The Book of Curiosities
by John Platts · English · Gutenberg #41983 · 2,550,532 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Book of Curiosities
Author: John Platts
Release date: February 3, 2013 [eBook #41983]
Most recently updated: November 27, 2024
Language: English
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Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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[Illustration: GROTTO DEL CANI.]
[Illustration: _Engraved for the Book of Curiosities. p. 877_]
THE BOOK OF CURIOSITIES:
CONTAINING TEN THOUSAND
WONDERS AND CURIOSITIES
OF NATURE AND ART;
AND OF
Remarkable and Astonishing PLACES, BEINGS, ANIMALS,
CUSTOMS, EXPERIMENTS, PHENOMENA, etc., of both Ancient
and Modern Times, on all Parts of the GLOBE: comprising
Authentic Accounts of the most WONDERFUL FREAKS of
NATURE and ARTS of MAN.
BY THE REV. I. PLATTS.
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY LEARY & GETZ.
1854.
CONTENTS.
Abderites, or inhabitants of Abdera, curious account of, 45
Abstinence, wonders of, 67
Act of faith, 638
Adansonia; or, African calabash tree, 378
Agnesi, Maria Gaetana, account of, 120
Agrigentum, in Sicily, ruins of, 540
Air, its pressure and elasticity, 839
Alarm bird, 243
Alexandria, buildings and library of, 549
Alhambra, 559
Alligators, 164
American natural history, 182
Anagrams, 450
Andes, 415
Androides, 701
Anger, surprising effects of, 82
Animalcules, 357
Animal generation, curiosities respecting, 139
Animals, formation of, 142
Animals, preservation of, 144
Animals, destruction of, 150
Animal reproductions, 154
Animals and plants, winter sleep of, 808
Animals, remarkable strength of affection in, 184
Animals, surprising instances of sociality in, 185
Animals, unaccountable faculties possessed by some, 187
Animals, remarkable instances of fasting in, 189
Animal flower, 392
Anthropophagi, or men-eaters, account of, 75
Ants, curiosities of, 290
Ants, green, 311
Ants, white, or termites, 301
Ant, lion, 312
Ants, visiting, 312
Aphis, curiosities respecting, 331
Aqueducts, remarkable, 795
Arc, Joan of, 927
Ark of Noah, 582
Artificer, unfortunate, 745
Artificial figure to light a candle, 830
Asbestos, 402
Athos, mount, 423
Attraction, examples of, 837
Augsburg, curiosities of, 576
Aurora borealis, 684
Automaton, description of, 700
B
Babylon, 557
Bacon flitch, custom at Dunmow, Essex, 605
Balbeck, ancient ruins of, 538
Bannian tree, 374
Baptism, a curious one, 642
Baratier, John Philip, premature genius of, 125
Barometer, rules for predicting the weather by it, 864
Beards, remarks concerning, 31
Beaver, description of, 156
Beavers, habitations of the, 158
Bee, the honey, 265
Bees, wild, curiosities of, Clothier Bee, Carpenter Bee, Mason Bee,
Upholsterer Bee, Leaf-cutter Bee, 277, 278, 279, 280
Bees, account of an idiot-boy and, 283
Bees, Mr. Wildman's curious exhibitions of, explained, 283
Bells, baptism of, 639
Benefit of clergy, origin and history of, 623
Bird of Paradise, 230
Bird, singular account of one inhabiting a volcano in Guadalope, 246
Bird-catching fish, 196
Bird-catching, curious method of, 260
Birds, method of preserving, 865
Birds, hydraulic, 713
Birds, song of, 261
Birds' nests, 251
Bisset, Samuel, the noted animal instructor, 124
Bletonism, 95
Blind clergyman of Wales, 903
Blind persons, astonishing acquisitions made by some, 46
Blind Jack of Knaresborough, 900
Blood, circulation of, 24
Blunders, book of, 761
Boa Constrictor, 217
Boat-fly, 342
Body, human, curiosities of the, 13
