heucher magic plants 1886 complete

7/29/2019 Heucher Magic Plants 1886 Complete

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Boston Medical Libraryin the Francis A.CountwayLibrary of Medicine -^Boston


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Digitized by tine Internet Arciiivein 2010 witii funding from

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http://www.archive.org/details/magicplantsbeingOOheuc


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MUiotfitta miosa.

BEING A TRANSLATION OF A CURIOUSTRACT ENTITLED

WRITTEN BYM. J. H. HEUCHER.

C1700. J

EDITED BYEDMUND GOLDSMID, F.R.H.S.,

F.S.A. (Scot.)

L"i'iViVi'i';

PRIVATELY PRINTED, EDINBURGH.1886.


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BibliDtheca Curios^a.

BEING A TRANSLATION OF A CURIOUSTRACT ENTITLED

DE YE(}ETALTBTTS MAGICTS.WRITTEN BY

M. J. H. HEUCHER.(1700.J

' EDITED BYEDMUND GOLDSMID, F.R.H.S.

F.S.A. (Scot.)

^ ^^ ^^ -*-

PRIVATELY PRINTED, EDINBURGH.1SS6.


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This edition is limited to 27s small-paper copies,and "j^ large-paper copies.

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INTRODUCTION.Y Y V V T

ik n ^HE curious tract translated inthe following pages is one ofthose strange compositionswritten in the 17th century,

wherein the writer, evidently a man ofgreat erudition, endeavours to unmaskwhat he considers the superstition of hisage, but, in his attempt, at once exposeshis own credulity.The belief in Magic and Witchcraft

was almost universal in the MiddleAges, and " aifected every class ofSociety, and all sorts and conditions ofmen." In our own country, as evidencedby our judicial records, the unreasoning


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iv Introduction.

credulity which swept across the civilisedworld, rose to high-water mark, assisted asit was by the efforts of that wise fool of aKing, James the First of England and Sixthof Scotland.

Heucher's pamphlet itself is a small ^to.of 1 6 pp. I know of no copy besides myown, which formed part of the MaidmentLibrary. The imprint is "Lipsiae, apudPaulum Ehrentium, MDCC."

I have given, as an Appendix, a transla-tion from the Official records of the RoyalCourt of Guernsey, of the trial of threewomen for witchcraft in 1617. Thistranslation is taken from Mr.

J.L. Pitt's

Witchcraft and Devil-Lore in the ChannelIslands. Kxvf one interested in the subjectshould get a copy of this very curious,interesting and really well edited pam-phlet. EDMUND GOLDSMID.Edinburgh, March 2%th, 1886.


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riDaaic plants,

J. M. H. HEUCHER.I. /^FTEN and forcibly does it occur to me to

wonder how it has happened that many men,of glorious reputation and fainous for the greatnessof their illustrious deeds, have believed in wickedand unlawful arts, yea, in some hidden compactentered upon with the devil. For, passing overthe dreadful blasphemies of the Hebrew nationagainst the Saviour, and the insolence of Ilieroclesaccusing of sorcery both Him and his most holydisciples, chiefly Peter and Paul, and also theimpious attacks of Plinius and Apuleius againstMoses, and the false ideas of Theophilus ofAlexandria and Eustathius of Antioch aboutOrigen, and of the Arians about Athanasius ; Ifind the great names of Pythagoras, Platinus,Jamblicus, Porphyrins, Chicus ^sculanus, Anselm


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6 MAGIC PLANTS.of Parma, Peter of Aponum, Albertus Magnus,Frischlinus, Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, MichaelScott, and Roger Bacon, and finally the names ofeven the Popes Sylvester II. and Gregory VII.mentioned in the catalogues of renowned Magi-cians. And concerning all of these, it is clearlyconfirmed that they stood out from the crowd asillustrious and of great celebrity, as men whom alofty spirit and intellect separated from the vulgarherd of litej-ati ; a careful study of astrology andnature gave them an understanding of all themost abstruse questions, and transmitted theirbrilliant theories even to posterity, so that itseems to be almost superfluous for any one, afterthe example of Gabriel Naudseus, to defend themby a written apology. But I ceased to wonderwhen I thought of envy, the assiduous companionof virtue, and when I noticed how much it pre-vails, nay, even when I considered the groundsthat may have led to such belief. There are suchvery wicked examples of profane deceivers meetingus in every age, that I need not go into ancienthistory, sacred or profane ; the more recentwritings of Doctor Faust, Zedechias the Jew,Scotus Parvus, Christopherus Wageners, the threeEschelles, of Merlinus and Maugis, or of Naudseus(if you prefer magic romances) suffice. Theirtricks and manifold deceits, although not to becompared with the wonderful works of wisdom


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MAGIC PLANTS. 7and art carried out by the learned men mentionedbefore, made a deep impression, however, owingto the particularly gross ignorance of the ages inwhich they lived, but they also left on them anindelible blot of infamy.

