DOUBT II.
B 2

Are there more witches or sorcerers in Germany than elsewhere?

I ANSWER. This is a question about a matter I do not know: however, I will say a few words just to pass the time original: "otij eludendi causâ," literally "for the sake of eluding idleness," a modest rhetorical device where the author downplays his own expertise regarding what occurs to me. Therefore, it at least seems so, and it is commonly thought that more are found in Germany than elsewhere.

The REASON is this. For first of all, it is well known that throughout Germany everything is smoking with the fires original: "incendiis," referring to the execution pyres of the witch trials that consume this plague original: "luem," a common term for the perceived infection or contagion of witchcraft. This is certainly a clear argument for how widely everyone admits the infection has spread. It has reached the point that the German name has suffered no small loss of reputation among our enemies, and, as the Scripture says, we have "made our scent stink before Pharaoh and his servants." A reference to Exodus 5:21. The author suggests that the sheer number of trials has made Germany a laughingstock or a horror to neighboring nations.

Furthermore, we nourish this opinion about the great number of witches (original: Sagarum) among us based on two main points which are worthy of note.

THE FIRST is the ignorance or superstition of the common people. I demonstrate it thus: All Natural Philosophers (original: Physici, referring to early scientists) teach that even those things which occasionally stray somewhat from the common order of nature and are usually called "extraordinary"—such as a particularly heavy rain, light hail and frost, more magnificent thunder, and similar things—are caused by entirely natural means.