Bolea, Monte, 418
Books, curious account of the scarcity of, 757
Borrowdale, 458
Bottles, to uncork, 836
Boverick's curiosities, 713
Bowthorpe oak, 382
Bread-fruit tree, 372
Bread, old, curious account of, 807
Brine, to ascertain the strength of, 839
Brown, Simon, and his curious dedication to queen Caroline, 108
Bunzlau curiosities, 714
Buonaparte, principal events in the life of, 126
Burning spring in Kentucky, 493
Burning and hot springs, 494, 495, 496, 497
Burning, extraordinary cures by, 792
Burning-glasses, 717
Bustard, the great, 243
Butterflies, beauty and diversities of, 344
Butterflies, to take an impression of their wings, 866
C
Camera obscura, to make, 830
Candiac, John Lewis, account of, 113
Candlemas-day, 632
Cannon, extraordinary, 807
Cards, origin of, 767
Carrier, or courier pigeon, 244
Carthage, ancient grandeur of, 542
Case, John, celebrated quack doctor, 113
Catching a hare, curious custom respecting, 601
Caterpillar, 219
Caterpillar-eaters, 220
Cave of Fingal, 452
Cave near Mexico, 457
Centaurs and Lapithæ, 785
Chameleon, particulars respecting, 175
Changeable flower, 387
Cheese-mite, curiosities respecting, 358
Chemical illuminations, 844
Chick, formation of in the egg, 249
Child, extraordinary arithmetical powers of a, 88
Chiltern hundreds, 634
China, great wall of, 579
Chinese, funeral ceremonies of the, 610
Christmas-boxes, origin of, 633
Cinchona, or Peruvian bark, curious effects of, 390
Clepsydra, 706
Clock-work, extraordinary pieces of, 704
Clouds, electrified, terrible effects of, 656
Coal-pit, visit to one, 469
Cocoa-nut tree, 371
Coins of the kings of England, 814
Cold, surprising effects of extreme, 659
Colossus, 570
Colours, experiments on, 867
Colours, incapacity of distinguishing, 56
Combustion of the human body by the immoderate use of spirits, 97
Common house-fly, curiosities of the, 337
Company of Stationers, singular custom annually observed by the, 766
Conscience, instances of the power of, 84
Cormorant, 242
Coruscations, artificial, 849
Cotton wool, curious particulars of a pound weight of, 391
Countenance, human, curiosities of the, 18
Cromwell, A. M. of Hammersmith, a rich miser, 897
Creeds of the Jews, 775
Crichton, the admirable, 911
Crichup Linn, 797
Crocodile, 163
Crocodile, fossil, curiosity of, 165
Cuckoo, curiosities respecting, 240
Curfew bell, why so called, 635
Curious historical fact, 744
D
Dancer, Daniel, account of, 104
Dajak, inhabitants of Borneo, curious funeral ceremonies of, 612
Deaf, to make the, perceive sounds, 828
Deaths, poetical, grammatical, and scientific, 73
Death-watch, 347
Diamond mine, on the river Tigitonhonha, in the Brazilian territory, 460
Diamond, wonderful, 405
Diana, temple of, at Ephesus, 554
Dictionary, modern, 950
Dimensions, &c. of some of the largest trees growing in England, 382
Diseases peculiar to particular countries, 789
Dismal swamp, 798
Dog, remarkable, 194
Dog, curious anecdotes of a, 195
Dogs, sagacity of, 193
Dreams, instances of extraordinary, 70
Dwarfs, extraordinary, 40
E
Eagle, the golden, 237
Ear, curious structure of the, 22
Earl of Pembroke, curious extracts from the will of an, 773
Earth-eaters, 908
Earthquakes, and their causes, 499
Eating, singularities of different nations in, 595
Eclipses, 676
Eddystone rocks, 797
Egg, to soften an, 851
Electricity, illumination by, 793
Electrical experiments, 841
Elephant, account of an, 168
Elephant, docility of the, 170
Elwes, John, account of, 104
English ladies turned Hottentots, 744
