davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

heart warns to the tartan, or to any
thing Of Scotland which reminds me of
Aberdeen, and othera parts not so far
from the highlands of that town, about
Invercauld and Braenar where l was
sent to drink goats fey, in 1856, in
consequence of threatened decline. af-
ter scarlet fever.
1t was to Ballaterich farm, up Deer
from Ballater 1t lies in a deep glen
The present farm house is new. That
of Byron's day was a long, low, one
stored. matched biggin. such a farm
house as may stillsbe found in the re-
moter highlands; what we should
think the acme of discomfort. Of this
house only a portion of the wall re-
mains. A fire consumed the rest a few
years ago, together with the s'box-bed''
in which the boy Byron used to sleep
and which was shown to visitors many
years as ''Byron's bed" The box-bed,
as perhaps the reader knows, is the
common cottage bed of Scotland, built
into the house and shut in with doors
in the daytime.
HE WAS A MISCHIEVOUS LAD.
Some years ago there died in this
valley the last individual who had any
personal recollections of Byron, an old
woman of SO. Rev. Mr. Niche, who
knew her and had frequently talked
with her gave me some account of
these recollections.
HE was a very takin' laddie, but no
easily managed. He was very fond of
coming up to see my fathers shop Ga
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

the same race, the differences are more
marked. The tactile sense is then seen
to be one susceptible of much cultiVa-
ton; one as capable of training as sight
or hearing, or as improbable by use as
the muscles of the arm. For example.
the sensibility in the fnwer tips of
blind person, trained to read raised
letters with them. is many times more
acute than that of a, sailor whose fin
gers have grown callous by exposure
and work. So, too, the arm of a young
girl, tender and soft, is far more SEN
sitive to touch than that of q foundry
man whose much-thickened skin has
suffered the hardening effect of great
heat.
Naturally, as tactile sensibility de-
ponds on how close together are placed
the papillae containing nerve bulbs, it
is correct to reason that pain is acute
in proportion to the frequency of these
in any area.
This we find to be the case The
acheing tooth or ear, the pain from a
splinter under a finger nail. an in
jury to the tongue or eye, are all ex-
ceedingly painful because they involve
a region where nerve terminals are
thickly placed. A boil on the palm
Of the hand will involve fully $50 times
as many sensitive points as will one
in the middle of the back, simply be-
cause .13 is but one-sixteenth of 2.O2,
and the square of 16 is 256.
And this brings us to a most sur,
prising fact BY many measurements
and experiments made by Professor
Lombroso and others, it is ascertained
that the average of tactile sensibility
in woman is considerably less than in
man Hence we are compelled to re-
consider the long-heId theory that wo-
man makes less display of suffering
because she possesses greater forti-
tude, greater mental control under ae-
ony. Professor Lombroso and a num-
Der of foremost psychologists now be-
lieve that woman has been endowed
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

curate estimate of it's delicacy; and
| together with other experiments make
up fairly exact knowledge of the
| field.
The principal other experiments have
! to do with the different surfaces of the
| body as to the amount of weight that
produces a change in tactile sensation.
The simplest apparatus for this pur-
pose consists of pair of delicately
poised balances. so arranged that one
arm can be brought to bear on any sur
face with a pressure varied by the adj
dition or subtraction of weights at the
other end.
This instrument for testing the touch
sensations of different weights show
that for the most part, obtuseness to
weight is found in the same areas,
and in about the same proportions, as
obtuSeneSS to the other tactile Sensd-
ton. Thus we have the following deli
cate changes in weight detected by
the regions named:
Forehead and temples. .03 grain
Fingers. average ... .0S grain
Chln and nose. .62 grain
After which come in order such areas
as the back of the foot, its sole. the
back Of the legs and thighs; and the
middle of the back comes as the least
sensitive.
In the light of these experiments, we
may readily understand why it is that
a surface which feels smooth, when
passed across the back of the hand,
lis found to be quite rough, if either
the tip of the tongue or the index fin
ger is passed over it, for the latter have
fully 140 times the sensitiveness of the
former.
So, too. we can understand why
blow on the back is far less painful
than one on the top of the great toe;
and realize why the usual method of
spanking is much preferred by the
spanked one to the application of a
ruler across the fingers and palm.
1t must be borne in mind that the
figures here given are for an average
of different ages and varying condi-
tons
When we compare individuals, we find
some very surprising differences. Even
among children of the same parentage,
marked differences may be observed,
as anyone may prove by trying the
compass experiments among his ac-
quaintances.
When it comes to different classes OF
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

