The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1868-11-13
Were Wolves.

| MIR. Il. Barring GOULD mas recently
| published curious volume entitle
"Wcro Wolves" in which he give u
| pretty iull history Of the superstition,
! which at one time prevailed largely la
the northern parts of Europe, that ccr-
I tain individuals were endowed with
tho doubtful faculty OF changing thcm
selves, or of being changed, into wolves.
This belief, which is hot yet extinct,
was strongest in the middle ages; the
Norwegians and Icelanders had Il sep
arate name for the transformation, and
called those whom they supposed en-
! dowed with this gift "not Of one skin"
All the Scandanavians believed that
men upon occasions changed ITO ami
mails, and showed animal blOodthirsti-
ness and power. Even in southern Eu-
rope, down to the end Of the sixteenth
century, the Holy Office made cases Of
metempsychosis or lycanthropy the
subject of investigation and punish
ment. The victims often believed in
their own guilt, resembling in this de-
lu.ion the victims OF the Salem witch
craft. One of the most curious cases in
Mr.. Baring's volume is that Of Jacques
Roulet, Of Anglers, from which we eX-
ira t passage or two:
In 1893, a year memorable in the
annals of lycanthropy, trial took place
in Anglers, the details of which are very
terrible. In wild and unfrequenttd
spot near Caude some countrymen came
one day upon the corpse Of boy OF fif-
teen, horribly mutilated and bespatter-
ed with blood. AS the men approached,
two wolves, which had been rending
the body, bounded away into the thick
ct. The men gave chase Immediately,
following their bloody TRACES till they
lost them; when suddenly crouching
among the huaAes, his teeth chattering
with fear, the, rJund Il man half naked,
with long hair and beard, and with his
hands dyed in blood. His nails were
long as claws, and were clotted with
fresh gore and shrcds of human flesh.
This is one Of the most puzzling and
peculiar cases which come under our
notice. The wretched man, whose
name was Roulet, sDf his own accord
stated that he had fallen upon ths lad
and had killed him by smothering him.
a that he had been prevented from:
Il vuurng the body completely by the
arrival of men on the spot. Rou!et
proved on investigation to bn II beggar
from house to house, in the most ahivct
state OF poverty. His companions in
mnniicity were his brother JOAN AMI
his cousin Julien. He had been given
lodging out OF charity in ncighboring
village, but before his apprehension he
had been absent for eight days. Before
the judges, Roulet acknowledged that
he was able to transform himself into a
! wolf by means of a salve which hir
parents had given him. When ques
! toned about the two wolves which had
been seen leaving the corpse, he said
; that he knew perfectly well who they
were, for they were his companions
Jean and Julien, who possessed the
u same secret as himself. He was shown
the clothes he had worn on the day o
his seizure, and he recognized them ih'
y mediaely; he described the boy whom
y, he had murdered gave the date correct
u ly, indicated the precise spot where thu
, decd had been done, and recognized tn
!, father Of the boy rs the man who ha'
~ FIRST run up when the screams of Til
~ lad had been heard. In prison Roule
y behaved like an idiot. When seized
u his belly was distendcd and hard ; i
u prison he drank ono evening Who'll
a pailful of water, ,,nd from that momen
- refused to eat or drink. His parents, o
inquiry. proved to be respectable an
- piou5 people, and they proved that n
~ brother John and hiIcoa+in Julien ha'
~ been engaged at distance on tbs la
of R)ulot'5 apprehension. WAat
=" your name, and what your estate y al
'' ed the Judge, Pierre Heraut. NJ
u, name is Jacques Roulet, my age thirt!
w five; | am poor and mendicaut
What are you accused of havin. done
II 'Of being Il thief; Of havin. oEend'
." God. Ny parents gave me an ointme'
VI | do not know its compD,ition.' 'Wht
eu rubbed with this ointment do yoa h
IL come wolf" No; but for all that
killed and ate the child C1rnier; | "
woif.' Were ynu dressed As n wolf
NV Il was dressed rs Am now. | had II
~, face aai my han.i5 bloody hecAu9c
As' had been eating the flesh of the sa
:" child 30 your hands and feet /
come paws of "a woif"' Yes, they de
y, Does your head become like that Of
w wolr-your mouth become larger
"' do not know how my head was at t
Jun time | used my teeth my head "
the oa II il +, .J,v. nave wounded a,
=, eaten many other little children |;
have also been to the sabbath.