Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1845-09-26

er, in nothing but mathematics and as,rono-
my. His father and myself were old Sun.
day school scholars together, and every on.
portuni'y was given me 10 ties, the child
thoroughly.
| will now proceed 10 give some accoun,
Of long examination. While the child was
not yet come in from the field, where, with
his little sister, lie was gone to gather wild
berries, examined an almanac in manuscript
for A. D., 1876, all of which this child has
wrought out ALONE; much Of il, including
one Of the eclipses, before witnesses with
whom | am acquainted. About IL days
have already been spent by an adult in cop
wing in fair hand the almost ilegible writing
of his ilny fingers. We were examining the
projection Of the eclipses which he himself
had made and subsequently calculated, when
he came in. told him of the blind student
in Kenyon College, who was studying the
DliferentiaI and Integral Calculus. lie
seemed much pleased. and said he did not
think he could have done that without sight.
then asked him Of the projection winch lay
before us, he Immediately commenced full
explanation, and | felt, as his little infant
hand ran rapidly over the diagram, and
listened to his child.like expressions, as if
were IN the presence of some superior being.
In some instances puzzled him, but never
did he appear fre,fu, and when told him
any thing he did not already know, he always
repaid it with smile.
l asked him, if two equal circles cut each
other 10 the extent of 1.12 their diameter,
what area would be thus cut away-quickcr
than l could think, he said the 144,h part
I then asked him, il 312, or digiis, were
time cut. and hn Instantly saI sf-}SL !
asked him how he knew, and he said 81 12S
IA and IA squared is 1-16.' l asked him
why he squared il. he said 1T is so in SEM
icircle and must be SO in circle then
told him the rule Of homologous sides, and
he smiled and said lie understood it. then
asked him, if two legs Of right angled iri.
angle were given, one IL and the other 16,
what the hypo,henuse would be, and he in
stanlly replied 30, wouldn't il ?-Yes! I
then said. suppose the legs were 8 and l6,
then what7 In half minute, and without
any pencil, he replied. 'l7.8SS5.' l then
asked, il the legs were and Is, then what
He was rather longer in answering. but took
no pencil, and replied, '16 553.' asked
him why he carried this last to three deci.
mails when he had carried the other TO four I
He said the other was easier, and tried 10
tell why il was so. Iasked him If he could
carry that to any further decimals will, a
pencil He said he thought he could, and
'sasd The The "Sf Sowag, say 65 ;5
believe there is an error in about the 9Th
decimal, although neither o! us went over !,
again to find il. He could have detected it
as quick as thought, had he tried.
asked him the product of LA 1854 I;
he Instantly replied 1.l3OS. | asked HIM
the square root of 5; he Instantly replied
2.236O67, saying he had lot of them in
his memory and did not have to cas-, them.
l gave HIM the following questions: The
square of 4657 He said '2l6225.' The
cube of 26l He answered 1876. ask
ed him it might try him on the fourth
power. He said yes, if | would not go be.
yond two figures. asked him the fourth
power of rs. His eye whirled, and he
sprang like an arrow to the door, hung by
one hand to the door post, and came, in say
3.4 Of minute, and replied, 'Thrty-one
millions six hundred and forty thousand six
hundred and twenty-five, 81 ,6iO,625.
His father asked him to verify tina, with a
pencil. He replied ut is just as well 10 take
the cube of IS from the book and multiply
it by IS, and rs is "a Of 100, add two cy.
pliers, multiply by 3 and divide by four; al
Of which was done as quickly as | have
written il, and with the same result as before
l asked him what we're the factors of 764O
He instantly said 40 x l9l, or 20 x 3S2, OF
$500, or 1885, asked him The
factors Of the decimals O.7S54. he immedl.
ately said ut is not regular, it will take ;
double factor IL IL O.6 O7;' which
as wrote down, omitted the points before
6 and Z, and he instantly took the penci
and made them himself.
As he had performed all these in his head
| was DESTROYS of knowing what his process
was. therefore gave him a sum of foul
figures 10 be multiplied by another of fouI
figures, on the slate. He took the first fig
ure and run j, through as we do from RICH
to left, and then wrote the second line bach
again from left to right and so on. lie dc
not multiply one figure of the mullipiCant
by itself, but always two ;-e.g. In thu
case gave him, the mul,ipicand was 5642
and the left hand figure of the muluplie
was 8, and instead of saying 3 times 2 arr
6 and setting it under the 2, he said 8 time
Sc is l6S, which he wrote in its prope
+ place, but recorded it 100. because the mex
figure being 4 he knew there must be one Il
carry he then said times AZ is l26, AM
the having already been recorded, he wrot
the &c at the right Of the other, thus, 1926
HIS calculations entirely ouis,rip the capa
bii,y of his pencil to record them.
| Tried to make his parents feel that he wa
a treasure lent. The mother evidently felt
so, but the father seemed unwilling to yiel
the fond belief that he nigh, become a
wonderful a man as he surely is a child
Al all events | cannot bu, feel as il hav
seen something Of what we ye, may b.
when mortality shall have been swalowe
up Of life.
GEORGE DENNIsoN.
Royalton, w., Aug. 81, 1915.