Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-11-07

Mental PrOdigies.
from the N. Y Evening Post.
Among the interesting things the wonder
seeking public is called upon from time to time
TO admire, mental prodigies are not unfrequent.
Each generation produces abnormal specimens
of intutive talent which cannot be accounted
for But, setting aside calculating boys, infant
musicians, baby elOcutlonists and child chess
PLAYERS who traverse America and Europe on
exhibition, there is another class who make no
parade of their powers, whatever value they
may attach to them. Let me cite some cases
which have come under my observation.
The first is that of an illiterate man, living
twenty years ago in New Hampshire. Beyond
the capacity of fluent reading he was wholly un-
educated-could not spell, write his name, or
do the simplest sum in arithmetic. He was re
garded in his own neghborhood as an "inno-
cent wanting in responsibility, and utterly
Shiftess. He was the associate of boys, who
made him the object of constant ridicule. Yet
the poor fellow had memory that was amaZ-
ing. In a town containing upwards of six hun
dred houses he could repeat the name OF every
householder, going through street by stree and
reciting them in the order in which they dWelt,
and giving the names and ages of the children
in the homes he was accustomed to visit. Alter
reading through a column of newspaper adyer-
tisements he would recite the whole in the order
they stood, or IN the inverse order, or beginning
at any given line going on to the foot of The col.
umn then down from the top TO the starting
point At times of agricultural fairs or circus
| exhibitions 1t was not unusual to sec him sur
rounded by crowd of people, for whose amuse-
| ment he would read the placards on the walls,
and then turning his back repeat their contents
| word by word His memory was purely me-
chanical. He derived no information from
what he read. Of the simplest process of rea-
sonng he was incapable. His mind was a
blank. And yet this one talent, had it been
nife1a4
renown.
Another case was that of a cobber living in
London, England, who worked at his trade from
morning to night. He was a man of very inle-
rior powers in all respects but one-in resolving
problems in figures he was unrivalled. He
made this talent of use to himself by eXacting
a small charge for exhibiting it, keeping in his
stall blackboard and piece of chalk. Any
one who paid him three pence might give him
any problem in figures he chose. The cobbler
| would take the chalk and write down the sOlu-
| ton on the instant. For a shilling he would
answer questions for an hour. He would null
| tiply long rows of figures by each other appar-
| emily without moments reflection, dealing as
| rapidly and unerringly with fractions and frac-
| tiOnS of fractions as with integers, and would
| set down the equivalent in Il simple fraction OF
| any number of compound ones the moment he
| had read them. Being asked how many lis
I'D. there were in fl0,9S7 ,453, he replied imme-
diateIy: "Wel there will be a remainder-so
| much (writing down the tigures) and them's
| the figures for answer" jOtting them down as
fast as his fingers could move). One ofhis sen
| sational exploits was called corresponding
values" One wrote down an amount of money
or goods or land, aud said what he wanted an
| equivalent in-whether money, weight or meas
| ure. The moment the sum was given the cob
| bier would write down the Corresponding
| value" The correspondence consisted in this
| When both amounts were reduced to their low
II
identical. For example, suppose the examiner,
| having paid the cObbler a shilling, put to him
| the following sum:
"Give me the correspondence of a tons 12
cwts. 3 grs. 20 lbs, avoirdupois, in sterling
money!
The men would reply without a moments
hesitation: G57 los. ID; and whoever should re-
| duce both to their lowest terms would find the
| figures expressing it identical This, however,
| gives but faint idea of the mans faculty. He
| would have Knocked at so simple a test, and
| would have preferred dealing with millions at
| the left hand and fractions at the right. Per-
haps a scholar may say there is no difficulty in
this, since an agebraic formula might be readily
| devised for solving the problem with ease. But
| the cObbler knew. no more of algebra than he
| did of art; he belonged to the very lowest class
| of London poor; he eked out precarious liYeli-
hood by patching and soling the brogans of
| tTamps; his associations were of the most de-
| grading Sort his habits incorporates; and he
| was wholly uneducated. The wonder was, not
| only that such a thing could be done, but that
| a man OF no training should be able to do intui-
! lively, without study, what Others with all the
| advantages of first rate training, can do only by
| scientific method. Not the least curious feature
| in the cObblers case was the fact that he seemed
| to have no ineligible notion of the means
| by which he produced these results; at any rate,
| if he had, he was quite unable TO rive any eX-
| PLANTATION of them. He was invited to give a
| OF n CT rit
metic, and proud enough he was to accept the
| invitation. We fitted him up in decent, second
| hand apparel, and he went with his long black
| board and chalks. Astonishing things he certain
ly did in the calculating way, OBTAINING the audi
| ence to q late hour as he performed one marvel
! after another. But neither by close attention
| nor eXacting questions could there be gained the
| least linking of the processes that were passing
| so rapidly in his mind He had no information
| to give. 1t was utterly impossible for him to
teach others what was as easy TO himself as
/ breathing. His replies TO questions put not
only betrayed great irritation, but were vague,
confused and contradictory.
met with third case as | was entering that
marvel Of Gothic architecture, the Cologne
cathedral, year or two ago He was standing
with number of others, all poor men, in the
vestibule, waiting to be hired as a guide. [ en-.
gagged him to conduct our party through the
building. He spoke English as itseemed to us,
| with curious accent but as he was up to his
work, and pronounced his words slowly, we be-
| gan rather TO like the man and TO remark upon
his choice use, not only of technical terms in
pointing out the various parts of the vast super
| structure but of idomatic phrases. He seemed
to be in every respect a superior person for his
place. When we were far advanced up the nave
and somewhat separated, | asked him to repeat
description we had but partially understood
The man was confused. | asked the question
again To my surprise he not only did not un-
derstand me, but went on describing in perfect
ly ineligible phrases the particular part of the
cathedral we had then reached. Annoyed at
what appeared indifference to a civil request, |
stopped him and said:
at is not this we wish TO know now Tell us,
please, the history of that halfruincd tower
which you gave us Just now"
10 my increased surprise our guide stood
dumbfounded. He did not understand a word
! said. To go on with his description he was
quite ready, but to go back aud repeat what he
had reclted, or to answer a question, or to ex-
plain what was unintelligibe, was utterly be-
yond his reach. Not one word of the English
language, with which he had been entertaining
and instructing us for half an hour, did he I'M
derstand. He had "learned by heart"-to use
an old Saxon phrase-the woods of n gude.
book; had connected its descriptions correctly
with every part of the building; could explain
pillar and architrave, arch and entablature
monument and alcove, with uuerring exactness
and yet understood not word of what he was
saying. j learned afterwards that the man was
quite prodigy in Cologne. Heacted as guide
alike for Frenchmen and Russians, Italians and
Spaniards. The books composed in five differ
ent languages for the use of those foreigners
visiting the fombs of the Magi, he had learned
by rote, and could recite them as occasion re-
quired his services.
have known several remarkable instances Of
musical proficiency not 10 be accounted for upon
any theory of teaching. In 1926 two infants,
the elder only two years old, performed privately
in Paris, the one playing skifully on a violin,
the other, aged only ten months, accompanying
her sister on the tambourine with appropriate
emphasis and in true time Another case was
that OF two children, respectively five and seven
years old zone of whom executed in brilliant