ersigned, certify, that this day, between eight and ten
o'clock, P.M., Marie Sonnet, being in convulsion, was placed, her head
resting on one stool and her feet on another, these stools being
entirely within a large chimney and under the opening of the same, so
that her body was suspended in the air above the fire, which was of
extreme violence, and that she remained in that position for the space
of thirty-six minutes, at four different times; yet the cloth [_drap_]
in which she was wrapped (she having no other dress) was not burned,
though the flames sometimes passed above it: all which appears to us
entirely supernatural. In testimony whereof, we have signed our names,
this twelfth of May, 1736."

To this certificate, which was afterwards legally recorded, a postscript
is appended, stating, that, while they were writing out the certificate,
Marie placed herself a fifth time over the fire, as before, remaining
there nine minutes; that she appeared to sleep, though the fire was
excessively hot; fifteen logs of wood, besides fagots, having been
consumed in the two hours and a quarter during which the witnesses
remained.

Montgeron adds, that this exhibition has been witnessed at least a
hundred times, and by a multitude of persons. And he expressly states,
that the stools, which consisted of iron frames, with a board upon each,
were placed entirely within the fireplace, and one on each side of the
fire; so that, as Marie Sonnet rested her head on one stool and her feet
on the other, her body remained suspended immediately above the fire;
and further, that, "no matter how intense the heat, not only did she
suffer no inconvenience, but the cloth in which she was wrapped was
never injured, nor even singed, though it was sometimes actually in the
flames."[31]

He declares, also, that Marie, on other occasions, remained over the
fire much longer than is above certified. The author of the "Vains
Efforts" admits that "she remained exposed to the fire long enough to
roast a piece of mutton or veal."

Montgeron informs us, in addition, that Marie Sonnet sometimes varied
the form of this experiment, with a somewhat varying result. He
says,--"I have seen her five or six times, and in the presence of a
multitude of persons, thrust both her feet, with shoes and stockings on,
into the midst of a burning brazier; but in this case the fire did not
respect the shoes, as, in the other, it had respected the cloth that
enwrapped her.