 when morning comes." 
 
 The Church of the Evangelestria, our Lady of the 
 Annunciation, is visited by about forty-five thousand 
 pilgrims every year. It is situated at Tenos, and 
 Miss Hamilton tells us what she saw during her 
 visit there in 1906: 
 
 "On the morning before Annunciation Day this 
 year, the pilgrims could be seen making their way 
 to the church. Among them were cripples, armless, 
 and legless, half -rolling up the street; blind people 
 groping their way along; men and women with de- 
 formities of every kind; one or two showing the 
 pallor of death on their faces were being carried up 
 on litters. These evidently were coming to Tenos 
 as a last resource, when doctors were of no avail. 
 Other pilgrims were ascending after their own 
 fashion, according to vows they had made. One 
 woman toiled laboriously along on her knees, kiss- 
 ing the stones of the way, and clasping a silver 
 Madonna and Child. Last year her daughter had 
 been seized with epilepsy, and she vowed to carry in
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 95 
 
 this way this offering to the Madonna of Tenos if she 
 would cure her daughter. The girl recovered and 
 the other now with thankful heart was fulfilling her 
 part of the bargain. 
 
 "The eve of Annunciation Day is the time when 
 the Panagia is believed to descend among the sick 
 and work miraculous cures among them. Then all 
 the patients are gathered together in the crypt or in 
 the upper church. The Chapel of the Well is the 
 popular place for incubation. There is more chance 
 for miraculous cure there than in the church. The 
 little crypt can accommodate only a comparatively 
 small number, but they are packed together as 
 tightly as possible. From the entrance up to the 
 altar, they lie in two lines of three or four deep, 
 with a passage down the middle large enough for 
 only one person. Down the narrow way two 
 streams of people press the whole evening. They 
 worship at the shrines along the wall, purchase holy 
 earth from the spot where the picture was discovered, 
 drink at the sacred well, and are blessed by the 
 priest at the altar. The cripples and the sick desir- 
 ing healing have been engaged all day in such acts 
 of worship; they have received bread and water 
 from the priests in the upper church, paid homage 
 to the all-powerful picture, offered their candles to 
 the Madonna, and all the time sought to endue 
 themselves with her presence. Now at night, still 
 fixing their thoughts upon her, and permeated by 
 this spirit of worship, they settle down to sleep in 
 order that she may appear to them in a dream. 
 
 "Disappointment, of course, awaits the vast ma- 
 jority, but on the evening of the vigil all are filled 
 with hope. They know the precedents of former 
 years, how such things have happened to some un- 
 fortunate people among the pilgrims every year.
 
 96 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 Usually eight or nine miracles take place, and lists 
 of them are published for distribution. . . . 
 
 "The church records contain accounts of the 
 miracles which now amount to many hundreds. 
 They are practically all of the type I have de- 
 scribed cure during a vision while incubation was 
 being practised. For example, the case of a man 
 from Moldavia is on record. He had become para- 
 lyzed during a night-watch, and the doctor could 
 effect no relief. He was taken to the Chapel of the 
 Well, and when asleep he thought he heard a voice 
 telling him to arise. He awoke, thought it was a 
 dream, and fell asleep again. A second time he 
 heard a voice, and saw a white-robed woman of 
 great beauty entering the church. In his fear he 
 rose and walked about. His recovery was so com- 
 plete that he could walk in the procession round the 
 town the following day." 1 
 
 The medicinal power imputed to the sainted relics 
 and shrines would naturally be considered very 
 valuable. So it proved. Wealth flowed to a con- 
 ventual treasury or a cathedral chapter where were 
 deposited fragments of the martyred dead endowed 
 with miraculous puissance. When the Frankish 
 forces sacked Constantinople at the beginning of 
 the thirteenth century, the principal object of their 
 ferocious cruelties and vigilant searches was the 
 acquisition of precious relics. Concerning these 
 relics Fort gives the following account : 
 
 1 1 am indebted to P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, pp. 278-281, 314- 
 318, for the material on incubation. For fuller study, see L. Deubner, 
 De Incubatione, and M. Hamilton, Incubation.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 97 
 
 "These relics, captured in Constantinople, were 
 divided by the troops under Marquis de Montfort, 
 with the same justice as prevailed in the division of 
 other booty. In this way the Venetians were en- 
 abled to enrich their metropolis with a piece of the 
 sainted cross, an arm of St. George, part of the head 
 of St. John the Baptist, the entire skeleton of St. 
 Luke, that of the prophet St. Simeon, and a small 
 bottle of Jesus Christ's blood. The Greek capital 
 from the remotest times appears to have monopo- 
 lized this traffic in sacred wares, claiming to possess 
 a fragment of the stone on which Jacob slept, and 
 the staff transformed into a serpent by Moses. 
 
 "Here also were guarded the Holy Virgin's vest- 
 ments, her spindle, drops of her milk, the cradle in 
 which the Saviour had lain, a tooth from his adoles- 
 cent jaw, a hair of his beard, a particle of the bread 
 used in the Last Supper, and a portion of the royal 
 purple worn by him before Pilate. Naturally cler- 
 ical adventurers among the occidental Crusaders, 
 pending the sacking of the Byzantine city, sought out 
 most zealously these valuable remnants of pristine 
 glory, and in obtaining them were by no means scru- 
 pulous with menaces and violence. When scattered 
 through Western Europe, in the monasteries and other 
 religious places, their curative properties increased 
 the pilgrimages thither of the sick and diseased." l 
 
 He further gives us more in detail 2 an idea of the 
 continual accumulation of riches which were derived 
 from the exposure of these relics to the sick and in- 
 firm and the consequent growth in wealth of the 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 227. 
 
 a Ibid., pp. 210-214, 226 f., 278.
 
 98 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 monasteries and cathedrals. The monastic system 
 was probably most responsible for the change from 
 the simple adoration of the early Christians to the use 
 of relics as a miraculous means of healing. Those 
 which were transported with elaborate ceremonies, 
 enclosed in a magnificent stone sarcophagus, and 
 covered by an edifice of imposing proportions were 
 almost sure to bring to their custodians great wealth. 
 It is said that when the body of St. Sebastian, which 
 was legitimately obtained from Rome, together with 
 the purloined remains of St. Gregory, reached the 
 cloister of Soissons, so great was the crowd of in- 
 valids who were cured, and so generous were they 
 in their donations, that the monks actually counted 
 eighty measures of money and one hundred pounds 
 in coin. The great value of such objects may be 
 calculated when it is remembered that in the year 
 1056 securities amounting to ten thousand solidi 
 were pledged for the production of the relics of St. 
 Just and St. Pastor, consequent upon the legal 
 decision of ownership between Berenger, a French 
 ruler, and a Narbonnese archbishop. The Reich- 
 berg annals provide a further example. They state 
 that the emperor demanded certain hostages, or the 
 holy arm of St. George, as a suitable guarantee for 
 the institution of a public mart in Germany. 
 
 Venetian merchants were among the first to real- 
 ize the commercial value of relics, and enjoyed a 
 lucrative traffic in this holy merchandise. It was
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 99 
 
 not until the eleventh century, however, that the 
 government of Venice founded public marts or fairs 
 for the commercial exchange of saintly relics, al- 
 though Rome and Pavia had long conducted such 
 enterprises. These fairs were placed under the 
 tutelary protection of some patron saint, the Vene- 
 tians, of course, thus honoring St. Mark. They 
 were not always particular how these relics were 
 procured, for it is stated that when negotiations for 
 the exchange of a well-preserved body of St. Tairise 
 proved unsuccessful, because the Greek monks who 
 possessed it refused absolutely to sell or barter, 
 these enterprising traders quietly stole the desired 
 skeleton. 
 
 Relics provided a suitable method of acquiring 
 ecclesiastical fortunes for denuded cloisters or im- 
 poverished nunneries; and if the old relics lost their 
 power it was not difficult to procure episcopal as- 
 surance of the miraculous powers of new ones. For 
 the procuring of special funds the venerated objects 
 were taken from place to place, under priestly sur- 
 veillance, presented to the sick and infirm with 
 assurance of relief, and with the demand for large 
 sums of money. 
 
 We can easily understand, then, why such dona- 
 tions were regarded as most precious presents, and 
 chronicled in the conventual records as events of 
 high importance. As early as the ninth century, 
 documentary evidence of authenticity frequently
 
 100 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 accompanied a gift of relics, and furnished legal 
 proof of ownership. 
 
 The gift of St. Peter's knife to a German monas- 
 tery by a benevolent abbot was deemed a most 
 illustrious act. About the same time a noble pil- 
 grim succeeded, after great importunity and a lavish 
 outlay of money, in obtaining trifling particles of 
 the relics of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which he 
 enclosed in a priceless box and donated to the mon- 
 astery of St. Gall. This gift was considered the 
 greatest event of the year, but when it is considered 
 that this and similar presents insure in the com- 
 munity where they are deposited uninterrupted 
 peace, unstinted plenty, absence of catastrophies, 
 and the cure of diseases, their value is explained. 
 
 The commercial aspect of ecclesiastical cures, 
 however, was discovered by other than priestly or 
 monkish eyes, and different forms began to be pre- 
 sented. Of these White says: "Very important 
 among these was the Agnus Dei, or piece of wax 
 from the Paschal candles, stamped with the figure 
 of a lamb and consecrated by the Pope. In 1471 
 Pope Paul II expatiated to the Church on the effi- 
 cacy of this fetich in preserving men from fire, ship- 
 wreck, tempest, lightning, and hail, as well as in 
 assisting women in childbirth; and he reserved to 
 himself and his successors the manufacture of it. 
 Even as late as 1517 Pope Leo X issued, for a con- 
 sideration, tickets bearing a cross and the following
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 101 
 
 inscription: 'This cross measured forty times makes 
 the height of Christ in his humanity. He who kisses 
 it is preserved for seven days from falling-sickness, 
 apoplexy, and sudden death.' " * 
 
 The enormous revenues procured through the 
 means of relics, and the lack of certain means of 
 identifying them, would naturally encourage the 
 imposition of fraud. The crime would not appear 
 so great after one experience, for the perpetrators 
 could readily see that it really made no difference 
 so far as efficacy in the cure of diseases was con- 
 cerned, whether or not the relics were genuine. 
 The history of some of the relics unfortunately 
 proves them not to be relics at all, or at least not to 
 be the relics which the faithful supposed them to be. 
 Notice a few instances. In a magnificent shrine in 
 the cathedral at Cologne are the skulls of the three 
 kings, or wise men from the East, who brought gifts 
 to the infant Lord. They have rested here since the 
 twelfth century and have been the source of enor- 
 mous wealth and power to the cathedral chapter. 
 Not to be outdone by the cathedral, for the church 
 of St. Gereon a cemetery has been depopulated, 
 and the bones thus procured have been placed upon 
 the walls and are known as the relics of St. Gereon 
 and his Theband band of martyrs! Further com- 
 petition arose in the neighboring church of St. 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 p. 30.
 
 102 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 Ursula. Another cemetery was despoiled and the 
 bones covering the interior of the walls are known 
 as the relics of St. Ursula and her eleven thousand 
 virgin martyrs. Anatomists now declare that many 
 of the bones are those of men, but this made no 
 more difference in their healing efficacy in the 
 Middle Ages than the fact that the relics of St. 
 Rosalia at Palermo, famed for their healing power, 
 have lately been declared by Professor Buckland, 
 the eminent osteologist, to be the bones of a goat. 
 
 Two different investigations have been conducted 
 by the French courts concerning the fountain of 
 La Salette, and in both cases the miracles which 
 make the shrine famous were pronounced to be 
 fraudulent. The recent restoration of the cathedral 
 at Trondhjem has revealed a tube in the walls, not 
 unlike the apparatus discovered in the Temple of 
 Isis at Pompeii; the healing power of this sacred 
 spring was augmented by angelic voices which 
 issued from the supposedly solid walls. 1 
 
 While the golden age of the therapeutic use of 
 relics was from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries, 
 modern times, with its physicians, hospitals, and 
 drugs, has not been deprived of this method of cure. 
 Mackay, writing in the latter half of the past cen- 
 tury, touches this subject. 
 
 At Port Royal, in Paris, is kept with great care 
 a thorn, which the priests of that seminary assert to 
 
 1 Ibid., II, pp. 21, 29, 43.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 103 
 
 be one of the identical thorns that bound the holy 
 head of the Son of God. How it came there, and 
 by whom it was preserved, has never been explained. 
 This is the famous thorn which the long dissensions 
 of the Jansenists and the Molenists have made cele- 
 brated, and which worked the miraculous cure upon 
 Mademoiselle Perier, an account of which is so in- 
 teresting that I give it. The cure occurred on 
 March 14, 1646. 
 
 "A young pensioner in the monastery, by name 
 Margaret Perier, who for three years and a half had 
 suffered from a lachrymal fistula, came up in her 
 turn to kiss it; and the nun, her mistress, more hor- 
 rified than ever at the swelling and deformity of her 
 eye, had a sudden impulse to touch the sore with the 
 relic, believing that God was sufficiently able and 
 willing to heal her. She thought no more of the 
 matter, but the little girl having retired to her room, 
 perceived a quarter of an hour after that her disease 
 was cured; and when she told her companions, it 
 was indeed found that nothing more was to be seen 
 of it. There was no more tumor; and her eye, 
 which the swelling (continuous for three years) had 
 weakened and caused to water, had become as dry, 
 as healthy, as lively as the other. The spring of 
 the filthy matter, which every quarter of an hour 
 ran down from nose, eye, and mouth, and at the 
 very moment before the miracle had fallen upon 
 her cheek (as she declared in her deposition), was 
 found to be quite dried up; the bone, which had 
 been rotted and putrified, was restored to its former 
 condition; all the stench, proceeding from it, which 
 had been so insupportable that by order of the
 
 104 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 physicians and surgeons she was separated from 
 her companions, was changed into a breath as sweet 
 as an infant's; and she recovered at the same 
 moment her sense of smell. . . . 
 
 "Mons. Felix, Chief Surgeon to the King, who 
 had seen her during the month of April, was curious 
 enough to return on the 8th of August, and having 
 found the cure as thorough and marvellous as it had 
 seemed to him at the time, declared under his hand 
 that 'he was obliged to confess that God alone had 
 the power to produce an effect so sudden and 
 extraordinary/ " 1 
 
 Mackay gives the following account of the dis- 
 tribution of relics about the middle of the nineteenth 
 century: "Europe still swarms with these religious 
 relics. There is hardly a Roman Catholic Church 
 in Spain, Portugal, France, or Belgium, without one 
 or more of them. Even the poorly endowed churches 
 of the villages boast the possession of miraculous 
 thighbones of the innumerable saints of the Romish 
 calendar. Aix-la-Chapelle is proud of the veritable 
 chasse, or thighbone of Charlemagne, which cures 
 lameness. Halle has a thighbone of the Virgin 
 Mary; Spain has seven or eight, all said to be un- 
 doubted relics. Brussels at one time preserved, 
 and perhaps does now, the teeth of St. Gudule. 
 The faithful who suffered from the toothache, had 
 only to pray, look at them, and be cured." 2 
 
 1 P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, pp. 374 f. 
 
 ; C. Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, II, p. 304.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 105 
 
 The miracles performed at the tomb of the 
 Deacon Paris in the cemetery of St. Medard are of 
 comparatively recent occurrence, and well attested. 
 For example, we have the case of "la demoiselle 
 Coirin," which, to say the least, is out of the ordi- 
 nary. "In 1716," says Dearmer, "this lady, then 
 aged thirty-one, fell from her horse; paralysis and 
 an ulcer followed; by 1719 the ulcer was in a horrible 
 condition; in 1720 her mother refused an operation 
 preferring to let her die hi peace. In 1731 after 
 fifteen years of an open breast she asked a woman 
 to say a novena at the tomb of Frangois de Paris, 
 to touch the tomb with her shift, and to bring back 
 some earth. This was done on August 10th; on the 
 llth she put on the shift and at once felt improved; 
 on the 12th she touched the wound with the earth 
 and it at once began to heal. By the end of August 
 the skin was completely healed up, and on Septem- 
 ber 24th she went out of doors." 1 
 
 Among the most noted relics at the present time 
 are the Holy Coat of Treves, 2 the Winding-sheet of 
 Christ at Besancon, and the Santa Scala at Rome. 
 The last are said to be the steps which Jesus as- 
 cended and descended when he was brought be- 
 fore Pontius Pilate, and are held in great veneration. 
 It is sacrilegious to walk upon them; the knees of 
 the faithful alone must touch them, and that only 
 
 1 P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, pp. 105 f. 
 
 2 R. F. Clarke, The Holy Coat of Treves.
 
 106 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 after they have reverently kissed them. Cures are 
 still performed by all these relics. 
 
 The two shrines at present best known and which 
 have proved most efficacious are those of Lourdes 
 in France 1 and St. Anne de Beaupre in the province 
 of Quebec. Lourdes owes its reputed healing 
 power to a belief in a vision of the Virgin received 
 there during the last century. Over 300,000 per- 
 sons visit there every year, and no small proportion 
 of them return with health restored as a reward for 
 their faith. At Lourdes and many other shrines 
 bathing forms a part of the ceremony, and on ac- 
 count of the unsanitary conditions in the former 
 place, there is some danger that the French Govern- 
 ment will cause its abandonment. Charcot, who es- 
 tablished the Salpe"triere hospital where hypnotism 
 was so successfully used, sent fifty or sixty patients 
 to Lourdes every year. He was firmly convinced of 
 the healing power of faith. One commendable feat- 
 ure of the management at Lourdes is the opportu- 
 nity given for investigation; in fact, this is courted. 
 Most of the sick bring medical details of their 
 diseases; an examining committee of medical men 
 
 1 A. T. Myers and F. W. H. Myers, "Mind Cure, Faith Cure, and 
 the Miracles at Lourdes," Proceedings Society Psychical Research, 
 IX, pp. 160-409; E. Berdoe, "A Medical View of the Miracles at 
 Lourdes," Nineteenth Century, October, 1895; J. B. Estrade, Les 
 apparitions de Lourdes, Souvenirs intimes d'un temoin; H. Bernheim, 
 Suggestive Therapeutics, pp. 200-202; A. Imbert-Gourbyzee, LaStig- 
 matisation, I'extase divine, et les miracles de Lourdes, II, chaps. XXI 
 and XXVII; E. Zola, Lourdes.
 
 EELICS AND SHRINES 107 
 
 examine them after they arrive there and after the 
 cure. About two hundred and fifty doctors visit 
 there every year, and the widest opportunity is 
 given to them for examination of the cases, regard- 
 less of their nationality or religious belief or scep- 
 ticism. This attitude might well be assumed by 
 these in control of other shrines or of healing cults. 
 
 In America thousands flock to the shrine of St. 
 Anne de Beaupre annually. Here are to be found 
 bones, supposed to be the wrist bones of the holy 
 mother of the Virgin, and many sufferers are able 
 to testify to their value in the healing of various 
 diseases. 
 
 On all parts of the Continent there are shrines of 
 more or less renown as healing centres. In Nor- 
 mandy the springs of Fecamp or Grand- Andely are 
 much frequented; in Austria, at Mariazell, Styria, 
 the church is visited by two hundred thousand pil- 
 grims a year, and has been a centre of healing since 
 1157; in Italy, the church of S. Maria delP Arco, 
 near Naples, has been a local Lourdes for four hun- 
 dred years, and here, as at Amalfi, Palermo, and 
 other places, the ancient practice of incubation is 
 still prevalent. The adherents of the Eastern Church 
 also have their shrines, and among the visitors to 
 the shrines of Greece, many pilgrims are rewarded 
 for their faith by being healed. 
 
 It is curious to remark the avidity manifested in 
 all ages, and in all countries, to obtain possession of
 
 108 RELICS AND SHRINES 
 
 some relic of any person who had been much spoken 
 of, if for nothing more than for his crimes. 1 Snuff- 
 boxes made from Shakespeare's mulberry-tree, twigs 
 from Napoleon's willow, or bullets from the field of 
 Waterloo have all been much sought after. Souve- 
 nirs of everything and anything are still much 
 in demand. It is within the last decade that a 
 foreign war-ship anchored in New York harbor, and 
 after the officers courteously opened the ship for 
 the inspection of visitors they found that even their 
 silver toilet articles and plate had been carried away 
 by the relic maniacs. A United States admiral, 
 rather more facetiously than patriotically, remarked 
 that "the American people of to-day would steal 
 anything but a cellarful of water." I suppose the 
 remark, so far as it applies to the relic-crazed crowd, 
 would be as applicable to any other people of any 
 other tune. 
 
 We have a right to ask, in closing this chapter, 
 how it was possible for men to believe in the power 
 of relics to cure diseases. The practice seems to 
 have developed from the reasoning that the saints 
 who helped men while in the imperfections of the 
 flesh, could be of even more benefit when they were 
 with God in the perfections of the spiritual life. 
 St. Augustine (426), for example, speaks of com- 
 paring the wonders performed by pagan "deities 
 with our dead men," and that the miracles wrought 
 
 1 C. Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, II, p. 306.
 
 RELICS AND SHRINES 109 
 
 by idols "are in no way comparable to the wonders 
 wrought by our martyrs." Some might agree with 
 this, and yet find no warrant for using relics. There 
 was, however, the remembrance of the dead man 
 who was restored to life by contact with the bones 
 of Elisha, and of the handkerchiefs and aprons 
 which touched Paul's body and were thereby filled 
 with healing efficacy. Even to-day we do not fail 
 to recognize the value of the association of places 
 and objects, and one finds it difficult to enter West- 
 minster Abbey, for instance, without feeling a thrill 
 on account of the sacred clay reposing there. When 
 we remember the beginning of the use of relics in 
 the catacombs we can better understand the devel- 
 opment of the practice.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 HEALERS 
 
 "This is an art 
 
 Which doth mend nature but 
 The art itself is nature." Winter's Tale. 
 
 " Some are molested by Phantasie; so some, again, by Fancy alone 
 and a good conceit, are as easily recovered. . . . All the world 
 knows there is no virtue in charms, &c., but a strong conceit and 
 opinion alone, as Pomponatius holds, which forceth a motion of the 
 humours, spirits, and blood, which takes away the cause of the 
 malady from the parts affected. The like we may say of the mag- 
 ical effects, superstitious cures, and such as are done by monte- 
 banks and wizards. As by wicked incredulity many are hurt (so 
 saith Wierus), we find, in our experience, by the same means, many 
 are relieved." 
 
 IN discussing the subject of healers one must keep 
 in mind the fact that the healers of the first millen- 
 nium of our era were almost wholly exorcists, on 
 account of the prevailing theory, and even after that 
 tune exorcism, on the one hand, and the faith in 
 relics and shrines on the other, formed the principal 
 means of cure. It is therefore difficult to differen- 
 tiate the other healers from the exorcists, and to 
 decide whether certain cures were performed by 
 healers or by relics. 
 
 Another difficulty confronts us. Many authentic 
 cures have probably been wrought by saints, but 
 
 unfortunately most of those performed by them 
 
 no
 
 HEALERS 111 
 
 have little contemporary evidence to support them, 
 but rest on the very shaky testimony of tradition. 
 White/ in a keen analysis, shows how the legends 
 of miraculous cures have grown around great bene- 
 factors of humanity, taking Francis Xavier as a 
 pertinent example. 
 
 We must also remember, however, that what are 
 called miracles formed part of the evidence which 
 led to the canonization of a saint, and a large num- 
 ber of healing miracles was usually included in the 
 list. The procedure of the court connected with 
 the canonization was conducted with the greatest 
 rigor. Sitting as examiners were learned and up- 
 right men from all nations, and the witness must be 
 irreproachable as far as character was concerned. 
 The two witnesses required for each miracle must 
 testify concerning the nature of the disease and the 
 cure, and sign the deposition after it had been read 
 to them. Following that, the examiners sifted the 
 evidence in a hypercritical way and emphasized the 
 weak places. Benedict XIV justly said: "The de- 
 gree of proof required is the same as that required 
 for a criminal case, since the cause of religion and 
 piety is that of the commonweal." Some consid- 
 eration must be thus given to this testimony, but 
 the value of it depends on the number of years 
 elapsing after the cures were performed and the 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, II, 
 pp. 6-22.
 
 112 HEALERS 
 
 direct connection of the witnesses with the cure in 
 question. 
 
 The craving for the miraculous in bodily cures 
 prejudiced many historians, especially when the de- 
 sire to emphasize the importance of the church was 
 uppermost in the minds of the writers. We can 
 consider, though, the material at hand, always 
 recognizing that marvellous cures can be performed 
 when the authority of the physician has all the 
 weight of an infallible church behind it and the 
 patient is credulous. We must notice in this con- 
 nection that the healers up to the time of the mag- 
 netizers depended on religious ceremonies for their 
 efficiency, with the exception of those who endorsed 
 and propagated "sympathetic cures." 
 
 As we well know, the first healing among Chris- 
 tians was done by Jesus himself and the apostles; 
 after this for two centuries the exorcists performed 
 most of the cures. We have accounts of one non- 
 Christian healer whose cures have probably been 
 handed down to us on account of his exalted posi- 
 tion. Tacitus and Suetonius describe how Ves- 
 pasian (9-79) healed in at least two cases. The 
 first was a blind man well known in Alexandria. 
 In the second case the historians disagree; one says 
 it was a leg and the other a hand which was dis- 
 eased and cured. According to the story, the god 
 Serapis revealed to the patients that they would be 
 cured by the emperor. Tacitus says that Vespasian
 
 HEALERS 113 
 
 did not believe in his own power and it was only 
 after much persuasion that he was induced to try 
 the experiment. 1 
 
 The Christians, however, were not to be outdone 
 as healers. Irenseus (130-202) gives a long list of 
 infirmities which were cured by the representatives 
 of *he church, and in writing, about the year 180, 
 draws a comparison between them and the heretics. 
 "For they [the heretics] can neither confer sight on 
 the blind nor hearing on the deaf, nor chase away 
 all sorts of demons (except those which are sent 
 into others by themselves if they can ever do as 
 much as this): nor can they cure the weak, or the 
 lame, or the paralytic; or those who are distressed 
 in any other part of the body, as has often been done 
 in regard to bodily infirmity. Nor can they fur- 
 nish effective remedies for those external accidents 
 which may occur. And so far are they from being 
 able to raise the dead, as the Lord raised them 
 (and the Apostles did by means of prayer, as has 
 been frequently done in the brotherhood on ac- 
 count of some necessity the entire church in that 
 particular locality entreating with much fasting and 
 prayer, the spirit of the dead man has returned, and 
 he has been bestowed in answer to the prayers of 
 the saints ) that they do not even believe that this 
 could possibly be done." He further says: "Others 
 again heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, 
 
 1 W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, I, pp. 347 f.
 
 114 HEAJLERS 
 
 and they are made whole. Yea, moreover, as I have 
 said,- the dead even have been raised up, and re- 
 mained among us for many years." 
 
 The great Origen (185-254), writing when he 
 would be certain to have his words most severely 
 criticised, says, after referring to the miracles of 
 the apostles: "And there are still preserved among 
 Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared 
 in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, and 
 perform many cures, and foresee certain events, ac- 
 cording to the will of the Logos." In another of 
 his works we find the following: "For they [the 
 Jews] have no longer prophets or miracles, traces of 
 which to a considerable extent are still found among 
 Christians, and some of them more remarkable than 
 ever have existed among the Jews; and these we 
 ourselves have witnessed." 
 
 As has already been seen, different methods were 
 used by various healers, and we must not omit a 
 brief account of healing by unction. The very defi- 
 nite instructions laid down in the Epistle of James 
 were evidently strictly carried out in the early 
 church, but the first definite mention of anointing 
 after that made by Mark and James is found in the 
 writings of Tertullian (160-220). He speaks of the 
 pagan emperor Severus being graciously mindful of 
 Christians: "For he sought out the Christian Pro- 
 culus, surnamed Torpacion, the steward of Euho- 
 . dias, and in gratitude for his having once cured him
 
 HEALERS 115 
 
 by anointing, he kept him in his palace till the day 
 of his death." l 
 
 If the Christians anointed pagans it is legitimate 
 to suppose that they also anointed fellow-Christians, 
 and that if this was performed without special men- 
 tion about the end of the second century, it must 
 have been common from the time of James to that 
 period. It is probable that during the first seven 
 centuries of our era the practice of praying with the 
 sick and anointing them with oil never ceased. 
 There may be some objection to our considering the 
 subject of anointing with oil as purely mental heal- 
 ing, but according to the instructions given for its 
 use there was scarcely enough oil employed to be 
 of benefit otherwise, and especially as food. Mental 
 healing, then, is the rationale of the cures. 
 
 Puller 2 gives us three of the earliest incidents of 
 healing by unction, the original accounts all being 
 written by contemporaries and friends. Some time 
 between the years 335 and 355, St. Parthenius, 
 Bishop of Lampsacus, anointed a man who was 
 described as "altogether withered." The account 
 says: "Then getting up, he gently and gradually 
 softened the man's body with the holy oil, and 
 straightway made him to rise up healed." Refinus, 
 a well-known writer and an eye-witness to this heal- 
 
 1 P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, pp. 252 f. I am indebted to this 
 excellent book for my material on the subject of Unction, as well as 
 for many other quotations in this chapter. 
 
 * F. W. Puller, Anointing of the Sick, pp. 155-158.
 
 116 HEALERS 
 
 ing, tells of St. Macarius of Alexandria and four 
 monks restoring, about the year 375, "a man, with- 
 ered in all his limbs and especially in his feet." He 
 says: "But when he had been anointed all over by 
 them with oil in the Name of the Lord, immediately 
 the soles of his feet were strengthened. And when 
 they said to him, 'In the name of Jesus Christ . . . 
 arise, and stand on thy feet, and return to thy 
 house/ immediately arising and leaping, he blessed 
 God." Some years later, Palladius, the friend of St. 
 Chrysostom, writes of another of St. Macarius's cures 
 which he witnessed: "But at the time that we were 
 there, there was brought to him from Thessalonica 
 a noble and wealthy virgin, who during many years 
 had been suffering from paralysis. And when she 
 had been presented to him, and had been thrown 
 down before the cell of the blessed man, he, being 
 moved with compassion for her, with his own hands 
 anointed her during twenty days with holy oil, 
 pouring out prayers for her to the Lord, and so sent 
 her back cured to her own city." 
 
 The Sacramentary of Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis, 
 Egypt, written about 350, provides for the conse- 
 cration of bread and water, as well as oil, for healing; 
 and in a prayer concerning oil and water there con- 
 tained, the following words are used: "Grant heal- 
 ing power upon these creatures, that every fever 
 and every demon and every sickness may depart 
 through the drinking and the anointing, and that
 
 HEALERS 117 
 
 the partaking of these creatures may be a healing 
 medicine and a medicine of complete soundness in 
 the Name of the Only begotten, Jesus Christ," etc. 
 The Apostolic Constitutions of about 375 contain 
 a prayer of consecration used over oil and water 
 brought by members of the congregation, as fol- 
 lows: "Do thou now sanctify this water and this 
 oil, through Christ, in the name of him that offered 
 or of her that offered, and give to these things a 
 power of producing health and of driving away 
 diseases, of putting to flight demons, of dispersing 
 every snare through Christ our Hope," etc. 
 
 About 390, St. Jerome wrote a life of St. Hilarion 
 (291-371) in which the latter is thus set forth as a 
 healer: "But lo! that parched and sandy district, 
 after the rain had fallen, unexpectedly produced 
 such vast numbers of serpents and poisonous ani- 
 mals that many, who were bitten, would have died 
 at once if they had not run to Hilarion. He there- 
 fore blessed some oil, with which all the husband- 
 men and shepherds touched their wounds and found 
 an infallible cure." 
 
 Oil was not always employed for anointing, but 
 might be drunk by the sick, and this use of it was 
 made in healing a girl, by St. Martin of Tours, about 
 395. St. Germain, Bishop of Auxerre (418-448), 
 when the physicians were powerless during a plague, 
 blessed some oil and anointed the swollen jaws of 
 those who were sick, whereupon they recovered;
 
 118 HEALERS 
 
 and St. Genevieve of Paris, who died about 502, 
 used to heal the sick with oil. 
 
 In Bede's biography of St. Cuthbert we find an 
 instance of this saint healing a girl about the year 
 687. A young woman was troubled for a whole 
 year with an intolerable pain in her head and side 
 which the physicians were unable to relieve. Cuth- 
 bert "in pity anointed the wretched woman with 
 oil. From that time she began to get better, and 
 was well in a few days." 
 
 At the beginning of the eighth century the 
 anointing of the sick began to decline, largely on 
 account of the changed attitude of the church. At 
 this time this ceremony began to be used for spir- 
 itual ills rather than for bodily diseases. Before 
 long, anointing was monopolized by the church for 
 spiritual advantage, and is still so used by the 
 Roman Catholic Church in the ceremony of Ex- 
 treme Unction. 
 
 In returning to the more direct methods of heal- 
 ing, we find that St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329- 
 390) confirmed the reports of the marvellous cures 
 wrought by the martyrs, Cosmo and Damian, who 
 were beheaded in 303. During the life of Gregory 
 of Tours (538-594), the healing efficacy of the saints' 
 relics was rivalled by the miraculous aid rendered 
 to the sick by St. Julian. The solitude of the holy 
 anchorite was interrupted by the persistent and 
 despairing clamor of the sick to whom he gave
 
 HEALERS 119 
 
 health. The great Turonese pontiff also tells us 
 that one day Aredius, traversing Paris, found Chil- 
 peric prostrate with a grievous fever. The royal 
 sufferer sought the saint's prayers as an irresistible 
 curative. 
 
 The daughter of a Teutonic nobleman was brought 
 to St. Gall (556-640) seriously ill with an incurable 
 disorder, presenting the livid appearance of an ani- 
 mated cadaver. The saint approached the uncon- 
 scious invalid as she reclined on her mother's knee, 
 and assuming the bended attitude of invocation by 
 her side, made a fervent prayer and evoked the 
 demon producing the sickness to instantly depart. 
 The effort was all that was desired. Shortly after 
 this, about the year 648, St. Vardrille, the founder 
 of Fontanelle, exercised his remedial potency in 
 healing the palsied arm of a forester whose indis- 
 creet zeal had induced him to transfix the sainted 
 abbot with a lance. 
 
 We have rather a strange case from the beginning 
 of the seventh century, where the moral and mental 
 element seems to have been strong. Abbe Eusta- 
 sius returning from Rome, whither a mission of 
 Clothair II had called him, was urgently summoned 
 by the sorrowful parent of a Burgundian maiden, in 
 the last agonies of a frightful malady, to appear and 
 cure the moribund daughter. On answering the call 
 he found that the child had in her youth been con- 
 secrated by the vows of chastity, and on account
 
 120 HEALERS 
 
 of this shrunk from a marriage sanctioned by her 
 parents. Eustasius reproached the father for his 
 efforts to violate the solemn obligations of the 
 virgin, and upon obtaining a formal renunciation of 
 further attempts to coerce her into matrimony, the 
 saint, by personal intercession, obtained a complete 
 cure. 
 
 It was found that certain remedies in the hands 
 of certain saints were efficacious, but they did not 
 have the same power if administered by others. 
 For instance, Franciscus de Paula succored an an- 
 chylosed joint by the energetic surgery of three 
 dried figs which he gave the suffering patient to eat. 
 Similarly, a maiden grieving under a cancerous 
 disease which surgical skill had frankly admitted 
 was incurable, was restored to robust vigor by the 
 administering of some mild herbs. This savored 
 rather too much of medicine, and other holy healers 
 used more orthodox means. Hugo the Holy ab- 
 stracted a serpent from the infirm body of a woman 
 by the use of holy water, and Coleta, the saintess, 
 awakened from the dreamless slumber of death 
 more than one hundred slain infants by the effi- 
 cacy of a cross. 
 
 Even such a serious disorder as leprosy was said 
 to have been healed by saintly care. St. Martin, 
 who gave special attention to sufferers with this 
 disease, cured a leper by kissing him, we are told. 
 Toward the middle of the sixth century, St. Hade-
 
 HEALERS 121 
 
 gonde displayed her faith by first washing the re- 
 pulsive sores and afterward applying her pure 
 lips to them. On one occasion an insolent leper 
 asserted that unless his putrefying limbs were kissed 
 by this candidate for canonical honors he could 
 not be cured. 1 
 
 Bede (673-735), the great English historian, in 
 his careful way tells us of cures performed by St. 
 John of Beverly during the first part of the eighth 
 century. According to this record, St. John cured 
 a dumb youth, who had never spoken a word, by 
 the sign of the cross on his tongue, and he after- 
 ward had "ready utterance." He used holy water 
 on a woman so that, like Peter's wife's mother, she 
 arose and ministered to them, healed a friend who 
 was injured by being thrown from a horse, cured a 
 nun of a grievous complaint, and restored a ser- 
 vant, an account of which I shall give in Bede's 
 words: 
 
 "The bishop went in and saw him in a dying con- 
 dition, and the coffin by his side, whilst all present 
 were in tears. He said a prayer, blessed him, and 
 on going out, as is the usual expression of comforters, 
 said, 'May you soon recover.' Afterwards when 
 they were sitting at table, the lad sent to his lord, 
 to desire he would let him have a cup of wine, be- 
 cause he was thirsty. The earl, rejoicing that he 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 gives this and the other incidents just quoted. See pp. 155, 160, 
 272, 275, 327.
 
 122 HEALERS 
 
 could drink, sent him a cup of wine, blessed by the 
 bishop; which, as soon as he had drunk, he imme- 
 diately got up, and shaking off his late infirmity, 
 dressed himself, and going in to the bishop, saluted 
 him and the other guests, saying, 'He would also 
 eat and be merry with them. 7 They ordered him 
 to sit down with them at the entertainment, rejoic- 
 ing at his recovery. He sat down, ate and drank 
 merrily, and behaved himself like the rest of the 
 company; and living many years after, continued 
 in the same state of health." * 
 
 Skipping a few centuries, we find that Bernard of 
 Clairvaux (1091-1153), the most prominent figure 
 of the twelfth century, performed an abundance of 
 cures, as his biographers testify. "The cures were 
 so many that the witnesses themselves were unable 
 to detail them all. At Doningen, near Rheinfeld, 
 where the first Sunday of Advent was spent, Ber- 
 nard cured, in one day, nine blind persons, ten who 
 were deaf or dumb, and eighteen lame or paralytic. 
 On the following Wednesday, at Schaffhausen, the 
 number of miracles increased." 1 Concerning these 
 cures Morison says: "Thirty-six miraculous cures 
 in one day would seem to have been the largest 
 stretch of supernatural power which Bernard per- 
 mitted to himself. The halt, the blind, the deaf, 
 and the dumb were brought from all parts to be 
 touched by Bernard. The patient was presented 
 
 1 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, bk. V, chap. V. 
 * Quoted by P. Dearmer, Body and Soul, p. 359.
 
 HEALERS 123 
 
 to him, whereupon he made the sign of the cross 
 over the part affected, and the cure was perfect." l 
 The following case in which details are more fully 
 given is of much interest: "At Toulouse, in the 
 church of St. Saturninus, in which we were lodged, 
 was a certain regular canon, named John. John 
 had kept his bed for seven months, and was so re- 
 duced that his death was expected daily. His legs 
 were so shrunken that they were scarcely larger than 
 a child's arms. He was quite unable to rise to satisfy 
 the wants of nature. At last his brother canons 
 refused to tolerate his presence any longer among 
 them, and thrust him out into the neighbouring vil- 
 lage. When the poor creature heard of Bernard's 
 proximity, he implored to be taken to him. Six 
 men, therefore, carrying him as he lay in bed, brought 
 him into a room close to that in which he was lodged. 
 The abbot heard him confess his sins, and listened 
 to his entreaties to be restored to health. Bernard 
 mentally prayed to God: 'Behold, Lord, they 
 seek for a sign, and our words avail nothing, unless 
 they be confirmed with signs following.' He then 
 blessed him and left the chamber, and so did we all. 
 In that very hour the sick man arose from his couch, 
 and running after Bernard, kissed his feet with a 
 devotion which cannot be imagined by any one 
 who did not see it. One of the canons, meeting 
 
 1 J. Cotter Morison, Life and Times of St. Bernard, pp. 422 and 
 460, for this and the following incident.
 
 124 HEALERS 
 
 him, nearly fainted with fright, thinking he saw his 
 ghost." 
 
