The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-03
WITCH CRAFT IN ITALY.
The Terrible Experience Of a Poor
Woman in Milan.
From the Spectator.


Few English people are aware OF the ex-
traordinsry extent to which belief in
/ witchcraft is carried in Italy. As an Illus
| tration We give the following vivid sketch
from the SecOlO Of Milan OF some little time
ago;
! morning here 10 Milan something occurred
! which is true in every detail, even the most
startling and terrible.
IN Via Ripa Porta Ticinese, No 81, in a
/ modest room on the fourth story, dwells
| the family u q J0urneyman Yarnlsher
named Nalaterra Franciosi with his wife
/ Virginia, aged %, glovemaker, and two
! children, one Of whom has Teen i'll for q
month with an Obstinate and strange dis
order. A female neighbcr, who pretended
( to some ka )wIedge of medicine, declared
that the child was bswitched. that it was
needless to have recourse to physicians or
priests, that the only means Of cure would be
TO discover the witch who had done tie mis-
chief and that this done the cure would be
immediate. The woman. as great secret.
after much en;reaty, taught them how to
do it. IL was to take the clothes Of the
child, put them in pot of water and heat
II. The instant it would begin to boil the
witch would he forced by an irresistible
dlsbolical power to appear, and thus be
compelled to make herself known. This was
done, and the Franciosi awaited in anxiety
the result.
by chance, just as the pot began to boil,
a certain Angela Micheletsi, aged 81, living
| in the Via Toftons, No. II, wife OF work
man, enceinte for seven months, who was
| on the way with a pair of wooden shoes to
| have them mended came in. She was a
| friend of the Franciosi. and called TO in
quire as TO the health of the child. Seeing
| her, AIRS. Franciosi cried out, Give it TO the
witchr Mrs. Micheletti, thinking her friend
was mad tried to calm her: but the
other, raging, roared loudly, Help. Tho
witchn And in an instant ell the neighbor-
hood was out In crowd and attacked
! Mrs. Micheletti, seeking 10 tear her to
| pieces Tne poor woman fed, pursued by
! the raging crowd which cried. DALI ala
| stregan Give it to the Witchl Mrs.
| Micheletti, more dead than alive, took
1 refuge in the Church Of Santa Maria del
| Naviglio, and the crowd rushed in, crying
| out and seeking squarciagola Ito tear her
/ 10 pieoesl. The wretched woman, kneeling
/ al the grand altar, raised her hands In sup
/ piicstioa, sobbing, trembling, begging for
mercy. The widest of the MegRr9 pulled
/ out her hair, treated her disgracefully and
| beat her without mercy. The priest par
! rocol ran at the cry aud tried to shield her,
| but in vain, and was near being trampled
on himself by the impetuous crowd.
with every abuse, the victim was
| dragged to the house Of the Franciosi and
| hurried upstairs In vain the wretched
She only received curses and blows
Finally the delegate, Omoiei, with aid of
| guardie, succeeded in dispensing the crowd,
when Mrs. Franciosi, perceiving too late her
| objectionable folly, threw herself at the
knees of her friend, begging her forgive
ness, declaring that another woman had
| counseled her, and that what she had done
g. 81 hnr 10
afternoon the poor woman, accom-
panied by her husband and Signore
| Omedei, was taken to her home in q
brougham and put to bed. She was better
next morning, but still trembling from her
sufferings. The sad momory of this savage
MEDIEVAL scene will long be remembered in
the suburb Of Porta Ticinese. The woman
who had torn the hair from the head of
| Mrs. Micheletti burned it, uttering incan-
tations, and then ran to the house of the
Franciosi to find If the child had recovered.
| And as it was, according to them, much
better, they cried See if it was not be-
witched.'"
1t may interest the reader to know the
details of the mystic ceremony of boiling
the clothes. The writer, who has made q
very large collection of such current sor.
ceries, obtained the following in 1883 from
a woman who had been regularly educated
as witch"
"Quando 81 ha uuo hambino stregato'
when a babe is bewitched) take the clothes
Of the child and put them in a pot TO boil
just at midnight. All the garments must
! 60 in, with the shoes and stockings. Then
take new and very large knife ami sharper
it at a table and say, Non info queSto col
tello,' ETC.:
II do not sharpen this knife,
whet tbs accursed witch,
That she cannot resist coming,
Until unto my child
She again restores health
Then the witch will probably appear al
the window, or it may be at the door, IL
the form of a cat or dog or specter. But be
| in no fear, for these are but shifting forms
forme combiate). And do not take the
knife from the table. nor let the clothes
cease to boil till o. In. And being by this
charm compelled to appear and obey, the
witch, being ordered, will remove the ill
ness of the child"
There are several incantations tn be pro.
nounced on burning the hair Of any person
whom we may wish TO injure, the follow
ing being probably the one used by the
women referred to. When hairs are found
they should be burned while these lines are
| repeated:
use sci ANNA buona,
Vac in pace.
| Sc sci una strega, &c.
| 'If thou art good SOUL
| Go in peace
If thou art witch,
Burst so that the sound
| May be heard afar.
| So that the devil
| Himself may hear.
| And bursting his chains
| May come aud take thee"
These ceremonies, and especially the in
carnations, are jealousy guarded as great
secrets among the adept, and even while
practicing them they murmur the latter
and conceal portion of the former
IMMENSE APPROPRIATIONS.
DR.. w. W. Lamb, drug inspector at the port
| of Philadelphia writes
| II have found the genuine Johann Hoff's Malt
Extract especially good for persons cOnyai-
| escing from fever, in cases of dyspepsia. for
mothers nursing, and in cases OF weakly
children, and also in lung troubles. About a
million of bottles imported have passed my in p
spectlon in the Custom House satisfactorily for
| the past five years"
Avoid limitations. The genuine article must
have the signature of johann Hof'' on the
neck of every bottle.
| MEDICAL.
| Sy~--=====-=-I.n..~se =
Ep1S Assi5sTs