exhalations from which he forms hail; and therefore it is that we ordinarily find little hairs in this hail. It may also be that the Devil uses these hairs to weave the spells and charms which we see cast upon those who are possessed.
Furthermore, it appears from what we have said in this chapter that neither the beating of water nor the powder which they throw in is of any avail to witches in producing hail; for it is rather probable that all this is only a symbol of their pact with Satan. Yet it might be possible for this powder to possess some virtue or property by which it could raise up storms. For we know by experiment that saltpetre mixed with alum engenders clouds and causes thunder and lightning in the air; Paracel. de Malefic. c. 5.
Mattioli on Dioscor. I. 60.and Democritus said that if you took the head and gullet of the Sancus, a fish that is found in Egypt, and burned them with oak wood, roasted its liver on a red tile, it caused it to thunder and rain.
Chapter XXIII.
Of the Powder Used by Witches.