 St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), the great founder 
 of the Franciscan Order, was not less famed for his 
 miracles of healing than for his Christ-like life and 
 his stigmata. Among those cured were epileptics, 
 paralytics, and the blind. A typical case of cure by 
 this humble saint is given to show his method and 
 its results: "Once when Francis the Saint of God 
 was making a long circuit through various regions 
 to preach the gospel of God's kingdom he came to 
 a city called Toscanella. Here ... he was enter- 
 tained by a knight of that same city whose only son 
 was a cripple and weak in all his body. Though 
 the child was of tender years he had passed the age 
 of weaning; but he still remained in a cradle. The 
 boy's father, seeing the man of God to be endued 
 with such holiness, humbly fell at his feet and be- 
 sought hmi to heal his son. Francis, deeming him- 
 self to be unprofitable and unworthy of such power 
 and grace, for a long time refused to do it. At last, 
 conquered by the urgency of the knight's entreaties, 
 after offering up prayer, he laid his hand on the boy, 
 blessed him, and lifted him up. And in the sight 
 of all, the boy straightway arose whole in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and began to walk hither 
 and thither about the house." ' 
 
 1 Thomas of Celano, Lives of St. Francis of Assisi (trans. A. G. F. 
 Howell).
 
 HEALERS 125 
 
 St. Thomas of Hereford (1222-1282) was the last 
 Englishman to be officially canonized. The extant 
 documents of his canonization record no less than 
 four hundred and twenty-nine miracles alleged to 
 have been performed by him. The following case 
 of resurrection from the dead occurred, however, 
 twenty-one years after his death. I quote the ac- 
 count in full: 
 
 "On the 6th of September, 1303, Roger, aged two 
 years and three months, the son of Gervase, one of 
 the warders of Con way Castle, managed to crawl out 
 of bed in the night and tumble off a bridge, a dis- 
 tance of twenty-eight feet; he was not discovered 
 till the next morning, when his mother found him 
 half naked and quite dead upon a hard stone at 
 the bottom of the ditch, where there was no water 
 or earth, but simply the rock, which had been quar- 
 ried to build the castle. Simon Waterford, the 
 vicar, who had christened the child, John de Bois, 
 John Guffe, all sworn witnesses, took their oaths on 
 the Gospel that they saw and handled the child 
 dead. The King's Crowners (Stephen Ganny and 
 William Nottingham) were presently called and 
 went down into the moat. They found the child's 
 body cold and stiff, and white with hoar-frost, 
 stark dead, indeed. While the Crowners, as their 
 office requires, began to write what they had seen, 
 one John Syward, a near neighbour, came down 
 and gently handled the child's body all over, and 
 finding it as dead as ever any, made the sign of the 
 cross upon its forehead, and earnestly prayed after 
 this manner: ' Blessed St. Thomas Cantelope, you 
 by whom God has wrought innumerable miracles,
 
 126 HEALERS 
 
 show mercy unto this little infant, and obtain he 
 may return to life again. If this grace be granted 
 he shall visit your holy sepulchre and render humble 
 thanks to God and you for the favor.' No sooner 
 had Syward spoken these words, than the child be- 
 gan to move his head and right arm a little, and 
 forthwith life and vigor came back again into every 
 part of his body. The Crowners, and many others 
 who were standing by, saw the miracle, and in that 
 very place, with great admiration, returned humble 
 thanks to God and St. Thomas for what they had 
 seen. The mother, now overjoyed, took the child in 
 her arms, and went that day to hear mass in a 
 church not far off, where, upon her knees, she recog- 
 nized with a grateful heart that she owed the life 
 of her infant to God and St. Thomas. Her devo- 
 tion ended, she returned home, and the child, feeling 
 no pain at all, walked as he was wont to do up and 
 down the house, though a little scar still continued 
 in one cheek, which after a few days, quite vanished 
 away." 1 
 
 St. Catharine of Siena (1347-1380) obtained con- 
 siderable reputation as a healer, principally, how- 
 ever, in the line of exorcism; this, though, meant 
 the cure of any disease. Like St. Paul, she was one 
 of a large number of saints who healed others but 
 did not cure herself; she died at the age of thirty- 
 three. A woman was presented to the immaculate 
 saintess for prompt remedy; by the virtue of divine 
 magic a demon was forced from each part of her 
 body where he had taken refuge, but resisting ab- 
 
 1 Dublin Review, January, 1876, pp. 8-10.
 
 HEALERS 127 
 
 solute ejectment from this carnal abode, made a 
 desperate conflict in the throat, where by uninter- 
 rupted scratches he reproduced himself in the form 
 of an abscess. 
 
 On another occasion the saint was more successful. 
 Laurentia, a maiden of youthful years, placed by 
 her father within the sheltering walls of a cloister, 
 to assume ultimately monastic vows, was quickly 
 captured by an errant demon. As an irrefutable 
 demonstration of the impure origin of her infirmity, 
 an annalist asserts, this spirit promptly answered in 
 elegant Latinity all questions propounded; but the 
 strongest confirmation of this belief was the miracu- 
 lous ability which enabled her to disclose the most 
 secret thoughts of others, and divulge the mys- 
 terious affairs of her associates. St. Catharine at 
 length liberated the suffering female from her dia- 
 bolical tenant. More extraordinary claims are made 
 for her. It is said that she stayed a plague at Va- 
 razze, and healed a throng at Pisa. 1 
 
 Raimondo da Capua, her faithful friend and con- 
 stant companion, wrote her biography and gives 
 us different instances of remarkable cures performed 
 by her. For example, he tells us that Father Mat- 
 thew of Cenni, the director of the Hospital of la 
 Misericordia, was stricken when the plague was 
 raging in Siena in 1373, and of his marvellous cure. 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 pp. 278 f.
 
 128 HEALERS 
 
 Perhaps we had better allow him to tell of Catha- 
 rine's power in his own words: 
 
 "One day on entering, I saw some of the brothers 
 carrying Father Matthew like a corpse from the 
 chapel to his room; his face was livid, and his 
 strength was so far gone that he could not answer 
 me when I spoke to him. 'Last night,' the brothers 
 said, 'about seven o'clock, while ministering to a 
 dying person, he perceived himself stricken, and 
 fell at once into extreme weakness.' I helped to 
 put him on his bed; ... he spoke afterwards, and 
 said that he felt as if his head was separated into 
 four parts. I sent for Dr. Senso, his physician; 
 Dr. Senso declared to me that my friend had the 
 plague, and that every symptom announced the ap- 
 proach of death. 'I fear,' he said, 'that the House 
 of Mercy (Misericordia) is about to be deprived of 
 its good director. 7 I asked if medical art could not 
 save him. 'We shall see,' replied Senso, 'but I 
 have only a very faint hope ; his blood is too much 
 poisoned.' I withdrew, praying God to save the 
 life of this good man. Catharine, however, had 
 heard of the illness of Father Matthew, whom she 
 loved sincerely, and she lost no time in repairing to 
 him. The moment she entered the room, she cried, 
 with a cheerful voice, 'Get up, Father Matthew, 
 get up! This is not a time to be lying idly in bed/ 
 Father Matthew roused himself, sat up on his bed, 
 and finally stood on his feet. Catharine retired; 
 and the moment she was leaving the house, I en- 
 tered it, and ignorant of what had happened, and 
 believing my friend to be still at the point of death, 
 my grief urged me to say, 'Will you allow a person 
 so dear to us, and so useful to others, to die?' She 
 appeared annoyed at my words, and replied, 'Ir*
 
 HEALERS 129 
 
 what terms do you address me? Am I like God, to 
 deliver a man from death?' But I, beside myself 
 with sorrow, pleaded, 'Speak in that way to others 
 if you will, but not to me; for I know your secrets; 
 and I know you obtain from God whatever you ask 
 in faith.' Then Catharine bowed her head, and 
 smiled just a little; after a few minutes she lifted 
 up her head and looked at me full in the face, her 
 countenance radiant with joy, and said, 'Well, let 
 us take courage; he will not die this time,' and she 
 passed on. At these words I banished all fear, for 
 I understood that she had obtained some favor 
 from heaven. I went straight to my sick friend, 
 whom I found sitting on the side of his bed. 'Do 
 you know,' he cried, 'what she has done for me?' 
 He then stood up and narrated joyfully what I have 
 here written. To make the matter more sure, the 
 table was laid, and Father Matthew seated himself 
 at it with us; they served him with vegetables and 
 other light food, and he, who an hour before could 
 not open his mouth, ate with us, chatting and laugh- 
 ing gaily." 
 
 None of Catharine's biographers fail to relate 
 wonderful instances of her healing power. 1 
 
 Martin Luther (1483-1546), the v great leader of 
 the Reformation, and St. Francis Xavier (1506- 
 1552), the leader of the Counter-Reformation, were 
 both healers, so it is said. Luther's cure of his 
 friend and helper, Melanchthon, by prayer for and 
 encouragement of the patient, is well known. 
 Xavier's miracles were legion, but have been some- 
 
 1 See J. Butler, Life of St. Catharine of Siena, for many examples.
 
 130 HEALERS 
 
 what discredited by a recent author. 1 I add but 
 one example. "A certain Tome Paninguem, a fen- 
 cing-master, says, I knew Antonio de Miranda, who 
 was a servant of the Father Francis, and assisted 
 him when saying Mass. He told me that when go- 
 ing one night on business to Combature, he was 
 bitten by a venomous serpent. He immediately fell 
 down as though paralyzed and became speechless. 
 He was found thus lying unconscious. Informed of 
 the fact, Father Francis ordered Antonio to be car- 
 ried to him: and when he was laid down speechless 
 and senseless, the Father prayed with all those 
 present. The prayer finished, he put a little saliva 
 with his finger on the bitten place on Antonio's 
 foot, and at the same moment, Antonio recovered 
 his senses, his memory and his speech, and felt him- 
 self healed. I have since heard details of this oc- 
 currence from the mouths of several eye-witnesses." 2 
 If we accept Gorres's account, 3 the most remarka- 
 ble instance of curative power possessed by a saint 
 is that afforded by St. Sauveur of Horta (1520- 
 1567). Outside of this one work I have been un- 
 able to find any reference to this saint, so I will 
 give a sketch of his apparently remarkable life. He 
 
 1 See A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, 
 already referred to. 
 
 3 Jos. Marie Cros, St. Francois de Xavier, Sa vie at ses lettres, II, 
 p. 392. 
 
 3 Gorres, La mystiqtie divine naturelle et diabolique (trans. Sainte- 
 foi), I, pp. 470-473.
 
 HEALERS 131 
 
 was born in Catalonia, and received the first part 
 of his name from a presentiment of his sponsors 
 that he was to be a savior of men, and the second 
 part because he entered the monastery at Horta. 
 A short time after he finished his novitiate, people 
 in some way got the idea that he had a wonderful 
 gift of healing, and soon patients came to him in 
 crowds from all parts of the country. He continued 
 healing for several years. At one time during the 
 feast of the Annunciation he cured six thousand 
 persons, and at another tune he found ten thousand 
 patients, from viceroy to laborer, waiting for him 
 at Valencia before the convent of St. Marie de Jesus. 
 Notwithstanding his apparently great success, his 
 brother monks complained to the bishop concern- 
 ing the dirt and disorder caused by the crowds, and 
 after a reprimand he was sent at midnight to the 
 monastery at Reus, where he was known as Alphonse 
 and assigned to the kitchen. In spite of this, crowds 
 continued to come and he was transferred from 
 monastery to monastery, but always with the same 
 result the crowd sought him to be healed. He was 
 known as simple, open, and obedient in his rela- 
 tions with men, and austere toward himself. He 
 was patient and resigned, compassionate toward 
 the poor and sick, and full of zeal for their conver- 
 sion. The number of patients he is said to have 
 cured is incredible, and it is even said that he re- 
 suscitated three dead persons. After his death
 
 132 HEALERS 
 
 miracles were performed at his tomb. Why he 
 was not in favor with his superiors and his brother 
 monks is unknown; his friends say they were jeal- 
 ous; his enemies, that his cures were not genuine. 
 
 St. Philip Neri (1551-1595), the founder of the 
 Oratorians, was renowned as a healer. He cured 
 Clement VIII of gout by touching and prayer, a 
 woman of cancer of the breast by the mere touch 
 and assurance, a man of grievous symptoms such as 
 loss of speech and internal pain by simply laying on 
 of hands, and many similar and equally serious 
 cases. The following case was counted nearly equal 
 to a resurrection: "In 1560 Pietro Vittrici of Par- 
 ma, being in the service of Cardinal Boncompagni, 
 afterward Pope Gregory XIII, fell dangerously ill. 
 He was given up by the physicians, and was sup- 
 posed to be as good as dead. In this extremity he 
 was visited by Philip who, as soon as he entered the 
 sick man's room, began, as was his wont, to pray 
 for him. He then put his hand on Pietro 's forehead, 
 and at the touch he instantly revived. In two 
 days' time he was out of the house perfectly well 
 and strong and went about telling people how he 
 had been cured by Father Philip." 1 
 
 George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the 
 Quakers, performed some simple cures of which he 
 himself tells us. The most famous case was that 
 of the cure of a lame arm by command, the account 
 
 1 P. J. Bacci, Life of St. Philip Neri (trans. Antrobus), II, P- 168.
 
 HEALERS 133 
 
 of which we take from his pen. He thus records it : 
 "After some time I went to the meeting at Arnside 
 where Richard Meyer was. Now he had been long 
 lame of one of his arms; and I was moved by the 
 Lord to say unto him, among all the people, 
 ' Prophet Meyer stand up upon thy legs ' (for he was 
 sitting down) and he stood up and stretched out 
 his arm that had been lame a long time, and said: 
 ' Be it known unto all you people that this day I am 
 healed.' But his parents could hardly believe it, 
 but after the meeting was done, had him aside and 
 took off his doublet; and then they saw it was true. 
 He soon after came to Swarthmore meeting, and 
 there declared how the Lord had healed him. But 
 after this the Lord commanded him to go to York 
 with a message from him; and he disobeyed the 
 Lord; and the Lord struck him again, so that he 
 died about three-quarters of a year after." l The 
 cure evidently was not permanent. 
 
 Valentine Greatrakes (1628-1683) was born in 
 Affane, Ireland. He was the son of an Irish gen- 
 tleman, had a good education, and was a Protestant. 
 In 1641, at the outbreak of the Irish rebellion, he 
 fled to England, and from 1649-1656 he served un- 
 der Cromwell. In 1661, after a period of melan- 
 choly derangement, he believed that God had given 
 him power of curing "king's evil" by touching or 
 stroking and prayer. After some success with this 
 
 1 G. Fox, Journal, I, p. 103.
 
 134 HEALERS 
 
 disease, he added to his list ague, epilepsy, convul- 
 sions, paralysis, deafness, ulcers, aches, and lame- 
 ness, and for a number of years he devoted three 
 days in every week, from 6 A. M. to 6 P. M., to the 
 exercise of his healing gifts. The crowds which 
 thronged around him were so great that the neigh- 
 boring towns were not able to accommodate them. 
 He thereupon left his house in the country and 
 went to Youghal, where sick people, not only from 
 all parts of Ireland but from England, continued to 
 congregate in such great numbers that the magis- 
 trates were afraid they would infect the place with 
 their diseases. 
 
 In some instances he exorcised demons; in fact, 
 he claimed that all diseases were caused by evil 
 spirits, and every infirmity was, with him, a case 
 of diabolic possession. The church endeavored to 
 prohibit his operations but without avail. He was 
 invited to London, and, notwithstanding that an 
 exhibition before the nobility failed, thousands 
 flocked to his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 
 the "Miscellanies" of St. Evremond a graphic sketch 
 is given of his work. The results of his healing are 
 there summed up as follows: 
 
 "So great was the confidence in him, that the 
 blind fancied they saw the light which they did not 
 see the deaf imagined that they heard the lame 
 that they walked straight, and the paralytic that 
 they had recovered the use of their limbs. An idea
 
 VALENTINE CREATRAKES
 
 HEALERS 135 
 
 of health made the sick forget for a while their 
 maladies; and imagination, which was not less 
 active in those merely drawn by curiosity than in 
 the sick, gave a false view to the one class, from the 
 desire of seeing, as it operated a false cure on the 
 other from the strong desire of being healed. Such 
 was the power of the Irishman over the mind, and 
 such was the influence of the mind over the body. 
 Nothing was spoken of in London but his prodigies; 
 and these prodigies were supported by such great 
 authorities that the bewildered multitude believed 
 them almost without examination, while more en- 
 lightened people did not dare to reject them from 
 their own knowledge." 
 
 That there were real cures, however, seems most 
 probable. The Bishop of Dromore testifies thus 
 from his own observation: "I have seen pains 
 strangely fly before his hands till he had chased 
 them out of the body; dimness cleared, and deaf- 
 ness cured by his touch. Twenty persons at several 
 tunes, in fits of the falling sickness, were in two or 
 three minutes brought to themselves. . . . Running 
 sores of the 'King's evil' were dried up; grievous 
 sores of many months' date in a few days healed, 
 cancerous knots dissolved, etc." * 
 
 The celebrated Flamstead, the astronomer, when 
 a lad of nineteen, went into Ireland to be touched 
 by Greatrakes, and he testifies that he was an eye- 
 witness of several cures, although he himself was 
 not benefited. In a letter to Lord Con way, Great- 
 
 1 J. Moses, Pathological Aspects of Religions, p. 188.
 
 136 HEALERS 
 
 rakes says: "The King's doctors, this day (for the 
 confirmation of their majesties' belief), sent three 
 out of the hospital to me, who came on crutches; 
 but, blessed be God! they all went home well, to 
 the admiration of all people, as well as the doc- 
 tors." ' 
 
 Several pamphlets were issued by medical men 
 and others criticising his work, and in 1666 he pub- 
 lished a vindication of himself entitled "A Brief 
 Account." This contained numerous testimonials 
 by Bishop Wilkins, Bishop Patrick, Dr. Cudworth, 
 Dr. Whichcote, and others of distinction and intel- 
 ligence. After the retirement of Greatrakes, John 
 Leverett, a gardener, succeeded to the "manual 
 exercise," and declared that after touching thirty 
 or forty a day, he felt so much goodness go out of 
 him that he was fatigued as if he had been digging 
 eight roods of ground. 
 
 About the same time that Greatrakes was work- 
 ing among the people of London, an Italian enthu- 
 siast, named Francisco Bagnone, was operating in 
 Italy with equal success. He had only to touch 
 the sick with his hands, or sometimes with a relic, 
 to accomplish cures which astonished the people. 
 
 Hardly less famous than Greatrakes was Johann 
 Jacob Gassner (1727-1779). He was born at Bratz, 
 near Bludenz, and became Roman Catholic priest 
 
 1 E. Salverte, The Philosophy of Magic (trans. Thompson), II, p. 
 81.
 
 HEALERS 137 
 
 at Klosterle. He believed that most diseases were 
 caused by evil spirits which could be exorcised by 
 conjuration and prayer. He began practising and 
 soon attracted attention. In 1774 he received a 
 call from the bishop at Ratisbon to Ellwangen, 
 where by the mere word of command, "Cesset" 
 (Give over), he cured the lame and blind, but espe- 
 cially those who were afflicted with epilepsy and 
 convulsions, and who were thereby supposed to be 
 obsessed. His cures were not permanent in some 
 cases, and before he died he lost power and respect.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 TALISMANS 
 
 "He had the ring of Gyges, the talisman of invisibility." 
 
 HAMERTON. 
 
 "The quack astrologer offers, for five pieces, to give you home 
 with you a Talisman against Flies; aSigil to make you fortunate at 
 gaining; and a Spell that shall as certainly preserve you from being 
 rob'd for the future; a sympathetic Powder for violent pains of the 
 Tooth-ache." Character of a Quack Astrologer. 
 
 " So far are they distant from the true knowledge of physic which 
 are ignorant of astrology, that they ought not rightly to be called 
 physicians, but deceivers; for it hath been many times experi- 
 mented and proved that that which many physicians could not cure 
 or remedy with their greatest and strongest medicines, the astron- 
 omer hath brought to pass with one simple herb, by observing the 
 moving of the signs." FABIAN WITHERS. 
 
 IN the minds of most persons the terms talisman, 
 amulet, and charm are synonymous. This may be 
 more or less true as far as they are used to-day, but 
 in the days when these terms meant something in 
 real life there was a distinction. The talisman was 
 probably at first an astronomical figure, but later 
 the term became more comprehensive. Pope por- 
 trays this astrological import in his couplet, 
 
 "Of talismans and sigils knew the power, 
 And carefully watch'd the planetary hour." 
 
 The amulet was always carried about the person, 
 while the other two might be in the possession of 
 
 138
 
 TALISMANS 139 
 
 the person in the case of the talisman, or, in the case 
 of the charm, if a material object it could be placed 
 entirely outside of one's care. The talisman and 
 amulet must be a compound of some substance, the 
 charm might be a gesture, a look, or a spoken word. 
 Notice the example of charms according to Tenny- 
 son's words, 
 
 "Then, in one moment, she put forth the charm 
 Of woven paces and of waving hands." 
 
 They were all used for defensive purposes, i. e., to 
 keep away evil, in the form of demons, disease, or 
 misfortune, but they might, especially the talisman, 
 also attract good. Their power was of a magical 
 character, and was exercised in a supernatural man- 
 ner. 
 
 The idea of the talisman probably originated from 
 the belief that certain properties or virtues were im- 
 pressed upon substances by planetary influences. 
 "A talisman," says Pettigrew, "may in general 
 terms be defined to be a substance composed of 
 certain cabalistic characters engraved on stone, 
 metal, or other material, or else written on slips of 
 paper." Hyde quotes a Persian writer who defines 
 the Telesm or Talismay as "a piece of art com- 
 pounded of the celestial powers and elementary 
 bodies, appropriated to certain figures or positions, 
 and purposes and times, contrary to the usual 
 manner."
 
 140 TALISMANS 
 
 We are told by Maimonides that images or idols 
 were called Tzelamim on account of the power or 
 influence which was supposed to reside in them, 
 rather than on account of their particular figure or 
 form. Townley has opined that the reason for the 
 production of astrological or talismanic images was 
 probably the desire of early peoples to have some 
 representation of the planets during their absence 
 from sight, so that they might at all times be able 
 to worship the planetary body itself or its represent- 
 ative. To accomplish this purpose, the astrologers 
 chose certain colors, metals, stones, trees, etc., to 
 represent certain planets, and constructed the talis- 
 mans when the planets were in their exaltation and 
 in a happy conjunction with other heavenly bodies. 
 In addition to this, incantations were used in an 
 endeavor to inspire the talisman with the power and 
 influence of the planet for which it stood. 
 
 Pettigrew says: "The Hebrew word for talisman 
 (magan) signifies a paper or other material, drawn 
 or engraved with the letters composing the sacred 
 name JEHOVAH, or with other characters, and im- 
 properly applied to astrological representations, be- 
 cause, like the letters composing 'The Incompar- 
 able Name,' they were supposed to serve as a de- 
 fence against sickness, lightning, and tempest. It 
 was a common practice with magicians, whenever 
 a plague or other great calamity infested a country, 
 to make a supposed image of the destroyer, either
 
 TALISMANS 141 
 
 in gold, silver, clay, wax, etc., under a certain con- 
 figuration of the heavens, and to set it up in some 
 particular place that the evil might be stayed." 1 
 
 The Jewish phylacteries must therefore be con- 
 sidered talismans and not amulets. The writings 
 contained in them are portions of the law and are 
 prepared in a prescribed manner. Three different 
 kinds are used: one for the head, another for the 
 arm, and the third is attached to the door-posts. 
 The following is a Hebrew talisman supposed to 
 have considerable power: "It overflowed :he did 
 cast darts Shadai is all sufficient his hand is 
 strong, and is the preserver of my life in all its vari- 
 ations." 2 
 
 Arnot gives an account of some Scottish talis- 
 mans not unlike the phylacteries of the Jews, which 
 were for use on the door-posts. "On the old houses 
 still existing in Edinburgh," he says, "there are re- 
 mains of talismanic or cabalistical characters, which 
 the superstitious of earlier days had caused to be 
 engraven on their fronts. These were generally 
 composed of some text of Scripture, of the name of 
 God, or, perhaps, of an emblematic representation 
 of the resurrection." 3 
 
 The connection of astrology, or, as he calls it, 
 "astronomy," and the talisman with medicine is 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 63 f. 
 
 * Gentleman's Magazine, LVIII, pp. 586 and 695. 
 3 H. Arnot, History of Edinburgh.
 
 142 TALISMANS 
 
 well portrayed by Chaucer in his picture of a good 
 physician of his day. He says: 
 
 "With us there was a doctor of phisike; 
 In al the world, was thar non hym lyk 
 To speke of physik and of surgerye, 
 For he wos groundit in astronomic. 
 He kept his pacient a ful gret del 
 In hourys by his magyk naturel; 
 Wei couth he fortunen the ascendent 
 Of his ymagys for his pacient." 
 
 Fosbrooke has divided talismans into five classes, 
 examples of some of which I have already given. 
 They are: "1. The astronomical, with celestial signs 
 and intelligible characters. 2. The magical, with 
 extraordinary figures, superstitious words, and names 
 of unknown angels. 3. The mixed, of celestial signs 
 and barbarous words, but not superstitious, or with 
 names of angels. 4. The sigilla planetarum, com- 
 posed of Hebrew numeral letters, used by astrologers 
 and fortune-tellers. 5. Hebrew names and charac- 
 ters. These were formed according to the cabalistic 
 art." 
 
 The doctrine of signatures bears a close resem- 
 blance to talismans, and some believe that talismans 
 have largely grown out of this doctrine. Dr. Paris 1 
 defines the doctrine as the belief that "every natural 
 substance which possesses any medical virtues in- 
 dicates, by an obvious and well-marked external 
 
 1 Pharmacologia, p. 51.
 
 TALISMANS 143 
 
 character, the disease for which it is a remedy or 
 the object for which it should be employed." Southey 
 says, 1 "The signatures [were] the books out of which 
 the ancients first learned the virtues of herbs 
 Nature having stamped on divers of them legible 
 characters to discover their uses." Some opined 
 that the external marks were impressed by plane- 
 tary influences, hence their connection with talis- 
 mans; others simply reasoned it out that the Al- 
 mighty must have placed a sign on the various 
 means which he had provided for curing diseases. 
 
 Color and shape were the two principal factors 
 in interpreting the signatures. White was regarded 
 as cold and red as hot, hence cold and hot qualities 
 were attributed to different medicines of these 
 colors respectively. Serious errors in practice re- 
 sulted from this opinion. Red flowers were given 
 for' disorders of the sanguiferous system; the petals 
 of the red rose, especially, bear the "signature" of 
 the blood, and blood-root, on account of its red 
 juice, was much prescribed for the blood. Celan- 
 dine, having yellow juice, the yellow drug, turmeric, 
 the roots of rhubarb, the flowers of saffron, and other 
 yellow substances were given in jaundice; red flan- 
 nel, looking like blood, cures blood taints, and there- 
 fore rheumatism, even to this day, although many 
 do not know why red flannel is so efficacious. 
 
 Lungwort, whose leaves bear a fancied resem- 
 
 1 The Doctor, p. 59.
 
 144 TALISMANS 
 
 blance to the surface of the lungs, was considered 
 good for pulmonary complaints, and liverwort, hav- 
 ing a leaf like the liver, cured liver diseases. Eye- 
 bright was a famous application for eye diseases, 
 because its flowers somewhat resemble the pupil of 
 the eye; bugloss, resembling a snake's head, was 
 valuable for snake bite; and the peony, when in 
 bud, being something like a man's head, was "very 
 available against the falling sickness." Walnuts 
 were considered to be the perfect signature of the 
 head, the shell represented the bony skull, the irreg- 
 ularities of the kernel the convolutions of the two 
 hemispheres of the brain, and the husk the scalp. 
 The husk was therefore used for scalp wounds, the 
 inner peel for disorders of the meninges, and the 
 kernel was beneficial for the brain and tended to 
 resist poisons. Lilies-of-the-valley were used for 
 the cure of apoplexy, the signature reasoning being, 
 as Coles says, "for as that disease is caused by the 
 drooping of humors into the principal ventrices of 
 the brain, so the flowers of this lily, hanging on the 
 plants as if they were drops, are of wonderful use 
 herein." 
 
 Capillary herbs naturally announced themselves 
 as good for diseases of the hair, and bear's grease, 
 being taken from an animal thickly covered with 
 hair, was recommended for the prevention of bald- 
 ness. Nettle-tea is still a country remedy for nettle 
 rash ; prickly plants like thistles and holly were pre-
 
 TALISMANS 145 
 
 scribed for pleurisy and stitch in the side, and the 
 scales of the pine were used in toothache, because 
 they resemble front teeth. "Kidney-beans," says 
 Berdoe, "ought to have been useful for kidney dis- 
 eases, but seem to have been overlooked except 
 as articles of diet." Poppy-heads were used "with 
 success" to relieve diseases of the head, and the 
 root of the "mandrake," from its supposed resem- 
 blance to the human form, was a very ancient 
 remedy for barrenness and was evidently so es- 
 teemed by Rachel, in the account given in Genesis 
 30 : 14 ff. 
 
 In the treatment of small-pox red bed coverings 
 were employed in order to bring the pustules to 
 the surface of the body. The patient must be in- 
 dued with red; the bed furniture and hangings 
 should be red and red substances were to be looked 
 upon by the patient; burnt purple, pomegranate 
 seeds, mulberries or other red ingredients were dis- 
 solved in their drink. John of Gladdesden, physi- 
 cian to Edward II, prescribed the following treat- 
 ment as soon as the eruption appeared: "Cause the 
 whole body of your patient to be wrapped in scarlet 
 cloth, or any other red cloth, and command every- 
 thing about the bed to be made red." He further 
 says that "when the son of the renowned King of 
 England (Edward II) lay sick of the small-pox I 
 took care that everything around the bed should be 
 of a red color; which succeeded so completely that
 
 146 TALISMANS 
 
 the Prince was restored to perfect health, without a 
 vestige of a pustule remaining." 
 
 The Emperor Francis I, when infected with small- 
 pox, was rolled up in a scarlet cloth, by order of his 
 physicians, as late as 1765; notwithstanding this 
 treatment he died. Kampfer says that "when any 
 of the Japanese emperor's children are attacked 
 with the small-pox, not only the chamber and bed 
 are covered with red hangings, but all persons who 
 approach the sick prince must be clad in scarlet 
 gowns." By a course of reasoning similar to that 
 used in the treatment of small-pox, it was supposed 
 that flannel dyed nine times in blue was efficacious 
 in removing glandular swellings. 1 
 
 The astrological factor in talismans was most im- 
 portant because it was considered that certain stars 
 and planets in certain relations produced certain 
 diseases and contagious disorders. Astrologers, for 
 example, attributed the plague to a conjunction of 
 Saturn and Jupiter in Sagittarius, on the tenth of 
 October, or to a conjunction of Saturn and Mars in 
 the same constellation, on the twelfth of November. 
 Burton makes the most generous melancholy, as 
 that of Augustus, to come from the conjunction of 
 Saturn and Jupiter in Libra; the bad, as that of 
 
 1 For a discussion on the doctrine of signatures see T. J. Petti- 
 grew, Superstitions, etc., pp. 33 f.; E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of 
 the Healing Art, pp. 327 and 416 f.; A. D. White, History of the 
 Warfare of Science with Theology, II, pp. 38 f.; Eccles, Evolution of 
 Medical Science, pp. 140 f.
 
 TALISMANS 147 
 
 Catiline, from the meeting of Saturn and the moon 
 in Scorpio. If these disorders were produced by 
 planets it was reasonable to suppose that they 
 could be cured by planets. 
 
 The virtue of herbs depended upon the planet 
 under which they were sown or gathered. For ex- 
 ample, verbena or vervain should be gathered at 
 the rising of the dog-star, when neither the sun nor 
 the moon shone, but an expiatory sacrifice of fruit 
 and honey should previously have been offered to 
 the earth. If this was carried out it had power to 
 render the possessor invulnerable, to cure fevers, 
 to eradicate poison, and to conciliate friendship. 
 Notice also, that black hellebore, to be effective, was 
 to be plucked not cut, and this with the right hand, 
 which was then to be covered with a portion of the 
 robe and secretly to be conveyed to the left hand. 
 The person gathering it was to be clad in white, to be 
 barefooted, and to offer a sacrifice of bread and wine. 
 
 Not only the planets and the stars, but the moon 
 has had a potent influence on medicine. For in- 
 stance, mistletoe was to be cut with a golden knife, 
 and when the moon was only six days old. Brand * 
 quotes from The Husbandman's Practice, or Prog- 
 nostication Forever, published in 1664, the following 
 curious passage, "Good to purge with electuaries, 
 the moon in Cancer; with pills, the moon in Pisces; 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 153. In references to this 
 work, the edition used was that edited by W. Carew Hazlitt.
 
 148 TALISMANS 
 
 with potions, the moon in Virgo; good to take 
 vomits, the moon being in Tarsus, Virgo, or the 
 latter part of Sagittarius; to purge the head by 
 sneezing, the moon being in Cancer, Leo, or Virgo; 
 to stop fluxes and rheumes, the moon being in 
 Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorne; to bathe when the 
 moon is in Cancer, Libra, Aquarius, or Pisces; to 
 cut the hair off the head or beard when the moon is 
 in Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius, or Pisces." 
 
 The Loseley manuscripts provide us with further 
 examples. "Here begyneth ye waxingge of ye 
 mone, and declareth in dyvers tymes to let blode, 
 whiche be gode. In the furste begynynge of the 
 mone it is profetable to yche man to be letten blode; 
 ye ix of the mone, neyther be nyght ne by day, it is 
 not good." They also tell of a physician named 
 Simon Trippe, who wrote to a patient in excuse for 
 not visiting him, as follows: "As for my comming 
 to you upon Wensday next, verely my promise be 
 past to and old pacient of mine, a very good gentle- 
 woman, one Mrs. Clerk, wch now lieth in great ex- 
 tremity. I cannot possibly be with you till Thurs- 
 day. On Fryday and Saterday the signe wilbe in 
 the heart; on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, in 
 the stomake; during wch time it wilbe no good 
 dealing with your ordinary physicke untill Wensday 
 come sevenight at the nearest, and from that time 
 forwards for 15 or 16 days passing good." 1 
 
 1 The Loseley Manuscripts, pp. 263 f., quoted by Berdoe.
 
 TALISMANS 149 
 
 Not unlike this is an incident of the year 686, 
 given by Bede, where "a holy Bishop having been 
 asked to bless a sick maiden, asked 'when she had 
 been bled? ' and being told that it was on the fourth 
 day of the moon, said: 'You did very indiscreetly 
 and unskilfully to bleed her on the fourth day of 
 the moon; for I remember that Archbishop Theo- 
 dore, of blessed memory, said that bleeding at that 
 time was very dangerous, when the light of the 
 moon and the tide of the ocean is increasing; and 
 what can I do to the girl if she is like to die?' : 
 
 "So great, indeed," says Fort, "became the abuse 
 of medical astrology, whether by the direct juxta- 
 position of stellar influence, or through apposite 
 unages, that a celebrated Church Council at Paris 
 declared that images of metal, wax, or other ma- 
 terials fabricated under certain constellations or 
 according to fixed characters figures of peculiar 
 form, either baptized, consecrated, or exorcised, or 
 rather desecrated by the performance of formal 
 rites at stated periods which it was asserted, thus 
 composed, possessed miraculous virtues set forth in 
 superstitious writings were placed under the ban 
 and interdicted as errors of faith." 2 
 
 We shall see that magnetism developed from 
 astrology, and some other forms of mental healing 
 
 1 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, bk. V, chap. III. 
 8 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 299.
 
 150 TALISMANS 
 
 from magnetism. One of these, sympathetic cures, 
 was talismanic in its character, and therefore I 
 give a brief account of its method of working, in 
 this place. 
 
 Sympathetic cures probably started with Para- 
 celsus, although Von Helmont tells us that the 
 secret was first put forth by Ericcius Wohyus, of 
 Eburo. As a development from magnetism the 
 former originated the "weapon salve" which excited 
 so much attention about the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century. The following was a receipt given 
 by him for the cure of any wound inflicted by a 
 sharp weapon, except such as had penetrated the 
 heart, the brain, or the arteries. "Take the moss 
 growing on the head of a thief who has been hanged 
 and left in the air; of real mummy; of human 
 blood, still warm of each, one ounce; of human 
 suet, two ounces; of linseed oil, turpentine, and 
 Armenian bole of each, two drachms. Mix all 
 well in a mortar, and keep the salve in an oblong, 
 narrow urn." With the salve the weapon (not the 
 wound), after being dipped in blood from the wound, 
 was to be carefully anointed, and then laid by in 
 a cool place. In the meantime, the wound was 
 washed with fair, clean water, covered with a clean 
 soft linen rag, and opened once a day to cleanse off 
 purulent matter. A writer in the Foreign Quarterly 
 Review says there can be no doubt about the suc- 
 cess of the treatment, "for surgeons at this moment
 
 TALISMANS 151 
 
 follow exactly the same method, except anointing 
 the weapon!" 
 
 The weapon-salve continued to be much spoken 
 of on the Continent, and Dr. Fludd, or A Fluctibus, 
 the Rosicrucian, introduced it into England. He 
 tried it with great success in several cases, but in 
 the midst of his success an attack was made upon 
 him and his favorite remedy, which, however, did 
 little or nothing to diminish the belief in its efficacy. 
 One "Parson Foster" wrote a pamphlet entitled 
 "Hyplocrisma Spongus; or a Spunge to wipe away 
 the Weapon-salve," in which he declared that it 
 was as bad as witchcraft to use or recommend such 
 an unguent; that it was invented by the devil, 
 who, at the last day, would seize upon every person 
 who had given it the least encouragement. "In 
 fact," said Parson Foster, "the Devil himself gave 
 it to Paracelsus; Paracelsus to the emperor; the 
 emperor to the courtier; the courtier to Baptista 
 Porta; and Baptista Porta to Dr. Fludd, a doctor of 
 physic, yet living and practising in the famous city 
 of London, who now stands tooth and nail for it." 
 Dr. Fludd, thus assailed, took up his pen and de- 
 fended the unguent in a caustic pamphlet. 
 
 The salve changed into a powder in the hands of 
 Sir Kenelm Digby, the son of Sir Edward Digby 
 who was executed for his participation in the Gun- 
 powder Plot. Sir Kenelm was an accomplished 
 scholar and an able man, but at the same time a
 
 152 TALISMANS 
 
 most extravagant defender of the powder of sym- 
 pathy for the healing of wounds. This powder 
 came into sudden and public notoriety through an 
 accident to a distinguished person. Mr. James 
 Howell, the well-known author of the Dendrologia, 
 in endeavoring to part two friends in a duel, re- 
 ceived a severe cut on the hand. Alarmed by the 
 accident, one of the combatants bound up the cut 
 with his garter and conveyed him home. The king 
 sent his own surgeon to attend Mr. Howell, but in 
 four or five days the wound was not recovering very 
 rapidly and he made application to Sir Kenelm. 
 The latter first inquired whether he possessed any- 
 thing that had the blood upon it, upon which Mr. 
 Howell produced the garter with which his hand 
 had been bound. A basin of water in which some 
 powder of vitriol had been dissolved was procured, 
 and the garter immediately immersed in it, where- 
 upon, to quote Sir Kenelm, Mr. Howell said, "I 
 know not what ails me, but I find that I feel no more 
 pain. Methinks that a pleasing kind of freshness, 
 as it were a wet cold napkin, did spread over my 
 hand, which hath taken away the inflammation 
 that tormented me before." He was then advised 
 to lay away all plasters and keep the wound clean 
 and in a moderate temperature. 
 