Ephemeral flies, 343
Ephesus, temple of Diana at, 554
Escurial, 577
Etna, 443
Extraordinary custom, 601
Eye, curious formation of the, 20
F
Fact, the most extraordinary on record, 744
Fairy rings, 667
Falling stars, 681
Faquirs, travelling, 940
Fasting, extraordinary instances of, 65
Fata Morgana, 665
Feasts, among the ancients of various nations, 614
Female beauty and ornaments, 596
Fiery fountain, 844
Fire-balls, 655
Fire of London, 748
Fire, perpetual, 806
Fisher, Miss Clara, 905
Fishes, air bladder in, 201
Fishes, respiration in, 202
Fishes, shower of, 203
Flea, account of a, 325
Flea, on the duration of the life of a, 328
Florence statues, 579
Fly, the common house, 337
Fly, the Hessian, 336
Fly, the May, 340
Fly, the vegetable, 341
Fly, the boat, 342
Flying, artificial, 716
Fountain trees, 375
Freezing mixture, to form, 859
Freezing, astonishing expansive force of, 661
Friburg, curiosities of, 575
Friendship, curious demonstrations of, 594
Friendship, true Roman, recipe for establishing, 951
Fright, or terror, remarkable effects of, 82
Frog, the common, 160
Frog-fish, 196
Frosts, remarkable, 533
Flower, the animal, 392
Fruits, injuries from swallowing the stones of, 791
Funeral ceremonies of the ancient Ethiopians, 609
Fungi, 395
G
Galley of Hiero, 584
Galvanism, 689
Gardens, floating, 580
Gardens, hanging, 558
Garter, origin of the order of the, 623
Gas lights, miniature, 836
Gauts, or Indian Appenines, 421
Giants, curious account of, 39
Giant's causeway, 590
Gipsies, 732
Glaciers, 529
Glass, ductility of, 720
Glass, to cut, without a diamond, 833
Glass, to write on, by the sun's rays, 858
Gluttony, instances of extraordinary, 64
Gold, remarkable ductility and extensibility of, 721
Graham, the celebrated Dr. 909
Gravity, experiments respecting the, 838
Great events from little causes, 746
Grosbeak, the social, 234
Grosbeak, the Bengal, 235
Grotto in South America, 445
Grotto del Cani, 446
Grotto of Antiparos, 447
Grotto of Guacharo, 450
Growth, extraordinary instances of rapid, 37
Guinea, explanation of all the letters on a, 768
Gulf stream, 490
H
Hagamore, Rev. Mr. a most singular character, 896
Hail, surprising showers of, 518
Hair of the head, account of, 28
Hair, instances of the internal growth of, 30
Hair, ancient and modern opinions respecting the, 29
Halo, or corona, and similar appearances, 680
Hand-fasting, 609
Harmattan, 511
Harrison, a singular instance of parsimony, 903
Heat, diminished by evaporation, 839
Hecla, 442
Heidelberg clock, 705
Heinecken, Christian Henry, account of, 114
Hell, opinions respecting, 812
Henderson, John, the Irish Crichton, 883
Henry, John, singular character of, 107
Herculaneum and Pompeii, 536
Herschel's grand telescope, 713
Hessian fly, 339
Hobnails, origin of the sheriff's counting, 622
Holland, North, curious practice in, 630
Honour, extraordinary instances of, 80
Horse, remarkable instances of sagacity in a, 192
Human heart, structure of the, 24
Humming bird, 236
Huntingdon, William, eccentric character of, 134
Hurricane, curious particulars respecting a, 511
Husband long absent, returned, 741
Hydra, or polypes, account of, 359
I
Ice, Greenland or polar, 525
Ice, tremendous concussions of fields of, 528
Ice, showers of, 533
Ignis Fatuus, 644
Improvement of the learned, 765
Incubus, or nightmare, 941
Indian jugglers, 897
Individuation, 780
Indulgences, Romish, 636
Ingratitude, shocking instances of, 78
Inks, various sympathetic, 853 to 857
Insects, metamorphoses of: the butterfly, the common fly, the grey-coated
