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