Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/790

772 modern science and to build great hopes upon it. On one occasion, when the priest came with consecrated oil (oleum simplex) and holy water and began to utter the prescribed exorcism, the evil spirit cried out: "Woe is me! I thought that rubbish had long since gone out of vogue and been discarded as dead superstition." In the ages of faith it was customary to cast out devils in the presence of the whole congregation; but, owing to the growth of skepticism even among so-called believers, it is now deemed better to do it scorsum a multitudine (apart from the crowd), which would be attracted by idle curiosity rather than by the spirit of devotion. It is desirable, however, that the priest should select from the kinsmen and friends of the energumen a number of pious men who, after confessing and taking the communion, shall sustain him by prayer and fasting. Dr. Bischofberger firmly believes that our insane asylums contain many demoniacs who might be healed by the Church, but whom "science falsely so called" has condemned to the madhouse and the strait-jacket; he condemns the priests who would fain show their enlightenment by indorsing the decisions of the alienist, and exclaims: "O spirit of the age! How strongly hast thou infected even the clergy!" It may also be regarded as a concession to this spirit that it is now admissible to call in a physician in order to repair the damages done by the demon to the bodily organism, whereas in the middle ages, and indeed down to the seventeenth century, the Church positively forbade any such intervention, and maintained that the divine power which cast out the devil would also heal the breach. With the general decline of faith in miracles it is permitted to have recourse to medicine, which, however, must be blessed by a priest before being administered to the patient.

In Italy a priest is usually called in, not only to bless newly erected buildings but also to sprinkle with holy water and to fumigate with incense every house in the octaves of Easter. Dr. Bischof berger regrets that this "laudable custom" does not prevail in Germany, since the old maxim that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" applies with peculiar force to the treatment of demonical possession. We are also told that a very disagreeable "aura corrumpens" is apt to pervade all dwellings which have been infested for a long time, and that this taint remains many years after the demons have been expelled. A sensitive person can not enter such a house without being seized with dizziness, nausea, or strange nervous sensations which manifest themselves in palpitations of the heart, sudden paleness, and trembling of the limbs. The carnal mind, which is at enmity with all supernatural interpretations of natural phenomena, would suggest that these symptoms indicate inadequate ventilation and would seek relief in opening the windows and letting in fresh