the comedian's addiction to spoofing, or else
less susceptible to superstition than certain
scientists of our generation.

The great day of the Fire-eater--or, should
I say, the day of the great Fire-eater--has
passed. No longer does fashion flock to his
doors, nor science study his wonders, and he
must now seek a following in the gaping
loiterers of the circus side-show, the pumpkin-
and-prize-pig country fair, or the tawdry
booth at Coney Island. The credulous, wonder-
loving scientist, however, still abides with
us and, while his serious-minded brothers are
wringing from Nature her jealously guarded
secrets, the knowledge of which benefits all
mankind, he gravely follows that perennial
Will-of-the-wisp, spiritism, and lays the
flattering unction to his soul that he is investigating
``psychic phenomena,'' when in reality he
is merely gazing with unseeing eyes on the
flimsy juggling of pseudo-mediums.



CHAPTER SIX

THE ARCANA OF THE FIRE-EATERS: THE
FORMULA OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS.--
OF HOCUS POCUS.--RICHARDSON'S