Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1862-12-03

lari,y, combined with the lowest order
of intellect, is given IN the following:
"Jcdedish Buxton, poor, illtera'e
English peasant, born about the year
t7os. was sngularly remarkable for his
knowledge OF the relative proportions OF
lunber,, their 20 ser.. and progressive
denominations. Being required 10 mul-
iply 45G by 37s, he gave the product
~ mental arithmetic Uor he could
aci,her read or wiite1 as soon IS another
,erson present had completed II ~ 'he
common wav. He wa, then requested
work it audlbIy. that bis method
might be known. lie began by multi
living 456 By 5, which produced 1920.
this be again multiplied by 90, and
found the product $1,000, which was
The mn,pIcand multiplied by 100 !;
IA product he apain multiplied by 3,
which produced 1876, 500, the sam Of the
nultiplicand multiplied by $40. It re-
NAMED, therefore, 10 multiply this 10y
10, which he Effected ty multiplying
1880 fthe product Of the multplicand
multiplied by 81 by Is; FIVE times Is
eng 75 TIN. product being $4,000,
no aided to 1885, 800, which was the
mul.,picand multiplied by 800, and
his produced III 900, witch was 3s5
times 456. To complete his operat on,
therefore,, he multiplied 35G by 3, which
produced ,3Gs, aud having added this
number to III, 900, he found the pro-
duet Of 45G multiple by 37e to be
l72, 3Ge.
"a person who had heard Of bis as
lonlshing performances, meeting him &C
cidentslly, 10 order to try bis calculating
powers, proposed to him the following
question: Admit field 10 be i-3
Yards long and 3s3 broal, what is the
area? After the figures were read to
him distinctly, he gave the trnc product,
5000 yard-, in the space Of two min
utes for the proposer observed by his
own watch how long each operation took
the respondent. The same person ask
ed him how many acres the said field
measured. Aud IN eleven minutes he
replied. thrty.th'ec acres, one rood
thlIty-iive perches, twenty yards and
one quarter. lie was then asked how
many barley corus would reach eight
miles. In q minute and half he ans-
wered, ,52o,GtO balley.corns.
"Ihls extraordinary man would stride
aver piece OF land or field, and tell The
contents with as much exactncss as il
he had measured it with chain. In
this manner he measured the whole
lordship Of Elmeton "a small village near
Chesterfield, and the place OF lis ma
tivit, J, OF some thousands Of acres be-
longing to Sir John Rhodes, and brought
him the contents, not onl IN acres, rods
nd perches, hnt even in square inches. |
Ater this he reduced them, for lis own
Amusement, into hair brcadths. comput- |
lrg fortv-clght 10 each side oi the ich, |
which produced such an incnmpIehen>i |
bic number 81 appeared altogether as
founding. But, perhaps, hls Creates |
eat IN calculation Was the answer the |
following mos; complicated questions
pnt TO him suddenly in the field when
walking with many other lsborers IL
a triangular BODY, whose three sides
are, respectively, 23,l45,Io9 wards. s.
Gi2,,3 yard, ard 54,9G5 yard, how
many cub'cal eghlhs Of AN inch art
there! He gave the exact solution in
five hours.
"Bo,n 10 no iEheritar CO, and brona hi |
mp to no particular calling, Jededal
Bnxton Supported himself ty the labor
If his hands and although. bis talents,
bad they been properly cultivated might |
have qnalhed hun Tor acting d;slin-
gn'sEed part on the theatre of lfe, he
pursued the 'Eoseless tenor of his way
Sufficiently coptenled II he could CRAFTY
the wants OF nature, and procure daily
subsistence for himself and family. He
was married man, and had several
lie died in 1888, being ahou,
evenly years Of age. Whenever he
was asked to catcututs guest,on, his
b bit was 10 sit down, take eft his old
brown hat, aud resting upon his stick,
generally very crooked one, he would
70 to work."
Tue sack OF Mexico is Already can
'assed and connseled, and the booty
distributed, in anticipation, amongst
hose having the best claims on the