The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-05
HOW TO PLAY WITH FIRE.
Juggling Tricks Performed With the
Element and Their Origin.
From the Washington Star.

Element and Their Origin.
From tho Washington Star.
! Juggling with fire was practioed In very
ancient times" said a learned professor to a
writer for the Star. MANY OF the tricks
Of that sort which are best known to-day
we're employed TO deceive the vulgar thou
sands Of years ago, There is nothing even
now which does more to excite the aston
ishment Of the ignorant than the breathing
Of flame, which is deception handed down
from remote antiquity.
when the slaves IN Sicily rose in re-
bellion about 100 b. G. and took cruel re-
venge for the wrongs they had suffered
there was among them Syrian named
Eunus. He was man Of great craft and
| courage, and, having seen much Of the
world, he had become acquainted with a
variety Of little known arts. He pretended
| TO have immediate communication with the
| gods, and, as usual in such cases, he con-
firmed his divine mission by miracles
Whom dssirous OF inspiring his followers
with courage he breathed flames aud sparks
| among them from his mouth.
ut is said that, in order to perform this
marvel, Eunus pierced q nut shell at both
ends, and, having filed it with some burn
ing substance, he put il into his mouth and
| breathed through 1t. The same trick is
| juggler rolls together some fax Or hemp
into ball about the size of a walnut,
which he sets on fire, permitting it to burn
| until it is nearly consumed. Then be rolls
around is more fax while it is yet burning,
and by this means the fire may tie retained
in the ball for a long time. When he is
ready to do his act be slips the ball into mis-
mouth unperceived and breathes through
| it. His breath revives the fire, 30 that
sparks proceeds from 1t, and the performer
sustains to injury as long as he inhales his
| breath through his nostrils only. By the
art the Rabbi Bar-Cocheba, in the reign OF
the Roman emperor, Hadrian, made the
credulous Hebrews believe that he was the
long looked-for Messiah.
! -. ANCIENT USES OF NAPHTHA.
'For decepUions with fire the anoients
also employed naphtha, liquid mineral oil
| so combustible that IL kindles when it only
approaches flame. Piiny states that the
means which Medea chose for destroying
| Creuss, the daughter Of Crson, was simply
| nRphtha. She sent to the unfortunate
| princess dress besmeared with it, which
| burst into flames as soon as she approached
| the fire of the altar. The priests OF old un-
doubsedly used nsphtha to make their offer-
| ings catch fire, as II spontaneously, in order
to delude the wondering mob. In modern
| times persons who could walk over burning
Goals or red-hot iron, or who could hold
them in their hands and teeth, have often
! excited amazement Toward the end Of the
seventeenth century an Englishman named
Richardson made himself famous by app
| pearing 10 chew burning Goals, swallow
melted glass. your melted lead upon his
| tongue, and SO forth. it has been suggested
that a metallic mixture consisting of mer-
curry, tin and bismuth, which melts at a
| low temperature, may have been substituted
| for lead.
"Various theories have been advanced to
account for the other feats mentioned. 1t
| will be remembered that during the middle
| ages the guilt or innocence of persons ac-
! cused OF crimes was often determined by
| ordeal, the defendant being obliged to hold
a red-hot iron in his hand. This was
another case of juggling, such trials being
| conducted by priests, who covered the
hands Of those who they desired should es-
cape with protective paste. A solution of
! spermaceti in sulphurio ether, colored red
| with alkauet root, which solidifas at 500
Fahrenheit, and melts and boils with the
! heat of the heat of the hand, is supposed to
| be the substance which is used at Naples,
when the dried blood Of st. Janarius melts
| spontaneously and boils over the edge Of the
vessel containing it.
Every interesting scientific experiments
have shown what great heat may be en-
dured by the human body. DR.. Fordyce
] huu OAE OuaTAeb DAS&u6u sthyeu IN q room
where the temperature was 300 FRhren-
heit for eight minutes. A beefsteak was
cooked in the same atmosphere and was
overdons in thirty-three minutes. Sir +.
Chantry and Others remained for two min
utes in furnace which was much hotter,
the thermometer they carried with them
indicating 5000 when they came out. The
peculiar property of mineral salts
| such as alum IN protecting
articles OF dress from fire has
long been known. The Chevalier Al
DIM Of Milan devised q costume consisting
of "a cloth covering for the body, arms and
legs, which had been stepped in a solution
OF alum. The head dress was a large cap
enveloping the whole head down to the
neck, with holes for the nose, eyes and
mouth, and the shoes we're of abestos cloth
A metallic dress was added to this, con-
sisting chiefly of wire gauze. The costume
was intended to be worn by firemen. Clad
in it man could walk on hot iron in the
midst Of high fames.'