Metamorphosis and the Beast Within

Abstract

It is evident that via the blood certain ideas can be carried to the brain, which then lodge themselves in there so firmly that they can hardly be expelled. This can be observed in the so-called canine rage, which arises from the bite of a rabid dog, as well as that which arises from the sting of a tarantula or of other especially enraged animals. This is what causes lycanthropy etc., in which patients take on the manner of the animal whose idea they received through their saliva or other fluid.