The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-05-22 00:00:00

LONDON PHRKNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

At the Meeting of this Society on Thursday evening last, Ed.
ward and Leonard Schultz. the juvenile musicians from Vitan•
Uhl) have twice been commanded to perform before his 31rjesty,
were introduced by the Secretary. The elder is 13, the younger
II years of age. In the former, in particular, the organ o: fuse
is very prominent. besides a general ex,:eilont development of the
intellectual and affective faculties.

Dr. Moore introduced Mr. Thomas Leddra, sit..d IR years, to
exhibit his talent for menu! caleulr:ion. The following quer:ions
were proposed to and mitwereJ by him :
What is the square root of 127,34:1 ?_3.37. Given in three
quarters of a minute.
What is the cube root of 3„'"9,017?-73. Given in hats
minute.

What h the product of 537 by 392 ?-210,504. Given in half

.....
What is the product of 38.463 by 72,1149 ?-2,791,333.733. Tbs
question took him several minutes to solve.
The organ of number so evidott in the casts of Bidder, Calbum,
and Noakes, did not in this instst.ce seem to be greatly developed:
and it appeared from Mr. Leddra's own statement. that he had not
possessed this power of calculation till about lour years ng t, 04 he
ad been under the tuition of an eminent master, and that the
figures, as they appeared on paper, were strongly represented to
his mind. . _

George Bidder, who was present, on being asked from the
Chair whether be conceived Alr. lieddra to perform his aloud:-
lions by the same mental process which he himself adopted, tr.
plied that it was evident the power had been scPuired by Mr.
Leddra in a manner totally different from that which had been
early and spontaneously tnanifested in himself and 31aster t.
Noshes, who was examined by the Society at a previous meeting
they neither assilidaied the numbers with figures nor words, but
possessed an intuitive perception of the proportions of quantities
themselves. On being requested to explsin the proems by whet
he was assisted in his calculations, 31r. Bidder said that he could
tell immediately. without any effort or calculation, the product of
any two nuent•ers below four figures each, as his mental multiplier
tion table extended to a thousand ; that when the numbers tx-
ceetled three figures, he niways began with the highest number. as
by so doing lie was enabled to add. without carrying; that he bad
an instantaneous perception of the best among several modes of f4'.
forming the same operation, and that he frequently ae,ujed Moth
of the peculiar properties of certain numbers.
With a view of putting to the proof the unimp tired stated Mt.
Bidder's extraordinary faculties, Mr. Palmer, a gentleman Present'
proposed the following questions to him:—
Suppose a railway, whose inclination is 1 foot in 300. the 614441
I-20th part of the weight, the eiarlage
id of the lo3d, die horse to
employ a fierce of 15111bs. at 21 miles per hour, and the carriage
to be loadoil with pills, each weighing 5 grains troy weight, hoe
many pills will the horse take up ?-13,1124.000.
How much would these pills cold at three farthings each
43.2001.
Suppose a man to work 10 hours per day, and to make 15 pills
in a minute, how long would he be making them ?-I,le3ildsr•
The lint question was solved by 31r. Bidder in 21 secene-e. scd
the remaining questions in three-quarters of a minute; the whole
was accomplished In less than one minute and a quieter. ,
Mr. Charles Pemberton was introduced by Dr. Moore. aim el'
e
hihited specimens both of his poetic art! histrionic talents. 'l"e
subject proposed to exemplify his facility of conception and talsei
for versification was .the WI of Miasolunglei, which be again re-
cited to a croaded auditory ow Saturday evening.

- - •
Extract of a letter from Buenos Ayres, dated Feb. 217"
" Admiral Brown stained yesterday, and finally got atrial ~ttls
morning; he, it is to be hoped, will do sonic good this triP•
Portuguese are evidently afraid of him. Old hobo has acknew-
!edged that he could not hive stood Brown ten minutes longer with-
out sinking or striking; and the latter would have been the coo t!!
a certainty, had the brigs assisted him as they should hate dune.