,,miracle ,,mongers ,,and ,,their ,,methods ,a ,,complete ,,expos ,,of ,,the ,,modus ,,operandi ,,of ,,fire ,,eaters1 ,,heat ,,resisters1 ,,poison ,,eaters1 ,,venomous ,,reptile ,,defiers1 ,,sword ,,swallowers1 ,,human ,,ostriches1 ,,strong ,,men1 ,,etc4 ,,by ,,houdini ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,unmasking ,,of ,,robert ,,houdin1 ,,etc4 ,,affectionately ,,dedicated ,,to ,,my ,,life',s ,,helpmate1 ,,who ,,starved ,,and ,,starred ,,with ,,me ,,during ,,the ,,years ,,we ,,spent ,,among ,,miracle ,,mongers ,my ,wife ,,preface ,all wonder1 said ,samuel ,johnson1 is the effect of novelty on ignorance4 ,yet we are so created that without something to wonder at we should find life scarcely worth living4 ,that fact does not make ignorance bliss1 or make it folly to be wise4 ,for the wisest man never gets beyond the reach of novelty1 nor can ever make it his boast that there is nothing he is ignorant of2 on the contrary1 the wiser he becomes the more clearly he sees how much there is of which he remains in ignorance4 ,the more he knows1 the more he will find to wonder at4 ,my professional life has been a constant record of disillusion1 and many things that seem wonderful to most men are the every-day commonplaces of my business4 ,but ,i have never been without some seeming marvel to pique my curiosity and challenge my investigation4 ,in this book ,i have set down some of the stories of strange folk and unusual performers that ,i have gathered in many years of such research4 ,much has been written about the feats of miracle-mongers1 and not a little in the way of explaining them4 ,chaucer was by no means the first to turn shrewd eyes upon wonder-workers and show the clay feet of these popular idols4 ,and since his time innumerable marvels1 held to be supernatural1 have been exposed for the tricks they were4 ,yet to-day1 if a mystifier lack the ingenuity to invent a new and startling stunt1 he can safely fall back upon a trick that has been the favorite of pressagents the world over in all ages4 ,he can imitate the ,hindoo fakir who1 having thrown a rope high into the air1 has a boy climb it until he is lost to view4 ,he can even have the feat photographed4 ,the camera will click2 nothing will appear on the developed film2 and this1 the performer will glibly explain1 proves that the whole company of onlookers was hypnotized6 ,and he can be certain of a very profitable following to defend and advertise him4 ,so ,i do not feel that ,i need to apologize for adding another volume to the shelves of works dealing with the marvels of the miracle-mongers4 ,my business has given me an intimate knowledge of stage illusions1 together with many years of experience among show people of all types4 ,my familiarity with the former1 and what ,i have learned of the psychology of the latter1 has placed me at a certain advantage in uncovering the natural explanation of feats that to the ignorant have seemed supernatural4 ,and even if my readers are too well informed to be interested in my descriptions of the methods of the various performers who have seemed to me worthy of attention in these pages1 ,i hope they will find some amusement in following the fortunes and misfortunes of all manner of strange folk who once bewildered the wise men of their day4 ,if ,i have accomplished that much1 ,i shall feel amply repaid for my labor4 ,,houdini4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,i4 ,fire worship4--,fire eating and heat resistance4--,the ,middle ,ages4--,among the ,navajo ,indians4--,fire-walkers of ,japan4--,the ,fiery ,ordeal of ,fiji ,,ii4 ,watton's ,ship-swabber from the ,indies4-,richardson1 #affg4--;,de ,heiterkeit1 #agac4--,robert ,powell1 #agah-aghj4--;,dufour1 #aghc4--,quackensalber1 #agid ,,iii4 ,the nineteenth century4--,a ,wonderful ,phenomenon4--,the ,incombustible ,spaniard1 ,senor ,lionetto1 #ahjc4--;,josephine ,girardelli1 #ahad4--;,john ,brooks1 #ahag4--,w4 ,c4 ,houghton1 #ahcb4--;,j4 ,a4 ,b4 ,chylinski1 #ahda4--;,chamouni1 the ,russian ,salamander1 #ahfi4--,professor ,rel ,maeub1 #ahgf4 ,rivelli 7died #aijj7 ,,iv4 ,the ,master--,chabert1 #agib-ahei ,v4 ,fire-eating magicians4 ,ching ,ling ,foo and ,chung ,ling ,soo4--,fire-eaters employed by magicians3 ,the ,man-,salamander1 #ahaf4-,mr4 ,carlton1 ,professor of ,chemistry1 #ahah4--,miss ,cassillis1 aged nine1 #ahbj4 ,the ,african ,wonder1 #ahdc4--,ling ,look and ,yamadeva die in ,china during ,kellar's world tour1 #ahgg4--,ling ,look's double1 #ahgi4--;,electrical effects1 ,the ,salambos4--,bueno ,core4--,del ,kano4--,barnello4--,edwin ,forrest as a heat-resister--,the ,elder ,sothern as a fire-eater4--,the ,twilight of the ,art ,,vi4 ,the ,arcana of the fire-eaters3 ,the formula of ,albertus ,magnus4--,of ,hocus ,pocus4--,richardson's method4--,philopyraphagus ,ashburniensis4--,to breathe forth sparks1 smoke and flames4--,to spout natural gas4--,professor ,sementini's discoveries4--,to bite off red-hot iron4--,to cook in a burning cage4--,chabert's oven4--,to eat coals of fire4--,to drink burning oil4--,to chew molten lead4--,to chew burning brimstone4--,to wreathe the face in flames4--,to ignite paper with the breath4--,to drink boiling liquor and eat flaming wax ,,vii4 ,the spheroidal condition of liquids4--,why the hand may be dipped in molten metals4--,principles of heat resistance put to practical uses3 ,aldini1 #ahbi4--;,in early fire-fighting4--,temperatures the body can endure ,,viii4 ,sword-swallowers3 ,cliquot1 ,delno ,fritz1 ,deodota1 a razor-swallower1 an umbrella-swallower1 ,william ,dempster1 ,john ,cumming1 ,edith ,clifford1 ,victorina ,,ix4 ,stone-eaters3 ,a ,silesian in ,prague1 #ajjf2 ,francois ,battalia1 ca4 #afda2 ,platerus' beggar boy2 ,father ,paulian's lithophagus of ,avignon1 #agfj2 ,the ,only ,one in the ,world1 ,london1 #aghh2 ,spaniards in ,london1 #agij2 a secret for two and six2 ,japanese training4--,frog-swallowers3 ,norton2 ,english ,jack2 ,bosco2 the snake-eater2 ,billington's prescription for hangmen2 ,captain ,veitro4--,water spouters2 ,blaise ,manfrede1 ca4 #afej2 ,floram ,marchand1 #afej ,x4 ,defiers of poisonous reptiles3 ,thardo2 ,mrs4 ,learn1 dealer in rattle-snakes4--,sir ,arthur ,thurlow ,cunynghame on antidotes for snake-bite4--,jack the ,viper4--,william ,oliver1 #agce4--,the advice of ,cornelius ,heinrich ,agrippa1 7#adhj-aece74--;,an ,australian snake story4--,antidotes for various poisons ,,xi4 ,strongmen of the eighteenth century3 ,thomas ,topham 7died1 #agdi72 ,joyce1 #agjc2 ,van ,eskeberg1 #agah2 ,barsabas and his sister2 ,the ,italian ,female ,sampson1 #agbd2 ,the little woman from ,geneva1 #agea2 ,belzoni1 #aggh-ahbc ,,xii4 ,contemporary strong people3 ,charles ,jefferson2 ,louis ,cyr2 ,john ,grun ,marx2 ,william ,le ,roy4--,the ,nail ,king1 ,the ,human ,claw-hammer2 ,alexander ,weyer2 ,mexican ,billy ,wells2 ,a foolhardy ,italian2 ,wilson2 ,herman2 ,sampson2 ,sandow2 ,yucca2 ,la ,blanche2 ,lulu ,hurst4--,the ,georgia ,magnet1 ,the ,electric ,girl1 etc42 ,annie ,abbott2 ,mattie ,lee ,price4--,the ,twilight of the ,freaks4--,the dime museums ,,chapter ,,one ,,fire ,,worship4--,,fire ,,eating ,,and ,,heat ,,resistance4--,,in ,,the ,,middle ,,ages4--,,among ,,the ,,navajo ,,indians4--,,fire-,,walkers ,,of ,,japan4--,,the ,,fiery ,,ordeal ,,of ,,fiji4 ,fire has always been and1 seemingly1 will always remain1 the most terrible of the elements4 ,to the early tribes it must also have been the most mysterious2 for1 while earth and air and water were always in evidence1 fire came and went in a manner which must have been quite unaccountable to them4 ,thus it naturally followed that the custom of deifying all things which the primitive mind was unable to grasp1 led in direct line to the fire-worship of later days4 ,that fire could be produced through friction finally came into the knowledge of man1 but the early methods entailed much labor4 ,consequently our ease-loving forebears cast about for a method to keep the home fires burning and hit upon the plan of appointing a person in each community who should at all times carry a burning brand4 ,this arrangement had many faults1 however1 and after a while it was superseded by the expedient of a fire kept continually burning in a building erected for the purpose4 ,the ,greeks worshiped at an altar of this kind which they called the ,altar of ,hestia and which the ,romans called the ,altar of ,vesta4 ,the sacred fire itself was known as ,vesta1 and its burning was considered a proof of the presence of the goddess4 ,the ,persians had such a building in each town and village2 and the ,egyptians1 such a fire in every temple2 while the ,mexicans1 ,natches1 ,peruvians and ,mayas kept their national fires burning upon great pyramids4 ,eventually the keeping of such fires became a sacred rite1 and the ,eternal ,lamps kept burning in synagogues and in ,byzantine and ,catholic churches may be a survival of these customs4 ,there is a theory that all architecture1 public and private1 sacred and profane1 began with the erection of sheds to protect the sacred fire4 ,this naturally led men to build for their own protection as well1 and thus the family hearth had its genesis4 ,another theory holds that the keepers of the sacred fires were the first public servants1 and that from this small beginning sprang the intricate public service of the present4 ,the worship of the fire itself had been a legacy from the earliest tribes2 but it remained for the ,rosicrucians and the fire philosophers of the ,sixteenth ,century under the lead of ,paracelsus to establish a concrete religious belief on that basis1 finding in the ,scriptures what seemed to them ample proof that fire was the symbol of the actual presence of ,god1 as in all cases where ,he is said to have visited this earth4 ,he came either in a flame of fire1 or surrounded with glory1 which they conceived to mean the same thing4 ,for example3 when ,god appeared on ,mount ,sinai 7,exod4 xix1 #ah7 ,the ,lord descended upon it in fire4 ,moses1 repeating this history1 said3 ,the ,lord spake unto you out of the midst of fire 7,deut4 iv1 #ab74 ,again1 when the angel of the ,lord appeared to ,moses out of the flaming bush1 the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed 7,exod4 iii1 #c74 ,fire from the ,lord consumed the burnt offering of ,aaron 7,lev4 ix1 #bd71 the sacrifice of ,gideon 7,judg4 vi1 #ba71 the burnt offering of ,david 7#a ,chron4 xxxi1 #bf71 and that at the dedication of ,king ,solomon's temple 7,chron4 vii1 #a74 ,and when ,elijah made his sacrifice to prove that ,baal was not ,god1 the fire of the ,lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice1 and the wood1 and the stones1 and the dust and the water that was in the trench4 7#a ,kings1 xviii1 #ch47 ,since sacrifice had from the earliest days been considered as food offered to the gods1 it was quite logical to argue that when fire from ,heaven fell upon the offering1 ,god himself was present and consumed ,his own4 ,thus the ,paracelsists and other fire believers sought1 and as they believed found1 high authority for continuing a part of the fire worship of the early tribes4 ,the ,theosophists1 according to ,hargrave ,jennings in ,the ,rosicrucians1 called the soul a fire taken from the eternal ocean of light1 and in common with other ,fire-,philosophers believed that all knowable things1 both of the soul and the body1 were evolved out of fire and finally resolvable into it2 and that fire was the last and only-to-be-known ,god4 ,in passing ,i might call attention to the fact that the ,devil is supposed to dwell in the same element4 ,some of the secrets of heat resistance as practiced by the dime-museum and sideshow performers of our time1 secrets grouped under the general title of ,fire-eating1 must have been known in very early times4 ,to quote from ,chambers' ,book of ,days3 ,in ancient history we find several examples of people who possessed the art of touching fire without being burned4 ,the ,priestesses of ,diana1 at ,castabala1 in ,cappadocia1 commanded public veneration by walking over red-hot iron4 ,the ,herpi1 a people of ,etruria1 walked among glowing embers at an annual festival held on ,mount ,soracte1 and thus proved their sacred character1 receiving certain privileges1 among others1 exemption from military service1 from the ,roman ,senate4 ,one of the most astounding stories of antiquity is related in the ',zenda-,vesta1' to the effect that ,zoroaster1 to confute his calumniators1 allowed fluid lead to be poured over his body1 without receiving any injury4 ,to me the astounding part of this story is not in the feat itself1 for that is extremely easy to accomplish1 but in the fact that the secret was known at such an early date1 which the best authorities place at #ejj to #ajjj ,b4,c4 ,it is said that the earliest recorded instance1 in our era1 of ordeal by fire was in the fourth century4 ,simplicius1 ,bishop of ,autun1 who had been married before his promotion1 continued to live with his wife1 and in order to demonstrate the ,platonic purity of their intercourse placed burning coals upon their flesh without injury4 ,that the clergy of the ,middle ,ages1 who caused accused persons to walk blindfold among red-hot plowshares1 or hold heated irons in their hands1 were in possession of the secret of the trick1 is shown by the fact that after trial by ordeal had been abolished the secret of their methods was published by ,albert1 ,count of ,bollstadt1 usually called ,albertus ,magnus but sometimes ,albertus ,teutonicus1 a man distinguished by the range of his inquiries and his efforts for the spread of knowledge4 ,these secrets will be fully explained in the section of this history devoted to the ,arcana of the ,fire-,eaters 7,chapter ,six74 ,i take the following from the ,new ,york ,clipper-,annual of #ahhe3 ,the famous fire dance of the ,navajo ,indians1 often described as though it involved some sort of genuine necromancy1 is explained by a matter-of-fact spectator4 ,it is true1 he says1 that the naked worshipers cavort round a big bonfire1 with blazing faggots in their hands1 and dash the flames over their own and their fellows' bodies1 all in a most picturesque and maniacal fashion2 but their skins are first so thickly coated with a clay paint that they cannot easily be burned4 ,an illustrated article entitled ,rites of the ,firewalking ,fanatics of ,japan1 by ,w4 ,c4 ,jameson ,reid1 in the ,chicago ,sunday ,inter-,ocean of ,september #bgth1 #aijc1 reveals so splendid an example of the gullibility of the well-informed when the most ordinary trick is cleverly presented and surrounded with the atmosphere of the occult1 that ,i am impelled to place before my readers a few illuminating excerpts from ,mr4 ,reid's narrative4 ,this man would1 in all probability1 scorn to spend a dime to witness the performance of a fire-eater in a circus sideshow2 but after traveling half round the world he pays a dollar and spends an hour's time watching the fanatical incantations of the solemn little ,japanese priests for the sake of seeing the ,hi-,wattarai--which is merely the stunt of walking over hot coals--and he then writes it down as the eighth wonder of the world1 while if he had taken the trouble to give the matter even the most superficial investigation1 he could have discovered that the secret of the trick had been made public centuries before4 ,mr4 ,reid is authority for the statement that the ,shintoist priests' fire-walking rites have long been one of the puzzling mysteries of the scientific world1 and adds ,if you ever are in ,tokio1 and can find a few minutes to spare1 by all means do not neglect witnessing at least one performance of ',hi-,wattarai' 7fire walking1 and that is really what takes place71 for1 if you are of that incredulous nature which laughs with scorn at so-called ,eastern mysticism1 you will come away1 as has many a visitor before you1 with an impression sufficient to last through an ordinary lifetime4 ,further on he says ,if you do not come away convinced that you have been witness of a spectacle which makes you disbelieve the evidence of your own eyes and your most matter-of-fact judgment1 then you are a man of stone4 ,all of which proves nothing more than that ,mr4 ,reid was inclined to make positive statements about subjects in which he knew little or nothing4 ,he tells us further that formerly this rite was performed only in the spring and fall1 when1 beside the gratuities of the foreigners1 the native worshipers brought gifts of wine1 large trays of fish1 fruit1 rice cakes1 loaves1 vegetables1 and candies4 ,evidently the combination of box-office receipts with donation parties proved extremely tempting to the thrifty priests1 for they now give what might be termed a continuous performance4 ,those who have read the foregoing pages will apply a liberal sprinkling of salt to the solemn assurance of ,mr4 ,reid1 advanced on the authority of ,jinrikisha boys1 that for days beforehand the priests connected with the temple devote themselves to fasting and prayer to prepare for the ordeal4 4 4 4 ,the performance itself usually takes place in the late afternoon during twilight in the temple court1 the preceding three hours being spent by the priests in final outbursts of prayer before the unveiled altar in the inner sanctuary of the little matted temple1 and during these invocations no visitors are allowed to enter the sacred precincts4 ,mr4 ,reid's description of the fire walking itself may not be out of place2 it will show that the ,japs had nothing new to offer aside from the ritualistic ceremonials with which they camouflaged the hocus-pocus of the performance1 which is merely a survival of the ordeal by fire of earlier religions4 ,shortly before #e o'clock the priests filed from before the altar into some interior apartments1 where they were to change their beautiful robes for the coarser dress worn during the fire walking4 ,in the meantime coolies had been set to work in the courtyard to ignite the great bed of charcoal1 which had already been laid4 ,the dimensions of this bed were about twelve feet by four1 and1 perhaps1 a foot deep4 ,on the top was a quantity of straw and kindling wood1 which was lighted1 and soon burst into a roaring blaze4 ,the charcoal became more and more thoroughly ignited until the whole mass glowed in the uncertain gloom1 like some gigantic and demoniacal eye of a modern ,prometheus4 ,as soon as the mass of charcoal was thoroughly ignited from top to bottom1 a small gong in the temple gave notice that the wonderful spectacle of ',hi-,wattarai' was about to begin4 ,soon two of the priests came out1 said prayers of almost interminable length at a tiny shrine in the corner of the enclosure1 and turned their attention to the fire4 ,taking long poles and fans from the coolies1 they poked and encouraged the blaze till it could plainly be seen that the coal was ignited throughout4 ,the whole bed was a glowing mass1 and the heat which rose from it was so intense that we found it uncomfortable to sit fifteen feet away from it without screening our faces with fans4 ,then they began to pound it down more solidly along the middle2 as far as possible inequalities in its surface were beaten down1 and the coals which protruded were brushed aside4 ,there follows a long and detailed description of further ceremonies1 the receiving of gifts1 etc41 which need not be repeated here4 ,now for the trick itself4 ,one of the priests held a pile of white powder on a small wooden stand4 ,this was said to be salt--which in ,japan is credited with great cleansing properties--but as far as could be ascertained by superficial examination it was a mixture of alum and salt4 ,he stood at one end of the fire-bed and poised the wooden tray over his head1 and then sprinkled a handful of it on the ground before the glowing bed of coals4 ,at the same time another priest who stood by him chanted a weird recitative of invocation and struck sparks from flint and steel which he held in his hands4 ,this same process was repeated by both the priests at the other end1 at the two sides1 and at the corners4 ,ten minutes1 more or less1 was spent in various movements and incantations about the bed of coals4 ,at the end of that time two small pieces of wet matting were brought out and placed at either end and a quantity of the white mixture was placed upon them4 ,at a signal from the head priest1 who acted as master of ceremonies during the curious succeeding function1 the ascetics who were to perform the first exhibition of fire-walking gathered at one end of the bed of coals1 which by this time was a fierce and glowing furnace4 ,having raised both his hands and prostrated himself to render thanks to the god who had taken out the 'soul' of the fire1 the priest about to undergo the ordeal stood upon the wet matting1 wiped his feet lightly in the white mixture1 and while we held our breaths1 and our eyes almost leaped from their sockets in awe-struck astonishment1 he walked over the glowing mass as unconcernedly as if treading on a carpet in a drawing-room1 his feet coming in contact with the white hot coals at every step4 ,he did not hurry or take long steps1 but sauntered along with almost incredible sang-froid1 and before he reached the opposite side he turned around and sauntered as carelessly back to the mat from which he had started4 ,the story goes on to tell how the performance was repeated by the other priests1 and then by many of the native audience2 but none of the ,europeans tried it1 although invited to do so4 ,mr4 ,reid's closing statement is that no solution of the mystery can be gleaned1 even from high scientific authorities who have witnessed and closely studied the physical features of these remarkable ,shinto fire-walking rites4 ,many who are confronted with something that they cannot explain take refuge in the claim that it puzzles the scientists too4 ,as a matter of fact1 at the time ,mr4 ,reid wrote1 such scientists as had given the subject serious study were pretty well posted on the methods involved4 ,an article under the title ,the ,fiery ,ordeal of ,fiji1 by ,maurice ,delcasse1 appeared in the ,wide ,world ,magazine for ,may1 #ahih4 ,from ,mr4 ,delcasse's account it appears that the ,fijian ordeal is practically the same as that of the ,japanese1 as described by ,mr4 ,reid1 except that there is very little ceremony surrounding it4 ,the people of ,fiji until a comparatively recent date were cannibals2 but their islands are now ,british possessions1 most of the natives are ,christians1 and most of their ancient customs have become obsolete1 from which ,i deduce that the fire-walking rites described in this article must have been performed by natives who had retained their old religious beliefs4 ,the ordeal takes place on the ,island of ,benga1 which is near ,suva1 the capital of ,fiji1 and which1 ,mr4 ,delcasse says1 was the supposed residence of some of the old gods of ,fiji1 and was1 therefore1 considered a sacred land4 ,instead of walking on the live coals1 as the ,japanese priests do1 the ,fijians walk on stones that have been brought to a white heat in a great fire of logs4 ,the familiar claim is made that the performance puzzles scientists1 and that no satisfactory solution has yet been discovered4 ,we are about to see that for two or three hundred years the same claims have been made by a long line of more or less clever public performers in ,europe and ,america4 ,,chapter ,,two ,,watton',s ,,ship-,,swabber ,,from ,,the ,,indies4--,,richardson1 #affg--;,,de ,,heiterkeit1 #agac4--,,robert ,,powell1 #agah-aghj4--;,,dufour1 #aghc4--,,quackensalber1 #agid4 ,the earliest mention ,i have found of a public fire-eater in ,england is in the correspondence of ,sir ,henry ,watton1 under date of ,june #crd1 #afcc4 ,he speaks of an ,englishman like some swabber of a ship1 come from the ,indies1 where he has learned to eat fire as familiarly as ever ,i saw any eat cakes1 even whole glowing brands1 which he will crush with his teeth and swallow4 ,this was shown in ,london for two pence4 ,the first to attract the attention of the upper classes1 however1 was one ,richardson1 who appeared in ,france in the year #affg and enjoyed a vogue sufficient to justify the record of his promise in the ,journal des ,savants4 ,later on he came to ,london1 and ,john ,evelyn1 in his diary1 mentions him under date of ,october #hth1 #afgb1 as follows3 ,i took leave of my ,lady ,sunderland1 who was going to ,paris to my ,lord1 now ,ambassador there4 ,she made me stay dinner at ,leicester ,house1 and afterwards sent for ,richardson1 the famous fire-eater4 ,he devoured brimstone on glowing coals before us1 chewing and swallowing them2 he melted a beere-glass and eate it quite up2 then taking a live coale on his tongue he put on it a raw oyster2 the coal was blown on with bellows till it flamed and sparkled in his mouthe1 and so remained until the oyster gaped and was quite boil'd4 ,then he melted pitch and wax with sulphur1 which he drank down as it flamed3 ,i saw it flaming in his mouthe a good while2 he also took up a thick piece of iron1 such as laundresses use to put in their smoothing-boxes1 when it was fiery hot1 held it between his teeth1 then in his hand1 and threw it about like a stone2 but this ,i observ'd he cared not to hold very long4 ,then he stoode on a small pot1 and1 bending his body1 tooke a glowing iron with his mouthe from betweene his feete1 without touching the pot or ground with his hands1 with divers other prodigious feats4 ,the secret methods employed by ,richardson were disclosed by his servant1 and this publicity seems to have brought his career to a sudden close2 at least ,i have found no record of his subsequent movements4 ,about #agac a fire-eater named ,de ,heiterkeit1 a native of ,annivi1 in ,savoy1 flourished for a time in ,london4 ,he performed five times a day at the ,duke of ,marlborough's ,head1 in ,fleet ,street1 the prices being half-a-crown1 eighteen pence and one shilling4 ,according to ,london ,tit-,bits1 ,de ,heiterkeit had the honor of exhibiting before ,louis ,,xiv41 the ,emperor of ,austria1 the ,king of ,sicily and the ,doge of ,venice1 and his name having reached the ,inquisition1 that holy office proposed experimenting on him to find out whether he was fireproof externally as well as internally4 ,he was preserved from this unwelcome ordeal1 however1 by the interference of the ,duchess ,royal1 ,regent of ,savoy4 ,his programme did not differ materially from that of his predecessor1 ,richardson1 who had antedated him by nearly fifty years4 ,by far the most famous of the early fire-eaters was ,robert ,powell1 whose public career extended over a period of nearly sixty years1 and who was patronized by the ,english peerage4 ,it was mainly through the instrumentality of ,sir ,hans ,sloane that1 in #agea1 the ,royal ,society presented ,powell a purse of gold and a large silver medal4 ,lounger's ,commonplace ,book says of ,powell3 ,such is his passion for this terrible element1 that if he were to come hungry into your kitchen1 while a sirloin was roasting1 he would eat up the fire and leave the beef4 ,it is somewhat surprising that the friends of ,,real ,,merit have not yet promoted him1 living as we do in an age favorable to men of genius4 ,obliged to wander from place to place1 instead of indulging himself in private with his favorite dish1 he is under the uncomfortable necessity of eating in public1 and helping himself from the kitchen fire of some paltry ale-house in the country4 ,his advertisements show that he was before the public from #agah to #aghj4 ,one of his later advertisements runs as follows3 ,,sum ,,solus ,please observe that there are two different performances the same evening1 which will be performed by the famous ,,mr4 ,,powell1 ,,fire-,,eater1 ,,from ,,london3 who has had the honor to exhibit1 with universal applause1 the most surprising performances that were ever attempted by mankind1 before ,his ,royal ,highness ,william1 late ,duke of ,cumberland1 at ,windsor ,lodge1 ,may #gth1 #ageb2 before ,his ,royal ,highness the ,duke of ,gloucester1 at ,gloucester ,house1 ,january #cjth1 #agfi2 before ,his ,royal ,highness the present ,duke of ,cumberland1 at ,windsor ,lodge1 ,september #beth1 #agfi2 before ,sir ,hans ,sloane and several of the ,royal ,society1 ,march #dth1 #agea1 who made ,mr4 ,powell a compliment of a purse of gold1 and a fine large silver medal1 which the curious may view by applying to him2 and before most of the ,nobility and ,quality in the ,kingdom4 ,he intends to sup on the following articles3 #a4 ,he eats red-hot coals out of the fire as natural as bread4 #b4 ,he licks with his naked tongue red-hot tobacco pipes1 flaming with