Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-29
A HUEAN MAGNET,
An Infant Child 10 whose Finger Tips Ar
t'cles of Metal Adhere.

,, An Infant Child 10 whose Finger Tips Ar
t'eIes OF Metal Adhere.
DR.. Z. 81. Root In the Medical Reporter
Late in August last, while taking va
cation In country town, 1 heard OF q
case that was CAUSING considerable dis.
cussion and wonderment among the peo-
pie. Lovers Of the mysterious, who are
always ready to attribute any msnifes.a-
ton at ali peculiar to supernatural sgen-
cies, were indulglng in various wise spec.
ulat1ons IS to the true nsture Ct the case
The child Is termed "lumsu msgue,n
by the believers in and prac,icers of mag
netic ruboipgs, while the Spiritualists
declare the child q chosen medium. Nv
curiosity became aroused, and 1 asked
permission to see the wonderful prodigy.
Permission WAS granted, and 1 saw
the child at two different times,
making my visits some dsys apart.
found pretty, delicate child,
Dolly c., aged three years and six
months, an only child, blonde, with q
pale ana rather wexy complexion. Her
manner OF speech and conduct were char
acterizsd by . womanly grace much in
advance Of her tender years.
Last February the phenomenon 1 de-
scribe was Hrst noticed. While play
ing with some spoons the mother
was surprised to see her arranging
them on her finger tips, where they
hung with perfect ease. She will place
the PAlmar surface Of the finger tips in
the cavity OF the spoon BOWL, near the
end, and lit from the holder, one by one,
without otherwise touching them, until a
spoon Is suspended from each 1,gsr tip
Ii the spoons do not strike to violently
,sainst each other she will carry them
about the room without dropping them.
l examined the case In various ways
First, 1 tried four teaspoons with a mag
net-one pure silver, one pewter, one
triple plated and one single plated, or
washed. The pure silver or pewter
spoons were not Influenced by the mag.
net; the heavier plated WAS only partially
raised, while the washed spoon was
raised entirely clear of the table. 1 car
ried these four spoons with me for the
child to exercise her anomalous power Of
prehensinn upon. Each one was sus-
pended with equal ease except the enc Of
pure silver.
This one was lightest In weight, and
the bowl was considerably f.tter than
any OF the other three. But sitter arraug-
ing 1t upon her finger 8 few times she
succeeded In making it "stick." Asking
her to put two fingers under the spoon
bowls. found very sppreciable resist
ance In waxing it CT. The spoons would
hang from the tip of the nose ard chin
with ss much security as from the fin
gers. Thinking the adherence might be
due to an excessive Eclamniness of the
skin, l tested ITS surface with nv own
finger tips.
Not discovering any, and, to mske sure
I WAS not deceived By my own sense Of
touch, had the hands, nose and chin
carefully washed with soap and wster
and dried with a warmed towel. found
no perceiyable difference in the adhesive
ness. The child could not pick up steel
needle, that is so sens tive to The magnet,
nor would penny "stick" to
the fingers, chin or nose. 1 could
discover nothing unusual in the shspe of
the f1nger-tips. The skin was soft and
velvety to the touch, and could be SURF
of clsmminess nowhere except on the
pima. The hands snd feet were warm 10
the touch when I SAW her, and her mother
states that she is rot often troubled with
cold feet aud hsnds.
The little pstient's mother also told me
that her sisters daughter, i young ladq, of
ntneteenyear OF age, and "slways sick" as
she expressed it, mantfests the same sin
gular power" This case did not see, but
nave no reason to doubt the l.dy's state
ment, as she and her whole family are
known to be truthful and honest.
| have been thus particular in giving
81 the available points in the family his
tory OF the case. hoping thereby some
light might be thrown upon this singular
phenomenon.