The Woodstock age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1844-1845, 1844-11-28
From the N. Y. Tribune,
APRECOCIOUS MATH L M AT l.
CLAN,

We find the following in the Montpe'
ller (Vt.) Waterman,
There was not long since notice in
the Tribune of a Negro, idiot in other re.
spect, but possessing wonderful faculty o
mental calculation. We have an instance
of a similar gift in our own state, more
remarkable than the one above alluded t.
or perhaps any other of which we have
an account, in the person ola son o
Truman H, Stafford, Esq. of Roylaton
now aged only eight years.
This case, however, seems to have
but one feature in common with that o
the Negro, for this lad has always dis
played wonderful precocity and faculty
in compromising all branches of study
to which his attention has been directed
At an earlier age than most children are
to read Understandings, he had thorough
ly mastered the Geography in common use
in our schools. But his chief forte is in
mathematical and numerical calculations
The first knowledge his parents had Of
his power in numbers arose from little
incident that occurred in his sixth year.
He remarked to his mother one day, that
;fhe knew how many rods it was around
his fathers large meadow, he could tell
the measures in barley corns. When
his father came in, she mentioned it to
him, and he knowing the dimensions OF
the field, made calculation, and told
the boy it was 1910 rods; the lad after a
few minutes gave GIG, 760, as the dis
lance in barley corns, in his head" as
the common phrase is.
MIR S. thinking this somewhat remark
able, procured him an Adams Arithmc-
tic, which he soon mastered. When any
question is put to him from this book he
will answer it Immediately from memory.
he will also give the product offour figures
by four, performing the operation men
tally, nearly as quickly as one can do it
with pen and paper. He has olso multi
piled five places of figures by five, which
was the extent of Zerah Colburn's power
in his best days. AS examples, he gave
readily the products of 6842 x 5654-3S,-
684, sos; Of 1916 S9953-98, 345 208 ;of
22362 X 2l344-4777 ,a94 ,528 ;of 1892
X 64262--5,4ls,7GO,3 1854. He will ex-
tract the squire and the cube roots of
numbers extending to nine or ten places,
performing the operation quite rapidly in
his head.
The division of numbers into their fac
tors is favorite amusement with him.
Give him the age of a person and he
will give the number of seconds correct
ly. All the questions which are given in
the Tribune, as having been proposed to
the Negro boy, he answered in the space
Of fifteen minutes detecting three mis-
takes either in the printer or the boy.
He has also answered all the examples
giving in Colburn's life, Sin his head, "
one ofthc largest being the square of
1888, product 790.l2l $40, 544. 1t
has been hobby with him this summer,
to measure the fields about his fathers
house, which he has done correctly, hav-
ing his little sister, younger than himself
as an assistant, in his surveying excur-
sions. Having obtained some knowledge
Of the manner of finding logarithms from
Gregory's Dictionary, he has formed a
table from to 60.
He has some knowledge of Algebra
and Geometry, which he has gathered
from the articles on those branches IN the
work above named. He seems to possess
in addition to the power of performing
lengthy calculations in his head, the
higher power of comprehending and
solving abstruse and difficult questions
in the various branches of Mathmatics.
You can form but an imperfect idea of
his wonderful power from the imperfect
sketch here given. This is not exaggre-
gated, many who have Witnessed his oper-
atoms in this vicinity, will readily testify.
No efforts have been made to push him
into notice, neither has he been urged to
exercise his mind in mathematical studies
for the purpose of making wonder of
him. On The contrary, efforts have been
made to restrain him, least he might in
jure his health.
He has always been rather of sickly,
delicate lad, but he has been improving
in health and strength of late. Whether
he will lose this remarkable power, as he
grows older, or whether it will increase
in strength and vigor, is a question time
alone con determine. There are good
reasons to hope, however, that with suit
able and judicious Discipline, under capa-
pable teachers, he will make one of the
most remarkable men yet produced in
our country. ID. &. b.
The following is the lads rule by which
he solves this difficult problem.
The square of number divided by the
square Of any other number is equal to
the square Of The quotient of the num-
bers divided.
The square of any number, multipli
by the square of any other number, is
equal to the square of The products oil
the numbers multiplied together. Thus,
the square of $1,000, divided by the
square of 9, gives The square of Hill
and multiplied by the square off gives
the square 889 $3.50
a