256 LETTERS ON NATURAL MAGIC. 



him are inflated with air. This experiment 

 is, I believe, first shown in England a few years 

 *ago by Major H. who saw it performed in a large 

 party at Venice, under the direction of an officer 

 ,of the American Navy. As Major H. performed 

 it more than once in my presence, I shall describe 

 as nearly as possible the method which he pre- 

 scribed. The heaviest person in the party lies 

 down upon two chairs, his legs being supported 

 by the one and his back by the other. Four 

 persons, one at each leg and one at each shoulder, 

 then try to raise him, and they find his dead 

 weight to be very great, from the difficulty they 

 experience in supporting him. When he is re- 

 placed in the chair, each of the four persons takes 

 hold of the body as before, and the person to be 

 lifted gives two signals by clapping his hands. At 

 the first signal he himself and the four lifters begin 

 to draw a long and full breath, and when the in- 

 halation is completed, or the lungs filled, the 

 second signal is given for raising the person from 

 the chair. To his own surprise and that of his 

 bearers, he rises with the greatest facility, as if 

 he were no heavier than a feather. On several 

 occasions I have observed that when one of the 

 bearers performs his part ill, by making the in- 

 halation out of time, the part of the body which 

 he tries to raise is left as it were behind. As you 

 have repeatedly seen this experiment, and have 

 performed the part both of the load and of the 

 bearer, you can testify how remarkable the effects 

 appear to all parties, and how complete is the 

 conviction, either that the load has been light- 

 ened, or the bearer strengthened by the prescribed 

 process. 



