ine or
larch, never ash. A fumigation in an iron vessel, heated over the fire,
is then made out of a mixture of any four or five of the following
substances: Hemlock (2 to 3 ounces), henbane (1 ounce to 1-1/2 ounces),
saffron (3 ounces), poppy seed (any amount), aloe (3 drachms), opium
(1/4 ounce), asafoetida (2 ounces), solanum (2 to 3 drachms), parsley
(any amount).

As soon as the vessel is placed over the fire so that it can heat, the
person who would invoke the spirit that can bestow upon him the property
of metamorphosing into a wolf kneels within the circle, and prays a
preliminary impromptu prayer. He then resorts to an incantation, which
runs, so I have been told, as follows:--

"Hail, hail, hail, great wolf spirit, hail!
A boon I ask thee, mighty shade. Within this circle I have made,
Make me a werwolf strong and bold,
The terror alike of young and old.
Grant me a figure tall and spare;
The speed of the elk, the claws of the bear;
The poison of snakes, the wit of the fox;
The stealth of the wolf, the strength of the ox;
The jaws of the tiger, the teeth of the shark;
The eyes of a cat that sees in the dark.
Make me climb like a monkey, scent like a dog,
Swim like a fish, and eat like a hog.
Haste, haste, haste, lonely spirit, haste!
Here, wan and drear, magic spell making,
Findest thou me--shaking, quaking.
Softly fan me as I lie,
And thy mystic touch apply--
Touch apply, and I swear that when I die,
When I die, I will serve thee evermore,
Evermore, in grey wolf land, cold and raw."

The incantation concluded, the supplicant then kisses the ground three
times, and advancing to the fire, takes off the iron vessel, and
whirling it smoking round his head, cries out:--

"Make me a werwolf! make me a man-eater!
Make me a werwolf! make me a woman-eater!
Make me a werwolf! make me a child-eater!
I pine for blood! human blood!
Give it me! give it me to-night!
Great Wolf Spirit! give it me, and
Heart, body, and soul, I am yours."

The trees then begin to rustle, and the wind to moan, and out of the
sudden darkness that envelops everything glows the tall, cylindrical,
pillar-like phantom of the Unknown, seven or eight feet in height. It
sometimes develops further, and assumes the form of a tall, thin
monstrosity, half human and half animal, grey and