brimstone4 #c4 ,he takes a large bunch of deal matches1 lights them altogether2 and holds them in his mouth till the flame is extinguished4 #d4 ,he takes a red-hot heater out of the fire1 licks it with his naked tongue several times1 and carries it around the room between his teeth4 #e4 ,he fills his mouth with red-hot charcoal1 and broils a slice of beef or mutton upon his tongue1 and any person may blow the fire with a pair of bellows at the same time4 #f4 ,he takes a quantity of resin1 pitch1 bees'-wax1 sealing-wax1 brimstone1 alum1 and lead1 melts them all together over a chafing-dish of coals1 and eats the same combustibles with a spoon1 as if it were a porringer of broth 7which he calls his dish of soup71 to the great and agreeable surprise of the spectators2 with various other extraordinary performances never attempted by any other person of this age1 and there is scarce a possibility ever will2 so that those who neglect this opportunity of seeing the wonders performed by this artist1 will lose the sight of the most amazing exhibition ever done by man4 ,the doors to be opened by six and he sups precisely at seven o'clock1 without any notice given by sound of trumpet4 ,if gentry do not choose to come at seven o'clock1 no performance4 ,prices of admission to ladies and gentlemen1 one shilling4 ,back ,seats for ,children and ,servants1 six pence4 ,ladies and children may have a private performance any hour of the day1 by giving previous notice4 ,n4 ,b4--,he displaces teeth or stumps so easily as to scarce be felt4 ,he sells a chemical liquid which discharges inflammation1 scalds1 and burns1 in a short time1 and is necessary to be kept in all families4 ,his stay in this place will be but short1 not exceeding above two or three nights4 ,good fire to keep the gentry warm4 ,this shows how little advance had been made in the art in a century4 ,richardson had presented practically the same programme a hundred years before4 ,perhaps the exposure of ,richardson's method by his servant put an end to fire-eating as a form of amusement for a long time1 or until the exposure had been forgotten by the public4 ,powell himself1 though not proof against exposure1 seems to have been proof against its effects1 for he kept on the even tenor of his way for sixty years1 and at the end of his life was still exhibiting4 ,whatever the reason1 the eighteenth century fire-eaters1 like too many magicians of the present day1 kept to the stereotyped programmes of their predecessors4 ,a very few did1 however1 step out of the beaten track and1 by adding new tricks and giving a new dress to old ones1 succeeded in securing a following that was financially satisfactory4 ,in this class a ,frenchman by the name of ,dufour deserves special mention1 from the fact that he was the first to introduce comedy into an act of this nature4 ,he made his bow in ,paris in #aghc1 and is said to have created quite a sensation by his unusual performance4 ,i am indebted to ,martin's ,naturliche ,magie1 #agib1 for a very complete description of the work of this artist4 ,dufour made use of a portable building1 which was specially adapted to his purposes1 and his table was spread as if for a banquet1 except that the edibles were such as his performance demanded4 ,he employed a trumpeter and a tambour player to furnish music for his repast--as well as to attract public attention4 ,in addition to fire-eating1 ,dufour gave exhibitions of his ability to consume immense quantities of solid food1 and he displayed an appetite for live animals1 reptiles1 and insects that probably proved highly entertaining to the not overrefined taste of the audiences of his day4 ,he even advertised a banquet of which the public was invited to partake at a small fee per plate1 but since the menu consisted of the delicacies just described1 his audiences declined to join him at table4 ,his usual bill-of-fare was as follows3 ,soup--boiling tar torches1 glowing coals and small1 round1 super-heated stones4 ,the roast1 when ,dufour was really hungry1 consisted of twenty pounds of beef or a whole calf4 ,his hearth was either the flat of his hand or his tongue4 ,the butter in which the roast was served was melted brimstone or burning wax4 ,when the roast was cooked to suit him he ate coals and roast together4 ,as a dessert he would swallow the knives and forks1 glasses1 and the earthenware dishes4 ,he kept his audience in good humor by presenting all this in a spirit of crude comedy and1 to increase the comedy element1 he introduced a number of trained cats4 ,although the thieving proclivities of cats are well known1 ,dufour's pets showed no desire to share his repast1 and he had them trained to obey his commands during mealtime4 ,at the close of the meal he would become violently angry with one of them1 seize the unlucky offender1 tear it limb from limb and eat the carcass4 ,one of his musicians would then beg him to produce the cat1 dead or alive4 ,in order to do this he would go to a nearby horse-trough and drink it dry2 would eat a number of pounds of soap1 or other nauseating substance1 clowning it in a manner to provoke amusement instead of disgust2 and1 further to mask the disagreeable features--and also1 no doubt1 to conceal the trick--would take the cloth from the table and cover his face2 whereupon he would bring forth the swallowed cat1 or one that looked like it1 which would howl piteously and seem to struggle wildly while being disgorged4 ,when freed1 the poor cat would rush away among the spectators4 ,dufour gave his best performances in the evening1 as he could then show his hocus-pocus to best advantage4 ,at these times he appeared with a halo of fire about his head4 ,his last appearance in ,paris was most remarkable4 ,the dinner began with a soup of asps in simmering oil4 ,on each side was a dish of vegetables1 one containing thistles and burdocks1 and the other fuming acid4 ,other side dishes1 of turtles1 rats1 bats and moles1 were garnished with live coals4 ,for the fish course he ate a dish of snakes in boiling tar and pitch4 ,his roast was a screech owl in a sauce of glowing brimstone4 ,the salad proved to be spider webs full of small explosive squibs1 a plate of butterfly wings and manna worms1 a dish of toads surrounded with flies1 crickets1 grasshoppers1 church beetles1 spiders1 and caterpillars4 ,he washed all this down with flaming brandy1 and for dessert ate the four large candles standing on the table1 both of the hanging side lamps with their contents1 and finally the large center lamp1 oil1 wick and all4 ,this leaving the room in darkness1 ,dufour's face shone out in a mask of living flames4 ,a dog had come in with a farmer1 who was probably a confederate1 and now began to bark4 ,since ,dufour could not quiet him1 he seized him1 bit off his head and swallowed it1 throwing the body aside4 ,then ensued a comic scene between ,dufour and the farmer1 the latter demanding that his dog be brought to life1 which threw the audience into paroxysms of laughter4 ,then suddenly candles reappeared and seemed to light themselves4 ,dufour made a series of hocus-pocus passes over the dog's body2 then the head suddenly appeared in its proper place1 and the dog1 with a joyous yelp1 ran to his master4 ,notwithstanding the fact that ,dufour must have been by all odds the best performer of his time1 ,i do not find reference to him in any other authority4 ,but something of his originality appeared in the work of a much humbler practitioner1 contemporary or very nearly contemporary with him4 ,we have seen that ,richardson1 ,powell1 ,dufour1 and generally the better class of fire-eaters were able to secure select audiences and even to attract the attention of scientists in ,england and on the ,continent4 ,but many of their effects had been employed by mountebanks and street fakirs since the earliest days of the art1 and this has continued until comparatively recent times4 ,in ,naturliche ,magie1 in #agid1 ,vol4 ,,vi1 page #aaa1 ,i find an account of one ,quackensalber1 who gave a new twist to the fire-eating industry by making a ,high ,pitch at the fairs and on street corners and exhibiting feats of fire-resistance1 washing his hands and face in melted tar1 pitch and brimstone1 in order to attract a crowd4 ,he then strove to sell them a compound--composed of fish glue1 alum and brandy--which he claimed would cure burns in two or three hours4 ,he demonstrated that this mixture was used by him in his heat resistance3 and then1 doubtless1 some capper started the ball rolling1 and ,herr ,quackensalber 7his name indicates a seller of salves7 reaped a good harvest4 ,i have no doubt but that even to-day a clever performer with this ,high ,pitch could do a thriving business in that overgrown country village1 ,new ,york4 ,at any rate there is the so-called1 ,king of ,bees1 a gentleman from ,pennsylvania1 who exhibits himself in a cage of netting filled with bees1 and then sells the admiring throng a specific for bee-stings and the wounds of angry wasps4 ,unfortunately the only time ,i ever saw his majesty1 some of his bee actors must have forgotten their lines1 for he was thoroughly stung4 ,,chapter ,,three ,,the ,,nineteenth ,,century4--,a ,,wonderful ,,phenomenon4--,,the ,,incombustible ,,spaniard1 ,,senor ,,lionetto1 #ahjc4--;,,josephine ,,girardelli1 #ahad4--;,,john ,,brooks1 #ahag4--,w4 ,c4 ,,houghton1 #ahcb4--;,j4 ,a4 ,b4 ,,chylinski1 #ahda4--;,,chamouni1 ,,the ,,russian ,,salamander1 #ahfi4--,,professor ,,rel ,,maeub1 #ahgf4--,,rivalli 7died #aijj74 ,in the nineteenth century by far the most distinguished heat-resister was ,chabert1 who deserves and shall have a chapter to himself4 ,he commenced exhibiting about #ahah1 but even earlier in the century certain obscurer performers had anticipated some of his best effects4 ,among my clippings1 for instance1 ,i find the following4 ,i regret that ,i cannot give the date1 but it is evident from the long form of the letters that it was quite early4 ,this is the first mention ,i have found of the hot-oven effect afterwards made famous by ,chabert4 ,,wonderful ,,phenomenon ,a correspondent in ,france writes as follows3 ,paris has1 for some days1 rung with relations of the wonderful exploits of a ,spaniard in that city1 who is endowed with qualities by which he resists the action of very high degrees of heat1 as well as the influence of strong chemical reagents4 ,many histories of the trials to which he has been submitted before a ,commission of the ,institute and ,medical ,school1 have appeared in the public papers2 but the public waits with impatience for the report to be made in the name of the ,commission by ,professor ,pinel4 ,the subject of these trials is a young man1 a native of ,toledo1 in ,spain1 #bc years of age1 and free of any apparent peculiarities which can announce anything remarkable in the organization of his skin2 after examination1 one would be rather disposed to conclude a peculiar softness than that any hardness or thickness of the cuticle existed1 either naturally or from mechanical causes4 ,nor was there any circumstance to indicate that the person had been previously rubbed with any matter capable of resisting the operation of the agents with which he was brought in contact4 ,this man bathed for the space of five minutes1 and without any injury to his sensibility or the surface of the skin1 his legs in oil1 heated at #ig degrees of ,reaumur 7#bej degrees of ,fahrenheit7 and with the same oil1 at the same degree of heat1 he washed his face and superior extremities4 ,he held1 for the same space of time1 and with as little inconvenience1 his legs in a solution of muriate of soda1 heated to #ajb of the same scale1 7#bfa #a_/b degrees ,fahr47 ,he stood on and rubbed the soles of his feet with a bar of hot iron heated to a white heat2 in this state he held the iron in his hands and rubbed the surface of his tongue4 ,he gargled his mouth with concentrated sulphuric and nitric acids1 without the smallest injury or discoloration2 the nitric acid changed the cuticle to a yellow color2 with the acids in this state he rubbed his hands and arms4 ,all these experiments were continued long enough to prove their inefficiency to produce any impression4 ,it is said1 on unquestionable authority1 that he remained a considerable time in an oven heated to #fe degrees or #gj degrees1 7#agh-ahi degrees ,fahr47 and from which he was with difficulty induced to retire1 so comfortable did he feel at that high temperature4 ,it may be proper to remark1 that this man seems totally uninfluenced by any motive to mislead1 and1 it is said1 he has refused flattering offers from some religious sectaries of turning to emolument his singular qualities2 yet on the whole it seems to be the opinion of most philosophical men1 that this person must possess some matter which counteracts the operation of these agents4 ,to suppose that nature has organized him differently1 would be unphilosophic3 by habit he might have blunted his sensibilities against those impressions that create pain under ordinary circumstances2 but how to explain the power by which he resists the action of those agents which are known to have the strongest affinity for animal matter1 is a circumstance difficult to comprehend4 ,it has not failed1 however1 to excite the wonder of the ignorant and the inquiry of the learned at ,paris4 ,this ,wonderful ,phenomenon may have been the incombustible ,spaniard1 ,senor ,lionetto1 whom the ,london ,mirror mentions as performing in ,paris in #ahjc where he attracted the particular attention of ,dr4 ,sementeni1 ,professor of ,chemistry1 and other scientific gentlemen of that city4 ,it appears that a considerable vapor and smell rose from parts of his body when the fire and heated substances were applied1 and in this he seems to differ from the person now in this country4 ,the person here referred to was ,m4 ,chabert4 ,dr4 ,sementeni became so interested in the subject that he made a series of experiments upon himself1 and these were finally crowned with success4 ,his experiments will receive further attention in the chapter ,the ,arcana of the ,fire-,eaters4 ,a veritable sensation was created in ,england in the year #ahad by ,senora ,josephine ,girardelli1 who was heralded as having just arrived from the ,continent1 where she had the honor of appearing before most of the crowned heads of ,europe4 ,she was first spoken of as ,german1 but afterwards proved to be of ,italian birth4 ,entering a field of endeavor which had heretofore been exclusively occupied by the sterner sex1 this lady displayed a taste for hot meals that would seem to recommend her as a matrimonial venture4 ,like all the earlier exploiters of the devouring element1 she was proclaimed as ,the ,great ,phenomena of ,nature--why the plural form was used does not appear--and1 doubtless1 her feminine instincts led her to impart a daintiness to her performance which must have appealed to the better class of audience in that day4 ,the portrait that adorned her first ,english handbill1 which ,i produce from the ,picture ,magazine1 was engraved by ,page and published by ,smeeton1 ,st4 ,martins ,lane1 ,london4 ,it is said to be a faithful representation of her stage costume and setting4 ,richardson1 of ,bartholomew ,fair fame1 who was responsible for the introduction of many novelties1 first presented ,girardelli to an ,english audience at ,portsmouth1 where her success was so pronounced that a ,london appearance was arranged for the same year2 and at ,mr4 ,laston's rooms1 #bc ,new ,bond ,street1 her performance attracted the most fashionable metropolitan audiences for a considerable time4 ,following this engagement she appeared at ,richardson's ,theater1 at ,bartholomew ,fair1 and afterwards toured ,england in the company of ,signor ,germondi1 who exhibited a troupe of wonderful trained dogs4 ,one of the canine actors was billed as the ,russian ,moscow ,fire ,dog1 an animal unknown in this country1 7and never exhibited before7 who now delights in that element1 having been trained for the last six months at very great expense and fatigue4 ,whether ,girardelli accumulated sufficient wealth to retire or became discouraged by the exposure of her methods cannot now be determined1 but after she had occupied a prominent position in the public eye and the public prints for a few seasons she dropped out of sight1 and ,i have been unable to find where or how she passed the later years of her life4 ,i am even more at a loss concerning her contemporary1 ,john ,brooks1 of whom ,i have no other record than the following letter1 which appears in the autobiography of the famous author-actor-manager1 ,thomas ,dibdin1 of the ,theaters ,royal1 ,covent ,garden1 ,drury ,lane1 ,haymarket and others4 ,this one communication1 however1 absolves of any obligation to dig up proofs of ,john ,brooks' versatility3 he admits it himself4 ,to ,mr4 ,t4 ,dibdin1 ,esq4 ,pripetor of the ,royal ,circus4 ,may #ast1 #ahag4 ,sir3 ,i have taken the ,liberty of ,riting those few lines to ask you the favour if a ,greeable for me to ,come to your ,house1 as i ,can do a great many different things i ,can ,sing a good ,song and i ,can ,eat ,boiling hot ,lead and ,rub my naked arms ,with a ,red hot ,poker and ,stand on a ,red hot sheet of iron1 and do ,diferent other things4--,sir i hope you ,will ,excuse me in ,riting ,i do not ,want any thing for my ,performing for i have ,got a ,business that will ,sirport me ,i only want to pass a ,way #b or #c ,hours in the ,evening4 ,sir i hope you ,will ,send me an ,answer ,weather ,agreeple or not4 ,i am your ,humble ,servant1 ,j4 ,b4 ,direct to me ,no4 #d fox and ,knot ,court ,king ,street ,smithfield4 ,,john ,,brooks4 ,we shall let this versatile ,john ,brooks close the pre-,chabert record and turn our attention to the fire-eaters of ,chabert's day4 ,imitation may be the sincerest flattery1 but in most cases the victim of the imitation1 it is safe to say1 will gladly dispense with that form of adulation4 ,when ,chabert first came to ,america and gave fresh impetus to the fire-eating art by the introduction of new and startling material1 he was beset by many imitators1 or--as they probably styled themselves--rivals1 who immediately proceeded1 so far as in them lay1 to out-,chabert ,chabert4 ,one of the most prominent of these was a man named ,w4 ,c4 ,houghton1 who claimed to have challenged ,chabert at various times4 ,in a newspaper advertisement in ,philadelphia1 where he was scheduled to give a benefit performance on ,saturday evening1 ,february #dth1 #ahcb1 he practically promised to expose the method of poison eating4 ,like that of all exposers1 however1 his vogue was of short duration1 and very little can be found about this super-,chabert except his advertisements4 ,the following will serve as a sample of them3 ,,arch ,,street ,,theatre ,,benefit ,,of ,,the ,,american ,,fire ,,king ,a ,,card4--,w4 ,c4 ,houghton1 has the honor to announce to the ladies and gentlemen of ,philadelphia1 that his ,,benefit will take place at the ,,arch ,,street ,,theatre1 on ,saturday evening next1 #dth ,february1 when will be presented a variety of entertainments aided by the whole strength of the company4 ,mr4 ,h4 in addition to his former experiments will exhibit several fiery feats1 pronounced by ,mons4 ,chabert an ,,impossibility4 ,he will give a ,,complete explanation by illustrations of the ,,principles of the ,,european and the ,,american ,,chess ,,players4 ,he will also 7unless prevented by indisposition7 swallow a sufficient quantity of phosphorus1 7presented by either chemist or druggist of this city7 to destroy ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,any ,,individual4 ,should he not feel disposed to take the poison1 he will satisfactorily explain to the audience the manner it may be taken without injury4 ,in our next chapter we shall see how it went with others who challenged ,chabert4 ,a ,polish athlete1 ,j4 ,a4 ,b4 ,chylinski by name1 toured ,great ,britain and ,ireland in #ahda1 and presented a more than usually diversified entertainment4 ,being gifted by nature with exceptional bodily strength1 and trained in gymnastics1 he was enabled to present a mixed programme1 combining his athletics with feats of strength1 fire-eating1 poison-swallowing1 and fire-resistance4 ,in ,the ,book of ,wonderful ,characters1 published in #ahfi by ,john ,camden ,hotten1 ,london1 ,i find an account of ,chamouni1 the ,russian ,salamander3 ,he was insensible1 for a given time1 to the effects of heat4 ,he was remarkable for the simplicity and singleness of his character1 as well as for that idiosyncrasy in his constitution1 which enabled him for so many years1 not merely to brave the effects of fire1 but to take a delight in an element where other men find destruction4 ,he was above all artifice1 and would often entreat his visitors to melt their own lead1 or boil their own mercury1 that they might be perfectly satisfied of the gratification he derived from drinking these preparations4 ,he would also present his tongue in the most obliging manner to all who wished1 to pour melted lead upon it and stamp an impression of their seals4 ,a fire-proof billed as ,professor ,rel ,maeub1 was on the programme at the opening of the ,new ,national ,theater1 in ,philadelphia1 ,pa41 in the spring of #ahgf4 ,if ,i am not mistaken the date was ,april #beth4 ,he called himself ,the ,great ,inferno ,fire-,king1 and his novelty consisted in having a strip of wet carpeting running parallel to the hot iron plates on which he walked barefoot1 and stepping on it occasionally and back onto the hot iron1 when a loud hissing and a cloud of steam bore ample proof of the high temperature of the metal4 ,one of the more recent fireproofs was ,eugene ,rivalli1 whose act included1 besides the usual effects1 a cage of fire in which he stood completely surrounded by flames4 ,rivalli1 whose right name was ,john ,watkins1 died in #aijj1 in ,england4 ,he had appeared in ,great ,britain and ,ireland as well as on the ,continent during the later years of the #aith century4 ,the cage of fire has been used by a number of ,rivalli's followers also1 and the reader will find a full explanation of the methods employed for it in the chapter devoted to the ,arcana of the ,fire-eaters1 to which we shall come when we have recorded the work of the master ,chabert1 the history of some of the heat-resisters featured on magicians' programmes1 particularly in our own day1 and the interest taken in this art by performers whose chief distinction was won in other fields1 as notably ,edwin ,forrest and the elder ,sothern4 ,,chapter ,,four ,,the ,,master--,,chabert1 #agib-ahei4 ,ivan ,ivanitz ,chabert1 the only ,really ,incombustible ,phenomenon1 as he was billed abroad1 or ,j4 ,xavier ,chabert1 ,a4,m41 ,m4,d41 etc41 as he was afterwards known in this country1 was probably the most notable1 and certainly the most interesting1 character in the history of fire-eating1 fire-resistance1 and poison eating4 ,he was the last prominent figure in the long line of this type of artists to appeal to the better classes and to attract the attention of scientists1 who for a considerable period treated his achievements more or less seriously4 ,henry ,evanion gave me a valuable collection of ,chabert clippings1 hand-bills1 etc41 and related many interesting incidents in connection with this man of wonders4 ,it seems quite impossible for me to write of any historical character in ,magic or its allied arts without recalling my dear old friend ,evanion1 who introduced me to a throng of fascinating characters1 with each of whom he seemed almost as familiar as if they had been daily companions4 ,subsequently ,i discovered an old engraving of ,chabert1 published in ,london in #ahbi1 and later still another which bore the change of name1 as well as the titles enumerated above4 ,the latter was published in ,new ,york1 ,september1 #ahcf1 and bore the inscription3 ,one of the most celebrated ,chemists1 ,philosophers1 and ,physicians of the present day4 ,these discoveries1 together with a clue from ,evanion1 led to further investigations1 which resulted in the interesting discovery that this one-time ,bartholomew ,fair entertainer spent the last years of his life in ,new ,york ,city4 ,he resided here for twenty-seven years and lies buried in the beautiful ,cypress ,hills ,cemetery1 quite forgotten by the man on the street4 ,nearby is the grave of good old ,signor ,blitz1 and not far away is the plot that holds all that is mortal of my beloved parents4 ,when ,i finally break away from earthly chains and restraints1 ,i hope to be placed beside them4 ,during my search for data regarding ,chabert ,i looked in the telephone book for a possible descendant4 ,by accident ,i picked up the ,suburban instead of the ,metropolitan edition1 and there ,i found a ,victor ,e4 ,chabert living at ,allenhurst1 ,n4 ,j4 ,i immediately got into communication with him and found that he was a grandson of the ,fire ,king1 but he could give me no more information than ,i already possessed1 which ,i now spread before my readers4 ,m4 ,chabert was a son of ,joseph and ,therese ,julienne ,chabert4 ,he was born on ,may #ajth1 #agib1 at ,avignon1 ,france4 ,chabert was a soldier in the ,napoleonic wars1 was exiled to ,siberia and escaped to ,england4 ,his grandson has a bronze ,napoleon medal which was presented to ,chabert1 presumably for valor on the field of battle4 ,napoleon was exiled in #ahae and again three years later4 ,chabert first attracted public notice in ,paris1 at which time his demonstrations of heat-resistance were sufficiently astonishing to merit the attention of no less a body than the ,national ,institute4 ,to the more familiar feats of his predecessors he added startling novelties in the art of heat-resistance1 the most spectacular being that of entering a large iron cabinet1 which resembled a common baker's oven1 heated to the usual temperature of such ovens4 ,he carried in his hand a leg of mutton and remained until the meat was thoroughly cooked4 ,another thriller involved standing in a flaming tar-barrel until it was entirely consumed around him4 ,in #ahbh1 ,chabert gave a series of performances at the ,argyle ,rooms in ,london1 and created a veritable sensation4 ,a correspondent in the ,london ,mirror has this to say of ,chabert's work at that time3 ,of ,m4 ,chabert's wonderful power of withstanding the operation of the fiery element1 it is in the recollection of the writer of witnessing1 some few years back1 this same individual 7in connection with the no-less fire-proof ,signora ,girardelli7 exhibiting 'extraordinary proofs of his supernatural power of resisting the most intense heat of every kind4' ,since which an ,,improvement of a more formidable nature has to our astonished fancy been just demonstrated4 ,in the newspapers of the past week it is reported that he1 in the first instance1 refreshed himself with a hearty meal of phosphorus1 which was1 at his own request1 supplied to him very liberally by several of his visitors1 who were previously unacquainted with him4 ,he washed down 7they say7 this infernal fare with solutions of arsenic and oxalic acid2 thus throwing into the background the long-established fame of ,mithridates4 ,he next swallowed with great gout1 several spoonfuls of boiling oil2 and1 as a dessert to this delicate repast1 helped himself with his naked hands to a considerable quantity of molten lead4 ,the experiment1 however1 of entering into a hot oven1 together with a quantity of meat1 sufficient1 when cooked1 to regale those of his friends who were specially invited to witness his performance1 was the chef-d'oeuvre of the day4 ,having ordered three fagots of wood1 which is the quantity generally used by bakers1 to be thrown into the oven1 and they being set on fire1 twelve more fagots of the same size were subsequently added to them1 which being all consumed by three o'clock1 ,m4 ,chabert entered the oven with a dish of raw meat1 and when it was sufficiently done he handed it out1 took in another1 and remained therein until the second quantity was also well cooked2 he then came out of the oven1 and sat down1 continues the report1 to partake1 with a respectable assembly of friends1 of those viands he had so closely attended during the culinary process4 ,publicly1 on a subsequent day1 and in an oven #f feet by #g1 and at a heat of about #bbj1 he remained till a steak was properly done1 and again returned to his fiery den and continued for a period of thirty minutes1 in complete triumph over the power of an element so much dreaded by humankind1 and so destructive to animal nature4 ,it has been properly observed1 that there are preparations which so indurate