“In diabetes, plant the mumia of the patient with a bignonia, and as soon as the latter begins to rot, the diabetes will go.

“In appendicitis, cover the stomach of the sick person with a piece of raw beef, until the sweat enters it.  Then give the meat to a cat, and as soon as the latter has eaten it, the patient will recover.”

“What becomes of the cat?” Kelson asked.

“The appendicitis is transferred to it,” the voice explained.  “It should be killed at once.

“In cancer take the sea wrack Torrek Mendrek—­a weed of deep mauve colour streaked with white.  It must be boiled for three hours in clear spring water (3 ozs. of wrack to half a pint of water), and then let to cool.  When quite cold, a dessert-spoon of it should be taken by the sufferer every four hours—­and at the end of two days the disease will have completely disappeared.  The wrack is to be found at the twenty fathom level, six miles west-south-west of the Scilly Isles.

“In Bright’s disease, the mumia of the afflicted should be planted at 1 a.m., with a cutting of sassafras, after the latter has been slept on, for one whole night, by the sufferer.  As soon as the sassafras begins to rot, the patient will be cured.

“In dropsy, place a hare, that has been strangled, over the diseased portion of the body, and let it remain there for one hour.  Then bury the hare, together with the mumia of the sick person, and as soon as the hare begins to decay, the patient will recover.

“In jaundice and liver diseases (apart from sarcoma), plant the mumia of the afflicted, at 2 a.m., with a cutting of black walnut, and as soon as the latter begins to decay, the sufferer will get well.

“In all skin diseases, the mumia of the patient must be planted, at midnight, with a cutting of hickory, and when the latter begins to rot the disease disappears.

“In all fevers, the mumia must be planted, at 3 a.m., with laurel cuttings, after the latter have been placed under the bed of the patient for one night.  As soon as the cuttings show signs of rotting, the fever abates.

“In acute inflammations, diseases of the heart, rheumatism, and lumbago, the mumia must be buried, at midnight, with a raven that has been drowned, and placed on a chair by the left side of the patient for one night.  As soon as the raven begins to rot, the patient will be fully restored to health.

“In cases of insanity, hysteria, and nervous diseases the mumia of the sufferer must be planted, at 2 a.m., with a cutting of white poplar, and as soon as the latter shows evidences of decay, the afflicted will get well.

“In cases of hypochondria, and melancholia, the mumia of the sufferer must be planted, at 4 a.m., with a crocus, and as soon as the latter begins to rot, the disease will depart.

“In every case it will be necessary to prelude the performance with the following invocation—­