The great day of the Fire-eater--or, should I say, the day of the great Fire-eater--has passed. No longer does fashion flock to his doors, nor science study his wonders, and he must now seek a following in the gaping loiterers of the circus side-show, the pumpkin-and-prize-pig country fair, or the tawdry booth at Coney Island. The credulous, wonder-loving scientist, however, still abides with us and, while his serious-minded brothers are wringing from Nature her jealously guarded secrets, the knowledge of which benefits all mankind, he gravely follows that perennial Will-of-the-wisp, spiritism, and lays the flattering unction to his soul that he is investigating "psychic phenomena," when in reality he is merely gazing with unseeing eyes on the flimsy juggling of pseudo-mediums. [1] I never saw Ling Look's work, but I know that some of the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was swallowed before the performance, and the swords were simply pushed into it. A sheath of this kind lined with asbestos might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot blade. CHAPTER SIX THE ARCANA OF THE FIRE-EATERS: THE FORMULA OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS.--OF HOCUS POCUS.--RICHARDSON'S METHOD.--PHILOPYRAPHAGUS ASHBURNIENSIS.--TO BREATHE FORTH SPARKS, SMOKE, AND FLAMES.--TO SPOUT NATURAL GAS.--PROFESSOR SEMENTINI'S DISCOVERIES.--TO BITE OFF RED-HOT IRON.--TO COOK IN A BURNING CAGE.--CHABERT'S OVEN. TO EAT COALS OF FIRE.--TO DRINK BURNING OIL.--TO CHEW MOLTEN LEAD.--TO CHEW BURNING BRIMSTONE.--TO WREATHE THE FACE IN FLAMES.--TO IGNITE PAPER WITH THE BREATH.--TO DRINK BOILING LIQUOR AND EAT FLAMING WAX. The yellow thread of exposure seems to be inextricably woven into all fabrics whose strength is secrecy, and experience proves that it is much easier to become fireproof than to become exposure proof. It is still an open question, however, as to what extent exposure really injures a performer. Exposure of the secrets of the fire-eaters, for instance, dates back almost to the beginning of the art itself. The priests were exposed, Richardson was exposed, Powell was exposed and so on down the line; but the business continued to prosper, the really clever performers drew quite fashionable audiences for a long time, and it was probably the demand for a higher form of entertainment, resulting from a refinement of the public taste, rather than the result of the many exposures, that finally relegated the Fire-eaters to the haunts of the proletariat.