FEATS OF STRENGTH OF TOPHAM. 255 



ing 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, he brought both ends of it 

 together before him, and he then pulled it almost 

 straight again. This last feat was the most 

 difficult, because the muscles which separate the 

 arms horizontally from each other are not so 

 strong as those which bring them together. 



8. He broke a rope about two inches in circum- 

 ference, which was partly wound about a cylinder 

 four inches in diameter, having fastened the other 

 end of it to straps that went over his shoulder. 



9. Dr. Desaguliers saw him lift a rolling-stone 

 of about 800lb. weight with his hands only, 

 standing in a frame above it, and taking hold of 

 a frame fastened to it. Hence Dr. Desaguliers 

 gives the following relative view of the strengths 

 of individuals : 



Strength of the weakest men . 1251bs. 

 Strength of very strong men . 400 

 Strength of Topham . . 800 



The weight of Topham was about 200. 



One of the most remarkable and inexplicable 

 experiments relative to the strength of the human 

 frame, which you have yourself seen and admired, 

 is that in which a heavy man is raised with the 

 greatest facility, when he is lifted up the instant 

 that his own lungs and those of the persons who 



