Bayle positively asserts, that they were mere human
artifices, in which the devil had no hand. In this opinion he is
strongly supported by Van Dale, a Dutch physician, and M. Fontenelle,
who have expressly written on the subject."--_Vide Demonologia_, op.
citat. p. 159.
[21] We learn from Herodotus (iv. 75) that the Scythians and Tartars
intoxicated themselves by inhaling the vapour of a species of hemp
thrown upon red hot stones. And the odour of the seeds of henbane alone,
when its power is augmented by heat, produces a choleric and quarrelsome
disposition, in those who inhale the vapour arising from them in this
state. And in the "Dictionnaire de Medecine," (de l'Encyclopedie
Methodique, vii, art. Jusquiaume) instances are quoted, the most
remarkable of which is, that if a married pair who, though living in
perfect harmony every where else, could never remain for a few hours in
the room where they worked without quarrelling. The apartment of course
was thought to be bewitched, until it was discovered that a considerable
quantity of seeds of henbane were deposited near the stove, which was
the cause of their daily dissensions, the removal of which put an end to
their bickerings.
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