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CHAPTER THREE

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.--A ``WONDERFUL
PHENOMENON.''--``THE INCOMBUSTIBLE
SPANIARD, SENOR LIONETTO,'' 1803.
--JOSEPHINE GIRARDELLI, 1814.--JOHN
BROOKS, 1817.--W. C. HOUGHTON, 1832.
--J. A. B. CHYLINSKI, 1841.--CHAMOUNI,
THE RUSSIAN SALAMANDER, 1869.-- PROFESSOR
REL MAEUB, 1876.--RIVALLI (died 1900).

In the nineteenth century by far the most
distinguished heat-resister was Chabert,
who deserves and shall have a chapter to
himself. He commenced exhibiting about 1818,
but even earlier in the century certain obscurer
performers had anticipated some of his best
effects. Among my clippings, for instance, I
find the following. I regret that I cannot give
the date, but it is evident from the long form
of the letters that it was quite early. This is
the first mention I have found of the hot-oven
effect afterwards made famous by Chabert.

WONDERFUL PHENOMENON

A correspondent in France writes as
follows: ``Paris has, for some days, rung
with relations of the wonderful exploits
of a Spaniard in that city, who is endowed
with qualities by which he resists the
action of very high degrees of heat, as well
as the influence of strong chemical
reagents. Many histories of the trials to
which he has been submitted before a
Commission of the Institute and Medical
School, have appeared in the public papers;
but the public waits with impatience
for the report to be made in the name of
the Commission by Professor Pinel.

The subject of these trials is a young
man, a native of Toledo, in Spain, 23
years of age, and free of any apparent
peculiarities which can announce anything
remarkable in the organization of his
skin; after examination, one would be
rather disposed to conclude a peculiar
softness than that any hardness or thickness
of the cuticle existed, either naturally
or from mechanical causes. Nor was there
any circumstance to indicate that the 
person had been previously rubbed with any
matter capable of resisting the operation
of the agents with which he was brought
in contact.

This man bathed for the space of five
minutes, and without any injury to his
sensibility or the surface of the skin, his
legs in oil, heated at 97 degrees of Reaumur (250
degrees of Fahrenheit) and with the same
oil, at the same degree of heat, he washed
his face and superior extremities. He
held, for the same space of time, and with
as little inconvenience, his legs in a
solution of muriate of soda, heated to 102 of
the same scale, (261 1/2 degrees Fahr.) He stood
on and rubbed the soles of his feet with a
bar of hot iron heated to a white heat; in
this state he held the iron in his hands and
rubbed the surface of his tongue.

He gargled his mouth with concentrated
sulphuric and nitric acids, without
the smallest injury or discoloration; the
nitric acid changed the cuticle to a yellow
color; with the acids in this state he
rubbed his hands and arms. All these
experiments were continued long enough to
prove their inefficiency to produce any
impression. It is said, on unquestionable
authority, that he remained a considerable
time in an oven heated to 65 degrees or 70 
degrees, (178-189 degrees Fahr.) and from 
which he was with difficulty induced to retire, 
so comfortable did he feel at that high 
temperature.

It may be proper to remark, that this
man seems totally uninfluenced by any
motive to mislead, and, it is said, he has
refused flattering offers from some
religious sectaries of turning to emolument
his singular qualities; yet on the whole it
seems to be the opinion of most philosophical
men, that this person must possess
some matter which counteracts the operation
of these agents. To suppose that nature
has organized him differently, would
be unphilosophic: by habit he might have
blunted his sensibilities against those
impressions that create pain under ordinary
circumstances; but how to explain the
power by which he resists the action of
those agents which are known to have the
strongest affinity for animal matter, is a
circumstance difficult to comprehend. It
has not failed, however, to excite the wonder
of the ignorant and the inquiry of the
learned at Paris.''

This ``Wonderful Phenomenon'' may have
been ``the incombustible Spaniard, Senor
Lionetto,'' whom the London Mirror mentions
as performing in Paris in 1803 ``where he
attracted the particular attention of Dr.
Sementeni, Professor of Chemistry, and other
scientific gentlemen of that city. It appears
that a considerable vapor and smell rose from
parts of his body when the fire and heated
substances were applied, and in this he seems
to differ from the person now in this country.'' 
The person here referred to was M. Chabert.

Dr. Sementeni became so interested in the
subject that he made a series of experiments
upon himself, and these were finally crowned
with success. His experiments will receive
further attention in the chapter ``The Arcana
of the Fire-Eaters.''

