lain in Ordinary of the King, under date of the fourth of
October, 1744, testifies to confirmatory facts. He says,--"I have seen
them push sword-points against the eyes of Sisters Madeleine and
Felicite, sometimes on the pupil, sometimes in the corner of the eye,
sometimes on the eyelid,--with such force as to cause the eyeball to
project, till the spectators shuddered."[39]

Another officer of the royal household gives a certificate of succors
administered to this same Madeleine, of a character scarcely less
wonderful, with pointed spits, of which two were broken against her
body.

This officer certifies, also, that, on one occasion, when pushing a
sharp sword against Madeleine, not being able to push strongly enough
to satisfy her, he placed a book bound in parchment on his own breast,
placed the hilt of his sword against it, and pressed with so much force
that the cover of the book was quite spoiled by the deep indentation
made by the sword-hilt. He adds,--"The instinct of her convulsion caused
her sometimes to demand as many as twenty-two swords at a time. These
were placed, some in front, some against her back, some against her
sides, in every direction. I myself never saw quite so many employed;
but I was present, and was myself assisting, when eighteen swords were
pushed at once against various parts of her body. Although the force
with which this prodigious succor was administered caused deep
indentations in the flesh, she never received the slightest wound. It
often happened that her convulsions caused the flesh to react under the
pressure of the sword-points, so as forcibly to push back the
assistants."[40]

The Advocate of the Parliament of Paris, already mentioned, certifies to
the same phenomenon. His words are,--"One can feel, under the
sword-point, a movement of the flesh, which, from time to time, thrusts
back the sword. This occurs the most strongly when the succor is nearly
at an end. The convulsionist calls out, 'Enough!' as soon as the pains
are relieved."[41]

The same Advocate states, that sometimes the convulsionist threw the
weight of her body on the swords, the hilts resting on the floor, and
being secured from slipping. He speaks of one case in which, "while she
was balancing herself on the points of several swords upon which she had
thrown herself with all her weight, [_ou elle se jettoit a corps
perdu_,] one of them broke."[42]

The officer of the king's household already spoken of test