[392] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N.D.), pp. 211 _sq._; Br. Jelínek, "Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens," _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, _Sitte, Branch, und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 71. [393] J.A.E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 373. The superstitions relating to witches at this season are legion. For instance, in Saxony and Thuringia any one who labours under a physical blemish can easily rid himself of it by transferring it to the witches on Walpurgis Night. He has only to go out to a cross-road, make three crosses on the blemish, and say, "In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Thus the blemish, whatever it may be, is left behind him at the cross-road, and when the witches sweep by on their way to the Brocken, they must take it with them, and it sticks to them henceforth. Moreover, three crosses chalked up on the doors of houses and cattle-stalls on Walpurgis Night will effectually prevent any of the infernal crew from entering and doing harm to man or beast. See E. Sommer, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_ (Halle, 1846), pp. 148 _sq.; Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz, 1759), p. 116. [394] See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 158 _sqq._ [395] As to the Midsummer Festival of Europe in general see the evidence collected in the "Specimen Calendarii Gentilis," appended to the _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 1086-1097.