A veritable sensation was created in
England in the year 1814 by Senora Josephine
Girardelli, who was heralded as having ``just
arrived from the Continent, where she had the
honor of appearing before most of the crowned
heads of Europe.'' She was first spoken of
as German, but afterwards proved to be of
Italian birth.

Entering a field of endeavor which had
heretofore been exclusively occupied by the sterner
sex, this lady displayed a taste for hot meals
that would seem to recommend her as a matrimonial
venture. Like all the earlier exploiters
of the devouring element, she was proclaimed
as ``The Great Phenomena of Nature''--why
the plural form was used does not appear--
and, doubtless, her feminine instincts led her
to impart a daintiness to her performance
which must have appealed to the better class
of audience in that day.

The portrait that adorned her first English
handbill, which I produce from the Picture
Magazine, was engraved by Page and published
by Smeeton, St. Martins Lane, London. 
It is said to be a faithful representation of
her stage costume and setting.

Richardson, of Bartholomew Fair fame,
who was responsible for the introduction of
many novelties, first presented Girardelli to
an English audience at Portsmouth, where her
success was so pronounced that a London 
appearance was arranged for the same year; and
at Mr. Laston's rooms, 23 New Bond Street,
her performance attracted the most fashionable
metropolitan audiences for a considerable
time. Following this engagement she
appeared at Richardson's Theater, at Bartholomew
Fair, and afterwards toured England
in the company of Signor Germondi, who
exhibited a troupe of wonderful trained dogs. 
One of the canine actors was billed as the
``Russian Moscow Fire Dog, an animal
unknown in this country, (and never exhibited
before) who now delights in that element, having
been trained for the last six months at very
great expense and fatigue.''

Whether Girardelli accumulated sufficient
wealth to retire or became discouraged by the
exposure of her methods cannot now be
determined, but after she had occupied a prominent
position in the public eye and the public
prints for a few seasons she dropped out of
sight, and I have been unable to find where
or how she passed the later years of her life.

I am even more at a loss concerning her
contemporary, John Brooks, of whom I have no
other record than the following letter, which
appears in the autobiography of the famous
author-actor-manager, Thomas Dibdin, of the
Theaters Royal, Covent Garden, Drury Lane,
Haymarket and others. This one communication,
however, absolves of any obligation to dig
up proofs of John Brooks' versatility: he
admits it himself.


To Mr. T. Dibdin, Esq. Pripetor of the
Royal Circus.

May 1st, 1817.
Sir:

I have taken the Liberty of Riting those
few lines to ask you the favour if a Greeable
for me to Come to your House, as i
Can do a great many different things i
Can Sing a good Song and i Can Eat Boiling
hot Lead and Rub my naked arms
With a Red hot Poker and Stand on a
Red hot sheet of iron, and do Diferent
other things.--Sir i hope you Will Excuse
me in Riting I do not Want any thing
for my Performing for i have Got a
Business that will Sirport me I only want to
pass a Way 2 or 3 Hours in the Evening.
Sir i hope you Will Send me an Answer
Weather Agreeple or not.

I am your Humble Servant,
J. B.


Direct to me No. 4 fox and Knot Court
King Street Smithfield.
JOHN BROOKS.


We shall let this versatile John Brooks close
the pre-Chabert record and turn our attention
to the fire-eaters of Chabert's day. Imitation
may be the sincerest flattery, but in most cases
the victim of the imitation, it is safe to say,
will gladly dispense with that form of adulation. 
When Chabert first came to America
and gave fresh impetus to the fire-eating art
by the introduction of new and startling
material, he was beset by many imitators, or--
as they probably styled themselves--rivals,
who immediately proceeded, so far as in them
lay, to out-Chabert Chabert.

One of the most prominent of these was a
man named W. C. Houghton, who claimed to
have challenged Chabert at various times. In
a newspaper advertisement in Philadelphia,
where he was scheduled to give a benefit 
performance on Saturday evening, February 4th,
1832, he practically promised to expose the
method of poison eating. Like that of all
exposers, however, his vogue was of short
duration, and very little can be found about this
super-Chabert except his advertisements. The
following will serve as a sample of them:

ARCH STREET THEATRE
BENEFIT

OF THE AMERICAN FIRE KING


A CARD.--W. C. Houghton, has the
honor to announce to the ladies and
gentlemen of Philadelphia, that his
BENEFIT will take place at the ARCH
STREET THEATRE, on Saturday evening
next, 4th February, when will be
presented a variety of entertainments aided
by the whole strength of the company.

