192 Things not generally Known. 



Sir Francis Chantrey, the sculptor, however, exposed himself 

 to a temperature still higher than any yet mentioned, as de- 

 scribed by Sir David Brewster : 



The furnace which he employs for drying his moulds is about fourteen 

 feet long, twelve feet high, and twelve feet broad. When it is raised to 

 its highest temperature, with the doors closed, the thermometer stands 

 at 350, and the iron floor is red-hot. The workmen often enter it at 

 a temperature of 340, walking over the iron floor with wooden clogs, 

 which are of course charred on the surface. On one occasion, Mr. Chan- 

 trey, accompanied by five or six of his friends, entered the furnace ; and 

 after remaining two minutes they brought out a thermometer which 

 stood at 320. Some of the party experienced sharp pains in the tips 

 of their ears and in the septum of the nose, while others felt a pain in 

 their eyes. Natural Magic, 1833. 



In some cases the clothing worn by the experimenters con- 

 ducts away the heat. Thus, in 1828, a Spaniard entered a heated 

 oven, at the New Tivoli, near Paris ;. he sang a song while a 

 fowl was roasted by his side, he then ate the fowl and drank a 

 bottle of wine, and on coming out his pulse beat 176, and the 

 thermometer was at 110 Reaumur. He then stretched him- 

 self upon a plank in the oven surrounded by lighted candles, 

 when the mouth of the oven was closed ; he remained there 

 five minutes, and on being taken out, all the candles were ex- 

 tinguished and melted, and the Spaniard's pulse beat 200. 

 Now much of the surprise ceases when it is added that he 

 wore wide woollen pantaloons, a loose mantle of wool, and a 

 great quilted cap ; the several materials of this clothing being 

 bad conductors of heat. 



In 1829 M. Chabert, the "Fire-King," exhibited similar 

 feats at the Argyll Rooms in Regent Street. He first swal- 

 lowed forty grains of phosphorus, then two spoonfuls of oil at 

 330, and next held his head over the fumes of sulphuric acid. 

 He had previously provided himself with an antidote for the 

 poison of the phosphorus. Dressed in a loose woollen coat, he 

 then entered a heated oven, and in five minutes cooked two 

 steaks ; he then came out of the oven, when the thermometer 

 stood at 380. Upon another occasion, at White Conduit House, 

 some of his feats were detected. 



The scientific secret is as follows : Muscular tissue is an 

 extremely bad conductor ; and to this in a great measure the 

 constancy of the temperature of the human body in various 

 zones is to be attributed. To this fact also Sir Charles Blag- 

 den and Chantrey owed their safety in exposing their bodies to 

 a high temperature ; from the almost impervious character of 

 the tissues of the body, the irritation produced was confined to 

 the surface. 



