Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1846-02-12

"httft upcraiOn wv voif uiinu sn suUn! bcs,
air Then took him into the mcnsurat,on
solids. SAID !, what ss the entire surface OF
a regular pyramid whose Sian, hc,ght Is
IL feet, aud the base n ysmingon, OF which
zach side Is gtj feet? IN 'sh.'a, Two minutes,
a.icr amplilying round the roo'n. a. his Gus
ton, -, he replied, 1854, ,IalS.' How dad
yon do II? said l. lie answered, Multiply
r5 by 5, aud thar prodsrt by s5, aud add
,h,s product To the product Obtained by
the tabular area taken from tho table cor.
responding to u pemagon.' On looking AT
this process, II ID strictly scientific. Add to
,his the tact that ! was examining hlm on
different branches of mathematics, reguirin
The application of different rules, and that he
went from one sum To another with rap,dny,
pertofning the work ~ hIs mind when
asked TO, and the wonder ~ still greatcr.-
Then desired him To find the surface oi n
sphere. Hence, said !, required the area of
The surface of the earth, it's diameter being
1921 miles? lie replied as quick as thought,
'l37 Ii2,02i squire milcs.' TO do it, he had
TO square 1921 and multiply the product by
3 I4i6. Then wished hl,n 10 give me the
solIdily of a sphere; therefore, said |, what
is the soidhv of the earth. the mean diane
ter being 79lS7 miles? lie wrihcd about,
few rapidly about the room, flashed his eyes,
aud in about minute said, "!59, y2.7g2 0S:3 >
To de lhis, he multiplied The cube Of 79lS7
by 5ej6, | believe he used few figures IN
dong the sum; but il was unnecessary, as he
performed much larger one in his mind, as
shall soon SNOW. The next sum I gave
hIm to perform was this: How many rails
will il require TO fence o circular field, so
that here shall be as many acres io the field
as there are rails round 1.-THE fence being
five rails high aud the rails ten feet long or
lying ten feet on the circumference ? O.!
said he, 4 guess can't 10 II h;-'Oi yes
can,' sand he, lrnping on TO the floor and hur.
rying abont the room; and in about two
minutes after he Put hrs mind upon il. he said
y, will take l36S4S, ,O06 rails The mode OF
dong this was inge genious. and shows his power
Of compreheuding not only the nature Of the
sum, buI also the mode Of performing il. On
ssklng him TO explain how he wrought II, he
replied, If five rails fence ten feet of the cir
cumfcrence, one rail will fence two feet then
shall have fenced piece OF ground two
feet al the circumference and 0 at the centre.
Bot by dividing this in The centre and refers
ing the ends. II will be one foot wide. Now
how for must this strip nf land extend TO make
an ncre? Multiply lGO by 272, ! I nnd it
will give tho square feet IN IN acre which is
1860. This ~ the radius ot the circle
twice this Is the diameter, and the diameter
multiplied by 3l.4l6 gives the feet in the cir
cumicrcnce, aud that product divided by 2
gives the number of rails and the number Of
acres or, which is the same thing, as2 is
both Il multiplier and a diviser, neglect both
steps, aud the rudius multiplied by 3 IIIG,
gives the answer Now let il be remembered
that this boy is only ten years old-that he
did this sum for the first time in about tco
minutss almost wholly in his head-and who
can account for ii! Then | asked him about
his rule respecting the intersection Of circles
and the cutting away OF the area, as reported
by Prof Denison. lie said it was wrong and
explained to me satisfactorily how the error
occurred The fact is, the boy is sometimes
apparently lost IN thought, or absent minded,
and unless he is often told to keep his mind
on his work, he may, the first you know, be
reading or studying out something that seems
suddenly to come to his mind. 1t il possible
that this had something to do with the error
alluded to. This mistake has been fully ex-
planned by his father in the New York OBJ
server. To test him on this point, inquired.
Suppose two equal circles cut each other 6 ~
Of their diameter. how much of the area will
be cut away? Said he Instantly, '39l one
lhousand'h.' How do you know ? said |. lie
seized his pencil and slate. drew a diagram,
and demonstrated this properly that the area
intercepted between the circles is equal TO
twice the area of circle, the area OF which
circle is equal 10 one and the hcigh, Of the
segmen, is equal to the diameter of the circle
multiplied by the number Of digits intercept.
ah hat hn ,,rc e. 1C a
cles, and divided by "a, or 2 X r." | then
asked him 10 give me the cube root Of 49,
o75. lie replied quicker than | could write
It, and that mentally, 'I55, is ii not? Yes
Then said ], What is the cube root OF 5,I77,.
III? Said he. I73 Of 7SS0,509? lie
instantly said, 'l9y These roots he gave, cal.
cnlated wholly IN his mind, as quick as you
could count one. then asked his parents if
might give him hard sum to perform men
tally. They said they did no, wish to tax his
mind too mnch, nor often to its full capacity.
but were quite willing to le, me try him once.
Then SAID !, Multiply. IN your heat, 3ti5, ,365.-
;Gl 6l ,35y}65 by 365 ,365, ,365, ,365 365. .365
lie flew round the room like top, pulled his
pantaloons over The top Of his boots, bit his
hand, rolled his eyes in their sockets, some
times smiling ana talking, and then seeming
to be IN agony, until, not more than one
minute said hc, l33 I9I $50 2Oe, ,:ti6 y25 DIG.
65s2D D,Wi 5e3225" The boys father, Rev.
&. N. Smith and myself had each a pencil
and slate 10 take down the answer, and he
gave II to MS IN periods Of three figures each,
as fast as It was possible for rs to write them.
And what wns still more wonderful he began
10 multiply at tho left hand and to bring ou,
the answer from left to right, giving first ;.
'lSI i9i, &c. .Herc. conioundcd above mea-
sure. gave up the examination. The boy
looked pale and SAID he was tired He SAID
!, was the largest sum he ever did In con-
cluslon ] am aware that this narrative is al
most incredible. But let il be remembered
that went skeptic, took good witness
with me, examined the boy carefully, and
here pledge my sacred honor that all | have
stated IS true. Rev. Mr.. Smith, Of Randolph.
VI. Is witness tn the correctness Of this re.
port. Further, If any are disposed TO disbe
Iicve my siatcment, beg them TO make
tour to Royalton W.. where they will find
The boy aud hnve an opportunity to examine
hun for themselves. was Informed that he
had been offered $1,000 ycar to cast interest
Tor bank not far from hs fathers. Mr. Saf.
ford has received many urgent proposals to
permit his wonderful son TO be carried round
the world for exhibition but he will no, con.
sent. Gentlemen of wealth have offered pc.
cunlary AID to furnish III" boy with booss. Sc :,