Studies in Science


Show Summary

He had [he said] spared the lives of certain young children and merely ordered them to be scourged naked three times round the place where their parents were burning [instead of having them bled to death in a bath of tepid water]. He is convinced that this was wrong, and that they will all grow up into witches and sorcerers. . . . He hopes his sinful clemency will not become a precedent—a fear which was quite unnecessary, for scores of children under twelve were burnt for witchcraft; and the one plea which even then respited the most atrocious murderess did not always avail a witch, since it was believed that her future child, if not the actual offspring of the devil, would infallibly belong to his kingdom.2

2Withington, E.T.n/an/an/an/a, "Dr. John Weyer and the Witch Mania," in Singer, , 1: 200 (Oxford University Press. By permission).

Related Resources

None available for this document.

Download Options


Title: Studies in Science

Select an option:

*Note: A download may not start for up to 60 seconds.

Email Options


Title: Studies in Science

Select an option:

Email addres:

*Note: It may take up to 60 seconds for for the email to be generated.

Chicago: Studies in Science in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed September 22, 2023, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UWLXEB364C9A8LJ.

MLA: . Studies in Science, Vol. 1, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 22 Sep. 2023. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UWLXEB364C9A8LJ.

Harvard: , Studies in Science. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 22 September 2023, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UWLXEB364C9A8LJ.