 To prove conclusively the efficacy of the powder 
 of sympathy, after dinner the garter was taken out 
 of the basin and placed to dry before the fire. No
 
 SIR KEXELM DIGBY
 
 TALISMANS 153 
 
 sooner was this done than Mr. Howell's servant 
 came running to Sir Kenelm saying that his master's 
 hand was again inflamed, and that it was as bad as 
 before. The garter was again placed in the liquid 
 and before the return of the servant all was well and 
 easy again. In the course of five or six days the 
 wound was cicatrized and a cure performed. 
 
 This case excited considerable attention at court, 
 and on inquiry Sir Kenelm told the king that he 
 learned the secret from a much-travelled Carmelite 
 friar who became possessed of it while journeying 
 in the East. Sir Kenelm communicated it to Dr. 
 Mayerne, the king's physician, and from him it was 
 known to even the country barbers. Even King 
 James, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Bucking- 
 ham, and many other noble personages believed in 
 its efficacy. 
 
 It would be a waste of time, had we space, to pre- 
 sent fully Sir Kenelm's profound and lengthy ex- 
 planation of the cure. He tried to make the cure 
 more reasonable and acceptable by bringing forth 
 certain alleged phenomena which he thought proved 
 sympathy, and were therefore analogous in char- 
 acter. Surgeon-General Hammond calls attention 
 to the fact that these inferences were invariably 
 false. "It is a very curious circumstance," says 
 he, "that of these, there is not one which is true. 
 Thus he is wrong when he says that if the hand be 
 severely burnt, the pain and inflammation are re-
 
 154 TALISMANS 
 
 lieved by holding it near a hot fire; that a person 
 who has a bad breath is cured by putting his head 
 over a privy and inhaling the air which comes from 
 it; that those who are bitten by vipers or scorpions 
 are cured by holding the bruised head of either of 
 those animals, as the case may be, near the bitten 
 part; that in times of great contagion, carrying a 
 toad, or a spider, or arsenic or some other venomous 
 substance, about the person is a protection; that 
 hanging a toad about the neck of a horse affected 
 with farcy dissipates the disease; that water evap- 
 orated in a close room will not be deposited on the 
 walls, if a vessel of water be placed in the room; 
 that venison pies smell strongly at those periods in 
 which the ' beasts which are of the same nature 
 and kind are in rut ' ; that wine in the cellar under- 
 goes a fermentation when the vines in the field are 
 in flower; that a table-cloth spotted with mulberries 
 or red wine is more easily whitened at the season in 
 which the plants are flowering than at any other; 
 that washing the hands in the rays of moonlight 
 which fall into a polished silver basin (without 
 water) is a cure for warts; that a vessel of water put 
 on the hearth of a smoky chimney is a remedy for 
 the evil, and so on not a single fact in all that he 
 adduces. Yet these circumstances were regarded 
 as real, and were spoken of at the times as irrefrag- 
 able proofs of the truth of Sir Kenelm's views." 1 
 
 1 W. A. Hammond, Spiritualism and Nervotis Derangement, p. 175.
 
 TALISMANS 155 
 
 We need have no doubt concerning the operation 
 of sympathetic cures, for Sir Kenelm has told us of 
 their virtue in his own words. 1 His method was what 
 was called the cure by the wet way, but the cure 
 could also be effected in a dry way. Straus, hi a 
 letter to Sir Kenelm, gives an account of a cure 
 performed by Lord Gilbourne, an English noble- 
 man, upon a carpenter who had cut himself severely 
 with his axe. "The axe, bespattered with blood, 
 was sent for, besmeared with an anointment, 
 wrapped up warmly, and carefully hung up in a 
 closet. The carpenter was immediately relieved, and 
 all went well for some tune, when, however, the 
 wound became exceedingly painful, and, upon re- 
 sorting to his lordship it was ascertained that the 
 axe had fallen from the nail by which it was sus- 
 pended, and thereby become uncovered." 
 
 Dryden in "The Tempest" (Act V, Sc. 1) makes 
 Ariel say, in reference to the wound received by 
 Hippolito from Ferdinand: 
 
 "He must be dress'd again, as I have done it. 
 Anoint the sword which pierced him with this wea- 
 pon-salve, and wrap it close from air, till I have 
 time to visit him again." 
 
 And in the next scene we have the following dia- 
 logue between Hippolito and Miranda: 
 
 1 Sir Kenelm Digby, A late discovery made in solemne assembly of 
 nobles and learned men, at Montpellier, in France, touching the cure 
 0} wounds, by the Powder of Sympathy, etc.
 
 156 TALISMANS 
 
 "Hip. O my wound pains me. 
 Mir. I am come to ease you. 
 
 [She unwraps the sword. 
 Hip. Alasl I feel the cold air come to me; 
 My wound shoots worse than ever. 
 
 [She wipes and anoints the sword. 
 Mir. Does it still grieve you? 
 Hip. Now methinks, there's something 
 
 Laid just upon it. 
 Mir. Do you find ease? 
 Hip. Yes, yes, upon the sudden, all the pain 
 
 Is leaving me. Sweet heaven, how I am eased!" 
 
 Werenfels says: "If the superstitious person be 
 wounded by any chance, he applies the salve, not to 
 the wound, but, what is more effectual, to the weapon 
 by which he received it. By a new kind of art, he 
 will transplant his disease, like a scion, and graft it 
 into what tree he pleases." 
 
 The practice at the tune was varied and general. 
 All sorts of disgusting ingredients were gathered 
 together to form the salve. Some idea of the con- 
 dition of the science of medicine at that time may 
 be gathered when we remember that a serious dis- 
 cussion was long maintained between two factions 
 in the sympathetic school concerning the question 
 " whether it was necessary that the moss should 
 grow absolutely in the skull of a thief who had hung 
 on the gallows, and whether the ointment, while 
 compounding, was to be stirred with a murderer's 
 knife."
 
 TALISMANS 157 
 
 There is no doubt that the sympathetic cures 
 were really the most rapid and effective. The mod- 
 ern surgeon wonders how a wound ever healed prior 
 to this treatment. There seemed to be little that 
 could be imagined to prevent a wound from healing 
 that the pre-sympathetic surgeon did not try. When 
 the manipulations, doses, and treatments were 
 transferred from the wound to the weapon, they did 
 not hi jure the weapon, and did give the wound a 
 chance to heal. In fact, leaving out the weapon 
 part of the treatment, which could have none but a 
 mental influence, the treatment would be recom- 
 mended to-day. The wound was kept clean, the 
 edges were brought in apposition, temperature was 
 modified, and rest given. Under these circum- 
 stances, wounds which the surgeon had irritated so 
 as to take weeks to heal, united in as many days. 
 Mark this, however: the wounds treated were sun- 
 pie incisions, the ones which most readily united if 
 cleansed, brought together, and left alone. Gun- 
 shot and similar wounds were not treated by this 
 process. 1 
 
 1 1 am indebted to T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with 
 the History and Practice of Surgery and Medicine, pp. 201-213; C. 
 Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, pp. 266-268; W. A. 
 Hammond, Spiritualism and Nervous Derangement, pp. 170-176; for 
 the material on the subject of sympathetic cures.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 AMULETS 
 
 "He loved and was beloved; what more could he desire as an 
 amulet against fear?" BULWER-LYTTON. 
 
 "Such medicines are to be exploded that consist of words, char- 
 acters, spells, and charms, which can do no good at all, but out of 
 a strong conceit, as Pomponatius proves; or the Devil's policy, 
 who is the first founder and teacher of them." BURTON. 
 
 "Old wives and starres are his councellors; his nightspell is his 
 guard, and charms his physician. He wears Paracelsian characters 
 for the toothache; and a little hallowed wax is his antidote for all 
 evils." BISHOP HALL. 
 
 "Neither doth Fansie only cause, but also as easily cure Diseases; 
 as I may justly refer all magical and jugling Cures thereunto, per- 
 formed, as is thought, by Saints, Images, Relicts, Holy-Waters, 
 Shrines, Avemarys, Crucifixes, Benedictions, Charms, Characters, 
 Sigils of the Planets and of Signs, inverted Words, &c., and there- 
 fore all such Cures are rather to be ascribed to the Force of the 
 Imagination, than any virtue in them, or their Rings, Amulets, 
 Lamens, &c." RAMESEY. 
 
 ATTENTION has already been called to the fact 
 that the characteristic of the amulet is that it must 
 be worn about the person, while the talisman may 
 simply be in possession of a person wherever it may 
 be, or deposited at a certain place by or for the per- 
 son. The Arabic equivalent of the word Amulet 
 means "that which is suspended." 
 
 The derivation of the word is uncertain, but there 
 are at least two Latin antecedents claimed for it. 
 Some claim that it is derived from the barbarous 
 
 158
 
 AMULETS 159 
 
 Latin word "amuletum," from amolior, to remove; 
 others consider that it comes from "amula," the 
 name of a small vessel with lustral water in it, which 
 the Romans sometimes carried in their pockets for 
 purification and expiation. Pliny says that many 
 of these amulse were carved out of pieces of amber 
 and hung about children's necks. Whatever the 
 derivation of the word, it is doubtless of Eastern 
 origin. 
 
 There is also little doubt concerning the early 
 belief in the efficacy of an amulet to ward off dis- 
 eases, and to protect against supernatural agencies. 
 So powerful were they supposed to be that an oath 
 was formerly administered to persons about to fight 
 a legal duel "that they had ne charme ne herb of 
 virtue." St. Chrysostom and others of the church 
 fathers condemned the practice very severely, and 
 the Council of Laodicea (366) wisely forbade the 
 priesthood from studying and practising enchant- 
 ments, mathematics, astrology, and the binding of 
 the soul by amulets. 1 
 
 Burton has the following passage on the subject: 
 "Amulets, and Things to be borne about, I find 
 prescribed, taxed by some, approved by Renodeus, 
 Platerus, and others; looke for them in Mizaldus, 
 Porta, Albertus, &c. ... A Ring made of the 
 Hoofe of an Asse's right fore-foot carried about, &c. 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 51 and 66 f.
 
 160 AMULETS 
 
 I say with Renodeus they are not altogether to 
 be rejected. Piony doth help epilepsies. Pretious 
 Stones, most diseases. A Wolf's dung carried about 
 helps the Cholick. A spider, an Ague, &c. . . . 
 Some Medicines are to be exploded, that consist of 
 Words, Characters, Spells, and Charms, which can 
 do no good at all, but out of a strong conceit, as 
 Pomponatius proves; or the Devil's policy, who is 
 the first founder and teacher of them." 1 
 
 "To this kind," says Bingham, " belong all Liga- 
 tures and Remedies, which the Schools of Physitians 
 reject and condemn; whether in Inchantments or 
 in certain marks, which they call Characters, or in 
 some other things which are to be hanged and 
 bound about the Body, and kept in a dancing 
 posture. Such are Ear-rings hanged upon the tip 
 of each ear, and Rings made of an Ostriche's bones 
 for the Finger; or, when you are told, in a fit of 
 Convulsions or shortness of Breath, to hold your 
 left Thumb with your right hand." 2 
 
 Unfortunately the wearing of amulets did not 
 stop with the early civilizations or even with the 
 Middle Ages. People in our own supposedly en- 
 lightened age indulge in them. The negro carries 
 the hind foot of a rabbit, and the children see great 
 virtue in a four-leafed clover; men carry luck pen- 
 nies, and certain stones are worn in rings and scarf 
 
 1 R. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, pt. II, sec. V. 
 a J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 281 f.
 
 AMULETS 161 
 
 pins; camphor is worn about the person to avert 
 febrile contagion, and anodyne necklaces of "Job's 
 tears" and other equally harmless and inefficacious 
 substances are placed on babies to assist them in 
 teething. The camphor and necklaces are probably 
 not supposed to be endowed with magical power, 
 but a mistaken medical virtue is assigned to them. 
 
 There was neither rule nor reason for the compo- 
 sition of most amulets, and one would have to be 
 well acquainted with the superstitions of the vari- 
 ous ages to account for them. Sometimes the shape, 
 rather than the material of which they were com- 
 posed or the inscription on them, was the efficacious 
 factor. Perhaps material, shape, and inscription 
 would be combined in one object; or many ob- 
 jects, each purporting to contain magical proper- 
 ties, might be grouped for special efficacy, as when 
 inscribed pieces of different stones of peculiar shape 
 were formed into necklaces or bracelets. 
 
 Precious stones were often employed as amulets, 
 and some even ground them up and took them in- 
 ternally in order to be more sure of their magical 
 effects. " Butler quotes from Encelius, who says 
 that the Garnet, if hung about the neck or taken in 
 drink, much assisteth sorrow and recreates the heart; 
 and the chrysolite is described as the friend of 
 wisdom and the enemy of folly. Renodeus admires 
 precious stones because they adorn king's crowns, 
 grace the fingers, enrich our household stuff, defend
 
 162 AMULETS 
 
 us from enchantments, preserve health, cure diseases, 
 drive away grief, cares, and exhilarate the mind." * 
 Some further quotations portray to us the efficacy 
 of other stones : 
 
 "Heliotropius stauncheth blood, driveth away 
 poisons, preserveth health; yea, and some write 
 that it provoketh raine, and darkeneth the sunne, 
 suffering not him that beareth it to be abused." 
 
 "A topaze healeth the lunaticke person of his 
 passion of lunacie." 
 
 "Corneolus (cornelian) mitigateth the heate of 
 the minde, and qualifieth malice, it stancheth 
 bloodie fluxes." 
 
 "A sapphire preserveth the members and maketh 
 them livelie, and helpeth agues and gowts, and suf- 
 fereth not the bearer to be afraid; it hath virtue 
 against venoms, and staieth bleeding at the nose, 
 being often put thereto. 
 
 Aetius "attributed great obstetrical properties to 
 the lapis aetites, and gagates stone. The sapphire 
 when taken as a potion pulverized in milk, cured 
 internal ulcers and checked excessive perspiration. 
 The amargdine was highly recommended for strabis- 
 mus. . . ." 
 
 " Jasper, hematite and hieratite stones were 
 strongly recommended for unusual sanative virtues, 
 but the sapphire excelled as a remedy for scorpion 
 bites." 
 
 "The Bezoar stone had a great reputation in 
 melancholic affections. Manardus says it removes 
 sadness and makes him merry that useth it." 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected vnth . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 70.
 
 AMULETS 163 
 
 "Noblemen wore the smargdum attached to a 
 chain, in the belief of its potential virtues against 
 epilepsy. The sard prevented terrible dreams, and 
 the cornelian worn on the finger or suspended from 
 the neck pacified anger and provoked contentment. 
 Onyx superinduced troubled sleep, but fastened to 
 the throat, stimulated the salivary glands. Saphirs 
 cured internal ulcers and excessive perspiration, 
 when taken as a potion dissolved in lacteal fluids." 
 
 "Of the stone which hight agate. It is said that 
 it hath eight virtues. One is when there is thunder, 
 it doth not scathe the man who hath this stone with 
 him. Another virtue is, on whatsoever house it is, 
 therein a fiend may not be. The third virtue is, 
 that no venom may scathe the man who hath the 
 stone with him. The fourth virtue is, that the man, 
 who hath on him secretly the loathly fiend, if he 
 taketh in liquid any portion of the shavings of the 
 stone, then soon is exhibited manifestly in him, 
 that which before lay secretly hid. The fifth virtue 
 is, he who is afflicted with any disease, if he taketh 
 the stone in liquid, it is soon well with him. The 
 sixth virtue is, that sorcery hurteth not the man 
 who has the stone with him. The seventh virtue 
 is, that he who taketh the stone in drink, will have 
 so much the smoother body. The eighth virtue of 
 the stone is, that no bite of any kind of snake may 
 scathe him who tasteth the stone in liquid." 
 
 Even as late as 1624, Sir John Harrington, writing 
 in his "School of Salerne," says: "Alwaies in your 
 hands use eyther Corall or yellow Amber, or a chal- 
 cedonium, or a sweet Pommander, or some like 
 precious stone to be worne in a ring upon the little 
 finger of the left hand; have in your rings eyther a
 
 164 AMULETS 
 
 Smaragd, a Saphire, or a Draconites, which you 
 shall bear for an ornament; for in stones, as also in 
 hearbes, there is great efficacie and vertue, but they 
 are not altogether perceived by us; hold sometime 
 in your mouth eyther a Hyacinth, or a Crystall, or a 
 Garnat, or pure Gold, or Silver, or else sometimes 
 pure Sugar-candy. For Aristotle doth affirme, and 
 so doth Albertus Magnus, that a Smaragd worne 
 about the necke, is good against the Falling-sick- 
 ness; for surely the virtue of an hearbe is great, but 
 much more the vertue of a precious stone, which is 
 very likely that they are endued with occult and 
 hidden vertues." 
 
 Precious metals as well as precious stones were 
 used in the manufacture of amulets. The Scandi- 
 navians carried metal effigies carved out of gold or 
 silver, or incised upon tiles, perpetually as amulets. 
 They were safeguards against diseases and physical 
 infirmities. They were also administered internally 
 in cases where powerful cures were needed. Chaucer 
 says: 
 
 "For gold in physic is a cordial, 
 Therefore he loved gold in special." 
 
 The Basilideans, and other sects developed from 
 the Gnostic systems, assigned great power to stone 
 amulets, and prepared them for their initiates, who 
 used them for identification and for curative pur- 
 poses. They quickly acquired a celebrity undi-
 
 AMULETS 165 
 
 minished for ages, and were known under the general 
 name of Abraxas. They were composed of various 
 materials, glass, paste, sometimes metals, but prin- 
 cipally of various kinds of stones. Through the 
 irresistible might of Abrax, their supreme divinity, 
 the Basilideans were protected and cured. Clement 
 of Alexandria strictly interdicted the use of gems 
 for personal ornamentation, with evident allusion to 
 the Abraxas stones. These stones had various in- 
 scriptions carved upon them, most of which had 
 some hidden meaning of great puissance. One of 
 them, for example, is engraven with Armenian let- 
 ters, and contains a standing invocation for fruitful 
 delivery; in its medicinal property it was evidently 
 a cure for sterility. 1 
 
 From the stone itself the word "Abraxas" came 
 to be used as an amulet when written on paper. 
 The numerical equivalent of the Greek letters 
 when added together thus, A=l, B=2, P=100, 
 A=l, E=60, A=l, 2=200, is 365. The significance 
 of this was that the deity was the ruler of 365 heav- 
 ens, or of the angels inhabiting these heavens; he 
 was also ruler over the 365 days of the year. Not- 
 withstanding the fact that it was referred to by 
 the Greek fathers, the name was evidently Egyptian 
 in origin, some of the figures on the stones being 
 strictly Egyptian. 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 pp. 94-100.
 
 166 AMULETS 
 
 Amulets in the form of inscriptions were called 
 "Characts," the word Abraxas being an example. 
 The very powerful word " Abracadabra" was de- 
 rived from Abraxas, and when written in the proper 
 way and worn about the person was supposed to 
 have a magical efficacy as an antidote against ague, 
 fever, flux, and toothache. Serenus Samonicus, a 
 physician in the reign of Caracalla, recommends it 
 very highly for ague, instructing how it should be 
 written, and commanding it to be worn around the 
 neck. It might be written in either of two ways: 
 reading down the left side and up the right must 
 spell the same word as at the top; or, having the 
 left side always start the same, reading up the right 
 side should be the same as the top line. Below are 
 the two forms: 
 
 ABRACADABRA ABRACADABRA 
 BRACADABR ABRACADABR 
 RACADAB ABRACADAB 
 
 ACADA ABRACADA 
 
 CAD ABRACAD 
 
 A ABRACA 
 
 ABRAC 
 
 ABRA 
 
 ABR 
 
 AB 
 
 A 
 
 Julius Africanus says that pronouncing the word in 
 the same manner is as efficacious as writing it. The
 
 AMULETS 167 
 
 Jews attributed an equal virtue to the word "Ara- 
 calan" employed in the same way. 1 
 
 Bishop Pilkington, writing in 1561, protests against 
 a then current practice in this way: "What wicket 
 blindenes is this than, to thinke that wearing Pray- 
 ers written in rolles about with theym, as S. Johns 
 Gospell, the length of our Lord, the measure of our 
 Lady, or other like, thei shall die no sodain death, 
 nor be hanged, or yf he be hanged, he shall not die. 
 There is so manye suche, though ye laugh, and 
 beleve it not, and not hard to shewe them with a 
 wet finger." The same author observes that our 
 devotion ought to "stande in depe sighes and gron- 
 inges, wyth a full consideration of our miserable 
 state and Goddes majestye, in the heart, and not in 
 ynke or paper: not in hangyng writtin SCROLLES 
 about the Necke, but lamentinge unfeignedlye our 
 Synnes from the hart." 
 
 The following charact was found in a linen purse 
 belonging to a murderer named Jackson, who died 
 in Chichester jail in February, 1749. He was 
 "struck with such horror on being measured for 
 his chains that he soon after expired." 
 
 'Ye three holy Kings, 
 Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar, 
 Pray for us now, and in the hour of our death." 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 74 f.
 
 168 AMULETS 
 
 "These papers have touched the three heads of 
 the holy Kings at Cologne. They are to preserve 
 travellers from accidents on the road, headaches, 
 falling sickness, fevers, witchcraft, all kinds of mis- 
 chief, and sudden death." 
 
 Belgrave prescribes a cure of agues, by a certain 
 writing which the patient wears, as follows: "When 
 Jesus went up to the Cross to be crucified, the Jews 
 asked him, saying Art thou afraid? or hast thou the 
 ague? Jesus answered and said, I am not afraid, 
 neither have I the ague. All those which bear the 
 name of Jesus about them shall not be afraid, nor 
 yet have the ague. Amen, sweet Jesus, Amen, 
 sweet Jehovah, Amen." He adds: "I have known 
 many who have been cured of the ague by this writ- 
 ing only worn about them; and I had the receipt 
 from one whose daughter was cured thereby, who 
 had the ague upon her two years." * 
 
 Among other written amulets, the first Psalm, 
 when written on doeskin, was supposed to be effica- 
 cious in childbirth. It was necessary, however, for 
 the writer of such amulets to plunge into a bath as 
 soon as he had written one line, and after every new 
 line it was thought necessary that he should repeat 
 the plunge. 
 
 The following process for avoiding inflamed eyes 
 is taken from Marcellus, 380 A. D.: "Write on a 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 278 f.
 
 AMULETS 169 
 
 clean sheet of paper ovficu/c, and hang this round 
 the patient's neck, with a thread from the loom. 
 In a state of purity and chastity write on a clean 
 sheet of paper <f>vp<j>apav } and hang it round the 
 man's neck; it will stop the approach of inflamma- 
 tion. The following will stop inflammation coming 
 on, written on a clean sheet of paper: povftos, 
 
 pvoveipas /37^e\to9 W KavT(j>opa Kal Travres yct/corei', it 
 
 must be hung to the neck by a thread; and if 
 both the patient and operator are in a state of 
 chastity, it will stop inveterate inflammation. 
 Again, write on a thin plate of gold with a needle of 
 copper, opvo) ovpcoSr)-, do this on a Monday; observe 
 chastity; it will long and much avail." 
 
 In Africa, prayers taken from the Koran are writ- 
 ten and worn as amulets at the present time. 
 
 After the death of the philosopher Pascal some 
 manuscript was found sewed in his doublet. This 
 was a "profession of faith" which he always wore 
 stitched in his clothing as a sort of amulet. 
 
 In the East, generally, the amulet consists of cer- 
 tain names of the Deity, verses of the Koran, or par- 
 ticular passages compressed into a very small space, 
 and is to be found concealed in the turban. The 
 Christians wore amulets with verses selected from 
 the Old and New Testaments, and particularly from 
 the Gospel of John. The amulets or charms, called 
 "grigris" by the African priests, are of similar de- 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, pp. 262 f.
 
 170 AMULETS 
 
 scription. These were used for preservatives against 
 thunderbolts and diseases, to procure many wives 
 and to give them easy deliveries, to avert shipwreck 
 or slavery, and to secure victory in battle. One, to 
 be used for the last purpose, which had belonged to 
 a king of Brak, in Senegal, was found on his body 
 after he had the misfortune to be killed in battle 
 with the amulet upon him. It had the following 
 sentences from the Koran: "In the name of the 
 merciful God! Pray to God through our Lord Mo- 
 hammed. All that exists is so only by his command. 
 He gives life, and also calls sinners to an account. 
 He deprives us of life by the sole power of his name : 
 these are undeniable truths. He that lives owes 
 his life to the peculiar clemency of his Lord, who by 
 his providence takes care of his subsistence. He is 
 a wise prince or governor." 1 
 
 The Jews used as amulets some sacred name, such 
 as the true pronunciation of the name of Jehovah, 
 written down. The Mischna permitted the Jews to 
 wear amulets provided they had been found effica- 
 cious in at least three cases by an approved person. 
 One of the most famous amulets is that known as 
 "Solomon's Seal." 
 
 Ligatures, similar to the earlier amulets, a heri- 
 tage from the northern pagan races, were freely 
 applied for the prevention and cure of maladies. 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected urith . , . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 68 f .
 
 AMULETS 171 
 
 After imposing invocations and the addition of 
 mystical characters, these medical charms were pre- 
 sumed to be of the greatest efficacy, and ready for 
 suspension from the neck. Their efficacy was admit- 
 ted by Christians, but they were condemned on ac- 
 count of their pagan and consequently satanic origin. 
 
 Alexander of Tralles recommended a number of 
 amulets, some of which I will mention later, but 
 admits that he had no faith in them, but merely 
 ordered them as placebos for rich and fastidious 
 patients who could not be persuaded to adopt a 
 more rational treatment. Baas tells us that "A 
 regular Pagan amulet was found in 1749 on the 
 breast of the prince bishop Anselm Franz of Wurz- 
 burg, count of Ingolstadt, after his death." 
 
 Amulets were also worn to protect the wearer 
 from charms exercised by others. The "Leech 
 Book" gives us one to be worn and another to be 
 taken internally for this purpose. To be used 
 "against every evil rune lay, and one full of elvish 
 tricks, writ for the bewitched man, this writing in 
 Greek letters: Alfa, Omega, lesvm, BERONIKH. 
 Again, another dust and drink against a rune lay; 
 take a bramble apple, and lupins, and pulegium, 
 pound them, then sift them, put them in a pouch, 
 lay them under the altar, sing nine masses over them, 
 administer this to drink at three hours." 
 
 The powers of the mandragora, as an amulet, 
 place it almost in a class by itself. Fort tell us that
 
 172 AMULETS 
 
 in addition to its power to protect herds of cattle 
 and horses, to prevent misfortunes of various kinds, 
 to preserve the exhilarating wine and beer against 
 loss of their intoxicating property, to render success- 
 ful commercial negotiations, and promote infalli- 
 bly, rapid and enormous influence, " other virtues 
 of a surprising character were awarded the omnipo- 
 tent mandragora. It conciliated affection and main- 
 tained friendship, preserved conjugal fealty and 
 developed benevolence. The immensity of worth 
 inherent in this mystical medicament, its vital es- 
 sence, was by no means confined to sustaining 
 health and providing certain remedies for infirmities; 
 its power manipulated tribunals and secured judicial 
 favor at court; and when this resistless amulet was 
 held under the arm by a suitor at law, however 
 unjust his cause, the vegetable Rune controlled the 
 forum and obtained the verdict." l 
 
 It may be well at this point to enumerate at 
 least a number of the most noted amulets, accord- 
 ing to the disease for which they were supposed to 
 be efficacious. 
 
 Ague. On account of the periodic character of 
 this disease it was considered to be a supernatural 
 complaint and hence many unnatural cures were 
 suggested, among which were a number of amulets. 
 The Abracadabra amulet was supposed to be es- 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 182.
 
 AMULETS 173 
 
 pecially efficacious in ague. The chips of a gallows 
 put into a bag and worn around the neck, or next 
 the skin, have been said to have served as a cure, at 
 least, so reports Brand. 1 Millefolium or yarrow, 
 worn in a little bag on the pit of the stomach is 
 reported to have cured this disease, and Alexander of 
 Tralles advises, for a quartan ague, that the patient 
 must carry about some hairs from a goat's chin. 2 
 
 Elias Ashmole, in his Diary, April 11, 1681, has 
 entered the following: "I tooke early in the morn- 
 ing a good dose of Elixir, and hung three spiders 
 about my neck, and they drove my Ague away. 
 Deo Gratias!" 3 
 
 Wristbands, called pericarpia, were employed hi 
 the cure. Robert Boyle says he was cured of a 
 violent quotidian ague, after having in vain resorted 
 to medical aid, by applying to his wrists "a mixt- 
 ure of two handfuls of bay salt, the same quantity 
 of fresh English hops, and a quarter of a pound of 
 blue currants, very diligently beaten into a brittle 
 mass, without the addition of anything moist, and 
 so spread upon linen and applied to his wrists." 4 
 
 Burton gives us a leaf from his own experience. 5 
 " Being in the country in the vacation time, not 
 many years since, at Lindly, in Leicestershire, my 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 242. 
 
 2 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 252. 
 
 * E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 147. 
 
 4 R. Boyle, Usefulness of Natural Philosophy, II, p. 157. 
 
 * R. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, pt. II, sec. V.
 
 174 AMULETS 
 
 father's house, I first observed this amulet of a 
 spider in a nut-shell, wrapped in silk, &c., so ap- 
 plyed for an ague by my mother; whom, although 
 I knew to have excellent skill in chirurgery, sore 
 eyes, aches, &c., and such experimental medicines, 
 as all the country where she dwelt can witness, to 
 have done many famous and good cures upon divers 
 poor folks that were otherwise destitute of help, 
 yet among all other experiments, this methought 
 was most absurd and ridiculous. I could see no 
 warrant for it. Quid aranea cum Febre 9 For what 
 antipathy? till at length rambling amongst authors 
 (as I often do), I found this very medicine in Dios- 
 corides, approved by Matthiolus, repeated by Al- 
 drovandus, cap. de Aranea, lib. de Insectis, I began 
 to have a better opinion of it, and to give more 
 credit to amulets, when I saw it in some parties 
 answer to experience." 
 
 A narrative of not a little interest, concerning Sir 
 John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's 
 Bench, 1709, should be given in this connection. 
 He was extremely wild in his youth, and being once 
 engaged with some of his rakish friends in a trip 
 into the country, in which they had spent all their 
 money, it was agreed they should try their fortune 
 separately. Holt arrived at an inn at the end of a 
 straggling village, ordered his horse to be taken care 
 of, bespoke a supper and a bed. He then strolled 
 into the kitchen, where he observed a little girl of
 
 AMULETS 175 
 
 thirteen shaking with ague. Upon making inquiry 
 respecting her, the landlady told him that she 
 was her only child, and had been ill nearly a year, 
 notwithstanding all the assistance she could pro- 
 cure for her from physic. He gravely shook his 
 head at the doctors, bade her be under no further 
 concern, for that her daughter should never have 
 another fit. He then wrote a few unintelligible 
 words in a court hand on a scrap of parchment, 
 which had been the direction fixed to a hamper, 
 and rolling it up, directed that it should be bound 
 upon the girl's wrist and there allowed to remain 
 until she was well. The ague returned no more; 
 and Holt, having remained in the house a week, 
 called for his bill. "God bless you, sir," said the 
 old woman, "you're nothing in my debt, I'm sure. 
 I wish, on the contrary, that I was able to pay you 
 for the cure which you have made of my daughter. 
 Oh! if I had had the happiness to see you ten months 
 ago, it would have saved me forty pounds." With 
 pretended reluctance he accepted his accommoda- 
 tion as a recompense, and rode away. Many years 
 elapsed, Holt advanced in his profession of the law, 
 and went a circuit, as one of the judges of the Court 
 of King's Bench, into the same county, where, 
 among other criminals brought before him, was an 
 old woman under a charge of witchcraft. To sup- 
 port this accusation, several witnesses swore that 
 the prisoner had a spell with which she could either
 
 176 AMULETS 
 
 cure such cattle as were sick or destroy those that 
 were well, and that in the use of this spell she had 
 been lately detected, and that it was now ready to 
 be produced in court. Upon this statement the 
 judge desired that it might be handed up to him. 
 It was a dirty ball, wrapped round with several 
 rags, and bound with packthread. These coverings 
 he carefully removed, and beneath them found a 
 piece of parchment which he immediately recog- 
 nized as his own youthful fabrication. For a few 
 moments he remained silent. At length, recollect- 
 ing himself, he addressed the jury to the following 
 effect: " Gentlemen, I must now relate a particular 
 of my life, which very ill suits my present character 
 and the station in which I sit; but to conceal it 
 would be to aggravate the folly for which I ought 
 to atone, to endanger innocence, and to countenance 
 superstition. This bauble, which you suppose to 
 have the power of life and death, is a senseless scroll 
 which I wrote with my own hand and gave to this 
 woman, whom for no other reason you accuse as a 
 witch." He then related the particulars of the 
 transaction, with such an effect upon the minds of 
 the people that his old landlady was the last person 
 tried for witchcraft in that county. 1 
 
 Calculus. Boyle tells us 2 that the Lapis Nephri- 
 ticus, a species of jasper, when bound to the left 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 96-98. 
 
 2 R. Boyle, Usefulness of Natural Philosophy, Works II, p. 156.
 
 AMULETS 177 
 
 wrist, was a cure for this trouble. Others have borne 
 evidence to its efficacy. 
 
 Childbirth. Among the ancient Britons, when 
 a birth was difficult or dangerous, a girdle, made 
 for this purpose, was put around the woman and 
 afforded immediate relief. Until quite recently they 
 were kept by many families in the Highlands of 
 Scotland. They were marked with certain fig- 
 ures and were applied with certain ceremonies de- 
 rived from the Druids. Women hi labor were also 
 supposed to be quickly delivered if they were girded 
 with the skin which a snake has sloughed off. 1 
 
 Cholera. Bontius declared the Lapis Porcinus to 
 be good for cholera, but dangerous to pregnant 
 women. If the females of Malaica held the stone 
 in their hands an abortion was produced. When 
 cholera was prevalent during the early part of the 
 last century, it was common in many parts of Aus- 
 tria, Germany, and Italy to wear an amulet at the 
 pit of the stomach, in contact with the skin. Petti- 
 grew describes one of these which was sent to him 
 from Hungary. "It consists merely of a circular 
 piece of copper two inches and a half in diameter, 
 and is without characters." 
 
 Colic. Says Pliny, the extremity of the intestine 
 of the ossifrage, if worn as an amulet, is well known 
 to be an excellent remedy for colic. A tick from 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, The Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, pp. 257 
 and 259.
 
 178 AMULETS 
 
 a dog's left ear, worn as an amulet, was recom- 
 mended to allay this and all other kinds of pain, 
 but one must be careful to take it from a dog that 
 is black. Alexander of Tralles recommended the 
 heart of a lark to be fastened to the left thigh as a 
 remedy for colic. Mr. Cockayne, the editor of 
 Saxon Leechdoms, gives us further remedies for colic 
 which Alexander prescribed. "Thus for colic, he 
 guarantees by his own experience, and the approval 
 of almost all the best doctors, dung of a wolf, with 
 bits of bone in it if possible, shut up in a pipe, and 
 worn during the paroxysm, on the right arm, or 
 thigh, or hip, taking care it touches neither the earth 
 or a bath." l 
 
 Cramp. The following amulets are mentioned 
 as specifics against cramp: 
 
 " Wear bone Ring on thumb, or tye 
 Strong Pack-thread below your thigh." 
 
 The subject of cramp rings will be considered in 
 another connection. 
 
 Demoniacal Possession. In the sixth century exor- 
 cists frequently wrote the formula on parchment 
 and suspended it from the neck of the patient. This 
 was as efficacious as the uttered words. 
 
 Epilepsy. The elder tree has been the founda- 
 tion of many superstitions, chief among which have 
 been some connected with epilepsy. Blochwick 2 
 
 1 Ibid., pp. 251 and 254. * Anatomic of the Elder, p. 52.
 
 AMULETS 179 
 
 tells us how to prepare an amulet from an elder 
 growing on a sallow. "In the month of October, 
 a little before the full moon, you pluck a twig of the 
 elder, and cut the cane that is betwixt two of its 
 knees, or knots, in nine pieces, and these pieces be- 
 ing bound in a piece of linen, be in a thread, so 
 hung about the neck, that they touch the spoon of 
 the heart, or the sword-formed cartilage; and that 
 they may stay more firmly in that place, they are 
 to be bound thereon with a linen or silken roller 
 wrapt about the body, till the thread break of itself. 
 The thread being broken and the roller removed, 
 the amulet is not at all to be touched with bare 
 hands, but it ought to be taken hold on by some 
 instrument and buried in a place that nobody may 
 touch it." Some hung a cross, made of the elder 
 and the sallow entwined, about the children's neck. 
 Rings of various kinds have always been sup- 
 posed to have some superstitious power. Brand * 
 tells us of some of their uses. A ring made from a 
 piece of silver collected at the communion is a cure 
 for convulsions and fits of every kind. If the silver 
 is collected on Easter Sunday its efficacy is greatly 
 increased. This was the receipt in Berkshire, but 
 in Devonshire silver was not necessary. Here they 
 prefer a ring made from three nails or screws dug 
 out of a church-yard, which had been used to fasten 
 a coffin. We are also informed that another kind 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 231.
 
 180 AMULETS 
 
 of ring will cure fits. It must be made from five 
 sixpences collected from five different bachelors, 
 conveyed by the hand of a bachelor to a silver- 
 smith who is a bachelor. None of the persons who 
 gave the sixpences, however, are to know for what 
 purpose, or to whom, they gave them. 1 
 
 A silver ring contributed by twelve young women, 
 and constantly worn on one of the patient's fingers, 
 has been successfully employed in the cure of epi- 
 lepsy after various medical means failed. 2 Lupton 
 says: "A piece of a child's navel-string borne in a 
 ring is good against the falling-sickness, the pains 
 of the head, and the collick." 3 
 
 Alexander of Tralles recommended for epilepsy a 
 metal cross tied to the arm, or, in lieu of that, bits 
 of sail-cloth from a shipwrecked vessel might be 
 tied to the right arm and worn for seven weeks; 
 the latter was a preventive as well as a cure. Among 
 the ancients, Serapion prescribed crocodile's dung 
 and turtle's blood as a cure for this disease. 4 Lemius 
 remarks that "Coral, Piony, Misseltoe, drive away 
 the falling Sicknesse, either hung about the neck 
 or drunk with wine." 
 
 Erysipelas. The elder seems to have been effica- 
 cious in erysipelas as well as in epilepsy, at least so 
 
 1 Gentleman's Magazine, 1794, p. 889. 
 
 3 London Medical and Physical Journal, 1815. 
 
 3 Book of Notable Things, p. 92. 
 
 4 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, pp. 253 f and 
 256.
 
 AMULETS 181 
 
 we are told in the "Anatomic of the Elder." The 
 following is the method of preparing the amulet. 
 It is to be made of "Elder on which the sun never 
 shined. If the piece betwixt the two knots be hung 
 about the patient's neck, it is much commended. 
 Some cut it in little pieces, and sew it in a knot in a 
 piece of a man's shirt, which seems superstitious." 
 