Mr. H. in addition to his former
experiments will exhibit several fiery feats,
pronounced by Mons. Chabert an
IMPOSSIBILITY. He will give a COMPLETE
explanation by illustrations of the 
PRINCIPLES of the EUROPEAN and the
AMERICAN CHESS PLAYERS. He
will also (unless prevented by indisposition)
swallow a sufficient quantity of phosphorus,
(presented by either chemist or
druggist of this city) to destroy THE LIFE
OF ANY INDIVIDUAL. Should he not feel
disposed to take the poison, he will
satisfactorily explain to the audience the
manner it may be taken without injury.


In our next chapter we shall see how it went
with others who challenged Chabert.

A Polish athlete, J. A. B. Chylinski by name,
toured Great Britain and Ireland in 1841, and
presented a more than usually diversified
entertainment. Being gifted by nature with
exceptional bodily strength, and trained in
gymnastics, he was enabled to present a mixed
programme, combining his athletics with feats
of strength, fire-eating, poison-swallowing, and
fire-resistance.

In The Book of Wonderful Characters,
published in 1869 by John Camden Hotten, London,
I find an account of Chamouni, the Russian
Salamander: ``He was insensible, for a
given time, to the effects of heat. He was
remarkable for the simplicity and singleness
of his character, as well as for that idiosyncrasy
in his constitution, which enabled him
for so many years, not merely to brave the
effects of fire, but to take a delight in an
element where other men find destruction. He
was above all artifice, and would often entreat
his visitors to melt their own lead, or boil their
own mercury, that they might be perfectly
satisfied of the gratification he derived from
drinking these preparations. He would also
present his tongue in the most obliging manner
to all who wished, to pour melted lead upon
it and stamp an impression of their seals.''

A fire-proof billed as Professor Rel Maeub,
was on the programme at the opening of the
New National Theater, in Philadelphia, Pa.,
in the spring of 1876. If I am not mistaken
the date was April 25th. He called himself
``The Great Inferno Fire-King,'' and his
novelty consisted in having a strip of wet
carpeting running parallel to the hot iron plates
on which he walked barefoot, and stepping on
it occasionally and back onto the hot iron, when
a loud hissing and a cloud of steam bore ample
proof of the high temperature of the metal.

One of the more recent fireproofs was
Eugene Rivalli, whose act included, besides the
usual effects, a cage of fire in which he stood
completely surrounded by flames. Rivalli,
whose right name was John Watkins, died in
1900, in England. He had appeared in Great
Britain and Ireland as well as on the Continent
during the later years of the 19th century.

The cage of fire has been used by a number
of Rivalli's followers also, and the reader will
find a full explanation of the methods
employed for it in the chapter devoted to the
Arcana of the Fire-eaters, to which we shall
come when we have recorded the work of the
master Chabert, the history of some of the
heat-resisters featured on magicians'
programmes, particularly in our own day, and the
interest taken in this art by performers whose
chief distinction was won in other fields, as
notably Edwin Forrest and the elder Sothern.



CHAPTER FOUR

THE MASTER--CHABERT, 1792-1859.

Ivan Ivanitz Chabert, the only
Really Incombustible Phenomenon, as he
was billed abroad, or J. Xavier Chabert, A.M.,
M.D., etc., as he was afterwards known in this
country, was probably the most notable, and
certainly the most interesting, character in
the history of fire-eating, fire-resistance, and
poison eating. He was the last prominent figure
in the long line of this type of artists to appeal
to the better classes and to attract the attention
of scientists, who for a considerable period
treated his achievements more or less seriously. 
Henry Evanion gave me a valuable collection
of Chabert clippings, hand-bills, etc., and
related many interesting incidents in connection
with this man of wonders.

It seems quite impossible for me to write
of any historical character in Magic or its
allied arts without recalling my dear old friend
Evanion, who introduced me to a throng of
fascinating characters, with each of whom he
seemed almost as familiar as if they had been
daily companions.

