the shape of a beast; and this we learn from St. Athanasius, who tells us in his Life of St. Anthony that the demons appeared to that holy man in the shape of Bulls, Wolves, Vipers, Scorpions, Leopards, Bears and horrible Dragons. Rich. Discours des Images, c. 10. num. 8.Also George Gandillon confessed that, when the Devil appeared to them the first time, he had the form of a large horned Ram. At the Sabbat, too, he most often appears as a ram or a goat. Françoise Secretain confessed that he had lain with her four or five times, and that he was then in the form either of a dog or a cat or a fowl. Paul. Jovi. in Elog.Agrippa was followed by a black dog which was no other than a devil in disguise, as was clearly seen at his master’s death; for being taken ill at an inn at Lyons, and finding himself at the point of death, he took from the dog a collar which it was wearing, all covered with certain characters, saying: “Begone, evil beast which have brought me to perdition.” Upon this the dog threw itself into the Saône, and has never since been seen. Abdias, Bishop of Babylon.The Devil which St. Philip cast out of the Idol of Death was in the form of a Dragon: and the seven devils which so tormented the passers-by, and were made to vanish by St. Andrew, were transformed into dogs. Thevet, again, tells us that in America they have a demon whom they call Agnan, which, like Proteus, appears now in one shape and now in another. And why should we not believe that the Dove and the Bull of Mahomet were no more than devils in that shape, just as it was with Agrippa’s dog?
Nevertheless, although Satan may take what shape he pleases, when he wishes to entice anyone into his net he most often appears to him in
