THE ARCANA OF THE FIRE-EATERS: THE FORMULA OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS.--OF
HOCUS POCUS.--RICHARDSON'S METHOD.--PHILOPYRAPHAGUS ASHBURNIENSIS.--TO
BREATHE FORTH SPARKS, SMOKE, AND FLAMES.--TO SPOUT NATURAL
GAS.--PROFESSOR SEMENTINI'S DISCOVERIES.--TO BITE OFF RED-HOT IRON.--TO
COOK IN A BURNING CAGE.--CHABERT'S OVEN. TO EAT COALS OF FIRE.--TO
DRINK BURNING OIL.--TO CHEW MOLTEN LEAD.--TO CHEW BURNING
BRIMSTONE.--TO WREATHE THE FACE IN FLAMES.--TO IGNITE PAPER WITH THE
BREATH.--TO DRINK BOILING LIQUOR AND EAT FLAMING WAX.
The yellow thread of exposure seems to be inextricably woven into all
fabrics whose strength is secrecy, and experience proves that it is
much easier to become fireproof than to become exposure proof. It is
still an open question, however, as to what extent exposure really
injures a performer. Exposure of the secrets of the fire-eaters, for
instance, dates back almost to the beginning of the art itself. The
priests were exposed, Richardson was exposed, Powell was exposed and so
on down the line; but the business continued to prosper, the really
clever performers drew quite fashionable audiences for a long time, and
it was probably the demand for a higher form of entertainment,
resulting from a refinement of the public taste, rather than the result
of the many exposures, that finally relegated the Fire-eaters to the
haunts of the proletariat.
How the early priests came into possession of these secrets does not
appear, and if there were ever any records of this kind the Church
would hardly allow them to become public. 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 Magnus, in his work De Mirabilibus Mundi, at the end of his
book De Secretis Mulierum, Amstelod, 1702, made public the underlying
principles of heat-resistance; namely, the use of certain compounds
which render the exposed parts to a more or less extent impervious to
heat. Many different formulas have been discovered which accomplish the
purpose, but the principle remains unchanged. The formula set down by
Albertus Magnus was probably the first ever made public: the following
translation of it is from the London Mirror:
Take juice of marshmallow, and white of egg, flea-bane seeds, and lime;
powder them and mix juice of radish with the white of egg; mix all
thoroughly and with this composition annoint your body or hand and
allow it to dry and afterwards annoint it again, and after this you may
boldly take up hot iron without hurt.
"Such a paste," says the correspondent to the Mirror, "would indeed be
very visible."
Another early formula is given in the 1763 edition of Hocus Pocus.
Examination of the different editions of this book in my library
discloses the fact that there are no fire formulas in the second
edition, 1635, which is the earliest I have (first editions are very
rare and there is only one record of a sale of that edition at
auction). 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 book. It does not
appear in the German or Dutch editions.
The following is an exact copy: