The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-08-07

Wine and water were placed at the child.
mouth, but with its hand it brushed them
sway AT last the two decided to admit
Or. l. 10 their confidence, and summon
him to this strange bedside. lie WAS
brought TO room without being told the
circumstance of the case. and when he hal
learned them orally and felt the motions OF
the child, he was even more hewildered
than the two artists. lie had to believe
either that they were prac,icing upon him,
that here wasa wholly unscoountable phe-
nomenon, or that be and the other two men
were insane. He utterly refused To deal
professionally with the case, since he had
no grounds whstever TO proceed upon not
knowing the constitution Of this unheard-
OF being and the sources OF its evident life.
However, he suggested certain experiments
with 1t, which wee carried out. Placed
on a pair Of scales, the child was found 10
weigh twenty five pound. aud seven ounces.
1t was attempted TO clothe i, but The
clothing caused such evident suffering that
the experiment was %rclinquishei. \ plas-
ter cast OF one Of It's arms was made, which
showed the most beautiful and perfect pro
portions, the hand especially being finely
nodded, dimpled and pretty. 1t was
amusing, considering the fact, how the
child could have struggled as II did when
- AAs was touiuSIcu. iue temperature "
the body, as shown by a therm ometer placed
in the ~axilla, was sixty four degrees Fab
renheit, and its breath deposited moisture
on a mirror placed over the mouth. Aside
from inarticulate cries it emitted no sound,
and even after it had been kept and kindly
treated for over a month II showed no trace
of human affection, although it would some
times place its hand on Mr.. Saxe's knee as
he sat painting at his easel. OF course,
such a remarkable occurrence as the APP
pearance Of the child could not be kept en-
tirely secret, and Mr.. Saxe's room was Wis
tied daily by numbers Of people, only a few
OF whom, however, were admitted and al
lowed to examine the subject-in all, |
should say, not over fifty. At first Mr..
Sake had been unwilling to sleep in the
same room with the child, but as it gave
no evidence of spite or malice, as such a
thing might, perhaps, have been expected
to show by people who believe IN demons,
his fear gradually Wore away, and the child
slept quietly all night on the rug, while Mr..
SAKE occupied the bed. Among the specu-
lations caused by this strange being was
one with which some of US were at first
disposed to agree, and which was to the ef-
feet that the child's body consisted of some
substance like flexible crystal or non-rigid
glass-that is to say, Of some substance ia
which physiological functions could be car
ried on, but which was transparent to light
In a higher degree than any substance
known to the books. 1t followed from this
that, since light is def cted in passing from
a medium of one density to a medium of
another, and as the body of the child was
rounded symmetrically, an object seen
through it would appear distorted, unless
the body were OF the same density as the
air. There was no such distortion, nor
when the hand was surrounded on the pain
side with an atmosphere Of pure hydrogen
was there any, and as Of course the body
could not be precisely as dense a medium
as the air, and at the same time precisely
as dense as hydrogen, the theory proved IN
%tenable, and there was none better to substl-
tute for it. During all the time about ave
months) when the child was IN Mr.. Saxes
possession it ate and drank absolutely moth
ing, although, 50 far as vi could tell, 1t
seemed to be in good health UP 70 within
two weeks ago, when one day it showed
sig1s of pain as it lay on the bed, and IN the
evening it moaned most piteously. Near
midnight, of the same day, when Its bed
was surrounded with a number OF men and
women, it suddenly gasped conTulslveiy,
and even while my hand was upon Its head
it utterly away. The be iclothes collapsed,
and under our hands there VAS absolutely
nothing to mark that ever the child had
been there. 1t had died, perhaps, into
another world.
In this case the evidence Of the senses Of
hearing and feeling-and Of sight, Indirect
ly, as shown in the turning Of the scales
when the child was weighed showed that
it had an objective existence capable of re-
cognition by many sane men. Yet bad it
such an ex ssence If it had not, how are
the facts to be accounted for
P. S.-You needn't believe tt is unless
you wish.