New-York daily tribune., 1844-11-04
A p-ceocious Mashemaicfan.

A p-ceccious Mafhemattcfan.
We find the following in the Moaspelie: (vt)
Watchman, whose Editor vouches for the credi.
biity of the writer:
There was not long since notice in the Til.
bune of Negro, idiot in other respect, but pos
sessing wonderful faculty of mental calcua.
| ton. We have n instance of a similar gift in
our own State, more remarkable than the one
above alluded to- or perhaps any other of which
we have an account, in the person of a son of
Truman H. Stafford, Esq. Of Royalton, low aged
only eight years.
This case, however, seems to have but one
feature in common with that Of the Negro. for
| this lad has always displayed wonderful pre-.
cocity and faculty in cemprehendipg all branches
of study to which his attention has been directed
| At an earlier age than most children are able &c
read undarstandngy he had thoroughly mas
| tered 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
| if he knew how many rods it was around his
fathers large meadow, he could tell the measure
in barley corns. When his father came in, she
mentioned it to him, and he knowing the dimen.
sions of the field, made calculation, and told
the boy it was l040 rods; the lad after few
minutes gave 6l7,760, as the distance in barley
corns, Z" in his head" as the common phrase is.
Mr. S. thinking this somewhat remarkable,
procured him an Adams's Arithmetic, which he
soon mastered. When any question is pat to
him from this book he will answer it Immediately
from memory. He will also give the product
of four figures by four, performing the operation
l 1o
pen and paper He has also multiplied FIVE
places of figures by five, which was the ex-
tent of Zerah Colbutn's power in his best days.
AS examples, he geve readily the products OF
! 6942 x 5654-3S, ,684, ,666 of 9S76 x $685.
% 345' '2Os; OF 22a62 x 2l344-4777, 1894, ,52s f;
of s4322 x 64262-5, AIS, ,700,364. He will
extract the square 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 factors is a
fayorite amusement with him. Give. him the
age of person and he will give the number Of
seconds correctly. AL the questions which are
given in the Tribune, as having been proposed to
the Nepre boy, he answered in the space of ff-
teen minutes, detecting three mistakes either In
the printer or the boy.
He has also answered all the examples given
in Colburn's life, "in his head" one Of the
largest being the square of sss,8sS, product
| 790,l2l,876,544. Il 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 excursions. Having
obtained some knowledge of the manner of find
ing logarithms from Gregory's Dictionary, he
has formed table from l 10 so.
He has some knowledge of Algebra and &C.
ometry, which he has gathered from the articles
Oh those branches in the work above named. He
seems to possess, IN addition to the power OF per-
forming lengthy calculations in his head. the
higher power of comprehending and solving abb
struse and difficult questions IN the various
branches of Mathematics. You can form but an
imperfect idea of his wenderiul power from the
inve feet sketch here gwen That it is not ex
agy Grated, many who have witnessed ms opera
ti1,.s in this vicinity. will reaoiiy testify. No
efforts have heen made TO prsh him ioro notice,
neither has he been urged e.ercl-e bis mind In
mathematical studies. ior the purpose ot naslng
n wonder Of HIM. On the contrary, efforts have
been made 10 restrain him, lest he might iniure
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 re-
markaoie power, as he grows older, or whether 1t
will il crease in strength and vigor, is question
time alone can determine. There are good reas-
ous to hope, however, that with suitable and Ju-
dicious discipline, under capable teachers, he
will make one of the most remarkable men yet
produced in our country ID. Z. b.
cuR1ous.-Cspt. Nickerson, of the schooner
ouero. from Green Bank, at South Herwich,
states that on the 25th ut. while lying at anchor
in lat. 45o 81, lon. $50 80, he booked on to
something which lay on the bottom, which he
supposed to be the bottom of vessel, and drew
,hereirom piece of sheathing board. 1t was 6
feet long, and from 2 to 5inches wide, and fast.
ened with iron nails; the nails were rusted off,
and the board split and broke off from larger
piece in pulling it up from The wreck. 1t had
the appearance of having lain there for q humber
of years. lCnsiies''h asi10''
~ Dick, the slave who was tined ana con-
victed of the murder of Mrs. C. A. Turner,
during the present term of the Fayette Circuit
Court, has been sentenced 10 be hung on the 18TH
NJ November. fLex. Mo. Obs.
LrrrElL's LIVING AaE--No. XIV Of this es-
cellent work has been received from Graham,
| Tribune Office. 1t has a number of entertain
| ing articles from late English Magazines.