, 1877-01-26
parnInE Dsed..
-.vr ,.HrrSt or rtrr EIN.> AND FrEE
BATHS.

Isto On tha dfi.-uth century there
"a. an ,AhibItsr. one Eichar,lSon. who
e,irsI much uatorisiy by his defiance
.f hrr. This apJears a. hS-fhe man
u.rutionc,l l,v Mt.laus lie Sevign. He
ai,e,l uTon her from Nitry, and drop
nj into hi- mouth melted ssaling-Wax
a. II Il hal iuen - much cold water.
without the slightsst -emblance Of pain;
nar dii hi- tongue snow the least sign
& burning or injury whatever. Rich
ar,l.an probably exhibited his marvels
in various parts Of Europe; for Evelyn
was preScn, at one such display at Lady
Suiherlands After dinner, the fire
king devoured flaming birthstone by
way Of dessert: chewed and swallowed
burning Goals: melted beer-glass and
then ate il up, or drank 1t down; put a
live coal on his tongue, placed an oys-
ter on the coal, blew this strange sub
stitute for fire place with bellows, and
40 continued until the oyster was roast
ed or scalloped; he melted pitch and
wax with sulphur and drank of the
mixture in flaming state; and finally
held a thick piece of red-hot iron be-
tween his teeth. A learned French
publication, the Journal des SdranS,
gave detailed accounts of many of Rich
ardson's marvels; and in the same jour
nal, NJ. Panthot afterward explained
how they were done, according to re-
velations made to him by Richardson's
servant. The exhibitor rubbed with
some chemical substance the hands and
other parts of the skin to be exposed
to the fire; the powerful liquid harden
ed the scarf-skin into kind Of leather,
and after many repetitions of the expert
ment, this hardening became permanent.
Some blacksmiths, it is known, can
handle a piece of iron nearly red-hot,
the skin of the hand having become in
durated by long practice at the hot
trade. In roasting bits of steak and
raw oysters on his tongue, Richardson
is said to have secretly placed a thin
slice of veal between the tongue and the
burning coal; and that this and the
moisture of the mouth shielded him
from injury. As to swallowing such
dainties as flaming sulphur and pitch,
he was wont to retire Immediately from
the audience, drink of warm water and
oil, and so obtain relief by an emetic.
Early in the last century fre-eater
named Heiterkeit exhiuited in London;
but all we. hear of him is that he had
the, honor disappearing before three or
four members of the royal family.
About themiddle of the century the great
hero in this line was Powell, who was
visited and described by Strut. Al
though eighty years of age this man
would take burning Goals from the fire
and eat them; place bundle of lighted
matches in his mouth and blow out the
sulphur-fumes through his nostrils
carry red-hot heater around the room
between his teeth; broil piece ol
beefsteak on red-hot charcoal placed on
the tongue; and drink with an iror
spoon delectable beverage consisting
of blazing hot pitch, wax, birthstone
and lead. There was little waggery
4 in some OF the descriptions of Powell'l
tendencies: His common food il
birthstone and fire, which lie hcks NJ
as eagerly as a hungry peasant would
a mess of pottage. He feeds on this ex
traordinary diet before princes anG
peers to their infinite satisfaction; anC
such is his passion for this terrible ele
| m6ut, budb IL uC hCAO W OOAhO AuhBi !
into your kitchen while q sirloin wa
roasting, he would eat mp the fire anC
leave the beef We may fairly sur
mise that Powell adopted some sucl
precautionary measures as his predeces
sor Richardson. V
About the same time, the beginning
of the reign of George Ill, severa
scientific men made some valuable ex
periments to ascertain what. degree o
heat the human frame could endure 10
short time with impunity-apart frou
any sophistication or secret preparation
NM. Duhamel and Hssot recorde
their observations on a young girl, VIII
entered an oven and remained there te
minutes at temperature of 298 deg. +
and on another who braved heat of 80
} deg. Fahrenheit for five minutes. Dl
lSolander, first clothed and then VI
clothed, remained for some minute
> in an oven at 30 deg; Sir Joseph Bank
: at little higher temperature, and ID
Blagden at go deg. Eggs were-at til
same time roasted hard in few minutes
, rand beefsteak baked (for it was reall
, baking) in about half an hour. III
, experimenters could not touch any (
/ their metal buttons without burnin
: their fingers. All the, Temperature
: here named, except one, greatly excee
4 that of boiling water.
: Sixty or seventy years ago there WI
B a Signora Girardelh who astouished IL
$ sightseers of London by standing wit
!. her naked feet on plate of red-hot irol
n drawing q similar plate over her ha
S and tongue; washing her hands in boi
# ing oil; putting melted lead in b
n mouth, and keeping it there till it solid
e fied-or so it seemed to the spectator
; at any rate. .,