Swift, however, alludes to these agencies, fallacious as they are, in the following lines:
"So _chymists_ boast they have a power, "From the dead ashes of a flower, "Some faint resemblance to produce, "But not the virtue, taste, or juice."
Rochos, equally absurd with Borello, says, in _The Art of Nature_, that the ashes of _toads_ will produce the very same effect, as the powder of _crabs' eyes_! Reasoning upon that ridiculous and unnatural principle of Cæsalpinus, in his comment on Aristotle, _Quæcumque ex semine fiunt, eadem fieri posse sine semine_, the procreation of eels from rye-meal, or mutton broth was predicated.
_Julius Camillus_, however, would out-do nature herself; for _Amatus Lusitanus_ affirms, that he has seen his phials full of _homunculi_ complete in all their parts! Paracelsus (_De Rerum Natura_,) had the same and many other absurd notions. What, we may truly say, has not been palmed upon the world, when we are told, that the following translation from a Hague Gazette, which appeared in the _British Evening Post_, No. 1645, contained facts, which were confidently believed by the ignorant:
"Mr. Tunestrick, by origin an Englishman, has just exhibited at Versailles, a very singular experiment. He opened the head of a sheep, and a horse from side to side, by driving a large iron wedge into the skull, by means of a mallet; drew the wedge out afterwards, with pincers, and recalled the animals to life, by injecting through their exterior aperture with a tin syringe, a spirituous liquor of his own composition, to which he attributes surprising effects! The taste of this liquor resembles that of _Commandus Balm_!!" The remarkable effects of galvanism, however, are well authenticated; but _resuscitation_, notwithstanding all apparent life, has in no instance, to our knowledge, been effected. (See Ure's _Chemical Dictionary_, article Galvanism.)
Among other tricks, we may mention those with serpents, especially in the East Indies, and neighbouring islands, where a certain class of people exhibit them for money.[12]
Persons who could walk over red-hot coals, or red-hot iron, or who could hold them in their hands and their teeth, are frequently mentioned. In the end of the 17th century, Richardson, an Englishman, was a great adept in this performance. We are assured he could chew burning coals, pour melted lead upon his tongue, swallow melted glass, &c; but the fact is incredible.