PEATS OF ECKEBERG. 301 



anvil placed upon his breast. In doing this he lay upon 

 his back, and resting his feet and shoulders against some 

 support, his whole body formed an arch as we shall after- 

 wards more particularly explain. Until the end of the 

 sixteenth century the exhibition of such feats does not 

 seem to have been common. About the year 1703, a 

 native of Kent of the name of Joyce exhibited such feats 

 of strength in London and other parts of England, that he 

 received the name of the second Sampson. His own 

 personal strength was very great ; but he had also dis- 

 covered, without the aid of theory, various positions of his 

 body in which men even of common strength could perform 

 very surprising feats. He drew against horses, and raised 

 enormous weights ; but as he actually exhibited his power 

 in ways which evinced the enormous strength of his own 

 muscles, all his feats were ascribed to the same cause. In 

 the course of eight or ten years, however, his methods 

 were discovered, and many individuals of ordinary strength 

 exhibited a number of his principal performances, though 

 in a manner greatly inferior to Joyce. 



Some time afterwards, John Charles Van Eckeberg, a 

 native of Harzgerode in Anhalt, travelled through Europe 

 under the appellation of Sampson, exhibiting very remark- 

 able examples of his strength. This we believe is the 

 same person whose feats are particularly described by Dr. 

 Desaguliers. He was a man of the middle size, and of 

 ordinary strength ; and as Dr. Desaguliers was convinced 

 that his feats were exhibitions of skill and not of strength, 

 he was desirous of discovering his methods, and with this 

 view he went to see him accompanied with the Marquis of 

 Tullibardine, Dr. Alexander Stuart, and Dr. Pringle, and 

 his own mechanical operator. They placed themselves 

 round the German so as to be able to observe accurately 

 all that he did, and their success was so great, that they 

 were able to perform most of the feats tho same evening 



