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Punch: Punch — 21.1851

DOI issue:
July to December, 1851
DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16608#0196
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184

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI

BIOOMERISM IN A BALL-ROOM,

Eloomev. "May I hate the Pleasure of Dancing the next Polka

with you ? "

WHAT IS THE WATER-BAILIFF ?

That "had the honour of presenting to Her Majesty, at Windsor,
a fine living Sturgeon, weighing upwards of one hundred weight."—
Morning Post.

Oh, Professor Owen, surgeon,

Pray inform us what they mean
By the Creature with a sturgeon

That was sent before the Queen ?
It is called a Water-Bailiff;

But, oh dear !—what can it be ?
Did Haroun Alraschid, Caliph,

Such a monster ever see ?

Has the thing got fins to swim by ?

Has it fangs within its jaws ?
And the sturgeon, it caught him by

What legs, pincers, arms, or claws
London City keeps it, don't it ?

Is it skinny-like—or fat ?
Will it bite d' ye know, or won't it ?

Is it round, or long, or flat ?

Is it fish, or reptile rather ?

Like a turtle, or an eel ?
Seems this nondescript of Father

Thames an otter or a seal ?
Has it bones, or only gristles ?

Does it squeak in any mode ?
Has it horns, or spines, or bristles ?

Is it spotted like a toad ?

What, suppose you, may its size be 0

Is it white-blooded, or red ?
Can you tell me if its eyes be

In the hind part of its head ?
Will it sting you ?—has it wattles ?

Has it feelers, that will swathe
Human beings' limbs or throttles ?

Will it seize you when you bathe ?

Tell us if it has a tail—if

Gills, or lungs—if scales, or not ?
One strange power the Water-Bailiff

Has unquestionably got.
Does Anatomy "diskiver"

Anything that will explain
How it lives in that same River,

Which is one enormous drain ?

PRUDENCE AND MESMERISM AT HUNGERFORD

HALL.

" Mr. Punch,

" I went, the other evening, to Hungerford Hall, Strand, to
see an exhibition of animal magnetism by M. Lassaigne and Mlle.
Prudence, whom M. Lassaigne, by setting her to sleep, causes to
do things that make her appear extremely wide awake.

"Miss Prudence was soon made to slumber by the usual passes,
which, though not at all extraordinary in themselves, are, in their
effects—if they produce any-—passing strange.

" The first feat Miss Prudence was to perform was that of causing an
actual magnet to move without touching it. She had been divested of
her rings, and other ornaments, which might have been steel or iron
under a mask of gilt. I had satisfied myself that the magnet was a
bond fide magnet, by applying my latch-key thereunto. Miss Prudence—
before being magnetised—had apparently tried to make it move without
effect. She passed her forehead backwards and forwards a few inches
from it; and the magnet no more stirred than if her head had been a
blockhead, instead of the knowledge-box of at least a very sharp young
lady.

" After she had been magnetised, on repeating the movement of her
forehead near the magnet, the latter certainly did unmistakeably
oscillate. I was convinced that Miss Prudence had imparted motion
to the magnet. But I remarked that I was not sure whether Miss
Prudence did this by magnetic influence or by communicating
vibration through the floor. Hereupon the interpreter, and stage-
manager of the exhibition, had the magnet removed to another place,
for the satisfaction of 'the sceptical gentleman,' as he termed me.
But I was by no means clear that the magnet, by this move, was put
out of the sphere of vibration. It moved precisely as before, although
it was contained in a glass case, and could not have been blown

upon. But to have been enabled to form a conclusion on the subject,
I should have required the magnet to be suspended in its case,
instead of being set on a stand; and I should have wished Miss
Pkudence to place her head leisurely on one side of the magnet, and
on the other—without bustle and hurry. Unluckily, the power, 1 was
told, was evanescent, and haste necessary. So the magnet moved ; but
my mind, Mr. Punch, remained in philosophical equilibrium.

"A display of thought-reading followed. Mr. Lassaigne, standing
ten or twelve paces behind Miss Prudence, imparted—seemingly by
his mere will—to that young lady communications whispered in his ear
by any one who chose to come forward. He sent her with a bouquet
to whomsoever he was required to send her among the spectators. He
made her talk and gesticulate as if she were walking over briars, roses,
or what not—the ordeal might have been that of red-hot ploughshares,
if Mr. Punch had chosen. But I tried a different experiment. The
process by which the last-named wonder was worked, consisted, partly,
in the suggester of the idea to be impressed grasping the hand of the
somnambulist, and willing the same thing as the operator. I simply
asked Mr. Lassaigne to make her believe that she was treading on a
serpent. In the mean time, I took her hand, and willed, with all my
might, that she should fancy herself walking on heather. She walked
on the imaginary serpent, but not on the heather. My will had
no effect on her whatever, that I could see. Therefore, part of the
process was unnecessary—then, why resorted to ? And therefore,
though I was convinced that an idea was imparted by Mr. Lassaigne to
Miss Prudence, somehow, I could no more draw an inference as to
how it was done, than I could draw a luggage-train*

"Miss Prudence related, very dramatically, short stories which
were whispered to Mr. Lassaigne, to the satisfaction, in every
instance, ot those who tested her, and who certainly neither ap-
peared to be rogues nor fools. Collusion or trick seemed impossible:
but here, again, I wanted to analyze; and if I am to believe an
apparent miracle, merely because I cannot imagine how it is done, I
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