The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-07-20
ANCIENT TRICKSTERS
QUEER coNJURINe FeATs OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

SEVEN KIN = ZEN Ohn-
Little Experiments In Which Boiling the
Heads OF Living Animals Was . Neces-
sary Adjuacs-Hox They KGIed6 Horse
and Cured Him Again.
Conjurers in ancient times were not
very respectable members Of society
when successful. they enjoyed the repu-
tation of having sold their souls to the
evil one, and when Of inferior ability
they gained notoriety by being either
drowned or burned. The medieval ma
gicians as well as the Egyptian magi
and the Chaldean sages were only a
strange mixture Of chemist. conjurer
and charlatan. and as these gentlemen
were in the habit of using their sup
posed occult powers to their own advan-
tage they were naturally unpopular
The fcats Of jugglery performed by
these craftsmen We're intended for the
mystification and not the amusement Of
the public, and for centuries conjuring
had to it only black side
The amateur conjurer Of today is not
always a popular individual. save with
children and the unsophistoo yokeL
To the general public he is merely a
bore of greater or less ma gnitude, whose
performance is so obvious as TO deceive
no one. 1t is hard TO realize shat this
person is no mere mushroom growth of
modern society, but in point Of fact has
role is one OF a respectable antiquity,
for he Is TO be found treadiRg close upon
the heels of the magicians and IN the
DAYS when witchc-aft was still rampant.
This is significant of his reputation
even in those early times, for had any
one taken his tricks seriously he would
doubtless have been run 10 earth and
done to death as a wizard
In the middle Of the seventeenth cen
tury. in the earliest years Of the res
toration, number of tricks We're pub
lished in one Of those facetious books
which seem to have occupied the press
TO great extent at this time, but
which, owing to their popularity, have
for the most part perished- The chief
recommendation TO the greater number
of these tricks is that no apparatus be-
yond the utensils Of everyday life is
necessary. Also it is suggested to the
performer that he can make some
small profit out of his entertainment by
prevailing on his audience to bet with
him on the result of the trick
TO set a horses or an asses head
upon a mans head and shoulders
seems impossible out of the land Of
Faery. but we are informed that by
boiling the head cut off from a living
animal, 1.-THE flesh boyl'd may runne
into oyle. " and then by mingling the
hair beaten into powder with this oil
and amounting the heads of the ISLANDERS
by, ''they shall seem to have horses OF
asses heads "a costly experiment and
fearsOme if successful
But. besides tins aae can ''make peo-
pie seem headlesse, and This without
bloodshed and by the following simple
receipt: Break arsenick very fine, and
boyle it with sulphur IN cover'd pot,
and kindle il with new candle, and
the standers-by will seem to be head
Jesse. Doubtless a strong imagination
is necessary for success
Some Of the tricks are such as would
nowadays cause the performer to be
disliked, to put 1t mildly. For instance,
''have nut filed with ink. and give
this unto another and bid him crack it
and see what he can find in that,
which being done will cause much
laughter. . :
Ito keep Tapster from frothing his
Pots" must have been an amusement to
the wags Of the period and for this
provide in readinesse the skin of a red
Herring, and when the Tapster is absent
do but rub lutte on TIE inside OF his
pots. and he viii not be able to froth
them, do what he can. IN good while
after
ITO counterfeit diamond with
whi.e Saphir'' is most useful accom-
plishment but the fraud is likely in
these days 10 be discovered and Is more
chemical experiment than a trick
Several tricks are recommended which
have animals as their subject and are
for the most part brutal 10 our modern
ideas Perhaps she least objectionable
is Ito seem 10 kin Horse and cure him
again. which may be thus accom-
piished:
Take the seed Of henbane and give
il the Horse IN his Provcnder. and it
will cast him into such deep sleep
that he viii seem dead II yo1 viii re-
cover him again. rub his NOstrils with
Vinegar. and he will seem TO be re-
vived- The '-seem TO be revived
sounds rather ominous. and 1t is to be
noted that the correct quantity Of hen
bane is not mentioned, 50 that IL might
be best 70 tEy tins experiment on some
one else's horse
ITO make shoal Of Goslings draw
Timber loggc" sounds interesting. but
unfortunately the directions are vague.
To make shOal of Gosliis.s or Gag
gle Of Geese to seem 70 draw a Timber
logge Is done by the verie means that
is us'd when Cat draws fool through
Pond. but handled somewhat further
OF from the Beholders - - London
Standard.