2. For such barbarity and want of knowledgeexisted in their time, that every class of learningwhich was not of the common kind was looked uponwith suspicion, and men, carried away by their ownbase ideas, erroneously thought it had been drawnfrom the most filthy lake of hell. And, indeed, amore just or more accurate judgment could scarcelybe expected from those men, since, besides theirutter ignorance of literature, they were alsoignorant of real magic, which embraces in itssphere the highest culminating point of all sciences,and by the help of which rare, abstruse, andunaccustomed effects are produced. For, be it farfrom me to assent to the opinion of those who,with Thomas Erastus and his defender GeorgiusHornius, renounce all magic and condemn it asillicit and low ; since all those reasons which theyhave hitherto brought before the public are opento many objections, and if they do prove anything,it is nothing else than that the legitimate use ofmagic, as very often happens in other cases, hasbeen brought into disrepute by abuse. People ingeneral are hardly cautious enough, and are a littletoo violent and abusive regarding lawful magic.


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O MAGIC PLANTS,looking upon it as being unlawful and beingaccustomed to call it forbidden, devilish, deceitful,supernatural, poisonous, black, foul, base, ofhad repute, the evil art and other names.These men indeed, believe as Democritus,Averhoes, and Simplicius do, that there are nodevils. They either attribute all results to goodangels, whom by reason of their superiority theycall spirits, and argue that our air is full of them ;to which class belong the Platonics, Jamblicus,Porphyrius, Proclus and Julian the Emperor ; orelse they think, with Avicenna and Petrus Pomp-onatius his pupil, that all things spring fromhidden magnetic properties, and a peculiar stateof the atmosphere, or with Reginald Scott traceback most cases to madness, black bile, or otherdisturbances of nature, or along with ThomasCampanella, and Marcus Marx, believe in thepower of concentrated will. I may mentionCornelius Loosens, Gallidus Gaudanus, RobertusFludd, John Weir, Bodinus, and many others assupporting my contention, since it can be seen bytheir writings that they believed in such a thing asbeneficent sorcery.

3. Therefore, both these opinionsbeing considered,it. may be as well to conclude that magic is notaltogether to be renounced and despised, sincesome magic may be found, which is not only freefrom wickedness, but which even deserves much


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MAGIC PLANTS. 9commendation. Although I would willingly grantthat what is base and devilish, is often blendedwith that blameless and harmless science, just asthat science in an impure state often advances inthe guise of one which is legitimate, and adoptsmethods from nature. This the most ancient ofthe Magi had already done, as Lucanus, Statius,Seneca the tragedian, and others assert. Forthey wished to appear to have accomplished everything they did by the power of Nature. Whenceyou often read that they invoked Hecate, since byher they specified nature herself, or the Empressof Nature, which fact the passage in Eusebius, inPrapar. Evatzg. makes tolerably clear, whereinHecate says of herself : ' ' Bearing the threefoldsymbols of a threefold nature." Nay, whathinders me from stating with Vossius de Orig. etPror. Idol., that evil spirits accomplish nothingsave by natural powers, and that nothing can bedone except by the powers of nature. For what,pray, if the power they have of moving themselvesand other bodies separate from them, of drivingforward or backward the elements, of transportingweights as if by machinery, of gathering thingsscattered and scattering things gathered, of hidingthings seen, of assuming other bodies, of applyingactives to passives, of changing organism itself, ofdestroying sensations, and of accomplishinginnumerable other things ; what is all this whereby

B


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lO MAGIC PLANTS.they strive to deceive men, but making use ofof natural forces?

4. All these things have such a considerable bear-ing on our theme, that they are altogether worthyof being duly inquired into. There are manyeffects which we see produced, particularlyadmirable and unusual, which must be attributedto the Supreme Deity alone, and on that accountyou may consistently call them supernatural, sinceby a long distance they outstrip the usual powersof nature. Others indeed, springing from thesame Creator, owe nevertheless their wholebeginning to the motion, imparted and definitelyimplanted by fixed laws in the system of the worldat its creation, and are therefore simply callednatural. Others indeed, differ from these to thisextent, that they depend chiefly on our imagina-tion, the stupendous power of which let us nottreat too lightly. And we believe there are someallied to these, which emanate from superstition,as Theophastus very well shows in his Characters.Finally, certain results which we are able to assignto noneof these classes of causesyet enumerated, areattributed to the devil, and thus belong to thesupernatural. Being so far removed from God,they have been distinguished by the name ofdevilish. Moreover, to this list I would add allthose, which although they depend on, andproceed solely from, some evident natural cause.


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MAGIC PLANTS. IInevertheless, because the devil mixes himself upwith them, pretends that they are his own workand feigns that he is their author, deserve to becalled devilish as well as magical.

