THE GEOGRAPHY OF WITCHCRAFT. By Montague Summers. (Kegan Paul. 21s.)—The
Geography of Witch- craft is a complementary volume to Mr. Summers's History of Witchcraft and Demonology published last autumn. The History described the general characteristics of European witchcraft in the Middle Ages ; the present volume gives particulars of the practices of actual witches in the various countries of Western Europe. Mr. Summers includes within the scope of his exceedingly painstaking work all the varieties of the black art, from cattle laming and the concoction of love philtres to demoniac possession and unnatural vice, the pursuits of notorious witches being described with a gusto which contrasts oddly with the expressions of profes- sional horror and disgust with which Mr. Summers freely interlards his accounts. Nor can we altogether acquit him of bias in his attitude to the poor wretches about whom he writes with so much learning. As everybody knows, the appalling tortures inflicted in the Middle Ages upon anyone suspected of being a witch constitute one of the darkest pages of history. The chief object of these tortures was to secure a confession. If they succeeded, the victim was pronounced guilty, being convicted out of her own mouth ; if they failed to extort even a groan or a murmur, they proved her guilty none the less, since it was universally held that witches were unable to weep." Hence, if the accused did not weep, there was, according to Mr. Summers, a strong suspicion that she was a sorceress. Mr. Summers also believes that at the witches' Sabbats there was on occasion " an actual manifestation of the materialized evil power " of Satan. The book is beautifully produced and contains some excellent illustrations.
Previous page