banks. the haunts of innumerable song
birds. slope down on one side, while on
the other cluster antique cottages with
gardens. An attractive spot, and of a
charm sure to have stirred the latent
poetic feeling in the boys mind
The little lad had to undergo much
suffering in the attempts made to
straighten his feet, and his nurse, when
adjusting the bandages at night, used
to sing to him to sleep or relate stories
and legends. This was his nurse Agnes
Gray. to whom and her sister Marjory
who succeeded her, Byron was always
deeply attached. Agnes taught him to
repeat many of the Psalms, the first
and twenty-fifth being the first COM
mited to memory. He learned from her
to read the Bible. In late years he
writes to Murray, his publisher: Il
am reader and admirer of those books
Ghe Old and New Testaments) and
had read them through when [ was 8
years old in Aberdeen in 1896
To Sir Walter Scott he writes in 1922:
Fl was bred a canny Scot My
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10
IN WATT WITH AN ANACONDA.
An Unexpected Rival.
BY ". THOMPSON.


On my second expedition into north
ern Brazil some years ago, we camped
for several weeks on the Rio Branco,
aboutr100 miles above its junction with
the Rio Negro, one of the principal
continents of the Amazon.
The rainy season was past, and, al
though we were almost on the equa-
torial line, the weather was not unen-
durably hot, the ccnstantly-bl
eastern trade winds greatly reducing
its temperature and rendering our big
tent, pitched in the shade of an i'm
mense saman tree, a comfortable abode
Our party consisted of eleven men
ten Americans and a newly caught
Teddy O'Brien by name
who, more for the sake of "diviIment
and diyarshun" than $40 a month"; as
he had said, had engaged with us as
cook. And a truly wonderful cook he
wasl
However. as we all survived his in
genious experiments in that line, ii
would, perhaps, be ungrateful to spec
ify them. Anyhow, the fellow earned
his salary twice over by the tnexhaus-
tihie flow Of merriment that kept our
digestive organs in condition to asSimi-
late the most erratic of his culinary
creations.
While some members of our party
were amateur botanists, biologists,
naturalists or taxidermists, we were
all enthusiastic explorers and hunters.
and we fairly reveled in the wealth
Of animal and vegetable life about
US.
Our six-ton boat moored in the river,
was fast becoming q museum. Repre-
senting the country's fora, we had
dried plants, shrubs and flowers with
out end; in the way of reptiles, a stuffed
caynan, several striped rattlesnakes.
one twelve-foot boa, and a great variety
of lizards, while in insects our collec-
ton was exceedingly rich. OF the
feathered tribe we had almost every
thing from the mighty condor OF the
Andes down to minute humming birds
and Of fishes-besides fine electric
eel-one or more specimens of nearly
every kind found in the island waters
of the tropics.
OF wild beasts we had already shot
and set up the jaguar, red wolf, cou-
gar. pecoary. oulot, tapir. tiger-cat
wild dog, three kinds of deer, the sloth
and armadino, as well as six varieties
of monkeys and a number of other
small arboreal creatures.
But there was one amphibious ami
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

tiers to her show an affection on his part
and a constant care for her comfort
and happiness.
Yet the man could not forget the ex-
perience of the child. To a friend in
Genoa he said not long before his death
that he traced the first feelings of
pain and humiliation ne had ever known
to the GOODNESS with which she (his
mother) had received his caresses in
his childhood, and to the frequent
taunts upon his personal deformity
with which she had wounded him.
Although naturally sensitive on the
subject of his lameness- in his
childhood he was very lame, having
two club feet-yet he used sometimes
to say laughingly of himself and little
Aberdeen playfellow similarly afflicted,
Come and see twa little laddies with
twa club feet going up Broad street,
There is little left in Aberdeen i'm
mediately connected with Byron. The
grammar school has disappeared and is
replaced by the fine art gallery.
The sea which he always loved is the
same, and there is a bit of old Aber-
deem that will always have an interest
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10
THE MECHANISM OF touch.
Phenomena of Nerve TeIegraphy.
Curious Experiments.


