JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 1011

Reginald Scot, a wealthy and landed Brit from a good family of the 16th century,
wrote a lovely proto-skeptical book revealing the so-called mysteries of people 
practicing witchcraft. Actually, there were all sorts of performance tricks and 
sleight-of-hand revealed in the book—cards, coins, spiritualism, juggling balls 
and such, as well as magic—and as such, in addition to the witchcraft part,
 was the first book in English to exhibit practical conjuring tricks, with all of their
intricacies displayed. 

In short, Scot explained all sorts and manners of miracles, a 16th century 
James Randi.

 
Scot was an enlightened humanist and a judicious man. His interest in 
witchcraft ran contrary to the general contemporary belief that witches and 
diabolical possession and so on, was real—he chose to explain the end results 
of witchcraft via rational means, exposing the tricks of the trade. He also 
believed and tried to show that those accused of witchcraft were either engaged
 in legerdemain or were mentally ill—but they were certainly not witches, as 
witches did not exist. 

I’ve reproduced seven of Scot’s explanations for miraculous tricks in part 
(A) below; part (B) contains just a couple of his card trick revelations. The 
whole book can be seen here 

(A) Demonstrations of Physical impossibilities all of which fake 
a great hurt.

How to: (1) cut off your head and make yourself able to speak; (2) eat a knife
and “fetch it out of any other place”; (3) stab yourself in the head with a knife
 without hurt; (4) put a piece of lead in your eye and take it out; (5) to cut your 
nose in half; (6) to put a ring through your eye; (7) stab and strangulate your
 bowels with a knife.

(1) To cut off ones head, and to laie it in a platter,which the jugglers call the
decollation of Johii Baptist, 

TO shew a most notable execution by this art, you must cause a boord, a cloth, 
and a platter to be purposelie made, and in each of them holes fit for a boies 
necke. The boord must be made of two planks, the longer and broader the
 better : there must be left within halfe a yard of the end of each planke halfe a
 hole ; so as both planks being thrust togither, there may remaine two holes, 
like to the holes in a paire of stocks : there must be made likewise a hole in 
the table- cloth or carpet. A platter also must be set directlie over or upon
 one of them, having a hole in the midle thereof, of the like quantitie, and also 
a peece cut out of the same, so big as his necke, through which his head may 
be conveied into the middest of the platter : and then sitting or kneeling under 
the boord, let the head onlie remaine upon the boord in the same.