Subsequently I discovered an old engraving
of Chabert, published in London in 1829, and
later still another which bore the change of
name, as well as the titles enumerated above. 
The latter was published in New York, September,
1836, and bore the inscription: ``One
of the most celebrated Chemists, Philosophers,
and Physicians of the present day.'' These
discoveries, together with a clue from Evanion,
led to further investigations, which resulted in
the interesting discovery that this one-time
Bartholomew Fair entertainer spent the last
years of his life in New York City. He resided
here for twenty-seven years and lies
buried in the beautiful Cypress Hills Cemetery,
quite forgotten by the man on the street.

Nearby is the grave of good old Signor Blitz,
and not far away is the plot that holds all that
is mortal of my beloved parents. When I
finally break away from earthly chains and
restraints, I hope to be placed beside them.

During my search for data regarding Chabert
I looked in the telephone book for a possible
descendant. By accident I picked up the
Suburban instead of the Metropolitan edition,
and there I found a Victor E. Chabert living
at Allenhurst, N. J. I immediately got into
communication with him and found that he
was a grandson of the Fire King, but he could
give me no more information than I already
possessed, which I now spread before my
readers.

M. Chabert was a son of Joseph and Therese
Julienne Chabert. He was born on May 10th,
1792, at Avignon, France.

Chabert was a soldier in the Napoleonic
wars, was exiled to Siberia and escaped to
England. His grandson has a bronze Napoleon
medal which was presented to Chabert, presumably
for valor on the field of battle. Napoleon
was exiled in 1815 and again three years
later. Chabert first attracted public notice in
Paris, at which time his demonstrations of
heat-resistance were sufficiently astonishing to
merit the attention of no less a body than the
National Institute.

To the more familiar feats of his predecessors
he added startling novelties in the art of
heat-resistance, the most spectacular being
that of entering a large iron cabinet, which
resembled a common baker's oven, heated to
the usual temperature of such ovens. He carried
in his hand a leg of mutton and remained
until the meat was thoroughly cooked. Another
thriller involved standing in a flaming
tar-barrel until it was entirely consumed
around him.

In 1828, Chabert gave a series of performances
at the Argyle Rooms in London, and
created a veritable sensation. A correspondent
in the London Mirror has this to say of
Chabert's work at that time: ``Of M. Chabert's 
wonderful power of withstanding the operation
of the fiery element, it is in the recollection
of the writer of witnessing, some few years
back, this same individual (in connection with
the no-less fire-proof Signora Girardelli)
exhibiting `extraordinary proofs of his
supernatural power of resisting the most intense
heat of every kind.' Since which an IMPROVEMENT
of a more formidable nature has to our
astonished fancy been just demonstrated. In
the newspapers of the past week it is reported
that he, in the first instance, refreshed himself
with a hearty meal of phosphorus, which
was, at his own request, supplied to him very
liberally by several of his visitors, who were
previously unacquainted with him. He washed
down (they say) this infernal fare with
solutions of arsenic and oxalic acid; thus throwing
into the background the long-established fame
of Mithridates. He next swallowed with great
gout, several spoonfuls of boiling oil; and, as
a dessert to this delicate repast, helped himself
with his naked hands to a considerable
quantity of molten lead. The experiment,
however, of entering into a hot oven, together with
a quantity of meat, sufficient, when cooked, to
regale those of his friends who were specially
invited to witness his performance, was the
chef-d'oeuvre of the day. Having ordered
three fagots of wood, which is the quantity
generally used by bakers, to be thrown into
the oven, and they being set on fire, twelve
more fagots of the same size were subsequently
added to them, which being all consumed by
three o'clock, M. Chabert entered the oven with
a dish of raw meat, and when it was sufficiently
done he handed it out, took in another, and
remained therein until the second quantity was
also well cooked; he then came out of the oven,
and sat down, continues the report, to partake,
with a respectable assembly of friends, of
those viands he had so closely attended during
the culinary process. Publicly, on a subsequent
day, and in an oven 6 feet by 7, and at
a heat of about 220, he remained till a steak
was properly done, and again returned to his
fiery den and continued for a period of thirty
minutes, in complete triumph over the power
of an element so much dreaded by humankind,
and so destructive to animal nature. It has
been properly observed, that there are
preparations which so indurate the cuticle, as to
render it insensible to the heat of either boiling
oil or melted lead; and the fatal qualities
of certain poisons may be destroyed, if the
medium through which they are imbibed, as
we suppose to be the case here, is a strong
alkali. Many experiments, as to the extent to
which the human frame could bear heat, without
the destruction of the vital powers, have
been tried from time to time; but so far as
recollection serves, Monsieur Chabert's fire-
resisting qualities are greater than those
professed by individuals who, before him, have
undergone this species of ordeal.''

