been tried with a female, whose fire-standing
qualities had excited great astonishment. She,
it appears, was placed in a heated oven, into
which live dogs, cats, and rabbits were
conveyed. The poor animals died in a state of
convulsion almost immediately, while the Fire-
queen bore the heat without complaining. In
that instance, however, the heat of the oven
was not so great as that which M. Chabert encountered.

Much of the power to resist greater degrees
of heat than can other men may be a natural
gift, much the result of chemical applications,
and much from having the parts indurated by
long practice; probably all three are combined
in this phenomenon, with some portion of
artifice.

In Timbs' Curiosities of London, published
in 1867, I find the following:


At the Argyle Rooms, London, in 1829,
Mons. Chabert, the Fire-King, exhibited
his powers of resisting poisons, and
withstanding extreme heat. He swallowed
forty grains of phosphorus, sipped oil at
333 degrees with impunity, and rubbed a red-hot
fire-shovel over his tongue, hair, and face,
unharmed.