which they strike at the beds of sick persons, to drive the evil demon, which causes the disorder, from the body. The savages of Chili are ignorant of the name and worship of God, but believe in a certain aërial spirit, called Pillan, to whom they address supplications that he will scatter their enemies, and thanksgiving, amidst their cups, after gaining a victory. Pillan is also their name for thunder, and they worship this deity chiefly when it thunders. The devil, which they call Alveè, they detest with their whole hearts. Hence, as they think life the best of all things, when any of them dies, they say that the evil spirit has taken him away. The Brazilians and Guaranies call the devil Aña, or Añanga, and fear him on account of a thousand noxious arts by which he is signalized. In Virginia, the savages call the devil Okè, and pay him divine honours. Since numerous and neighbouring savages regard the devil with fear and contempt, I cannot imagine why the Abipones give him the affectionate and honourable appellation of their grandfather. But there is no need of reason and argument to induce the savages to embrace the absurdest opinions, and to take what is doubtful for certain, what is false for perfectly true. The lies of a crafty juggler, the dreams of a foolish old woman, listened to with attentive ears, are more than enough to make them swear that the devil is their grandfather, or any thing still more absurd. Why they believe the Pleiades to be the representation of their grandfather, remains to be discussed. On this subject also I can advance nothing but conjecture, nor can any thing certain be derived either from the Abipones or from the historians of America. The seven daughters of Lycurgus were placed by Jove amongst the stars, because they educated Bacchus in the island of Naxos, and distinguished by the name of Pleiades, as poets feign. What if we say that the Abipones, who are so fond of drinking-parties, worshipped those stars, because they were the nurses of Bacchus? But this pleasant idea would suit conversation better than history. It deserves attention, that, though various nations have paid divine honours to the sun, moon, and other stars, we cannot find a syllable respecting the worship of the Pleiades in any part of holy writ; unless, indeed, you say that they were adored by those nations mentioned in the 17th Chap. and the 3d verse of Deuteronomy: "That they go and serve other Gods, and worship them, the sun and moon, and all the host of heaven." For, as St. Jerome observes, the "whole host of heaven" means all the stars, including, of course, the Pleiades amongst the rest.