 Evil-eye. Coral was supposed to avert the bane- 
 ful consequences of the evil-eye, and Paracelsus 
 recommends it to be worn about the necks of chil- 
 dren. Douce has given engravings of several Ro- 
 man amulets which were intended to be used against 
 fascinations in general, but more particularly against 
 that of the evil-eye. 1 
 
 Eye Diseases. Cotta relates, so says Pettigrew, 
 "a merrie historic of an approved famous spell for 
 sore eyes. By many honest testimonies it was a 
 long time worne as a Jewell about many necks, 
 written in paper and enclosed in silke, never failing 
 to do sovereigne good when all other helpes were 
 helplesse. No sight might dare to reade or open. 
 At length a curious mind, while the patient slept, 
 by stealth ripped open the mystical cover, and 
 found the powerful characters Latin: 'Diabolus 
 effodiat tibi oculos impleat foramina stercoribus.' ' 
 
 Vivisection was practised to procure an amulet 
 for sore eyes, according to the following prescrip- 
 tion: "If a man have a white spot, as cataract, in 
 
 1 Illustrations of Shakespeare, I, p. 493.
 
 182 AMULETS 
 
 his eye, catch a fox alive, cut his tongue out, let him 
 go, dry his tongue and tie it up in a red rag and 
 hang it round the man's neck." Pliny's way was to 
 "take the tongue of a foxe, and hange the same 
 about his necke, so long it hangeth there his sight 
 shall not wax feeble." 
 
 Like was also used to cure like, at least in the fol- 
 lowing directions: "Take the right eye of a Frogg, 
 lap it in a piece of russet cloth and hang it about 
 the neck; it cureth the right eye if it bee enflamed 
 or bleared. And if the left eye be greved, do the 
 like by the left eye of the said Frogg." 1 
 
 Fevers. Charms rather than amulets were em- 
 ployed in fevers, yet we find that among the an- 
 cients Chrysippus believed in amulets for quartan 
 fevers and Pliny taught that the longest tooth of 
 a black dog cured quartan fevers. 
 
 Gout. Alexander of Tralles has preserved for us 
 a remedy for gout as follows: "A remedy for the 
 gout. Write, on a golden plate at the wane of the 
 moon, what follows, rolling round it the sinews of 
 a crane. Put it in a little bag, and wear it near 
 the ankles. The words are meu, treu, mor, phor, 
 teux, za, z?or, phe, lou, chri, ge, ze, ou, as the sun is 
 consolidated in these names, and is renewed every 
 day; so consolidate this plaster as it was before, 
 now, now, quick, quick, for, behold, I pronounce 
 
 i E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 147.
 
 AMULETS 183 
 
 the great name, in which are consolidated things in 
 repose, iaz, azuf, zuon, threux, bain, choog; con- 
 solidate this plaster as it was at first, now, now, 
 quick, quick." 
 
 Headache. Pliny's amulet for this disease was an 
 herb picked from the head of a statue, tied with a 
 red thread, and worn upon the body. 
 
 Hysteria. Monardes is quoted as saying : "When 
 hysterical persons feel an attack coming on ; they 
 may be relieved by a stone, which will prevent, if 
 constantly worn about the person, any subsequent 
 attack. From my knowledge of cases of this kind, 
 I attach credit to this amulet." 
 
 Melancholy. Burton has treated much under the 
 name of melancholy, and in respect of cure mentions 
 several "amulets and things to be borne about." 
 He recommends for head melancholy such things 
 as hypericon, or St. 'John's- wort, gathered on a 
 Friday in the hour of Jupiter, " . . . borne or hung 
 about the neck, it mightily helps this affection, and 
 drives away all fantastical spirits." * 
 
 Plague. During the visitations of the plague, the 
 inhabitants of London wore, in the region of the 
 heart, amulets composed of arsenic, probably on 
 account of the theory that one poison would neu- 
 tralize the power of the other. Concerning this, 
 however, Herring, in writing concerning preserva- 
 tives against the pestilence, says: "Perceiving many 
 
 1 R, Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, pt. II, sec. V.
 
 184 AMULETS 
 
 in this Citie to weare about their Necks, upon the 
 region of the Heart, certaine Placents or Amulets, 
 (as preservatives against the pestilence,) confected 
 of Arsenicke, my opinion is that they are so farre 
 from effecting any good in that kinde, as a preserva- 
 tive, that they are very dangerous and hurtfull, if 
 not pernitious, to those that weare them." Quills 
 of quicksilver were commonly worn about the neck 
 for the same purpose, and the powder of toad was 
 employed in a similar way. 
 
 Pope Adrian is reported to have continually car- 
 ried an amulet composed of dried toad, arsenic, tor- 
 mental, pearl, coral, hyacinth, smarag, and traga- 
 canth. Among the Harleian Manuscripts is a letter 
 from Lord Chancellor Hatton to Sir Thomas Smith 
 written at a time of an alarming epidemic. Among 
 other things he writes: "I am likewise bold to 
 recommend my most humble duty to our dear mis- 
 tress (Queen Elizabeth) by this LETTER AND 
 RING, which hath the virtue to expell infectious 
 airs, and is to be worn betwixt the sweet duggs, the 
 chaste nest of pure constancy. I trust, sir, when 
 the virtue is known, it shall not be refused for the 
 value." * 
 
 Safety from Wounds. Pettigrew gives us the two 
 following examples: "De Barros, the historian, says 
 that the Portuguese in vain attempted to destroy 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Surgery and 
 Medicine, p. 91.
 
 AMULETS 185 
 
 a Malay so long as he wore a bracelet containing a 
 bone set in gold, which rendered him proof against 
 their swords. This amulet was afterward trans- 
 mitted to the Viceroy Alfonso d'Alboquerque, as a 
 valuable present. 
 
 "In the travels of Marco Polo, we read that in an 
 attempt by Kublai Khan to make a conquest of the 
 island of Zipangu, a jealousy arose between the 
 two commanders of the expedition, which led to an 
 order for putting the whole of the inhabitants of 
 the garrison to the sword; and that in obedience 
 thereto, the heads of all were cut off, excepting of 
 eight persons, who, by the efficacy of a diabolical 
 charm, consisting of a jewel or amulet introduced 
 into the right arm, between the skin and the flesh, 
 were rendered secure from the effects of iron, either 
 to kill or wound. Upon this discovery being made, 
 they were beaten with a heavy wooden club, and 
 presently died." 
 
 Scrofula. Lupton says: "The Root of Vervin 
 hanged at the neck of such as have the King's Evil, 
 it brings a marvellous and unhoped help." To this 
 Brand adds: "Squire Morley of Essex used to say 
 a Prayer which he hoped would do no harm when 
 he hung a bit of vervain root from a scrophulous 
 person's neck. My aunt Freeman had a very high 
 opinion of a baked Toad in a silk Bag, hung round 
 the neck." 2 
 
 Ibid., p. 79. * J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 255.
 
 186 AMULETS 
 
 Toothache. People in North Hampshire, England, 
 sometimes wore a tooth taken from a corpse, kept 
 in a bag and hung around the neck, as a remedy 
 for toothache. 
 
 Whooping-Cough. About the middle of the last 
 century there appeared the following in the London 
 Athenceum: "The popular belief as to the origin of 
 the mark across the back of the ass is mentioned 
 by Sir Thomas Browne, in his 'Vulgar Errors,' and 
 from whatever cause it may have arisen it is cer- 
 tain that the hairs taken from the part of the animal 
 so marked are held in high estimation as a cure for 
 the hooping-cough. In this metropolis, at least so 
 lately as 1842, an elderly lady advised a friend who 
 had a child dangerously ill with that complaint, to 
 procure three such hairs, and hang them round the 
 neck of the sufferer in a muslin bag. It was added 
 that the animal from whom the hairs are taken for 
 this purpose is never worth anything afterwards, 
 and, consequently, great difficulty would be expe- 
 rienced in procuring them; and further, that it was 
 essential to the success of the charm that the sex of 
 the animal, from whom the hairs were to be pro- 
 cured, should be the contrary to that of the party 
 to be cured by them."' 
 
 The Worcester Journal (England), in one of its 
 issues for 1845, had this astounding item: "A party 
 from the city, being on a visit to a friend who lived 
 at a village about four miles distant, had occasion to
 
 AMULETS 187 
 
 go into the cottage of a poor woman, who had a child 
 afflicted with the hooping-cough. In reply to some 
 inquiries as to her treatment of the child, the mother 
 pointed to its neck, on which was a string fastened, 
 having nine knots tied in it. The poor woman 
 stated that it was the stay-lace of the child's god- 
 mother which, if applied exactly in that manner 
 about the neck, would be sure to charm away the 
 most troublesome cough! Thus it may be seen that, 
 with all the educational efforts of the present day, 
 the monster Superstition still lurks here and there 
 in his caves and secret places." 1 
 
 We find that not only human beings but animals 
 profited by amulets. An amulet is used in the cure 
 of a blind horse which could hardly have helped on 
 the cure by his faith in it. "The root of cut Malowe 
 hanged about the neck driveth away blemishes of 
 the eyen, whether it be in a man or a horse, as I, 
 Jerome of Brunsweig, have scene myself e. I have 
 myselfe done it to a blind horse that I bought for 
 X crounes, and was sold agayn for XL crounes." 2 
 That was a trick worth knowing. 
 
 Brockett tells us that "Holy-stones, or holed- 
 stones, are hung on the heads of horses as a charm 
 against Diseases such as sweat in their stalls are 
 supposed to be cured by this application." The 
 
 1 Ibid., Ill, p. 238. 
 
 * E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 148.
 
 188 AMULETS 
 
 efficacy of the elder also extended to animals, for 
 a lame pig was formerly cured by boring a hole in 
 his ear and putting a small peg into it. We are 
 also told that "wood night-shade, or bitter-sweet, 
 being hung about the neck of Cattell that have the 
 Staggers, helpeth them."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 CHARMS 
 
 "With the charmes that she saide, 
 A fire down fro' the sky alight." GOWER. 
 
 " She drew a splinter from the wound, 
 And with a charm she staunch 'd the blood." SCOTT. 
 
 "Thrice on my breast I spit to guard me safe 
 From fascinating Charms." THEOCRITUS. 
 
 "Mennes fortunes she can tell; 
 She can by sayenge her Ave Marye, 
 And by other Charmes of Sorcerye, 
 Ease men of the Toth ake by and bye 
 Yea, and fatche the Devyll from Hell." BALE. 
 
 " I clawed her by the backe in way of a charme, 
 To do me not the more good, but the less harme." HEYWOOD. 
 
 CHARMS, as already noticed, are not unlike amu- 
 lets in significance and similarity of power. The 
 amulet must consist of some material substance so 
 as to be suspended when employed, but the charm 
 may be a word, gesture, look, or condition, as well 
 as a material substance, and does not need to be 
 attached to the body. The word "charm " is derived 
 from the Latin word "carmen," signifying a verse 
 in which the charms were sometimes written, ex- 
 amples of which will be given later. The medical 
 term "carminative," a comforting medicine, really 
 means a charm medicine, and has the same deriva- 
 tion. 
 
 189
 
 190 CHARMS 
 
 A charm has been defined as "a form of words or 
 letters, repeated or written, whereby strange things 
 are pretended to be done, beyond the ordinary 
 power of nature." It can be seen, though, that 
 this definition is not sufficiently comprehensive. 
 
 For ages, people have had great faith in odd num- 
 bers. They have often been used as charms and 
 for medicine. Some one says: "Some philosophers 
 are of opinion that all things are composed of num- 
 ber, prefer the odd before the other, and attribute 
 to it a great efficacy and perfection, especially in 
 matters of physic: wherefore it is that many doc- 
 tors prescribed always an odd pill, an odd draught, 
 or drop to be taken by their patients. For the per- 
 fection thereof they allege these following numbers: 
 as 7 Planets, 7 wonders of the World, 9 Muses, 3 
 Graces, God is 3 in 1, &c." Ravenscroft, in his 
 comedy of "Mammamouchi or the Citizen Turned 
 Gentleman," makes Trickmore as a physician say: 
 "Let the number of his bleedings and purgations be 
 odd, numero Dem impare gaudet" [God delights in 
 an odd number]. 
 
 Nine is the number consecrated by Buddhism; 
 three is sacred among Brahminical and Christian 
 people. Pythagoras held that the unit or monad is 
 the principle and end of all. One is a good princi- 
 ple. Two, or the dyad, is the origin of contrasts 
 and separation, and is an evil principle. Three, or 
 the triad, is the image of the attributes of God.
 
 CHARMS 191 
 
 Four, or the tetrad, is the most perfect of numbers 
 and the root of all things. It is holy by nature. 
 Five, or the pentad, is everything; it stops the 
 power of poisons, and is dreaded by evil spirits. 
 Six is a fortunate number. Seven is powerful for 
 good or evil, and is a sacred number. Eight is the 
 first cube, so is man four-square or perfect. Nine, 
 as the multiple of three, is sacred. Ten, or the dec- 
 ade, is the measure of all it contains, all the nu- 
 merical relations and harmonies. 1 
 
 Cornelius Agrippa wrote on the power of num- 
 bers, which he declares is asserted by nature her- 
 self; thus the herb called cinquefoil, or five-leafed 
 grass, resists poison, and bans devils by virtue of 
 the number five; one leaf of it taken in wine twice 
 a day cures the quotidian, three the tertian, four 
 the quartan fever. 2 
 
 The seventh son of a seventh son was supposed to 
 be an infallible physician as the following quota- 
 tions would indicate: "The seventh son of a seventh 
 son is born a physician; having an intuitive knowl- 
 edge of the art of curing all disorders, and sometimes 
 the faculty of performing wonderful cures by touch- 
 ing only." "Plusieurs croyent qu'en France, les 
 septiemes garyons, nez de le"gitimes manages, sans 
 que la suitte des sept ait est6 interrompue par la 
 naissance d'aucune fille, peuvent aussi gue"rir des 
 
 1 S. B. Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 273. 
 * H. Morley, Life of Cornelius Agrippa, I, p. 165.
 
 192 CHARMS 
 
 fievres tierces, des fievres quartes, at mesme des 
 e*crouelles, apres avoir jeune trois ou neuf jours 
 avant que de toucher les malades. Mais ils font 
 trop de fond sur le nombre septenaire, en attribu- 
 ant au septieme gargon, preferablement a tous au- 
 tres, une puissance qu'il y a autant de raison d'at- 
 tribuer au sixieme ou au tantieme, sur le nombre 
 de trois, et sur celuy de neuf, pour ne pas s'engager 
 dans la superstition. Joint que de trois que je con- 
 nois de ces septieme gargons il y en a deux qui ne 
 guerissent de rien, et que le troisieme m'a avoue 
 de bonne foy, qu'il avoit eu autrefois la reputation 
 de guerir de quantite des maux, quoique en effet 
 il n'ait jamais guery d'aucun. C'est pourquoy 
 Monsieur du Laurent a grande raison de rejetter ce 
 pretendu pouvoir, et de la mettre au rang des 
 fables, en ce qui concerne la guerison des ecrou- 
 elles." ' 
 
 Charms were used to avert evil and counteract 
 supposed malignant influences of all kinds, but it is 
 in their connection with diseases of the body that 
 we are chiefly interested. There is scarcely a dis- 
 ease for which a charm has not been given, but it 
 will be seen that those which are most affected by 
 charms are principally derangements of the nervous 
 system, or those periodical in character diseases, 
 in fact, which have proved to be most easily in- 
 fluenced by suggestion. 
 
 1 M. Thiers, Traitt des Superstitions, p. 436.
 
 CHARMS 193 
 
 Charms might be of the most varied composition. 
 The material was selected from the animal, vege- 
 table, or mineral kingdom, and might consist of 
 anything to which any magical property was con- 
 sidered to belong. Rags, old clothes, pins, and 
 needles were frequently employed in this way. Sir 
 Walter Scott had in his possession a pretended 
 charm taken from an old woman who was said to 
 charm and injure her neighbor's cattle. It con- 
 sisted of feathers, parings of nails, hair, and similar 
 material, wrapped in a lump of clay. 
 
 The theory of similia similibus curantur seems 
 to have entered into mediaeval medicine, and espe- 
 cially into the manufacture of charms. The follow- 
 ing prescriptions are examples: "The skin of a 
 Raven's heel is good against gout, but the right 
 heel skin must be laid upon the right foot if that be 
 gouty, and the left upon the left. ... If you would 
 have man become bold or impudent let him carry 
 about with him the skin or eyes of a Lion or Cock, 
 and he will be fearless of his enemies, nay, he will 
 be very terrible unto them. If you would have him 
 talkative, give him tongues, and seek out those of 
 water frogs and ducks and such creatures notorious 
 for their continuall noise making." ' 
 
 King also tells us that "Hartes fete, Does Fete, 
 Bulles fete, or any ruder beastes fete should ofte 
 
 1 E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 147.
 
 194 CHARMS 
 
 be eaten; the same confort the sinewes. The elder 
 these beastes be, the more they strengthen." It is no- 
 ticeable that not age but youth is now honored, and 
 to-day only calves' feet are accorded medicinal value. 
 
 Fort 1 gives the following account of the origin 
 of cabbalism: "Towards the close of the fourth 
 century an unknown scholiast collected the exe- 
 getical elucidations, explanations and interpreta- 
 tions produced by the Gemara, and united them to 
 the Mishna, as a commentary out of which arose 
 the Talmud. The word ' cabbala,' whose original 
 significance was used in the sense of reception, or 
 transmission, obtained at a later period the mean- 
 ing of secret lore, because the metaphysical and 
 theosophic idealities which had been developed in 
 the Rabbinical schools, were communicated only to 
 a few, and consequently remained the undisputed 
 property of a limited and close organization." From 
 this there developed a varied and complicated sys- 
 tem of words and numbers which showed their 
 power in all forms of magical marvels. Not the 
 least common or puissant of these was the healing 
 of the sick. 
 
 Knots were sometimes used as charms, and Cock- 
 ayne gives us an example in the preface of Saxon 
 Leechdoms: "As soon as a man gets pain in his 
 eyes, tie in un wrought flax as many knots as there 
 
 1 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 72.
 
 CHARMS 195 
 
 are letters in his name, pronouncing them as you 
 go, and tie it round his neck." 
 
 Long before and long after New Testament days 
 when Jesus used spittle on the blind, and the time 
 when Vespasian healed the blind by the same means, 
 spittle was considered a most efficacious remedy for 
 various diseases. Levinus Lemnius tells us: " Di- 
 vers experiments shew what power and quality there 
 is in Man's fasting Spittle, when he hath neither 
 eat nor drunk before the use of it: for it cures all 
 tetters, itch, scabs, pushes, and creeping sores: and 
 if venomous little beasts have fastened on any part 
 of the body, as hornets, beetles, toads, spiders, and 
 such like, that by their venome cause tumours and 
 great pains and inflammations, do but rub the place 
 with fasting Spittle, and all those effects will be 
 gone and dispersed. Since the qualities and effects 
 of Spittle come from the humours, (for out of them 
 is it drawn by the faculty of Nature, as Fire draws 
 distilled Water from hearbs) the reason may be 
 easily understood why Spittle should do such strange 
 things, and destroy some creatures." * 
 
 In Saxon Leechdoms a cure for gout runs thus: 
 "Before getting out of bed in the morning, spit 
 on your hand, rub all your sinuews, and say, ' Flee, 
 gout, flee/ etc." Sir Thomas Browne, however, is 
 not quite sure that fasting spittle really is poison- 
 ous to snakes and vipers. 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 229 f.
 
 196 CHARMS 
 
 Alexander of Tralles tells us that even Galen did 
 homage to incantations, and quotes him as saying: 
 "Some think that incantations are like old wives' 
 tales; as I did for a long while. But at last I was 
 convinced that there is virtue in them by plain 
 proofs before my eyes. For I had trial of their 
 beneficial operations in the case of those scorpion- 
 stung, nor less in the case of bones stuck fast in the 
 throat, immediately, by an incantation thrown up. 
 And many of them are excellent, severally, and 
 they reach their mark." 
 
 Even before our day, however, there were some 
 sceptics. Andrews, quoting Reginald Scot, says: 
 "The Stories which our facetious author relates of 
 ridiculous Charms which, by the help of credulity, 
 operated Wonders, are extremely laughable. In one 
 of them a poor Woman is commemorated who 
 cured all diseases by muttering a certain form of 
 Words over the party afflicted; for which service 
 she always received one penny and a loaf of bread. 
 At length, terrified by menaces of flames both in 
 this world and the next, she owned that her whole 
 conjuration consisted in these potent lines, which 
 she always repeated in a low voice near the head of 
 her patient 1 
 
 'Thy loaf in my hand, 
 And thy penny in my purse, 
 Thou art never the better 
 And I am never the worse.'"
 
 CHARMS 197 
 
 Lord Northampton quite fittingly inquires: "What 
 godly reason can any Man alyve alledge why Mother 
 Joane of Stowe, speaking these wordes, and neyther 
 more nor lesse, 
 
 'Our Lord was the fyrst Man, 
 That ever Thome prick'd upon: 
 It never blysted nor it never belted, 
 And I pray God, nor this not may,' 
 
 should cure either Beasts, or Men and Women from 
 Diseases?" x 
 
 Perhaps it would be well for us to treat the sub- 
 ject of charms as we have that of amulets, and pre- 
 sent the different charms under the heading of the 
 diseases which they were supposed to cure. 
 
 Ague. Many charms were given for this disease, 
 some of which seem to us to-day most ridiculous. 
 Brand gives a quotation from the Life of Nicholas 
 Mooney who was a notorious highwayman, exe- 
 cuted with others at Bristol, in 1752. It is as fol- 
 lows: "After the cart drew away, the hangman 
 very deservedly had his head broke for attempting 
 to pull off Mooney 's shoes; and a fellow had like to 
 have been killed in mounting the gallows to take 
 away the ropes that were left after the malefactors 
 were cut down. A young woman came fifteen miles 
 for the sake of the rope from Mooney's neck, which 
 was given to her, it being by many apprehended 
 
 1 Ibid., Ill, pp. 228 and 237.
 
 198 CHARMS 
 
 that the halter of an executed person will charm 
 away the ague and perform many other cures." 
 
 Pettigrew relates that "In Skippon's account of 
 a 'Journey through the Low Countries/ he makes 
 mention of the lectures of Ferrarius and his narra- 
 tive of the cure of the ague of a Spanish lieutenant, 
 by writing the words FEBRA FUGE, and cutting 
 off a letter from the paper every day, and he ob- 
 served the distemper to abate accordingly; when 
 he cut the letter F last of all the ague left him. In 
 the same year, he says, fifty more were reported to 
 be cured in the same manner." 
 
 Another charm for ague was only effective when 
 said up the chimney on St. Agnes Eve, by the eldest 
 female of the family. It was as follows: 
 
 "Tremble and go! 
 
 First day shiver and burn. 
 Tremble and quake! 
 
 Second day shiver and learn: 
 Tremble and die! 
 
 Third day never return." * 
 
 Pliny said: "Any plant gathered from the bank 
 of a brook or river before sunrise, provided that no 
 one sees the person who gathers it, is considered as 
 a remedy for tertian ague." Lodge, in glancing at 
 the superstitious creed with respect to charms, says : 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 94 f.
 
 CHARMS 199 
 
 "Bring him but a Table of Lead, with Crosses (and 
 'Adonai/ or 'Elohim,' written in it), and he thinks 
 it will heal his ague." 
 
 Mr. Marsden, while among the Sumatrans, acci- 
 dentally met with the following charm for the ague : 
 "(Sign of the cross.) When Christ saw the cross 
 he trembled and shaked and they said unto him, 
 hast thou ague? and he said unto them, I have 
 neither ague nor fever; and whosoever bears these 
 words, either in writing or in mind, shall never be 
 troubled with ague or fever. So help thy servants, 
 Lord, who put their trust in thee!" 
 
 From Douce's notes, Mr. Brand informs us that 
 it was usual with many persons about Exeter who 
 had ague "to visit at dead of night the nearest 
 cross road five different times, and there bury a 
 new-laid egg. The visit is paid about an hour be- 
 fore the cold fit is expected; and they are persuaded 
 that with the Egg they shall bury the Ague. If 
 the experiment fail, (and the agitation it occasions 
 may often render it successful) they attribute it 
 to some unlucky accident that may have befallen 
 them on the way. In the execution of this matter 
 they observe the strictest silence, taking care not 
 to speak to anyone, whom they may happen to 
 meet. I shall here note another Remedy against 
 the Ague mentioned as above, viz., by breaking a 
 salted Cake of Bran and giving it to a Dog, when 
 the fit comes on, by which means they suppose the
 
 200 CHARMS 
 
 malady to be transferred from them to the Animal." * 
 This and similar methods were designated trans- 
 plantation. 
 
 Bites of Venomous Animals. It is an old medical 
 superstition that every animal whose bite is poison- 
 ous carries the cure within itself, but external 
 charms were also used. It was thought that the 
 poison of the Spanish fly existed in the body, while 
 the head and wings contained the antidote. "A 
 hair of the dog that bites you" is the cure for hy- 
 drophobia, the fat of the viper was the remedy for 
 its bite, and "three scruples of the ashes of the witch, 
 when she had been well and carefully burnt at a 
 stake, is a sure catholicon against all the evil effects 
 of witchcraft." 2 
 
 Serpents' bites, which were always considered 
 very dangerous, were said to be healed by people 
 called sauveurs, who had a mark of St. Catharine's 
 wheel upon their palates. Snake stones, originally 
 brought from Java, were supposed to absorb the 
 poison by being simply placed over the bite. Rus- 
 sel mentions a charm against mosquitoes, used in 
 Aleppo. It consisted of certain unintelligible char- 
 acters inscribed on a little slip of paper, which was 
 pasted over the windows or upon the lintel of the 
 door. One family has obtained, through heredity, 
 the power of making these charms, and they distrib- 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 252 f. 
 
 2 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 416.
 
 CHARMS 201 
 
 ute them on a certain day of the year without re- 
 muneration. 
 
 Navarette was told that the best remedy against 
 scorpions was to make a commemoration of St. 
 George when going to bed. This, he says, never 
 failed, but he also rubbed the bed with garlic. The 
 following is given as a cure for the sting of the scor- 
 pion: "The patient is to sit on an ass, with his face 
 to the tail of the animal, by which the pain will be 
 transmitted from the man to the beast." Or again, 
 a person who was bitten by either a tarantulla or 
 a mad dog must go nine times round the town on 
 the Sabbath, calling upon and imploring the assist- 
 ance of the saint. On the third night the prayers 
 being heard and granted, and the health restored 
 the madness was removed. The prayer was as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "Thou who presides! over the Apulian shores, 
 
 Thou who curest the bites of mad dogs, 
 
 Thou, O Sacred One, ward off this cruel plague, 
 
 This dismal gnawing of dogs. 
 
 Get thee far hence, O madness, O fury." ' 
 
 Burns. The following is "A Charme for a burn- 
 ing": 
 
 "There came three angels out of the east; 
 The one brought fire, the two brought frost 
 Out fire; in frost; 
 
 In the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 Amen." a 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Surgery and 
 Medicine, pp. 104-106. 2 Pepys' Diary, I, p. 323.
 
 202 CHARMS 
 
 Childbirth. Many superstitious practices have 
 grown up around this condition. In 1554, Bonner, 
 Bishop of London, forbade "a my d wife of his dio- 
 cese to exercise any witchecrafte, charmes, sorcerye, 
 invocations, or praiers, other than such as be allow- 
 able and may stand with the lawes and ordinances 
 of the Catholike Church." In 1559, the first year 
 of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, an inquiry was 
 instituted "whether you knowe any that doe use 
 charmes, sorcery, enchauntementes, invocations, cir- 
 cles, witchecraftes, southsayinge, or any lyke craftes 
 or imaginacions invented by the devyl, and specially 
 in the tyme of woman's travaylle." Two years 
 before this, the midwives took an oath among them- 
 selves, so Strype tells us, not to "suffer any other 
 bodies' child to be set, brought, or laid before any 
 woman delivered of child in the place of her natural 
 child, so far forth as I can know and understand. 
 Also I will not use any kind of sorcerye or incanta- 
 tion in the time of the travail of any woman." 
 
 The eagle stone and iris were supposed to pro- 
 mote an easy delivery, and the sardonyx was laid 
 inter mammas to procure an easy birth; a sardonyx 
 formerly belonged to the monastery of St. Albans 
 to be used for this purpose. In some countries, 
 during childbirth, the men lie in, keep their beds, 
 and are attended as if really sick, sometimes as 
 long as six weeks. 1 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 113-115.
 
 CHARMS 203 
 
 Chorea. Of all the charms against this disease, 
 St. Vitus' dance, none seemed so effectual as an 
 application to the saint. In the translation of 
 Naogeorgus, Barnabe Googe says : 
 
 "The nexte is VITUS sodde in oyle, before whose ymage faire 
 Both men and women bringing hennes for offring doe re- 
 
 paire : 
 
 The cause whereof I doe not know, I think, for some disease 
 Which he is thought to drive away from such as him doe 
 
 please." 
 
 Colic. This disorder was cured by a person drink- 
 ing the water in which he had washed his feet; we 
 might well consider the cure worse than the disease. 
 
 Consumption. Shaw 1 speaks of a cure for con- 
 sumptive diseases used in his time in Moray. "They 
 pared the Nails of the Fingers and Toes of the Pa- 
 tient, put these Parings into a Rag cut from his 
 clothes, then waved their Hand with the Rag thrice 
 round his head crying Deas soil, after which they 
 buried the Rag in some unknown place." Dr. 
 Baas 2 declares that natural pills of rabbit's dung 
 were in use on the Rhine as a cure for consumption. 
 
 "There is a disease," says the minister of Logie- 
 rait, writing in 1795, "called Glacach by the High- 
 landers, which, as it affects the chest and lungs, is 
 evidently of a consumptive nature. It is called 
 Macdonald's disease, 'because there are particular 
 tribes of Macdonalds, who were believed to cure it 
 
 1 History of Moray, p. 248. 2 History of Medicine, p. 159.
 
 204 CHARMS 
 
 with the Charms of their touch, and the use of a 
 certain set of words. There must be no fee given 
 of any kind. Their faith in the touch of a Mac- 
 donald is very great.' " l 
 
 Cramp. Among the many charms for cramp, the 
 following is taken from Pepys' Diary : 2 
 
 "Cramp be thou faintless, 
 As our Lady was sinless 
 When she bare Jesus." 
 
 Demoniacal Possession. To know when a person 
 is possessed, try the following, says King: "Take the 
 harte and liver of a fysshe called a Pyck, and put 
 them into a pot wyth glowynge hot coles, and hold 
 the same to the patient so that the smoke may entre 
 into hym. If he is possessed he cannot abyde that 
 smoke, but rageth and is angry." "It is good also 
 to make a fyre in hys chamber of Juniper wood, 
 and caste into the fire Franckincense and S. John's 
 wort, for the evill spirits cannot abyde thys sent, 
 and Waxe angry, whereby may be perceived whether 
 a man be possessed or not." 3 I am afraid that 
 possession would be sadly common if either of these 
 tests were applied. 
 
 Dislocation. Among the oldest charms we have 
 is one given by Cato the Censor for the reduction of 
 a dislocated limb, and passed on to us by Pettigrew. 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 240 and 248. 
 2 1, p. 324. 
 
 3 E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 149.
 
 CHARMS 205 
 
 "A dislocation may be cured by this charm. Take 
 a reed four or five feet long; cut it in the middle, and 
 let two men hold the points towards each other for 
 insertion. While this is doing repeat these words: 
 In Alio S. F. Motas vceta, Daries Dardaries Asta- 
 taries Dissunapitur. Now jerk a piece of iron upon 
 the reeds at their juncture, and cut right and left. 
 Bind them to the dislocation or fracture, and it will 
 effect a cure." l 
 
 Dropsy. Toads were formed into a powder called 
 Pulvis JSthiopicus, the mode of preparation being 
 given in Bates's Pharmacopoeia. This powder was 
 used externally, and also given internally in cases 
 of dropsy and other diseases. 
 
 Epilepsy. The liver of a dead athlete was a 
 sovereign remedy against epilepsy in early days. 
 In Lincolnshire a portion of a human skull taken 
 from a grave was grated and given to epileptics as 
 a cure for fits, and the water in which a corpse had 
 been washed was given to a man in Glasgow for 
 the same purpose. 2 Another remedy was also pro- 
 posed: "If a man be greved wyth the fallinge sick- 
 nesse, let him take a he- Wolves harte and make it 
 to pouder and use it: but if it be a woman, let her 
 take a she- Wolves harte." 3 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 77. 
 
 2 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Medical Art, pp. 397 and 414. 
 
 E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 147.
 
 206 CHARMS 
 
 John of Gladdesden, who was court physician from 
 1305-1317, spoke thus concerning epilepsy: "Be- 
 cause there are many children and others afflicted 
 with the epilepsy, who cannot take medicines, let 
 the following experiment be tried, which I have 
 found to be effectual, whether the patient was a 
 demoniac, a lunatic, or an epileptic. When the 
 patient and his parents have fasted three days, let 
 them conduct him to church. If he be of a proper 
 age, and of his right senses, let him confess. Then 
 let him hear Mass on Friday, and also on Saturday. 
 On Sunday let a good and religious priest read over 
 the head of the patient, in the church, the gospel 
 which is read in September, in the time of vintage, 
 after the feast of the Holy Cross. After this, let 
 the priest write the same gospel devoutly, and let 
 the patient wear it about his neck, and he shall be 
 cured. The gospel is, 'This kind goeth not out but 
 by prayer and fasting.' " l 
 
 Among some African tribes the foot of an elk is 
 considered a splendid remedy against epilepsy. One 
 foot only of each animal possesses virtue, and the 
 way to ascertain the valuable foot is to "knock the 
 beast down, when he will immediately lift up that 
 leg which is most efficacious to scratch his ear. 
 Then you must be ready with a sharp scymitar to 
 lop off the medicinal limb, and you shall find an 
 infallible remedy against the falling sickness treas- 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 327.
 
 CHARMS 207 
 
 ured up in his claws." The American Indians and 
 mediaeval Norwegians also considered this a sure 
 remedy. The person afflicted, however, must apply 
 it to his heart, hold it in his left hand, and rub his 
 ear with it. 1 
 
 Evil-eye. Children were supposed to be most 
 susceptible to the evil-eye. Charms and amulets 
 were furnished against fascination in general. Cer- 
 tain figures in bronze, coral, ivory, etc., represent- 
 ing a closed hand with the thumb thrust out be- 
 tween the first and second fingers called the fig, 
 were common. In Henry IV, Part II, Pistol 
 says: 
 
 "When Pistol lies, do this; and fig me, like 
 The bragging Spaniard." 
 
 Eye Diseases. Among the early Germans, am- 
 bulatory female medicists were not uncommon, and 
 they cured largely through charms. The following 
 is a charm used for eye diseases: 
 
 "Three maidens once going 
 On a verdant highway; 
 One could cure blindness, 
 Another cured cataract, 
 Third cured inflammation; 
 But all cured by one means." 2 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, pp. 84 f. 
 
 2 G. F. Fort, History of Medical Economy During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 196.
 
 208 CHARMS 
 
 Fevers. This charm was used for fever: "Wryt 
 thys Wordys on a lorell lef^Ysmaeli*Ysmael>J* 
 adjuro vos per Angelum ut soporetur iste Homo N. 
 and ley thys lef under hys head that he wete not 
 therof, and let hym ete Letuse oft and drynk Ip'e 
 seed smal grounden in a morter, and temper yt with 
 Ale." ' 
 
 "The fever," says Werenfels, "he will not drive 
 away by medicines, but, what is a more certain rem- 
 edy, having pared his nails and tied them to a cray- 
 fish, he will turn his back, and as Deucalion did the 
 stones from which a new progeny of men arose, 
 throw them behind him into the next river." 2 
 
 The "Leech book" 3 says that for typhus fever 
 the patient is to drink of a decoction of herbs over 
 which many masses have been sung, then say the 
 names of the four "gospellers" and a charm and a 
 prayer. Again, a man is to write a charm in silence, 
 and just as silently put the words in his left breast 
 and take care not to go in-doors with the writing 
 upon him, the words being EMMANUEL VERON- 
 ICA. The Loseley MSS. prescribe the following 
 for all manner of fevers: "Take iii drops of a wom- 
 an's mylke yt norseth a knave childe, and do it 
 in a hennes egge that ys sedentere (or sitting), and 
 let hym suppe it up when the evyl takes hym." 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 237. 
 
 2 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . , . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 92. 
 
 3 II, p. 139.
 
 CHARMS 209 
 
 Goitre. The dew collected from the grave of the 
 last man buried in a church-yard has been used as 
 a lotion for goitre, and a correspondent of Notes 
 and Queries for May 24, 1851, furnishes two reme- 
 dies then in use at Withyam, Sussex. "A common 
 snake, held by its head and tail, is slowly drawn by 
 someone standing by nine times across the front 
 part of the neck of the person affected, the reptile 
 being allowed, after every third time, to crawl about 
 for awhile. Afterwards the snake is put alive in a 
 bottle, which is corked tightly, and .then buried in 
 the ground. The tradition is, that as the snake 
 decays, the swelling vanishes. The second mode 
 of treatment is just the same as the above, with the 
 exception of the snake's doom. In this case it is 
 kidded, and its skin, sewn in a piece of silk, is worn 
 round the diseased neck. By degrees the swelling 
 in this case also disappears." 
 
 Headache. In Brand's day, the rope which re- 
 mained after a man had been hanged and cut down 
 was an object of eager competition, being regarded 
 as of great virtue in attacks of headache, and Gross 
 says: "Moss growing on a human skull, if dried, 
 powdered, and taken as snuff, will cure the Head- 
 ach." Loadstone was also recommended as a sov- 
 ereign remedy for this malady. Pliny said that any 
 person might be immediately cured of the headache 
 by the application of any plant which has grown on 
 the head of a statue, provided it be folded in the
 
 210 CHARMS 
 
 shred of a garment, and tied to the part affected 
 with a red string. 
 
 Hemorrhage. The following charm has been used 
 to stop bleeding at the nose and other hemorrhages : 
 
 "In the blood of Adam Sin was taken, 
 In the blood of Christ it was all shaken, 
 And by the same blood I do the charge, 
 That the blood of (insert name) run no longer at large." 
 
 Pepys in his Diary gives us a Latin charm of which 
 the following is a translation: 
 
 "Blood remain in Thee, 
 As Christ was in himself; 
 Blood remain in thy veins, 
 As Christ in his pains; 
 Blood remain fixed, 
 As Christ was on the crucifix." 
 
 Brand, the historian of Orkney, says: "They 
 have a charm whereby they stop excessive bleeding 
 in any, whatever way they come by it, whether by 
 or without external violence. The name of the Pa- 
 tient being sent to the Charmer, he saith over some 
 words, (which I heard,) upon which the blood in- 
 stantly stoppeth, though the bleeding Patient were 
 at the greatest distance from the Charmer. Yea, 
 upon the saying of these words, the blood will stop 
 in the bleeding throats of oxen or sheep, to the 
 astonishment of Spectators. Which account we had 
 from the Ministers of the Country."
 
 CHARMS 211 
 
 Boyle says: "Having been one summer frequently 
 subject to bleeding at the nose, and reduced to em- 
 ploy several remedies to check that distemper; that 
 which I found the most effectual to stanch the blood 
 was some moss of a dead man's skull, (sent for a 
 present out of Ireland, where it is far less rare than 
 in most other countries,) though it did but touch 
 my skin, till the herb was a little warmed by it." l 
 
 Brand gives "A charme to staunch blood: Jesus 
 that was in Bethleem born, and baptyzed was in 
 the flumen Jordane, as stente the water at hys 
 comyng, so stente the blood of thys man N. thy 
 servvaunt, thorw the virtu of thy holy Name i 
 Jesu & of thy Cosyn swete Sent Jon. And sey 
 thys charme fyve tymes with fyve Pater Nosters, 
 in the worschep of the fyve woundys." 2 
 
 "In the year 1853," says Berdoe, "I saw among 
 the more precious drugs in the shop of a pharma- 
 ceutical chemist at Leamington a bottle labelled in 
 the ordinary way with the words, Moss from a 
 Dead-Man's Skull. This has long been used super- 
 stitiously, dried, powdered, and taken as snuff, for 
 headache and bleeding at the nose." 
 