gnat, the shardhorn beetle, 345
Insects blown from the nose, --
Integrity, striking instances of, 77
Inverlochy castle, 574
Island, new, starting from the sea, 491
J
Jew's harp, 795
John Bull, origin of the term of, 634
K
Killarney, the lake of, 487
Kimos, singular nation of dwarfs, 43
Knout, 804
Kraken, 210
L
Labrador stone, 402
Lady of the Lamb, 601
Lama, 810
Lambert, Daniel, account of, 887
Lamps, remarkable, 805
Lamp, phosphoric, 844
Lanterns, feast of, 621
Laocoon, monument of, 556
Leaves, to take an impression of them, 866
Letter, curious, from Pomare, king of Otaheite, to the Missionary Society,
773
Libraries, celebrated, 760
Light produced under water, 850
Lightning, extraordinary properties and effects of, 651
Lightning, to produce artificial, 844
Liquids, to produce changeable-coloured, 858
Liquids, to exchange two in different bottles, 872
Literary labour and perseverance, 756
Lizard, imbedded in coal, 225
Locusts, and their uses in the creation, 349
London, compendious description of, 813
London, intellectual improvement in, 761
Longevity, extraordinary instances of, 96
Louse, 328
Love-letter, and answer, curious, 774
Luminous insects, 319
M
M'Avoy, Miss Margaret, 919
Maelstrom, 489
Magdalen's hermitage, 575
Magic oracle, 845
Magical bottle, 851
Magical drum, 806
Magnetism, 693
Magnetic experiments, 848
Magnify, to, small objects, 882
Mahometan paradise, 811
Maiden, 599
Mammoth, or Fossil Elephant, found in Siberia, 170
Man with the iron mask, 727
Mandrake, 387
Marmot, or the Mountain Rat of Switzerland, 167
Marriage custom of the Japanese, 604
Marriage ceremonies, curious, in different nations, 602
Masons, free and accepted, 737
Mathematical talent, curious instance of, 93
Matrimonial ring, 608
Matter, divisibility of, 793
May-fly, 340
May poles and garlands, the origin of, 629
Memnon, palace of, 552
Memory, remarkable instance of, 86
Metals, different, to discover, 828
Metals, mixed, to detect, 871
Metcalf, John, alias Blind Jack of Knaresborough, 900
Microscopic experiments, 859
Migration of birds, 253
Mills, remarkable, 799
Mint of Segovia, 799
Miraculous vessel, 852
Mirage, account of, 521
Miners, curious effects of, 833
Mite, the cheese, curiosities respecting, 358
Mock suns, 673
Mocking bird of America, 233
Mole, the common, 159
Money, test of good or bad, 834
Monkey, sagacity of a, 192
Monsoons, or trade winds, 512
Monster, 777
Montague, Edward Wortley, 110
Mont Blanc, in Switzerland, 427
Moon, account of three volcanoes in the, 682
Morland, George, account of, 114
Moscow, great bell of, 726
Mosquitoes, and their uses, 355
Mourning, ancient modes of, 613
Mountains, natural descriptions of, 406
Mountains Written, Mountains of Inscription, or Jibbel El Mokatteb, 422
Mount Snowden, excursion to the top of, 412
Mud and Salt, volcanic eruptions of, in the island of Java, 467
Murdering statue, 801
Museum, 566
Mushroom, 395
Mushroom-stone, 402
N
Names, curious, adopted in the civil war, 772
Naphtha springs, 492
National debt, singular calculation respecting, 816
Natural productions, resembling artificial compositions, 804
Natural history, curious facts in, 247
Nautilus, 197
Navigation, perfection of, 481
Needles, 722
Needle's eye, 459
News, origin of the word, 762
Newspapers, origin of, 762
New studies in old age, instances of, 763
New year's gifts, origin of, 633
Niagara, and its falls, 485
Nicholas Pesce, 117
Nitre caves of Missouri, 457
Nokes, Edward, a miser, 888
Numbers, remarkable instance of skill in, 86
