esy far from the faithful. "But," he continues, "it is not without profound grief that I have learned recently that persons of both sexes, forgetting their own eternal welfare and erring from the Catholic faith, mix with devils, with incubi and succubi, and injure by witch-songs, conjurations, and other shameful practices, revelries, and crimes, the unborn children of women, the young of animals, the harvests of the fields, the grapes of the vineyards, and the fruit of the trees; that they also destroy, suffocate, and annihilate men, women, sheep and cattle, vineyards, orchards, meadows, and the like; visit men, women, cattle and other animals with internal and external pains and sickness; prevent men from procreation and women from conception, and render them entirely unfit for their mutual duties, and cause them to recant, besides, with sacrilegious lips, the very faith which they have received in baptism." The Pope therefore appoints the professors of theology, Henry Institor and Jacob Springer, to be prime inquisitors, with absolute power over all districts which are contaminated with those diseases. Finally, he proclaims that no appeal from the tribunals of the inquisitors to other courts, not even to the Pope himself, will be allowed. The inquisitors and their assistants are invested with unlimited power over life and death, and are exhorted to fulfill their commission with zeal and severity. The bull contains no directions as to how the judges should proceed in the trial of witches, but "The Witchhammer," bearing the sanction of the Pope, is most explicit upon the subject. This book became juridical authority, and was followed even in Protestant countries until early in the eighteenth century. It begins by attempting to show that its theories are entirely founded upon the Scriptures. The history of Job, the temptation of Jesus in the desert, and the many demoniacs mentioned in the New Testament, are adduced to prove that Satan can dwell in man and use the human body as his implement. Moreover, Moses ordained that witches should be put to death, a command which would be entirely superfluous, if witches had not existed. "The Witch-hammer" then broaches the question why it is that women are especially addicted to sorcery, and devotes thirty-three pages to the proof thereof. The following is an example of its argument: The holy fathers have often said that there are three things which have no moderation in good or evil—the tongue, a priest, and a woman. Concerning woman this is evident. All ages have made complaints against her. The wise Solomon, who was himself tempted to idolatry by woman, has often in his writings given the feminine sex a sad but true testimonial; and the holy Chrysostom says: "What is woman but an enemy of friendship, an unavoidable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable affliction, a constantly flowing source of tears, a wicked work of nature covered with a shining varnish?" Already had the first woman entered into a sort of compact with the devil; should not, then, her daughters do it also? The very word femina (woman) means one wanting in
