To these demons all manner of evil is ascribed. Their presence was felt in the destructive winds that swept the land. The pestilent fevers that rise out of the marshes of the Euphrates valley and the diseases bred by the humid heat of summer were alike traced to demons lurking in the soil. Some of these diseases, moreover, were personified, as _Namtar_, the demon of 'plague,' and _Ashakku_, the demon of 'wasting disease.' But the petty annoyances that disturb the peace of man--a sudden fall, an unlucky word, a headache, petty quarrels, and the like--were also due to the instigation of the demons; while insanity and the stirring up of the passions--love, hatred, and jealousy--were in a special sense indicative of the presence and power of the demons. Men and women stood in constant danger of them. Even the animals were not safe from their attacks. They drive the birds out of their nests, strike down lambs and bulls. It was impossible to forestall their attacks. They enter a man's dwelling, they wander through the streets, they make their way into food and drink. There is no place, however small, which they cannot invade, and none, however large, that they cannot fill. In a text which furnishes the sacred formulas by means of which one can get rid of the demoniac influence, a description is given of the demons which may serve as an illustration of what has just been said. The incantation is directed against a variety of the demons:[345] The _utukku_[346] of the field and the _utukku_ of the mountain, The _utukku_ of the sea and the one that lurks in graves, The evil _shedu_, the shining _alu_. The evil wind, the terrible wind, That sets one's hair on end. Against these the spirits of heaven and earth are invoked. The text proceeds: The _utukku_ that seizes hold of a man, The _ekimmu_ that seizes hold of a man, The _ekimmu_ that works evil, The _utukku_ that works evil. And after invoking against these demons, likewise, the spirits of heaven and earth, the text passes on to an enumeration of a long list of physical ills: sickness of the entrails, of the heart, of the head, of the stomach, of the kidneys, of the limbs and muscles, of the skin, and of the senses, which are all ascribed to the influence of the demons.