the cuticle1 as to render it insensible to the heat of either boiling oil or melted lead2 and the fatal qualities of certain poisons may be destroyed1 if the medium through which they are imbibed1 as we suppose to be the case here1 is a strong alkali4 ,many experiments1 as to the extent to which the human frame could bear heat1 without the destruction of the vital powers1 have been tried from time to time2 but so far as recollection serves1 ,monsieur ,chabert's fire-resisting qualities are greater than those professed by individuals who1 before him1 have undergone this species of ordeal4 ,it was announced some time ago1 in one of the ,french journals1 that experiments had been tried with a female1 whose fire-standing qualities had excited great astonishment4 ,she1 it appears1 was placed in a heated oven1 into which live dogs1 cats1 and rabbits were conveyed4 ,the poor animals died in a state of convulsion almost immediately1 while the ,fire-queen bore the heat without complaining4 ,in that instance1 however1 the heat of the oven was not so great as that which ,m4 ,chabert encountered4 ,much of the power to resist greater degrees of heat than can other men may be a natural gift1 much the result of chemical applications1 and much from having the parts indurated by long practice2 probably all three are combined in this phenomenon1 with some portion of artifice4 ,in ,timbs' ,curiosities of ,london1 published in #ahfg1 ,i find the following3 ,at the ,argyle ,rooms1 ,london1 in #ahbi1 ,mons4 ,chabert1 the ,fire-,king1 exhibited his powers of resisting poisons1 and withstanding extreme heat4 ,he swallowed forty grains of phosphorus1 sipped oil at #ccc degrees with impunity1 and rubbed a red-hot fire-shovel over his tongue1 hair1 and face1 unharmed4 ,on ,september #bc;d1 on a challenge of ,l#ej1 ,chabert repeated these feats and won the wager2 he next swallowed a piece of burning torch2 and then1 dressed in coarse woolen1 entered an oven heated to #chj degrees1 sang a song1 and cooked two dishes of beef steaks4 ,still1 the performances were suspected1 and in fact1 proved to be a chemical juggle4 ,another challenge in the same year is recorded under the heading1 ,sights of ,london1 as follows3 ,we were tempted on ,wednesday to the ,argyle ,rooms by the challenge of a person of the uncommon name of ,j4 ,smith to ,m4 ,chabert1 our old friend the ,fire ,king1 whom this individual dared to invite to a trial of powers in swallowing poison and being baked6 ,the audacity of such a step quite amazed us2 and expecting to see in the competitor at least a ,vulcan1 the ,god of all ,smiths1 was hastened to the scene of strife4 ,alas1 our disappointment was complete6 ,smith had not even the courage of a blacksmith for standing fire1 and yielded a stake of ,l#ej1 as was stated1 without a contest1 to ,m4 ,chabert1 on the latter coming out of his oven with his own two steaks perfectly cooked4 ,on this occasion ,chabert took #bj grains of phosphorus1 swallowed oil heated to nearly #ajj degrees above boiling water1 took molten lead out of a ladle with his fingers and cooled it on his tongue2 and1 besides performing other remarkable feats1 remained five minutes in the oven at a temperature of between #cjj and #djj degrees by the thermometer4 ,there was about #aej persons present1 many of them medical men2 and being convinced that these things were fairly done1 without trickery1 much astonishment was expressed4 ,the following detailed account of the latter challenge appeared in the ,chronicle1 ,london1 ,september1 #ahbi4 ,,the ,,fire ,,king ,,and ,,his ,,challenger4--,an advertisement appeared lately in one of the papers1 in which a ,mr4 ,j4 ,smith after insinuating that ,m4 ,chabert practised some juggle when he appeared to enter an oven heated to five hundred degrees1 and to swallow twenty grains of phosphorus1 challenged him to perform the exploits which he professed to be performing daily4 ,in consequence ,m4 ,chabert publicly accepted ,mr4 ,j4 ,smith's challenge for ,l#ej1 requesting him to provide the poison himself4 ,a day was fixed upon which the challenge was to be determined1 and at two o'clock on that day1 a number of gentlemen assembled in the ,argyle-rooms1 where the exhibition was to take place4 ,at a little before three the fire-king made his appearance near his oven1 and as some impatience had been exhibited1 owing to the non-arrival of ,mr4 ,j4 ,smith1 he offered to amuse the company with a few trifling experiments4 ,he made a shovel red-hot and rubbed it over his tongue1 a trick for which no credit1 he said1 was due1 as the moisture of the tongue was sufficient to prevent any injury arising from it4 ,he next rubbed it over his hair and face1 declaring that anybody might perform the same feat by first washing themselves in a mixture of spirits of sulphur and alum1 which1 by cauterising the epidermis1 hardened the skin to resist the fire4 ,he put his hand into some melted lead1 took a small portion of it out1 placed it in his mouth1 and then gave it in a solid state to some of the company4 ,this performance1 according to his account1 was also very easy2 for he seized only a very small particle1 which1 by a tight compression between the forefinger and the thumb1 became cool before it reached the mouth4 ,at this time ,mr4 ,smith made his appearance1 and ,m4 ,chabert forthwith prepared himself for mightier undertakings4 ,a cruse of oil was brought forward and poured into a saucepan1 which was previously turned upside down1 to show that there was no water in it4 ,the alleged reason for this step was1 that the vulgar conjurors1 who profess to drink boiling oil1 place the oil in water1 and drink it when the water boils1 at which time the oil is not warmer than an ordinary cup of tea4 ,he intended to drink the oil when any person might see it bubbling in the saucepan1 and when the thermometer would prove that it was heated to three hundred and sixty degrees4 ,the saucepan was accordingly placed on the fire1 and as it was acquiring the requisite heat1 the fire-king challenged any man living to drink a spoonful of the oil at the same temperature as that at which he was going to drink it4 ,in a few minutes afterwards1 he sipped off a spoonful with greatest apparent ease1 although the spoon1 from contact with the boiling fluid1 had become too hot for ordinary fingers to handle4 ,and now1 ,monsieur ,smith1 said the fire-king1 now for your challenge4 ,have you prepared yourself with phosphorus1 or will you take some of mine1 which is laid on that table8 ,mr4 ,smith1 walked up to the table1 and pulling a vial bottle out of his pocket1 offered it to the poison-swallower4 ,fire-king--,i ask you1 on your honor as a gentleman1 is this genuine unmixed poison8 ,mr4 ,smith--,it is1 upon my honor4 ,fire-king--,is there any medical gentleman here who will examine it8 ,a person in the room requested that ,dr4 ,gordon ,smith1 one of the medical professors in the ,london ,university1 would examine the vial1 and decide whether it contained genuine phosphorus4 ,the professor went to the table1 on which the formidable collection of poisons--such as red and white arsenic1 hydrocyanic acid1 morphine and phosphorus--was placed1 and1 examining the vial1 declared1 that1 to the best of his judgment1 it was genuine phosphorus4 ,m4 ,chabert asked ,mr4 ,smith1 how many grains he wished to commence his first draught with4 ,mr4 ,smith--,twenty grains will do as a commencement4 ,a medical gentleman then came forward and cut off two parcels of phosphorus1 containing twenty grains each4 ,he was placing them in the water1 when the fire-king requested that his phosphorus might be cut into small pieces1 as he did not wish the pieces to stop on their way to his stomach4 ,the poisons were now prepared4 ,a wine-glass contained the portion set aside for the fire-king--a tumbler the portion reserved for ,mr4 ,smith4 ,the ,fire-king--,i suppose1 gentlemen1 ,i must begin1 and to convince you that ,i do not juggle1 ,i will first take off my coat1 and then ,i will trouble you1 doctor 7speaking to ,dr4 ,gordon ,smith71 to tie my hands together behind me4 ,after he had been bandaged in this manner1 he planted himself on one knee in the middle of the room1 and requested some gentleman to place the phosphorus on his tongue and pour the water down his throat4 ,this was accordingly done1 and the water and phosphorus were swallowed together4 ,he then opened his mouth and requested the company to look whether any portion of the phosphorus remained in his mouth4 ,several gentlemen examined his mouth1 and declared that there was no phosphorus perceptible either upon or under his tongue4 ,he was then by his own desire unbandaged4 ,the fire-king forthwith turned to ,mr4 ,smith and offered him the other glass of phosphorus4 ,mr4 ,smith started back in infinite alarm--',not for worlds1 ,sir1 not for worlds2 ,i beg to decline it4' ,the ,fire-king--,then wherefore did you send me a challenge8 ,you pledged your honor to drink it1 if ,i did2 ,i have done it2 and if you are a gentleman1 you must drink it too4 ,mr4 ,smith--,no1 no1 ,i must be excused3 ,i am quite satisfied without it4 ,here several voices exclaimed that the bet was lost4 ,some said there must be a confederacy between the challenger and the challenged1 and others asked whether any money had been deposited8 ,the fire-king called a ,mr4 ,white forward1 who deposed that he held the stakes1 which had been regularly placed in his hands1 by both parties1 before twelve o'clock that morning4 ,the fire-king here turned round with great exultation to the company1 and pulling a bottle out of his pocket1 exclaimed1 ,i did never see this gentleman before this morning1 and ,i did not know but that he might be bold enough to venture to take this quantity of poison4 ,i was determined not to let him lose his life by his foolish wager1 and therefore ,i did bring an antidote in my pocket1 which would have prevented him from suffering any harm4 ,mr4 ,smith said his object was answered by seeing twenty grains of genuine phosphorus swallowed4 ,he had conceived it impossible1 as three grains were quite sufficient to destroy life4 ,the fire-king then withdrew into another room for the professed purpose of putting on his usual dress for entering the oven1 but in all probability for the purpose of getting the phosphorus out of his stomach4 ,after an absence of twenty minutes1 he returned1 dressed in a coarse woolen coat1 to enter the heated oven4 ,before he entered it1 a medical gentleman ascertained that his pulse was vibrating ninety-eight times a minute4 ,he remained in the oven five minutes1 during which time he sung ,le ,vaillant ,troubadour1 and superintended the cooking of two dishes of beef steaks4 ,at the end of that time he came out1 perspiring profusely1 and with a pulse making one hundred and sixty-eight vibrations in a minute4 ,the thermometer1 when brought out of the oven1 stood at three hundred and eighty degrees2 within the oven he said it was above six hundred4 ,although he was suspected of trickery by many1 was often challenged1 and had an army of rivals and imitators1 all available records show that ,chabert was beyond a doubt the greatest fire and poison resister that ever appeared in ,london4 ,seeking new laurels1 he came to ,america in #ahcb1 and although he was successful in ,new ,york1 his subsequent tour of the ,states was financially disastrous4 ,he evidently saved enough from the wreck1 however1 to start in business1 and the declining years of his eventful life were passed in the comparative obscurity of a little drug store in ,grand ,street4 ,as his biographer ,i regret to be obliged to chronicle the fact that he made and sold an alleged specific for the ,white ,plague1 thus enabling his detractors to couple with his name the word ,quack4 ,the following article1 which appeared in the ,new ,york ,herald of ,september #ast1 #ahei1 three days after ,chabert's death1 gives further details of his activities in this country3 ,we published among the obituary notices in yesterday's ,herald the death of ,dr4 ,julian ,xavier ,chabert1 the ,fire ,king1 aged #fg years1 of pulmonary consumption4 ,dr4 ,c4 was a native of ,france1 and came to this country in #ahcb1 and was first introduced to the public at the lecture room of the old ,clinton ,hall1 in ,nassau ,street1 where he gave exhibitions by entering a hot oven of his own construction1 and while there gave evidence of his salamander qualities by cooking beef steaks1 to the surprise and astonishment of his audiences4 ,it was a question to many whether the ,doctor's oven was red-hot or not1 as he never allowed any person to approach him during the exhibition or take part in the proceedings4 ,he made a tour of the ,united ,states in giving these exhibitions1 which resulted in financial bankruptcy4 ,at the breaking out of the cholera in #ahcb he turned ,doctor1 and appended ,m4,d41 to his name1 and suddenly his newspaper advertisements claimed for him the title of the celebrated ,fire ,king1 the curer of consumption1 the maker of ,chinese ,lotion1 etc4 ,while the ,doctor was at the height of his popularity1 some wag perpetrated the following joke in a newspaper paragraph3 ,during some experiments he was making in chemistry last week1 an explosion took place which entirely bewildered his faculties and left him in a condition bordering on the grave4 ,he was blown into a thousand atoms4 ,it took place on ,wednesday of last week and some accounts state that it grew out of an experiment with phosphoric ether1 others that it was by a too liberal indulgence in ,prussic acid1 an article which1 from its resemblance to the peach1 he was remarkably fond of having about him4 ,the ,doctor was extensively accused of quackery1 and on one occasion when the ,herald touched on the same subject1 it brought him to our office and he exhibited diplomas1 certificates and medical honors without number4 ,the ,doctor was remarkable for his prolific display of jewelry and medals of honor1 and by his extensive display of beard4 ,he found a rival in this city in the person of another ,french chemist1 who gave the ,doctor considerable opposition and consequently much trouble4 ,the ,doctor was famous1 also1 for his four-horse turnouts in ,broadway1 alternating1 when he saw proper1 to a change to the tandem style4 ,he married an ,irish lady whom he at first supposed to be immensely rich1 but after the nuptials it was discovered that she merely had a life interest in a large estate in common with several others4 ,the ,doctor1 it appears1 was formerly a soldier in the ,french ,army1 and quite recently he received from thence a medal of the order of ,st4 ,helena1 an account of which appeared in the ,herald4 ,prior to his death he was engaged in writing his biography 7in ,french7 and had it nearly ready for publication4 ,here follows a supposedly humorous speech in broken ,english1 quoted from the ,london ,lancet1 in which the ,doctor is satirized4 ,continuing1 the articles says3 ,the ,doctor was what was termed a 'fast liver1' and at the time of his death he kept a drug store in ,grand ,street1 and had very little of this world's goods4 ,he leaves three children to mourn his loss1 one of them an educated physician1 residing in ,hoboken1 ,n4 ,j4 ,dr4 ,c4 has 'gone to that bourne whence no traveller returns1' and we fervently trust and hope that the disembodied spirits of the tens of thousands whom he has treated in this sphere will treat him with the same science with which he treated them while in this wicked world4 ,,chapter ,,five ,,fire-,,eating ,,magicians3 ,,ching ,,ling ,,foo ,,and ,,chung ,,ling ,,soo4--,,fire-,,eaters ,,employed ,,by ,,magicians3 ,,the ,,man-,,salamander1 #ahaf2 ,,mr4 ,,carlton1 ,,professor ,,of ,,chemistry1 #ahah2 ,,miss ,,cassillis1 ,,aged ,,nine1 #ahbj2 ,,the ,,african ,,wonder1 #ahdc2 ,,ling ,,look ,,and ,,yamadeva ,,die ,,in ,,china ,,during ,,kellar',s ,,world ,,tour1 #ahgb2 ,,ling ,,look',s ,,double1 #ahgi4--;,,electrical ,,effects1 ,,the ,,salambos4--,,bueno ,,core4--,,del ,,kano4--,,barnello4--,,edwin ,,forrest ,,as ,a ,,heat-,,register4--,,the ,,elder ,,sothern ,,as ,a ,,fire-,,eater4--,,the ,,twilight ,,of ,,the ,,art4 ,many of our most noted magicians have considered it not beneath their dignity to introduce fire-eating into their programmes1 either in their own work or by the employment of a ,fire ,artist4 ,although seldom presenting it in his recent performances1 ,ching ,ling ,foo is a fire-eater of the highest type1 refining the effect with the same subtle artistry that marks all the work of this super-magician4 ,of ,foo's thousand imitators the only positively successful one was ,william ,e4 ,robinson1 whose tragic death while in the performance of the bullet-catching trick is the latest addition to the long list of casualties chargeable to that ill-omened juggle4 ,he carried the imitation even as far as the name1 calling himself ,chung ,ling ,soo4 ,robinson was very successful in the classic trick of apparently eating large quantities of cotton and blowing smoke and sparks from the mouth4 ,his teeth were finally quite destroyed by the continued performance of this trick1 the method of which may be found in ,chapter ,six4 ,the employment of fire-eaters by magicians began a century ago2 for in #ahaf the magician ,sieur ,boaz1 ,k4 ,c41 featured a performer who was billed as the ,man-,salamander4 ,the fact that ,boaz gave him a place on his programme is proof that this man was clever1 but the effects there listed show nothing original4 ,in #ahah a ,mr4 ,carlton1 ,professor of ,chemistry1 toured ,england in company with ,rae1 the ,bartholomew ,fair magician4 ,as will be seen by the handbill reproduced here1 ,carlton promised to explain the ,deceptive ,part of the performance1 when there is a sufficient company4 ,in #ahbj a ,mr4 ,cassillis toured ,england with a juvenile company1 one of the features of which was ,miss ,cassillis1 aged nine years1 whose act was a complete reproduction of the programme of ,boaz1 concluding her performance with the ,chinese ,fire ,trick4 ,a ,negro1 ,carlo ,alberto1 appeared in a benefit performance given by ,herr ,julian1 who styled himself the ,wizard of the ,south1 in ,london1 on ,november #bhth1 #ahdc4 ,alberto was billed as the ,great ,african ,wonder1 the ,fire ,king and it was promised that he would go through part of his wonderful performance as given by him in the principal theaters in ,america1 in ,boston1 ,new ,york1 ,philadelphia1 etc4 ,a later number on the same bill reads3 ,the ,african ,wonder1 ,carlo ,alberto1 will sing several new and popular ,negro melodies4 ,collectors of minstrel data please take notice6 ,in more recent times there have been a number of ,negro fire-eaters1 but none seems to have risen to noticeable prominence4 ,ling ,look1 one of the best of contemporary fire performers1 was with ,dean ,harry ,kellar when the latter made his famous trip around the world in #ahgg4 ,look combined fire-eating and sword-swallowing in a rather startling manner4 ,his best effect was the swallowing of a red-hot sword4#a ,another thriller consisted in fastening a long sword to the stock of a musket2 when he had swallowed about half the length of the blade1 he discharged the gun and the recoil drove the sword suddenly down his throat to the very hilt4 ,although ,look always appeared in a ,chinese make-up1 ,dean ,kellar told me that he thought his right name was ,dave ,gueter1 and that he was born in ,buda ,pesth4 ,yamadeva1 a brother of ,ling ,look1 was also with the ,kellar ,company1 doing cabinet manifestations and rope escapes4 ,both brothers died in ,china during this engagement1 and a strange incident occurred in connection with their deaths4 ,just before they were to sail from ,shanghai on the ,p4 ,o4 steamer ,khiva for ,hong ,kong1 ,yamadeva and ,kellar visited the bowling alley of ,the ,hermitage1 a pleasure resort on the ,bubbling ,well ,road4 ,they were watching a husky sea captain1 who was using a huge ball and making a double spare at every roll1 when ,yamadeva suddenly remarked1 ,i can handle one as heavy as that big loafer can4 ,suiting the action to the word1 he seized one of the largest balls and drove it down the alley with all his might2 but he had misjudged his own strength1 and he paid for the foolhardy act with his life1 for he had no sooner delivered the ball than he grasped his side and moaned with pain4 ,he had hardly sufficient strength to get back to the ship1 where he went immediately to bed and died shortly afterward4 ,an examination showed that he had ruptured an artery4 ,kellar and ,ling ,look had much difficulty in persuading the captain to take the body to ,hong ,kong1 but he finally consented4 ,on the way down the ,yang ,tse ,kiang ,river1 ,look was greatly depressed2 but all at once he became strangely excited1 and said that his brother was not dead1 for he had just heard the peculiar whistle with which they had always called each other4 ,the whistle was several times repeated1 and was heard by all on board4 ,finally the captain1 convinced that something was wrong1 had the lid removed from the coffin1 but the body of ,yamadeva gave no indication of life1 and all save ,ling ,look decided that they must have been mistaken4 ,poor ,ling ,look1 however1 sobbingly said to ,kellar1 ,i shall never leave ,hong ,kong alive4 ,my brother has called me to join him4 ,this prediction was fulfilled1 for shortly after their arrival in ,hong ,kong he underwent an operation for a liver trouble1 and died under the knife4 ,the brothers were buried in ,happy ,valley1 ,hong ,kong1 in the year #ahgg4 ,all this was related to me at the ,marlborough-,blenheim1 ,atlantic ,city1 in ,june1 #aijh1 by ,kellar himself1 and portions of it were repeated in #aiag when ,dean ,kellar sat by me at the ,society of ,american ,magicians' dinner4 ,in #ahgi there appeared in ,england a performer who claimed to be the original ,ling ,look4 ,he wore his make-up both on and off the stage1 and copied1 so far as he could1 ,ling's style of work4 ,his fame reached this country and the ,new ,york ,clipper published1 in its ,letter ,columns1 an article stating that ,ling ,look was not dead1 but was alive and working in ,england4 ,his imitator had the nerve to stick to his story even when confronted by ,kellar1 but when the latter assured him that he had personally attended the burial of ,ling1 in ,hong ,kong1 he broke down and confessed that he was a younger brother of the original ,ling ,look4 ,kellar later informed me that the resemblance was so strong that had he not seen the original ,ling ,look consigned to the earth1 he himself would have been duped into believing that this was the man who had been with him in ,hong ,kong4 ,the ,salambos were among the first to use electrical effects in a fire act1 combining these with the natural gas and human volcano stunts of their predecessors1 so that they were able to present an extremely spectacular performance without having recourse to such unpleasant features as had marred the effect of earlier fire acts4 ,bueno ,core1 too1 deserves honorable mention for the cleanness and snap of his act2 and ,del ,kano should also be named among the cleverer performers4 ,one of the best known of the modern fire-eaters was ,barnello1 who was a good business man as well1 and kept steadily employed at a better salary than the rank and file of his contemporaries4 ,he did a thriving business in the sale of the various concoctions used in his art1 and published and sold a most complete book of formulas and general instructions for those interested in the craft4 ,he had1 indeed1 many irons in the fire1 and he kept them all hot4 ,it will perhaps surprise the present generation to learn that the well-known circus man ,jacob ,showles was once a fire-eater1 and that ,del ,fugo1 well-known in his day as a dancer in the music halls1 began as a fire-resister1 and did his dance on hot iron plates4 ,but the reader has two keener surprises in store for him before ,i close the long history of the heat-resisters4 ,the first concerns our great ,american tragedian ,edwin ,forrest 7#ahjf-ahgb7 who1 according to ,james ,rees 7,colley ,cibber71 once essayed a fire-resisting act4 ,forrest was always fond of athletics and at one time made an engagement with the manager of a circus to appear as a tumbler and rider4 ,the engagement was not fulfilled1 however1 as his friend ,sol ,smith induced him to break it and return to the legitimate stage4 ,smith afterwards admitted to ,cibber that if ,forrest had remained with the circus he would have become one of the most daring riders and vaulters that ever appeared in the ring4 ,his adventure in fire-resistance was on the occasion of the benefit to ,charley ,young1 on which eventful night1 as the last of his acrobatic feats1 he made a flying leap through a barrel of red fire1 singeing his hair and eyebrows terribly4 ,this particular leap through fire was the big sensation of those days1 and ,forrest evidently had a hankering to show his friends that he could accomplish it--and he did4 ,the second concerns an equally popular actor1 a comedian this time1 the elder ,sothern 7#ahbf-ahha74 ,on ,march #bj1 #ahgh1 a writer in the ,chicago ,inter-,ocean communicated to that paper the following curiously descriptive article3 ,is ,mr4 ,sothern a medium8 ,this is the question that fifteen puzzled investigators are asking themselves this morning1 after witnessing a number of astounding manifestations at a private seance given by ,mr4 ,sothern last night4 ,it lacked a few minutes of #ab when a number of ,mr4 ,sothern's friends1 who had been given to understand that something remarkable was to be performed1 assembled in the former's room at the ,sherman ,house and took seats around a marble-top table1 which was placed in the center of the apartment4 ,on the table were a number of glasses1 two very large bottles1 and five lemons4 ,a sprightly young gentleman attempted to crack a joke about spirits being confined in bottles1 but the company frowned him down1 and for once ,mr4 ,sothern had a sober audience to begin with4 ,there was a good deal of curiosity regarding the object of the gathering1 but no one was able to explain4 ,each gentleman testified to the fact ,mr4 ,sothern's agent had waited upon him1 and solicited his presence at a little exhibition to be given by the actor1 ,,not of a comical nature4 ,mr4 ,sothern himself soon after appeared1 and1 after shaking hands with the party1 thus addressed them3 ,gentlemen1 ,i have invited you here this evening to witness a few manifestations1 demonstrations1 tests1 or whatever you choose to call them1 which ,i have accidentally discovered that ,i am able to perform4 ,i am a fire-eater1 as it were4 7,applause74 ,i used to ,,dread the fire1 having been scorched once when an innocent child4 7,a laugh47 ,mr4 ,sothern 7severely7--,i ,,hope there will be no levity here1 and ,i wish to say now that demonstrations of any kind are liable to upset me1 while demonstrations of a particular kind may upset the audience4 ,silence and decorum being restored1 ,mr4 ,sothern thus continued3 ,thirteen weeks ago1 while walking up ,greenwich ,street1 in ,new ,york1 ,i stepped into a store to buy a cigar4 ,to show you there is no trick about it1 here are cigars out of the same box from which ,i selected the one ,i that day lighted4 7,here ,mr4 ,sothern passed around a box of tolerable cigars47 ,well1 ,i stepped to the little hanging gas-jet to light it1 and1 having done so1 stood contemplatively holding the gas-jet and the cigar in either hand1 thinking what a saving it would be to smoke a pipe1 when1 in my absent-mindedness1 ,i dropped the cigar and put the gas-jet into my mouth4 ,strange as it may appear1 ,i felt no pain1 and stood there holding the thing in my mouth and puffing till the man in charge yelled out to me that ,i was swallowing his gas4 ,then ,i looked up1 and1 sure enough1 there ,i was pulling away at the slender flame that came from the glass tube4 ,i dropped it instantly1 and felt of my mouth1 but noticed no inconvenience or unpleasant sensation whatever4 ',what do you mean by it8' said the proprietor4 ,as ,i didn't know what ,i meant by it ,i couldn't answer1 so ,i picked up my cigar and went home4 ,once there ,i tried the experiment again1 and in doing so ,i found that not only my mouth1 but my hands and face1 indeed1 all of my body1 was proof against fire4 ,i called on a physician1 and he examined me1 and reported nothing wrong with my flesh1 which appeared to be in normal condition4 ,i said nothing about it publicly1 but the fact greatly surprised me1 and ,i have invited you here to-night to witness a few experiments4 ,saying this1 ,mr4 ,sothern1 