5. For, indeed, what powerful mind is not able toperceive by fair investigation, how feebly, howconfusedly, and with what small degree ofaccuracy, these subjects are handled in the writ-ings of most men, for, although we have a verybountiful supply of authors on this theme, so muchso that, if you wished to estimate the number ofthose who have written on magic, your paperwould hardly contain them, you will neverthelessbe unable to name one who has unfolded andexplained everything, as was befitting. I willnot, at this time, discuss all magic, which indeed,these little pages would not contain, but I placebefore myself, as my theme, for the present atleast, the vegetable kingdom alone, in which, theindustry, if not of all, at any rate of many hasfailed to enlighten us, and since, so far as I know,former writers have recorded in their writings fartoo little about magical plants, I will devotemyself to this, if I may use the expression, fruitfulsubject. Poets (since frequent mention of thesubject is made in their writings,) must have beenaware that thereafter, its usefulness would be fullyappreciated. For, who can forget the powerfuland noxious herbs of Medea, the enchanting herbs


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12 MAGIC PLANTS.of Lucan, the fatal herbs of Claudian, the flourish-ing plants of Maro, and lastly those venomousplants, of which abundance was to be found inColchis and Thessally ?Who is ignorant of the Nepenthe of Homer, thePolion of Hesiod, the plant of the Ethiopiansdrying up waters, the Asphodel, sweet food of theManes, the plant of Juba and Bela arousing thedead, the soothsaying Thelangis, the Juniper andHypericum putting the demons to flight, theAlyssus, Baccharis, Adianthus, Satyrion and theAmulets of the Syderii charms against witch-craft? Nevertheless it has not yet appearednecessary to any one to explain these mysteries sothat the observant reader might rest satisfied withregard to them. Which fact therefore the moreimpels me to embrace the opportunity.

6. I confess that, at first, I was filled with noinconsiderable joy when I read the list of theauthors who have spoken of magic, not withoutpraiseHermes, Orpheus, Museeus, Pythagoras,Democritus, Empedocles, Kiranus, and others, allof whom are said to have praised magical plants ;from this I promised myself a great solace to mylabour. But, indeed, all hope immediately cameto naught when I found that most of these authorshad been destroyed by the injury of time, or ifany fragments of their writings survive they are ofuncertain and slight reliance, as there is still


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MAGIC PLANTS. 1much doubt as to the real authorship of suchfragments. Nor do the writers whose works onplants survive satisfy my expectations much more,namely, Theophrastus Eresius, Plinius, Apuleius,and those who have drawn small streams fromthese sourcesTheophrastus, Paracelsus, Th.Cantipratanus, the feigned name of Albert theGreat, Bernh. G. Penotus, Alex. Suchtenius,Leonh. Turnheuserus, Carrichterus, Mich. Sendi-govius, Jo. Em. Burggravius, Wreckerus, Porta,Lemnius, and a few others. These writers onplants, on the wonders of nature and other hiddenthings, however much they may wish to appearto have founded the healing effects of herbs onnatural laws, either wittingly or corrupted bysuperstition, have nevertheless inserted in theirwritings certain things which savour somewhat ofmagic and supernatural agency.

7. It behoves the mind to approach this subjectfree from every preconceived notion and super-stition, and properly imbued with natural scienceand learning, nay, even with a knowlege of thehealing art itself. For when those who firstwrote on the subject gave their attention almostsolely to meditation about the stars, and believednatural philosophy and the healing art to beintimately connected with these heavenly bodies,they disseminated seeds of magic, from whichthat science grew to such a degree that it over-


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14 MAGIC PLANTS.spread the whole world with its pollution. Otthis fact Pliny is a remarkable witness in hisNatural History, confirming what we have saidby these words :" No one can doubt that magicis the greatest of the sciences, seeing that it is theonly one which embraces three other scienceshaving power over the human mind, and reducesthem to one. No one doubts that it has sprungfrom medicine, and become something loftier andholier than its parent." This is what Grillus alsomaintains, saying that all the Egyptians arephysicians. From which fact it is clearly provedthat the healing art almost always flourishedamong that nation, and thus, as we shall soonshow, contributed much to our argument.

8. I will not flatter myself that this work will beso complete as to appear perfect in all parts beforethe learned world. It is sufficient to have wishedto make it so, in so far as it goes. I have writtenthis present work on the so-called vegetablekingdom, including and embracing in its limitsnothing less than all that springs from the soil,and is thus brought into existence, to germinate,be nourished and increase, both in roots, leaves,stalks, stems, flowers, branches, twigs, fruits andseeds ;. in short, nothing in this work belongseither to the animal or mineral kingdoms, and letit be remembered that magic specifies not merelywhat is devilish, but also all that which is con-


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MAGIC PLANTS, 1sidered supernatural through ignorance and super-stition. Since therefore, I intend to treat ofmagical herbs, I will specially enumerate if notall, at least most plants, herbs, trees, leaves,flowers, fruits and seeds, which are considered tosavour of anything superstitious and deceitful, andthose by means of which the great author offalsehoods imposes on men ; and then, as far as Ican, I will enquire into the causes of the effectsattributed to these herbs.And, from this little work of mine, I hope not

only that some advantage will accrue to those wholong to understand many of the more obscurepassages of old authors, but I also believe thatmany of the deceptions practised by sorcerers willbe detected, by which it is possible that ourknowledge of natural philosophy, as well as ofmedicine may greatly be increased.

