The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-09-16
TONDERFUL CALCULATIONS.
Intuisivc Perceptions In Ma,n.ma,ie.

On the Sd Of July, 1889, some of the emi-
nent members of the Academy of Science, at
Paris. including NM. Arago. Lacroix. Libra
and Strum, met to examine remarkable boy,
whose powers of mental calculation we're
deemed quite lnexplicable. The boy, named
Vito Mangiamclc, Silician, was the son of
shepherd. and was about eleven years old.
The examiners asked him several questions
whey they knew, under ordinary circum-
stances, to be tedious of solution such as the
cube root Of 3,796, ,41G, and the tenth root of
2S2 475 49. The first Of these he answered in
half q minute, tho second Ill three minutes.
One question was OF the following comph-
Gated character: What number complies with
tho following proportions. that If its cube be
added to five times its square, and then AZ
times the number. AMI the number 40 be sub
ut racted from the result, the number is equal
10 0 or zero?
NJ. Arago repealed this question second
time; but while he was finishing the last word
the boy replied, :the number is FIVE"
Such cases greatly puzzle ordinary maihc-
nlaticians. Buxton. Colburn and Bidder have,
ut different times, exhibited this uuaccounta.
bic power OF accounting. Jedediah Buxton,
although his grandfather was clergyman and
his father q schoomaster, was 30 neglected in
his education that he could not oven write;
hie mental faculties were Glow, with the one
wonderful exception OF his power OF mental
arithm ,tic.
After hearing sermon, he remembered and
cared for nothing concerning it, except the
number OF words, which he had counted du-
rlpg their delivery. II period Of timo or size
of an object were mentioned in his hearing, he
almost unconsciousy began 10 count how many
seconds, or how many hair breadths there
were in II. lie walked from Chesterfield 10
London on purpose to have the qualification
Of soeiug George Ii; and while in the motrop.
Oils he was taken much notice Of by members
| of tho Royal Society. On one occasion he went
to see Garrick in Richard III; but instead Of
attending to tho performance IN the usual way,
he fonnd occupation in counting tho number
| OF words uttered by each pc forme,
After striding over a field in two OF three di-
rections, he would tell the pumbcr OF square
| inches 1t )ntained. He could number all tho
plnts of beer he had drank at all tho houses
he had ever visited durinn half century. He
once set himself to reckon how much farhing
would amount TO If doubled ono hundred and
] forty times; tho Jesuit came out in euch
stnperdous number Of pounds sterling ns
| required thiIty-nine places o figures 10 repre-.
sent 1t.
In 1850, this problem was put to him to find
| out how many cubical eighths OF IN inch thero
are in qnadranguar mass which measured
! 231, ,145 789 yards long, S 643. 733 yards wide,
and 54 965 yards thick; he answer I'd this IS
| all the rest, mentally. On one occasion he
| reckoning" the following I'm 200 600 million
cnblc miles how mLny grains Of eight different
kinds OF corn and rulse and how many hairs
| al inch long?' He ascertaincd by actual
how many hairs an inch long, would 20 to an
| inch cube, aud then set himself about his
enormous eelf-imposed task. He could GUS
pend any OF his probIems for any length of
time, and resume at the point where hc left of;
and could converse on other subjects while
thus employed. He could never give any 40.
count OF The way In which he worked out his
problems; nor did his singular but exceptional
| faculty bring him any oiher advani age than
that Of being invited to the houses of the gen.
try as Kind Of show.
Zef,h Coburn. who excited much: interest
IN London IN 1872, was q native OF Vermont.
At Bix years old ho aud lon!y showed extraor-
dinary powers OF mental calculation. By pro.
! oesees which seemed to be almost unconscious
to hinsclf. and vera wholly so to others, he
| answered arilhmetical questions of consider
able difficulty. IFiT
When eight years old he was taken to
London, where he astonished many learned
auditors and spectators by giving correct
solutions to such troblems as the following
Rise 8 up to the sixteeJlth power; give The
square root Of 10s,82s; Give the cube FOOT
OF EGG ,s2s. .125i hey many seconds are there
In ~ years 'F' Tho answers were h!wass
y !gr| ,!arg3 .tss.5tt pglfity