as called the dance of St. John or of
St. Vitus, on account of the Bacchantic leaps by which it was
characterised, and which gave to those affected, whilst performing their
wild dance, and screaming and foaming with fury, all the appearance of
persons possessed. It did not remain confined to particular localities,
but was propagated by the sight of the sufferers, like a demoniacal
epidemic, over the whole of Germany and the neighbouring countries to the
north-west, which were already prepared for its reception by the
prevailing opinions of the time.

So early as the year 1374, assemblages of men and women were seen at Aix-
la-Chapelle, who had come out of Germany, and who, united by one common
delusion, exhibited to the public both in the streets and in the churches
the following strange spectacle. They formed circles hand in hand, and
appearing to have lost all control over their senses, continued dancing,
regardless of the bystanders, for hours together, in wild delirium, until
at length they fell to the ground in a state of exhaustion. They then
complained of extreme oppression, and groaned as if in the agonies of
death, until they were swathed in cloths bound tightly round their
waists, upon which they again recovered, and remained free from complaint
until the next attack. This practice of swathing was resorted to on
account of the tympany which followed these spasmodic ravings, but the
bystanders frequently relieved patients in a less artificial manner, by
thumping and trampling upon the parts affected. While dancing they
neither saw nor heard, being insensible to external impressions through
the senses, but were haunted by visions, their fancies conjuring up
spirits whose names they shrieked out; and some of them afterwards
asserted that they felt as if they had been immersed in a stream of
blood, which obliged them to leap so high. Others, during the paroxysm,
saw the heavens open and the Saviour enthroned with the Virgin Mary,
according as the religious notions of the age were strangely and
variously reflected in their imaginations.

Where the disease was completely developed, the attack commenced with
epileptic convulsions. Those affected fell to the ground senseless,
panting and labouring for breath. They foamed at the mouth, and suddenly
springing up began their dance amidst strange contortions. Yet the
malady doubtless made its appearance very variously, and was modified by
temporary or local circ