It was announced some time ago, in one of
the French journals, that experiments had
been tried with a female, whose fire-standing
qualities had excited great astonishment. She,
it appears, was placed in a heated oven, into
which live dogs, cats, and rabbits were
conveyed. The poor animals died in a state of
convulsion almost immediately, while the Fire-
queen bore the heat without complaining. In
that instance, however, the heat of the oven
was not so great as that which M. Chabert encountered.

Much of the power to resist greater degrees
of heat than can other men may be a natural
gift, much the result of chemical applications,
and much from having the parts indurated by
long practice; probably all three are combined
in this phenomenon, with some portion of
artifice.

In Timbs' Curiosities of London, published
in 1867, I find the following:


At the Argyle Rooms, London, in 1829,
Mons. Chabert, the Fire-King, exhibited
his powers of resisting poisons, and
withstanding extreme heat. He swallowed
forty grains of phosphorus, sipped oil at
333 degrees with impunity, and rubbed a red-hot
fire-shovel over his tongue, hair, and face,
unharmed.

On September 23d, on a challenge of
L50, Chabert repeated these feats and won
the wager; he next swallowed a piece of
burning torch; and then, dressed in coarse
woolen, entered an oven heated to 380 degrees,
sang a song, and cooked two dishes of beef
steaks.

Still, the performances were suspected,
and in fact, proved to be a chemical juggle.


Another challenge in the same year is
recorded under the heading, ``Sights of
London,'' as follows:


We were tempted on Wednesday to the
Argyle Rooms by the challenge of a person
of the uncommon name of J. Smith
to M. Chabert, our old friend the Fire
King, whom this individual dared to
invite to a trial of powers in swallowing
poison and being baked! The audacity
of such a step quite amazed us; and
expecting to see in the competitor at
least a Vulcan, the God of all Smiths,
was hastened to the scene of strife. 
Alas, our disappointment was complete! 
Smith had not even the courage of a
blacksmith for standing fire, and yielded
a stake of L50, as was stated, without
a contest, to M. Chabert, on the latter
coming out of his oven with his own two
steaks perfectly cooked. On this occasion
Chabert took 20 grains of phosphorus,
swallowed oil heated to nearly 100 degrees above
boiling water, took molten lead out of a
ladle with his fingers and cooled it on his
tongue; and, besides performing other
remarkable feats, remained five minutes in
the oven at a temperature of between 300
and 400 degrees by the thermometer. There was
about 150 persons present, many of them
medical men; and being convinced that
these things were fairly done, without
trickery, much astonishment was expressed.

The following detailed account of the latter
challenge appeared in the Chronicle, London,
September, 1829.


THE FIRE KING AND HIS
CHALLENGER.--An advertisement appeared
lately in one of the papers, in which a
Mr. J. Smith after insinuating that M.
Chabert practised some juggle when he
appeared to enter an oven heated to five
hundred degrees, and to swallow twenty
grains of phosphorus, challenged him to
perform the exploits which he professed
to be performing daily. In consequence
M. Chabert publicly accepted Mr. J.
Smith's challenge for L50, requesting him
to provide the poison himself. A day was
fixed upon which the challenge was to be
determined, and at two o'clock on that
day, a number of gentlemen assembled in
the Argyle-rooms, where the exhibition
was to take place. At a little before three
the fire-king made his appearance near his
oven, and as some impatience had been
exhibited, owing to the non-arrival of Mr.
J. Smith, he offered to amuse the company
with a few trifling experiments. He made
a shovel red-hot and rubbed it over his
tongue, a trick for which no credit, he said,
was due, as the moisture of the tongue was
sufficient to prevent any injury arising
from it. He next rubbed it over his hair
and face, declaring that anybody might
perform the same feat by first washing
themselves in a mixture of spirits of
sulphur and alum, which, by cauterising the
epidermis, hardened the skin to resist the
fire.

