Anoint your tongue with liquid-storax, and you may put a pair of tongs into your mouth red hot, without hurting yourself, and lick them till they are cold, by the help of this anointment, and by preparing your mouth thus, you may take wood coal out of the fire, and eat them as you would bread, dip them into brimstone-powder, and the fire will seem more strange, but the sulphur puts out the coal, and shutting your mouth close puts out the sulphur, and so they champ the coals and swallow them, which they may do without offending the body; but if they were bound to eat nothing else, it would be a very sickly trade; and if you put a piece of lighted charcoal into your mouths you may suffer a pair of bellows to be a blowing in your mouth continually, and receive no hurt, but your mouth must be quickly cleaned, otherwise it will cause a salivation; it is a very dangerous thing to be done, and although those that practise it, use all the means they can to prevent danger, yet I never saw any one of these fire eaters that had a good complexion, the reason I could give, but it is known to the sons of art: some put bole-armoniack into this receipt: a cold thing, and spoils the whole composition, and so leaves out hamitatis and liquid storax; but let them beware how they use it.
How to walk on a hot iron bar, without danger of scalding or burning.
Take half an ounce of camphire, dissolve it in two ounces of aqua vitæ, add to it one ounce of quick-silver, one ounce of liquid storax, which is the droppings of myrrh, and hinders the camphire from firing, take also two ounces of hamitatis, a red stone to be had at the druggists, and when you buy it, beat it to powder in their great mortar, for it is so very hard, that it cannot be done in a small one; put this to the afore-mentioned composition, and when you intend to walk on the bar, you must anoint your feet well therewith, and you may walk over without danger: by this you may wash your hands in boiling lead.
How to make a knife leap out of a pot.
When you are in company, and intend to make mirth, have a pot full of water standing on a table, then take a piece of whale-bone about three inches long, let it be pretty stiff, it will spring the better; take also a new stiff card, and fold it down the middle long-ways, cut a hole through both folds at each end, half an inch or more from the ends, put one end of the whale-bone in at one end of the card, bend it like a bow, then put the other end of the whale-bone into the other end of the card, set this into the pot, with two inches or more deep in water, then place the handle of your knife upon the uppermost part of the whale-bone, with the point upwards: use some words of art, as Presto vet, or Omporte.
Note, I have invented a new instrument to perform this fancy, which is to be admired by all ingenious persons.
The melting-box.
