The symptoms recorded of individual daemoniacs agree with those which are noticed in diseases of the kinds mentioned above. (<i.) On Matt, xvii, 15, comp. Paul. JEgin. iii, 13, where he speaks of a morbus comi- tialis, in which the whole body is convulsed; which affects chiefly boys, sometimes young men; and in which the convulsion is accompanied with a sudden in- articulate cry. The chief distinguishing mark, how- ever, is a foaming at the mouth (comp. Luke ix, 39; Lucian, Philopseud. c. xvi). Cad. Aurelian (Morb, Chron. i, 4) speaks of a class of diseased persons, epilep- tics, who fell in public places (from which the disease is still sometimes called falling-sickness, and in German Fallsucht; comp. Rabb. ^S"3 or !"!233, an epileptic), or even into rivers or the sea. Aretseus (Be Morbo Epil. 5) speaks of some who fell in weakness into the river. It was early observed that this affliction seemed to have some connection with the changes of the moon (Doug- tsei A nalect. ii, 5 ; Bartholin, Morb. Bibl. c. xviii ; comp. Aret. Morb. Chron. i, 4; Origen, in Matt. iii. p. 577 ; Lu- cian, Tox. c. xxiv ; Isidor. Orig. iv, 7). Hence the use of the word ae\r]viaZea5ai, Matt, iv, 24; xvii, 15; comp. Suicer, Thesaur. ii, 94G. In Latin, too, epileptics were called lunatici, or moonstruck. Again, epilepsy, in con- nection with partial insanity, was the disease of the man mentioned in Mark i, 23 sq.; Luke iv, 33 sq.; comp. esp. Mark i, 26. (5.) On Matt, viii, 28, comp. Wetstein, i, 354 sq. The proofs of vast strength, and of a violent rage against himself (Mark v, 4, 5; comp. Acts xix, 16), leave no doubt that this man was a maniac. The fact that he avoided society, and wished to dwell alone among tombs, point to the peculiar mania which Sau- vages calls Mania misanthropica, or that which Keil (Rhapsodie iiber die Anwend. d. psych. KurmetAode, etc. [Halle, 1803], p. 363) calls Mania errabunda. Yet his mania was but temporary, though the delusion which it accompanied was permanent, showing itself in settled ideas (Mark v, 9; Luke viii, 30). Thus, according to the principles of Heinroth (Lehrbuch der Seelensturun- r/en, i, 360 sq.), the case is one of delusion joined with melancholy, and sometimes heightened to mania. Men- tal as well as physical diseases are often thus compli- cated with each other (Esquirol, p. 73) ; comp. further, Targum Jerus. Terumoth, xl, 2, where an insane man (FllJViJ) is thus described: "He goes forth and spends the night among the tombs ; and tears his clothing, and destroys whatever is offered him." The leaping down of the swine, perhaps a part only of the herd, was pro- duced, as some think, by the violent running towards them of the daemoniacs, under the fixed impression that the daemons could not leave them save by finding an- other dwelling-place in the unclean beasts (comp. Jose- phus, Ant. v'rii, 2, 5; see esp. Eichhom, Bibl. vi, 835 sq. ; Grimm, Exeget. Aufs. i, 123 sq. ; Schmidt, Exeget. Beitr. ii, 85 sq. ; Greiling, in Henke, Mus. i, 620 sq. ; Friedrich, I 'irs. einer TAteraturgesch. d. Pathol, u. Therapie d. psych. Krankh. [Wlirzb. 1830]. p. 7 sq. ; Schleiermacher, Pre- digten, iii, note 3, on Acts xvi, 10). The view of the earlier theologians and physicians was that in the case of the daeruoniacs healed bv Jesus there had been an