 Herpes. Turner 8 notices a prevalent charm 
 among old women for the shingles, and which is not 
 uncommonly heard of to-day. It was to smear on 
 the affected part the blood from a black cat's tail. 
 
 1 Ibid., pp. 112 f. 
 
 * J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 237, 241, and 268. 
 
 3 Diseases of the Skin, p. 82.
 
 212 CHARMS 
 
 He says that in the only case when he saw it used 
 it caused considerable mischief. 
 
 Incubus. Stones with holes through them were 
 commonly called hag-stones, and were often attached 
 to the key of the stable door to prevent witches rid- 
 ing the horses. One of these suspended at the head 
 of the bed was celebrated for the prevention of 
 nightmare. In the " Leech book" * we find the fol- 
 lowing: "If a mare or hag ride a man, take lupins, 
 garlic, and betony, and frankincense, bind them on 
 a fawn skin, let a man have the worts on him, and 
 let him go into his house." Notice the following 
 from Lluellin's poems: 
 
 "Some the night-mare hath prest 
 With that weight on their brest, 
 
 No returnes of their breath can passe, 
 But to us the tale is addle, 
 We can take off her saddle, 
 
 And turn out the night-mare to grasse." 
 
 Insomnia. In the Loseley MSS. we find a re- 
 ceipt "For hym that may not slepe. Take and 
 wryte yese wordes into leves of lether: Ismael! 
 Ismael! adjuro te per Angelum Michaelum ut sopo- 
 retur homo iste; and lay this under his bed, so yt 
 he wot not yerof and use it allway lytell, and lytell, 
 as he have nede yerto." 
 
 Jaundice. This disease was sometimes cured by 
 transplantation, and Paracelsus gives us a method 
 1 n, p. 139,
 
 CHARMS 213 
 
 for carrying this out. Make seven or nine it must 
 be an odd number cakes of the newly emitted and 
 warm urine of the patient with the ashes of ash wood, 
 and bury them for some days in a dunghill. 
 
 In the journal of Dr. Edward Browne, trans- 
 mitted to his father, Sir Thomas Browne, we read 
 of a magical cure for jaundice: "Burne wood under 
 a leaden vessel filled with water; take the ashes of 
 that wood, and boyle it with the patient's urine; 
 then lay nine long heaps of the boyled ashes upon a 
 board in a ranke, and upon every heap lay nine 
 spears of crocus : it hath greater effects than is credi- 
 ble to any one that shall barely read this receipt 
 without experiencing." l 
 
 Madness. The early inhabitants of Cornwall used 
 "to place the disordered in mind on the brink of a 
 square pool, filled with water from St. Nun's well. 
 The patient, having no intimation of what was in- 
 tended, was, by a sudden blow on the breast, tum- 
 bled into the pool, where he was tossed up and down 
 by some persons of superior strength till, being quite 
 debilitated, his fury forsook him; he was then car- 
 ried to church, and certain masses were sung over 
 him. A similar practice of the people of Perth- 
 shire is noticed by Sir Walter Scott in Marmion. 
 
 "Thence to St. Fillan's blessed well, 
 Whose spring can frenzied dreams dispel, 
 And the crazed brain restore." 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 103.
 
 214 CHARMS 
 
 Marasmus. Mr. Boyle relates the case of a phy- 
 sician whose wan face betokened a marasmus, and 
 who was induced to try a method not unlike the 
 sympathetic cures. "He took an egg and boiled 
 it hard in his own warm urine; he then with a 
 bodkin perforated the shell in many places, and 
 buried it in an ant-hill, where it was kept to be 
 devoured by the emmets; and as they wasted the 
 egg, he found his distemper to abate and his 
 strength to increase, insomuch that his disease left 
 him." ' 
 
 Rickets. The most common method of dealing 
 with this disease was by drawing the children through 
 a split tree. The tree was afterward bound up and, 
 as it healed and grew together, the children ac- 
 quired strength; at least, so 'twas said. Sir John 
 Cullum saw the operation performed and says that 
 the ash tree was selected as most preferable for the 
 purpose. "It was split longitudinally about five 
 feet: the fissure was kept open by the gardener, 
 whilst the friend of the child, having first stripped 
 him naked, passed him thrice through it, almost 
 head foremost. This accomplished, the tree was 
 bound up with packthread, and as the bark healed, 
 so it was said the child would recover. One of the 
 cases was of rickets, the other a rupture." Draw- 
 ing the children through a perforated stone was 
 also a cure for rickets, providing that two brass 
 1 ibid., p. 102.
 
 CHARMS 215 
 
 pins were carefully laid across each other on the 
 top edge of this stone. 1 
 
 Sciatica. Sleeping on stones on a particular night 
 was formerly practised in Cornwall to cure all forms 
 of lameness. Boneshave was the term used for 
 sciatica in Exmoor, where the following charm was 
 used for its cure: The patient must lie on his back 
 on the bank of a river or brook, having a straight 
 staff lying by his side between him and the water, 
 and must have the folio wing words repeated over him: 
 
 "Boneshave right, 
 Boneshave straight. 
 As the water runs by the stave 
 Good for Boneshave." 2 
 
 Scrofula. Scrofula, or "king's-evil," was best 
 cured by the touch of the sovereign, but, if this could 
 not be accomplished, a naked virgin could cure it, 
 especially if she spit three times upon it. Stroking 
 the affected parts nine times with the hand of a dead 
 man, particularly of one who had suffered a violent 
 death as a penalty of his crime, especially if it be 
 murder, was long practised, and was said to be 
 efficacious in curing scrofula. 
 
 Sweating Sickness. Aubrey 3 gives a selection of 
 the favorite prescriptions in use against the sweat- 
 ing sickness. Among them was the following: 
 "Another very true medicine. For to say every 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, pp. 249 f. " Ibid., p. 245. 
 8 History of England, 11, p. 296.
 
 216 CHARMS 
 
 day at seven parts of your body, seven paternosters, 
 and seven Ave Marias, with one Credo at the last. 
 Ye shall begyn at the ryght syde, under the right 
 ere, saying the 'paternoster qui es in coelis, sancti- 
 ficetur nomen tuum,' with a cross made there with 
 your thumb, and so say the paternoster full com- 
 plete, and one Ave Maria, and then under the left 
 ere, and then under the left armhole, and then un- 
 der the left hole, and then the last at the heart, 
 with one paternoster, Ave Maria with one Credo; 
 and these thus said daily, with the grace of God is 
 there no manner drede hym." 
 
 Thorns. Three metrical charms have been used 
 for troubles of this kind. Pepys' Diary records "A 
 charme for a thorne": 
 
 "Jesus, that was of a Virgin Born, 
 Was pricked both with nail and thorn; 
 It neither wealed, nor belled, rankled nor boned; 
 In the name of Jesus no more shall this." 
 
 Another form of the same is this : 
 
 "Christ was of a Virgin born, 
 And he was pricked with a thorn; 
 It did neither bell, nor swell; 
 And I trust in Jesus this never will." 
 
 Brand gives another thus : 
 
 "Unto the Virgin Mary our Saviour was born, 
 And on his head he wore the crown of thorn; 
 If you believe this true and mind it well, 
 This hurt will never fester, nor yet swell." l 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 264.
 
 CHARMS 217 
 
 Toothache. King in his interesting article recites 
 this cure: "Seeth as many -little green frogges sit- 
 ting upon trees as thou canst get, in water: take 
 the fat flowynge from them, and when nede is, 
 anoynt the teth therwyth. The graye worms breath- 
 ing under wood or stone, having many fete, these 
 perced through with a bodken and then put into 
 the toth, alayeth the payne." 1 A nail driven into 
 an oak tree is reported to be a cure for this pain, 
 and bones from a church-yard have from ancient 
 times been used as charms against this disease. 
 
 An early idea was that toothache was caused by 
 a worm and that henbane seed roasted would cure 
 it. The following from "The School of Salerne" 
 formulates this superstition: 
 
 "If in your teeth you hap to be tormented, 
 By meane some little wonnes therein do breed, 
 Which pain (if heed be tane) may be prevented, 
 Be keeping cleane your teeth, when as you feede; 
 Burne Francomsence (a gum not evil sented), 
 Put Henbane unto this, and Onyon seed, 
 And with a tunnel to the tooth that's hollow, 
 Convey the smoke thereof, and ease shall follow." 
 
 Even to-day, I suppose, druggists sell henbane 
 seed for this purpose. The seed is used by sprin- 
 kling it on hot cinders and holding the open mouth 
 over the rising smoke. The heat causes the seed to 
 
 1 E. A. King, "Medieval Medicine," Nineteenth Century, XXXIV, 
 p. 148.
 
 218 CHARMS 
 
 sprout, and thus there appears something similar 
 to a maggot, which is ignorantly supposed by the 
 sufferer to have dropped from the tooth. 1 
 
 Warts. The cures for warts are many and varied. 
 There have been many charms devised for their 
 removal. Grose gives directions to "Steal a piece 
 of beef from a butcher's shop, and rub your wart 
 with it, then throw it down the necessary house, or 
 bury it, and as the beef rots, your warts will decay." 2 
 Some have great faith in having a vagrant count 
 them, mark the number on the inside of his hat, 
 and then when he leaves the neighborhood he 
 takes the warts with him. Coffin water was also 
 considered good for them. 
 
 "For warts," says Sir Thomas Browne, "we rub 
 our hands before the moon, and commit any magu- 
 lated part to the touch of the dead. Old Women 
 were always famous for curing warts; they were so 
 in Lucian's time." 3 
 
 Sir Kenelm Digby, in a work already referred to, 
 says: "One would think that it were folly that one 
 should offer to wash his hands in a well-polished 
 silver basin, wherein there is not a drop of water, 
 yet this may be done by the reflection of the moon- 
 beams only, which will afford it a competent humid- 
 ity to do it; but they who have tried it, have found 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, pp. 414 f. 
 
 2 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 108. 
 
 3 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 241.
 
 CHARMS 219 
 
 their hands, after they are wiped, to be much moister 
 than usually; but this is an infallible way to take 
 away warts from the hands, if it be often used." 
 
 Black gives us several ways of charming away 
 warts. He says: "Lancashire wise men tell us for 
 warts to rub them with a cinder, and this tied up in 
 paper, and dropped where four roads meet, will 
 transfer the warts to whoever opens the parcel. 
 Another mode of transferring warts is to touch each 
 wart with a pebble, and place the pebbles in a bag, 
 which should be lost on the way to church; who- 
 ever finds the bag gets the warts." A common 
 Warwickshire custom was to rub the warts with a 
 black snail, stick the snail on a thorn bush, and then, 
 say the folks, as the snail dies so will the wart dis- 
 appear. 1 
 
 Warts, on the other hand, seem in certain cases 
 to be considered lucky. In "Syr Gyles Goosecappe, 
 Knight," a play of 1606, Lord Momford is made to 
 say: "The Creses here are excellent good: the pro- 
 portion of the chin good; the little aptnes of it to 
 sticke out; good. And the wart aboue it most ex- 
 ceeding good." 
 
 Wen. A newspaper of 1777 reports: "After he 
 (Doctor Dodd) had hung about ten minutes, a very 
 decently dressed young woman went up to the gal- 
 lows in order to have a wen in her face stroked 
 by the Doctor's hand; it being a received opinion 
 
 1 Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, pp. 415 f.
 
 220 CHARMS 
 
 among the vulgar that it is a certain cure for such 
 a disorder. The executioner, having untied the 
 Doctor's hand, stroked the part affected several 
 times therewith." 
 
 At the execution of Crowley, a murderer of War- 
 wick, in 1845, a similar scene is described in the 
 newspapers: "At least five thousand persons of the 
 lowest of the low were mustered on this occasion to 
 witness the dying moments of the unhappy culprit. 
 ... As is usual in such cases (to their shame be it 
 spoken) a number of females were present, and 
 scarcely had the soul of the deceased taken its fare- 
 well flight from its earthly tabernacle, than the 
 scaffold was crowded with members of the 'gentler 
 sex' afflicted with wens in the neck, with white 
 swellings in the knees, &c., upon whose afflictions 
 the cold clammy hand of the sufferer was passed to 
 and fro for the benefit of his executioner." l 
 
 Whooping-Cough. It was a common belief in 
 Devonshire, Cornwall, and some other parts of 
 England, that if one inquired of any one riding on 
 a piebald horse of a remedy for this complaint, what- 
 ever he named was regarded as an infallible cure. 
 In Suffolk and Norfolk, a favorite remedy was to 
 put the head of a suffering child for a few minutes 
 into a hole made in a meadow. It must be done 
 in the evening with only the father and mother 
 to witness it. 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 241.
 
 CHARMS 221 
 
 A child in Cornwall received the following treat- 
 ment: "If afflicted with the hooping cough, it is 
 fed with the bread and butter of a family, the heads 
 of which bear respectively the names of John and 
 Joan. In the time of an epidemic, so numerous 
 are the applications, that the poor couple have lit- 
 tle reason to be grateful to their godfathers and 
 godmothers for their gift of these particular names. 
 Or, if a piebald horse is to be found in the neigh- 
 bourhood, the child is taken to it, and passed thrice 
 under the belly of the animal; the mere possession 
 of such a beast confers the power of curing the 
 disease." 
 
 We have an account of a cure for whooping- 
 cough in a Monmouthshire paper about the middle 
 of the nineteenth century. "A few days since an 
 unusual circumstance was observed at Pillgwenlly, 
 which caused no small degree of astonishment to 
 one or two enlightened beholders. A patient ass 
 stood near a house, and a family of not much more 
 rational animals was grouped around it. A father 
 was passing his little son under the donkey, and 
 lifting him over its back a certain number of times, 
 with as much solemnity and precision as if engaged 
 in the performance of a sacred duty. This done, 
 the father took a piece of bread, cut from an un- 
 tasted loaf, which he offered the animal to bite at. 
 Nothing loath, the Jerusalem poney laid hold of the 
 piece of bread with his teeth, and instantly the
 
 222 CHARMS 
 
 father severed the outer portion of the slice from 
 that in the donkey's mouth. He next clipped off 
 some hairs from the neck of the animal, which he 
 cut up into minute particles, and then mixed them 
 with the bread which he had crumbled. This very 
 tasty food was then offered to the boy who had 
 been passed round the donkey so mysteriously, and 
 the little fellow having eaten thereof, the donkey 
 was removed by his owners. The father, his son, 
 and other members of his family were moving off, 
 when a bystander inquired what all these ' goings 
 on' had been adopted for? The father stared at 
 the ignorance of the inquirer, and then in a half 
 contemptuous, half condescending tone, informed 
 him that 'it was to cure his poor son's whooping- 
 cough, to be sure!' Extraordinary as this may ap- 
 pear, in days when the schoolmaster is so much in 
 request, it is nevertheless true." 
 
 There is a belief in Cheshire that, if a toad is held 
 for a moment within the mouth of the patient, it 
 is apt to catch the disease, and so cure the person 
 suffering from it. A correspondent of Notes and 
 Queries speaks of a case in which such a phe- 
 nomenon actually occurred; but the experiment 
 is one which would not be very willingly tried. 
 Brand informs us that " Roasted mice were for- 
 merly held in Norfolk a sure remedy for this 
 complaint; nor is it certain that the belief is ex- 
 tinct even now. A poor woman's son once found
 
 CHARMS 223 
 
 himself greatly relieved after eating three roast 
 mice!" 1 
 
 Worms. A Scotch writer in the last half of the 
 seventeenth century observed: "In the Miscella- 
 neous MSS. . . . written by Baillie Dundee, among 
 several medicinal receipts I find an exorcism against 
 all kinds of worms in the body, in the name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to be repeated three 
 mornings, as a certain remedy." 2 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 239. Ibid., p. 240.
 
 4 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 "Men may die of imagination, 
 So depe may impression be take." CHAUCER. 
 
 "When time shall once have laid his lenient hand on the passions 
 and pursuits of the present moment, they too shall lose that imagi- 
 nary value which heated fancy now bestows upon them." BLAIR. 
 
 "The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it 
 does to me; the element shows to him as it doth to me; all his 
 senses have but human conditions; his ceremonies laid by, in his 
 nakedness he appears but a man; and though his affections are 
 higher mounted than ours, yet, when they stoop, they stoop with 
 the like wing." SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 Malcolm. Comes the king forth, I pray you? 
 
 Doctor. Ay, sir: there are a crew of wretched souls, 
 
 That stay his cure: their malady convinces 
 
 The great assay of art; but at his touch, 
 
 Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, 
 
 They presently amend. 
 
 Malcolm. I thank you, doctor. [Exit Doctor. 
 
 Macduff. What's the disease he means? 
 
 Malcolm. 'Tis call'd the evil: 
 
 A most miraculous work in this good king, 
 
 Which often, since my here remain in England, 
 
 I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven, 
 
 Himself best knows; but strangely- visited people, 
 
 All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, 
 
 The mere despair of surgery, he cures; 
 
 Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, 
 
 Put on with holy prayers: and 'tis spoken, 
 
 To the succeeding royalty he leaves 
 
 The healing benediction. Macbeth, Act iv, Sc. 3. 
 
 PERHAPS we have no better example of the effect 
 of the belief in healers than that presented by what 
 was known as "king's touch." It is typical of the 
 
 224
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 225 
 
 cures performed by healers, and on that account I 
 shall give a rather full account of the phenomenon. 
 
 Touching by the sovereign for the amelioration 
 of sundry diseases was a currently accepted thera- 
 peutic measure. The royal touch was especially 
 efficacious in epilepsy and scrofula, the latter being 
 consequently known as "king's-evil." So far as 
 we are able to trace this practice in history, it be- 
 gan with Edward the Confessor in England and 
 St. Louis in France. There has been not a little 
 dispute concerning its real origin. "Laurentius, 
 first physician to Henry IV, of France, who is indig- 
 nant at the attempt made to derive its origin from 
 Edward the Confessor, asserts the power to have 
 commenced with Clovis I, A. D. 481, and says that 
 Louis I, A. D. 814, added to the ceremonial of 
 touching, the sign of the cross. Mezeray also says, 
 that St. Louis, through humility, first added the 
 sign of the cross in touching for the king's evil." * 
 
 William of Malmesbury gives the origin of the 
 royal touch in his account of the miracles of Edward 
 the Confessor. "A young woman had married a 
 husband of her own age, but having no issue by 
 the union, the humours collecting abundantly about 
 her neck, she had contracted a sore disorder, the 
 glands swelling in a dreadful manner. Admonished 
 in a dream to have the part affected washed by the 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with the History and 
 Practice of Medicine and Surgery, pp. 154 f.
 
 226 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 king, she entered the palace, and the king himself 
 fulfilled this labour of love, by rubbing the woman's 
 neck with his fingers dipped in water. Joyous 
 health followed his healing hand; the lurid skin 
 opened, so that worms flowed out with the purulent 
 matter, and the tumour subsided. But as the 
 orifice of the ulcers was large and unsightly, he 
 commanded her to be supported at the royal ex- 
 pense until she should be perfectly cured. How- 
 ever, before a week had expired, a fair new skin 
 returned, and hid the scars so completely, that 
 nothing of the original wound could be discovered; 
 and within a year becoming the mother of twins, 
 she increased the admiration of Edward's holiness. 
 Those who knew him more intimately, affirm that 
 he often cured this complaint in Normandy; whence 
 appears how false is the notion, who in our times 
 assert, that the cure of this disease does not proceed 
 from personal sanctity, but from hereditary virtue 
 in the royal line." 1 The fact that Edward was a 
 saint as well as a king throws some light on the 
 subject, for many miracles were attributed to him. 
 Jeremy Collier maintained that the scrofula miracle 
 is hereditary upon all his successors, but we find 
 that not blood but royal prestige was the secret. 
 He said "that this prince cured the king's evil is 
 beyond dispute : and since the credit of this miracle 
 is unquestionable, I see no reason why we should 
 
 1 E. Berdoe, The Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 372.
 
 KINGS TOUCH-l'IECES
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 227 
 
 scruple believing the rest. . . . King Edward the 
 Confessor was the first that cured this distemper, 
 and from him it has descended as an hereditary 
 miracle upon all his successors. To dispute the 
 matter of fact, is to go to the excesses of skepticism, 
 to deny our senses, and be incredulous even to 
 ridiculousness." 
 
 The quotation given above from William of 
 Malmesbury is the earliest mention of the gift of heal- 
 ing by the royal touch. No historian at or near the 
 time of Edward has alluded to the supposed power 
 vested in him. Not even the bull of Pope Alex- 
 ander III, by which Edward was canonized about 
 two centuries after his decease, makes any allusion 
 whatever to the cures effected by him through the 
 imposition of hands. 
 
 English and French writers have disagreed not 
 only regarding the origin, but also regarding the 
 real possession of the power, the English denying 
 it to the French kings and the French with equal 
 vigor restricting it to their own sovereigns. There 
 seems to be little doubt that the sovereigns of both 
 nations made cures, but the healing was confined 
 to these two royal families; the intermarriages in 
 the two families probably account for the belief 
 in the transmission of the gift, regardless of the 
 origin. 
 
 The ability to heal certain diseases passed down 
 
 1 Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, I, p. 225.
 
 228 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 from reign to reign notwithstanding the religious 
 belief, the character, or the legitimate succession of 
 the sovereign, to the time of Queen Anne. It must 
 not be supposed that the practice was continuous 
 for the seven centuries from Edward the Confessor 
 to Anne: we have no record whatever of the first 
 four Norman kings attempting to cure any one by 
 the imposition of hands, and we know that William 
 III refused to attempt healing. Andrew Boorde 
 defines king's-evil as an "euyl sickenes or impedi- 
 ment," and advises as follows: "For this matter 
 let euery man make frendes to the Kynges maiestie, 
 for it doth pertayne to a Kynge to helpe this infirmi- 
 tie by the grace the whiche is geuen to a Kynge 
 anoynted." In his Introduction to Knowledge (1547- 
 1548) he continues: "The Kynges of England by 
 the power that God hath gyuen to them, dothe make 
 sicke men whole of a sickeness called the kynges 
 euyll." 1 
 
 There is a curious passage in Aubrey in which he 
 says: "The curing of the King's Evil by the touch 
 of the king, does much puzzle our philosophers, for 
 whether our kings were of the house of York or 
 Lancaster, it did the cure for the most part." Sir 
 John Fortescue, in defending the House of Lan- 
 caster against the House of York, claimed that the 
 crown could not descend to a female because the 
 Queen was not qualified by the form of anointing 
 
 1 Quoted by Berdoe, ibid., p. 371.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 229 
 
 her to cure the disease called the king's-evil. It 
 must have been very comforting to all concerned 
 to find that the power to cure disease by the royal 
 touch had not been affected by the change of sex 
 of the reigning sovereign. 
 
 The gift was not impaired by the Reformation, 
 and an obdurate Roman Catholic was converted on 
 finding that Elizabeth, after the Pope's excommuni- 
 cation, could cure his scrofula. Elizabeth, how- 
 ever, could not bring herself fully to accept the 
 reality of these cures. She continued the practice 
 on account of the pressure of public opinion, but 
 upon one occasion she told a multitude of afflicted 
 ones who had applied to her for relief, "God alone 
 can cure your diseases." I)r. Tooker, the Queen's 
 chaplain, though, certified freely to his own knowl- 
 edge of the cures wrought by her, as did also 
 William Cowles, the Queen's surgeon. Robert 
 Laneham's letter, concerning the Queen's visit to 
 Kenil worth Castle, relates how, on July 18, 1575, 
 her Majesty touched for the evil, and that it 
 was a "day of grace." "By her highnes accus- 
 tumed mercy and charitee, nyne cured of the peyn- 
 full and daungerous diseaz, called the king's euill; 
 for that Kings and Queenz of this Realm withoout 
 oother medsin (saue only by handling and prayerz) 
 only doo cure it." 
 
 James I wished to drop it as a worn-out super- 
 stition, but was warned by his advisers that to do
 
 230 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 so would be to abate a prerogative of the crown; 
 the practice therefore continued, and good testi- 
 mony exists as to the cures wrought by him. The 
 following is an extract from a letter from John 
 Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, ambassador at 
 The Hague, dated London, 14th November, 1618: 
 "The Turkish Chiaus is shortly coming for the Hagh. 
 On Tuesday last he took leave of the king, and 
 thanked his majesty for healing his sonne of the 
 kinges evill; which his majesty performed with all 
 solemnity at Whitehall on Thursday was seve- 
 night." Charles I also enjoyed the same power, 
 notwithstanding the public declaration by Parlia- 
 ment "to inform the people of the superstition of 
 being touched by the king for the evil." When a 
 prisoner he cured a man by simply saying, "God 
 bless thee and grant thee thy desire," the Puritans 
 not permitting him to touch the patient. Where- 
 upon it is asserted by Dr. John Nicholas on his own 
 knowledge, the blotches and humors disappeared 
 from the patient's body and appeared in the bottle 
 of medicine which he held in his hand. Charles's 
 blood had the same efficacy. This sovereign sub- 
 stituted in some cases the giving of a piece of silver 
 instead of the gold, which was usually presented to 
 the patient. Badger says that this king "excelled 
 all his predecessors in the divine gift; for it is mani- 
 fest beyond all contradiction, that he not only cured 
 by his sacred touch, both with and without gold,
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 231 
 
 but likewise perfectly effected the same cure by his 
 prayer and benediction only." In his reign the gift 
 was exercised at certain seasons of the year, Easter 
 and Michaelmas being at first set apart for this 
 purpose. A further regulation, which is quite sug- 
 gestive, was that the patient must present a certifi- 
 cate to the effect that he had never before been 
 touched for the disease. 
 
 The following incident is related concerning 
 Charles I: "A young gentlewoman of about six- 
 teen years of age, Elizabeth Stevens, of Winchester, 
 came (7 October, 1648) into the presence-chamber 
 to be touched for the evill, which she was supposed 
 to have; and therewith one of her eyes (that namely 
 on the left side) was so much indisposed, that by 
 her owne and her mother's testimony (who was then 
 also present), she had not seene with that eye of 
 above a month before. After prayers, read by Dr. 
 Sanderson, the maide kneeled downe among others, 
 likewise to be touched. And his majestic touched 
 her, and put a ribbon, with a piece of money at it, 
 in usuall manner, about her neck. Which done, 
 his majesty turned to the lords (viz., the duke of 
 Richmond, the earl of Southampton, and the earl 
 of Lindsey) to discourse with them. And the said 
 young gentlewoman of her own accord said openly: 
 'Now, God be praised! I can see of this fore eye.' 
 And afterwards declared she did see more and more 
 by it, & could, by degrees, endure the light of the
 
 232 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 candle. All which his majestic, in the presence of 
 the said lords & many others, examined himself, & 
 found to be true. And it hath since been discovered 
 that, some months agone, the said young gentle- 
 woman professed that, as soon as she was come of 
 age sufficient, she would convey over to the king's 
 use all her land; which to the valew of about 130 
 per annum, her father deceased had left her sole 
 hey re unto." 1 
 
 Charles II, perhaps the most unworthy of Eng- 
 lish monarchs, was by far the busiest healer, and 
 even while in exile in the Netherlands he retained 
 the power to cure. In one month he touched two 
 hundred and sixty at Breda, and Lower said: "It 
 was not without success, since it was the experience 
 that drew thither every day a great number of 
 those diseased even from the most remote provinces 
 of Germany." An official register of the persons 
 touched was kept for every month in his reign, but 
 about two and a half years appear to be wanting. 
 The smallest number he touched in one year was 
 2,983; that was in 1669. In 1682 he touched 8,500 
 persons. In 1684 the throng was such that six or 
 seven of the sick were trampled to death. The 
 total number touched in his reign was 92,107. 2 It 
 is instructive to note, however, that while in no 
 other reign were so many people touched for scrofula 
 
 1 J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, pp. 257 f. 
 
 * T. B. Macaulay, History of England, III, pp. 378 f.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 233 
 
 and so many cures vouched for, in no other reign 
 did so many people die of that disease. 1 
 
 John Browne, surgeon in ordinary to his majesty 
 and to St. Thomas's Hospital, and author of many 
 learned works on surgery and anatomy, published 
 accounts of sixty cures due to this monarch. He 
 says a surgeon attested the reality of the disease 
 before the miracle was performed, to exclude im- 
 postors who were seeking the gold, for, in addition 
 to the regular formula, the king hung about the neck 
 of the person touched a ribbon to which was at- 
 tached a gold coin. Notwithstanding these strin- 
 gent measures, some were able to impose on the king, 
 for the coins were often found in the shops, having 
 been sold by the recipients. Says Brand: "Bar- 
 rington tells us of an old man who was a witness in 
 a cause, and averred that when Queen Anne was 
 at Oxford, she touched him whilst a child for the 
 evil. Barrington, when he had finished his evidence, 
 'asked him whether he was really cured? upon 
 which he answered with a significant smile, that he 
 believed himself never to have had a complaint 
 that deserved to be considered as the Evil, but that 
 his parents were poor, and had no objection to the 
 bit of gold.' " 2 
 
 While it was not unknown before, the presenta- 
 tion of a piece of gold was first generally introduced 
 
 1 A. D. White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology , 
 II, p. 47. 
 
 2 J Brand, Popular Antiquities, III, p. 256.
 
 234 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 in the reign of Henry VII. It probably descended 
 from a practice common in the time of Edward III, 
 whose coin, the rose-noble, is said to have been worn 
 as an amulet to preserve from danger in battle. The 
 angel-noble of Henry VII, valued at ten shillings, 
 appears to have been the coin given; it was in com- 
 mon use and not made especially for this purpose. 
 It had the figure of the Archangel Michael on one 
 side and a ship in full sail on the other. Before 
 hanging it on the patient's neck the monarch always 
 crossed the sore with it. The outlay for gold coins 
 presented to the afflicted on these occasions rose 
 in some years as high as 10,000. So great was 
 the expense that after the reign of Elizabeth the 
 size of the coin was reduced. Touching pieces of 
 the time of Charles II are not rare even now. 
 
 In 1684 Surgeon John Browne published a curi- 
 ous work entitled Adenochoiradelogia : or an Anatom- 
 ick-Chirurgical Treatise on Glandules and Strumces, 
 or King's Evil Swellings. In this the author traces 
 the gift of healing from our Saviour to the apostles, 
 and thence by a continuous line of Christian kings 
 and governors, and holy men, commencing with 
 Edward the Confessor, whom he regards as the first 
 curer of scrofula by contact or imposition of hands. 
 After referring to his majesty in most flattering 
 terms, he continues concerning "the admirable 
 effects and wonderful events of his royal cure 
 throughout all nations, where not only English,
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 235 
 
 Dutch, Scotch, and Irish have reaped ease and cure, 
 but French, Germans, and all countreyes whatso- 
 ever, far and near, have abundantly seen and re- 
 ceived the same: and none ever, hitherto, I am 
 certain, mist thereof, unless their little faith and 
 incredulity starved their merits, or they received 
 his gracious hand for curing another disease, which 
 was not really evermore allowed to be cured by 
 him; and as bright evidences hereof, I have pre- 
 sumed to offer that some have immediately upon 
 the very touch been cured; others not so easily 
 quitted from their swellings till the favor of a 
 second repetition thereof. Some also, losing their 
 gold, their diseases have seized them afresh, and no 
 sooner have these obtained a second touch, and 
 new gold, but their diseases have been seen to van- 
 ish, as being afraid of his majesties presence; wherein 
 also have been cured many without gold; and this 
 may contradict such who must needs have the king 
 give them gold as well as his touch, supposing one 
 invalid without the gift of both. Others seem also 
 as ready for a second change of gold as a second 
 touch, whereas their first being newly strung upon 
 white riband, may work as well (by their favour). 
 The tying the Almighty to set times and particular 
 days is also another great fault of those who can 
 by no means be brought to believe but at Good 
 Friday and the like seasons this healing faculty is of 
 more vigour and efficacy than at any other time,
 
 236 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 although performed by the same hand. As to the 
 giving of gold, this only shows his majesties royal 
 well-wishes towards the recovery of those who come 
 thus to be healed." * He refers to some "Atheists, 
 Sadducees, and ill-conditioned Pharisees" who dis- 
 believed, and he gives the letter of one who went, 
 a complete sceptic, to satisfy his friends, and came 
 away cured and converted. 
 
 Browne includes the following case which seems 
 to him conclusive: "A Nonconformist child, in 
 Norfolk, being troubled with scrofulous swellings, 
 the late deceased Sir Thomas Browne, 01 Norwich, 
 being consulted about the same, his majesty being 
 then at Breda or Bruges, he advised the parents of 
 the child to have it carried over to the king (his 
 own method being used ineffectively); the father 
 seemed very strange at this advice, and utterly 
 denied it, saying the touch of the king was of no 
 greater efficacy than any other man's. The mother 
 of the child, adhering to the doctor's advice, studied 
 all imaginable means to have it over, and at last 
 prevailed with her husband to let it change the air 
 for three weeks or a month; this being granted, the 
 friends of the child that went with it, unknown 
 to the father, carried it to Breda, where the king 
 touched it, and she returned home perfectly healed. 
 The child being come to its father's house, and he 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with the History and 
 Practice of Medicine and Surgery, pp. 182-184.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 237 
 
 finding so great an alteration, inquires how his 
 daughter arrived at this health. The friends thereof 
 assured him, that if he would not be angry with 
 them, they would relate the whole truth; they, 
 having his promise for the same, assured him they 
 had the child to be touched at Breda, whereby they 
 apparently let him see the great benefit his child 
 received thereby. Hereupon the father became so 
 amazed that he threw off his Nonconformity, and 
 expressed his thanks in this manner: 'Farewell to 
 all dissenters, and to all nonconformists ; if God can 
 put so much virtue into the king's hand as to heal 
 my child, I'll serve that God and that king so long 
 as I live, with all thankfulness.' " * It is unfortu- 
 nate that we have a change of air and food to con- 
 sider in this case, else we might have a good ex- 
 ample of a real miracle. 
 
 Friday was usually set apart in this reign as the 
 regular day for healing, but, in addition to this, 
 special portions of the church year were reserved 
 for the exercise of this gift. Very careful examina- 
 tions were made by the surgeons, and those who 
 were found to be suffering from the evil were pre- 
 sented with a ticket by the surgeon which entitled 
 them to receive the healing touch of the king. If 
 the king's touch were really efficacious, one might 
 think that the disease should have been wholly 
 exterminated during this reign, so great were the 
 
 1 Quoted by H. Tuke, Influence of the Mind upon the Body, pp. 359 f.
 
 238 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 number touched. On the contrary, the deaths were 
 more numerous, and on account of the neglect of 
 medical and surgical means it spread very widely. 
 
 James II, it is said by Dr. Heylin, also wrought 
 cures upon babes in their mothers' arms, and the 
 fame of these cures was so great that the year be- 
 fore James was dethroned, a pauper of Portsmouth, 
 New Hampshire, petitioned the general assembly to 
 enable him to make the voyage to England to be 
 healed by the royal touch. In one of his progresses 
 James touched eight hundred persons in Chester 
 Cathedral. 
 
 William III evidently thought of the matter as 
 a superstition, and on one occasion he touched a 
 patient, saying to him, "God give you better health 
 and more sense"; notwithstanding the incredulity 
 of the sovereign, Whiston assures us that the per- 
 son was healed. With honest good sense, however, 
 William refused to exercise the power which most 
 of his subjects undoubtedly thought he possessed, 
 and many protests were made, and much proof 
 was adduced concerning "the balsamic virtues of 
 the royal hand." This refusal to continue the 
 practice of touching brought upon him the charge 
 of cruelty from the parents of scrofulous children, 
 while bigots lifted up their hands and eyes in holy 
 horror at his impiety. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Johnson was one of the last persons 
 to receive the imposition of royal hands; when a
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 239 
 
 boy of four and a half years, he was touched by 
 Queen Anne, together with about two hundred 
 others, on March 30, 1712. In his case at least the 
 touch was inefficacious, for he was subject to scrofula 
 all his life. Boswell says: 1 "His mother, yielding 
 to the superstitious notion, which, it is wonderful 
 to think, prevailed so long in this country, as to the 
 virtue of the royal touch; a notion which our kings 
 encouraged, and to which a man of such inquiry 
 and such judgment as Carte could give credit, car- 
 ried him to London, where he was actually touched 
 by Queen Anne. Mrs. Johnson, indeed, as Mr. 
 Hector informed me, acted by the advice of the 
 celebrated Sir John Floyer, then a physician in 
 Litchfield." At this time few persons but Jacobites 
 believed in king's touch as a miracle. Dr. Daniel 
 Turner, though, relates that several cases of scrof- 
 ula which had been unsuccessfully treated by him- 
 self and Dr. Charles Bernard, sergeant-surgeon to 
 her majesty, yielded afterwards to the efficacy of 
 the queen's touch. 
 
 During the reign of Anne the sceptics outnum- 
 bered the believers and at her death the practice 
 was discontinued. Among the unbelievers was the 
 above-mentioned Dr. Charles Bernard, an account 
 of whose conversion is given by Oldmixon as fol- 
 lows: "Yesterday the queen was graciously pleased 
 to touch for the King's evil some particular persons 
 
 1 Life of Johnson, I, p. 42.
 
 240 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 in private; and three weeks after, December 19, 
 yesterday, about twelve at noon her majesty was 
 pleased to touch, at St. James', about twenty per- 
 sons afflicted with the King's evil. The more ludi- 
 crous sort of skeptics, in this case, asked why it 
 was not called the queen's evil, as the chief court of 
 justice was called the Queen's Bench. But Charles 
 Bernard, the surgeon who had made this touching 
 the subject of his raillery all his lifetime till he be- 
 came body surgeon at court, and found it a good 
 perquisite, solved all difficulties by telling his com- 
 panions with a fleer 'Really one could not have 
 thought it, if one had not seen it.' A friend of mine 
 heard him say it, and knew well his opinion of it." * 
 
 In 1745 there was an attempted revival of the 
 practice when Prince Charles Edward exercised this 
 prerogative of royalty. 
 
 Henry VII was the first monarch to establish a 
 particular ceremony to be observed at the healings. 
 He probably derived this from an old form of exor- 
 cism used for the dispossessing of evil spirits. This 
 was altered at various times but may still be found 
 in the prayer-book of the reign of Queen Anne. 
 Indeed, it was not until some time after the acces- 
 sion of George I that the University of Oxford 
 ceased to reprint the office of healing, together with 
 the Liturgy. 
 
 The routes to be travelled by royal personages 
 
 1 History of England, II, p. 302.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 241 
 
 and the days on which the miracle was to be wrought 
 were fixed at sittings of the Privy Council, and the 
 clergy of all the parish churches of the realm were 
 solemnly notified. They, in turn, informed the 
 people, and the sufferers along the way had many 
 days in which to cherish the expectation of healing, 
 in itself so beneficial. The ceremony was conducted 
 with great solemnity and pomp. It has been vividly 
 described by Macaulay as follows: "When the ap- 
 pointed time came, several divines in full canonicals 
 stood round the canopy of state. The surgeon of the 
 royal household introduced the sick. A passage of 
 Mark 16. was read. When the words 'They shall lay 
 their hands on the sick and they shall recover,' had 
 been pronounced, there was a pause and one of the 
 sick was brought to the king. His Majesty stroked 
 the ulcers and swellings, and hung round the pa- 
 tient's neck a white ribbon to which was fastened 
 a gold coin. The other sufferers were led up in 
 succession; and as each was touched the chap- 
 lain repeated the incantation, 'They shall lay their 
 hands on the sick and they shall recover.' Then 
 came the epistle, prayers, antiphonies, and a bene- 
 diction." 
 