9. Wherefore, if any one is resolved to commencefrom the beginning, he, in my opinion, will notbe far wrong if, first of all, he seek the origin ofscience in the study of old authors on the healingart. Thus, although the first principles of thescience ought rightly and deservedly to be attri-buted to the Egyptians whose very ancientrecords, however, are far from clearyet theseelements are by no means free from superstition,for Africa is considered the mother of all unna-tural things. Different, indeed, was the reasoning


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l6 MAGIC PLANTS.of the Egyptians from that of Aristotle. For he,dealing with the interpretation of dreams, decidedthat no dreams were sent by the Gods to men, asit was unworthy of their dignity to go into thecouches of sleepers and disturb the weary. TheEgyptians, on the contrary, when they were aboutto consult destiny regarding the cure of any severeand particularly desperate disease, having dulypurified their mind before they betook themselvesto the couch, used to wait for the revelations ofthe Gods in their dreams, and according to thedictates of these revelations, used this or thatmethod of cure. As this rite was a little toosimple at first, so in process of time, it was moreand more overloaded with ceremonies. For,when many plants and flowers had come underthe notice of the sorcerers, they, with the selfishimagination of enthusiasts grew to consider themas favours stored up beforehand for themselves.Then they besought heaven and the Gods withhymns, to show by means of a dream, whichplants were the best cure for the disease, then,after preparing themselves by prayer to sleep,whatever deity first appeared to them in theirdream was supposed to indicate the plant speciallyattributed to him, as the one divinely destined tosubdue the disease. Which fact Jamblicus,referring to the Egyptian mysteries, testifies to inthe following words : Thus, in the temple of Escu-


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MAGIC PLANTS. I7lapius, diseases are cured by divine dreams, andthe healing art arose from holy dreams," AndAristides further confirms this.

10. Not that the Egyptians, at the shrines of Isis,Osiris, and of the Egyptian Aesculapius, whichwas close by the banks of the Nile, followed thiscustom in the same manner as the Greeks andRomans in the temples of Hephcestion or Vulcan,but the general process was as familiar to theGreeks and Romans as to the Egyptians. For,with this intention and design, the former oftenused to sleep in the temple of ^sculapius, towhich custom Aristophanes refers when he says :" Let both you and I go as soon as possible, andlie down in the temple of ^sculapius." Whichrite Plautus also alluded to in Latin ; " Thereforeit happens that this sick procurer lies in the templeof ^sculapius." They were accustomed t^ actin the same way in this temple, as in the city ofPergamos in Asia, whither Herodianus states thatAntoninus Caracalla had set out, "wishing to usethe cures of ^^sculapius. " The same thing usedto take place in the temple of the OropianAmphiarus, about which Pausanias says : " Sacri-ficing a ram to him, and spreading out the skin tosleep, waiting for the appearance of the dream."And from these testimonies of authors it is prettyclear, how remarkably the "lying down" of theGreeks, and the zealously "watching the gods"


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1 MAGIC PLANTS.of the Latins, the hides of those, and the couchesof these, corresponded to one another, all ofwhich things have reference to the custom ofsleeping in temples and to the rite of lying in waitfor divine revelations to be obtained by means ofsleep. In very truth, what class of vulgar dreamsthese were, those may judge, who know howperverse and idolatrous a worship of the godsprevailed in those times, and what sort of deitiesthe heathen worshipped and honoured. I, indeed,have no doubt that the devil was by no meansforgetful of himself, but was chiefly intent on hisown profit, and that he had embraced this suitableand very convenient opportunity of defiling thenatural and healing Science by means of the mostwicked superstitions. Which thing even Borrichiusinother passages the keenest opponent of Couringuis,who thinks along with us, considers necessary toconfess in his book on the hermetic art, and onaccount of this, thinks that we should lament themiseries of these nations estranged from the trueworship of the deity. Nevertheless, Kircherus inhis CEdipus jEgyptiacus, seems to have spokentoo strongly about these enchantments of dreamers,since he thought that, although this plan of curingafforded wonderful results even in lamentablediseases, these were by no means to be ascribedto the natural power and quality of the plants, butto a hidden compact and treaty with demons. For


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MAGIC PLANTS. I9although very often cures have been eftected, theplants used in which have been only an outwardsign, the devils supplying the actual power ofcuring, no one, nevertheless, will hesitate to assertthat none of those remedies, acting in a naturalway, have displayed a power and efficacy of theirown.

1 1 . And so the Egyptians obtained some fair know-ledge of plants, and did not remain content withdreams, but advanced even further. They had,indeed, selected from those who had appeared tothe dreamers ten gods, whom they used especiallyto entreat to show the readiest cures of diseases.To each of these they had given a separatenumber number one to the Supreme Deityand the Cause of Causes, number two to Mephta,number three to Minerva, number four to Apolloor Horus, number five to Isis, number six toOsiris, number seven to Mercury, number eight toAmmon, number nine to Typhon, lastly, numberten to Momphta, and they had thus come to con-nect numbers with the gods. Thereafter theyexamined the numbers the leaves, plants, andflowers had, how many pips fruit contained, andhow many joints stems possessed, and afterwardsconsidered them sacred to that god whose num-ber was thus represented, and placed them underhis guardianship. Nor did they attend to thenumber only, but earnestly watched the colour