actual bodily indwelling of evil spirits. From this view (set forth by J. Marckius, Textual Exercit. p. 257 sq.; Deyling, Observut. ii, 371 sq. ; Ernesti, Neue theol. Bibl. iii, 799 sq. ; Zeibich, Verm. Betracht. iii, 306 sq. ; Storr, Opusc. i, 53 sq.; Eschenbach, Scripfor. Med. Bibl. p. 41 sq.) many dissented long ago, following a bint, of St. Augustine, Be Genesi ad lit. xii, 17 (see Hobbes, Le- viathan, c. viii and xlv; Bekker, Byzant. Wilt. bk. iv, c. vii sq. ; Wetstein, i, 279 sq. ; Bartholin, Be Morb, Bibl. c. xix). It was formally combated by Mead, Bibel- krankh. p. 63 sq. See Semler, Com. de Dcemoniacis quorum in N. T. Jit mentio (Halle, 1760); Umstdndliche Untersuchung di r Damon-Leute (ibid. 1762); Gruner, De Bcp.moniacis a Chr. Percuratis (Jena, 1775) ; Lind- linger, in his Schr. de Ebrceor. vet. Arte Med. translated into German by Colin, with preface by Semler (Brem. 1776) ; his Briej'e iib. die Ddmonischi n in d. Evang., with additions by Semler (Halle, 1783) ; Zimmerman, Biatr, de Diemonicis Evang. (Kinteln, 1786) ; Medicin.-hermen. Untersuch. p. 15 sq. Comp. Cams, Psychol, d. Uebr. p. 393 sq. ; Baur, Bibl. Theol. d. N. T. i, 213 sq. ; Jahn, A r- chdol. I, ii, 400 sq. (omitted in the 2d ed. ; comp. Nach- trage to Jahn's Theol. Werke, p. 451 sq.). — Winer. Ad- ditional literature is cited by Volbeding, Index Pro- grammatum, p. 41; Hase, Leben Jesv, p. 99: Darling, Cyclop, col. 830, 923, 926, 1872, 1882; Danz, Bibl. The- ologize, p. 125, 204. See also Woodward, Bevmoniacal Possession (Lond. 1839, 1856); Meth. Qua?: Rev. July, 1857; Free-will Bapt. Quar. April, 1858; Presb. Rev. Oct. 1865. Comp. IXkmoniac.
Possevino, Antonio, a celebrated Italian Jesuit, noted for the diplomatic services he rendered the Church of Pome, was born at Mantova in 1534. He belonged to a noble but poor family. Sent to Rome at the age of sixteen, he was in a short time proficient in the classical languages and literature, and cardinal Ercole di Gonzaga made him his amanuensis, and in- trusted to his hands the education of his nephews, Fran- cis and Scipio di Gonzaga. Possevino followed his pa- tron to Ferrara, then to Padua, and gained by his merit the esteem of Paolo Manucci, Bartolomeo Ricci, and Sigonio. Although he had been rewarded by the Gon- zagas with the donation of the rich commandery of Fossano, in Piedmont, he preferred to join the Jesuits. He had not finished his novitiate when he was sent on a very delicate errand to the duke of Savoy, Emanuel Philibert (1560). The object of this mission was to stop the progress of heresy, which, coming from France, threatened to invade Italy through Savoy and Pied- mont. The Roman court, either to reward his services or to give full scope to his talents, employed him in several negotiations. The first of these missions was to Sweden. He arrived in Stockholm in December, 1577. The king received him with great favor, abjured sev- erally all his heresies, made a general confession, and promised obedience to the apostolic see. The ensuing day, May 17, 1578, the mass was celebrated after the Roman rite in presence of the king. Possevino returned to Rome, and the queries and propositions of the king were examined by an ecclesiastical commission. The mass in the vulgar tongue, the chalice for the laymen, the marriage of priests, the omission of the invocation of saints and of the prayers for the dead, the suppression of holy water and other ceremonies were rejected ; seven other proposals were accepted. On Possevino's return to Stockholm (July, 1579), the king, who was of a very fickle disposition, showed great dissatisfaction at the negative answer be had met with on the five points above mentioned, broke up all negotiations, and would not even consent to the establishment of a Church for Romanists. In February, 1580, the regsdag of Wad- stena, at which Possevino was present, took a threaten- ing attitude, and king John was compelled to publish an edict against the introduction of Roman Catholic works, and to promise to promote only Protestants to the professorships. In the same year Possevino returned to Rome. King John, having lost his wife Catharine in