In 1692, the incoherent and "indecent" behavior
of eight girls shocked the inhabitants of Salem, Massachusetts. Their symptoms failing to correspond
to any known illness, one of the attending doctors suggested they were caused by witchcraft.
From that point on, a series of accusations leveled by these children led to the arrest and
imprisonment of more than 200 people. Thirty or so of them, judged by a local tribunal, were
hanged or died in prison.
What mad wind that year had blown across this
small New England town?

|