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MAGIC PLANTS. 21dedicated to himself. Firmicus, Haephestion theTheban, and Manlius differ among themselvesabout the Decani and their number, whether therewere thirty-six only, three always being given toeach sign of the zodiac, or whether, indeed, therewere more ; or whether every one of these hadunder him his own subordinates and fellow-workers ; I am content to believe that they weredivided according to the twelve signs of thezodiac, possessed of unlimited power over thewhole human body, and were wont to be pro-pitiated by certain plants. Nay, it was a properand extremely common custom to appoint toseparate signsnay, to separate constellationstheir own herbs ; Abenrahman, the Arabianphilosopher, moreover, relates that they chosefor use as medicines all forms of nature and gradesof beings which possessed any resemblance to, orquality in common with, the seven planets. Asan example, all forms which bore any resemblanceto the sun they chose from minerals, metals,stones, animals, plants, and herbs, and turnedthem to use as medicine for the heart, because theheart is, as it were, the sun of a smaller world ;which things can be still more comprehensivelyread in Jamblichus's De Mysteriis ^gyptiortun,Marsilius, and likewise in Ficinus.

1 3 .Who does not see that later, further superstitionssprang from this connection of plants with Heavenly


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22 MAGIC PLANTS.bodies, and amongst these I may specially mentionthe belief that the efficacy of the plants dependedon the hour they were gathered in the meadows,which hour was fixed by the influence of the stars.And those will not oppose this base and falsecustom, who still believe that greater powers liein the stems of Hypericum, dug up on the Feastof St. John, in twigs of the wild cherry cut off onthe sacred anniversary of St. Martin, and in thesympathetic ashen wood, split up at noon, whenthe sun is in the sign Virgo, and the moon in acrescent state. Of this superstition Keinsius(in var. led. Freitag. noct. med.), Maxwellus(Medicin. Magnet.) and QxzSmxs, (Arcan. medic.)supply many examples. Kircherus tries to provethat, particularly at the time of the solstice, theleaves of the willow, white poplar, elm, lime, andolive turn their underside to the sky; for this veryreason, therefore, I am not willing to leave out ofaccount all motions of the heavenly bodies;besides, in the work of Gesnerus, we come acrossnot a few examples of plants having been affectedin shape by the sun and moon, this being a clearproof of harmony with their own constellations.Much less do I strive to reject or reproach allplucking of plants at fixed times as being anunnecessary process, desiring merely to prove, withCouringius, that the idea of the risings, settings,and positions of the constellations fixing the


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MAGIC PLANTS, 23different times of collection, is ridiculous, andmoreover, that the belief that we can determinethe very days, hours, and even minutes, savoursaltogether of superstition, and by no means differsfrom the doctrines of the Egyptians. Whichideas Helmontius refutes uncommonly well, andcensures in the following words. He says, "Inmodern books on Medicine there be some whoascribes a great number of diseases to signs of theZodiac, and since the number of these signs wastoo small, they extended each into three sections,in order, forsooth, to divide all herbs into thirtysix classes. Do we not know that the soil has acapacity of raising plants from itself, which capa-city, therefore, it need not beg from heaven."Finally, concerning the apportionment of plants tothe seven planets I have nothing to say, exceptthat the very number of the planets now knownsufficiently silences the theory.

14. Neither, however, is it right, in makingresearches about plants, to believe that all thescience of the Egyptians was magic ; although Icannot but greatly approve of the way they judgedof the excellence of herbs by the help of theirexternal senses. Nay, even he may not haveerred who has said that these men surpassed inmany ways the carefulness of later writers, when,besides taste and smell, which almost alone yousee our botanists employ, they also summoned to


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24 MAGIC PLANTS.their assistance hearing, sight, and touch. Withthe help of the ear they judged by the sharp,heavy, ringing, dull, harsh, or gentle sound, ofthe consistency of the stem ; by the hand, fromthe smoothness, roughness, softness, or hardness,of its texture ; and lastly, by the eyes they decidedfrom the colours as to the virtues lurking within.Thus, by judging carefully from their senses, theywere able to infer and learn the effects of plants.

15. But, truly, the more correctly they conductedthemselves in this matter the more basely didthey devote themselves to superstition. Carefullythey used to watch for the distinctive mark ofevery plant, observed to which member of thehuman body it corresponded, and carefully notedthe result, afterwards thinking that plant mostsuitable to that limb which it resembled by itsown external shape. Or by a certain supposedanalogy of qualities, they applied it as a remedyto that limb. Thus the peony flowers yet enclosedin the bud and poppy heads they dedicated to thehead. In like manner the Euphrastia, Caltha,Heiracius, and Anthemis they thought beneficialto the eyes, because in them they found somethingof the first elements of the eye : they assigned theroot of the Dentaria to the teeth, of the Anthorato the heart. If, therefore, they came across anyplant, the Cynosorchis, for example, like thegenitals in shape, they persuaded themselves that


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MAGIC PLANTS. 25it most certainly cured the sexual passions, sinceby its influence they believed that deity could besummoned who presided over the genitals.

