But they now established it on a basis that can
never again be shaken; for, in _post-mortem_ examinations of large
numbers of "possessed" persons, they found evidence of
brain-disease. Typical is a case at Hamburg in 1729. An afflicted
woman showed in a high degree all the recognised characteristics
of diabolic possession: exorcisms, preachings, and sanctified
remedies of every sort were tried in vain; milder medical means
were then tried, and she so far recovered that she was allowed to
take the communion before she died: the autopsy, held in the
presence of fifteen physicians and a public notary, showed it to
be simply a case of chronic meningitis. The work of German men of
science in this field is noble indeed; a great succession, from
Wier to Virchow, have erected a barrier against which all the
efforts of reactionists beat in vain.[[127]]
In America, the belief in diabolic influence had, in the
early colonial period, full control. The Mathers, so superior to
their time in many things, were children of their time in this:
they supported the belief fully, and the Salem witchcraft horrors
were among its results; but the discussion of that folly by Calef
struck it a severe blow, and a better influence spread rapidly
throughout the colonies.
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