An Examen of Witches/Chapter 28
Chapter XXVIII.
How Witches Afflict with the Hand.
Sixthly, witches cause hurt and injury by a touch of the hand. I have seen a witch cast an evil spell upon a man by pulling him three times by his coat. Another time, on passing a herd of cattle, she struck a calf on the flank with her hand and the calf died a few days later; and when they came to skin it they had great difficulty in separating the hide from the flesh at the place where it had been touched, and also they found the imprint of a hand marked upon the same place.
Jeanne Platet confessed that, in order to cause the death of persons or cattle, she used to rub her hands with an ointment given her by the Devil. Similarly Michel Udon and Pierre Burgot confessed that they rubbed their left arms and hands with a certain powdered ash, and that when they then touched an animal they caused it to die. Moreover, the Inquisitors have written that if a Judge lets himself be touched on the bare arm and hand by the witch, he thereby becomes her advocate.
But whatever may be said, I do not believe that the witch can cause injury simply by her hand; but that if he who has been touched becomes ill, it is undoubtedly Satan who strikes the blow. And when a witch anoints his hand, it may still be that Satan plays his part in the work: or else the ointment may be veritable poison which on being applied to the skin penetrates it and passes into the inner parts of the person or beast, which is thus killed or made ill by the witch. For doctors write that poisons and venom need not necessarily be taken through the mouth, but can be applied externally; Wier, de praestig. III. 27.and this can be seen any day in the foam of a rabid dog, for if it falls upon a wound or any place from which the skin has been rubbed off, it generally causes death. Card. de Subtilit. lib. 2.The herb Scilla is similarly injurious when rubbed against the skin: and if a man hold Cantharides in his hand it constrains him to piss blood.
The difficulty lies in the question whether the witch can protect himself from the poison of the ointment with which he anoints himself. But if the reader will refer to Chapter 25 he will find that this may easily be done. Similarly, in Chapters 27 and 37 he will find the answer to what I have said concerning Officers of Justice.