i6. For a like reason, also, they employed thejuices of plants which in colour resembled the juicesor humours of the human body, for the purpose ofcleansing it of the offending humour. Hence,they wished to cure the yellow bile with thesaffron-coloured juices of plants, the black bilewith the black, purple or azure phlegm with thewhite, blood with the red, and milk and semenwith (he juices resembling milk. Whence it canbe inferred that this science was not, as many(among whom is Couringius) think, invented inmodern times, but that it was raised afresh fromthe records of Eastern people, since very distinctproofs of this are found in the writings of Dioscorisand Pliny, and, probably, from the absurd cus-toms of the Egyptians. I confess that, on thispoint, I rather prefer now to suspend my judg-ment than to settle on anything as certain. Foreven if the opponents of this theory maintain thatit follows as a consequence from it that the fruitof the Anacardium, for example, must be the bestcordial, that the famous Cephalic must producethe best apples ; the Aphrodisiac, the best plums ;and the juice of the Esula the best milk ; theynevertheless prove nothing from that, as it can beat once retorted : How long is it since Mercury,


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26 MAGIC PLANTS.Antimony, Cinabar, Coriander seeds, &c., wereexcluded from the list of poisons? Borricliusargues as follows : It is a characteristic of human,not of Divine nature, to inquire remissly intothings. Nothing has ever been discovered orcreated until after many weak and apparentlyfutile efforts.

17. Those are the original fibres, as it were,from which the tree of the belief in the magicvirtues of plants grew to such an extent, as tospread its branches so widely that it refuses to beembraced in these narrow limits. It is a matterof enquiry even whether the land of the Egyptianssupplied itself with its own magic plants. Cou-ringius shows that it furnished a few wines, butdid not abound in medicinal remedies. Letwriters contend among themselves as long as theywish, we refer those who desire to know more tothe books on Egyptian plants published by Kircherand other writers, from which each can form hisown opinion. But now, I regret that I am pre-vented by the limits of my parchment fromentering into any disquisition concerning the meritsof these plants, whose names I have recorded.There are indeed among their number some of sucha nature, that I may briefly mention their namesand properties : the Salvia, Veratrum, Juniperus,&c,, powerful in routing the demons; the Adianthus,Ruta, Sideritis, &c., a sovereign charm lor over-


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MAGIC TLANTS. 2/coming witchcraft ; the Absinthium, Ricinus,Cnebison, Scordotis, &c., used in sacrifices, and toobtain divine apparitions; the Asphodel, irresistiblein calling forth the gloomy deities and the Manes ;the Osiris, &c., which enables one to prophesy;the Laurus, Theangelis, Halicaccabi, Bellonasia,Vatica, &c., which bring on madness, ravings andsleep ; Strichnon, Thallassegle, Gelotophyllis,Semasum, the plant of Nectanebus, the Olive,Mandragora, Catanance, Cemos, Anacampserotis,&c., which enter into the composition of aphro-disiacs or love-potions. The Pleiracium, Theom-brotium, Bali, Juba, &c., said to have power torouse from death itself. I shall with care explain,time and opportunity permitting, the qualities ofthese and many other plants, but meanwhile Imust bid thee farewell, benevolent reader.

Xaus 2)eo.


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APPENDIX.CONFESSIONS OF WITCHES UNDER

TORTURE.Before Amice De Carteret, Esq., Bailiff,

and the Jurats.JULY 4th, 1617.SENTENCE OF DEATH.

CoUette du Mont, widow of yean Becquet ; Marie, herdaughter, wife of Pierre Massy ; and Isabel Becquet,wife of Jean Le Moygne, being by common rumourand report for a long time past addicted to thedamnable art of Witchcraft, and the same beingthereupon seized and apprehended by the Officers ofHis Majesty [James I.], after voluntarily submittingthemselves, both upon the general inquest of thecountry, and after having been several times broughtup before the Court, heard, examined, and confronted,


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30 APPENDIX.upon a great number of depositions made and pro-duced before the Court by the said Officers ; fromwhich it is clear and evident that for many years pastthe aforesaid women have practised the diabolical artof Witchcraft, by having not only cast their spellsupon inanimate objects, but also by having retainedin langour through strange diseases, many persons andbeasts ; and also cruelly hurt a great number of men,women, and children, and caused the death of manyanimals, as recorded in the informations thereuponlaid, it follows that they are clearly convicted andproved to be Witches. In expiation of which crimeit has been ordered by the Court that the said womenshall be presently conducted, with halters about theirnecks, to the usual place of punishment, and shallthere be fastened by the Executioner to a gallows,and be hanged, strangled, killed, and burnt, until theirflesh and bones are reduced to ashes, and the ashesshall be scattered ; and all their goods, chattels, andestates, if any such exist, shall be forfeited to HisMajesty. In order to make them disclose theiraccomplices, they shall be put to the question beforethe Court, previous to being executed.