 Evelyn, in his Diary, gives us the form em- 
 ployed by Charles II in July, 1660, as follows: "His 
 Majestie first began to touch for evil according to 
 costume, thus His majestic sitting under his state 
 in the Banquetting House, the Chirurgeons cause
 
 242 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 the sick to be brought or led up to the throne, where 
 they kneeling, the King strokes their faces or cheekes 
 with both his hands at once, at which instant a 
 Chaplaine in his formalities says: 'He put his hands 
 on them and he healed them/ This is sayed to 
 every one in particular. When they have all been 
 touched they come up againe in the same order; 
 and the other Chaplaine kneeling, and having angel- 
 gold strung on white ribbon on his arme, delivers 
 them one by one to his Majestic, who puts them 
 about the necks of the touched as they passe, whilst 
 the first Chaplaine repeats: 'That is the true light 
 who came into the world/ Then follows an Epistle 
 (as at first, a Gospel) with the Liturgy, prayers for 
 the sick with some alteration, lastly the blessing: 
 and the Lo. Chamberlaine and Comptroller of the 
 Household, bring a basin, ewer, and towel for his 
 Majestic to wash." * 
 
 The belief in the efficacy of the king's touch was 
 general, and Lecky tells us its genuineness "was 
 asserted by the privy council, by the bishops of 
 two religions, by the general voice of the clergy in 
 the palmiest days of the English Church, by the 
 University of Oxford, and by the enthusiastic as- 
 sent of the people. It survived the ages of the 
 Reformation, of Bacon, of Milton, and of Hobbes. 
 It was by no means extinct at the age of Locke, 
 and would probably have lasted still longer, had 
 
 1 Vol. I, p. 323.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 243 
 
 not the change of dynasty at the Revolution as- 
 sisted the tardy scepticism." * 
 
 In France there was the same belief in the efficacy 
 of the royal touch. Philip I exercised the gift, but 
 the French historians say that he was deprived of 
 the power on account of the irregularity of his life. 
 Laurentius reports that Francis I, when a prisoner 
 in Spain, cured a great number of people of struma 
 (scrofula). A paraphrase of the Latin verse which 
 Lascaris wrote concerning this event is as follows: 
 
 "The king applies his hand, diseases fly, 
 And though a captive, still the powers on high 
 Regard his touch. This striking proof is giv'n, 
 That they who bound him are the foes of Heav'n." 
 
 Concerning the touching by the kings of France, 
 Pettigrew says: "In the church of St. Maclou, in 
 St. Denys, Heylin (Cosmograph., p. 184) says the 
 kings of France, with a fast of nine days and other 
 penances, used to receive the gift of healing the 
 king's evil with nothing but a touch. Philip de 
 Comines states, that the king always confessed be- 
 fore the cure of the king's evil. Butler (Lives of the 
 Saints, vol. VIII, p. 394) says, "The French kings 
 usually only perform this ceremony on the day they 
 have received the holy communion/ The histo- 
 rians who write under the first two families of the 
 French kings are altogether silent as to the kings' 
 curing the evil by the touching. (Veyrard Trav., 
 
 1 W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, I, p. 364.
 
 244 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 p. 109.) Philip of Valois is reported to have cured 
 1400 people afflicted with the king's evil. Of Louis 
 XIII, it was said that he had assigned all his power 
 to Cardinal Richelieu, except that of curing the 
 king's evil. Carte says, some of the French writers 
 ascribe the gift of healing to their king's devotion 
 toward the relics of St. Marculf, in the church 
 of Corbigny, in Champagne: to which the kings 
 of France, immediately after their coronation at 
 Rheims, used to go in solemn procession. A ven- 
 eration was also paid to this saint in England, and 
 a room in memory of him, in the palace of West- 
 minster, has frequently been mentioned in the Rolls 
 of Parliament, and which was called the Chamber 
 of St. Marculf, being, as Carte conjectures, prob- 
 ably the place where the kings used to touch for the 
 evil. This room was afterward called the Painted 
 Chamber. The French kings practised the touch 
 extensively. Gemelli, the traveller, states, that 
 Louis XIV touched 1600 persons on Easter Sunday, 
 1686. 1 The words he used were, 'Le Roy te touche, 
 Dieu te guerisse.' Every Frenchman received fif- 
 teen sous, and every foreigner thirty. The French 
 kings kept up the practice to 1776." 2 
 
 "Servetus," says Hammond, "who was not of a 
 credulous mind, says in the first edition of his Ptol- 
 emy, published in 1535, that he had seen the king 
 
 1 This was at Versailles. 
 
 3 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with the History and 
 Practice of Medicine and Surgery, pp. 156 f.
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 245 
 
 touch many persons for the disease, but he had 
 never seen any that were cured thereby. But the 
 last clause of this sentence excited the ire of the 
 censor, and in the next edition, published in 1541, 
 the words 'an sanati fuerint non vidi' were changed 
 to 'pluresque sanatos passim audivi': 'I have heard 
 of many that were cured.' Testimony in support 
 of miracles has often been manufactured, but the 
 natural obstinacy and truthfulness of Servetus 
 would not admit of his giving his personal endorse- 
 ment at the expense of his convictions." 1 
 
 Within the last half-century we have had an 
 example of the value of the royal touch. When 
 cholera was raging in Naples in 1865, and the peo- 
 ple were rushing from the city by thousands, King 
 Victor Emmanuel went the rounds of the hospitals 
 in an endeavor to stimulate courage in the hearts of 
 his people. He lingered at the bedside of the pa- 
 tients and spoke encouraging words to them. On 
 a cot lay one man already marked for death. The 
 king stepped to his side, and pressing his damp, icy 
 hand, said, "Take courage, poor man, and try to 
 recover soon." That evening the physicians re- 
 ported a diminution of the disease in the course 
 of the day, and the man marked for death out of 
 danger. The king had unconsciously worked a mar- 
 vellous cure. 2 
 
 1 W. A. Hammond, Spiritism and Nervous Derangement, p. 150. 
 8 C. L. Tuckey, Treatment by Hypnotism and Suggestion, p. 30.
 
 246 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 It seems certain that there was not the efficacy 
 in king's touch which was claimed for it, or it would 
 not have been discontinued after having held sway 
 for over seven hundred years. No doubt the quasi- 
 religious character of the office of the sovereign 
 helped much in the belief, and when such men as 
 Charles II were able to heal, little connection be- 
 tween religion and healing could longer be thought 
 possible, as far as the healing by king's touch was 
 concerned. 
 
 The Hallowing of Cramp Rings was not unlike 
 the king's touch. It is described by Bishop Percy 
 in his Northumberland Household Book, where we 
 have the following account: "And then the Usher 
 to lay a Carpett for the Kinge to Creepe to the 
 Crosse upon. An that done, there shal be a Forme 
 sett upon the Carpett, before the Crucifix, and a 
 Cushion laid upon it for the King to kneale upon. 
 And the Master of the Jewell Howse ther to be 
 ready with the Booke concerninge the Hallowing of 
 the Crampe Rings, and Amner (Almoner) muste 
 kneele on the right hand of the King, holdinge the 
 sayde booke. When that is done the King shall rise 
 and goe to the Alter, wheare a Gent. Usher shall be 
 redie with a Cushion for the Kinge to kneele upon; 
 and then the greatest Lords that shall be ther to 
 take the Bason with the Rings and beare them 
 after the Kinge to offer." 
 
 In the Harleian Manuscripts there is a letter from
 
 ROYAL TOUCH 247 
 
 Lord Chancellor Hatton to Sir Thomas Smith, dated 
 September 11, 158-, about a prevailing epidemic, and 
 enclosing a ring for Queen Elizabeth to wear be- 
 tween her breasts, the said ring having "the virtue 
 to expell infectious airs." 
 
 Andrew Boorde, already quoted, says: "The 
 Kynges of England doth halowe euery yere crampe 
 rynges, the whyche rynges, worne on ones fynger, 
 dothe helpe them the whyche hath the crampe." 1 
 Also, "The kynges majesty hath a great help in this 
 matter, in hallowynge crampe rynges, and so given 
 without money or petition." 
 
 In the account of the ceremony given by Hos- 
 pinian, he states that "it was performed upon Good 
 Friday, and that it originated from a ring which 
 had been brought to King Edward by some persons 
 from Jerusalem, and one which he himself hath long 
 before given privately to a poor petitioner who 
 asked alms of him for the love he bore to St. John 
 the Evangelist. This ring was preserved with great 
 veneration in Westminster Abbey, and whoever 
 was touched by this relic was said to be cured of the 
 cramp or of the falling sickness." Burnet informs 
 us that Bishop Gardiner was at Rome in 1529, and 
 that he wrote a letter to Ann Boleyn, by which it 
 appears that Henry VIII blessed the cramp rings 
 before as well as after the separation from Rome, 
 and that she sent them as great presents thither. 
 
 * E, Berdoe, The Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 371.
 
 248 ROYAL TOUCH 
 
 "Mr. Stephens, I send you here cramp rings for you 
 and Mr. Gregory and Mr. Peter, praying you to dis- 
 tribute them as you think best. ANN BOLEYN." * 
 
 This ceremonial was practised by previous sov- 
 ereigns and discontinued by Edward VI. Queen 
 Mary intended to revive it, and, indeed, the office 
 for it was written out, but she does not appear to 
 have carried her intentions into effect. 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with , . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 117.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 "Some deemed them wondrous wise, 
 And some believed them mad." BEATTIE. 
 
 "A perfect medicine for bodies that be sick 
 Of all infirmities to be relieved; 
 This heleth nature and prolongeth lyfe eke." 
 
 PROBABLY no one would claim that the phenom- 
 ena now grouped under the head of hypnotism were 
 unknown before the end of the sixteenth century. 
 They are as old as man, yes, probably older, since 
 we know that some of the same phenomena apply 
 to animals. But the claim might well be made that 
 while isolated facts of this kind were well known, 
 especially in the East, no scientific collaboration 
 and explanation were attempted until this time. 
 
 As with all other departments of science, we may 
 trace a gradual development. Astrology of old 
 taught the influence of the stars upon men, which 
 doctrine was accepted by the great physician The- 
 ophrastus Paracelsus (1490-1541). This, however, 
 was only part of his belief: the human body was 
 endowed with a double magnetism; one portion 
 attracted to itself the planets and was nourished 
 by them, the result of which was the mental powers; 
 
 249
 
 250 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 the other portion attracted and disintegrated the 
 elements, from which process resulted the body. 
 He also claimed that the magnetic virtue of healthy 
 persons attracted the enfeebled magnetism of the 
 sick. With this theory of animal magnetism, it 
 was only natural that he should value the use of the 
 magnet very highly in the cure of diseases. This 
 dual theory of magnetic cures, that of the magnetic 
 influence of men on men and of the magnet on man, 
 was prevalent for over a century, and found its 
 latest exponent in Mesmer. 
 
 Following Paracelsus, Glocenius, Burgrave, Heli- 
 notius, Robert Fludd, and Kircher believed that the 
 magnet represented the universal principle by which 
 all natural phenomena might be explained. This 
 principle, existing as it did in the human body, was 
 an important factor in health and disease. The 
 great chemist Von Helmont (1577-1644) taught 
 more precisely that a power resided in man by 
 which he could magnetically affect others, and 
 thereby cure the sick who were most influenced by 
 it. He published a work on the effects of magnet- 
 ism on the human frame. 
 
 About the same time Balthazar Gracian, a Span- 
 iard, boldly proclaimed his views. "The magnet," 
 he said, "attracts iron; iron is found everywhere; 
 everything, therefore, is under the influence of mag- 
 netism. ... It is the same agent which gives rise to 
 sympathy, antipathy, and the passions." Baptista
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 251 
 
 Porta (1543-1615), one of the originators of the 
 weapon-salve, had also great faith in the magnet. 
 So effective was his work on the imaginations of 
 his patients that he was considered a magician and 
 prohibited from practising by the court of Rome. 
 Sebastian Wirdig, professor of medicine at the Uni- 
 versity of Rostock, in Mecklenburg, wrote a treatise 
 on "The New Medicine of the Spirits" which he 
 presented to the Royal Society of London in 1673. 
 He maintained that a magnetic influence took place, 
 not only between the celestial and terrestrial bodies, 
 but between all living things. The whole world 
 was under the influence of magnetism: life was pre- 
 served by magnetism, death was the consequence 
 of magnetism. 
 
 Maxwell (1581-1640) propagated somewhat the 
 same doctrine. He was a firm believer in sympa- 
 thetic cures, and assumed a vital spirit of the uni- 
 verse which related all bodies. It was probably 
 from this that Mesmer got his idea of what he called 
 the universal fluid. It would seem, however, that 
 Maxwell was aware of the great influence of imagi- 
 nation and suggestion. He said: "If you wish to 
 work prodigies, abstract from the materiality of 
 beings increase the sum of spirituality in bodies 
 rouse the spirit from its slumbers. Unless you 
 do one or other of these things unless you can 
 bind the idea, you can never perform anything good 
 or great." About the same time, in Italy, Santanelli
 
 252 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 propagated the theory of a universal fluid. Every- 
 thing material possessed a radiating atmosphere 
 which operated magnetically. He also recognized, 
 however, the great influence of the imagination. 
 
 About the year 1771, Father Hell, a Jesuit, and 
 professor of astronomy at the University of Vienna, 
 became famous through his magnetic cures, and 
 invented steel plates of a peculiar form which he 
 applied to the naked body as a cure for several dis- 
 eases. In 1774 he communicated his system to 
 Mesmer, the man who, more than any one else, 
 drew the world's attention to the investigation of 
 mental healing. Various estimates have been made 
 of Mesmer's character and he frequently has been 
 condemned. He was fond of display, but it is doubt- 
 ful if he was more avaricious than most persons who 
 lived before and have lived since. He was evi- 
 dently honest in his scientific investigations and 
 opinions, and this is our main concern. 
 
 Friederich Antony Mesmer (1733-1815) was born 
 at Mersbury, in Swabia, and studied medicine at the 
 University of Vienna. He read freely the books 
 written by the authors already mentioned, and 
 accepted much of their teaching. His originality 
 consisted principally in applying to the sick this 
 universal principle, by means of contact and passes, 
 while his predecessors infused the vital spirit through 
 the use of talismans and of magic boxes. He took 
 his medical degree in 1766 and chose as the subject
 
 F. A. MESMER
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 253 
 
 of his inaugural dissertation "The Influence of the 
 Planets in the Cure of Diseases." In this disserta- 
 tion he maintained "that the sun, moon, and fixed 
 stars mutually affect each other in their orbits; 
 that they cause and direct in our earth a flux and 
 reflux not only in the sea, but in the atmosphere, 
 and affect in a similar manner all organized bodies 
 through the medium of a subtle and mobile fluid, 
 which pervades the universe, and associates all 
 things together in mutual intercourse and harmo- 
 ny." This influence, he said, was particularly ex- 
 ercised on the nervous system, and produced two 
 states, which he called intension and remission, 
 which seemed to him to account for the different 
 periodical revolutions observable in several mala- 
 dies. 
 
 Eight years later he met Father Hell, and after 
 trying some experiments with his metallic plates 
 was astonished at his success. He continued work- 
 ing with Hell for some time, but they finally quar- 
 relled, and shortly afterward he stumbled upon his 
 theory of animal magnetism. After this he no 
 longer used the magnet in healing. The Academy 
 of Science at Berlin examined his claims, but their 
 report was far from favorable or flattering. Never- 
 theless, writing to a friend from Vienna, he said: 
 "I have observed that the magnetic is almost the 
 same as the electric fluid, and that it may be propa- 
 gated in the same manner, by means of intermedi-
 
 254 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 ate bodies. Steel is not the only substance adapted 
 to this purpose. I have rendered paper, bread, 
 wool, silk, stones, leather, glass, wood, men, and 
 dogs in short, every thing I touched magnetic 
 to such a degree, that these substances produced 
 the same effects as the loadstone on diseased per- 
 sons. I have charged jars with magnetic matter in 
 the same way as is done with electricity." About 
 this time he was nominated a member of the Acad- 
 emy of Bavaria. 
 
 Leaving Vienna and travelling through Swabia 
 and Switzerland, he met Gassner and witnessed 
 some of his cures. Mesmer claimed that they were 
 performed by his newly discovered magnetism. He 
 arrived in Paris in 1778 and found this city more 
 receptive to his arts. He at first established him- 
 self in an humble quarter of the city and began to 
 expound his theory. The following year he pub- 
 lished a paper in which he summed up his claims in 
 twenty-seven assertions to which he rigidly held 
 through his life. His doctrines were well received, 
 and acquired an impetus at the beginning by the 
 conversion of one of the leading physicians of the 
 faculty of medicine, Deslon, the Comte d'Artois' 
 first physician. 
 
 Pupils and patients now flocked to him. The 
 crowd was so great that Mesmer employed a valet 
 toucheur to magnetize in his place. This was not 
 sufficient; he then invented the famous baquet, or
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 255 
 
 trough, around which thirty persons might simul- 
 taneously be magnetized. This baquet is described 
 as follows: "A circular, oaken case, about a foot 
 high, was placed in the middle of a large hall, hung 
 with thick curtains, through which only a soft and 
 subdued light was allowed to penetrate; this was 
 the baquet. At the bottom of the case, on a layer 
 of powdered glass and iron filings, there lay full 
 bottles, symmetrically arranged, so that the necks 
 of all converged toward the centre; other bottles 
 were arranged in the opposite direction, with their 
 necks toward the circumference. All these objects 
 were immersed in water, but this condition was 
 not absolutely necessary, and the baquet might be 
 dry. The lid was pierced with a certain number 
 of holes, whence there issued jointed and mov- 
 ing iron branches, which were to be held by the 
 patients. Absolute silence was maintained. The 
 patients were ranged in several rows round the 
 baquet, connected with each other by cords passed 
 round their bodies, and by a second chain, formed 
 by joining hands." 1 
 
 Additional features were provided to heighten 
 the effect of the magnetic charm. "Richly stained 
 glass shed a dim religious light on his spacious 
 saloons, which were almost covered with mirrors. 
 Orange blossoms scented all the air of his corridors; 
 incense of the most expensive kinds burned in an- 
 
 1 Binet and Fr, Animal Magnetism, p. 8.
 
 256 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 tique vases on his chimney-pieces; seolian harps 
 sighed melodious music from distant chambers; 
 while sometimes a sweet female voice, from above 
 or below, stole softly upon the mysterious silence 
 that was kept in the house and insisted upon from 
 all visitors." * 
 
 Bailly, the historian and celebrated astronomer, 
 an eye-witness, describes the results. "Some pa- 
 tients remain calm and experience nothing; others 
 cough, spit, feel slight pain, a local or general heat, 
 and fall into sweats; others are agitated and tor- 
 mented by convulsions. These convulsions are 
 remarkable for their number, duration, and force, 
 and have been known to persist for more than three 
 hours. They are characterized by involuntary, 
 jerking movements in all the limbs, and in the whole 
 body, by contraction of the throat, by twitchings 
 in the hypochondriac and epigastric regions, by 
 dimness and rolling of the eyes, by piercing cries, 
 tears, hiccough, and immoderate laughter. They 
 are preceded or followed by a state of languor or 
 dreaminess, by a species of depression, and even by 
 stupor. 
 
 "The slightest sudden noise causes the patient to 
 start, and it has been observed that he is affected 
 by a change of time or tune in the airs performed 
 on the pianoforte; that his agitation is increased by 
 a more lively movement, and that his convulsions 
 
 1 C. Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, I, p. 278.
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 257 
 
 then become more violent. Patients are seen to be 
 absorbed in the search for one another, rushing to- 
 gether, smiling, talking affectionately, and endeavor- 
 ing to modify their crises. They are all so submis- 
 sive to the magnetizer that even when they appear 
 to be in a stupor, his voice, a glance, or a sign will 
 rouse them from it. It is impossible not to admit, 
 from all these results, that some great force acts 
 upon and masters the patients, and that this force 
 appears to reside in the magnetizer. This convul- 
 sive state is termed the crisis. It has been ob- 
 served that many women and few men are subject 
 to such crises; that they are only established after 
 the lapse of two or three hours, and that when one 
 is established, others soon and successively begin. 
 
 "When the agitation exceeds certain limits, the 
 patients are transported into a padded room; the 
 women's corsets are unlaced, and they may then 
 strike their heads against the padded walls without 
 doing themselves any injury." Notwithstanding 
 these means, thousands were healed of their dis- 
 eases. 
 
 "It is impossible," says Baron Dupotet, "to con- 
 ceive the sensation which Mesmer's experiments 
 created in Paris. No theological controversy, in 
 the earlier ages of the Catholic Church, was ever 
 conducted with greater bitterness." He was called 
 a quack, a fool, and a demon, while his friends were 
 as extravagant in his praise as his foes in their
 
 258 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 censure. After this great excitement, his life may 
 largely be summed up in his challenges to different 
 societies, the appointment of commissions, their ex- 
 aminations, and their reports. 
 
 On the advice of Deslon he challenged the Faculty 
 of Medicine, proposing to select twenty-four pa- 
 tients, of whom twelve should be treated according 
 to the old and approved methods and twelve mag- 
 netically, the cures to prove the efficacy of the treat- 
 ment. The faculty declined to accept the condi- 
 tions. Deslon asked his colleagues on the faculty 
 to summon a general meeting to examine the mat- 
 ter. Through the influence of M. de Vauzesmes, 
 the meeting was very hostile to him, and he was 
 condemned and threatened with having his name 
 removed from the list of licensed physicians if he 
 did not reform. 
 
 Mesmer now wrote to Marie Antoinette suggesting 
 that the government furnish him with houses, land, 
 and a princely fortune to enable him to carry on his 
 experiments untroubled. The government finally 
 offered him a pension of 20,000 francs, and the 
 cross of the order of St. Michael, if he had made any 
 discovery in medicine, and would communicate it 
 to the physicians whom the king should name. 
 Mesmer refused the conditions and left Paris. 
 
 Deslon was then called upon to renounce animal 
 magnetism, but instead, invited investigation. In 
 1784 the government appointed a commission to
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 259 
 
 inquire into magnetism, consisting of members from 
 the Faculty of Medicine and the Academy of 
 Sciences. Franklin, Lavoisier, and Bailly were 
 members, the last named being chosen reporter. 
 Another commission, composed of members of the 
 Royal Society of Medicine, was charged to make a 
 distinct report on the same subject. After experi- 
 menting for five months the first commission pre- 
 sented two reports, one public and the other secret, 
 neither of which was favorable. The Royal Society 
 of Medicine presented its report a few days later, 
 and agreed with the first commission with the 
 exception of one member, Laurent de Jussieu, who 
 dissented and published a separate report of a more 
 favorable nature. The gist of the commissions' 
 reports was that imagination, not magnetism, ac- 
 counted for the results. 
 
 Soon after the commissions started their investi- 
 gations, Mesmer returned to Paris at the invitation 
 of his friends, who proposed to open a subscription 
 for him for 10,000 louis. Immediately it was over- 
 subscribed by over 140,000 francs. He came with 
 the understanding that he was to give lectures and 
 to reveal the secret of animal magnetism. The 
 lectures and secrets were not satisfactory. After 
 the commission reported he left Paris and returned 
 to his own country where he was little heard of 
 during the remainder of his life which ended in 1815. 
 
 Whatever may be said of Mesmer, there seems to
 
 260 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 be no doubt about the honesty of his most famous 
 pupil, the Marquis de Puysegur, and to him we are 
 indebted for a forward step. When Mesmer left 
 Paris, the marquis retired to his estate near Sois- 
 sons, and employed his leisure in magnetizing peas- 
 ants. He magnetized his gardener, a young man 
 named Victor, and after experimenting upon him 
 claimed that during the state Victor exhibited mar- 
 vellous telepathic and clairvoyant phenomena. Un- 
 able to attend all the patients who applied to him, 
 he followed Mesmer's plan of magnetizing a tree. 
 An elm on the village green was chosen, and round 
 this patients gathered on stone benches as around 
 Mesmer's baquet. 
 
 Following Mesmer's theories very closely, the 
 contribution he made was in the recognition of the 
 likeness between the magnetized state and that of 
 somnambulism, so that he designated this state 
 "artificial somnambulism." He also modified the 
 conditions of inducing this state, and simple con- 
 tact or spoken orders were substituted for the use 
 of the baquet. The effect was therefore milder, and 
 instead of hysteria and violent crises accompanied 
 by sobs, cries, and contractions, there was peaceful 
 slumber. He recognized the rapport between opera- 
 tor and subject, and amnesia on awaking, and other 
 phenomena now well known, but he still held to the 
 Mesmeric theory of the existence of a universal fluid 
 which saturated all bodies, especially the human
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 261 
 
 body. It was electric in nature, and man could dis- 
 play and diffuse this electric fluid at will. 
 
 While the Marquis de Puyse'gur was using the elm 
 tree near Soissons, the Chevalier de Barbarin was 
 successfully magnetizing people without parapher- 
 nalia. He sat by the bedside of the sick and prayed 
 that they might be magnetized; his efforts were 
 successful. He maintained that the effect of animal 
 magnetism was produced by the mere effort of one 
 human soul acting upon another; and when the 
 connection had once been established the magne- 
 tizer could communicate his influence to the subject 
 regardless of the distance which separated them. 
 Numerous persons adopted this view, calling them- 
 selves Barbarinists after their leader. In Sweden 
 and Germany they were called spiritualists, to dis- 
 tinguish them from the followers of de Puysegur, 
 who were called experimentalists. 
 
 About the same time a doctor of Lyons, Pe"te*tin, 
 experimented with magnetism. After his death a 
 paper written by him was published describing cata- 
 lepsy and sense transference. Numerous magnetic 
 societies were founded in the principal cities of 
 France. In Strasburg, the Society of Harmony, con- 
 sisting of more than one hundred and fifty members, 
 published for years the result of their work. The 
 disturbance incident to the Revolution and the wars 
 of the Empire which followed repressed the investi- 
 gations of magnetism in France for several years.
 
 262 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 In England the advent of magnetism seems to 
 have taken place about 1788. In that year one Dr. 
 Mainandus, who had been a pupil first of Mesmer 
 and later of Deslon, arrived in Bristol and gave 
 public lectures on the subject. People of rank and 
 fortune soon came from different cities to be mag- 
 netized or to place themselves under his tuition. 
 He afterward established himself in London where 
 he was equally successful in attracting and curing 
 people. So much curiosity was excited by the sub- 
 ject that, about the same time, a man named Hollo- 
 way gave a course of lectures on animal magnetism 
 in London. Large crowds gathered to hear him at 
 the rate of five guineas for each pupil. 
 
 Loutherbourg, the painter, and his wife entered 
 upon a similar work. "Such was the infatuation 
 of the people to be witnesses of their strange manipu- 
 lations," says Mackay, "that at times upwards of 
 three thousand persons crowded round their house 
 at Hammersmith, unable to gain admission. The 
 tickets sold at prices ranging from one to three 
 guineas." Loutherbourg later became a divine 
 healer. From 1789 to 1798 magnetism attracted 
 little or no attention in England. At the latter 
 date a Connecticut Yankee, Benjamin Douglas Per- 
 kins, invented "metallic tractors." The Society of 
 Friends built a hospital called the "Perkinean In- 
 stitute" where all comers might be magnetized free 
 of cost.
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 263 
 
 About 1786 animal magnetism appeared in two 
 different places in Germany on the upper Rhine 
 and in Bremen. At this time Lavater paid a visit 
 to Bremen and exhibited the magnetizing process 
 to several doctors. Bremen was for a long time a 
 focus of the new doctrine, and thereby was brought 
 into bad repute. About the same time the doctrine 
 spread from Strasburg over the Rhine provinces. 
 Among those active in experiments were Bockmann 
 of Carlsruhe, Gmelin of Heilbronn, and Pezold of 
 Dresden. Soon it spread all over Germany. In 
 1789 Selle of Berlin brought forward a series of 
 experiments made at the Charite" (Hospital), hi 
 which he confirmed some of the alleged phenomena 
 but excluded the supernormal. 
 
 Notwithstanding the early dislike, animal magne- 
 tism flourished in Germany during the first twenty 
 years of the nineteenth century. In 1812 the Prus- 
 sian government sent Wolfart to Mesmer at Frauen- 
 feld, to acquaint himself with the subject. He re- 
 turned to Berlin an ardent adherent of Mesmer and 
 introduced magnetism into the hospital treatment. 
 From this magnetism flourished so much in Berlin 
 that, as Wurm relates, the Berlin physicians placed 
 a monument on the grave of Mesmer at Morsburg, 
 and theological candidates received instruction in 
 physiology, pathology, and the treatment of sick- 
 ness by vital magnetism. The well-known physi- 
 cian Koreff was interested in magnetism and often
 
 264 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 made use of it for healing purposes. Magnetism 
 was introduced everywhere, especially in Russia and 
 Denmark. In Switzerland and Italy it was at first 
 received with less sympathy, and in 1815 the exer- 
 cise of magnetism was forbidden in the whole of 
 Austria. 
 
 In 1813 the naturalist Deleuze published a book 
 entitled Histoire critique du magnetisme animal. 
 Like his predecessors, he was chiefly interested in 
 the therapeutic value of magnetism, and insisted 
 that faith was necessary for effective treatment. 
 On account of this condition any demonstration 
 was impossible. He still held to the idea of a per- 
 vading fluid and maintained that the depth of the 
 magnetic sleep depended upon the amount of the 
 magnetic charge. Shortly after the appearance of 
 Deleuze 's book, interest in animal magnetism in- 
 creased, and several journals dealing exclusively 
 with the subject were started. 
 
 With the death of Mesmer in 1815 ended the first 
 period in the history of the phenomena known as 
 animal magnetism. Up to this time the generally 
 accepted theory was that of a vital fluid which per- 
 meated every thing and person and through which 
 one person influenced another. The second period 
 extended from 1815-1841 when Braid discovered 
 and formulated the method of operation. The 
 third period reached from 1841-1887 during which 
 there was careful and scientific study of the whole
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 265 
 
 subject, and hypnotism came into repute as a heal- 
 ing measure. I am inclined to posit a fourth period, 
 1887 to the present time, for Myers' hypothesis of 
 a subliminal self, or the theory of the subconscious- 
 ness, has made a great difference in the theory of 
 hypnotism. 
 
 The second period began when Abbe Faria in 
 1814-15 came from India to Paris and gave public 
 exhibitions, publishing the results of some of his 
 experiments. He seated his subjects in an arm- 
 chair, with eyes closed, and then cried out in a 
 loud commanding voice, "Sleep." He used no ma- 
 nipulations and had no baquet, but he boasted of 
 having produced five thousand somnambulists by 
 this method. He opined that the state was caused 
 by no unknown force, but rested in the subject 
 himself. He agreed with the present generally 
 accepted theory that all is subjective. 
 
 Following Faria, Bertrand and Noizet paved the 
 way for the doctrine of suggestion notwithstanding 
 their inclination toward animal magnetism. Ex- 
 periments were performed at the Hotel-Dieu in 
 1820 but later were prohibited. Through the in- 
 fluence of Foissac in 1826 the Academy of Medicine 
 appointed a committee to examine the subject, and 
 in 1831 a report acknowledging the genuineness of 
 the phenomena was made, and therapeutic effects 
 were frankly admitted. In 1837 the Academy 
 appointed another commission to examine still
 
 266 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 further, for the members as a whole were not con- 
 vinced. The report of this commission was largely 
 negative. 
 
 After this the younger Burdin, a member of the 
 Academy, proposed to award from his own purse a 
 prize of 3,000 francs to any person who could read 
 a given writing without the aid of his eyes, and in 
 the dark. The existence of animal magnetism must 
 stand or fall on this test. That was the difficulty 
 during this period: the whole dispute was waged 
 about, and experiments consisted in tests of, clair- 
 voyance, transposition of the sense of sight, and 
 other mystical phenomena, instead of dealing with 
 the state as such. This, of course, made the strug- 
 gle much easier for the opponents of mesmerism, 
 but was largely the fault of the magnetizers. The 
 Burdin prize was not awarded, and in 1840 Double 
 proposed that the Academy should henceforth pay 
 no further attention to animal magnetism, but 
 treat the subject as definitely closed. This was 
 certainly unfair and unscientific, but was the atti- 
 tude assumed. 
 
 At the beginning of this period another series of 
 tests was being performed in Germany, but after 
 1820 the belief in magnetism declined more and 
 more. It flourished longest in Bremen and in 
 Hamburg where Siemers was its advocate. From 
 1830-1840 Hensler and Ennemoser were the chief 
 exponents in Bavaria. As the scientific investiga-
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 267 
 
 tors withdrew from the study, the charlatans and 
 frauds entered the field, and the marvellous and 
 occult were emphasized, so that in 1840 little general 
 attention was paid to the subject. 
 
 Notwithstanding the efforts of the London physi- 
 cians Elliotson and Ashburner, magnetism could 
 obtain little footing in England during this period. 
 Numerous investigations were made, however, and 
 several publications were sent forth. Townshend, 
 Scoresby, and Lee are names prominent in the 
 study of the subject in England at this time. In 
 the next period, though, an Englishman gives the 
 impetus necessary for the successful pursuit of the 
 study. 
 
 In 1841 the French magnetizer, La Fontaine, gave 
 some public exhibitions in Manchester which at- 
 tracted the attention of a physician by the name of 
 James Braid. Through the aid rendered by Braid, 
 animal magnetism blossomed into a science. He 
 directed the subject into its proper field : he eschewed 
 the occult and mysterious, and emphasized obser- 
 vation and experiment. It was Braid who gave us 
 the word "hypnotism." At first a sceptic, he be- 
 gan experimenting and proved that fixity of gaze 
 had in some way such an influence on the nervous 
 system of the subject that he went off into a sleep. 
 He therefore opined that the transmission of a fluid 
 by the operator had no part in the matter. 
 
 He further showed that an assumed attitude
 
 268 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 changed the subject's sentiments in harmony with 
 the attitude, and that the degree of sleep varied 
 with different persons, and with the same person at 
 different times. He also noted the acuteness of the 
 senses during hypnosis, and that verbal suggestion 
 would produce hallucinations, emotions, paralysis, 
 etc. Therapeutics was a subject in which he was 
 naturally interested, and his experiments on differ- 
 ent diseases were frequent and valuable. Braid 
 made some mistakes, as was natural, but his dis- 
 coveries covered the field so well and his ideas were 
 so sound that too much credit cannot be ascribed 
 to him. At first he thought hypnotism (Braidism) 
 was identical with animal magnetism, but later made 
 the mistake of considering it analogous, and the two 
 flourished side by side and independently. 
 
 Animal magnetism was first introduced into 
 America in 1836 by Mr. Charles Poyan, a French 
 gentleman. A few years later a certain Dr. Collyer 
 lectured upon it in New England. New Orleans 
 was, however, for a long time its chief centre. In 
 1848 Grimes, working independently, appears to 
 have arrived at about the same conclusions as 
 Braid. He showed that most of the hypnotic phe- 
 nomena could be produced in the waking state in 
 some subjects, by means of verbal suggestion. The 
 phenomena were known under the name of electro- 
 biology. In 1850 Darling went to England and 
 introduced electro-biology, but it was soon identified
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 269 
 
 with Braidism, and in 1853 Durand de Gros, who 
 wrote under the pseudonym of Philips, exhibited 
 the phenomena of electro-biology in several coun- 
 tries, but aroused little attention. 
 
 Azam of Bordeaux and Broca of Paris made some 
 experiments following Braid's method, and several 
 times performed some painless operations by this 
 means. They were followed by numerous others 
 in all European countries and in America. In fact, 
 the interest in the subject became general, and as 
 more was known about it, fewer objections were 
 heard. Societies were formed for the study of hyp- 
 notism, publications were started devoting all their 
 space to the exposition and discussion of it, and as 
 this third period advanced, its scientific value was 
 more and more recognized from the stand-points of 
 psychology, pathology, and therapeutics. 
 
 In a brief resume like this it would be impossible 
 to name even the chief experimenters in the differ- 
 ent countries who contributed to this period, but 
 some names stand out so prominently that they 
 should be emphasized, for they must be reckoned 
 in importance with Braid's. Liebeault, whose book, 
 Du Sommeil, etc., was published in 1866, has been 
 called the founder of the therapeutics of suggestion. 
 While suggestion in both waking and hypnotic states 
 had been applied long before Liebeault's day, it was 
 he who first fully and methodically recognized its 
 value. We are also indebted to him for stimulating
 
 270 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 in the study of hypnosis Bernheim and other promi- 
 nent investigators. Liebeault at the head of the 
 School of Nancy was not less known than Charcot 
 at the Salpetriere. 
 
 Charcot was indefatigable in his researches, but 
 was led away in his conclusions by artifacts. For 
 example: three states were produced in the hyp- 
 notic subject which Charcot considered to be symp- 
 tomatic and characteristic. They were catalepsy, 
 lethargy, and somnambulism. Certain physical 
 excitations, such as rubbing the scalp or exposing 
 the eyes to a bright light, were thought to be all 
 that was necessary to change the subject from one 
 stage to another. It has since been shown that not 
 only were the states of catalepsy, lethargy, and 
 somnambulism produced by suggestion, but the 
 physical stimuli were simply suggestions and signs 
 by which the subject knew that a particular change 
 was expected, and, in harmony with hypnotic ac- 
 tion, the expected change came about. Not only 
 did Charcot make this mistake, but some of his 
 followers of the Salpetriere School continued to 
 be deceived for years afterward. 
 
 Hardly a conclusion of Charcot's remains to-day, 
 and yet so earnest was he in his investigations and 
 so untiring in his experiments, that many of his 
 facts contributed much to our knowledge of the 
 subject even if his theories have been rejected. 
 Binet, Fere, and other followers of his have contrib-
 
 MESMER AND AFTER 271 
 
 uted much to the science and literature of the sub- 
 ject. The latter half of this period is not unknown 
 to us to-day, and as the names connected with it 
 are familiar, it remains for me to mention but one 
 more name, that of the one who ushered in the 
 fourth period, F. W. H. Myers. 
 
 From its beginning Myers was prominently con- 
 nected with the Society for Psychical Research and 
 occupied the offices of president and secretary. 
 He held the latter position at the time of his death 
 in 1901. In 1887 he formulated his theory of the 
 subliminal self or subliminal consciousness, a theory 
 which has come to be more and more accepted, and 
 the value of which has received increasing appre- 
 ciation. It has been known as the "subconscious 
 self" or the "subconsciousness" probably more 
 than by Myers's original title, and his theory has 
 been modified by some subtractions and additions, 
 but it is generally accepted to-day and its exposi- 
 tion has helped solve many problems in abnormal 
 psychology. In no department has it contributed 
 more than in that of hypnotism, for by it this state 
 has been partially explained. 
 
 For a number of years Charcot and his followers 
 put forward a physiological theory of hypnotism 
 which waged war with that of the Nancy School, 
 under Liebeault, but even before Charcot 's death 
 he recognized the validity of the Nancy claims while 
 still clinging to his own. Few if any espouse Char-
 
 272 MESMER AND AFTER 
 
 cot's claims to-day. The general psychological 
 theory of Nancy, which bases the results on sugges- 
 tion, is that currently accepted, while a theory not 
 very different from that of animal magnetism has 
 been held by some of those who accepted the 
 spiritualistic hypothesis, notably among whom was 
 Myers. 
 
 Hypnotism to-day is recognized as the product 
 of a long line of erroneous theory and zigzag develop- 
 ment, but the wheat has largely been sifted and 
 the chaff thrown to the winds of antiquity. Its 
 therapeutic and psychological value is duly recog- 
 nized by science to-day. 1 
 
 1 Many works and encyclopedic articles on hypnotism have been 
 consulted in the preparation of this chapter, all of which were valu- 
 able, and few of which stand out prominently.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 "Medical cannot be separated from moral science, without recip- 
 rocal and essential mutilation." REID. 
 
