the doer; and it would seem to have been so, when we remark
that Saint Thomas Aquinas, who composed the admirable sequence on the
Holy Sacrament, exhaled a perfume of incense, and that Saint Catherine
of Ricci, who was a model of humility, smelt of violets, the emblem of
that virtue, but--"

The Abbe Plomb now came in, and being informed by Durtal of the subject
under discussion, he said,--

"But you have omitted from your diabolical flavours the most
conspicuous."

"How is that, Monsieur l'Abbe?"

"Certainly, for you have taken no account of the false fragrance which
Satan can diffuse. In fact, his baleful effluvia are of two kinds: one
characterized by the stench of sulphurous waters and drains; the other
by a false odour of sanctity, delicious gusts of sweetness and
temptation. This is how the Evil One tried to seduce Dominico de Gusman;
he bathed him in delicious vapours, hoping thus to inspire him with
notions of vain-glory; thus, too, did he to Jourdain of Saxony, who
exhaled a sweet odour when saying Mass. God showed him that this
phenomenon was of infernal origin, and it then ceased.

"And I recollect a singular anecdote told by Quercetanus concerning a
mistress of Charlemagne's who died. The king, who worshipped her, could
not bear to have her body interred, though it was decomposing, exhaling,
however, a perfume of violets and roses. The body was examined, and in
its mouth a ring was found, which was removed. The demoniacal
enchantment forthwith ceased, the body became foul, and Charlemagne
allowed it to be buried.

"We may add to this diabolical odour of seduction another, which is, on
the contrary, fetid, and is used to annoy the believer, to hinder him in
prayer, to estrange him from his fellows, and drive him, if possible,
to despair; still, this smell with which the devil infects a being may
be included in the category of the smells of temptation--not, indeed, to
pride, but to weakness and fear.

"Meanwhile, I have something else for you," said the Abbe, addressing
Durtal. "Here are the titles I have collected for you of some works on
the symbolical animals of the Middle Ages. You have read '_De Bestiis et
aliis rebus_,' by Hugh of Saint Victor?"

"Yes."

"Very good; you may further consult Albertus Magnus, Bartholomew de
Glanville, and Pierre de Bressuire. I have noted on this paper a series
of such beast-books: those of Hildebert, Philippe de Thann, Guillaume de
Normandie, Gautier de Metz,