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APPENDIX. 31

Sentence of Death having been pronounced againstCoUette Du Mont, widow of Jean Becquet ; Marie,her daughter, wife of Pierre Massy ; and IsabelBecquet, wife of yean Le Moygne ; the samehave confessed as follows :

CONFESSION OF COLLETTE DU MONT.First, the said CoUette immediately after the said

sentence was pronounced, and before leaving the Court,freely admitted that she was a Witch 5 at the sametime, not wishing to specify the crimes which she hadcommitted, she was taken, along with the others, tothe Torture Chamber, and the said question beingapplied to her, she confessed that she was quite youngwhen the Devil, in the form of a cat :* appeared to her :in the Parish of Torteval : as she was returning fromher cattle, it being still daylight, and that he tookoccasion to lead her astray by inciting her to avengeherself on one of her neighbours, with whom she wasthen at enmity, on account of some damage whichshe had suffered through the cattle of the latter ; thatsince then when she had a quarrel with anyone, heappeared to her in the aforesaid form : and sometimes* As regards ihese colons, occurring where they are not

required, Mr Pitts observes that they corresDond to similarpauses in the original records, and evidently indicate the suc-cessive stages by which the story was wrung from th: wretchedvictims. They are thus endowed with a sad and ghastly sig-nificance, for it must be remembered that the confessions were notmade in a connected form, but were elicited by leading questions,often accompanied by a .'lesh sp.il of torture.


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32 APPENDIX.in the form of a dog : inducing her to take vengeanceupon those who had angered her : persuading her tocause the death of persons and cattle.

That the Devil having come to fetch her that shemight go to the Sabbath, called for her without any-one perceiving it : and gave her a certain blackointment with which (after having stripped herself),she rubbed her back, belly and stomach : and thenhaving again put on her clothes, she went out of herdoor, when she was immediately carried through theair at a great speed : and she found herself in aninstant at the place of the Sabbath, which wassometimes near the parochial burial-ground : and atother times near the seashore in the neighbourhoodof Rocquaine Castle : where, upon arrival, she metoften fifteen or sixteen Wizards and Witches with theDevils who were there in the form of dogs, cats, andhares : which Wizards and Witches she was unableto recognise, because they were all blackened anddisfigured : it was true, however, that she had heardthe Devil summon them by their names, and sheremembered among others those of Fallaise andHardie ; confessed that on entering the Sabbath : theDevil wishing to summon them commenced with hersometimes. Admitted that her daughter Marie, wifeof Massy, now condemned for a similar crime, was aWitch : and that she took her twice to the Sabbathwith her : at the Sabbath, after having worshipped theDevil, who used to stand up on his hind legs, they had


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APPENDIX. 33connection with him under the form of a dog ; thenthey danced back to back. And after having danced,they drank wine (she did not know what colour itwas), which the Devil poured out of a jug into asilver or pewter goblet ; which wine did not seem toher so good as that which was usually drunk ; theyalso ate white bread which he presented to themshehad never seen any salt at the Sabbath.

Confessed that the Devil had charged her to call, asshe passed, for Isabel le Moygne : when she came to theSabbath, which she had done several times. On leavingthe Sabbath the Devil incited her to commit variousevil deeds : and to that effect he gave her certainblack powders, which he ordered her to throw uponsuch persons and cattle as she wished ; with thispowder she perpetrated several wicked acts which shedid not remember : among others she threw someupon Mr Dolbell, parish minister : and was the occa-sion of his death by these means. With this samepowder she bewitched the wife of Jean Maugues : butdenied that the woman's death was caused by it : shealso touched on the side, and threw some of thispowder over the deceased wife of Mr Perchard, theminister who succeeded the said Dolbell in the parish,she being enceinte at the time, and so caused the deathof her and her infantshe did not know that thedeceased woman had given her any cause for doing so.Upon the refusal of the wife of Collas Totte-vin togive her some milk : she caused her cow to dry up,


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34 APPENDIX.by throwing upon it some of this powder : which cowshe afterwards cured again by making it eat somebran, and some terrestrial herb that the Devil gave her.

CONFESSION OF MARIE BECgUET.Marie, wife of Pierre Massy, after sentence of death

had been pronounced against her, having been put tothe question, confessed that she was a Witch; and thatat the persuasion of the Devil, who appeared to herin the form of a dog : she gave herself to him : thatwhen she gave herself to him he took her by the handwith his paw : that she used to anoint herself withthe same ointment as her mother used : and had beento the Sabbath upon the bank near Rocquaine Castlewith her, where there was no one but the Devil andher as it seemed : in the aforesaid form in which shehad seen him several times : She was also at theSabbath on one occasion among others in the road nearCollas Totte-viti's ; every time that she went to theSabbath, the Devil came to her, and it seemed asthough he transformed her into a female dog ; shesaid that upon the shore, near the said Rocquaine : theDevil, in the form of a dog, having had connectionwith her, gave her bread and wine, which she ate anddrank.The Devil gave her certain powders : which powders

he put into her hand, for her to throw upon thosewhom he ordered her : she threw some of them byhis orders npon persons and cattle : notably upon the


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APPENDIX. 35child of Pierre Brehaut. Item, upon the wife of JeanBourgatze, while she was enceinte. Item, upon thechild of Leonard le Messurier.