 "Man is a dupeable animal. Quacks in medicine, quacks in re- 
 ligion, and quacks in politics know this, and act upon that knowl- 
 edge. There is scarcely anyone who may not, like a trout, be taken 
 by tickling." SOUTHEY. 
 
 "Canst thou minister to a mind diseas'd, 
 Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, 
 Raze out the written troubles of the brain, 
 And with some sweet oblivious antidote 
 Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
 Which weighs upon the heart?" SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 "Joy, temperance, and repose, 
 Slam the door on the doctor's nose." LONGFELLOW. 
 
 THERE seems to have been a great development 
 of mental healing during the nineteenth century. 
 The healing by shrines, relics, and charms dimin- 
 ished in the latter part of the century on account of 
 the lessening of superstition and the better under- 
 standing of mental laws, but additional work has 
 thereby been laid upon the healers. The develop- 
 ment of hypnotism and the exposition of the laws 
 underlying it, the collection and publication of cases 
 of cures by mental means, the lessening of faith in 
 noxious doses of drugs, the increase of nervous dis- 
 eases which are most easily helped by suggestive 
 
 273
 
 274 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 therapeutics, the attempted duplication of apos- 
 tolic gifts on the part of some sects and the general 
 reaction against the materialism of the early part 
 of the century as shown in the great revival of psy- 
 chical study and research have all been factors in 
 the demand for mental medicine. 
 
 The healers have been of various kinds. Having 
 already dealt with the mesmerizers and hypnotizers, 
 we shall now look only at the classes of independent 
 and generally less scientific investigators and experi- 
 menters. Some have not been regular healers but 
 healed only incidentally, as, e. g. } the revivalists; 
 some have followed James 5 : 14 f. in anointing with 
 oil and praying of these and others, some have 
 had institutions for housing the patients; some 
 have been peripatetic healers; some have simply 
 used prayer; some have established their systems on 
 metaphysical bases and been the founders of sects; 
 some have combined the results of scientific investi- 
 gations in an endeavor to help mankind. Many 
 of these have simply followed the ways of their 
 predecessors of former centuries, but a few started 
 on new lines of procedure. Whatever the method, 
 they have all, consciously or unconsciously, depended 
 upon the influence of the patient's mind over his 
 own body, and the now better understood laws of 
 suggestion. 
 
 The revivals were eighteenth and nineteenth cen- 
 tury phenomena, and in discussing the part which
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 275 
 
 their leaders have taken in healing we may well 
 include the experience of Wesley. As a mere inci- 
 dent in his revival work, John Wesley (1703-1791), 
 the great founder of Methodism, appeared in the 
 rather unenviable role of exorcist. It is to his 
 credit that he was not led away from his primary 
 purpose by this experience, but returned to his 
 preaching without any effort to add healing to his 
 gifts. The account of his encounter with the de- 
 mons can best be given by quoting his own words, 
 as found in his Journal. 
 
 " October 25 [1739]. I was sent for to one in 
 Bristol who was taken ill the evening before. She 
 lay on the ground furiously gnashing her teeth and 
 after a while roared aloud. It was not easy for 
 three or four persons to hold her, especially when 
 the name of Jesus was named. We prayed. The 
 violence of her symptoms ceased, though without a 
 complete deliverance." Wesley was sent for later in 
 the day. "She began screaming before I came into 
 the room, then broke out into a horrid laughter, 
 mixed with blasphemy, grievous to hear. One who 
 from many circumstances apprehended a preter- 
 natural agent to be concerned in this, asking, 'How 
 didst thou dare to enter into a Christian?' was 
 answered, 'She is not a Christian, she is mine.' 
 Then another question, 'Dost thou not tremble at 
 the name of Jesus?' No words followed, but she 
 shrunk back and trembled exceedingly. 'Art thou
 
 276 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 not increasing thy own damnation?' It was faintly 
 answered, 'Ay! Ay!' which was followed by fresh 
 cursing and blasphemy . . . with spitting, and all 
 the expressions of strong aversion." Two days 
 later Wesley called and prayed with her again, 
 when "All her pangs ceased in a moment, she was 
 filled with peace, and knew that the son of wicked- 
 ness was departed from her." On October 28 he 
 exorcised two more demons whom he had evidently 
 (unconsciously) been the means of producing in two 
 neurotic girls. He had a few other experiences in 
 healing, but always in an incidental way. 
 
 Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) had at least one 
 experience as a healer. During revival services at 
 Antwerp, N. Y., in 1824, two insane women were 
 cured, but Finney was directly concerned in the 
 restoration of only one of them. Of this he gives 
 an account in his memoirs. "There were two very 
 striking cases of instantaneous recovery from in- 
 sanity during this revival. As I went into meeting 
 in the afternoon of one Sabbath, I saw several ladies 
 sitting in a pew, with a woman dressed in black who 
 seemed to be in great distress of mind; and they 
 were partly holding her, and preventing her from 
 going out. As I came in, one of the ladies came to 
 me and told me she was an insane woman. ... I 
 said a few words to her; but she replied that she 
 must go; that she could not hear any praying, or 
 preaching, or singing; that hell was her portion,
 
 JOHN ALEXANDER BOWIE
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 277 
 
 and she could not endure anything that made her 
 think of heaven. I cautioned the ladies, privately, 
 to keep her in her seat, if they could, without her 
 disturbing the meeting. I then went into the pul- 
 pit and read a hymn. As soon as the singing began, 
 she struggled hard to get out. But the ladies ob- 
 structed her passage; and kindly but persistently 
 prevented her escape. ... As I proceeded ... all 
 at once she startled the congregation by uttering a 
 loud shriek. She then cast herself almost from her 
 seat, held her head very low, and I could see that 
 she 'trembled very exceedingly.' ... As I pro- 
 ceeded she began to look up again, and soon sat 
 upright, with face wonderfully changed, indicating 
 triumphant joy and peace. . . . She glorified God 
 and rejoiced with amazing triumph. About two 
 years after, I met with her, and found her still full 
 of joy and peace." l 
 
 The so-called " Mountain Evangelist," George 0. 
 Barnes, who was born in 1827, added healing to his 
 other revival efforts. After leaving the Presbyte- 
 rian Church he did his work mostly in Kentucky as 
 an independent minister, and there anointed with 
 oil according to James 5 : 14 f. In his records little 
 is said about the cures, but the daily number of 
 anointings is given, amounting to at least five 
 thousand in all. He believed that the devil, not 
 God, sends sickness: God is the great healer. The 
 
 1 C. G. Finney, Memoirs, pp. 108 f.
 
 278 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 anointing was simply a matter of faith. His for- 
 mula varied and was very simple, as e. g., "Dear 
 daughter, in Jesus's precious name I anoint thee 
 with this oil of healing for thy maladies. Oh, go 
 on thy way rejoicing. Be of good cheer. He is 
 the great healer. He will make thee whole. He 
 hath commanded it. Lean thy whole weight on 
 Him." His views may be judged by the following 
 extract from a sermon of his on "Our Healer": 
 "Oh, the hospitals and drug-stores, the bitter doses, 
 the pains and racks, the tortures great God, may 
 this people believe to-day that thou hast nothing to 
 do with this, that that all came in with sin, and the 
 devil manages it all; and wherever we are afflicted 
 God stands by wringing His hands, and saying, 
 '. . . Return to me, backsliding children. Come 
 back to me, and I will keep the devil off of you.' ' 
 I take also some extracts from his daily record. 
 
 "July 19 [1881]. John and I took a long walk. 
 ... I shall not repeat the experiment, for I got 
 many chiggers on me, which are tormenting me 
 from head to foot while I write, I think because I 
 trusted the pennyroyal to keep them off me in- 
 stead of the Lord. It was not wilful, but a slip of 
 forgetfulness, yet a door wide enough for Satan to 
 enter a little bit. Now, instead of trying penny- 
 royal to get me rid of them, I will trust the Lord 
 only. 
 
 1 W. T. Price, Without Scrip or Purse, or the " Mountain Evange- 
 list," George O. Barnes, p. 451. 
 * Ibid., p. 610.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 279 
 
 "July 20. The chiggers gave exquisite torment. 
 I shall never trust in pennyroyal again. 
 
 "July 21. Satan tried to get me wavering on the 
 eye question, but the dear Lord set me up more 
 firmly than ever. 
 
 "July 24. We have gotten into a little trouble 
 by carelessly trying to help the dear Lord take care 
 of his little organ. A key was silent, and yesterday 
 Marie tried to remedy it. There was a good deal of 
 taking out of keys, and dusting result, two keys 
 silent now, and one that won't be silent, but goes 
 on in a bass wail through every song. So much for 
 meddling with the dear Lord's work. We trust Him, 
 when the lesson is learned, to set the little machine 
 all right again. . . . The dear Lord cured the little 
 organ this afternoon while we were at dinner; at 
 least it was all right, as Marie with a happy smile 
 informed me before she began to sing the first song. 
 I gave thanks for it in the opening prayer, and then 
 told the people all about it. 
 
 "July 27. Satan is not a little busy with me, 
 injecting doubts as to the right to trust for eyes. 
 Faith still quenches all his fiery darts, although it 
 sorely tries me to be thus inactive in these long 
 summer days, without reading my beautiful edition 
 of Young's Concordance, useless at the bottom of 
 my trunk. My Revised New Testament I can only 
 get at through others." * 
 
 Leaving now the revivalists, let us take up the 
 cases of others not revivalists who used anointing 
 for healing. In her native hamlet of Maennedorf , 
 Switzerland, Dorothea Trudel (1813-1862), the de- 
 
 1 Ibid., pp. 301 ff.
 
 280 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 scendant of some generations of faith healers, cured 
 many. Soon people began to come to her from 
 near and far and, finally, at the solicitation of a 
 " patient" of rank, she purchased a home where 
 the afflicted could be near her. In 1856 the health 
 authorities interfered. She was fined; an appeal 
 was taken and, finally, she was permitted to carry 
 on her work in connection with the home under 
 some formal restrictions. During the course of the 
 trial some authenticated cases of cure were pro- 
 duced: "one stiff knee, pronounced incurable by 
 the best surgeons of France, Germany, and Switzer- 
 land; a leading physician testified to the recovery 
 of a hopeless patient of his own; a burned foot, 
 which was about to be amputated to prevent im- 
 pending death, was healed without means. The 
 evidence was incontrovertible, and the cases numer- 
 ous. The cure was often contemporaneous with 
 the confession of Christ by the unbelieving patient; 
 but duration of the sickness varied with each case. 
 Lunatics were commonly sent forth cured in a brief 
 while." Nothing miraculous was claimed and no 
 war was waged against physicians. It was not 
 asserted that a cure was infallibly made, but it was 
 pointed out as a simpler and more direct method. 
 The means employed were gentleness, discipline, 
 Bible reading, prayer, and anointing. After the 
 death of Dorothea the home continued under the 
 supervision of Mr. Samuel Zeller.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 281 
 
 Charles Cullis (1833-1892), a young physician of 
 Boston, suffered a crushing bereavement in the 
 death of his wife shortly after their marriage, and 
 then vowed to devote his life to charity. Inspired 
 by Miiller's Life of Trust he established a number of 
 charitable institutions, relying on prayer and faith 
 for their support. Some of these institutions were 
 for the cure of the sick, and in connection with 
 these, and otherwise, Dr. Cullis anointed and prayed 
 with all who came to him. Every summer a camp- 
 meeting was held at Old Orchard Beach, Maine, 
 where the large collections gathered were the sub- 
 ject of annual comment. He was followed in his 
 work by Rev. A. B. Simpson, of New York, who 
 now conducts it. The latter was formerly a Pres- 
 byterian minister but is now an independent. He 
 still heals and takes up collections. From the 
 efforts of Cullis and Simpson have come the Chris- 
 tian and Missionary Alliance and other similar or- 
 ganizations with Pentecost as the text and apos- 
 tolic gifts as the much-sought-after prize. The 
 proof of success is found in healing, speaking with 
 tongues, trances, visions, and other abnormal phe- 
 nomena. 
 
 The "Holy Ghost and Us" movement, with head- 
 quarters at Shiloh, Maine, was an outgrowth of the 
 Christian and Missionary Alliance propaganda. Rev. 
 F. W. Sanford (1863- ) was born on Bowdoin- 
 ham Ridge, Maine. He graduated at Bates Col-
 
 282 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 lege in 1886 and attended Cobb Divinity School for 
 a short time. His ordination took place in 1887, 
 after which he held two pastorates of three years 
 each, presumedly in Free Baptist churches. In 
 1891, while attending meetings at Old Orchard, he 
 was inspired to start "a movement on strictly apos- 
 tolic lines, which was to sweep the entire globe." 
 He started on this new work early in 1893 with 
 Shiloh, Maine, as the centre. Relying on faith 
 alone, several buildings were erected and paid for, 
 among which is Bethesda a Home of Healing: 
 "For those who believe God told the truth when He 
 said, 'The prayer of Faith shall save the sick.' ' In 
 an account of the healing we read: "We have seen 
 ... in at least one case, the restoration of the dead 
 to life." Quite a following embraced the doctrine 
 at one time, but lately there has been a consider- 
 able decline. 
 
 An institution for faith healing was established 
 in the north of London by Rev. W. E. Boardman 
 (1810-1886). He called it "Bethshan" or the 
 "Nursery of Faith" and refused to permit it to be 
 called a hospital. The usual method of treatment 
 was by anointing with oil and prayer, but it was 
 claimed that many also were healed by correspond- 
 ence. The results professed were very extravagant, 
 among the cases being cancer, paralysis, advanced 
 consumption, chronic rheumatism, and lameness of 
 different kinds. As a proof of the cure of the last
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 283 
 
 named affliction, numerous canes and crutches left 
 behind by the healed were on exhibition. 1 
 
 It is said that Lord Radstock practised healing 
 through anointing in Australia about the same 
 time. 
 
 There have been a number of prominent healers 
 who have used prayer, and perhaps the laying on of 
 hands, as the means for healing, and have usually 
 eschewed anointing. Among these was Prince 
 Hohenlohe (1794-1849). His was probably the 
 greatest name in mental healing in the nineteenth 
 century. He was born in Waldenburg and edu- 
 cated at several institutions. He was ordained 
 priest in 1815 and officiated at Olmiitz, Munich, 
 and other places. In 1820 he met a peasant, Mar- 
 tin Michel, who had performed some wonderful 
 cures, and in connection with him effected a so-called 
 miraculous cure on a princess of Schwarzenberg who 
 had been for some years a paralytic. 2 From this 
 experience he became enthusiastic in healing, and 
 he acquired such a fame as a performer of miracu- 
 lous cures that multitudes flocked from different 
 countries to receive the benefit of his supposed 
 supernatural gifts. In one year (1848-49) there 
 were eighteen thousand people who obtained access 
 to him. His name and his titles probably had not 
 a little to do with his wide influence. They were 
 
 1 J. M. Buckley, "Faith Healing and Kindred Phenomena," 
 Century, XXXII, pp. 221 f. 
 
 * Encyclopedia Britannica, article "Hohenlohe."
 
 284 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Alexander Leopold Franz Emmerich, Prince of 
 Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfiirst, Archbishop 
 and Grand Provost of Grosswardein, Hungary, and 
 Abbot of St. Michael's at Gaborjan. 
 
 The testimony concerning his cures is from reli- 
 able witnesses. Notice the letter written by the 
 ex-King of Bavaria to Count von Sinsheim, describ- 
 ing his own case: 
 
 MY DEAR COUNT: 
 
 There are still miracles. The ten last days of the 
 last month, the people of Wiirzburg might believe 
 themselves in the times of the Apostles. The deaf 
 heard, the blind saw, the lame freely walked, not by 
 the aid of art, but by a few short prayers, and by 
 the invocation of the name of Jesus. ... On the 
 evening of the 28th, the number of persons cured, of 
 both sexes, and of every age, amounted to more than 
 twenty. These were of all classes of the people, from 
 the humblest to a prince of the blood, who, without 
 any exterior means, recovered, on the 27th at noon, 
 the hearing which he had lost from his infancy. This 
 cure was effected by a prayer made for him during 
 some minutes, by a priest who is scarcely more than 
 twenty-seven years of age the Prince Hohenlohe. 
 Although I do not hear so well as the majority of 
 the persons who are about me, there is no compari- 
 son between my actual state and that which it was 
 before. Besides, I perceive daily that I hear more 
 clearly. . . . My hearing, at present, is very sensi- 
 tive. Last Friday, the music of the troop which 
 defiled in the square in front of the palace, struck 
 my tympanum so strongly, that for the first time, I 
 was obliged to close the window of my cabinet.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 285 
 
 The inhabitants of Wtirzburg have testified, by the 
 most lively and sincere acclamations, the pleasure 
 which my cure has given them. You are at liberty 
 to communicate my letter, and to allow any one 
 who wishes, to take a copy of it. 
 BRUCKENAU, July 3d, 1822. Louis, Prince Royal. 
 
 Professor Onymus, of the University of Wtirz- 
 burg, reported a number of cases cured by Prince 
 Hohenlohe, which he himself witnessed. He gives 
 the following: 
 
 "Captain Ruthlein, an old gentleman of Thun- 
 dorf, 70 years of age, who had long been pronounced 
 incurable of paralysis, which kept his hand clenched, 
 and who had not left his room for many years, has 
 been perfectly cured. Eight days after his cure he 
 paid me a visit, rejoicing in the happiness of being 
 able to walk freely. 
 
 "A man, of about 50, named Bramdel, caused 
 himself to be carried by six men from Carlstadt to 
 the Court at Stauffenburg. His arms and legs were 
 utterly paralyzed, hanging like those of a dead man, 
 and his face was of a corpse-like pallor. On the 
 prayer of the Prince he was instantly cured, rose 
 to his feet, and walked perfectly, to the profound 
 astonishment of all present. 
 
 "A student of Burglauer, near Murmerstadt, had 
 lost for two years the use of his legs; he was brought 
 in a carriage, and though he was only partially re- 
 lieved by the first and second prayer of the Prince, 
 at the third he found himself perfectly well. 
 
 "These cures are real and they are permanent. 
 If any one would excite doubts of the genuineness 
 of the cases operated by Prince Hohenlohe, it is
 
 286 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 only necessary to come hither and consult a thou- 
 sand other eye and ear witnesses like myself. Every 
 one is ready to give all possible information about 
 them." > 
 
 The Mormons, under the leadership of Joseph 
 Smith, Jr. (1805-1844), were healing the sick about 
 the time that Prince Hohenlohe was performing his 
 miracles on the other side of the water. Smith was 
 born in Sharon, Vermont. The Mormon Church 
 (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) 
 was founded in 1830 in Palmyra, New York, and 
 moved from there to Kirkland, Ohio; Indepen- 
 dence, Missouri; Nauvoo, Illinois; and thence to 
 Utah. Smith was successively first elder, prophet, 
 seer, and revelator. The year the church was 
 founded Smith began his healing career as an ex- 
 orcist, casting the devil out of Newel Knight in 
 Colesville, New York. Following this, there was a 
 firm belief in demoniacal possession, and exorcism 
 was practised by both Smith and his followers, 
 principally by means of command. This exorcism 
 led up to faith healing. 
 
 Smith's maternal uncle, Jason Mack, was a firm 
 believer in healing by prayer and practised it; later, 
 the Oneida Community of Perfectionists in western 
 New York cured by faith; both of these facts would 
 be known to the founder of Mormonism. After 
 adopting faith healing he soon became proficient in 
 
 1 D. H. Tuke, Influence of the Mind upon the Body, pp. 355 ff.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 287 
 
 the art. Numerous well-attested cures were per- 
 formed by Smith and his followers in other places. 
 Elder Richards advertised in England "Bones set 
 through Faith in Christ," and Elder Phillips made 
 the additional statement that " while commanding 
 the bones, they came together, making a noise like 
 the crushing of an old basket." All forms of dis- 
 ease were treated, but not always successfully, as 
 may be inferred from Smith's own words: "The 
 cholera burst forth among us, even those on guard 
 fell to the earth with their guns in their hands. . . . 
 At the commencement I attempted to lay on hands 
 for their recovery, but I quickly learned by painful 
 experience, that when the great Jehovah decrees 
 destruction upon any people, makes known His de- 
 termination, man must not attempt to stay hi* 
 hand." The means employed varied, but included 
 at different times prayer, command, laying on of 
 hands, consecrated handkerchiefs and other cloths, 
 baptism, and infrequently anointing. 1 
 
 Crossing the ocean again, we find Johann Chris- 
 tolph Blumhardt (1805-1880) performing wonderful 
 acts of healing. He assumed his first independent 
 charge in 1838 when he became pastor of the village 
 church at Moettlinger, Wurtemberg. He was known 
 afterward as Pastor Blumhardt. Among his pa- 
 rishioners was Gottliebin Ditters, generally thought 
 to be possessed by an evil spirit. After two years 
 
 1 1. W. Riley, The Founder of Mormonism, chaps. VIII and IX.
 
 288 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 prayer and care for this woman, he saw her restored 
 to peace of mind. This was the beginning of a life 
 of faith in the efficacy of prayer for healing. After 
 the restoration of Gottliebin a spontaneous and en- 
 tirely unexpected revival took place in Moettlinger. 
 Multitudes came from afar to hear this sincere man 
 preach his simple sermons, and in many cases bodily 
 disease left those who confessed and upon whom 
 Blumhardt laid his hands. It became noised about 
 that those who repented, with whom the pastor 
 prayed and upon whom he laid his hands, would be 
 healed. "One morning a mother rushed to his 
 house, saying that she had by an accident scalded 
 her child with boiling soup. The infant was found 
 screaming with agony. He took the child in his 
 arms, prayed over it, and it grew quiet. It had no 
 further pain, and the effects of the scalding were 
 quickly gone. Another child was nearly blind with 
 disease. A neighboring pastor, when consulted, said 
 to the parents: 'If you believe Jesus can and will 
 heal your child, by all means go to Blumhardt, but 
 if you have not got the faith, don't do it on any 
 account; let an operation be performed.' 'Well, 
 we have faith,' they said, and went to Blumhardt. 
 Three days after it was perfectly well." These 
 events could not fail to attract attention, and mira- 
 cles or healings from his prayers were of constant 
 occurrence. In 1852 Blumhardt moved to Boll, 
 Wurtemberg, and until his death he continued his
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 289 
 
 healing. He did not despise human means of 
 healing, but he stoutly held that Jesus would 
 answer the prayer of faith uttered for and by 
 the sick. 
 
 About the middle of the century Father Mathew 
 (1790-1856) attracted a large number of persons 
 who were in need of healing. He was best known 
 as the famous apostle of temperance, and was to 
 Ireland in the nineteenth century what Wesley was 
 to England in the eighteenth. He also travelled 
 over England and Scotland and spent two years 
 in America. In one period of nine months he in- 
 duced two hundred thousand persons to take the 
 temperance pledge. Among other things he cured 
 blindness, lameness, paralysis, hysteria, headache, 
 and lunacy. After his death the same diseases 
 which he had cured during his lifetime were just 
 as effectively relieved by visiting the good father's 
 tomb, in the firm belief that a miracle would be per- 
 formed. From the following cure, his first one, it 
 will be seen that the discovery of his healing power 
 was rather accidental. 
 
 "A young lady, of position and intelligence, was 
 for years the victim of the most violent headaches, 
 which assumed a chronic character. Eminent ad- 
 vice was had but in vain; the malady became more 
 intense, the agony more excruciating. Starting up 
 one day from the sofa on which she lay in a delirium 
 of pain, she exclaimed 'I cannot endure this torture 
 any longer; I will go and see what Father Mathew
 
 290 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 can do for me.' She immediately proceeded to 
 Lehanagh, where Father Mathew was then sick and 
 feeble. Flinging herself on her knees before him she 
 besought his prayers and blessing. In fact, stung 
 by intolerable suffering she asked him to cure her. 
 'My dear child, you ask me what no mortal has 
 power to do. The power to cure rests alone with 
 God. I have no such power.' 'Then bless me, and 
 pray for me place your hand on my head/ im- 
 plored the afflicted lady. 'I cannot refuse to pray 
 for you, or to bless you/ said Father Mathew, who 
 did pray for and bless her, and place his hand upon 
 her poor throbbing brow. Was it faith? was it 
 magnetism? was it the force of imagination exerted 
 wonderfully? I shall not venture to pronounce 
 what it was; but that lady returned to her home 
 perfectly cured of her distressing malady. More 
 than that cured completely, from that moment, 
 forward." 1 
 
 About the same time, Mrs. Elizabeth Mix, a 
 negro woman living in Connecticut, achieved great 
 fame through her healing by prayer. Many testi- 
 fied to the efficacy of her prayers and bewailed her 
 death. 
 
 Francis Schlatter (1856-1909) was a native of 
 Alsace, France. He was born a Roman Catholic and, 
 so far as he was affiliated with any denomination, 
 always remained one. When a year old, he was blind 
 and deaf and was cured by his mother's prayers. 
 He came to America in 1891, and first settled at 
 Jamestown, Long Island. Early in 1893 he moved to 
 
 1 J. F. Maguire, Father Mathew, pp. 529 f.
 
 GEORGE O. BARNES
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 291 
 
 Denver, Colorado, and in the following,July he felt 
 impelled by inner promptings to start out, he knew 
 not whither. Probably mentally unbalanced, he 
 wandered through the wilderness of the great South- 
 west without shoes or hat. Fasts, temptations, 
 visions, arrests and imprisonments, and healings 
 combined to furnish his experience during these 
 wanderings, always, as he said, being led by the 
 Father. In July, 1895, he arrived at Las Lunas, 
 New Mexico, where he first attracted public atten- 
 tion as a healer. From here he went to Albu- 
 querque, where he treated as many as six hundred 
 persons in a day, many very effectively. After forty 
 days' fast, which was broken by a hearty meal of 
 solid food, he went to Denver and here reached the 
 pinnacle of his fame and success. At the home of 
 a sympathizer, daily from 9 A. M. to 4 p. M., he 
 treated those who came to him, always without 
 any remuneration. From two thousand to five 
 thousand people would congregate in line, reaching 
 nearly around a city block, five or six abreast, but 
 he was never able to treat more than two thousand 
 in a day. Crowds came from other cities, and some 
 few from great distances, even the New England 
 States. He stood inside a fence, and as each one 
 came along he held the patient's hand for a short 
 time; lifting up his eyes, he prayed and then as- 
 sured the sufferer of relief within a certain time. 
 Through the mail and in other ways he received
 
 292 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 handkerchiefs which he blessed and returned with 
 assurance of relief through them. Not all cases 
 handled were restored to health or even noticeably 
 eased, but large numbers testified to cures, some of 
 which came immediately and others by degrees. 
 He did not preach. Although he never claimed it, 
 when asked, "Are you the Christ?" he always re- 
 plied, "I am." He wore a beard and long hair, and 
 dressed in the plainest clothes. In appearance he 
 looked not unlike the pictures of the traditional 
 Christ. Afterward ' he appeared in different parts 
 of the United States, but never with the same 
 success in healing as in Denver. 1 
 
 The once famous Dr. Newton arrived in Boston in 
 1859 on one of his visits, and caused an extraordi- 
 nary sensation. Astonishing results were reported 
 in the way of cures. The lame, having no further 
 need of crutches, left them behind; the blind were 
 cured, and several chronic cases were relieved. He 
 had many followers and disciples among whom was 
 "Dr." Bryant, who settled in Detroit and healed 
 there. Rev. J. M. Buckley, D.D., met Dr. Newton 
 on a Mississippi steam-boat, when the latter was 
 returning from Havana with his daughter who was 
 very low with consumption, and the father doubted 
 if she would reach home alive. When asked 
 "Doctor, why could you not heal her?" he replied 
 "It seems as if we cannot always affect our own 
 
 1 Biography of Francis Schlatter, The Healer.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 293 
 
 kindred." At this time he denounced his pupil, Dr. 
 Bryant, as an "unmitigated fraud who had no 
 genuine healing power." 
 
 "If Bryant be an unmitigated fraud, how do you 
 account for the cures which he makes?" asked Dr. 
 Buckley. 
 
 "Oh!" said the doctor, "they are caused by the 
 faith of the people and the concentration of their 
 minds upon his operations with the expectation of 
 being cured. Now," said he, "nobody would go to 
 see Bryant unless they had some faith that he might 
 cure them, and when he begins his operations with 
 great positiveness of manner, and when they see 
 the crutches he has there, and hear the people testify 
 that they have been cured, it produces a tremendous 
 influence on them; and then he gets them started 
 in the way of exercising, and they do a good many 
 things that they thought they could not do; their 
 appetites and spirits revive, and if toning them up 
 can possibly reduce the diseased tendency, many 
 of them will get well." 
 
 Said Dr. Buckley: "Doctor, pardon me, is not 
 that a correct account of the manner in which you 
 perform your wonderful works?" 
 
 "Oh, no," said he; "the difference between a 
 genuine healer and a quack like Bryant is as wide 
 as the poles." * 
 
 1 J. M. Buckley, "Faith Healing and Kindred Phenomena," 
 Century, XXXII, pp. 221 f.
 
 294 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Father John of Cronstadt (1829-1908) was a 
 saintly man, and furnishes us with an example of 
 the healers among the Orthodox Church of the East. 
 He was famed in all Russia for his sanctity, and was 
 so thronged by crowds for hisjiealing power that he 
 often had to escape by side doors after celebrating 
 the communion. His cures were many, but I choose 
 his own account of one as an example. 
 
 "A certain person who was sick unto death from 
 inflammation of the bowels for nine days, without 
 having obtained the slightest relief from medical 
 aid, as soon as he had communicated of the Holy 
 Sacrament, upon the morning of the ninth day, re- 
 gained his health and rose from his bed of sickness 
 in the evening of the same day. He received the 
 Holy Communion with firm faith. I prayed to the 
 Lord to cure him. 'Lord/ said I, 'heal thy servant 
 of his sickness. He is worthy, therefore grant him 
 this. He loves thy priests and sends them his 
 gifts.' I also prayed for him in church before the 
 altar of the Lord, at the Liturgy, during the prayer: 
 'Thou who hast given us grace at this time, with 
 one accord to make our common supplication unto 
 thee/ and before the Holy Mysteries themselves. 
 I prayed in the following words: 'Lord, our life! 
 It is as easy for thee to cure every malady as it is 
 for me to think of healing. It is as easy for thee 
 to raise every man from the dead as it is for me to 
 think of the possibility of the resurrection of the 
 dead. Cure, then, thy servant Basil of his cruel 
 malady, and do not let him die; do not let his wife 
 and children be given up to weeping. 7 And the 
 Lord graciously heard, and had mercy upon him,
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 295 
 
 although he was within a hair's breadth of death. 
 Glory to thine omnipotence and mercy, that thou, 
 Lord, hast vouchsafed to hear me!" 1 
 
 For the past century and a half healing has been 
 carried on among the Pennsylvania Germans by 
 means of a superstitious practice known as "Pow- 
 wow." A book called The Sixth Book of Moses, or 
 Black Art is said to be the basis of the practice. The 
 practitioners are usually women of the most igno- 
 rant, degraded, and, not infrequently, immoral class, 
 and in harmony with this, a firm belief in witch- 
 craft is entertained by them. Notwithstanding this, 
 they are employed at times by intelligent and re- 
 spectable people, even by those whose standing in 
 the community might well guarantee a disbelief in 
 such incantations. The healers treat for burns, 
 erysipelas and all skin diseases, goitre, tumors, 
 rheumatism, and some other similar troubles. They 
 have different formulas for the various diseases, and 
 the belief is current that if a healer should reveal 
 the formula to her own sex, she would lose her 
 power, and if she told more than one of the oppo- 
 site sex, the power would be taken from her. The 
 following is the method of operating for burns: 
 
 "Take a piece of red woolen yarn and wrap it into 
 the shape of a ball. Pass it slowly around the burn 
 and while doing so, repeat three times, 'The fire 
 burneth, water quencheth, the pain ceaseth.' After 
 
 1 Father John, My Life in Christ (trans. Goulaeff), p. 201.
 
 296 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 which reverse the movement and repeat the words 
 again three times. Then take the yarn upstairs, 
 pull out the chimney-stop, put the yarn in the 
 chimney, and as soon as it disappears the burn is 
 healed." 
 
 There have been a number of cases of local healers 
 and I give two examples: "At the time of the 
 prevalence of cholera in Canada, a man named 
 Ayers, who came out of the States, and was said to 
 be a graduate of the University of New Jersey, was 
 given out to be St. Roche, the principal patron 
 saint of the Canadians, and renowned for his power 
 in averting pestilential diseases. He was reported 
 to have descended from heaven to cure his suffering 
 people of the cholera, and many were the cases in 
 which he appeared to afford relief. Many were thus 
 dispossessed of their fright in anticipation of the 
 disease, who might, probably, but for his inspiriting 
 influence, have fallen victims to their apprehensions. 
 The remedy he employed was an admixture of ma- 
 ple sugar, charcoal, and lard." * 
 
 "The Month for June, 1892, published an account, 
 by the late Earl of Denbigh, of a cure worked by a 
 member of a family named Cancelli of Lady Den- 
 bigh in 1850. She was suffering severely from 
 rheumatism, and the Pope (Pius IX) mentioned 
 to the Earl that near Foligno there was a family of 
 
 1 T. J. Pettigrew, Superstitions Connected with . . . Medicine and 
 Surgery, p. 53.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 297 
 
 peasants who were credited with a miraculous power 
 of curing rheumatic disorders. Lord Denbigh suc- 
 ceeded in getting one of the family, an old man, to 
 come, and learned from him the legend of the cure. 
 The belief was that in the reign of Nero, the Apostles 
 Peter and Paul took refuge in the hut of an old couple 
 named Cancelli, near Foligno, and, as a proof of 
 gratitude, gave to the male descendants of the family 
 living near the spot the power of curing rheumatic 
 disorders to the end of time. Lord Denbigh de- 
 scribed how the old man made a solemn invocation, 
 using the sign of the cross, and, in fact, Lady Den- 
 bigh did recover at once. In a few days the pains 
 returned, but she made an act of resignation, and 
 they then left her, and never returned with any 
 acuteness." 
 
 What we may designate "Metaphysical Healing" 
 originated with Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802- 
 1866). The movement was important, not so much 
 on account of what Quimby himself was able to 
 accomplish by it, as because of the work that has 
 been carried on since by at least three of his pupils. 
 He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and in 
 early life was a watch and clock maker. In 1840 
 he began experimenting with mesmerism, and ac- 
 counts of these experiments were published in the 
 Maine papers of that time. After this he developed 
 a system of mental healing of his own, practising it 
 
 i E. Berdoe, Origin and Growth of the Healing Art, p. 482.
 
 298 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 in different towns in Maine for some years. About 
 1858 he settled as a practitioner in Portland and 
 remained there until his death. I shall quote brief 
 extracts in his own words, which portray his system. 
 
 "My practice is unlike all medical practice. I 
 give no medicine, and make no outward applica- 
 tions. I tell the patient his troubles, and what he 
 thinks is his disease; and my explanation is the cure. 
 If I succeed in correcting his errors, I change the 
 fluids of the system and establish the truth, or 
 health. The truth is the cure. This mode of prac- 
 tice applies to all cases." 
 
 "The greatest evil that follows taking an opinion 
 for a truth is disease." 
 
 "Man is made up of truth and belief; and, if he 
 is deceived into a belief that he has, or is liable to 
 have, a disease, the belief is catching, and the effect 
 follows it." 
 
 "Disease being made by our belief, or by our 
 parents' belief, or by public opinion, there is no 
 formula to be adopted, but every one must be 
 reached in his particular case. Therefore it re- 
 quires great shrewdness or wisdom to get the better 
 of the error. Disease is our error and the work of 
 the devil." 1 
 
 Quimby made many wonderful and mostly speedy 
 cures, and although he wrote out his system, it has 
 never been published. Among his patients was Mrs. 
 Patterson from Hill, New Hampshire, who went to 
 
 1 J. A. Dresser, The True History of Mental Science; A. G. Dresser, 
 The Philosophy of P. P. Quimby.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 299 
 
 Portland in 1862. She had been a confirmed invalid 
 for six years. To quote her own words, published in 
 the Portland Evening Courier in 1862, she made a 
 rapid recovery. "Three weeks since I quitted my 
 nurse and sick room en route for Portland. The 
 belief of my recovery had died out of the hearts of 
 those who were most anxious for it. With this 
 mental and physical depression I first visited P. P. 
 Quimby, and in less than one week from that time I 
 ascended by a stairway of one hundred and eighty- 
 two steps to the dome of the City Hall, and am im- 
 proving ad infinitum. To the most subtle reasoning, 
 such a proof, coupled, too, as it is with numberless 
 similar ones, demonstrates his power to heal." Mrs. 
 Patterson, afterward Mrs. Eddy, proclaimed after 
 his death a doctrine very similar to Quimby's. 
 She called it "Christian Science," a name Quimby 
 applied to his teaching, although usually he called 
 it "Science of Health." 
 
 Another patient of Quimby's was Julius A. Dres- 
 ser, who visited him first in 1860. Of him Mr. 
 Dresser says: "The first person in this age who pene- 
 trated the depths of truth so far as to discover and 
 bring forth a true science of life, and publicly apply 
 it to the healing of the sick, was Phineas Parkhurst 
 Quimby of Belfast, Me." 
 
 Rev. W. F. Evans was still another patient and 
 disciple of Quimby's. His testimony is as follows: 
 "Disease being in its root a wrong belief, change that
 
 300 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 belief and we cure the disease. . . . The late Dr. 
 Quimby, of Portland, one of the most successful 
 healers of this or any age, embraced this view of 
 the nature of disease, and by a long succession of 
 most remarkable cures . . . proved the truth of 
 the theory. . . . Had he lived in a remote age or 
 country, the wonderful facts which occurred in his 
 practice would have now been deemed either mythi- 
 cal or miraculous." 
 
 These three, Messrs. Evans and Dresser and Mrs. 
 Eddy, proved to be Quimby's most famous patients 
 and disciples. Evans became a noted and volumi- 
 nous writer on mental healing, Mr. Dresser has been 
 identified with the New Thought movement of which 
 his son H. W. Dresser is probably the best exponent, 
 and Mrs. Eddy ruled the Christian Scientists with a 
 rod of iron. 
 
 Warren F. Evans visited Quimby twice in the 
 year 1863, and at these times obtained his knowledge 
 of Quimby's methods. Up to this time he had been 
 a Swedenborgian clergyman, and his beliefs enabled 
 him the better to grasp the new doctrines. On the 
 occasion of the second visit he told his healer that 
 he thought he could cure the sick in this way, and 
 Quimby agreed with him. On returning home he 
 tried it, and his first attempts were so successful that 
 he became a practitioner, using only mental means, 
 and continued in this work. He wrote several books 
 on the subject of mental healing, the first one,
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 301 
 
 The Mental Cure, appearing in 1869, six years before 
 Mrs. Eddy's Science and Health. 
 
 Perhaps, strictly speaking, the New Thought 
 movement does not come within the scope of our 
 subject, except as we see in it an outgrowth and ap- 
 plication of the Quimby doctrine, for two reasons. 
 In the first place, its purpose is mental hygiene 
 rather than cure, and it is all the more valuable for 
 that. Of course, in establishing hygienic practices 
 many disorders are cured, but prevention is the 
 main feature. The second reason why we might 
 perhaps not include it in a resume of the healers is 
 that it is intended to be for the use of the individual 
 to prevent his employing a healer of any kind. The 
 same objection, however, would do away to some 
 extent with a discussion of Christian Science. The 
 principles of New Thought are that the mind has 
 an influence on the body, and that good, sweet, pure 
 thoughts have a salutary effect, but the opposite 
 ones injure the body. Don't worry, don't think of 
 disease, don't look for trouble, but fill the mind with 
 the opposite positive thoughts and life will be happy 
 and the body will be well. The doctrines are ex- 
 pounded differently by the various leaders, and 
 emphasis is laid on different points, some emphasiz- 
 ing more fully the religious aspects of the move- 
 ment, for example. The principal writers on the 
 subject are H. W. Dresser, R. W. Trine, H. Wood, 
 and H. Fletcher.
 
