and after being pierced through the chest is carefully burnt, after which ceremony the people believe they are free from the danger of visitations from a vampire until a new member of the race visits the district. Traces of this superstition were to be found in Poland and in some parts of Ger-many about a century and a half ago, but it is almost totally extinct now in these countries. The imaginary beings, whose existence is still believed in in the West, that bear most resemblance to the vampire race are the “Bruxas,” tales of whom are occasionally told to travelers in some parts of Portugal. Fearful beings are these same Bruxas supposed to be, while the utter wretchedness of their fate is even greater than that of vampires, for they have to indulge their horrid taste while still in life. The fol-lowing description of a “Bruxa” is given by Kingston in his Lusitanian sketches: “In the daytime she is like any other woman, performing the duties of her household in the most exemplary manner. She may be the daughter of honest and good parents; she may marry and have children; she may be amiable and is often very beautiful, though there is a certain fierce expression in her eye and an ominous wrinkle on her other wise fair brow which the skeptical would suppose proceeded from care or affliction.” Thus in outward appearance the Bruxa has nothing to distinguish her from other women, and the race is supposed to preserve their incognito with such jealous care that none can tell who are Bruxas and who are not. —Madras Athenæum and Daily News.
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