through a window which gave on to the room; and she warmed the salt-cat and the tile, and then took the child from the cradle into her arms and completely covered herself and it with the blanket so that no part of their bodies could be seen, and remained so for half an hour; then she arose and recalled those whom she had caused to leave the room, and the child was healed from that time. It is likely that the old woman, when she was under the blanket, used certain other words and ceremonies which she did not wish to be seen.
Now all these superstitions make me believe that when witches heal it is entirely due to the help of Satan. Among other indications that this is the true opinion is the fact that it is necessary to believe firmly that the witch will cure you, or you will never recover your health; for it is always necessary for the sick man to have complete faith in his doctor. Do we not see many who have no trust at all in their doctor, and yet they do not fail to regain their health?
I do not deny that it is a great help to the sick that he should have faith in his doctor. Riol. ad Fernel. de abdit. rer. caus. II. 18.For Galen and Avicenna said that the doctor who cured most sick men was he in whom they felt most faith. But such faith is not a necessary condition in medicine: yet in a case of witchcraft all the witch’s brews and remedies are useless without it. Metho. II. 11.This point has, in my opinion, been brought out by the physician Auger Ferrier better than anyone else in the following words: “If it so happen that the sick man has no faith in the sorcerer, but considers the remedy to be ridiculous; or if he is prevented from having such faith by the bystanders who in his presence make mock of the