Harry Houdini Miracle Mongers And Their Methods

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dress than a cap made of amianthine cloth.
In February, 1829, a still more striking
experiment was made in the yard of the
barracks of St. Gervais. Two towers were
erected two stories high, and were
surrounded with heaps of inflamed materials
consisting of fagots and straw. The firemen
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MIRACLE MONGERS AND THEIR METHODS
61
braved the danger with impunity. In
opposition to the advice of M. Aldini, one
of them, with the basket and child, rushed
into a narrow place, where the flames were
raging 8 yards high. The violence of
the fire was so great that he could not be
seen, while a thick black smoke spread
around, throwing out a heat which was
unsupportable by spectators. The fireman
remained so long invisible that serious
doubts were entertained of his safety. He
at length, however, issued from the fiery
gulf uninjured, and proud of having succeeded
in braving so great a danger.
It is a remarkable result of these
experiments, that the firemen are able to
breathe without difficulty in the middle of
the flames. This effect is owing not only
to the heat being intercepted by the wire-
gauze as it passes to the lungs, in consequence
of which its temperature becomes
supportable, but also to the singular power
which the body possesses of resisting great
heats, and of breathing air of high temperatures.
A series of curious experiments were
made on this subject by M. Tillet, in
France, and by Dr. Fordyce and Sir
Charles Blagden, in England. Sir Joseph
Banks, Dr. Solander, and Sir Charles
Blagden entered a room in which the air
had a temperature of 198 degrees Fahr., and
remained ten minutes; but as the thermometer
sunk very rapidly, they resolved to
enter the room singly. Dr. Solander went
in alone and found the heat 210 degrees, and Sir
Joseph entered when the heat was 211 degrees.
Though exposed to such an elevated
temperature, their bodies preserved their
natural degree of heat. Whenever they
breathed upon a thermometer it sunk
several degrees; every expiration, particularly
if strongly made, gave a pleasant
impression of coolness to their nostrils,
and their cold breath cooled their fingers
whenever it reached them. On touching
his side, Sir Charles Blagden found it cold
like a corpse, and yet the heat of his body
under his tongue was 98 degrees. Hence they
concluded that the human body possesses the
power of destroying a certain degree of
heat when communicated with a certain
degree of quickness. This power, however,
varies greatly in different media.
The same person who experienced no
inconvenience from air heated to 211 degrees, could
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MIRACLE MONGERS AND THEIR METHODS
62
just bear rectified spirits of wine at 130 degrees,
cooling oil at 129 degrees, cooling water at 123 degrees,
and cooling quicksilver at 118 degrees. A familiar
instance of this occurred in the heated
room. All the pieces of metal there, even
their watch-chains, felt so hot that they
could scarcely bear to touch them for a
moment, while the air from which the
metal had derived all its heat was only
unpleasant. M. Duhamel and Tillet
observed, at Rochefoucault in France, that
the girls who were accustomed to attend
ovens in a bakehouse, were capable of
enduring for ten minutes a temperature of
270 degrees.
The same gentleman who performed the
experiments above described ventured to
expose themselves to still higher
temperatures. Sir Charles Blagden went into a
room where the heat was 1 degree or 2 degrees above
260 degrees, and remained eight minutes in this
situation, frequently walking about to all
the different parts of the room, but standing
still most of the time in the coolest spot,
where the heat was above 240 degrees. The air,
though very hot, gave no pain, and Sir
Charles and all the other gentlemen were
of opinion that they could support a much
greater heat. During seven minutes Sir
C. Blagden's breathing continued perfectly
good, but after that time he felt an
oppression in his lungs, with a sense of
anxiety, which induced him to leave the
room. His pulse was then 144, double its
ordinary quickness. In order to prove
that there was no mistake respecting the
degree of heat indicated by the thermometer,
and that the air which they breathed
was capable of producing all the well-
known effects of such a heat on inanimate
matter, they placed some eggs and a beef-
steak upon a tin frame near the thermometer,
but more distant from the furnace
than from the wall of the room. In the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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