Note 77 — THE DEMONOMANIA OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (continued 2)
Thomas C. (Thomas Chalmers) Minor translation
F. Willis observed a similar outbreak in 1700 in a convent at Oxford, England, where the barking fit was followed by convulsions and finally pronounced mania.
Reulin and Hecquet described a similar epidemic in 1701, characterized by meowing like cats, which were heard every day at the same hour among a crowd of nuns in a convent of Paris. These nuns all suddenly ceased meowing when they were accused and told if the thing re-occurred they should all be taken out and horse-whipped by a company of soldiers, who were stationed at the convent door to carry out the order. See “Traite des affections vaporeuses.”