The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-03-23
A Phenomenon.

The San Francisco Morning CaN of
March has long account of a remark
able human phenomenon discovered in
that city. The account is exceedingly
'fishy," but exhibits an ingenuity which
entities it TO consideration; and indeed,
it describes a phenomenon that can be
imagined as not at all impossible. We
give summary of the statement for what
it is worth. For some time according to the
CAL, there have been rumors of strange
abnormal development of vision on the
part of lad named Johnny Palmer, who
resides with his parents in South San
Francisco. The boy is about nine years
of age, and has been regarded by his pa
rents hitherto as almost totally blind. On
the evening of the 18th of December last
the boy was in bed, and for some reason
the curtains of an adjoining window had
been removed. His parents were seated
in another room, when suddenly they
heard the child utter cry, and, fastening
in, beheld him sitting up in bed gazing
intently at the moon, which was shining
full in his face. He imagined it to be
about 200 yards distant, and could dis
tinguish objects on it with perfect dis
tinctness. These facts becoming known
to the California College of Sciences, a
committee composed of Drs. Bryant Cad
bury and Goldson sought the youth for
the purpose of testing his powers. They
found that nothing had been overstated,
and that this extraordinary vision was
possessed by the lad. He described what
he saw, and his description before the
committee agreed substantially with that
made on previous occasions to private
parties. He completely overturned the
theory of the inhabitability' of the
moon by declaring that he saw moving
objects upon its surface, and infinitely
described them. The committee conclude
from what the boy states that there are
living beings on that luminary. But that
they greatly differ in form from any living
thing on this planet When full grown the
Lunarian" is shaped somewhat like a
chariot wheel, with four spokes converg-
ing at the center or axle. They move by
rolling round and round, and travel as
swiftly as an eagle. The children appear
to be shaped like a pumpkin or orange,
finally losing their rotundity and assum-
| ing the form of the wheel alluded to. The
surface of the moon is all hill and hollow :;
no fire is visible, nor are there any vol
canoes, and no other species of living
thing seems to exist upon it. The COM
mittee turned the boys attention to the
! planet Venus, but he could discover moth
| ing in that direction. The learned Swans
at once surmised that the cause of his
failure here was the fact that the focus of
| the eyes was fixed at 240 900 miles, while
| the least distance of Venus from the earth
| is "a 293 600 miles. 1t was therefore i'm
| possible for him to discover anything on
the surface of the latter with distinctness
The reporter of the Cal, after hearing
the facts stated, hunted up the boy and ar
ranged meeting at the residence of J. P.
Marrow, Of San Francisco, who has a
large telescope finely mounted. The boy
took glance through this at Mars, and
burst out into a scream of delight, de-
scribing mountains, seas, rivers, cities, its
inhabitants, and so many other wonderful
sights that the reporter is obliged to post
pone further and detailed account until
the next issue of the Call. The secret of
this extraordinary power is described at
great length. We make the following ex-
| tract
There are two common imperfections
OF the human organ of sight; one called
myop5a, or " near sightedness :" the other
Dresbyopia, or g far-sightedncss In the
case under examination no glass or com
bination Of glasses could be invented suf-
ficiently concave to remedy the malforma
ton. BY mathematical problem of easy
solution it was computed that the nearest
distance from the unaided eve of the
patient at which a distinct image could be
formed upon the retina was 240, 900 miles
"a fraction short of the mean distance OF
the moon from the earth, and hence it be
came perfectly clear that the boy could see
with minute distinctness whatever was
transporting on the surface of the moon"
l-Chicag0 Inter- Ocedn.