 302 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Mrs. Mary A. Morse Baker Glover Patterson Eddy 
 (1821-1910) was born at Bow, New Hampshire. 
 After a precocious and neurotic childhood, she 
 united with the Congregational Church when seven- 
 teen years of age. At the age of twenty-two she 
 married George Washington Glover, probably the 
 best of her husbands. His death, six months later, 
 was followed by the birth of her only child and a 
 ten years' widowhood. During this time she stayed 
 with her relatives and had long periods of illness, 
 principally of an hysterical character. She then 
 experimented to some extent with mesmerism and 
 clairvoyance. In 1853 she married Dr. Daniel Pat- 
 terson, an itinerant dentist, from whom she got a 
 divorce, and as Mrs. Patterson she went first to 
 "Dr." Quimby in 1862. She visited Quimby again 
 in 1864, at which time, with some others, she studied 
 with him. After Quimby's death she began teach- 
 ing what she then called his science. For the next 
 few years she wandered from town to town about 
 Boston in straitened circumstances, healing, teach- 
 ing, and endeavoring to found an organized society. 
 It was not, however, until 1875 that the organiza- 
 tion was formed in Lynn, and later in the same year 
 appeared her Science and Health. The years since 
 then have been filled with controversies in the law 
 .courts and newspapers, caresses and blows from 
 the ruling hand of Mother Eddy, and numerous 
 developments from small beginnings, until now
 
 MARY BAKER EDDY
 
 over one hundred thousand are identified with the 
 organization. These are almost without exception 
 proselytes from other churches. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's doctrines are founded on a meta- 
 physical theory known as subjective idealism, and 
 advanced centuries before her birth. It posits the 
 all-comprehensiveness of mind and the non-existence 
 of matter. If bodies do not exist, diseases cannot 
 exist, and must be only mental delusions. If the 
 mind is freed of these delusions the disease is gone. 
 This was Quimby's method of procedure already 
 quoted. In Science and Health she says that the 
 object of treatment is "to destroy the patient's 
 belief in his physical condition." She also advises: 
 "Mentally contradict every complaint of the body." 
 She continues: "All disease is the result of educa- 
 tion, and can carry its ill effects no further than 
 mortal mind maps out the way. Destroy fear," 
 she says, "and you end the fever." However, as 
 with other healers, practice and theory are two 
 different things. Listen further: "It would be 
 foolish to venture beyond our present understand- 
 ing, foolish to stop eating, until we gain more good- 
 ness and a clearer comprehension of the living God." 
 Again: "Until the advancing age admits the efficacy 
 and the supremacy of Mind, it is better to leave 
 the adjustment of broken bones and dislocations to 
 the ringers of the surgeon, while you confine your- 
 self chiefly to mental reconstruction, and the pre-
 
 304 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 vention of inflammation and protracted confine- 
 ment." l 
 
 With the exception of Christian Science, no mod- 
 ern religious movement has come so prominently 
 before the public and gained so many adherents in 
 a short time as the Christian Catholic Apostle Church 
 of Zion, and both movements owe their popularity 
 solely to their healing. John Alexander Dowie 
 (1847-1907), the founder of this sect, was born in 
 Edinburgh, Scotland, but in 1860, with his parents, 
 he went to Australia, returning for two years to his 
 native city for college study. In 1870 he was or- 
 dained to the Congregational ministry. He served 
 three churches, and after some political activity 
 was offered a portfolio in the Australian cabinet of 
 Sir Henry Parks. In 1882 he went to Melbourne and 
 established a large independent church, building a 
 tabernacle for worship. About this time he became 
 a firm believer in Divine Healing in direct answer to 
 prayer. He arrived in San Francisco in 1888 and 
 spent two years in organizing branches of the Divine 
 Healing Association of which he was president. 
 He went to Chicago in 1890 and continued there 
 holding meetings for some years. In 1895 he broke 
 away from the International Divine Healing Asso- 
 ciation, which he had been chiefly instrumental in 
 organizing, and insisted that his followers should 
 not remain in the churches. The following year 
 
 1 G. Milmine, Mary Baker G, Eddy.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 305 
 
 the Christian Catholic Church was organized. Of 
 this organization Mr. Dowie was known as General 
 Overseer, then as Prophet, and in 1904 as First 
 Apostle. He also proclaimed himself in general as 
 the messenger of the Covenant and Elijah the Re- 
 storer. In 1900 Mr. Dowie said: "About twenty- 
 two thousand have been baptized by triune immer- 
 sion up to the present, and this includes practically 
 all the members." This, however, was a great ex- 
 aggeration. In 1901 the head-quarters of the church 
 was moved to Zion City, forty-two miles north of 
 Chicago. He preached the threefold gospel of 
 Salvation, Healing, and Holy Living. Dowie dif- 
 fered from Christian Science in proclaiming the 
 reality of disease, the distinctive feature of his 
 doctrine being that all bodily ailment is the work 
 of the Devil, and that Christ came to destroy the 
 works of the Devil. His contempt for external 
 means may be judged from the title of a pamphlet, 
 Doctors, Drugs, and Devils; nevertheless, he used 
 physicians at least to diagnose cases at different 
 times, a licensed medical doctor, Speicher, being 
 associated with him from the beginning of his work 
 in Chicago. Dentists are a factor of Zion City, 
 and it is said he also used an oculist. According to 
 his doctrine there are four methods of cure: "The 
 first is the direct prayer of faith; the second, inter- 
 cessory prayer of two or more; the third, the 
 anointing of the elders, with the prayer of faith;
 
 306 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 and the fourth, the laying on of hands of those who 
 believe, and whom God has prepared and called to 
 that ministry." In addition to this, teaching is the 
 basis of all other methods. The first ten years of 
 his healing he is said to have laid hands on eighteen 
 thousand sick, and he declared that the greater part 
 of them were fully healed. In some of his later 
 years he said in an issue of his paper: "I pray and 
 lay hands on seventy thousand people in a year." 
 That would make one hundred and seventy-five 
 thousand in two and a half years; but in the time 
 preceding the statement he reported only seven 
 hundred cures. Evidently very few were helped. 
 However, in Shiloh Tabernacle at Zion City are 
 exhibited on the walls crutches, canes, surgical in- 
 struments, trusses, and almost every form of appa- 
 ratus used by the medical profession, presented by 
 people who have now no further use for them on 
 account of their being healed. 1 
 
 Our study began with the mental therapeutics of 
 over a millennium before the birth of Christ; let us 
 now close with that of the twentieth century after, 
 in giving some account of the so-called Emmanuel 
 Movement. In 1905 there was formed in connec- 
 tion with Emmanuel Church, Boston, a tuberculosis 
 class for the alleviation of unfortunates of this 
 kind. In this experience it was found that cer- 
 tain psychic and social factors greatly aided in a 
 
 1 R. Harlan, John Alexander Dowie.
 
 HEALERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 307 
 
 cure, and in the following year, 1906, the work ex- 
 panded into what has been called the "Emmanuel 
 Movement." It is an attempt to combine the wis- 
 dom and efforts of the physician, the clergyman, 
 the psychologist, and the sociologist, to combat 
 conditions most frequently met in a large city. In 
 the medical phase of the work mental healing has 
 had a large place, and has been emphasized most in 
 the popular presentation of the movement, and so 
 far as the idea has spread, it has been almost wholly 
 in connection with this aspect. What the future 
 of this will be is uncertain, but it seems probable 
 that its most valuable service will be in stimulating 
 the physicians to take up the work which properly 
 belongs to them the work of therapeutics in all its 
 branches, mental and physical.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 ABRAXAS, 165 ff. 
 Ague, 168, 172 f., 197 ff. 
 Amulets, Chapter VII 
 
 definition of, 138 f., 158 f. 
 Astrology, 141 f., 146 ff. 
 
 BAQUET, MESMER'S, 255 f. 
 Bites of venomous animals, 200 f. 
 Burns, 201. 
 
 CABBALISM, 194. 
 Calculus, 176 f. 
 Cancer, 9 f. 
 Canonization, 111. 
 Catacombs, 66. 
 Characts, 166 ff. 
 Charms, Chapter VIII 
 
 composition of, 193. 
 
 definition of, 189 f. 
 Childbirth, 162, 168, 177, 202. 
 Cholera, 177. 
 Chorea, 203. 
 
 Christianity, influence of, Chap- 
 ter III. 
 Christian Science, 16 f., 298 f, 
 
 302 f. 
 
 Colic, 177 f., 203. 
 Consumption, 203 f. 
 Cramp, 178, 204, 246 ff. 
 Cross, true, 69, 79 f. 
 
 DEMONOLOQY 
 
 and animals, 38 f . 
 
 and Apostolic Fathers, 40 ff. 
 
 and Dark Ages, 44 ff. 
 
 Christian, 37 ff. 
 
 Jewish, 36 f. 
 
 Diseases, functional and organic, 
 9. 
 
 Dislocations, 204 f. 
 Dropsy, 205. 
 
 EMMANUEL MOVEMENT, 306 f. 
 Epilepsy, 178 f., 205 ff. 
 Erysipelas, 180 f. 
 Evil eye, 181, 207. 
 Exorcism, 49 ff, 126 f., 134 f., 
 275, 286. 
 
 by amulets, 178. 
 
 by charms, 204. 
 
 by relics, 63. 
 Eye disease, 168 f., 181 f., 
 
 207. 
 
 FAITH, 14 f. 
 Faith cure, 16, 17. 
 Fevers, 166, 182, 208. 
 
 GEMS, 161 ff., 176. 
 Goitre, 209. 
 Gout, 182 f. 
 
 HEADACHE, 183, 209 f. 
 Healers, Chapter V 
 
 and exorcism, 110. 
 
 by unction, 114 ff. 
 
 Christian, 113 ff. 
 
 Mesmeric, Chapter X. 
 
 of nineteenth century, Chapter 
 
 XL 
 
 Hemorrhage, 210 f. 
 Herpes, 211 f. 
 Hypnotism, Chapter X. 
 
 controversy over, 257 ff. 
 
 historic periods of, 264 f. 
 
 Mesmer and, 252 ff. 
 
 scientific period of, 267 f. 
 Hysteria, 183. 
 
 309
 
 310 
 
 INDEX 
 
 INCUBATION, 26, 92 ff. 
 
 Greek, 93 ff . 
 Incubus, 212. 
 Insanity, 162, 183, 213. 
 Insomnia, 212. 
 
 JAUNDICE, 212 f. 
 
 MAGNETISM, 249 ff. 
 Mandragora, 171 f. 
 Marasmus, 214. 
 Medicine and church, 53 S. 
 
 Babylonian, 27. 
 
 Chinese, 21 ff. 
 
 Egyptian, 24 ff. 
 
 Greek, 28 ff. 
 
 History of, 19 f. 
 
 Indian, 28. 
 
 Jewish, 27. 
 
 Primitive, 4, 20. 
 
 Roman, 34. 
 Melancholy, 183. 
 Mental healing, explanation of, 
 
 7ff. 
 
 Mesmerism. See Hypnotism. 
 Metaphysical cures, 16, 297 ff. 
 
 NUMBERS, 190 ff. 
 OIL OF SAINTS, 66 f . 
 
 PERICARPIA, 173. 
 
 Phylacteries, 141. 
 
 Plague, 183. 
 
 Pools, 83 ff, 92. 
 
 Preyer, 274 f., 280 ff., 283 f., 
 
 288, 291, 294. 
 Psycho-analysis, 12 f. 
 
 RE-EDUCATION, 12 f. 
 Relics, 5, Chapter V 
 and Church Fathers, 64 f. 
 
 cost of, 96 ff. 
 
 fraud among, 101 f. 
 
 from Holy Land, 69 ff. 
 Religion and Healing, 4 ff., 21, 
 
 Chapter Ill- 
 Revivalists, 274 ff. 
 Rickets, 214 f. 
 Rings, 179 f., 184, 246 ff. 
 Royal Touch, Chapter IX 
 
 ceremony of, 240 ff. 
 
 origin of, 225 ff. 
 
 SAINTS AND DISEASES, 74 ff., 
 
 81 f. 
 
 Sciatica, 215. 
 
 Scrofula, 185, 215, Chapter IX. 
 Shrines, Chapter IV 
 
 modern, 106 f. 
 Sick, care of, 57 f. 
 Signatures, 56, 142 ff. 
 Spittle, 195. 
 
 Subconsciousness, 11, 12, 14. 
 Suggestions, 8, 251 f. 
 Sweating sickness, 215. 
 Sympathetic cures, 150 ff: 
 
 TALISMANS, Chapter VI 
 definition of, 138 ff, 142. 
 Therapeutics. See Medicine. 
 Thorns, 216. 
 
 Toothache, 166, 186, 217 f. 
 Touch pieces, 233 f . 
 
 UNCTION, 144 ff, 274, 280. 
 
 WARTS, 218 f. 
 Weapon-salve, 151 ff. 
 Wells, holy, 83 ff. 
 Wen, 219 f. 
 
 Whooping-cough, 186, 220 ff. 
 Worms, 223. 
 Wounds, 184 f.
 
 INDEX OF NAMES 
 
 ABRAHAM, 100. 
 Adam, 41. 
 Adrian, Pope, 184. 
 ^Esculapius, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 
 
 63, 83, 86. 
 Agatha, St., 75. 
 Agnan, St., 75. 
 Agrippa, 59, 191. 
 Albans, St., 202. 
 Albert us Magnus, 159, 164. 
 Alboquerque, A. d'. 185. 
 Alexander III, 55, 227. 
 Alexander of Tralles, 171, 173, 
 
 178, 180, 182, 196. 
 Ambrose, St., 38, 64, 65, 66, 70. 
 Andreas, St., 80. 
 Andrews, 196. 
 
 Anne, Queen, 228, 233, 239, 240. 
 Anne, St., de Beaupre", 106, 107. 
 Anthony, St., 75, 80. 
 Antoinette, Marie, 258. 
 Antoninus, 31. 
 Apes, Valerius, 32. 
 Apollo, 29, 31, 83. 
 Apollonia, St., 75, 76. 
 Aquarius, 74. 
 Aredius, 119. 
 Aries, 74. 
 Aristophanes, 31. 
 Aristotle, 19, 29, 164. 
 Armstrong, 3. 
 Arnot, H., 141. 
 Ashburner, 267. 
 Ashmole, E. 173. 
 Athanasius, 42. 
 Aubrey, 215, 228. 
 Augustine, St., 43, 64, 108. 
 Aurelian, Father, 48. 
 Avertin, St., 75. 
 
 Ayers, 296. 
 Azam, 269. 
 
 BAAS, 171, 203. 
 
 Bacci, P. J., 132. 
 
 Bacon, F., 242. 
 
 Bacon, R., 59. 
 
 Badger, 230. 
 
 Bagnone, F., 136. 
 
 Bailly, 256, 259. 
 
 Balsius, St., 74. 
 
 Baltus, 43. 
 
 Barbarin, de, 261. 
 
 Bargrave, 250. 
 
 Barnabas, St., 75. 
 
 Barnes, G. O., 277. 
 
 Barrington, 233. 
 
 Barros, de, 184. 
 
 Bates, 205. 
 
 Bath-Chorin, 28. 
 
 Becket, 78. 
 
 Bede, 72, 74, 118, 121, 122, 149. 
 
 Belgrade, 168. 
 
 Benedict, St., 75. 
 
 Benedict XIV, 111. 
 
 Berdoe, E., 32, 35, 106, 129, 145, 
 146, 148, 169, 174, 177, 180, 
 200, 205, 211, 218, 226, 228, 
 297. 
 
 Berenger, 98. 
 
 Bernard, Dr. C., 239, 240. 
 
 Bernard of Clairvaux, 122, 123. 
 
 Bernard, St., 38, 77. 
 
 Bernheim, H., 106, 270. 
 
 Bertrand, 265. 
 
 Binet, 255, 270. 
 
 Bingham, 160. 
 
 Black, 219. 
 
 Blair, 224. 
 311
 
 312 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Blaise, St., 75. 
 
 Blochwick, 178. 
 
 Blumhardt, J. C., 287 f. 
 
 Boardman, W. E., 282. 
 
 Bockmann, 263. 
 
 Bois, John de, 125. 
 
 Boleyn, A., 247, 248. 
 
 Boncompagni, Cardinal, 132. 
 
 Boniface, St., 77. 
 
 Bonner, Bishop, 202. 
 
 Bontius, 177. 
 
 Boorde, A., 228, 247. 
 
 Bossuet, 47. 
 
 Boswell, 239. 
 
 Boyle, R., 173, 176, 211, 214. 
 
 Braid, 264, 267, 268, 269. 
 
 Bramdel, 285. 
 
 Brand, J., 90, 147, 160, 168, 173, 
 
 179, 185, 195, 197, 199, 200, 
 
 204, 208, 209, 211, 215, 216, 
 
 218, 220, 232, 233. 
 Brand the Historian, 210. 
 Broca, 269. 
 Brockett, 187. 
 Brogawn, St., 91. 
 Browne, Dr. E., 213. 
 Browne, J., 233, 234, 236. 
 Browne, Sir T., 35, 186, 195, 
 
 213, 218, 236. 
 Bryant, Dr., 292 f. 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 153. 
 Buckland, Prof., 102. 
 Buckle, H. T., 45. 
 Buckley, J. M., 283, 292, 293. 
 Bulwer-Lytton, 158. 
 Burdin, 266. 
 Burgarde, St., 74. 
 Burgrave, 250. 
 Burnet, 247. 
 Burton, R., 158, 159, 160, 173, 
 
 183. 
 
 Butler, 243. 
 Butler, A., 161. 
 Butler, J., 129. 
 
 CAIUS, 31. 
 Calama, 64. 
 Calixtus II, 55. 
 
 Cancelli, 296. 
 
 Capricornus, 74. 
 
 Capua, Raimondo da, 127, 128, 
 
 129. 
 
 Carodoc, 9. 
 
 Catharine, St., 126, 127. 
 Cato the Censor, 204. 
 Chalmers, 14. 
 Chamberlain, J., 230. 
 Charcot, 106, 270. 
 Charles I, 230, 231. 
 Charles II, 232, 234, 241, 246. 
 Charles II of Spain, 45. 
 Charles Edward, Prince, 240. 
 Chaucer, 61, 142, 164, 224. 
 Chesterfield, 3. 
 Chilperic, 119. 
 Christopher, St., 75. 
 Chrysippus, 182. 
 Chrysostom, St., 67, 116, 159. 
 Churchill, 3. 
 Cicero, 19. 
 
 Clairvaux, Abbot of, 77. 
 Clara, St., 76. 
 Clarke, R. F., 105. 
 Clement of Alexandria, 165. 
 Clement VIII, Pope, 132. 
 Cleophas, Simon, 75. 
 Clerk, Mrs., 148. 
 Clothair II, 119. 
 Clovis I, 225. 
 Cockayne, 178, 194. 
 Coirin, la demoiselle, 105. 
 Coles, 144. 
 Coleta, 78, 120. 
 Collier, J., 226. 
 Collinson, 89 
 Collyer, Dr., 268. 
 Comines, P. de, 243. 
 Conway, Lord, 135. 
 Cosmo, 118. 
 Cotta, 181. 
 Cowles, W., 229. 
 Cromwell, O., 113. 
 Cros, J. M., 130. 
 Crowley, 220. 
 Cudworth, Dr., 136. 
 Cullis, C., 281.
 
 INDEX 
 
 313 
 
 Cullum, Sir J., 214. 
 
 Cuthbert, St., 72, 73, 74, 118. 
 
 Cyprian, 43. 
 
 Cyril, St., 64. 
 
 Cyrus, St., 67, 159, 116. 
 
 DAMIAN, 118. 
 Darling, 268. 
 Dearmer, P., 67, 68, 96, 105, 
 
 115, 121. 
 Delenze, 264. 
 Democritus, 33. 
 Denbigh, Earl of, 296. 
 Deslon, 254, 258, 262. 
 Deubner, L., 96. 
 Deucalion, 208. 
 Digby, Sir E., 151. 
 Digby, Sir K, 151 ff., 155, 218. 
 Ditters, G. 287. 
 Dodd, Dr., 219. 
 Donee, 181, 199. 
 Dowie, J. A., 304 f. 
 Draper, J. W., 72. 
 Dresser, A. G., 298. 
 Dresser, H. W., 300, 301. 
 Dresser, J. A., 298, 299. 
 Dromore, Bishop of, 135. 
 Dryden, 155. 
 Dundee, B., 223. 
 Dupotel, Baron, 257. 
 Durham, Bishop of, 59. 
 Dziewicki, M. H., 51. 
 
 ECCLES, 146. 
 
 Eddy, Mrs., 16, 299, 300, 301, 
 
 302. 
 
 Edine, St., 76. 
 Edward the Confessor, 225, 226, 
 
 227, 228, 234. 
 Edward II, 145. 
 Edward III, 234 
 Edward VI, 248. 
 Eleazar, 37. 
 Elisha, 109. 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 184, 202, 229, 
 
 234, 247. 
 Elliotson, 267. 
 Elpideus, 59. 
 
 Empedocles, 29. 
 Encelius, 161. 
 Ennemoser, 266. 
 Ennodius, St., 59. 
 Erasmus, St., 74, 76. 
 Estrade, J. B., 106. 
 Euhodias, 114. 
 Eustachius, 86. 
 Eustasius, Abbe, 119, 120. 
 Eutrope, St., 76. 
 Evans, W. F., 299 f. 
 Evelyn, 241. 
 Evremond, St., 134. 
 
 FABIAN, POPE, 43. 
 
 Faria, 265. 
 
 Farnham, N. de, 59. 
 
 Fecamp, 107. 
 
 Felix, Minucius, 42. 
 
 Felix, Mons, 104. 
 
 Ferdinand, 155. 
 
 Fe"re", 255, 270. 
 
 Ferrarius, 198. 
 
 Fiage, St., 76. 
 
 Fillan, St., 88, 213. 
 
 Finney, C. G., 276, 277. 
 
 Fisher, G. P., 64. 
 
 Fitz-Nigel, R. 59. 
 
 Fletcher, 61. 
 
 Fletcher, H., 301. 
 
 Floyer, Sir J., 239. 
 
 Fluctibus, A., 151. 
 
 Fludd, Dr., 151, 250. 
 
 Foissac, 265. 
 
 Fontenelle, 19. 
 
 Fort, G. F., 46, 59, 63, 77, 80, 
 
 81, 96, 97, 121, 127, 149, 165, 
 
 171, 172, 194, 207. 
 Fortescue, Sir J., 228. 
 Fosbrooke, 84, 142. 
 Foster, Parson, 151. 
 Fox, G., 132 f. 
 Francis, Father, 91. 
 Francis I, Emperor, 146. 
 Francis I, King, 243. 
 Francis, St., 124. 
 Franklin, 259. 
 Franz, A., 171.
 
 314 
 
 INDEX 
 
 GALEN, 19, 196. 
 
 Gall, St., 46, 77, 81, 100, 119. 
 
 Gamaliel, 64. 
 
 Ganny, S., 125. 
 
 Gardiner, Bishop, 247. 
 
 Gassner, J. J., 136, 254. 
 
 Gemelli, 244. 
 
 Gemini, 74. 
 
 Genevieve, St., 68, 76, 118. 
 
 Genow, St., 76. 
 
 George I, 240. 
 
 George, St., 67, 94, 97, 98. 
 
 Gereon, St., 101. 
 
 Germain, St., 117. 
 
 Germanus, St., 76. 
 
 Gervasius, St., 65. 
 
 Gilbourne, Lord, 155. 
 
 Giles, St., 76. 
 
 Glocenius, 250. 
 
 Gmelin, 263. 
 
 Goldsmith, 19. 
 
 Googe, B., 203. 
 
 Gorres, 130. 
 
 Gower, 189. 
 
 Gracian, B., 250. 
 
 Greatrakes, V., 133 S. 
 
 Gregory, Mr., 248. 
 
 Gregory, of Nazianzus, 43, 118. 
 
 Gregory, of Tours, 44, 68, 69, 83, 
 
 118. 
 
 Gregory, St., 98. 
 Gregory the Great, 44, 45, 72. 
 Gregory XIII, Pope, 132. 
 Grimes, 268. 
 Gros, D. de, 269. 
 Grose, 90, 218. 
 Gudule, St., 104. 
 Guffe, John, 125. 
 Guthlac, St., 77. 
 
 HALL, BISHOP, 91, 158. 
 Hamerton, 138. 
 Hamilton, Miss M., 93, 94, 96. 
 Hammond, W. A., 153, 154, 157, 
 
 244, 245. 
 Hardy, 22. 
 Harlan, R., 306. 
 Harrington, Sir J., 163. 
 
 Hasted, 86. 
 
 Hatton, Lord Charles, 184, 247. 
 
 Helen, Empress, 70. 
 
 Helinotius, 250. 
 
 Hell, 252, 253. 
 
 Helmont, von, 150. 
 
 Henry II and III, 59. 
 
 Henry IV, 225. 
 
 Henry VII, 85, 234, 240. 
 
 Henry VIII, 247. 
 
 Hensler, 266. 
 
 Hercules, 33, 83. 
 
 Herring, 183. 
 
 Herz, Frau, 48. 
 
 Heylin, Dr., 238, 243. 
 
 Heywood, 189. 
 
 Higden, Ranulf, 91. 
 
 Hilarion, St., 38, 117. 
 
 Hippo, 64. 
 
 Hippocrates, 28, 32, 47. 
 
 Hippolito, 155. 
 
 Hobbes, 242. 
 
 Hohenlohe, Prince, 283 f. 
 
 Holloway, 262. 
 
 Holt, Sir J., 174 f. 
 
 Homer, 29, 30. 
 
 Hospinian, 247. 
 
 Howell, A. G., 124. 
 
 Howell, J., 152 f. 
 
 Hubert, St., 78, 79, 81, 82. 
 
 Hugo, 120. 
 
 Hyacinth, St., 76. 
 
 Hyde, 139. 
 
 Hygeia, Tecla, 86. 
 
 IATRICOS, 83. 
 Imbert-Gourbyzee, 106. 
 Innocent II, 55. 
 Innocent III, 55. 
 Irenseus, 41, 113. 
 Isaac, 100. 
 
 JACKSON, 167. 
 
 Jacob, 97, 100. 
 
 James, 114, 115. 
 
 James I, 229. 
 
 James II, 153, 238. 
 
 Jerome, of Brunsweig, 187.
 
 INDEX 
 
 315 
 
 Jerome, St., 117. 
 
 Joane, Mother, of Stowe, 197. 
 
 Job, St., 76. 
 
 John, 66, 123. 
 
 John, Father, of Cronstadt, 294 f. 
 
 John, of Gladdesden, 145, 206. 
 
 John, St., 67, 74, 75, 76, 93, 
 
 97. 
 
 John, St., of Beverly, 121. 
 Johnson, Dr. S., 238 f. 
 Johnson, Mrs., 239. 
 Joseph, 25, 75. 
 Josephus, 28, 37. 
 Julian, 32, 44. 
 Juliana, St., 76, 118. 
 Julius Africanus, 166. 
 Jussieu, L. de, 259. 
 Just, St., 98. 
 Justina, Empress, 65. 
 
 KAMPFER, 146. 
 
 King, E. A., 60, 173, 182, 187, 
 
 193, 204, 205, 217. 
 Kircher, 250. 
 Koreff, 263. 
 Kublai Khan, 185. 
 
 LACIANUS, 64. 
 
 Lactantius, 42. 
 
 La Fontaine, 267. 
 
 Laneham, R., 229. 
 
 Lascaris, 243. 
 
 Laurent, du, 192. 
 
 Laurentia, 127. 
 
 Laurentius, 225, 243. 
 
 Lavater, 263. 
 
 Lavoisier, 259. 
 
 Lawrence, St., 74, 76. 
 
 Leatus, 75. 
 
 Lecky, W. E. H., 42, 65, 113, 
 
 242, 243. 
 Lee, 267. 
 Lemnius, L., 195. 
 Leo, 74. 
 Leo, Pope, 100. 
 Leonastes, 68. 
 Leverett, John, 136. 
 Liberius, St., 76. 
 
 Libra, 74. 
 
 Liebeault, 269, 270, 271. 
 
 Lilly, 86. 
 
 Lindsey, Earl of, 231. 
 
 Littre, M., 80. 
 
 Lluellin, 212. 
 
 Locke, 242. 
 
 Lodge, 198. 
 
 London, Bishop of, 59. 
 
 Longfellow, 273. 
 
 Louis I, 225. 
 
 Louis XIII, 244. 
 
 Louis, Prince, 285. 
 
 Louis, St., 79. 
 
 Loutherbourg, 262. 
 
 Lucian, 218. 
 
 Lucy, St., 76. 
 
 Luke, 75, 97. 
 
 Lupton, 180, 185. 
 
 Luther, Martin, 47, 129. 
 
 MACARIUS, ST., 116. 
 Macaulay, C. S., 89. 
 Macaulay, Mrs., 89. 
 Macaulay, T. B., 232, 241. 
 Macdonald, 204. 
 Machaon, 30. 
 Mack, J., 286. 
 Mackay, C., 69, 71, 100, 104, 
 
 108, 157, 256, 262. 
 Madern, St., 91. 
 Magnus, St., 79. 
 Maimonides, 140. 
 Mainadus, Dr., 262. 
 Maine, St., 76. 
 Marcellus, 168. 
 Margaret, St., 76. 
 Maria, S. dell 'Arco, 107. 
 Mark, 75, 99, 114. 
 Marsden, 199. 
 Martin, St., 68, 69, 76, 78, 83, 
 
 117, 120. 
 
 Martyr, Justin, 41, 42. 
 Marus, St., 76. 
 Mary, 71. 
 Mary, Queen, 248. 
 Maspero, G., 25, 26. 
 Massinger, 35.
 
 316 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Matthew, Father, 127, 128, 289 f. 
 Maur, St., 76. 
 Maxwell, 251. 
 Mayerne, Dr., 153. 
 Meaux, Bishop of, 47. 
 Melanchthon, 129. 
 Melton, 74. 
 Mesmer, 6, 250. 
 Meyer, R., 133. 
 Mezeray, 225. 
 Michel, M., 283. 
 Milmine, G., 304. 
 Milner, John, Dr., 83. 
 Milton, 242. 
 Miranda, 155. 
 Miranda, A., de, 130. 
 Mix, E., 290. 
 Mizaldus, 159. 
 Momford, Lord, 219. 
 Monardes, 183. 
 Montfort, Marquis, 97. 
 Mooney, N., 197. 
 Morison, 122, 123. 
 Morley, H., 191. 
 Morley, Squire, 185. 
 Moses, 25, 69, 72, 97. 
 Moses, J., 135. 
 Muller, Johannes, 11. 
 Monger, 19. 
 Murmerstadt, 285. 
 Myers, A. T., 106. 
 Myers, F. W. H., 106, 265, 
 271. 
 
 NAAMAN, 83. 
 Nabonnese, 98. 
 Napoleon, 108. 
 Navarette, 201. 
 Neri, St. Philip, 132. 
 Nevius, J. F., 60. 
 Newton, Dr., 292. 
 Nicetius, 67. 
 Nicholas, Dr. J., 230. 
 Nicodemus, 75. 
 Noizet, 265. 
 
 Northampton, Lord, 197. 
 Nottingham, William, 125. 
 Nun, St., 213. 
 
 ODILO, 81. 
 Oldmixon, 239. 
 Onymus, Prof., 285. 
 Origen, 26, 42, 43, 114. 
 Oswald, St., 90. 
 Otilia, St., 74, 76. 
 
 PALLADIUS, 116. 
 
 Paninguem, Tome", 130. 
 
 Paracelsus, 5, 150, 151, 181, 212, 
 249, 250. 
 
 Paris, Deacon, 105. 
 
 Paris, Dr., 142. 
 
 Parthenius, St., 115. 
 
 Pascal, 169. 
 
 Pastor, St., 98. 
 
 Patrick, Bishop, 136. 
 
 Patterson, Mrs., 298. 
 
 Paul III, Pope, 100. 
 
 Paul, St., 37, 72, 75, 126. 
 
 Paula, Franciscus de, 120. 
 
 Peckham, Sir G., 86. 
 
 Peebles, J. M., 60. 
 
 Pennant, 85. 
 
 Pepys, 201, 204, 210, 216. 
 
 Percy, Bishop, 246. 
 
 Perier, Mademoiselle, 103. 
 
 Perkins, B. D., 262. 
 
 Pernel, St., 76. 
 
 Peter, 248. 
 
 Peter, St., 5, 71, 72, 100, 121. 
 
 Petftin, 261. 
 
 Petronilla, St., 76. 
 
 Pettigrew, T. J., 55, 75, 76, 139, 
 140, 141,, 146, 157, 159, 162, 
 167, 170, 176, 177, 181, 184, 
 198. 201, 202, 204, 205, 207, 
 208, 213, 218, 225, 236, 244, 
 248, 296. 
 
 Pezold, 263. 
 
 Phaire, St., 76. 
 
 Philip I, 243. 
 
 Philip II of Spain, 54. 
 
 Philip of Valois, 244. 
 
 Phillips, Elder, 287. 
 
 Philo, 37. 
 
 Pilate, Pontius, 41, 97, 105.
 
 INDEX 
 
 317 
 
 Pilkington, Bishop, 167. 
 
 Pinkerton, 88. 
 
 Pisces, 74. 
 
 Pistol, 207. 
 
 Pius IX, Pope, 296. 
 
 Platerus, 159. 
 
 Plato, 19, 29. 
 
 Pliny, 159, 177, 182, 183, 198, 
 
 209. 
 
 Podalirius, 30. 
 Polo, Marco, 185. 
 Pomponatius, 160. 
 Ponponazzi, Pierre, 25. 
 Pope, 138. 
 
 Porta, B., 151, 159, 251. 
 Posidonius, 44. 
 Poyan, C., 268. 
 Price, W. T., 278. 
 Protasius, St., 65. 
 Puller, 115. 
 Puyse"gur, Marquis de, 260, 
 
 261. 
 Pythagoras, 190. 
 
 QUAN, ST., 91. 
 
 Quimby, P. P., 17, 297 ff., 302, 
 
 303. 
 
 Quintan, St., 76. 
 Quirinus, St., 74. 
 
 RACHEL, 145. 
 Radegonde, 121. 
 Radstock, Lord, 283. 
 Ramesay, 158. 
 Raphael, 43. 
 Ravenscroft, 190. 
 Refinus, 115. 
 Reid, 273. 
 Remigius, St., 77. 
 Renodeus, 159, 160, 161. 
 Richards, Elder, 287. 
 Richelieu, Cardinal, 244. 
 Richmond, Duke of, 231. 
 Riley, I. W., 287. 
 Roche, St., 296. 
 Rochus, St., 74, 76. 
 Romanus, St., 76. 
 Rosalia, St., 102. 
 
 Ruffian, St., 76. 
 Russel, 200. 
 Rusticus, Elpidius, 59. 
 Ruthlein, Captain, 285. 
 
 SAGITTARIUS, 74. 
 
 Salverte, E., 40, 41, 59, 83, 85, 
 
 136. 
 
 Samonicus, S., 166. 
 Sanderson, Dr., 231. 
 Sanford, F. W., 281 f. 
 Saturninus, St., 123. 
 Sauveur, St., of Horta, 130 f. 
 Schlatter, F., 290. 
 Scoresby, 267. 
 Scorpius, 74. 
 Scott, R., 196. 
 Scott, W., 189, 193, 213. 
 Sebastian, St., 76, 98. 
 Selle, 263. 
 Senso, Dr., 128. 
 Serapion, 180. 
 Severin, St., 67, 81. 
 Severus, 114. 
 Servetus, 244. 
 Shakespeare, 108, 224, 273. 
 Shaw, 203. 
 Siemers, 266. 
 Sigismund, St., 76. 
 Simeon, St., 97. 
 Simpson, A. B., 281. 
 Sinsheim, Count von, 284. 
 Skippon, 198. 
 Smith, Joseph, Jr., 286 f. 
 Smith, Sir T., 184, 247. 
 Socrates, 29, 86. 
 Sophronius, 93. 
 Southampton, Earl of, 231. 
 Southey, 143, 273. 
 Stengal, 54. 
 Stephen, St., 64, 75. 
 Stephens, 248. 
 Sterne, 3. 
 Stevens, E., 231. 
 Stowe, 3. 
 Straus, 155. 
 Strype, 202. 
 Styria, 107.
 
 318 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Sulpicius, St., 77. 
 Syward, John, 125, 126. 
 
 TACITUS, 112. 
 
 Tairise, St., 99. 
 
 Tathiedo, 75. 
 
 Tatian, 40. 
 
 Taurus, 74. 
 
 Tecla, St., 85. 
 
 Tennyson, A., 139. 
 
 Tenos, Madonna of, 95. 
 
 Tertullian, 42, 114. 
 
 Theocritus, 189. 
 
 Theodelinda, 66. 
 
 Theodoric, 59. 
 
 Theodosius, 70. 
 
 Thiers, M., 192. 
 
 Thmuis, Bishop, 116. 
 
 Thomas, of Celano, 124. 
 
 Thomas, St., 77. 
 
 Thomas, St., of Hereford, 125. 
 
 Tignan, St., 75. 
 
 Tooker, Dr., 229. 
 
 Torpacion, 114. 
 
 Townley, 140. 
 
 Townshend, 267. 
 
 Trickmore, 190. 
 
 Trine, R. W., 301. 
 
 Trippe, S., 148. 
 
 Trundel, D., 279 f. 
 
 Tuckey, C. L., 245. 
 
 Tuke, H., 11, 237, 286. 
 
 Turner, 211. 
 
 Turner, Dr. D., 239. 
 
 URSULA, ST., 102. 
 
 VALENTINE, 76. 
 Vanzesmes, de, 258. 
 Vardrille, St., 119. 
 Venise, St., 76. 
 
 Vespasian, 37, 112, 195. 
 Victor, 260. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel, 245. 
 Vincent, St., 77. 
 Vittrici, Pietro, 132. 
 Vitus, St., 76, 203. 
 
 WALDERSTEIN, 3. 
 
 Wallery, St., 76. 
 
 Wallia, St., 76. 
 
 Waterford, Simon, 125. 
 
 Wenefride, St., 91. 
 
 Werenfels, 156, 208. 
 
 Wesley, J., 275, 276, 
 
 Westbury, Lord, 48, 49. 
 
 Whichcote, Dr., 136. 
 
 White, A. D., 39. 44, 47, 48, 52, 
 
 78, 100, 101, 110, 146, 233. 
 Wierus, 110. 
 Wilkins, Bishop, 136. 
 Willabrod, 77. 
 William III, 228, 238. 
 William of Malmesbury, 225, 
 
 227. 
 
 Wilson, Mr., 48. 
 Winthrop, Governor, 19. 
 Wirdig, S., 251. 
 Withers, F., 138. 
 Wohyus, E., 150. 
 Wolfart, 263. 
 Wolfgang, St., 76. 
 Wood, H., 301. 
 
 XAVIER, ST. FRANCIS, 111, 129, 
 130. 
 
 ZACCHEUS, 75. 
 Zeller, S., 280. 
 Zola, E., 106. 
 Zosimos, 93.

 
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 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 University of California, San Diego 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 DECJJ 1975 
 
 
 JAN 05 n 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C139 
 
 UCSD Libr.