Curious Experiments.
BY EUGENE MURRAY AARON PHI. D.
AS the reader holds this paper in his
hand, there are two ways by which he
is made aware of its presence therein.
One of these is sight; the other is the
sense of touch. or "tactile sensibiIity,' -
as the scientists call it.
Touch is, probably, the least com
pick of the five senses. Yet examina-
ton shows it to be far from a simple
system by which the tactile sensibility
of the finger tips is conveyed to that
portion Of the brain with which the
reader knows that the paper in his
hand.
Throughout the surface of the skin
and mucous membranes there are num-
berless alphabetically sensitive points
rising above the surface. These are
outposts of the sense of touch. They
may be plainly seen under a power
full Tense, and are best observed on the
tip of the tongue. In many of these
papillae are minute, dubious organs.
known as "tactile corpuscles" or ter
minal bulbs The bulbs themselves
are again divided into several portions.
These bulbs are the telegraph keys
whereby messages are sent from all
parts of the body to the main office of
the BRAIN Nor does this analogy with
telegraphy end here; for, just as the
electrician will tell you that the '.elec-
trio fluid or current" is set in motion
along the wire, and then admit his
Inability to explain this, so the phySi-
OlOeiSt nousf confess his ieruora,,o<. IF
some of the details of the nervous tele-
graphy of touch.
However, this we do know; when
some of these bulbs are compressed by
pressure on the tip of the finger, the
sensation of touch is sent coursing
through the hand, the forearm and
arm, across the shoulder. under the
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

us and the big log; then. when their
heads show. You take the old one and
IL take the youngster, shoot straight
Tor the brain and they'll never know
what hurts them" Tom nodded assent
and we waited in silence.
The water shoaled so rapidlv now
that by the time the animals were
ABREAST of us, and within three feet
OF the laural log the mothers rounded
PACK appeared above the surface. and
the little one using its handlike fiipper
70 climb with, scrambled upon it. rid
ing exactly as | have seen the young
OF an African hippopotamus.
In another moment the old monster
lifted her head; and making a sign to
my two other companions not to
shoot: Tom and 1 quietly thrust our
rifle barrels through the bushes. took
careful aim. and were about to fire.
That instant. however, Tom s
beautifully variegated moss leaped
into sudden life. A flashing streak of
olack, tawny brown and yellow shot
out from the dead branch and in the
tWinkling of an eye the calf's muzzle
was fast between the recurring fangs
of monstrous anaconda
Then while the helpless creature
rolled off its mothers back. there was
cleaning whirl of circling rings. a.
cyclone of concentive coils a churning
of the center into foam, and almost
before we could realize the startling
scene the mighty serpent had crushed
the life out of its prey.
But as the reptile compressed its
overlapping folds tighter and tighter
two simultaneously fired bullets shat
tered its fat head, and its great
length, slowly uncoiling, Strengthened
out along the blood-stained surface of
the creek.
Apparently paralyzed by fright. the
mother still stood with her head above
water, staring at the floating serpent
and her dead calf. One of us. with
more presence of mind than the rest.
put the beast out of misery by shot
through the brain.
Thus, most unexpectedly. we had
killed at one time the several specimens
we were anxious to obtain The next
thing was to secure the bodies. for all
ready attracted by the scent of blood
no less than five caymans were making
for the spot
Leaving our rifiemen to dispose of
these-an easy task with his repeaterI
the otherthree of us forced our wsv
round the head of the creek to the
laurel log, and, by the aid of grapnei
and rope, towed the carcasses a little
way down the east side and hauled
them up on q projecting sandbar.
where they could readily be reached
by boat
From the point of the curiously cleft
upper lip TO the extremity Of her fiatted
tail the old monster measured eight
feet and four inches. while the calf's
total length fell a fraction short of
three anc one-haif feet. The anaconda
was the largest have ever seen, PROV
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