who had lit a cigar while pausing in his speech1 turned the fire end into his mouth and sat down1 smoking unconcernedly4 ,i suppose you wish to give us the fire-test1 remarked one of the company4 ,mr4 ,sothern nodded4 ,there was probably never a gathering more dumbfounded than that present in the room4 ,a few questions were asked1 and then five gentlemen were appointed to examine ,mr4 ,sothern's hands1 etc41 before he began his experiments4 ,having thoroughly washed the parts that he proposed to subject to the flames1 ,mr4 ,sothern began by burning his arm1 and passing it through the gas-jet very slowly1 twice stopping the motion and holding it still in the flames4 ,he then picked up a poker with a sort of hook on the end1 and proceeded to fish a small coil of wire from the grate4 ,the wire came out fairly white with the heat4 ,mr4 ,sothern took the coil in his hands and cooly proceeded to wrap it round his left leg to the knee4 ,having done so1 he stood on the table in the center of the circle and requested the committee to examine the wrappings and the leg and report if both were there4 ,the committee did so and reported in the affirmative4 ,while this was going on1 there was a smile1 almost seraphic in its beauty1 on ,mr4 ,sothern's face4 ,after this an enormous hot iron1 in the shape of a horseshoe1 was placed on ,mr4 ,sothern's body1 where it cooled1 without leaving a sign of a burn4 ,as a final test1 a tailor's goose was put on the coals1 and1 after being thoroughly heated1 was placed on ,mr4 ,sothern's chair4 ,the latter lighted a fresh cigar1 and then coolly took a seat on the goose without the least seeming inconvenience4 ,during the last experiment ,mr4 ,sothern sang in an excellent tone and voice1 ,i'm ,sitting on the ,stile1 ,mary4 ,the question now is1 were the fifteen auditors of ,mr4 ,sothern fooled and deceived1 or was this a genuine manifestation of extraordinary power8 ,sothern is such an inveterate joker that he may have put the thing upon the boys for his own amusement2 but if so1 it was one of the nicest tricks ever witnessed by yours truly1 ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,committee4 ,p4 ,s4--,what is equally marvellous to me is that the fire didn't burn his clothes where it touched them1 any more than his flesh4 ,p4 ,c4 7,there is nothing new in this4 ,mr4 ,sothern has long been known as one of the most expert jugglers in the profession4 ,some years ago he gained the soubriquet of the ,fire ,king6 ,he frequently amuses his friends by eating fire1 though he long ago ceased to give public exhibitions4 ,probably the success of the experiments last night were largely owing to the lemons present4 ,there is a good deal of trickery in those same lemons4--,editor ,inter-,ocean47 ,which suggests that the editor of the ,inter-,ocean was either pretty well acquainted with the comedian's addiction to spoofing1 or else less susceptible to superstition than certain scientists of our generation4 ,the great day of the ,fire-eater--or1 should ,i say1 the day of the great ,fire-eater--has passed4 ,no longer does fashion flock to his doors1 nor science study his wonders1 and he must now seek a following in the gaping loiterers of the circus side-show1 the pumpkin-and-prize-pig country fair1 or the tawdry booth at ,coney ,island4 ,the credulous1 wonder-loving scientist1 however1 still abides with us and1 while his serious-minded brothers are wringing from ,nature her jealously guarded secrets1 the knowledge of which benefits all mankind1 he gravely follows that perennial ,will-of-the-wisp1 spiritism1 and lays the flattering unction to his soul that he is investigating psychic phenomena1 when in reality he is merely gazing with unseeing eyes on the flimsy juggling of pseudo-mediums4 #a ,i never saw ,ling ,look's work1 but ,i know that some of the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was swallowed before the performance1 and the swords were simply pushed into it4 ,a sheath of this kind lined with asbestos might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot blade4 ,,chapter ,,six ,,the ,,arcana ,,of ,,the ,,fire-,,eaters3 ,,the ,,formula ,,of ,,albertus ,,magnus4--,,of ,,hocus ,,pocus4--,,richardson',s ,,method4--,,philopyraphagus ,,ashburniensis4--,,to ,,breathe ,,forth ,,sparks1 ,,smoke1 ,,and ,,flames4--,,to ,,spout ,,natural ,,gas4--,,professor ,,sementini',s ,,discoveries4--,,to ,,bite ,,off ,,red-,,hot ,,iron4--,,to ,,cook ,,in ,a ,,burning ,,cage4--,,chabert',s ,,oven4 ,,to ,,eat ,,coals ,,of ,,fire4--,,to ,,drink ,,burning ,,oil4--,,to ,,chew ,,molten ,,lead4--,,to ,,chew ,,burning ,,brimstone4--,,to ,,wreathe ,,the ,,face ,,in ,,flames4--,,to ,,ignite ,,paper ,,with ,,the ,,breath4--,,to ,,drink ,,boiling ,,liquor ,,and ,,eat ,,flaming ,,wax4 ,the yellow thread of exposure seems to be inextricably woven into all fabrics whose strength is secrecy1 and experience proves that it is much easier to become fireproof than to become exposure proof4 ,it is still an open question1 however1 as to what extent exposure really injures a performer4 ,exposure of the secrets of the fire-eaters1 for instance1 dates back almost to the beginning of the art itself4 ,the priests were exposed1 ,richardson was exposed1 ,powell was exposed and so on down the line2 but the business continued to prosper1 the really clever performers drew quite fashionable audiences for a long time1 and it was probably the demand for a higher form of entertainment1 resulting from a refinement of the public taste1 rather than the result of the many exposures1 that finally relegated the ,fire-eaters to the haunts of the proletariat4 ,how the early priests came into possession of these secrets does not appear1 and if there were ever any records of this kind the ,church would hardly allow them to become public4 ,that they used practically the same system which has been adopted by all their followers is amply proved by the fact that after trial by ordeal had been abolished ,albertus ,magnus1 in his work ,de ,mirabilibus ,mundi1 at the end of his book ,de ,secretis ,mulierum1 ,amstelod1 #agjb1 made public the underlying principles of heat-resistance2 namely1 the use of certain compounds which render the exposed parts to a more or less extent impervious to heat4 ,many different formulas have been discovered which accomplish the purpose1 but the principle remains unchanged4 ,the formula set down by ,albertus ,magnus was probably the first ever made public3 the following translation of it is from the ,london ,mirror3 ,take juice of marshmallow1 and white of egg1 flea-bane seeds1 and lime2 powder them and mix juice of radish with the white of egg2 mix all thoroughly and with this composition annoint your body or hand and allow it to dry and afterwards annoint it again1 and after this you may boldly take up hot iron without hurt4 ,such a paste1 says the correspondent to the ,mirror1 would indeed be very visible4 ,another early formula is given in the #agfc edition of ,hocus ,pocus4 ,examination of the different editions of this book in my library discloses the fact that there are no fire formulas in the second edition1 #afce1 which is the earliest ,i have 7first editions are very rare and there is only one record of a sale of that edition at auction74 ,from the fact that this formula was published during the time that ,powell was appearing in ,england ,i gather that that circumstance may account for its addition to the book4 ,it does not appear in the ,german or ,dutch editions4 ,the following is an exact copy3 ,,how ,,to ,,walk ,,on ,a ,,hot ,,iron ,,bar ,,without ,,any ,,danger ,,of ,,scalding ,,or ,,burning4 ,take half an ounce of samphire1 dissolve it in two ounces of aquaevitae1 add to it one ounce of quicksilver1 one ounce of liquid storax1 which is the droppings of ,myrrh and hinders the camphire from firing2 take also two ounces of hematitus1 a red stone to be had at the druggist's1 and when you buy it let them beat it to powder in their great mortar1 for it is so very hard that it cannot be done in a small one2 put this to the afore-mentioned composition1 and when you intend to walk on the bar you must annoint your feet well therewith1 and you may walk over without danger3 by this you may wash your hands in boiling lead4 ,this was the secret modus operandi made use of by ,richardson1 the first notably successful fire artist to appear in ,europe1 and it was disclosed by his servant4#a ,hone's ,table ,book1 ,london1 #ahbg1 page #cae1 gives ,richardson's method as follows3 ,it consisted only in rubbing the hands and thoroughly washing the mouth1 lips1 tongue1 teeth and other parts which were to touch the fire1 with pure spirits of sulphur4 ,this burns and cauterizes the epidermis or upper skin1 till it becomes as hard and thick as leather1 and each time the experiment is tried it becomes still easier4 ,but if1 after it has been very often repeated the upper skin should grow so callous and hard as to become troublesome1 washing the parts affected with very warm water1 or hot wine1 will bring away all the shrivelled or parched epidermis4 ,the flesh1 however1 will continue tender and unfit for such business till it has been frequently rubbed over with the same spirit4 ,this preparation may be rendered much stronger and more efficacious by mixing equal quantities of spirit of sulphur1 sal ammoniac1 essence of rosemary and juice of onions4 ,the bad effects which frequently swallowing red-hot coals1 melted sealing wax1 rosin1 brimstone and other calcined and inflammable matter1 might have had upon his stomach were prevented by drinking plentifully of warm water and oil1 as soon as he left the company1 till he had vomited it all up again4 ,this anecdote was communicated to the author of the ,journal des ,savants by ,mr4 ,panthot1 ,doctor of ,physics and ,member of the ,college at ,lyons4 ,it appeared at the time ,powell was showing his fire-eating stunts in ,london1 and the correspondent naively added3 ,whether ,mr4 ,powell will take it kindly of me thus to have published his secret ,i cannot tell2 but as he now begins to drop into years1 has no children that ,i know of and may die suddenly1 or without making a will1 ,i think it a great pity so genteel an occupation should become one of the artes perditae1 as possibly it may1 if proper care is not taken1 and therefore hope1 after this information1 some true-hearted ,,englishman will take it up again1 for the honor of his country1 when he reads in the newspapers1 ,yesterday1 died1 much lamented1 the famous ,mr4 ,powell4 ,he was the best1 if not the only1 fire-eater in the world1 and it is greatly to be feared that his art is dead with him4 ,after a couple of columns more in a similar strain1 the correspondent signs himself ,philopyraphagus ,ashburniensis4 ,in his ,history of ,inventions1 ,vol4 ,,iii1 page #bgb1 #ahag edition1 ,beckmann thus describes the process3 ,the deception of breathing out flames1 which at present excites1 in a particular manner1 the astonishment of the ignorant1 is very ancient4 ,when the slaves in ,sicily1 about a century and a half before our era1 made a formidable insurrection1 and avenged themselves in a cruel manner1 for the severities which they had suffered1 there was amongst them a ,syrian named ,eunus--a man of great craft and courage2 who having passed through many scenes of life1 had become acquainted with a variety of arts4 ,he pretended to have immediate communication with the gods2 was the oracle and leader of his fellow-slaves2 and1 as is usual on such occasions confirmed his divine mission by miracles4 ,when heated by enthusiasm and desirous of inspiring his followers with courage1 he breathed flames or sparks among them from his mouth while he was addressing them4 ,we are told by historians that for this purpose he pierced a nut shell at both ends1 and1 having filled it with some burning substance1 put it into his mouth and breathed through it4 ,this deception1 at present1 is performed much better4 ,the juggler rolls together some flax or hemp1 so as to form a ball about the size of a walnut2 sets it on fire2 and suffers it to burn until it is nearly consumed2 he then rolls round it1 while burning1 some more flax2 and by these means the fire may be retained in it for a long time4 ,when he wishes to exhibit he slips the ball unperceived into his mouth1 and breathes through it2 which again revives the fire1 so that a number of weak sparks proceed from it2 and the performer sustains no hurt1 provided he inspire the air not through the mouth1 but the nostrils4 ,by this art the ,rabbi ,bar-,cocheba1 in the reign of the ,emperor ,hadrian1 made the credulous ,jews believe that he was the hoped-for ,messiah2 and two centuries after1 the ,emperor ,constantius was thrown into great terror when ,valentinian informed him that he had seen one of the body-guards breathing out fire and flames in the evening4 ,since ,beckmann wrote1 the method of producing smoke and sparks from the mouth has been still further improved4 ,the fire can now be produced in various ways4 ,one way is by the use of a piece of thick cotton string which has been soaked in a solution of nitre and then thoroughly dried4 ,this string1 when once lighted1 burns very slowly and a piece one inch long is sufficient for the purpose4 ,some performers prefer a small piece of punk1 as it requires no preparation4 ,still others use tinder made by burning linen rags1 as our forefathers used to do4 ,this will not flame1 but merely smoulders until the breath blows it into a glow4 ,the tinder is made by charring linen rags1 that is1 burning them to a crisp1 but stopping the combustion before they are reduced to ashes4 ,flames from the lips may be produced by holding in the mouth a sponge saturated with the purest gasoline4 ,when the breath is exhaled sharply it can be lighted from a torch or a candle4 ,closing the lips firmly will extinguish the flame4 ,a wad of oakum will give better results than the sponge4 ,natural gas is produced as simply4 ,a ,t-shaped gas pipe has three or four gas tips on the cross-piece4 ,the long end is placed in the mouth1 which already holds concealed a sponge1 or preferably a ball of oakum1 saturated with pure gasoline4 ,blowing through the pipe will force the gas through the tips1 where it can be ignited with a match4 ,it will burn as long as the breath lasts4 ,in a ,london periodical1 ,the ,terrific ,record1 appears a reprint from the ,mercure de ,france1 giving an account of experiments in ,naples which led to the discovery of the means by which jugglers have appeared to be incombustible4 ,they first gradually habituate the skin1 the mouth1 throat and stomach to great degrees of heat1 then they rub the skin with hard soap4 ,the tongue is also covered with hard soap and over that a layer of powdered sugar4 ,by this means an investigating professor was enabled to reproduce the wonders which had puzzled many scientists4 ,the investigating professor in all probability1 was ,professor ,sementini1 who experimented with ,lionetto4 ,i find an account of ,sementini's discoveries in an old newspaper clipping1 the name and date of which have unfortunately been lost3 ,sementini's efforts1 after performing several experiments upon himself1 were finally crowned with success4 ,he found that by friction with sulphuric acid deluted with water1 the skin might be made insensible to the action of the heat of red-hot iron2 a solution of alum1 evaporated till it became spongy1 appeared to be more effectual in these frictions4 ,after having rubbed the parts which were thus rendered in some degree insensible1 with hard soap1 he discovered1 on the application of hot iron1 that their insensibility was increased4 ,he then determined on again rubbing the parts with soap1 and after that found that the hot iron not only occasioned no pain but that it actually did not burn the hair4 ,being thus far satisfied1 the ,professor applied hard soap to his tongue until it became insensible to the heat of the iron2 and having placed an ointment composed of soap mixed with a solution of alum upon it1 burning oil did not burn it2 while the oil remained on the tongue a slight hissing was heard1 similar to that of hot iron when thrust into water2 the oil soon cooled and might then be swallowed without danger4 ,several scientific men have since repeated the experiments of ,professor ,sementini1 but we would not recommend any except professionals to try the experiments4 ,liquid storax is now used to anoint the tongue when red-hot irons are to be placed in the mouth4 ,it is claimed that with this alone a red-hot poker can be licked until it is cold4 ,another formula is given by ,griffin1 as follows3 #a bar ivory soap1 cut fine1 #a pound of brown sugar1 #b ounces liquid storax 7not the gum74 ,dissolve in hot water and add a wine-glassful of carbolic acid4 ,this is rubbed on all parts liable to come in contact with the hot articles4 ,after anointing the mouth with this solution rinse with strong vinegar4 ,no performer should attempt to bite off red-hot iron unless he has a good set of teeth4 ,a piece of hoop iron may be prepared by bending it back and forth at a point about one inch from the end1 until the fragment is nearly broken off1 or by cutting nearly through it with a cold chisel4 ,when the iron has been heated red-hot1 the prepared end is taken between the teeth1 a couple of bends will complete the break4 ,the piece which drops from the teeth into a dish of water will make a puff of steam and a hissing sound1 which will demonstrate that it is still very hot4 ,the mystery of the burning cage1 in which the ,fire ,king remains while a steak is thoroughly cooked1 is explained by ,barnello as follows3 ,have a large iron cage constructed about #d x #f feet1 the bottom made of heavy sheet iron4 ,the cage should stand on iron legs or horses4 ,wrap each of the bars of the cage with cotton batting saturated with oil4 ,now take a raw beefsteak in your hand and enter the cage1 which is now set on fire4 ,remain in the cage until the fire has burned out1 then issue from the cage with the steak burned to a crisp4 ,explanation3 ,on entering the cage the performer places the steak on a large iron hook which is fastened in one of the upper corners4 ,the dress worn is of asbestos cloth with a hood that completely covers the head and neck4 ,there is a small hole over the mouth through which he breathes4 ,as soon as the fire starts the smoke and flames completely hide the performer from the spectators1 and he immediately lies down on the bottom of the cage1 placing the mouth over one of the small air holes in the floor of the same4 ,heat always goes up and will soon cook the steak4 ,i deduce from the above that the performer arises and recovers the steak when the fire slackens but while there is still sufficient flame and smoke to mask his action4 ,it is obvious that the above explanation covers the baker's oven mystery as well4 ,in the case of the oven1 however1 the inmate is concealed from start to finish1 and this gives him much greater latitude for his actions4 ,m4 ,chabert made the oven the big feature of his programme and succeeded in puzzling many of the best informed scientists of his day4 ,eating coals of fire has always been one of the sensational feats of the ,fire ,kings1 as it is quite generally known that charcoal burns with an extremely intense heat4 ,this fervent lunch1 however1 like many of the feasts of the ,fire ,kings1 is produced by trick methods4 ,mixed with the charcoal in the brazier are a few coals of soft white pine1 which when burnt look exactly like charcoal4 ,these will not burn the mouth as charcoal will4 ,they should be picked up with a fork which will penetrate the pine coals1 but not the charcoal1 the latter being brittle4 ,another method of eating burning coals employs small balls of burned cotton in a dish of burning alcohol4 ,when lifted on the fork these have the appearance of charcoal1 but are harmless if the mouth be immediately closed1 so that the flame is extinguished4 ,in all feats of fire-eating it should be noted that the head is thrown well back1 so that the flame may pass out of the open mouth instead of up into the roof1 as it would if the head were held naturally4 ,to drink burning oil set fire to a small quantity of kerosene in a ladle4 ,into this dip an iron spoon and bring it up to all appearance1 filled with burning oil1 though in reality the spoon is merely wet with the oil4 ,it is carried blazing to the mouth1 where it is tipped1 as if to pour the oil into the mouth1 just as a puff of breath blows out all the flame4 ,the process is continued until all the oil in the ladle has been consumed2 then the ladle is turned bottom up1 in order to show that all the oil has been drunk4 ,a method of drinking what seems to be molten lead is given in the ,chambers' ,book of ,days1 #ahfc1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 page #bgh3 ,the performer taking an iron spoon1 holds it up to the spectators1 to show that it is empty2 then1 dipping it into a pot containing melted lead1 he again shows it to the spectators full of the molten metal2 then1 after putting the spoon in his mouth1 he once more shows it to be empty2 and after compressing his lips1 with a look expressive of pain1 he1 in a few moments1 ejects from his mouth a piece of lead impressed with the exact form of his teeth4 ,ask a spectator what he saw1 and he will say that the performer took a spoonful of molten lead1 placed it in his mouth1 and soon afterwards showed it in a solid state1 bearing the exact form and impression of his teeth4 ,if deception be insinuated1 the spectator will say4 ,no6 ,having the evidence of my senses1 ,i cannot be deceived2 if it had been a matter of opinion ,i might1 but seeing1 you know1 is believing4 ,now the piece of lead1 cast from a plaster mould of the performer's teeth1 has probably officiated in a thousand previous performances1 and is placed in the mouth between the gum and the cheek1 just before the trick commences4 ,the spoon is made with a hollow handle containing quicksilver1 which1 by a simple motion1 can be let run into the bowl1 or back again into the handle at will4 ,the spoon is first shown with the quicksilver concealed in the handle1 the bowl is then dipped just within the rim of the pot containing the molten lead1 but not into the lead itself1 and1 at the same instant the quicksilver is allowed to run into the bowl4 ,the spoon is then shown with the quicksilver 7which the audience takes to be the melted lead7 in the bowl1 and when placed in the mouth1 the quicksilver is again allowed to run into the handle4 ,the performer1 in fact1 takes a spoonful of nothing1 and soon after exhibits the lead bearing the impression of the teeth4 ,molten lead1 for fire-eating purposes1 is made as follows3 ,bismuth 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #e oz4 ,lead4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #c oz4 ,block tin 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #b oz4 ,melt these together4 ,when the metal has cooled1 a piece the size of a silver quarter can be melted and taken into the mouth and held there until it hardens4 ,this alloy will melt in boiling water4 ,robert-,houdin calls it ,arcet's metal1 but ,i cannot find the name elsewhere4 ,the eating of burning brimstone is an entirely fake performance4 ,a number of small pieces of brimstone are shown1 and then wrapped in cotton which has been saturated with a half-and-half mixture of kerosene and gasoline1 the surplus oil having been squeezed out so there shall be ,,no ,,drip4 ,when these are lighted they may be held in the palm of any hand which has been anointed with one of the fire mixtures described in this chapter4 ,then throw back the head1 place the burning ball in the mouth1 and a freshly extinguished candle can be lighted from the flame4 ,close the lips firmly1 which will extinguish the flame1 then chew and pretend to swallow the brimstone1 which can afterwards be removed under cover of a handkerchief4 ,observe that the brimstone has not been burned at all1 and that the cotton protects the teeth4 ,to add to the effect1 a small piece of brimstone may be dropped into the furnace1 a very small piece will suffice to convince all that it is the genuine article that is being eaten4 ,to cause the face to appear in a mass of flame make use of the following3 mix together thoroughly petroleum1 lard1 mutton tallow and quick lime4 ,distill this over a charcoal fire1 and the liquid which results can be burned on the face without harm4#b ,to set paper on fire by blowing upon it1 small pieces of wet phosphorus are taken into the mouth1 and a sheet of tissue paper is held about a foot from the lips4 ,while the paper is being blown upon the phosphorus is ejected on it1 although this passes unnoticed by the spectators1 and as soon as the continued blowing has dried the phosphorus it will ignite the paper4 ,drinking boiling liquor is accomplished by using a cup with a false bottom1 under which the liquor is retained4 ,a solution of spermaceti in sulphuric ether tinged with alkanet root1 which solidifies at #ej degrees ,f41 and melts and boils with the heat of the hand1 is described in ,beckmann's ,history of ,inventions1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 page #aba4 ,dennison's ,no4 #b sealing wax may be melted in the flame of a candle and1 while still blazing1 dropped upon the tongue without causing a burn1 as the moisture of the tongue instantly cools it4 ,care must be used1 however1 that none touches the hands or lips4 ,it can be chewed1 and apparently swallowed1 but removed in the handkerchief while wiping the lips4 ,the above is the method practiced by all the ,fire-,eaters1 and absolutely no preparation is necessary except that the tongue must be well moistened with saliva4 ,barnello once said1 ,a person wishing to become a ,fire-,eater must make up his or her mind to suffer a little at first from burns1 as there is no one who works at the business but that gets burns either from carelessness or from accident4 ,this is verified by the following1 which ,i clip from the ,london ,globe of ,august #aath1 #ahhj3 ,accident to a ,fire-,eater4 ,a correspondent telegraphs3 ,a terrible scene was witnessed in the market place1 ,leighton ,buzzard1 yesterday4 ,a travelling ,negro fire eater was performing on a stand1 licking red-hot iron1 bending heated pokers with his naked foot1 burning tow in his mouth1 and the like4 ,at last he filled his mouth with benzolene1 saying that he would burn it as he allowed it to escape4 ,he had no sooner applied a lighted match to his lips than the whole mouthful of spirit took fire and before it was consumed the man was burned in a frightful manner1 the blazing spirit running all over his face1 neck and chest as he dashed from his stand and raced about like a madman among the assembled crowd1 tearing his clothing from him and howling in most intense agony4 ,a portion of the spirit was swallowed and the inside of his mouth was also terribly burnt4 ,he was taken into a chemist's shop and oils were administered and applied1 but afterwards in agonizing frenzy he escaped in a state almost of nudity from a lodging house and was captured by the police and taken to the work-house infirmary1 where he remains in a dreadful condition4 ,,remember6 ,always have a large blanket at hand to smother flames in burning clothing--also a bucket of water and a quantity of sand4 ,a siphon of carbonic water is an excellent fire extinguisher4 ,the gas of gasoline is heavier than air1 so a container should never be held ,,above a flame4 ,keep kerosene and gasoline containers well corked and at a distance from fire4 ,never inhale breath while performing with fire4 ,,flame ,,drawn ,,into ,,the ,,lungs ,,is ,,fatal ,,to ,,life4 ,so much for the entertaining side of the art4 ,there are1 however1 some further scientific principles so interesting that ,i reserve them for another chapter4 #a ,such disloyalty in trusted servants is one of the most disheartening things that can happen to a public performer4 ,but it must not be thought that ,i say this out of personal experience3 for in the many years that ,i have been before the public my secret methods have been steadily shielded by the strict integrity of my assistants1 most of whom have been with me for years4 ,only one man ever betrayed my confidence1 and that only in a minor matter4 ,but then1 so far as ,i know1 ,i am the only performer who ever pledged his assistants to secrecy1 honor and allegiance under a notarial oath4 #c ,barnello's ,red ,demon4 ,,chapter ,,seven ,,the ,,spheroidal ,,condition ,,of ,,liquids4--,,why ,,the ,,hand ,,may ,,be ,,dipped ,,in ,,molten ,,metals4--,,principles ,,of ,,heat-,,resistance ,,put ,,to ,,practical ,,uses3 ,,aldini1 #ahbi4--;,,in ,,early ,,fire-,,fighting4 ,,temperatures ,,the ,,body ,,can ,,endure4 ,the spheroidal condition of liquids was discovered by ,leidenfrost1 but ,m4 ,boutigny was the first to give this singular subject careful investigation4 ,from time out of mind the test of letting a drop of water fall on the face of a hot flat-iron has been employed to discover whether it may safely be used4 ,everybody knows that if it is not too hot the water will spread over the surface and evaporate2 but if it is too hot1 the water will glance off without wetting the iron1 and if this drop be allowed to fall on the hand it will be found that it is still cool4 ,the fact is that the water never touches the hot iron at all1 provided the heat is sufficiently intense1 but assumes a slightly elliptical shape and is supported by a cushion of vapor4 ,if1 instead of a flat-iron1 we use a concave metal disk about the size and shape of a watch crystal1 some very interesting results may be obtained4 ,if the temperature of the disk is at1 or slightly above1 the boiling point1 water dropped on it from a medicine dropper will boil2 but if the disk is heated to #cdj degrees ,f41 the drop practically retains its roundness--becoming only slightly oblate--and does not boil4 ,in fact the temperature never rises above #bjf degrees ,f41 since the vapor is so rapidly evaporated from the surface of the drop that it forms the cushion just mentioned4 ,by a careful manipulation of the dropper1 the disk may be filled with water which1 notwithstanding the intense heat1 never reaches the boiling point4 ,on the other hand1 if boiling water be dropped on the superheated disk its temperature will immediately be ,,reduced to six degrees below the boiling point2 thus the hot metal really cools the water4 ,by taking advantage of the fact that different liquids assume a spheroidal form at widely different temperatures1 one may obtain some startling results4 ,for example1 liquid sulphurous acid is so volatile as to have a temperature of only #ac degrees ,f4 when in that state1 or #ai degrees below the freezing point of water1 so that if a little water be dropped into the acid1 it will immediately freeze and the pellet of ice may be dropped into the hand from the still red-hot disk4 ,even mercury can be frozen in this way by a combination of chemicals4 ,through the action of this principle it is possible to dip the hand for a short time into melted lead1 or even into melted copper1 the moisture of the skin supplying a vapor which prevents direct contact with the molten metal2 no more than an endurable degree of heat reaches the hand while the moisture lasts1 although the temperature of the fusing copper is #aiif degrees4 ,the natural moisture of the hand is usually sufficient for this result1 but it is better to wipe the hand with a damp towel4 ,in ,david ,a4 ,wells' ,things not ,generally ,known1 ,new ,york1 #aheg1 ,i find a translation of an article by ,m4 ,boutigny in ,the ,comptes ,rendus1 in which he notes that the portion of the hands which are not immersed in the fused metal1 but are exposed to the action of the heat radiated from its surface1 experience a painful sensation of heat4 ,he adds that when the hand was dampened with ether there was no sensation of heat1 but1 on the contrary1 an agreeable feeling of coolness4 ,beckmann1 in his ,history of ,inventions1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 page #abb1 says3 ,in the month of ,september1 #agfe1 when ,i visited the copper works at ,awested1 one of the workmen1 for a little drink money1 took some of the melted copper in his hand1 and after showing it to us1 threw it against the wall4 ,he then squeezed the fingers of his horny hand close together1 put it for a few minutes under his armpit1 to make it sweat1 as he said2 and1 taking it again out1 drew it over a ladle filled with melted copper1 some of which he skimmed off1 and moved his hand backwards and forwards1 very quickly1 by way of ostentation4 ,while ,i was viewing this performance1 ,i remarked a smell like that of singed horn or leather1 though his hand was not burnt4 ,the workmen at the ,swedish melting-house showed the same thing to some travellers in the seventeenth century2 for ,regnard saw it in #afha1 at the copper-works in ,lapland4 ,my friend ,quincy ,kilby1 of ,brookline1 ,mass41 saw the same stunt performed by workmen at the ,meridan ,brittania ,company's plant4 ,they told him that if the hand had been wet it would have been badly scalded4 ,thus far our interest in heat-resistance has uncovered secrets of no very great practical value1 however entertaining the uses to which we have seen them put4 ,but not all the investigation of these principles has been dictated by considerations of curiosity and entertainment4 ,as long ago as #ahbi1 for instance1 an ,english newspaper printed the following3 ,proof against ,fire--,on ,tuesday week an experiment was made in presence of a ,committee of the ,academy of ,sciences at ,paris1 by ,m4 ,aldini1 for the purpose of showing that he can secure the body against the action of flames so as to enable firemen to carry on their operations with safety4 ,his experiment is stated to have given satisfaction4 ,the pompiers were clothed in asbestos1 over which was a network of iron4 ,some of them1 it was stated1 who wore double gloves of amianthus1 held a red-hot bar during four minutes4 ,sir ,david ,brewster1 in his ,letters on ,natural ,magic1 page #cje1 gives a more detailed account of ,aldini1 from which the natural deduction is that the ,chevalier was a showman with an intellect fully up to the demands of his art4 ,sir ,david says3 ,in our own times the art of defending the hands and face1 and indeed the whole body1 from the action of heated iron and intense fire1 has been applied to the nobler purpose of saving human life1 and rescuing property from the flames4 ,the revival and the improvement of this art we owe to the benevolence and the ingenuity of the ,chevalier ,aldini of ,milan1 who has travelled through all ,europe to present this valuable gift to his species4 ,sir ,h4 ,davy had long ago shown that a safety lamp for illuminating mines1 containing inflammable air1 might be constructed of wire-gauze1 alone1 which prevented the flame within1 however large or intense1 from setting fire to the inflammable air without4 ,this valuable property1 which has been long in practical use1 he ascribed to the conducting and radiating power of the wire-gauze1 which carried off the heat of the flame1 and deprived it of its power4 ,the ,chevalier ,aldini conceived the idea of applying the same material1 in combination with other badly conducting substances1 as a protection against fire4 ,the incombustible pieces of dress which he uses for the body1 arms1 and legs1 are formed out of strong cloth1 which has been steeped in a solution of alum1 while those for the head1 hands1 and feet1 are made of cloth of asbestos or amianthus4 ,the head dress is a large cap which envelops the whole head down to the neck1 having suitable perforations for the eyes1 nose1 and mouth4 ,the stockings and cap are single1 but the gloves are made of double amianthus cloth1 to enable the fireman to take into his hand burning or red-hot bodies4 ,the piece of ancient asbestos cloth preserved in the ,vatican was formed1 we believe1 by mixing the asbestos with other fibrous substances2 but ,m4 ,aldini has executed a piece of nearly the same size1 #i feet #e inches long1 and #e feet #c inches wide1 which is much stronger than the ancient piece1 and possesses superior qualities1 in consequence of having been woven without the introduction of any foreign substance4 ,in this manufacture the fibers are prevented from breaking by action of steam1 the cloth is made loose in its fabric1 and the threads are about the fiftieth of an inch in diameter4 ,the metallic dress which is superadded to these means of defence consists of five principal pieces1 viz41 a casque or cap1 with a mask large enough to leave a proper space between it and the asbestos cap2 a cuirass with its brassets2 a piece of armour for the trunk and thighs2 a pair of boots of double wire-gauze2 and an oval shield #e feet long by #b #a_/b feet wide1 made by stretching the wire-gauze over a slender frame of iron4 ,all these pieces are made of iron wire-gauze1 having the interval between its threads the twenty-fifth part of an inch4 ,in order to prove the efficacy of this apparatus1 and inspire the firemen with confidence in its protection1 he showed them that a finger first enveloped in asbestos1 and then in a double case of wire-gauze1 might be held a long time in the flame of a spirit-lamp or candle before the heat became inconvenient4 ,a fireman having his hand within a double asbestos glove1 and its palm protected by a piece of asbestos cloth1 seized with impunity a large piece of red hot iron1 carried it deliberately to the distance of #aej feet1 inflamed straw with it1 and brought it back again to the furnace4 ,on other occasions the fireman handled blazing wood and burning substances1 and walked during five minutes upon an iron grating placed over flaming fagots4 ,in order to show how the head1 eyes1 and lungs are protected1 the fireman put on the asbestos and wire-gauze cap1 and the cuirass1 and held the shield before his breast4 ,a fire of shavings was then lighted1 and kept burning in a large raised chafing-dish2 the fireman plunged his head into the middle of the flames with his face to the fuel1 and in that position went several times round the chafing-dish for a period longer than a minute4 ,in a subsequent trial1 at ,paris1 a fireman placed his head in the middle of a large brazier filled with flaming hay and wood1 and resisted the action of the fire during five or six minutes and even ten minutes4 ,in the experiments which were made at ,paris in the presence of a committee of the ,academy of ,sciences1 two parallel rows of straw and brushwood supported by iron wires1 were formed at the distance of #c feet from each other1 and extended #cj feet in length4 ,when this combustible mass was set on fire1 it was necessary to stand at a distance of #h or #aj yards to avoid the heat4 ,the flames from both the rows seemed to fill up the whole space between them1 and rose to the height of #i or #aj feet4 ,at this moment six firemen1 clothed in the incombustible dresses1 and marching at a slow pace behind each other1 repeatedly passed through the whole length between the two rows of flame1 which were constantly fed with additional combustibles4 ,one of the firemen carried on his back a child eight years old1 in a wicker-basket covered with metallic gauze1 and the child had no other dress than a cap made of amianthine cloth4 ,in ,february1 #ahbi1 a still more striking experiment was made in the yard of the barracks of ,st4 ,gervais4 ,two towers were erected two stories high1 and were surrounded with heaps of inflamed materials consisting of fagots and straw4 ,the firemen braved the danger with impunity4 ,in opposition to the advice of ,m4 ,aldini1 one of them1 with the basket and child1 rushed into a narrow place1 where the flames were raging #h yards high4 ,the violence of the fire was so great that he could not be seen1 while a thick black smoke spread around1 throwing out a heat which was unsupportable by spectators4 ,the fireman remained so long invisible that serious doubts were entertained of his safety4 ,he at length1 however1 issued from the fiery gulf uninjured1 and proud of having succeeded in braving so great a danger4 ,it is a remarkable result of these experiments1 that the firemen are able to breathe without difficulty in the middle of the flames4 ,this effect is owing not only to the heat being intercepted by the wire-gauze as it passes to the lungs1 in consequence of which its temperature becomes supportable1 but also to the singular power which the body possesses of resisting great heats1 and of breathing air of high temperatures4 ,a series of curious experiments were made on this subject by ,m4 ,tillet1 in ,france1 and by ,dr4 ,fordyce and ,sir ,charles ,blagden1 in ,england4 ,sir ,joseph ,banks1 ,dr4 ,solander1 and ,sir ,charles ,blagden entered a room in which the air had a temperature of #aih degrees ,fahr41 and remained ten minutes2 but as the thermometer sunk very rapidly1 they resolved to enter the room singly4 ,dr4 ,solander went in alone and found the heat #baj degrees1 and ,sir ,joseph entered when the heat was #baa degrees4 ,though exposed to such an elevated temperature1 their bodies preserved their natural degree of heat4 ,whenever they breathed upon a thermometer it sunk several degrees2 every expiration1 particularly if strongly made1 gave a pleasant impression of coolness to their nostrils1 and their cold breath cooled their fingers whenever it reached them4 ,on touching his side1 ,sir ,charles ,blagden found it cold like a corpse1 and yet the heat of his body under his tongue was #ih degrees4 ,hence they concluded that the human body possesses the power of destroying a certain degree of heat when communicated with a certain degree of quickness4 ,this power1 however1 varies greatly in different media4 ,the same person who experienced no inconvenience from air heated to #baa degrees1 could just bear rectified spirits of wine at #acj degrees1 cooling oil at #abi degrees1 cooling water at #abc degrees1 and cooling quicksilver at #aah degrees4 ,a familiar instance of this occurred in the heated room4 ,all the pieces of metal there1 even their watch-chains1 felt so hot that they could scarcely bear to touch them for a moment1 while the air from which the metal had derived all its heat was only unpleasant4 ,m4 ,duhamel and ,tillet observed1 at ,rochefoucault in ,france1 that the girls who were accustomed to attend ovens in a bakehouse1 were capable of enduring for ten minutes a temperature of #bgj degrees4 ,the same gentleman who performed the experiments above described ventured to expose themselves to still higher temperatures4 ,sir ,charles ,blagden went into a room where the heat was #a degree or #b degrees above #bfj degrees1 and remained eight minutes in this situation1 frequently walking about to all the different parts of the room1 but standing still most of the time in the coolest spot1 where the heat was above #bdj degrees4 ,the air1 though very hot1 gave no pain1 and ,sir ,charles and all the other gentlemen were of opinion that they could support a much greater heat4 ,during seven minutes ,sir ,c4 ,blagden's breathing continued perfectly good1 but after that time he felt an oppression in his lungs1 with a sense of anxiety1 which induced him to leave the room4 ,his pulse was then #add1 double its ordinary quickness4 ,in order to prove that there was no mistake respecting the degree of heat indicated by the thermometer1 and that the air which they breathed was capable of producing all the well-known effects of such a heat on inanimate matter1 they placed some eggs and a beef-steak upon a tin frame near the thermometer1 but more distant from the furnace than from the wall of the room4 ,in the space of twenty minutes the eggs were roasted quite hard1 and in forty-seven minutes the steak was not only dressed1 but almost dry4 ,another beef-steak1 similarly placed1 was rather overdone in thirty-three minutes4 ,in the evening1 when the heat was still more elevated1 a third beef-steak was laid in the same place1 and as they had noticed that the effect of the hot air was greatly increased by putting it in motion1 they blew upon the steak with a pair of bellows1 and thus hastened the dressing of it to such a degree1 that the greatest portion of it was found to be pretty well done in thirteen minutes4 ,our distinguished countryman1 ,sir ,f4 ,chantrey1 has very recently exposed himself to a temperature still higher than any which we have mentioned4 ,the furnace which he employs for drying his moulds is about #ad feet long1 #ab feet high1 and #ab feet broad4 ,when it is raised to its highest temperature1 with the doors closed1 the thermometer stands at #cej degrees1 and the iron floor is red hot4 ,the workmen often enter it at a temperature of #cdj degrees1 walking over the iron floor with wooden clogs1 which are of course charred on the surface4 ,on one occasion ,sir ,f4 ,chantrey1 accompanied by five or six of his friends1 entered the furnace1 and1 after remaining two minutes1 they brought out a thermometer which stood at #cbj degrees4 ,some of the party experienced sharp pains in the tips of their ears1 and in the septum of the nose1 while others felt a pain in their eyes4 ,,chapter ,,eight ,,sword-,,swallowers3 ,,cliquot1 ,,delno ,,fritz1 ,,deodata1 ,a ,,razor-,,swallower1 ,,an ,,umbrella-,,swallower1 ,,william ,,dempster1 ,,john ,,cumming1 ,,edith ,,clifford1 ,,victorina4 ,it has sometimes been noted in the foregoing pages1 that fire-eaters1 finding it difficult to invent new effects in their own sphere1 have strayed into other fields of endeavor in order to amplify their programmes4 ,thus we find them resorting to the allied arts of poison-eating1 sword-swallowing and the stunts of the so-called ,human ,ostrich4 ,in this connection ,i consider it not out of place for me to include a description of a number of those who have1 either through unusual gifts of nature or through clever artifice1 seemingly submitted to tests which we have been taught to believe were far and away beyond the outposts of human endurance4 ,by the introduction of these thrills each notable newcomer has endeavored to go his predecessors one better1 and the issue of challenges to all comers to match these startling effects has been by no means infrequent1 but ,i fail to discover a single acceptance of such a challenge4 ,to accomplish the sword-swallowing feat1 it is only necessary to overcome the nausea that results from the metal's touching the mucous membrane of the pharynx1 for there is an unobstructed passage1 large enough to accommodate several of the thin blades used1 from the mouth to the bottom of the stomach4 ,this passage is not straight1 but the passing of the sword straightens it4 ,some throats are more sensitive than others1 but practice will soon accustom any throat to the passage of the blade4 ,when a sword with a sharp point is used the performer secretly slips a rubber cap over the point to guard against accident4 ,it is said that the medical fraternity first learned of the possibility of overcoming the sensitiveness of the pharynx by investigating the methods of the sword-swallowers4 ,cliquot1 who was one of the most prominent sword-swallowers of his time1 finally reformed and is now a music hall agent in ,england4 ,the ,strand ,magazine 7#ahif7 has this to say of ,cliquot and his art3 ,the ,chevalier ,cliquot 7these fellows ,,must have titles7 in the act of swallowing the major part of a cavalry sword #bb inches long4 ,cliquot1 whose name suggests the swallowing of something much more grateful and comforting than steel swords1 is a ,french ,canadian by birth1 and has been the admitted chief in his profession for more than #ah years4 ,he ran away from his home in ,quebec at an early age1 and joined a travelling circus bound for ,south ,america4 ,on seeing an arrant old humbug swallow a small machete1 in ,buenos ,ayres1 the boy took a fancy to the performance1 and approached the old humbug aforesaid with the view of being taught the business4 ,not having any money1 however1 wherewith to pay the necessary premium1 the overtures of the would-be apprentice were repulsed2 whereupon he set about experimenting with his own aesophagus with a piece of silver wire4 ,to say the preliminary training for this sort of thing is painful1 is to state the fact most moderately2 and even when stern purpose has triumphed over the laws of anatomy1 terrible danger still remains4 ,on one occasion having swallowed a sword1 and then bent his body in different directions1 as an adventurous sensation1 ,cliquot found that the weapon also had bent to a sharp angle2 and quick as thought1 realizing his own position as well as that of the sword1 he whipped it out1 tearing his throat in a dreadful manner4 ,plainly1 had the upper part of the weapon become detached1 the sword swallower's career must infallibly have come to an untimely end4 ,again1 in ,new ,york1 when swallowing #ad nine-inch bayonet swords at once1 ,cliquot had the misfortune to have a too sceptical audience1 one of whom1 a medical man who ought to have known better1 rushed forward and impulsively dragged out the whole bunch1 inflicting such injuries upon this peculiar entertainer as to endanger his life1 and incapacitate him for months4 ,in one of his acts ,cliquot swallows a real bayonet sword1 weighted with a cross-bar1 and two #ah-lib4 dumb bells4 ,in order to vary this performance1 the sword-swallower allows only a part of the weapon to pass into his body1 the remainder being kicked down by the recoil of a rifle1 which is fixed to a spike in the centre of the bar1 and fired by the performer's sister4 ,the last act in this extraordinary performance is the swallowing of a gold watch4 ,as a rule1 ,cliquot borrows one1 but as no timepiece was forthcoming at the private exhibition where ,i saw him1 he proceeded to lower his own big chronometer into his aesophagus by a slender gold chain4 ,many of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in this country immediately rushed forward with various instruments1 and the privileged few took turns in listening for the ticking of the watch inside the performer's body4 ,poor1 outraged nature is biding her time1 remarked one physician1 but mark me1 she will have a terrible revenge sooner or later6 ,eaters of glass1 tacks1 pebbles1 and like objects1 actually swallow these seemingly impossible things1 and disgorge them after the performance is over4 ,that the disgorging is not always successful is evidenced by the hospital records of many surgical operations on performers of this class1 when quantities of solid matter are found lodged in the stomach4 ,delno ,fritz was not only an excellent sword-swallower1 but a good showman as well4 ,the last time ,i saw him he was working the halls in ,england4 ,i hope he saved his money1 for he was a clean man with a clean reputation1 and1 ,i can truly say1 he was a master in his manner of indulging his appetite for the cold steel4 ,deodota1 an ,italian ,magician1 was also a sword-swallower of more than average ability4 ,he succumbed to the lure of commercialism finally1 and is now in the jewelry business in the down-town district of ,new ,york ,city4 ,sword-swallowing may be harmlessly imitated by the use of a fake sword with a telescopic blade1 which slides into the handle4 ,vosin1 the ,paris manufacturer of magical apparatus1 made swords of this type1 but they were generally used in theatrical enchantment scenes1 and it is very doubtful if they were ever used by professional swallowers4 ,it is quite probable that the swords now most generally used by the profession1 which are cut from one piece of metal-handle and all--were introduced to show that they were free from any telescoping device4 ,swords of this type are quite thin1 less than one-eighth of an inch thick1 and four or five of them can be swallowed at once4 ,slowly withdrawing them one at a time1 and throwing them on the stage in different directions1 makes an effective display4 ,a small1 but strong1 electric light bulb attached to the end of a cane1 is a very effective piece of apparatus for sword swallowers1 as1 on a darkened stage1 the passage of the light down the throat and into the stomach can be plainly seen by the audience4 ,the medical profession now make use of this idea4 ,by apparently swallowing sharp razors1 a dime-museum performer1 whose name ,i do not recall1 gave a variation to the sword-swallowing stunt4 ,this was in the later days1 and the act was partly fake and partly genuine4 ,that is to say1 the swallowing was fair enough1 but the sharp razors1 after being tested by cutting hairs1 etc41 were exchanged for dull duplicates1 in a manner that1 in better hands1 might have been effective4 ,this chap belonged to the great army of unconscious exposers1 and the switch was quite apparent to all save the most careless observers4 ,his apparatus consisted of a fancy rack on which three sharp razors were displayed1 and a large bandanna handkerchief1 in which there were several pockets of the size to hold a razor1 the three dull razors being loaded in this4 ,after testing the edge of the sharp razors1 he pretended to wipe them1 one by one1 with the handkerchief1 and under cover of this he made the switch for the dull ones1 which he proceeded to swallow in the orthodox fashion4 ,his work was crude1 and the crowd was inclined to poke fun at him4 ,i have seen one of these performers on the street1 in ,london1 swallow a borrowed umbrella1 after carefully wiping the ferrule1 and then return it to its owner only slightly dampened from its unusual journey4 ,a borrowed watch was swallowed by the same performer1 and while one end of the chain hung from the lips1 the incredulous onlookers were invited to place their ears against his chest and listen to the ticking of the watch1 which had passed as far into the aesophagus as the chain would allow4 ,the following anecdote from the ,carlisle ,journal1 shows that playing with sword-swallowing is about as dangerous as playing with fire4 ,,distressing ,,occurrence ,on ,monday evening last1 a man named ,william ,dempster1 a juggler of inferior dexterity while exhibiting his tricks in a public house in ,botchergate1 kept by a person named ,purdy1 actually accomplished the sad reality of one of those feats1 with the semblance only of which he intended to amuse his audience4 ,having introduced into his throat a common table knife which he was intending to swallow1 he accidentally slipped his hold1 and the knife passed into his stomach4 ,an alarm was immediately given1 and surgical aid procured1 but the knife had passed beyond the reach of instruments1 and now remains in his stomach4 ,he has since been attended by most of the medical gentlemen of this city2 and we understand that no very alarming symptoms have yet appeared1 and that it is possible he may exist a considerable time1 even in this awkward state4 ,his sufferings at first were very severe1 but he is now1 when not in motion1 comparatively easy4 ,the knife is #i #a_/b inches long1 #a inch broad in the blade1 round pointed1 and a handle of bone1 and may generally be distinctly felt by applying the finger to the unfortunate man's belly2 but occasionally1 however1 from change of its situation it is not perceptible4 ,a brief notice of the analogous case of ,john ,cumming1 an ,american sailor1 may not be unacceptable to our readers4 ,about the year #agii he1 in imitation of some jugglers whose exhibition he had then witnessed1 in an hour of intoxication1 swallowed four clasp knives such as sailors commonly use2 all of which passed from him in a few days without much inconvenience4 ,six years afterward1 he swallowed ,,fourteen knives of different sizes2 by these1 however1 he was much disordered1 but recovered2 and again1 in a paroxysm of intoxication1 he actually swallowed ,,seventeen1 of the effects of which he died in ,march1 #ahji4 ,on dissection1 fourteen knife blades were found remaining in his stomach1 and the back spring of one penetrating through the bowel1 seemed the immediate cause of his death4 ,several women have adopted the profession of sword-swallowing1 and some have won much more than a passing fame4 ,notable among these is ,mlle4 ,edith ,clifford1 who is1 perhaps1 the most generously endowed4 ,possessed of more than ordinary personal charms1 a refined taste for dressing both herself and her stage1 and an unswerving devotion to her art1 she has perfected an act that has found favor even in the ,royal ,courts of ,europe4 ,mlle4 ,clifford was born in ,london in #ahhd and began swallowing the blades when only #ae years of age4 ,during the foreign tour of the ,barnum ,bailey show she joined that ,organization in ,vienna1 #aija1 and remained with it for five years1 and now1 after eighteen years of service1 she stands well up among the stars4 ,she has swallowed a #bf-;inch blade1 but the physicians advise her not to indulge her appetite for such luxuries often1 as it is quite dangerous4 ,blades of #ah or #bj inches give her no trouble whatever4 ,in the spring of #aiai ,i visited the ,ringling ,bros41 and the ,barnum ,bailey ,show especially to witness ,mlle4 ,clifford's act4 ,in addition to swallowing the customary swords and sabers she introduced such novelties