He put his hand into some melted lead,
took a small portion of it out, placed it in
his mouth, and then gave it in a solid state
to some of the company. This performance,
according to his account, was also
very easy; for he seized only a very small
particle, which, by a tight compression
between the forefinger and the thumb,
became cool before it reached the mouth. At
this time Mr. Smith made his appearance,
and M. Chabert forthwith prepared himself
for mightier undertakings. A cruse
of oil was brought forward and poured
into a saucepan, which was previously
turned upside down, to show that there
was no water in it. The alleged reason
for this step was, that the vulgar
conjurors, who profess to drink boiling oil,
place the oil in water, and drink it when
the water boils, at which time the oil is
not warmer than an ordinary cup of tea. 
He intended to drink the oil when any
person might see it bubbling in the
saucepan, and when the thermometer would
prove that it was heated to three hundred
and sixty degrees. The saucepan was
accordingly placed on the fire, and as it was
acquiring the requisite heat, the fire-king
challenged any man living to drink a
spoonful of the oil at the same temperature
as that at which he was going to drink
it. In a few minutes afterwards, he
sipped off a spoonful with greatest
apparent ease, although the spoon, from
contact with the boiling fluid, had become too
hot for ordinary fingers to handle.

``And now, Monsieur Smith,'' said the
fire-king, ``now for your challenge. Have
you prepared yourself with phosphorus,
or will you take some of mine, which is
laid on that table?'' Mr. Smith, walked
up to the table, and pulling a vial bottle
out of his pocket, offered it to the poison-
swallower.

Fire-king--``I ask you, on your honor
as a gentleman, is this genuine unmixed
poison?''

Mr. Smith--``It is, upon my honor.''

Fire-king--``Is there any medical
gentleman here who will examine it?''

A person in the room requested that
Dr. Gordon Smith, one of the medical
professors in the London University,
would examine the vial, and decide
whether it contained genuine phosphorus.

The professor went to the table, on
which the formidable collection of poisons
--such as red and white arsenic,
hydrocyanic acid, morphine and phosphorus--
was placed, and, examining the vial,
declared, that, to the best of his judgment,
it was genuine phosphorus.

M. Chabert asked Mr. Smith, how many
grains he wished to commence his first
draught with. Mr. Smith--``Twenty
grains will do as a commencement.''

A medical gentleman then came forward
and cut off two parcels of phosphorus,
containing twenty grains each. He was
placing them in the water, when the fire-
king requested that his phosphorus might
be cut into small pieces, as he did not wish
the pieces to stop on their way to his
stomach. The poisons were now prepared. 
A wine-glass contained the portion
set aside for the fire-king--a tumbler the
portion reserved for Mr. Smith.

The Fire-king--``I suppose, gentlemen,
I must begin, and to convince you that
I do not juggle, I will first take off my
coat, and then I will trouble you, doctor
(speaking to Dr. Gordon Smith), to tie my
hands together behind me. After he had
been bandaged in this manner, he planted
himself on one knee in the middle of the
room, and requested some gentleman to
place the phosphorus on his tongue and
pour the water down his throat. This was
accordingly done, and the water and
phosphorus were swallowed together. He then
opened his mouth and requested the company
to look whether any portion of the
phosphorus remained in his mouth. Several
gentlemen examined his mouth, and
declared that there was no phosphorus
perceptible either upon or under his
tongue. He was then by his own desire
unbandaged. The fire-king forthwith
turned to Mr. Smith and offered him the
other glass of phosphorus. Mr. Smith
started back in infinite alarm--`Not for
worlds, Sir, not for worlds; I beg to
decline it.'

The Fire-king--``Then wherefore did
you send me a challenge? You pledged
your honor to drink it, if I did; I have
done it; and if you are a gentleman, you
must drink it too.''

Mr. Smith--``No, no, I must be excused:
I am quite satisfied without it.''

Here several voices exclaimed that the
bet was lost. Some said there must be a
confederacy between the challenger and
the challenged, and others asked whether
any money had been deposited? The fire-
king called a Mr. White forward, who
deposed that he held the stakes, which had
been regularly placed in his hands, by both
parties, before twelve o'clock that morning.

The fire-king here turned round with
great exultation to the company, and pulling
a bottle out of his pocket, exclaimed,
``I did never see this gentleman before this
morning, and I did not know but that he
might be bold enough to venture to take
this quantity of poison. I was determined
not to let him lose his life by his foolish
wager, and therefore I did bring an
antidote in my pocket, which would have
prevented him from suffering any harm.'' 
Mr. Smith said his object was answered by
seeing twenty grains of genuine phosphorus
swallowed. He had conceived it
impossible, as three grains were quite
sufficient to destroy life. The fire-king then
withdrew into another room for the
professed purpose of putting on his usual
dress for entering the oven, but in all
probability for the purpose of getting the
phosphorus out of his stomach.