ing to be twenty-one feet and eight
inches long,
Though the reptile rarely attacks
man, unless indeed. he is in or very
close to water, we could not. while
measuring him, express some Shudders
pened in case we had killed the NOM
sters when we first leveled on them.
and then, without noticing the lying
in-wait monster, had gone round to the
log to draw in the bodies.
The anaconda, called by the natives
| of Brazil the great water serpent, must
not be COMPOUNDED with any other mem
Der of the boa family proper, from
which it greatly differs, not only in
celebration, but also in structural form,
habits and size The South America
boa seldom exceeds thirteen feet in
length, while the anaconda not infre-
quently attains the length of thirty
feet, being excelled in this respect by
only one variety of the Asiatic python
"a tree and rock haunting reptile, said
by some writers to reach the length of
sixty feet. It may be so, but the largest
one | ever saw, or was credltably in
formed of, measured a scant thirty-two
feet.
When John Harding, the cayman
killer, rejoined us, Tom Alden and I
set off for camp. leaving him. to guard
our prizes from possible attack Of wild
beasts.
Besides our heavy boats. we had a
large but very light cedar skiff.
Embarking in this, with our two best
taxidermists, and taking Teddy o.
Brien along. we returned by way of the
river to the lagoon, the intention being
to skin the three creatures where they
lay.
We had duly posted our fellow
|sportsmen, but had purposely RETAINED
from telling Teddy about the ana
|conda, as we wished to see how he
would act.
Necessarily in rowing, our backs
were turned toward the bow and it
was not until the boat grounded on
the bar that the honest fellow dropped
his oar, looked around, and saw the
great serpent, Then we almost re-
GREETED our trick, for with a wild cry
of "nuther! muther" he sprang to-
his feet and would have plunged over
board but for restraining hands.
Being at last convinced, however,
that the monster was really dead, he
ceased trembling and exclaimed: 1.-The
Lord be bechune us an harrumi An
is it riptoilS like that yez have in
Amerikay? Sure the blissed ST Path
rick spint his stringth in the wrong
sphot entoirely! It's himself wud a
he'd a foine stiddy job here whole he
wus thrifiin' wild thin weeny shnakes
in ould Oireland. not to minshun the
sthray toads and SIGH loike insex'.
Begorral and sorra wan ov nell ever
wandther be me lone siIf in them
wuds agin, barrin' there's a moighty
sthrong lot av We bhyes wild mep'
And he kept his word.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10


for Byron's readers, viz: the old Brig
of Don or Balgarine. to which he re-
fers in don Juan canto x. and then
in note he tells how fascinating he
was with the awful prophecy:
Brig o Ralgarine black is your wa
With wife's ae son and a mares a
foal
Down shall we fa'''
You may still hear this prophecy; a
Deerside wife repeated it to me one
day.
AS Byron was an '.only SON. it had
for him added destinations And his
superstitious feeling in regard to it's
was shared with those older than him
self A former Lord Aberdeen who was
an only son. and whose favorite saddle
horse was "a mares ae foal' always
dismounted when he came to this
bridge and had his horse led over in adj
vance of him.
The boy Byron used to hang over its
walls, fascinated with the depth and
blackness of the salmon pool forty feet
below. The Don here makes an abrupt
turn, forming the pool. Steep wooded
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