as a specially constructed razor1 with a blade five or six times the usual length1 a pair of scissors of unusual size1 a saw which is #b #a_/b inches wide at the broadest point1 with ugly looking teeth1 although somewhat rounded at the points1 and several other items quite unknown to the bill-of-fare of ordinary mortals4 ,a set of ten thin blades slip easily down her throat and are removed one at a time4 ,the sensation of her act is reached when the point of a bayonet1 #bc #a_/b inches long1 fastened to the breech of a cannon1 is placed in her mouth and the piece discharged2 the recoil driving the bayonet suddenly down her throat4 ,the gun is loaded with a #aj gauge cannon shell4 ,mlle4 ,clifford's handsomely arranged stage occupied the place of honor in the section devoted to freaks and specialties4 ,cliquot told me that ,delno ,fritz was his pupil1 and ,mlle4 ,clifford claims to be a pupil of ,fritz4 ,deserving of honorable mention also is a native of ,berlin1 who bills herself as ,victorina4 ,this lady is able to swallow a dozen sharp-bladed swords at once4 ,of ,victorina1 the ,boston ,herald of ,december #bhth1 #aijb1 said3 ,by long practice she has accustomed herself to swallow swords1 daggers1 bayonets1 walking sticks1 rods1 and other dangerous articles4 ,her throat and food passages have become so expansive that she can swallow three long swords almost up to the hilts1 and can accommodate a dozen shorter blades4 ,this woman is enabled to bend a blade after swallowing it4 ,by moving her head back and forth she may even twist instruments in her throat4 ,to bend the body after one has swallowed a sword is a dangerous feat1 even for a professional swallower4 ,there is a possibility of severing some of the ligaments of the throat or else large arteries or veins4 ,victorina has already had several narrow escapes4 ,on one occasion1 while sword-swallowing before a ,boston audience1 a sword pierced a vein in her throat4 ,the blade was half-way down1 but instead of immediately drawing it forth1 she thrust it farther4 ,she was laid up in a hospital for three months after this performance4 ,in ,chicago she had a still narrower escape4 ,one day while performing at a museum on ,clark ,street1 ,victorina passed a long thin dagger down her throat4 ,in withdrawing it1 the blade snapped in two1 leaving the pointed portion some distance in the passage4 ,the woman nearly fainted when she realized what had occurred1 but1 by a masterful effort1 controlled her feelings4 ,dropping the hilt of the dagger on the floor1 she leaned forward1 and placing her finger and thumb down her throat1 just succeeded in catching the end of the blade4 ,had it gone down an eighth of an inch farther her death would have been certain4 ,,chapter ,,nine ,,stone-,,eaters3 ,a ,,silesian ,,in ,,prague1 #ajjf2 ,,francois ,,battalia1 ca4 #afda2 ,,platerus' ,,beggar ,,boy2 ,,father ,,paulian',s ,,lithophagus ,,of ,,avignon1 #agfj2 ,,the ,,only ,,one ,,in ,,the ,,world1 ,,london1 #aghh2 ,,spaniards ,,in ,,london1 #agij2 ,a ,,secret ,,for ,,two ,,and ,,six2 ,,japanese ,,training4--,,frog-,,swallowers3 ,,norton2 ,,english ,,jack2 ,,bosco1 ,,the ,,snake-,,eater2 ,,billington',s ,,prescription ,,for ,,hangmen2 ,,captain ,,veitro4--,,water-,,spouters3 ,,blaise ,,manfrede1 ca4 #afej2 ,,floram ,,marchand1 #afej4 ,that the genesis of stone-eating dates back hundreds of years farther than is generally supposed1 is shown by a statement in ,wanley's ,wonders of the ,little ,world1 ,london1 #aijf1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 page #eh1 which reads as follows3 ,anno #ajjf1 there was at ,prague a certain ,silesian1 who1 for a small reward in money1 did 7in the presence of many persons7 swallow down white stones to the number of thirty-six2 they weighed very near three pounds2 the least of them was of the size of a pigeon's egg1 so that ,i could scarce hold them all in my hand at four times3 this rash adventure he divers years made for gain1 and was sensible of no injury to his health thereby4 ,the next man of this type of whom ,i find record lived over six hundred years later4 ,this was an ,italian named ,francois ,battalia4 ,the print shown here is from the ,book of ,wonderful ,characters1 and is a reproduction from an etching made by ,hollar in #afda4 ,doctor ,bulwer1 in his ,artificial ,changeling1 tells a preposterous story of ,battalia's being born with two pebbles in one hand and one in the other2 that he refused both the breast and the pap offered him1 but ate the pebbles and continued to subsist on stones for the remainder of his life4 ,doctor ,bulwer thus describes his manner of feeding3 ,his manner is to put three or four stones into a spoon1 and so putting them into his mouth together1 he swallows them all down1 one after another2 then 7first spitting7 he drinks a glass of beer after them4 ,he devours about half a peck of these stones every day1 and when he clinks upon his stomach1 or shakes his body1 you may hear the stones rattle as if they were in a sack1 all of which in twenty-four hours are resolved4 ,once in three weeks he voids a great quantity of sand1 after which he has a fresh appetite for these stones1 as we have for our victuals1 and by these1 with a cup of beer1 and a pipe of tobacco1 he has his whole subsistence4 ,from a modern point of view the ,doctor looks easy4 ,the ,book of ,wonderful ,characters continues3 ,platerus speaks of a beggar boy1 who for four farthings would suddenly swallow many stones which he met with by chance in any place1 though they were big as walnuts1 so filling his belly that by the collision of them while they were pressed1 the sound was distinctly heard4 ,father ,paulian says that a true lithophagus1 or stone-eater1 was brought to ,avignon in the beginning of ,may1 #agfj4 ,he not only swallowed flints an inch and a half long1 a full inch broad1 and half an inch thick1 but such stones as he could reduce to powder1 such as marble1 pebbles1 etc41 he made up into paste1 which to him was a most agreeable and wholesome food4 ,father ,paulian examined this man with all the attention he possibly could1 and found his gullet very large1 his teeth exceedingly strong1 his saliva very corrosive1 and his stomach lower than ordinary4 ,this stone eater was found on ,good ,friday1 in #ageg1 in a northern inhabited island1 by some of the crew of a ,dutch ship4 ,he was made by his keeper to eat raw flesh with his stones2 but he never could be got to swallow bread4 ,he would drink water1 wine1 and brandy1 which last liquor gave him infinite pleasure4 ,he slept at least twelve hours a day1 sitting on the ground with one knee over the other1 and his chin resting on his right knee4 ,he smoked almost all the time he was not asleep or not eating4 ,some physicians at ,paris got him blooded2 the blood had little or no serum1 and in two hours time it became as fragile as coral4 ,he was unable to pronounce more than a few words1 such as ,oui1 ,non1 ,caillou1 ,bon4 ,he has been taught1 adds the pious father1 evidently pleased with the docility of his interesting pupil1 to make the sign of the cross1 and was baptized some months ago in the church of ,st4 ,come1 at ,paris4 ,,the ,,respect ,,he ,,shows ,,to ,,ecclesiastics ,,and ,,his ,,ready ,,disposition ,,to ,,please ,,them1 afforded me the opportunity of satisfying myself as to all these particulars2 and ,i ,,am ,,fully ,,convinced ,,that ,,he ,,is ,,no ,,cheat4 ,here is the advertisement of a stone-eater who appeared in ,england in #aghh4 ,an ,extraordinary ,stone-,eater ,the ,original ,,stone-,,eater ,the ,only ,one in the ,world1 ,has arrived1 and means to perform this1 and every day 7,sunday excepted7 at ,mr4 ,hatch's1 trunk maker1 #djd ,strand1 opposite ,adelphi4 ,,stone-,,eating and ,,stone-,,swallowing ,and after the stones are swallowed may be heard to clink in the belly1 the same as in a pocket4 ,the present is allowed to be the age of ,wonders and ,improvements in the ,arts4 ,the idea of ,man's flying in the ,air1 twenty years ago1 before the discovery of the use of the balloon1 would have been laughed at by the most credulous6 ,nor does the ,history of ,nature afford so extraordinary a relation as that of the man's eating and subsisting on pebbles1 flints1 tobacco pipes and mineral excrescences2 but so it is and the ,ladies and ,gentlemen of this ,metropolis and its vicinity have now an opportunity of witnessing this extraordinary ,fact by seeing the ,most ,wonderful ,phenomenon of the ,age1 who ,grinds and ,swallows stones1 etc41 with as much ease as a ,person would crack a nut1 and masticate the kernel4 ,this ,extraordinary ,stone-eater appears not to suffer the least ,inconvenience from so ponderous1 and to all other persons in the ,world1 so indigestible a ,meal1 which he repeats from twelve at noon to seven4 ,any ,lady or ,gentleman may bring ,black ,flints or ,pebbles with them4 ,n4 ,b4--,his ,merit is fully demonstrated by ,dr4 ,monroe1 who in his ,medical ,commentary1 #aggb1 and several other ,gentlemen of the ,faculty4 ,likewise ,dr4 ,john ,hunter and ,sir ,joseph ,banks can witness the ,surprising ,performance of this most ,extraordinary ,,stone-,,eater4 ,admittance1 ,two shillings and ,six pence4 ,a ,private ,performance for five guineas on short notice4 ,a ,spanish stone-eater exhibited at the ,richmond ,theater1 on ,august #bnd1 #agij1 and another at a later date1 at the ,great ,room1 late ,globe ,tavern1 corner of ,craven ,street1 ,strand4 ,all of these phenomenal gentry claimed to subsist entirely on stones1 but their modern followers hardly dare make such claims1 so that the art has fallen into disrepute4 ,a number of years ago1 in ,london1 ,i watched several performances of one of these chaps who swallowed half a hatful of stones1 nearly the size of hen's eggs1 and then jumped up and down1 to make them rattle in his stomach4 ,i could discover no fake in the performance1 and ,i finally gave him two and six for his secret1 which was simple enough4 ,he merely took a dose of powerful physic to clear himself of the stones1 and was then ready for the next performance4 ,during my engagement in #ahie with ,welsh ,bros4 ,circus ,i became quite well acquainted with an aged ,jap of the ,san ,kitchy ,akimoto troupe and from him ,i learned the method of swallowing quite large objects and bringing them up again at will4 ,for practice very small potatoes are used at first1 to guard against accident2 and after one has mastered the art of bringing these up1 the size is increased gradually till objects as large as the throat will receive can be swallowed and returned4 ,i recall a very amusing incident in connection with this old chap4 ,in one number of the programme he sat down on the ring bank and balanced a bamboo pole1 at the top of which little ,massay went through the regular routine of posturings4 ,after years spent in this work1 my aged friend became so used to his job that he did it automatically1 and scarcely gave a thought to the boy at the top4 ,one warm day1 however1 he carried his indifference a trifle too far1 and dropped into a quiet nap1 from which he woke only to find that the pole was falling and had already gone too far to be recovered1 but the agility of the boy saved him from injury4 ,as my knowledge of ,japanese is limited to the more polite forms1 ,i cannot repeat the remarks of the lad4 ,until a comparatively recent date1 incredible as it may seem1 frog-swallowers were far from uncommon on the bills of the ,continental theaters4 ,the most prominent1 ,norton1 a ,frenchman1 was billed as a leading feature in the high-class houses of ,europe4 ,i saw him work at the ,apollo ,theater1 ,nuremberg1 where ,i was to follow him in2 and during my engagement at the ,circus ,busch1 ,berlin1 we were on the same programme1 which gave me an opportunity to watch him closely4 ,one of his features was to drink thirty or forty large glasses of beer in slow succession4 ,the filled glasses were displayed on shelves at the back of the stage1 and had handles so that he could bring forward two or three in each hand4 ,when he had finished these he would return for others and1 while gathering another handful1 would bring up the beer and eject it into a receptacle arranged between the shelves1 just below the line of vision of the audience4 ,norton could swallow a number of half-grown frogs and bring them up alive4 ,i remember his anxiety on one occasion when returning to his dressing-room2 it seems he had lost a frog--at least he could not account for the entire flock--and he looked very much scared1 probably at the uncertainty as to whether or not he had to digest a live frog4 ,the ,muenchen ,october ,fest1 is the annual fair at that city1 and a most wonderful show it is4 ,i have been there twice2 once as the big feature with ,circus ,carre1 in #aija1 and again in #aiac1 with the ,circus ,corty ,althoff4 ,the ,continental ,circuses are not1 like those of this country1 under canvas1 but show in wooden buildings4 ,at these ,october ,fests ,i saw a number of frog-swallowers1 and to me they were very repulsive indeed4 ,in fact1 ,norton was the only one ,i ever saw who presented his act in a dignified manner4 ,willie ,hammerstein once had ,norton booked to appear at the ,victoria ,theater1 ,new ,york1 but the ,society for the ,prevention of ,cruelty to ,animals would not allow him to open2 so he returned to ,europe without exhibiting his art 787 in ,america4 ,in my earlier days in the smaller theaters of ,america1 before the advent of the ,b4 ,f4 ,keith and ,e4 ,f4 ,albee theaters1 ,i occasionally ran across a sailor calling himself ,english ,jack1 who could swallow live frogs and bring them up again with apparent ease4 ,i also witnessed the disgusting pit act of that degenerate1 ,bosco1 who ate living snakes1 and whose act gave rise to the well-known barkers' cry ,,he ,,eats ',,em ,,alive6 ,if the reader wishes further description of this creature's work1 he must find it in my book1 ,the ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin1 for ,i cannot bring myself to repeat the nauseating details here4 ,during an engagement in ,bolton1 ,eng41 ,i met ,billington1 the official hangman1 who was convinced that ,i could not escape from the restraint he used to secure those he was about to execute4 ,much to his astonishment1 ,i succeeded in releasing myself1 but he said the time consumed was more than sufficient to spring the trap and launch the doomed soul into eternity4 ,billington told me that he had hardened himself to the demands of his office by killing rats with his teeth4 ,during my engagement at the ,winter ,garten1 ,berlin1 ,captain ,veitro1 a performer that ,i had known for years in ,america1 where he worked in side shows and museums1 came to ,berlin and made quite a stir by eating poisons4 ,he appeared only a few times1 however1 as his act did not appeal to the public1 presumably for the reason that he had his stomach pumped out at each performance1 to prove that it contained the poison4 ,this may have been instructive1 but it possessed little appeal as entertainment1 and ,i rarely heard of the venturesome captain after that4 ,years ago ,i saw a colored poison-eater at ,worth's ,museum1 ,new ,york ,city1 who told me that he escaped the noxious effects of the drugs by eating quantities of oatmeal mush4 ,another colored performer took an ordinary bottle1 and1 after breaking it1 would bite off chunks1 crunch them with his teeth1 and finally swallow them4 ,i have every reason to believe that his performance was genuine4 ,the beer-drinking of ,norton was a more refined version of the so-called water-spouting of previous generations1 in which the returning was done openly1 a performance that could not fail to disgust a modern audience4 ,to be sure1 in the days of the ,dime ,museum1 a ,negro who returned the water worked those houses2 but his performance met with little approval1 and it is years since ,i have heard of such an exhibition4 ,the first water-spouter of whom ,i find a record was ,blaise ,manfrede or de ,manfre1 who toured ,europe about the middle of the seventeenth century4 ,an interesting account of this man may be found in my book ,the ,unmasking of ,robert ,houdin4 ,a pupil of ,manfrede's1 by the name of ,floram ,marchand1 who seems to have been fully the equal of his master1 appeared in ,england in #afej4 ,the following description of ,marchand's performance is from ,the ,book of ,wonderful ,characters1 edition of #ahfi1 page #abf3 ,in the summer of #afej1 a ,frenchman named ,floram ,marchand was brought over from ,tours to ,london1 who professed to be able to turn water into wine1 and at his vomit render not only the tincture1 but the strength and smell of several wines1 and several waters4 ,he learnt the rudiments of this art from ,bloise1 an ,italian1 who not long before was questioned by ,cardinal ,mazarin1 who threatened him with all the miseries that a tedious imprisonment could bring upon him1 unless he would discover to him by what art he did it4 ,bloise1 startled at the sentence1 and fearing the event1 made a full confession on these terms1 that the ,cardinal would communicate it to no one else4 ,from this ,bloise1 ,marchand received all his instruction2 and finding his teacher the more sought after in ,france1 he came by the advice of two ,english friends to ,england1 where the trick was new4 ,here--the cause of it being utterly unknown--he seems for a time to have gulled and astonished the public to no small extent1 and to his great profit4 ,before long1 however1 the whole mystery was cleared up by his two friends1 who had probably not received the share of the profits to which they thought themselves entitled4 ,their somewhat circumstantial account runs as follows4 ,to prepare his body for so hardy a task1 before he makes his appearance on the stage1 he takes a pill about the quantity of a hazel nut1 confected with the gall of an heifer1 and wheat flour baked4 ,after which he drinks privately in his chamber four or five pints of luke-warm water1 to take all the foulness and slime from his stomach1 and to avoid that loathsome spectacle which otherwise would make thick the water1 and offend the eye of the observer4 ,in the first place1 he presents you with a pail of luke-warm water1 and sixteen glasses in a basket1 but you are to understand that every morning he boils two ounces of ,brazil thin-sliced in three pints of running water1 so long till the whole strength and color of the ,brazil is exhausted3 of this he drinks half a pint in his private chamber before he comes on the stage3 you are also to understand that he neither eats nor drinks in the morning on those days when he comes on the stage1 the cleansing pill and water only excepted2 but in the evening will make a very good supper1 and eat as much as two or three other men who have not their stomachs so thoroughly purged4 ,before he presents himself to the spectators1 he washes all his glasses in the best white-wine vinegar he can procure4 ,coming on the stage1 he always washes his first glass1 and rinses it two or three times1 to take away the strength of the vinegar1 that it may in no wise discolour the complexion of what is represented to be wine4 ,at his first entrance1 he drinks four and twenty glasses of luke-warm water1 the first vomit he makes the water seems to be a full deep claret3 you are to observe that his gall-pill in the morning1 and so many glasses of luke-warm water afterwards1 will force him into a sudden capacity to vomit1 which vomit upon so much warm water1 is for the most part so violent on him1 that he cannot forbear if he would4 ,you are again to understand that all that comes from him is red of itself1 or has a tincture of it from the first ,brazil water2 but by degrees1 the more water he drinks1 as on every new trial he drinks as many glasses of water as his stomach will contain1 the water that comes from him will grow paler and paler4 ,having then made his essay on claret1 and proved it to be of the same complexion1 he again drinks four or five glasses of luke-warm water1 and brings forth claret and beer at once into two several glasses3 now you are to observe that the glass which appears to be claret is rinsed as before1 but the beer glass not rinsed at all1 but is still moist with the white-wine vinegar1 and the first strength of the ,brazil water being lost1 it makes the water which he vomits up to be of a more pale colour1 and much like our ,english beer4 ,he then brings his rouse again1 and drinks up fifteen or sixteen glasses of luke-warm water1 which the pail will plentifully afford him3 he will not bring you up the pale ,burgundian wine1 which1 though more faint of complexion than the claret1 he will tell you is the purest wine in ,christendom4 ,the strength of the ,brazil water1 which he took immediately before his appearance on the stage1 grows fainter and fainter4 ,this glass1 like the first glass in which he brings forth his claret1 is washed1 the better to represent the colour of the wine therein4 ,the next he drinks comes forth sack from him1 or according to that complexion4 ,here he does not wash his glass at all2 for the strength of the vinegar must alter what is left of the complexion of the ,brazil water1 which he took in the morning before he appeared on the stage4 ,you are always to remember1 that in the interim1 he will commonly drink up four or five glasses of the luke-warm water1 the better to provoke his stomach to a disgorgement1 if the first rouse will not serve turn4 ,he will now 7for on every disgorge he will bring you forth a new colour71 he will now present you with white wine4 ,here also he will not wash his glass1 which 7according to the vinegar in which it was washed7 will give it a colour like it4 ,you are to understand1 that when he gives you the colour of so many wines1 he never washes the glass1 but at his first evacuation1 the strength of the vinegar being no wise compatible with the colour of the ,brazil water4 ,having performed this task1 he will then give you a show of rose-water2 and this indeed1 he does so cunningly1 that it is not the show of rose-water1 but rose-water itself4 ,if you observe him1 you will find that either behind the pail where his luke-warm water is1 or behind the basket in which his glasses are1 he will have on purpose a glass of rose-water prepared for him4 ,after he has taken it1 he will make the spectators believe that he drank nothing but the luke-warm water out of the pail2 but he saves the rose-water in the glass1 and holding his hand in an indirect way1 the people believe1 observing the water dropping from his fingers1 that it is nothing but the water out of the pail4 ,after this he will drink four or five glasses more out of the pail1 and then comes up the rose-water1 to the admiration of the beholders4 ,you are to understand1 that the heat of his body working with his rose-water gives a full and fragrant smell to all the water that comes from him as if it were the same4 ,the spectators1 confused at the novelty of the sight1 and looking and smelling on the water1 immediately he takes the opportunity to convey into his hand another glass2 and this is a glass of ,angelica water1 which stood prepared for him behind the pail or basket1 which having drunk off1 and it being furthered with four or five glasses of luke-warm water1 out comes the evacuation1 and brings with it a perfect smell of the ,angelica1 as it was in the rose-water above specified4 ,to conclude all1 and to show you what a man of might he is1 he has an instrument made of tin1 which he puts between his lips and teeth2 this instrument has three several pipes1 out of which1 his arms a-kimbo1 a putting forth himself1 he will throw forth water from him in three pipes1 the distance of four or five yards4 ,this is all clear water1 which he does with so much port and such a flowing grace1 as if it were his master-piece4 ,he has been invited by divers gentlemen and personages of honour to make the like evacuation in milk1 as he made a semblance in wine4 ,you are to understand that when he goes into another room1 and drinks two or three pints of milk4 ,on his return1 which is always speedy1 he goes first to his pail1 and afterwards to his vomit4 ,the milk which comes from him looks curdled1 and shows like curdled milk and drink4 ,if there be no milk ready to be had1 he will excuse himself to his spectators1 and make a large promise of what he will perform the next day1 at which time being sure to have milk enough to serve his turn1 he will perform his promise4 ,his milk he always drinks in a withdrawing room1 that it may not be discovered1 for that would be too apparent1 nor has he any other shift to evade the discerning eye of the observers4 ,it is also to be considered that he never comes on the stage 7as he does sometimes three or four times in a day7 but he first drinks the ,brazil water1 without which he can do nothing at all1 for all that comes from him has a tincture of the red1 and it only varies and alters according to the abundance of water which he takes1 and the strength of the white-wine vinegar1 in which all the glasses are washed4 ,,chapter ,,ten ,,defiers ,,of ,,poisonous ,,reptiles3 ,,thardo2 ,,mrs4 ,,learn1 ,,dealer ,,in ,,rattlesnakes4--,,sir ,,arthur ,,thurlow ,,cunynghame ,,on ,,antidotes ,,for ,,snake-,,bite4--,,jack ,,the ,,viper4--,,william ,,oliver1 #agce4--,,the ,,advice ,,of ,,cornelius ,,heinrich ,,agrippa1 7#adhf-aece74--;,,an ,,australian ,,snake ,,story4--,,antidotes ,,for ,,various ,,poisons4 ,about twenty-two years ago1 during one of my many engagements at ,kohl and ,middleton's1 ,chicago1 there appeared at the same house a marvelous rattle-snake poison defier named ,thardo4 ,i watched her act with deep interest for a number of weeks1 never missing a single performance4 ,for the simple reason that ,i worked within twelve feet from her1 my statement that there was absolutely no fake attached to her startling performance can be taken in all seriousness1 as the details are still fresh in my mind4 ,thardo was a woman of exceptional beauty1 both of form and feature1 a fluent speaker and a fearless enthusiast in her devotion to her art4 ,she would allow herself to be repeatedly bitten by rattle-snakes and received no harm excepting the ordinary pain of the wound4 ,after years of investigation ,i have come to the belief that this immunity was the result of an absolutely empty stomach1 into which a large quantity of milk was taken shortly after the wound was inflicted1 the theory being that the virus acts directly on the contents of the stomach1 changing it to a deadly poison4 ,it was ,thardo's custom to give weekly demonstrations of this power1 to which the medical profession were invited1 and on these occasions she was invariably greeted with a packed house4 ,when the moment of the supreme test came1 an awed silence obtained2 for the thrill of seeing the serpent flash up and strike possessed a positive fascination for her audiences4 ,her bare arms and shoulders presented a tempting target for the death-dealing reptile whose anger she had aroused4 ,as soon as he had buried his fangs in her expectant flesh1 she would coolly tear him from the wound and allow one of the physicians present to extract a portion of the venom and immediately inject it into a rabbit1 with the result that the poor creature would almost instantly go into convulsions and would soon die in great agony4 ,another rattle-snake defier is a resident of ,san ,antonio1 ,texas4 ,her name is ,learn1 and she once told me that she was the preceptor of ,thardo4 ,this lady deals in live rattle-snakes and their by-products--rattle-snake skin1 which is used for fancy bags and purses2 rattle-snake oil1 which is highly esteemed in some quarters as a specific for rheumatism2 and the venom1 which has a pharmaceutical value4 ,she employs a number of men as snake trappers4 ,their usual technique is to pin the rattler to the ground by means of a forked stick thrust dexterously over his neck1 after which he is conveyed into a bag made for the purpose4 ,probably the cleverest of her trappers is a ,mexican who has a faculty of catching these dangerous creatures with his bare hands4 ,the story goes that this chap has been bitten so many times that the virus no longer has any effect on him4 ,even that most poisonous of all reptiles1 the ,gila monster1 has no terrors for him4 ,he swims along the shore where venomous reptiles most abound1 and fearlessly attacks any and all that promise any income to his employer4 ,in a very rare book by ,general ,sir ,arthur ,thurlow ,cunynghame1 entitled1 ,my ,command in ,south ,africa1 #ahhj1 ,i find the following3 ,the subject of snake bites is one of no small interest in this country4 ,liquid ammonia is1 par excellence1 the best antidote4 ,it must be administered immediately after the bite1 both internally1 diluted with water1 and externally1 in its concentrated form4 ,the ,eau de luce and other nostrums sold for this purpose have ammonia for their main ingredient4 ,but it generally happens in the case of a snake bite that the remedy is not at hand1 and hours may elapse before it can be obtained4 ,in this case the following treatment will work well4 ,tie a ligature tightly ,,above the bite1 scarify the wound deeply with a knife1 and allow it to bleed freely4 ,after having drawn an ounce of blood1 remove the ligature and ignite three times successively about two drams of gunpowder right on the wound4 ,if gunpowder be not at hand1 an ordinary fusee will answer the purpose3 or1 in default of this1 the glowing end of a piece of wood from the fire4 ,having done this1 proceed to administer as much brandy as the patient will take4 ,intoxicate him as rapidly as possible1 and1 once intoxicated1 he is safe4 ,if1 however1 through delay in treatment1 the poison has once got into circulation no amount of brandy will either intoxicate him or save his life4 ,an odd character1 rejoicing in the nick-name of ,jack the ,viper1 is mentioned on page #gfc of ,hone's ,table ,book1 #ahbi4 ,in part the writer says3 ,jack has traveled1 seen the world1 and profited by his travels2 for he has learned to be contented4 ,he is not entirely idle1 nor wholly industrious4 ,if he can get a crust sufficient for the day1 he leaves the evil of it should visit him4 ,the first time ,i saw him was in the high noon of a scorching day1 at an inn in ,laytonstone4 ,he came in while a sudden storm descended1 and a rainbow of exquisite majesty vaulted the earth4 ,sitting down at a table1 he beckoned the hostess for his beer1 and conversed freely with his acquaintance4 ,by his arch replies ,i found that ,i was in company with an original--a man that might stretch forth his arms in the wilderness without fear1 and like ,paul1 grasp an adder without harm4 ,he playfully entwined his fingers with their coils and curled crests1 and played with their forked tongues4 ,he had unbuttoned his waistcoat1 and as cleverly as a fish-woman handles her eels1 let out several snakes and adders1 warmed by his breast1 and spread them on the table4 ,he took off his hat1 and others of different sizes and lengths twisted before me2 some of them1 when he unbosomed his shirt1 returned to the genial temperature of his skin2 and some curled around the legs of the table1 and others rose in a defensive attitude4 ,he irritated and humored them1 to express either pleasure or pain at his will4 ,some were purchased by individuals1 and ,jack pocketed his gains1 observing1 ,a frog1 or a mouse1 occasionally1 is enough for a snake's satisfaction4 ,the ,naturalist's ,cabinet says1 that ,in presence of the ,grand ,duke of ,tuscany1 while the philosophers were making elaborate dissertations on the danger of the poison of vipers1 taken inwardly1 a viper catcher1 who happened to be present1 requested that a quantity of it might be put into a vessel2 and then1 with the utmost confidence1 and to the astonishment of the whole company1 he drank it off4 ,everyone expected the man instantly to drop down dead2 but they soon perceived their mistake1 and found that1 taken inwardly1 the poison was as harmless as water4 ,william ,oliver1 a viper catcher at ,bath1 was the first who discovered that1 by the application of olive oil1 the bite of the viper is effectually cured4 ,on the first of ,june1 #agce1 he suffered himself to be bitten by an old black viper2 and after enduring the agonizing symptoms of approaching death1 by using olive oil he perfectly recovered4 ,vipers' flesh was formerly esteemed for its medicinal virtues1 and its salt was thought to exceed every other animal product in giving vigor to a languid constitution4 ,according to ,cornelius ,heinrich ,agrippa 7called ,agrippa of ,nettesheim71 a ,german philosopher1 and student of alchemy and magic1 who was born in #adhf1 and died in #aece1 if you would handle adders and snakes without harm1 wash your hands in the juice of radishes1 and you may do so without harm4 ,even though it may seem a digression1 ,i yield to the temptation to include here an extraordinary snake story taken from ,an ,actor ,abroad1 which ,edmund ,leathes published in #ahhj3 ,i will here relate the story of a sad death--,i might feel inclined to call it suicide--which occurred in ,melbourne shortly before my arrival in the colonies4 ,about a year previous to the time of which ,i am now writing1 a gentleman of birth and education1 a ,cambridge ,b4 ,a41 a barrister by profession and a literary man by choice1 with his wife and three children emigrated to ,victoria4 ,he arrived in ,melbourne with one hundred and fifty pounds in his pocket1 and hope unlimited in his heart4 ,poor man6 ,he1 like many another man1 quickly discovered that muscles in ,australia are more marketable than brains4 ,his little store of money began to melt under the necessities of his wife and family4 ,to make matters worse he was visited by a severe illness4 ,he was confined to his bed for some weeks1 and during his convalescence his wife presented him with another of those blessings to the poor man1 a son4 ,it was ,christmas time1 his health was thoroughly restored1 he naturally possessed a vigorous constitution2 but his heart was beginning to fail him1 and his funds were sinking lower and lower4 ,at last one day1 returning from a long and solitary walk1 he sat down with pen and paper and made a calculation by which he found he had sufficient money left to pay the insurance upon his life for one year1 which1 in the case of his death occurring within that time1 would bring to his widow the sum of three thousand pounds4 ,he went to the insurance office1 and made his application--was examined by the doctor--the policy was made out1 his life was insured4 ,from that day he grew moody and morose1 despair had conquered hope4 ,at this time a snake-charmer came to ,melbourne1 who advertised a wonderful cure for snake-bites4 ,this charmer took one of the halls in the town1 and there displayed his live stock1 which consisted of a great number of the most deadly and venomous snakes which were to be found in ,india and ,australia4 ,this man had certainly some most wonderful antidote to the poison of a snake's fangs4 ,in his exhibitions he would allow a cobra to bite a dog or a rabbit1 and1 in a short time after he had applied his nostrum the animal would thoroughly revive2 he advertised his desire to perform upon humanity1 but1 of course1 he could find no one would be fool enough to risk his life so unnecessarily4 ,the advertisement caught the eye of the unfortunate emigrant1 who at once proceeded to the hall where the snake charmer was holding his exhibition4 ,he offered himself to be experimented upon2 the fanatic snake-charmer was delighted1 and an appointment was made for the same evening as soon as the show should be over4 ,the evening came2 the unfortunate man kept his appointment1 and1 in the presence of several witnesses1 who tried to dissuade him from the trial1 bared his arm and placed it in the cage of an enraged cobra and was quickly bitten4 ,the nostrum was applied apparently in the same manner as it had been to the lower animals which had that evening been experimented upon1 but whether it was that the poor fellow wilfully did something to prevent its taking effect--or whatever the reason--he soon became insensible1 and in a couple of hours he was taken home to his wife and family--a corpse4 ,the next morning the snake-charmer had flown1 and left his snakes behind him4 ,the insurance company at first refused payment of the policy1 asserting that the death was suicide2 the case was tried and the company lost it1 and the widow received the three thousand pounds4 ,the snake-charmer was sought in vain2 he had the good fortune and good sense to be seen no more in the ,australian colonies4 ,as several methods of combating the effects of poisons have been mentioned in the foregoing pages1 ,i feel in duty bound to carry the subject a little farther and present a list of antidotes4 ,i shall not attempt to educate my readers in the art of medicine1 but simply to give a list of such ordinary materials as are to be found in practically every household1 materials cited as antidotes for the more common poisons4 ,i have taken them from the best authorities obtainable and they are offered in the way of first aid1 to keep the patient alive till the doctor arrives2 and if they should do no good1 they can hardly do harm4 ,the first great rule to be adopted is ,,send ,,for ,,the ,,doctor ,,at ,,once and give him all possible information about the case without delay4 ,use every possible means to keep the patient at a normal temperature4 ,when artificial respiration is necessary1 always get hold of the tongue and pull it well forward in order to keep the throat clear1 then turn the patient over on his face and press the abdomen to force out the air1 then turn him over on the back so that the lungs may fill again1 repeating this again and again till the doctor arrives4 ,the best stimulants are strong tea or coffee2 but when these are not sufficient1 a tablespoon of brandy1 whisky1 or wine may be added4 ,vegetable and mineral poisons1 with few exceptions1 act as efficiently in the blood as in the stomach4 ,animal poisons act only through the blood1 and are inert when introduced into the stomach4 ,therefore there is absolutely no danger in sucking the virus from a snake bite1 except that the virus should not be allowed to touch any spot where the skin is broken4 ,the following list of antidotes is taken largely from ,appleton's ,medical ,dictionary1 and ,sollmann's ,a ,manual of ,pharmacology1 ,philadelphia1 #aiag1 pages #ef and #eg1 and has been verified by comparison with various other authorities at the library of the ,medical ,society of the ,county of ,new ,york3 ,arsenic ,induce vomiting with a dessert-spoonful of ground mustard in tepid water4 ,also put the finger in the throat to induce retching4 ,when the stomach has been emptied1 give the patient all the milk he can take4 ,aconite ,induce vomiting as above4 ,also give active purgative4 ,stimulate with strong tea or coffee4 ,keep the patient roused4 ,alcohol ,same as for aconite4 ,belladonna ,same as for aconite4 ,bitter-sweet ,same as for aconite4 ,blue vitriol ,induce vomiting as in arsenic4 ,then give milk1 or white of egg1 or mucilage4 ,cantharides ,induce vomiting4 ,give soothing drinks4 ,,no ,,oil4 ,rub abdomen with camphor1 or camphorated oil4 ,chloral ,same as for aconite4 ,camphor ,same as for aconite4 ,conium 7,hemlock7 ,same as for aconite4 ,carbolic ,acid ,white of egg in water1 or olive oil1 followed by a large quantity of milk4 ,calomel ,give white of egg1 followed by milk1 or flour gruel4 ,corrosive ,sublimate ,same as for calomel4 ,croton ,oil ,induce vomiting4 ,also give strong purgative ,,as ,,soon ,,as ,,possible4 ,stimulate with strong tea or coffee4 ,colocynth ,same as for croton oil4 ,ergot ,same as for aconite4 ,food cooked in a copper vessel ,same as for blue vitriol4 ,fish poison ,same as for croton oil4 ,gases ,plenty of fresh air4 ,inhale ammonia 7not too strong74 ,artificial respiration if necessary4 ,stimulate with strong tea or coffee4 ,green coloring matter ,same as for arsenic4 ,hellebore ,same as for aconite4 ,hyoscyamus ,same as for aconite4 ,iodine ,give starch4 ,lobelia ,same as for aconite4 ,lead ,same as for calomel4 ,matches ,induce vomiting4 ,give magnesia and mucilage4 ,,no ,,oil4 ,mercury ,same as for calomel4 ,morphine ,spasms may be quieted by inhaling ether4 ,nitric ,acid ,induce vomiting4 ,give ,carbonate of ,magnesia1 or lime-water4 ,nitrate of ,silver ,give common salt in water1 or carbonate of soda in solution1 followed by milk1 or white of egg4 ,nux ,vomica ,same as for aconite4 ,oxalic ,acid ,same as for nitric acid4 ,opium ,same as for morphine4 ,prussic ,acid ,not much can be done1 as fatal dose kills in from three to five minutes4 ,dilute ammonia given instantly might save life4 ,paris ,green ,same as for arsenic4 ,phosphorus ,same as for matches4 ,rough on ,rats ,same as for arsenic4 ,strychnin ,same as for morphine4 ,sulphuric ,acid ,strong soap-suds4 ,toadstool ,same as for morphine4 ,turpentine ,same as for morphine4 ,tin ,same as for nitrate of silver4 ,verdigris ,same as for arsenic4 ,vermilion ,same as for calomel4 ,white vitriol ,same as for nitrate of silver4 ,zinc ,same as for nitrate of silver4 ,for ,snake-bite ,the best general treatment for snake-bite is to tie a ligature tightly ,,above the wound1 then suck out as much of the virus as possible4 ,give the patient large quantities of whisky or brandy1 to induce intoxication4 ,incise the wound with a red-hot nail1 or knitting needle4 ,keep the patient intoxicated till the doctor arrives4 ,for ,burns ,all burns are more painful when exposed to the air4 ,for lesser burns a cloth saturated with a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda 7common cooking soda7 laid on the burn is probably best4 ,this is soothing and keeps out the air4 ,for burning clothes ,do not allow the victim to run about1 for that increases the flames4 ,throw her-- these accidents usually occur to women--on the floor and smother the flames with a blanket1 rug1 or large garment4 ,then1 if the burns are severe1 place her in a bath at a temperature of #ajj degrees or over1 keeping her there till the doctor arrives4 ,give stimulants4 ,do not touch the burns more than is absolutely unavoidable4 ,for ,burns of ,acids ,dash cold water on the burns1 then cover with lime-water and sweet oil1 or linseed oil4 ,for ,burns of ,caustic ,alkalies ,apply vinegar4 ,glass1 coarse or ,give the patient large quantities of bread powdered crumbs1 and then induce vomiting4 ,ivy poison ,wash at once with soap and water2 using scrubbing brush4 ,then lay on cloths saturated with strong solution bicarbonate of soda4 ,give cooling drinks4 ,keep the patient quiet and on a low diet4 ,,chapter ,,eleven ,,strong ,,men ,,of ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century3 ,,thomas ,,topham 7died1 #agdi72 ,,joyce1 #agjc2 ,,van ,,eckenberg1 #agah2 ,,barsabas ,,and ,,his ,,sister2 ,,the ,,italian ,,female ,,sampson1 #agbd2 ,,the ,,little ,,woman ,,from ,,geneva1 #agea2 ,,belzoni1 #aggh-ahbc4 ,bodily strength has won the admiration--,i might almost say1 the worship--of mankind from the days of ,hercules and his ten mythical labors1 to the days of ,sandow with his scores of actual achievements4 ,each generation has produced its quota of strongmen1 but almost all of them have resorted to some sort of artifice or subterfuge in order to appear superhumanly strong4 ,that is to say1 they added brain to their brawn1 and it is a difficult question whether their efforts deserve to be called trickery or good showmanship4 ,many of the tricks of the profession were laid bare by ,dr4 ,desaguliers over a hundred and fifty years ago and have been generally discarded by athletes1 only to be taken up and vastly improved by women of the type of ,the ,georgia ,magnet1 who gave the world of science a decided start about a generation ago4 ,i shall have more to say of her a little further on4 ,the jiu jitsu of the ,japanese is1 in part1 a development of the same principles1 but here again much new material has been added1 so that it deserves to be considered a new art4 ,the following1 from ,dr4 ,desaguliers' ,experimental ,philosophy1 ,london1 #agfc1 ,vol4 #a1 page #bhi1 contrasts feats of actual strength with the tricks of the old-time performers3 ,thomas ,topham1 born in ,london1 and now about thirty-one years of age1 five feet ten inches high1 with muscles very hard and prominent1 was brought up a carpenter1 which trade he practiced till within these six or seven years that he has shewed feats of strength2 but he is entirely ignorant of any art to make his strength appear more surprising2 ,nay1 sometimes he does things which become more difficult by his disadvantageous situation2 attempting and often doing1 what he hears other strong men have done1 without making use of the same advantages4 ,about six years ago he pulled against a horse1 sitting on the ground with his feet against two stumps driven into the ground1 but without the advantage represented by the first figure1 ,plate #ai2 for the horse pulling against him drew upwards at a considerable angle1 such as is represented in the second figure in that plate1 when h,n is the line of traction1 which makes the angle of traction to be ,nh,l3 and in this case his strength was no farther employed than to keep his legs and thighs straight1 so as to make them act like the long arm of a bended lever1 represented by ,lh1 on whose end h the trunk of his body rested as a weight1 against which the horse drew1 applying his power at right angles to the end l of the short arm of said lever1 the center of the motion being a ,l at the bottom of the stumps l1 o 7for to draw obliquely by a rope fastened at h is the same as to draw by an arm of a lever at l ,l1 because l ,l is a line drawn perpendicularly from the center of motion to the line of direction h,n7 and the horse not being strong enough to raise the man's weight with such disadvantage1 he thought he was in the right posture for drawing against a horse2 but when in the same posture he attempted to draw against two horses1 he was pulled out of his place by being lifted up1 and had one of his knees struck against the stumps1 which shattered it so1 that even to this day1 the patella or knee-pan is so loose1 that the ligaments of it seem either to be broken or quite relaxed1 which has taken away most of the strength of that leg4 ,but if he had sat upon such a frame as is represented in the first figure1 7,plate #ai7 he might 7considering his strength7 have kept his situation against the pulling of four strong horses without the least inconvenience4 ,the feats which ,i saw him perform1 a few days ago1 were the following3 #a4 ,by the strength of his fingers 7only rubbed in coal-ashes to keep them from slipping7 he rolled up a very strong and large pewter-dish4 #b4 ,he broke seven or eight short and strong pieces of tobacco-pipe with the force of his middle finger1 having laid them on the first and third finger4 #c4 ,having thrust under his garter the bowl of a strong tobacco-pipe1 his legs being bent1 he broke it to pieces by the tendons of his hams1 without altering the bending of his leg4 #d4 ,he broke such another bowl between his first and second finger1 by pressing his fingers together side-ways4 #e4 ,he lifted a table six feet long1 which had half a hundred weight hanging to the end of it1 with his teeth1 and held it in a horizontal position for a considerable time4 ,,it ,,is ,,true ,,the ,,feet ,,of ,,the ,,table ,,rested ,,against ,,his ,,knees2 ,,but ,,as ,,the ,,length ,,of ,,the ,,table ,,was ,,much ,,greater ,,than ,,its ,,height1 ,,that ,,performance ,,required ,a ,,great ,,strength ,,to ,,be ,,exerted ,,by ,,the ,,muscles ,,of ,,his ,,loins1 ,,those ,,of ,,his ,,neck1 ,,the ,,masseter ,,and ,,temporal 7,,muscles ,,of ,,the ,,jaws7 ,,besides ,a ,,good ,,set ,,of ,,teeth4 #f4 ,he took an iron kitchen-poker1 about a yard long1 and three inches in circumference1 and holding it in his right hand1 he struck upon his bare left arm1 between the elbow and the wrist till he bent the poker nearly to a right angle4 #g4 ,he took such another poker1 and holding the ends in his hands1 and the middle against the back of his neck1 he brought both ends of it together before him2 and1 what was yet more difficult1 he pulled it almost straight again3 because the muscles which separate the arms horizontally from each other1 are not so strong as those that bring them together4 #h4 ,he broke a rope of about two inches in circumference which was in part wound about a cylinder of four inches diameter1 having fastened the other end of it to straps that went over his shoulders2 but he exerted more force to do this than any other of his feats1 from his awkwardness in going about it3 as the rope yielded and stretched as he stood upon the cylinder1 so that when the extensors of his legs and thighs had done their office in bringing the legs and thighs straight1 he was forced to raise his heels from their bearings1 and use other muscles that are weaker4 ,but if the rope had been so fixed1 that the part to be broken had been short1 it would have been broken with four times less difficulty4 #i4 ,i have seen him lift a rolling stone of about #hjj lib4 with his hand only1 standing in a frame above it1 and taking hold of a chain that was fastened to it4 ,by this ,i reckon that he may be almost as strong again as those who are generally reckoned as the strongest men1 they generally lifting no more than #djj lib4 in that manner4 ,the weakest men who are in health and not too fat1 lift about #abe lib4 having about half the strength of the strongest4 7,n4,b4 ,this sort of comparison is chiefly in relation to the muscles of the loins2 because in doing this one must stoop forward a little4 ,we must also add the weight of the body to the weight lifted4 ,so that if the weakest man's body weighs #aej lib4 that added to #abe lib4 makes the whole weight lifted by him #bge lib4 ,then if the stronger man's body weighs also #aej lib4 the whole weight lifted by him will be #eej lib4 that is1 #djj lib4 and the #aej lib4 which his body weighs4 ,topham weighs about #bjj lib4 which added to the #hjj lib4 that he lifts1 makes #ajjj lib4 ,but he ought to lift #ijj lib4 besides the weight of his body1 to be as strong again as a man of #aej lib4-weight who can lift #djj lib4 ,now as all men are not proportionably strong in every part1 but some are stronger in the arms1 some in the legs1 and others in the back1 according to the work and exercise which they use1 we can't judge of a man's strength by lifting only2 but a method may be found to compare together the strength of different men in the same parts1 and that too without straining the persons who try the experiment4 ,here follows a long description of a machine for the above purpose4 ,topham was not endowed with a strength of mind equal to the strength of his body4 ,he was married to a wanton who rendered existence so insupportable that he committed suicide before he was forty years of age1 on ,august #ajth1 #agdi4a ,about the year #agjc there appeared in ,london a native of ,kent1 by the name of ,joyce1 who won the name of a second ,samson by a series of feats of strength that to the people of that day seemed little short of superhuman4 ,dr4 ,desaguliers1 in his ,experimental ,philosophy1 gives the following account of ,joyce and his methods4 ,about thirty years ago one ,joyce1#b a ,kentish man1 famous for his great strength 7tho' not quite so strong as the ,king of ,poland1 by the accounts we have of that ,prince7 shewed several feats in ,london and the country1 which so much surprised the spectators1 that he was by most people called the second ,sampson4#c ,but tho' the postures which he had learned to put his body into1 and found out by practice without any mechanical theory1 were such as would make a man of common strength do such feats as would appear surprising to everybody that did not know the advantages of those positions of the body2 yet nobody then attempted to draw against horses1 or raise great weights1 or to do anything in imitation of him2 because1 as he was very strong in the arms1 and grasped those that try'd his strength that way so hard1 that they were obliged immediately to desire him to desist1 his other feats 7wherein his manner of acting was chiefly owing to the mechanical advantages gained by the position of his body7 were entirely attributed to his extraordinary strength4 ,but when he had gone out of ,england1 or had ceased to shew his performances1 for eight or ten years2 men of ordinary strength found out the way of making such advantage of the same postures as ,joyce had put himself into1 as to pass for men of more than common strength1 by drawing against horses1 breaking ropes1 lifting vast weights1 c4 7tho' they cou'd in none of the postures really perform so much as ,joyce2 yet they did enough to amaze and amuse1 and get a great deal of money7 so that every two or three years we have a new ,,second ,,sampson4 ,some fifteen years subsequent to ,joyce's advent1 another so-called ,samson1 this time a ,german named ,john ,charles ,van ,eckenberg1 toured ,europe with a remarkable performance along the same lines as ,joyce's4 ,dr4 ,desaguliers saw this man and has this to say of him3 ,after having seen him once1 ,i guessed at his manner of imposing on the multitude2 and being resolved to be fully satisfied in the matter1 ,i took four very curious persons with me to see him again1 viz4 the ,lord ,marquis of ,tullibardine1 ,dr4 ,alexander ,stuart1 ,dr4 ,pringle1 and a mechanical workman1 who used to assist me in my courses of experiments4 ,we placed ourselves in such a manner round the operator1 as to be able to observe nicely all that he did1 and found it so practicable that we performed several of his feats that evening by ourselves1 and afterwards ,i did most of the rest as soon as ,i had a frame made to fit in to draw1 and another to stand in and lift great weights1 together with a proper girdle and hooks4 ,dr4 ,desaguliers illustrates ,van ,eckenberg's methods in a very exhaustive set of notes and plates1 which are too technical and voluminous to repeat here1 but ,i will quote sufficiently from them to make the modus operandi clear4 ,the figures will be found on plate #ai4 ,figs4 #a and #b have already been explained4 ,in breaking the rope one thing is to be observ'd1 which will much facilitate the performance2 and that is to place the iron eye ,l1 7,fig4 #c7 thro' which the rope goes1 in such a situation1 that a plane going thro' its ring shall be parallel to the two parts of the rope2 because then the rope will in a manner be jamm'd in it1 and not slipping thro' it1 the whole force of the man's action will be exerted on that part of the rope which is in the eye1 which will make it break more easily than if more parts of the rope were acted upon4 ,so the eye1 tho' made round and smooth1 may be said in some measure to ,,cut ,,the ,,rope4 ,and it is after this manner that one may break a whip cord1 nay1 a small jack-line with one's hand without hurting it2 only by bringing one part of the rope to cut the other2 that is1 placing it so round one's left hand1 that by a sudden jerk1 the whole force exerted shall act on one point of the rope4 ,b is a feather bed upon which the performer falls4 ,the posture of ,fig4 #d ,plate #ai 7where the strong man having an anvil on his breast or belly1 suffers another man to strike with a sledge hammer and forge a piece of iron1 or cut a bar cold with chizzels7 tho' it seems surprising to some people1 has nothing in it to be really wondered at2 for sustaining the anvil is the whole matter1 and the heavier the anvil is1 the less the blows are felt3 ,and if the anvil was but two or three times heavier than the hammer1 the strong man would be killed by a few blows2 for the more matter the anvil has1 the more ,,inertia and the less liable it is to be struck out of its place2 because when it has by the blow receiv'd the whole ,,momentum of the hammer1 its velocity will be so much less than that of the hammer as it has more matter than the hammer4 ,neither are we to attribute to the anvil a velocity less than the hammer in a reciprocal proportion of their masses or quantities of matter2 for that would happen only if the anvil was to hang freely in the air 7for example7 by a rope1 and it was struck horizontally by the hammer4 ,thus is the velocity given by the hammer distributed to all parts of a great stone1 when it is laid on a man's breast to be broken2 but when the blow is given1 the man feels less of the weight of the stone than he did before1 because in the reaction of the stone1 all the parts of it round about the hammer rise towards the blow2 and if the tenacity of the parts of the stone1 is not stronger than the force with which it moves towards the hammer1 the stone must break2 which it does when the blow is strong1 and struck upon the centre of gravity of the stone4 ,in the #fth ,fig4 of ,plate #ai1 the man ,,ihl 7the chairs ,,il1 being made fast7 makes so strong an arch with his backbone and the bones of his legs and thighs1 as to be able not only to sustain one man1 but three or four1 if they had room to stand2 or1 in their stead1 a great stone to be broken with one blow4 ,in the #fth and #gth ,fig4 