CONFESSION OF ISABEL BECgUET.Isabel, wife of Jean le Moygne, having been put to

the question, at once confessed that she was a Witch :and that upon her getting into a quarrel with thewoman Girarde, who was her sister-in-law : theDevil, in the form of a hare, took occasion to tempther : appearing to her in broad daylight in a roadnear her house : and persuading and inciting her togive herself to him : and that he would help her toavenge herself on the said Girarde, and everybody else ;to which persuasion she would not at the momentcondescend to yield : so he at once disappeared : butvery soon he came again to her in the same road,and pursuing his previous argument : exhorted her inthe same terms as above : that done, he left her andwent away, after having previously given her a sackfulof parsnips j she then took a certain black powderwrapped in a cloth in which he placed it ; whichpowder she kept by her. He appeared to her anothertime under the same form in the town district, incitingher anew to give herself to him, but she not wishing tocomply, he next made a request to her to give him someliving animal: whereupon she returned to her dwellingand fetched a chicken which she carried to him to thesame place where she had left him, and he took it : and


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36 APPENDIX.after having thanked her he made an appointment forher to be present the next morning before daylight atthe Sabbath, promising that he would send for heraccording to which promise, during the ensuing night,the old woman ColUtte du Mont, came to fetch her, andgave her some black ointment, which she had hadfrom the Devil; with this (after having stripped herself)she annointed her back and belly, then having dressedherself again she went out of her house door : whenshe was instantly caught up : and carried across hedgesand bushes to the bank on the sea shore, in theneighbourhood of Rocquaine Castle, the usual placewhere the Devil kept his Sabbath ; no sooner had shearrived there than the Devil came to her in the formof a dog, with two great horns sticking up : and withone of his paws fwhich seemed to her like hands)took her by the hand : and calling her by her nametold her that she was welcome : then immediatelythe Devil made her kneel down : while he himselfstood up on his hind legs ; he then made her expressdetestation of the Eternal in these words : / renounceGod the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost ,and then caused her to worship and invoke himself inthese terms : Our Great Master, help us ! with a specialcompact to be faithful to him ; and when this wasdone he had connection with her in the aforesaid formof a dog, but a little larger : then she and the othersdanced with him back to back : after having danced,the Devil poured out of a jug some black wine, which


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APPENDIX. 37he presented to them in a wooden bowl, from whichshe drank, but it did not seem to her so good as thewine which is usually drunk : there was also breadbut she did not eat any : confessed that she gave her-self to him for a month : they returned from theSabbath in the same manner that they went there.The second time she was at the Sabbath was after

the old woman Collette had been to fetch her, and sheanointed herself with the ointment as above stated ;declared, that on entering the Sabbath, she again hadconnection with the Devil and danced with him; afterhaving danced, and upon his solicitation to prolong thetime, she gave herself to him for three years ; at theSabbath the Devil used to summon the Wizards andWitches in regular order (she remembered very wellhaving heard him call the old woman Colktte the first,in these terms: Madame the Old Woman Becquette):then the woman Fallane ; and afterwards the womanHardie. Item, he also called Marie, wife of Massy,and daughter of the said Collette. Said that after themshe herself was called by the Devil : in these terms :The Little Becquette: she also heard him call thereCollas Becquet, son of the said old woman (who[Collasl held her by the hand in dancing, andsomeone [a woman] whom she did not know, heldh er by the other hand) : there were about six othersthere she did not know : the said old woman wasalways nearest to the Devil : occasionally while somewere dancing, others were having connection with the


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38 APPENDIX.Devils in the form of dogs ; they remained at theSabbath about three or four hours, not more.

While at the Sabbath the Devil marked her at theupper part of the thigh : which mark having beenexamined by the midwives, they reported that theyhad stuck a small pin deeply into it, and that she hadnot felt it, and that no blood had issued : she did notknow in what part the Devil had marked the others :those who came first to the place of the Sabbath,waited for the others j and all the Wizards andWitches appeared in their proper forms : but blackenedand disfigured so that they could not be recognised.The Devil appeared sometimes in the form of a goat

at the Sabbath ; never saw him in other forms : ontheir departure he made them kiss him behind, andasked them when they would come again : he exhortedthem always to be true to him : and to do evil deeds,and to this end he gave them certain black powders,wrapped in a cloth, for them to throw upon thosewhom they wished to bewitch : on leaving theSabbath, the Devil went away in one direction andthey in the other : after he had taken them all by thehand : At the instigation of the Devil she threw someof the powder over several persons and cattle : notablyover Jean yehan, when he came to her house to lookfor a pig. Item, over the child of James GalUenne,and over others. Item, over the cattle of Brouart,and of others.

It was the Devil that was seen at the said GalUenne'


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APPENDIX. 39house in the form of a rat and a weazle, she herselfbeing then in the neighbourhood of Gallienne's house,and he [the Devil] came to her iti the form of a man,and struck her several blows on the face and head :by which she was bruised and torn in the way thatshe was seen the next day by Thomas Sohier, And shebelieved that the cause of this maltreatment wasbecause she would not go with the Devil to the houseof the said Gallienne,

She never went to the Sabbath except when herhusband remained all night fishing at sea.Whenever she wanted to bewitch anyone and her

powder happened to have been all used up, the Devilappeared to her and told her to go to snch a place,which he named, for some more, and when she didso, she never failed to find it there.

Printed by E, &f G. Goldsmid, Edinburgh.


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