NAL, the manatu, and a. semi-amphib-
ious reptile, the anaconda, we had not
vet obtained We had seen scores os
the first While ascending the river. but
had never secured one, though it is a
somewhat sluggish creature. and not at
all difficult OF approach. as it feeds
upon aquatic plants at the bottom of
still water and comes frequently to the
surface TO breathe.
One evening we We're kemoaning orr
bad luck in this respect when Teddy
observed: An is It the quare haste
that's a cross becune a mermaid an a
fish that ye're afther wantin'? Faix
it's meself can put We aim to the cray
thur thin in no time
An right. Teddy. Let's have your
plan" said Tom Alden.
IT'S aisier nor rowlin down hill. me
bhs7e. Up beyant there's phwat yez
call lagoon. an the ar ind av it runs
up loike late Until thin thick woods
SEIZURE it's not tin Schteps acrass; an
be the same token OF seen a man
-lnanistee, is it? an good lump av a
young wan frolicSin round there
bright an airly this same blissid NOR
min. The Wather in thin parts is
fnoighty shoal, I'm thinldn'. for whin
the old haste was feedin' aim the bot
tom, the baby nd scramble up livery
now and thin an rOosht aim her back.
kapin it's own wee paddle av a, tail in
the wather, koind of scshible loike.
Sorra bit az thrubie for some av yez to
consale yersilves aim both sides av
the lane an bag the two crathurs.1
Teddv's idea seeming q good one, at
daybreak next morning four of us.
taking our rifles a barbed graphing
iron and q coil of rope set off for the
lagoon. a grass-gr0wn stretch of stag
nant water lying parallel to the river.
and at its nearer end, about a half
mile from our camp.
Just as Teddy had said, we found it's
further or northern extremity to con-
sist of a narrow creek. and this was
closely bordered on both sides by water
palms. gum. rubber, sanan trees and
gigantic tree-ferns. with a dense under
growth of bushes, while, running
through all, reaching to and binding
together the loftiest tree-tops, was a,
wondrous network of lana vines, amid
which when we arrived, innGmerable
monkeys were just beginning their
morning sports.
With some difficulty our quartet, COM
myself. gained the westward margin of
the watery lane, where we esconced
ourselves in the matted brushwo0d
deening it prudent 10 take opposite
sides, for fear Of accidents in possible
cross-fring-
We were perfectly concealed from all
observation except that Of the jeering
monkeys. who, looking down on US
from their leafy heights. kept UP a
ceaseless clagnor Of derisive cries.
For nearly an hour we crouched,
watching IN motionless attention the
ponds surface, seeing lazily-hoating
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

carpenters shop, and particularly a
turning lathe; but he wild ma hand his
hand frae ony O. the tools and he
spoiled them completely before he
would let them go
My father could ma lay hands on
him, and he wild TAX ma telling; SO at
last he always set some o. us to watch
when we wild see him coming up the
brae frae Baliaterich; and when he got
word that he was coming he would
lock the door and gang ava out about.
There was nae ither way O. delin wi
him.
He was a very takin' laddie, but no
easily managed" is q, delightful and
accurately descriptive bit of Byron
both as boy and man
A young girl at the farm house told
me of an old woman. probably this
same one, who used to tell us
children" about the boy Byron. But
of what she told. that he was "a mis-
chievous laddie'' seemed to be the
chief "Reminiscences.
ATHLETIC IN SPITE OF HIS CLUB
FEET.
Notwithstanding his extreme lame
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

ness. Byron was very active It was
said of him at the Aberdeen grammar
school that he was fonder of athletic
sports than of study. And his poems
show an astonishing acquaintance
with this region for one so handi-
capped.
He was always a fearless horseman
and may have made some use of high
land ponies; but his intimate acquaint-
|ance with the hills could only have
been attained by vigorous climbing.
He was also an expert swimmer, an
accomplishment of which he was
rather proud. and he acquired that ex-
pertness while wrestling with Seas
strong tide, as well as with the ocean
waves on Aberdeen beach.
The second summer of his stay at
Deerside. his mother took him eigh-
teen miles further up the valley to
Invercauld and Braemar. And to this
visit we probably owe 'Lachin
Gair,'' one. of the best of his short
poems, and of which Ruskin says in
"Prateritu,'' whatever Pope might
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-10

have gracefully said or honestly felt
of Windsor woods and streams was
mere linking cymbal to me compared
with Byron's lore of Lachin Y Gair."
1t was while at Braemar that Byron
came SO near losing his life at the
Linn of Dee. His foot caught in the
heather growing on the edge of the
narrow ravine through which the
water forces its way. and he was
barely saved by his servants.
"BYRONS MARY"
The Mary of one of Byrons most IA
nous poems has generally been under
stood to have been Mary Duff. But
there is good grounds for believing
that she was Mary Robertson,
daughter of the Ballaterich farmer.
Mary Robertson was six years older
than Byron, about Is at the time of his
stay there. She would naturally have
taken to the handsome, affectionate
little laddie so painfully afflicted, and
he evidently regarded her with that
loving devotion to lad of his years is