David took the least hurt. Now if the powder which Antoine Tornier threw into the fountain of Orcieres had been poison, there is no doubt that all the cattle which drank there would have died at once. Similarly it is certain that all seven of the calves which the man of Mi-joux kept in his shed would have died if the powder which Groz-Jacques buried under the threshold had been poisonous. But we should further consider that it was impossible for this last powder, being buried as we have said, to have the power to penetrate through the earth and reach the animals so as to harm them.
Chapter XXIV.
Of the Unguents and Ointments Used by Witches.
There are unguents and ointments which witches make, if they have not already been given to them by Satan; and of these there are several kinds. Porta, II. 26.An Italian author, in his “Natural Magic,” has described the composition of some of them; but these ointments are for the most part made of the fat of little children whom the Devil has instigated witches to murder. The witches anoint themselves with it when they go to the Sabbat, or when they change themselves into wolves; but I do not see that these ointments can have any other effect in such cases than to deaden and stupefy the witches’ senses so that Satan may the more easily have his will of them.Dan. Dialog. 4. At other times also the Evil Spirit
