Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1844-10-18

w L NC IOllOhiHS 10 HO HuIlDuS. we NOuCn
for the responsibility and veracity of Mr. Stafford
who confirms the account given below.
For The Duly Journal
Messrs. Editors -
There was not long since notice in the Tribune
OF Negro idiot in other respects, but possessing a
wonderful faculty of mental calculation. We have
an instance Of similar gift in own State, more
remarkable than the above alluded to,or perhaps
any other Of which we have account, in the per-
son of a Son Of Truman II. Stafford, Esq. of Roy
alton, now aged only eight years.
| This case, however, seems to have bat one feat
ure in common with that of the Negro for this lad
has always displayed a wonderful precosity and
! faculty in comprehending all branches of study to
which his attention has been directed. At an ear
ller age than most children able to read under
standingly, he had thoroughly mastered the Ge-
ography in common use in schools. But his
! chief forte is in mathematical and numerical cal
culations. The first knowledge his parents had Of
his power in numbers arose from little incident
| that occurred III his sixth year. He remarked to
his mother one day, that if he knew how many rods
it was around his fathers large meadow, he could
tell the measure in barley corns. When his fat her
came in, she mentioned II to him, and he knowing
the dimensions of the field, made calculation, and
told the boy it was lO40 rods; the lad after few
minutes r re 6l7,760, as the distance IN barley
corns, SIN MS head" as the common phrase is.
! Mr.. S. thinking this somewhat remarkable, pro-
cured him an Adams's Arithmetic, which he soon
mastered When any question is put to him from
this book he will answer it Immediately from mem
Dry. He will also give the product Of four figures
| by four, performing the operation mentally nearly
as quickly as one can do it with pen and paper -
lie has also multiplied five places offgures by five,
which was the extent OF Zerah Colburn's power in
his best days. As examples, he gave readily the
product Of 6S42 x 5G54-3S,6S4, GG6 of 1916 x
| 905S-9S 345,2OS of 223G2 X 2l344-477 ,294,
52S of s4322 X 81 G2-5,4l9,70034. He will
extract the square and the cube roots Of numbers
extending to nine or ten places, performing the OPP
Grafton quite rapidly in his head.
The division Of numbers into their factors is a
favorite amusement with him. Give him the age
of person and he will give the number of seconds
correctly. All the questions which are given in
the Tribune, as having been proposed TO the Ne
gro boy, he answered in the space of fifteen min
ues, detecting three mistakes either IN the printer
or the boy.
lie has also answered all the examples given in
Colburns life, his head" one of the largest be
ing the square of $50 $685. product 100 l2l ,o76,544
1t has been u hobby with him this summer, tc
measure the fields about his fathers house, which
he has done correctly having his little sister, young
err than himself, as assistant, in his surveying
excursions. Having obtained some knowledge OF
the manner of finding logarlthms from Gregory's
dictionary, he has formed table from to 60.
lie has some knowledge Of Algebra and Geom-
etry, which he has gathered from the articles on
those branches III the work above named He
seems to possess, in addition to the power of per
forming lengthy calculations in his head, the high
er power of comprehendng and solving abstruse
and difficult questions in the various branches Of
Mathematics. You can form but an imperfect
idea of his wonderful power from the imperfect
sketch here given That it isnot exaggerated many
who have witnessed his operations in this vlcn
ty, will readily testify No efforts have been made
to push him into notice, neither has he been urged
to exercise his mind III mathematical studies, tol
the purpose of making wonder of him. On the
contrary, efforts have been made to restrain him.
lest he might injure his health.
He has always been rather of a sicky, delicate
lad but he has been improving in health and
strength of llte. Whether he will lose, this re-
markable power, as he grows older, or whether il
will increase in strength and vigor, is a question
time alone can determine. There good reas-
ons to hope, however, that with suitable and judci-
Gus discipline under capable teachers he will make
one of the most remarkable men yet produced in
our country ID. I. Is,