The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-08-23
Queer Conjuring Feats Of the
Seventeenth Century.
SOME QUAINT OLD RECIPES
Little Experiments in Which Boiling the
Heads Off Living Animals Was an In
cident-How They Killed Horse
and Cured Him Again.

~0AJAANND "a NASIEhL LILIES WET6 UUL
very respectable members Of society.
When successful they enjoyed the rep
utation 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
magiclans as well as the Egyptian
magi and the Chaidean sages were only
a strange mixture Of chemist, sconjurer
and eharlatan, and as these gentlemen
We're In the habit Of using their sup
posed occult powers to their own adj
vantage they were naturally unpopu-
lar. The feats of juggIery performed
by these craftsmen were intended for
the mystifcation and not the amuse-
ment Of the public and for centuries
conjuring had TO it only a black side.
The amateur conjurer OF today is not
always q popular individual, save with
children and the unsophisticated yokels
To the general public he is merely a
bore OF greater or less magnitude,
whose performance is so obvious as to
deceive no one. 1t is hard to realize
that this person Is no mere mushroom
growth Of modern society, but In point
Of fact his role Is one of respectable
antiquity, for he Is to be found tread
ing close upon the heels of the magi-
clans and in the days when witchcraft
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 to earth and done to death as a
wizard.
In the middle Of the seventeenth
century, in the earliest years Of the
restoration, a number Of tricks were
published in one Of those faeetious
books which seem to have occupied
the press to a great extent at this time,
but which owing to their popularity
have for the most part persisted. The
chief Recommendation Of the greater
nunber Of these tricks is that no APP
paratus beyond the utensils Of every
day life Is necessary; also it Is sug-
gested 10 the performer that he can
make some small profit out Of his en-
tertainment by prevailing on his audi
ence to bet with him on the result of
the trick.
ITO set a horses or m asses head
upon q mans head and shoulders"
seems impossible out OF the land OF
Faery, but we are informed that by
boiling the head cut off a living
animal "the flesh boyd may rune
into oyle." and then by mingling the
hair beaten into powder with this
oil and amounting the heads of the
standers-by they shall seem to have
horses or asses heads"--a costly ex-
pertinent and fearsome IL successful.
But besides this. one can make peo-
pie seem headIesse," and this without
bloodshed and by the following simple
recipe: Break arsenlck very fine and
boyle II with sulphur IN a coyer'd pot
and kindie II with a new candle, and
the standers-by will seem TO be head
Jesse" Doubtless strong imagina-
tion is necessary FOR success.
Some of the tricks are such as would
nowadays cause the performer to be
dlsllked, to put 1t mildly. For instance,
ehaye a nut filed with Ink and give
this unto another and bid him crack Il
and see what he can find In that,
which being done Twill cause much
laughter"
ITO keep a Tapster from frothing bis
pots must have been an amusement
to the wags OF the period, and for this
provide in readinesse the skin of red
Herring, and when the Tapster Is alb
sent do but rub a little on the inside
of his pots, and he win not be able to
froth them, do what he can, in a
good while after"
ITO counterfeit diamond with a
white saphlr" is most useful accom-
pllshment, but the fraud is likely in
these days 20 be discovered and is
more a chemical experiment than a
trick.
Several tricks are recommended
which have animals as their subject
and are for the most part brutal to
our modern ideas Perhaps the least
Objectionable is ito seem to XIII a
Horse and cure him again." which
may be thus accomplished;
"Take the seed Of henbane and give
IT the Horse in his Proyender, and II
will east him into such a deep sleep
that he will seem dead. II you will
recover him again, rub bis Nostril5
with Vinegar. and he will seem to be
revived" The seem to be revived
sounds rather ominous, and it is to be
noted that the correct quantity of hen
bane is not mentioned, 50 that It might
be best to make this experiment on
some one elses horse
ITO make a shoal Of Gosllngs draw
a Timber logge" sounds interesting
but unfortunately the directions arc
vague. ITO make a shoal Of Gosllngs
or Gagge Of Geese 10 seem TO draw
a Timber ogge Is done by the verie
means that Is us'd when Cat draws
a fool through Pond, but handled
somewhat further on from the Be.
holders. "-London Standard.