PEATS OF STRENGTH OP TOPHAM. 309 



powers what he learned had been done by others by 

 artificial means. A distressing example of this occurred 

 in his attempt to imitate the feat of the German Sampson 

 by pulling against horses. Ignorant of the method which 

 we have already described, he seated himself on the 

 ground with his feet against two stirrups, and by the 

 weight of his body he succeeded in pulling against a 

 single horse ; but in attempting to pull against two horses, 

 he was lifted out of his place and one of his knees was 

 shattered against the stirrups, so as to deprive him of 

 most of the strength of one of his legs. The following 

 are the feats of real strength which Dr. Desaguliers sa\v 

 him perform. 



1. Having rubbed his fingers with coal ashes to keep 

 them from slipping, he rolled up a very strong and large 

 pewter plate. 



2. Having laid seven or eight short and strong pieces of 

 tobacco-pipe on the first and third finger, he broke them 

 by the force of his middle finger. 



3. He broke the bowl of a strong tobacco-pipe placed 

 between his first and third finger, by pressing his fingers 

 together sideways. 



4. Having thrust such another bowl under his garter, 

 his legs being bent, he broke it to pieces by the tendons 

 of his hams, without altering the bending of his leg. 



5. He lifted with his teeth, and held in a horizontal 

 position for a considerable time, a table six feet long, with 

 half a hundredweight hanging at the end of it. The feet 

 of the table rested against his knees. 



6. Holding in his right hand an iron kitchen poker 

 three feet long and three inches round, he struck upon his 

 bare left arm, between the elbow and the wrist, till he- 

 bent the poker nearly to a right angle. 



7. Taking a similar poker, and holding the ends of it 

 in his hands, and the middle against the back of his neck, 