of the same plate1 a man or two are raised in the direction ,,cm1 by the knees of the strong man ,,ihl lying upon his back4 ,a trial will suffice to show that this is not a difficult feat for a man of ordinary strength4 ,wanley #d enumerates thirty men of might1 each of whom was famous in his time4 ,notable among them was ,barsabas1 who first made a reputation in ,flanders1 where he lifted the coach of ,louis ,,xiv1 which had sunk to the nave in the mud1 all the oxen and horses yoked to it having exerted their strength in vain4 ,for this service the king granted him a pension1 and being soon promoted1 he at length rose to be town-major of ,valenciennes4 ,barsabas entering one day a farrier's shop in a country village1 asked for horse shoes1 the farrier showed him some1 which ,barsabas snapped in pieces as if they had been rotten wood1 telling the farrier at the same time that they were too brittle1 and good for nothing4 ,the farrier wanted to forge some more1 but ,barsabas took up the anvil and hid it under his cloak4 ,the farrier1 when the iron was hot1 could not conceive what had become of his anvil1 but his astonishment was still increased when he saw ,barsabas deposit it in its place with the utmost ease4 ,imagining that he had got the devil in his shop1 he ran out as fast as he could1 and did not venture to return till his unwelcome visitor had disappeared4 ,barsabas had a sister as strong as himself1 but as he quitted his home very young1 and before his sister was born1 he had never seen her4 ,he met with her in a small town of ,flanders1 where she carried on a rope manufactury4 ,the modern ,sampson bought some of her largest ropes which he broke like pack-thread1 telling her they were very bad4--,i will give some better1 replied she1 but will you pay a good price for them8--,whatever you choose1 returned ,barsabas1 showing her some crown pieces4 ,his sister took them1 and breaking two or three of them said1 ,your crowns are as little worth as my ropes1 give me better money4 ,barsabas1 astonished at the strength exhibited by this female1 then questioned her respecting her country and family1 and soon learned that she belonged to the same stock4 ,the dauphin being desirous to see ,barsabas exhibit some of his feats1 the latter said1 ,my horse has carried me so long that ,i will carry him in my turn4 ,he then placed himself below the animal and raising him up1 carried him more than fifty paces1 and then placed him on the ground without being the least hurt4 ,barsabas' sister was not unique in her century4 ,i quote from a magazine called ,the ,parlor ,portfolio or ,post-,chaise ,companion1 published in ,london in #agbd3 ,to be seen1 at ,mr4 ,john ,syme's1 ,peruke maker1 opposite the ,mews1 ,charing ,cross1 the surprising and famous ,italian ,female ,sampson1 who has been seen in several courts of ,europe with great applause4 ,she will absolutely walk1 barefoot1 on a red-hot bar of iron3 a large block of marble of between two and three thousand weight she will permit to lie on her for some time1 after which she will throw it off at about six feet distance1 without using her hands1 and exhibit several other curious performances1 equally astonishing1 which were never before seen in ,england4 ,she performs exactly at twelve o'clock1 and four1 and six in the afternoon4 ,price half-a-crown1 servants and children a shilling4 ,from the spelling1 ,i judge that the person who selected this lady's title must have been more familiar with the ,city ,directory than with the ,scriptures4 ,in ,edward ,j4 ,wood's ,giants and ,dwarfs1 ,london1 #ahfh1 ,i find the following3 ,a newspaper of ,december #aith1 #agea1 announces as follows3 ,at the new theatre in the ,haymarket1 this day1 will be performed a concert of musick1 in two acts4 ,boxes #cs41 pit #bs41 gallery #as4 ,between the acts of the concert will be given1 gratis1 several exercises of rope-dancing and tumbling4 ,there is also arrived the little woman from ,geneva1 who1 by her extraordinary strength1 performs several curious things1 viz4 #ast4 ,she beats a red-hot iron that is made crooked straight with her naked feet4 #bndly4 ,she puts her head on one chair1 and her feet on another1 in an equilibrium1 and suffers five or six men to stand on her body1 which after some time she flings off4 #crdly4 ,an anvil is put on her body1 on which two men strike with large hammers4 #dthly4 ,a stone of a hundred pounds weight is put on her body1 and beat to pieces with a hammer4 #ethly4 ,she lies down on the ground1 and suffers a stone of #aejj pounds weight to be laid on her breasts1 in which position she speaks to the audience1 and drinks a glass of wine1 then throws the stone off her body by mere strength1 without any assistance4 ,lastly1 she lifts an anvil of #bjj pound weight from the ground with her own hair4 ,to begin exactly at six o'clock4 ,at present the stunt with the two chairs and the six men is being exhibited as a hypnotic test4 ,giovanni ,battista ,belzoni1 the famous ,egyptian archeologist1 who was a man of gigantic stature1 began his public career as a strongman at the ,bartholomew ,fair1 under the management of ,gyngell1 the conjuror1 who dubbed him ,the ,young ,hercules4 ,shortly afterward he appeared at ,sadler's ,wells ,theater1 where he created a profound sensation1 under the name of ,the ,patagonian ,samson4 ,the feature of his act was carrying a pyramid of from seven to ten men in a manner never before attempted4 ,he wore a sort of harness with footholds for the men1 and when all were in position he moved about the stage with perfect ease1 soliciting kind applause by waving a flag4 ,he afterwards became a magician1 and after various other ventures he finally landed in ,egypt1 where his discoveries were of such a nature as to secure for him an enviable position in ,who's ,who in ,archeology4 #a ,interesting accounts of ,topham's career may be found in ,wonders of ,bodily ,strength1 ,new ,york1 #ahgc1 a translation from the ,french of ,depping1 by ,charles ,russell2 ,sir ,david ,brewster's1 ,letters on ,natural ,magic2 ,london1 #ahch2 ,wanley's ,wonders of the ,little ,world1 ,london1 #ahjf2 ,wilson's ,wonderful ,characters1 ,london1 #ahba1 7but not in the reprint of #ahfi74 #b ,or ,william ,joy4 #c ,this is the spelling used by ,joyce1 ,eckenberg and others1 for the ,samson of the ,bible4 #d ,wonders of the little ,world1 by ,nathaniel ,wanley1 ,london1 #ahjf4 ,vol4 ,i41 page #gf4 ,,chapter ,,twelve ,,contemporary ,,strong ,,people3 ,,charles ,,jefferson2 ,,louis ,,cyr2 ,,john ,,grun ,,marx2 ,,william ,,le ,,roy4--,,the ,,nail ,,king1 ,,the ,,human ,,claw-,,hammer2 ,,alexander ,,weyer2 ,,mexican ,,billy ,,wells2 ,a ,,foolhardy ,,italian2 ,,wilson2 ,,herman2 ,,sampson2 ,,sandow2 ,,yucca2 ,,la ,,blanche2 ,,lulu ,,hurst4--,,the ,,georgia ,,magnet1 ,,the ,,electric ,,girl1 ,,etc42 ,,annie ,,abbott2 ,,mattie ,,lee ,,price4--,,the ,,twilight ,,of ,,the ,,freaks4 ,,the ,,dime ,,museums4 ,feats of strength have always interested me greatly1 so that in my travels around the world ,i have made it a point to come in contact with the most powerful human beings of my generation4 ,the one among these who deserves first mention is ,charles ,jefferson1 with whose achievements ,i became quite familiar while we were working in the same museum many years ago4 ,i am convinced that he must have been the strongest man of his time at lifting with the bare hands alone4 ,he had two feats that he challenged any mortal to duplicate4 ,one was picking up a heavy blacksmith's anvil by the horn and placing it on a kitchen table2 for the other he had a block of steel1 which1 as near as ,i can remember1 must have been about #ad inches long1 #ab inches wide1 and #g inches thick4 ,this block lay on the floor1 and his challenge was for anyone to pick it up with bare hands4 ,i noticed that it required unusually long fingers to grasp it1 since one could get only the thumb on one side4 ,though thousands tried1 ,i never saw1 or heard1 of anyone else who could juggle his anvil or pick up the weight4 ,true1 ,i saw him surreptitiously rub his fingers with resin1 to assist in the gripping1 but that could have been only of slight assistance to the marvelous grip the man possessed4 ,it is generally conceded that ,louis ,cyr was1 in his best days1 the strongest man in the known world at all-round straight lifting4 ,cyr did not give the impression of being an athlete1 nor of a man in training1 for he appeared to be over-fat and not particularly muscular2 but he made records in lifting which1 to the best of my knowledge1 no other man has been able to duplicate4 ,john ,grun ,marx1 a ,luxemberger1 must have been among the strongest men in the world at the time ,i knew him4 ,we worked on the same bill several times2 but it was at the ,olympia1 in ,paris1 that he shone supreme as a strongman--and at the same time as a weak one4 ,for1 in spite of his sovereign strength1 ,mars was no match for a pair of bright eyes2 all a pretty woman had to do was to smile and ,john would wilt4 ,and--,paris was ,paris4 ,marx's strength was prodigious1 and he juggled hundreds1 and toyed with thousands1 of pounds as a child plays with a rattle4 ,he must have weighed in the neighborhood of three hundred pounds1 and he walked like a veritable colossus4 ,in fact1 he reminded me of a two-footed baby elephant4 ,always good-natured1 he made a host of friends both in the profession and out of it4 ,after years of professional work he settled down as landlord of a public house in ,england1 where1 finally1 he was prostrated by a mortal illness4 ,wishing to die in his native city1 he returned to ,luxemberg4 ,he did not realize that he was bereft of his enormous strength1 and those about him humored him3 the doctor and the nurses would pretend that he hurt them when he grasped their hands4 ,he died almost forgotten except by his brother artists1 but they 7myself among them7 built a monument to this good-natured ,hercules1 whose only care was to entertain4 ,among the strongmen that ,i met during my days with the museums1 one whom ,i found most interesting was ,william ,le ,roy1 known as ,the ,nail ,king and ,the ,human ,claw-,hammer1 whose act appealed to me for its originality4 ,so far as ,i could learn1 it had never been duplicated4 ,le ,roy was born in ,cincinnati1 ,ohio1 ,october #crd1 #ahgc4 ,he was about #e feet #aj inches in height1 and well set up4 ,the inordinate strength of his jaws1 teeth1 and neck1 enabled him to push a nail1 held between his teeth1 through a one-inch board2 or to nail together1 with his teeth1 two #c_/d-;inch boards4 ,he could draw with his teeth a large nail that had been driven completely through a two-inch plank4 ,then he would screw an ordinary two-inch screw into a hardwood plank with his teeth1 pull it out with his teeth1 and then screw it into the plank again and offer #ajj to any man who could pull it out with a large pair of pincers which he proffered for the purpose4 ,when he had performed these stunts in various positions1 he would bend his body backward till his head pointed toward the floor1 and in that position push a nail through a one-inch board held perpendicularly in a metal frame4 ,i saw no chance for trickery in ,le ,roy's act4 ,another nail act was that of ,alexander ,weyer1 who1 either by superior strength or by a peculiar knack1 could hold a nail between the middle fingers of his right hand with the head against the palm1 and drive it through a one-inch board4 ,but since this act did not get him very far either on the road to fame1 or toward the big money--he turned to magic and finally became one of the leading ,continental magicians1 boasting that he was one of the few really expert sleight-of-hand magicians of the world4 ,i met ,weyer at ,liege1 ,belgium1 where we had an all-night match with playing cards4 ,he admitted that there were some tricks he did not know1 but he claimed that after once seeing any magician work he could duplicate the tricks4 ,on this occasion1 however1 he was unable to make the boast good4 ,another clever performer of those days was ,mexican ,billy ,wells1 who worked on the ,curio platform4 ,his act was the old stone-breaking stunt1 already explained1 except that he had the stones broken on his head instead of on his body4 ,he protected his head with a small blanket1 which he passed for examination1 and this protection seemed excusable1 considering that he had to do at least seven shows a day4 ,a strong man from the audience did the real work of the act by swinging the heavy sledge-hammer on the stone1 as shown in the accompanying illustration4 ,usually the stone would be riven by a single blow2 but if it was not1 ,wells would yell1 ,harder6 harder6 hit harder6 until the stone was broken4 ,the last ,i saw of ,billy was during one of my engagements at the ,palace ,theater1 ,new ,york4 ,he was then soliciting orders for some photograph firm1 the halcyon days of his big money having faded to a memory4 ,but he had been a good showman and his was one of the best liked working acts in the ,curio1 as the dime-museum profession was called4 ,of all the acts of this nature that ,i have ever seen ,i think the most foolhardy was that of an under-sized ,italian who lay on his back on the floor and let fall from his hands1 extended upward at arm's length heavy weights upon his chest--the silly fool6 ,i said as much to him--and some other things too4 ,his act had little entertainment to show as compared with the pain and danger involved4 ,i do not know what became of him1 but ,i can guess4 ,among the museum attractions of those years was a man named ,wilson who had the incredible chest expansion of twenty-one inches4 ,this man would allow a strong leather strap1 about the size of a trunk-strap1 to be buckled round his chest2 and then1 inflating his lungs1 would break it with very little apparent exertion4 ,an imitator1 named ,herman1 worked the side shows for a long time with a similar act1 and was fairly successful1 although his expansion was only about sixteen inches4 ,the last time ,i heard of ,wilson1 he was working in the shipyards at ,newport ,news1 ,virginia4 ,another ,samson1 a ,german1 among other sensational feats1 such as breaking coins with his fingers1 used to flex his muscles and break a dog-chain that had been fastened round the biceps of his right arm4 ,while he was performing at the ,aquarium1 in ,london1 he issued a challenge4 ,sandow1 then a youth without reputation1 accepted the challenge1 went upon the stage1 defeated him1 and1 since ,samson's act had been the talk of the town1 thus brought himself into instant notice1 the beginning of a career in which he rose to the top of his profession4 ,after several successful years on the stage1 ,sandow settled down in ,london1 where ,i last heard of him as conducting a school of instruction in health and strength methods4 ,in the tradition of the ,female ,sampsons noted in ,chapter ,eleven1 ,i recall two strong-women who were notably good2 ,yucca1 who lifted a horse by means of a harness over the shoulders2 and ,la ,blanche1 who toyed with heavy articles in a most entertaining way4 ,i remember these ladies particularly because both were remarkably good talkers--and ,i am referring to conversational quality1 not to volume4 ,lulu ,hurst--known variously as ,the ,georgia ,magnet1 ,the ,electric ,girl1 ,the ,georgia ,wonder1 etc4--created a veritable sensation a generation ago by a series of feats which seemed to set the law of gravitation at defiance4 ,her methods consisted in utilizing the principles of the lever and fulcrum in a manner so cleverly disguised that it appeared to the audience that some supernatural power must be at work4 ,although she was exposed many times1 her success was so marked that several other muscular ladies entered her province with acts that were1 in several instances1 superior to the original4 ,one of the cleverest of these was ,annie ,abbott1 who1 if ,i remember rightly1 also called herself ,the ,georgia ,magnet4 ,she took the act to ,england and her opening performance at the ,alhambra is recorded as one of the three big sensations of the ,london vaudeville stage of those days4 ,the second sensation was credited to the ,bullet-,proof ,man4 ,this chap wore a jacket that rifle bullets1 fired point-blank1 failed to penetrate4 ,the composition of this jacket was a secret1 but after the owner's death the garment was ripped open and found to contain-ground glass6 ,the third sensation ,i must1 with all due modesty1 7business of bowing7 claim for myself4 ,the ,magnet failed to attract after about forty-eight hours1 for a keen-witted reporter discovered her methods and promptly published them4 ,the bullet detainer also lasted only a short time only4 ,when my opening added a third sensational surprise1 one of the ,london dailies asked1 ,is this going to be another ,georgia ,magnet fiasco8 ,that they were gunning for me is proved by the fact that the same newspaper investigator who exposed the ,magnet1 came upon the stage of the ,alhambra at my press performance--the same stage where the unhappy ,dixie lode-stone had collapsed--and though he brought along an antique slave iron1 which he seemed to think would put an end to my public career on the spot1 ,i managed to escape in less than three minutes4 ,when ,i passed back his irons1 he grinned at me and said1 ,i don't know how you did it1 but you did6 and he shook me cordially by the hand4 ,some twenty-six years ago ,i was on the bill with ,mattie ,lee ,price1 who1 though less well known1 was in many ways superior to either ,miss ,hurst or ,miss ,abbott4 ,for a time she was a sensation of the highest order1 for which thanks were largely due to the management of her husband1 a wonderful lecturer and a thorough showman4 ,i think his name was ,white4 ,he sold the act as no other man has sold an act before or since4 ,we worked together at ,kohl and ,middleton's1 ,chicago1 and the following week at ,burton's ,museum1 ,milwaukee2 but when we made the next jump ,i found that ,white was not along4 ,they had had a family squabble1 the other apex of the triangle being a circus grafter who shibbolethed at some of the brace games1 which at that time had police protection1 so far as that could be given4 ,he had interfered between the couple1 and was1 ,i am sorry to say1 quite successful as an interferer2 but he was a diabolical failure when he attempted to duplicate ,white's work as lecturer1 and the act1 after playing a date or two1 sank out of sight and ,i have heard nothing more of her professionally4 ,lately ,i have learned that she died in ,london in #aijj and is buried in ,clements ,cemetery1 ,fulham4 ,this was one of the most positive demonstrations ,i have ever seen of the fact that showmanship is the largest factor in putting an act over4 ,miss ,price was a marvelous performer1 but without her husband-lecturer she was no longer a drawing card1 and dropped to the level of an ordinary entertainer even lower1 for her act was no longer even entertaining4 ,in ,chapter ,eleven we read ,dr4 ,desaguliers' analysis of the mechanics of what may be called strongmanship4 ,similar investigations have attended the appearance of more recent performers4 ,for instance1 reviewing one of ,lulu ,hurst's performances1 the ,new ,york ,times1 of ,july #acth1 #ahhd1 said3 ,the ,phenomenon of the ,nineteenth ,century1 which may be seen nightly at ,wallack's1 is not so much the famous ,georgia girl1 with her mysterious muscle1 as is the audience which gathers to wonder at her performance4 ,it is a phenomenon of stupidity1 and it only goes to show how willingly people will be fooled1 and with what cheerful asininity they will help on their deceivers4 ,then follows a description of her performance1 which was far from successful1 thanks to the efforts of one of the committee1 a man described as ,mr4 ,thomas ,johnson1 a powerfully-built engraver connected with the ,century magazine4 ,mr4 ,johnson had evidently caught her secret1 and he got the better of her in all the tests in which he was allowed to take part4 ,a disclosure of the methods employed in a few of her tests will serve to convince the reader of the fact that she possessed no supernormal power1 the same general principles shown here being used throughout her performance4 ,these explanations are taken from the ,french periodical ,la ,nature1 in which ,mr4 ,nelson ,w4 ,perry thus sums up the attitude of the public in regard to this class of performance3 ,electricity is a mysterious agent2 therefore everything mysterious is electric4 ,of the performance of the ,electric ,girl this magazine says3 ,it is a question of a simple application of the elementary principles of the laws of mechanics1 chapter of equilibrium4 ,we propose to point out here a certain number of such artifices and to describe a few of the experiments1 utilizing for this purpose the data furnished by ,mr4 ,perry1 as well as those resulting from our own observations4 ,one of the experiments consists in having a man or several men hold a cane or a billiard cue horizontally above the head1 as shown in ,fig4 #a4 ,on pushing with one hand1 the girl forces back two or three men1 who1 in unstable equilibrium and under the oblique action of the thrust exerted1 are obliged to fall back4 ,this first experiment is so elementary and infantile that it is not necessary to dwell upon it4 ,in order to show the relative sizes of the persons1 the artist has supposed the little girl to be standing on a platform in the first experiment1 but in the experiment that we witnessed this platform was rendered useless by the fact that the girl who performed them was of sufficient height to reach the cue by extending her arms and standing on tiptoes4 ,next we have a second and more complex experiment1 less easily explained at first sight4 ,two men 7,fig4 #b7 take a stick about three feet in length1 and are asked to hold it firmly in a vertical position4 ,the girl places her hand against the lower end of the stick1 in the position shown1 and the two men are invited to make the latter slide vertically in the girl's hand1 which they are unable to do1 in spite of their conscientious and oft-repeated attempts4 ,mr4 ,perry explains this exercise as follows3 ,the men are requested to place themselves parallel to each other1 and the girl1 who stands opposite them1 places the palm of her hand against the stick and turned toward her4 ,she takes care to place her hand as far as possible from the hands of the two men1 so as to give herself a certain leverage4 ,she then begins to slide her hand along the stick1 gently at first1 and then with an increasing pressure1 as if she wished to better the contact between the stick and her hand4 ,she thus moves it from the perpendicular and asks the two men to hold it in a vertical position4 ,this they do under very disadvantageous conditions1 seeing the difference in the length of the arms of the lever4 ,the stress exerted by the girl is very feeble1 because1 on the one hand1 she has the lever arm to herself1 and1 on the other1 the action upon her lever arm is a simple traction4 ,when she feels that the pressure exerted is great enough1 she directs the two men to exert a vertical stress strong enough to cause the stick to descend4 ,they then imagine that they are exerting a ,,vertical stress1 while in reality their stresses are ,,horizontal and tend to keep the stick in a vertical position in order to react against the pressure exerted at the lower end of the stick4 ,there is evidently a certain vertical component that tends to cause the stick to descend1 but the lateral pressure produces a sufficient friction between the hand and the stick to support this vertical force without difficulty4 ,mr4 ,perry performed the experiment by placing himself upon a spring balance and assuming the role of the girl1 with two very strong men as adversaries4 ,all the efforts made to cause the stick to slide in the open hand failed1 and the excess of weight due to the vertical force always remained less than twenty-five pounds1 despite the very determined and sincere stresses of the two men1 who1 unbeknown to themselves1 were exerting their strength in a ,,horizontal direction4 ,in the experiment represented in ,fig4 #c1 which recalls to mind the first one 7,fig4 #a71 the two men are requested to hold the stick firmly and immovable1 but the slightest pressure upon the extremity suffices to move the arms and body of the subject4 ,such pressure in the first place is exerted but slightly1 and the stresses are gradually increased4 ,then1 all at once1 when the force exerted horizontally is as great as possible1 and the men are exerting their strength in the opposite direction in order to resist it1 the girl abruptly ceases the pressure ,,without ,,warning and exerts it in the ,,opposite ,,direction4 ,unprepared for this change1 the victims lose their equilibrium and find themselves at the mercy of the girl1 and so much the more so in proportion as they are stronger and their efforts are greater4 ,the experiment succeeds still better with three than with two men1 or with one man4 ,the experiment represented in ,fig4 #d1 where it concerns the easy lifting of a very heavy person1 the trick is no less simple4 ,out of a hundred persons submitted to the experiment1 ninety-nine1 knowing that the experimenter wishes to lift them and cause them to fall forward1 grasp the seat or arms of the chair1 and1 in endeavoring to resist1 make the whole weight of their body bear upon their feet4 ,if they do not do so at the first instant1 they do so when they are conscious of the attempts of the girl to raise the seat1 and they help therein unconsciously4 ,the experimenter1 therefore1 needs only to exert a horizontal thrust1 without doing any lifting1 and such horizontal thrust is facilitated by taking the knees as points of support for her elbows4 ,as soon as a slight movement is effected1 the hardest part of the work is over1 for it is only necessary for the girl to cease to exert her stresses in order to have the chair fall back or move laterally in one direction or the other4 ,at all events1 the equilibrium is destroyed1 and1 before it is established again1 it requires but little dexterity to move the subject about in all directions without a great expenditure of energy4 ,the difficulty is not increased on seating two men1 or three men1 upon each other's knees 7as shown in ,fig4 #d71 since1 in the latter case1 the third acts as a true counter-poise to the first1 and the whole pretty well resembles an apparatus of unstable equilibrium1 whose centre of gravity is very high and1 consequently1 so much more easily displaced4 ,all these experiments require some little skill and practice1 but are attended with no difficulty1 and1 upon the whole1 do not merit the enthusiastic articles that have given the electric or magnetic girl her ,european reputation4 ,strong people1 whether tricksters or genuine athletes1 or both1 we shall probably have always with us4 ,but with the gradual refinement of the public taste1 the demand for such exhibitions as fire-eating1 sword-swallowing1 glass-chewing1 and the whole repertoire of the so-called ,human ,ostrich1 steadily declined1 and ,i recall only one engagement of a performer of this type at a first-class theater in this country during the present generation1 and that date was not played4 ,there was still a considerable demand for these people in the dime museums1 until the enormous increase in the number of such houses created a demand for freaks that was far in excess of the supply1 and many houses were obliged to close because no freaks were obtainable1 even at the enormous increase in salaries then in vogue4 ,the small price of admission1 and the fact that feature curios like ,laloo or the ,tocci ,twins drew down seven or eight hundred dollars a week1 show that these houses catered to a multitude of people2 and not a few of the leading managers of to-day's vaudeville1 owe their start in life to the dime museum4 ,among the museums that were veritable gold mines1 ,i might mention ,epstein's of ,chicago2 ,brandenberg's of ,philadelphia2 ,moore's of ,detroit and ,rochester2 ,the ,sackett and ,wiggins ,tour2 ,kohl and ,middleton's2 ,austin and ,stone's of ,boston2 ,robinson of ,buffalo2 ,ans ,huber's1 ,globe1 ,harlem1 ,worth's1 and the ,gayety of ,new ,york4 ,the dime museum is but a memory now1 and in three generations it will1 in all probability1 be utterly forgotten4 ,a few of the acts had sufficient intrinsic worth to follow the managers into vaudeville1 but these have no part in this chronicle1 which has been written rather to commemorate some forms of entertainment over which oblivion threatens to stretch her darkening wings4