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

third. When hnding 'his RUE. hf twu "'
three days he secmrd 10 be- IN u sori oi trance.
One morning, very early, he cn'nc rushing
down stars. not stopping To dress himself
poured on tn his slate u stream at figures, ana
soon cried ou. IN the w,ldness Of hs Joy
-! father. ! have got il have got u
comes II comes! questioned h'm respect
ing this rule. lie commenced III" cxplana
tion. Ills eyes rolled spasnhodically ~ their
sockets, aud hc explained his work with read
mess. 10 hear hiD talk so rapidly, aud YET
So technically cxac, and 81 far above M
comprehension of sll, save tho most profound
mathematician, pu, to fight all my doubts
and filled ma wnh utter astonishment. Tie
SAID he did not know as his role would work
IN all cases, but ss yet It had. lie also re-
marked that the nearer noon the eclipse
came on, the easier Il was to apply his rule
But young Satfprd's strength does not 'ie
wholly in tho mathematics. lie has a sort of
mental absorption Ills infant m'nd drink.
in knowledge as the sponge docs ws'cr.-
Chemistry, botany, philosophy, geography
aud history are his sport. II does not make
much difference what question you ask him !;
no answers very readily. spoke 10 him Of
somo Of the recent discoveries IN chemistry.
We understood them. ! spoke TO him oi the
solidhcalion Of carbon,c acid gas by PROT
Johnston, of the Wesleyan University. lie
said he understood it /; here his eyes flashed
fire, and he bcgnn to explain the process -
When only four years old, lie would sur
round himself upon the floor with Morsc's.
Woodbridgc's, Olncy's. Smiths and Mallc
HUNS Biographies, tracing them through
aud comparing them, noticing all their points
of difference. HIS memory, too, is very
strong. lie has poured over Gregory's
Dictionary OF Arts and Sciences so much,
that | seriously doubt whether there can be
a question asked him, drawn from either OF
thOses immense volumes, that lac will not
answer instantly. ! snw the volumes. and
slso noticed no had left his marks on almost
every puge. ! asked To- see his maihemati.
cal works he sprung into his study and
produced me Grcenleaf's Arithmetic. Per.
kins' Algebra, Playfair's Euclid, Pikcys
Arithmetic, Dawes Algebra. Iiulton's Ma,h
e,natics, FIn,'s Surveying, the Cambridge
Mathematics, Gummcre's Astronomy, and
several Nautical Almanacs. | asked hun #
he had mastered them all he replied tlIa, he
had. And all examination OF hlm tor the
space Of three hours convinced me he had !;
and not only so, but that he Ind far out.
stripped them Ills knowledge IL not intu.
tive he is a pure and profound reasoner.-
In this he rxcels oil other genluses VI whom
! ever rerd. lie Gun not only reckon figures
10 his mind with the rapidly Of lightning,
but he reasons, compares, reflects, and wades
N pleasure through all the most abstruse
sciences, and comprohcnds and reduces To
his own clear and brief rules the highest
mathematical knowledge. Ills MUD Is con.
stanily active, no recreation or amuseme
can avail Tor any length OF time to divert him
from mental effort. Being accompanied by
Rev. G. N. Smith, Of Randolph, W., who was
acquainted with Mr.. and Mrs. Stafford, had
free access To the boy, aud ample Opportun-
~ for a long and thorough examination. !
went firmly expecting Ia be able to confound
HIM, as ! had previously prepared myself
with various problems for HE solution.
did moi suppose II possible tor boy OF ten
yenrs only to be able to play rs with top.
with all the higher branches OF matheina,i ics
But IN this was disappointed. Here fol-
lows some Of The questions put to him and
his answers said,can you tell me how many
seconds old was last March. the l2,h day
when was q years old Hc replied in.
stant'y. $3.50, 300.
Then said ], the hour and minute hand of
clock are exactly together at II o'clock :;
when are they next together? Said he, as
quick az thought. III. SIS. In And here
will remark that had only to read the sum
to him once /; he dId not care TO see it, but
only to hear IL announced once, no matter
how long. Let this fact be RENE mbered in
connection with some of the long and bllnd
sums shall hor CATER name, a. see If IT does
not show h's amazing power OF perception
aud comprehension. Also, he would per-
torm the sums mentally and also on snte,
working by the bricfes, and strctest rules,
aud lnrryiDg on To The answer with n rapid
~ outstrippng all capacity TO keep up with
him. The next sum gave him was this /:
A man and his wife usually drank out a cnsk
Of beer in IL days; but when The man was
from home, IT lasted the woman 30 days A.; how
many days would the man alone be drinking
II? He whirIed about, rolled up his eyes
and replied a, once, 30 days Then said |.
what number il tina, which, being divided by
the products of its digltp, the quolent is three,
aud It lS be added, the d,gits will be invert.
ed lie flew out of his chair, whirled round,
rolled up h,s Wild flashing eyes, and said, in
about o minute, '24' Then said I, two per.
sons, a ond B. departed from different places
at the same time, and travelled towards each
oA"e'' "" W"etiHH, " HPpc"I'u I'lHl ~ nHO
travelled lS miles more than B aud that A
could hnvc gone BIS journey IN IS "a days.
but B would have been % duys in perform
ing As journey. How far did each travel
Tic flew ronnd the room, round the chairs,
wrhlng his little body as IT in agony, aud in
about minute" sprung up To me and sad, "A
travelled ~ miles, ond B "a milcs-didnn
they? Yea
Then said ], what two numbers arc those
whose sum, multiplied by tho greater, il equal,
to ~ and whose difference, multiplied by
tho less, is equal to ~? lie again shot out
Of his chair like an arrow, flew abuu, the
room, his eyes wildly rolling in their sockets,
and 10 about n minnie said, Il and - Well,
said !, the sum OF two numbers is 6, and the
sum Of their cubes I53: what arc the mum
bers Said he, Instantly, 3 and s. Now
in regard To these suIns, they are the hardest
IN Davies' Algebra. I have had classes of
one hundred scholars who have no, been oblc
10 perform some of them. But young Stafford,
nt one reading, comprchcnded them OF a fash,
aud returned almost Instantly, correct nn-
swcrs. lie also gave me correct Algcbralc
i"''nnlss Tor doing them. Then ! took him
int" Plain Trigonomeiry. Said !, IN order to
hrd ih" di.iaucc between two trees, A aud
u. winch could not be directly measured. be-
c""-" oi pool which occupied the interme.
date space. the distance OF third point, c,
tfptn cnrh ~ns nnasu.ob ESg