August 13, 1554

We have sought out Nostradamus, and there is indeed a powder that he can make us. One dampens the paper just slightly with a sponge, not enough to make the ink run. Then the powder is sprinkled on. It immediately dissolves into the paper, and any hands that touch the paper will be streaked with purple in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. We must be careful to douse our own hands in a resinous juice he will give us that comes from Palestine and is called myrrh. This will protect our hands from the powder so they will not turn purple. So we are set to catch a snoop. Such people in my mind are of the same evil rank as hypocrites.