After an absence of twenty minutes, he
returned, dressed in a coarse woolen coat,
to enter the heated oven. Before he
entered it, a medical gentleman ascertained
that his pulse was vibrating ninety-eight
times a minute. He remained in the oven
five minutes, during which time he sung
Le Vaillant Troubadour, and superintended
the cooking of two dishes of beef
steaks. At the end of that time he came
out, perspiring profusely, and with a pulse
making one hundred and sixty-eight
vibrations in a minute. The thermometer,
when brought out of the oven, stood at
three hundred and eighty degrees; within
the oven he said it was above six hundred.


Although he was suspected of trickery by
many, was often challenged, and had an army
of rivals and imitators, all available records
show that Chabert was beyond a doubt the
greatest fire and poison resister that ever
appeared in London.

Seeking new laurels, he came to America in
1832, and although he was successful in New
York, his subsequent tour of the States was
financially disastrous. He evidently saved
enough from the wreck, however, to start in
business, and the declining years of his eventful
life were passed in the comparative obscurity
of a little drug store in Grand Street.

As his biographer I regret to be obliged to
chronicle the fact that he made and sold an
alleged specific for the White Plague, thus
enabling his detractors to couple with his name
the word Quack. The following article, which
appeared in the New York Herald of September
1st, 1859, three days after Chabert's death,
gives further details of his activities in this
country:


We published among the obituary
notices in yesterday's Herald the death of
Dr. Julian Xavier Chabert, the ``Fire
King,'' aged 67 years, of pulmonary
consumption. Dr. C. was a native of France,
and came to this country in 1832, and was
first introduced to the public at the lecture
room of the old Clinton Hall, in Nassau
Street, where he gave exhibitions by entering
a hot oven of his own construction,
and while there gave evidence of his
salamander qualities by cooking beef
steaks, to the surprise and astonishment
of his audiences.

It was a question to many whether the
Doctor's oven was red-hot or not, as he
never allowed any person to approach him
during the exhibition or take part in the
proceedings. He made a tour of the
United States in giving these exhibitions,
which resulted in financial bankruptcy. 
At the breaking out of the cholera in 1832
he turned Doctor, and appended M.D., to
his name, and suddenly his newspaper
advertisements claimed for him the title of
the celebrated Fire King, the curer of
consumption, the maker of Chinese
Lotion, etc.

While the Doctor was at the height of
his popularity, some wag perpetrated the
following joke in a newspaper paragraph: 
``During some experiments he was making
in chemistry last week, an explosion
took place which entirely bewildered his
faculties and left him in a condition
bordering on the grave. He was blown into
a thousand atoms. It took place on
Wednesday of last week and some accounts
state that it grew out of an experiment
with phosphoric ether, others that it was
by a too liberal indulgence in Prussic acid,
an article which, from its resemblance to
the peach, he was remarkably fond of having
about him.''

The Doctor was extensively accused of
quackery, and on one occasion when the
Herald touched on the same subject, it
brought him to our office and he exhibited
diplomas, certificates and medical honors
without number.

The Doctor was remarkable for his
prolific display of jewelry and medals of
honor, and by his extensive display of
beard. He found a rival in this city in
the person of another French ``chemist,''
who gave the Doctor considerable opposition
and consequently much trouble.

The Doctor was famous, also, for his
four-horse turnouts in Broadway,
alternating, when he saw proper, to a change
to the ``tandem'' style. He married an
Irish lady whom he at first supposed to
be immensely rich, but after the nuptials
it was discovered that she merely had a
life interest in a large estate in common
with several others.

The Doctor, it appears, was formerly a
soldier in the French Army, and quite
recently he received from thence a medal
of the order of St. Helena, an account of
which appeared in the Herald. Prior to
his death he was engaged in writing his
biography (in French) and had it nearly
ready for publication.


Here follows a supposedly humorous speech
in broken English, quoted from the London
Lancet, in which the Doctor is satirized. 
Continuing, the articles says:


``The Doctor was what was termed a
`fast liver,' and at the time of his death
he kept a drug store in Grand Street, and
had very little of this world's goods. He
leaves three children to mourn his loss,
one of them an educated physician, residing
in Hoboken, N. J.

Dr. C. has `gone to that bourne whence
no traveller returns,' and we fervently
trust and hope that the disembodied
spirits of the tens of thousands whom he
has treated in this sphere will treat him
with the same science with which he
treated them while in this wicked world.''