254 LETTERS ON NATURAL MAGIC. 



age. He was entirely ignorant of any of the 

 methods for making his strength appear more 

 surprising, and he often performed by his own 

 natural 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 Samson, 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 saw him per- 

 form : 



1. Having rubbed his ringers 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 fin- 

 ger, 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 press- 

 ing 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 hori- 

 zontal position for a considerable time, a table 

 six feet long, with half a hundred weight hang- 