Numbers, curious arrangements of, 868, 871
Nuns, particulars respecting, 811
Nuovo, Monte, 419
O
Oak-tree, remarkable account of, 380
Oakham, custom at, 630
Obelisk, remarkable, near Forres, in Scotland, 573
Okey Hole, 458
Orang-Outang, 178
Origin of 'That's a Bull,' 635
Origin of the old adage respecting St. Swithin, and rainy weather, 635
Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, 166
Ostrich, curiosities of the, 231
Owl, adventure of an, 247
P
Pausilippo, 419
Peacock, the common, 226
Peak in Derbyshire, description of, 409
Peeping Tom of Coventry, 740
Peg, to make a, to fit three differently shaped holes, 872
Pelican, the great, 229
Penance, curious account of a, 643
Performances of a female, blind almost from her infancy, 53
Persons born defective in their limbs, wonderful instances of adroitness
of, 54
Peruke, 783
Peru, mines of, 465
Pesce, Nicholas, extraordinary character of, 117
Pharos of Alexandria, 549
Phosphoric fire, sheet of, 669
Phosphorus, 670
Pichinca, 415
Pico, 422
Pigeon, wild, its multiplying power, 245
Pigeon, carrier, or courier, 244
Pin-making, 721
Pitch-wells, 468
Plague, dreadful instances of the, in Europe, 747
Plant, curious, 386
Plants, curious dissemination of, 366
Plants upon the earth, prodigious number of, 367
Plough-Monday, origin of, 632
Poison-eater, remarkable account of, 94
Pompey's pillar, 547
Pope Joan, 931
Portland vase, 800
Praxiteles' Venus, 712
Praying machines of Kalmuck, 642
Price, Charles, the renowned swindler, 889
Prince Rupert's drops, 853
Prolificness, extraordinary instances of, 37
Psalmanazar, George, noted impostor, 112
Pulpit, curious, 801
Pyramids of Egypt, 544
Q
Quaint lines, 772
Queen Charlotte, curious address to, 769
Queen, a blacksmith's wife become a, 749
Queen Elizabeth's dinner, curious account of the ceremonies at, 749
Queen Elizabeth, quaint lines on, 772
R
Recreations, amusing, in optics, &c. 873 to 882
Recreations, amusing, with numbers, 820 to 827
Religion, celebrated speech on, 944
Reproduction, 781
Repulsion, examples of, 837
Respiration, interesting facts concerning, 26
Revivified rose, 858
Rhinoceros, 162
Rings, on the origin of, 606
Rosin bubbles, 851
Royal progenitors, 744
Ruin at Siwa in Egypt, 534
S
Salutation, various modes of, 598
Sand-floods, account of, 521
Savage, Richard, extraordinary character of, 128
Scaliot's lock, 712
Scarron, Paul, account of, 119
Schurrman, Anna Maria, 123
Scorpion, 213
Sea, curiosities of the, 471
Sea, on the saltness of, 476
Sea, to measure the depth of the, 829
Sea serpent, American, 218
Seal, common account of, 180
Seal, ursine, 181
Seeds, germination of, 365
Sensibility of plants, 368
Sensitive plant, 369
Seraglio, 564
Serpents, fascinating power of, 219
Sexes, difference between the, 34
Sexes at birth, comparative number of the, 36
Shark, 198
Sheep, extraordinary adventures of one, 190
Shelton oak, description of, 382
Ship worm, 224
Ship at sea, to find the burden of a, 829
Shoes, curiosities respecting, 724
Shoe-makers, literary, 764
Shower of gossamers, curious phenomenon of a, 523
Shrovetide, 630
Silk-mill at Derby, 800
Silk stockings, electricity of, 842
Silkworm, 220
Singular curiosity, 405
Skiddaw, 414
Sleep-walker, 69
Sleeping woman of Dunninald, 70
Smeaton, John, 113
Sneezing, curious observations on, 33
Snow grotto, 451
Solfatara, the lake of, 488
Sound, experiments on, 840
Spectacle of a sea-fight at Rome, 711
Spectacles, a substitute for, 807
Spectre of the Broken, 420
Spider, curiosities of the, 314
Spider, tamed, 316
Spider, ingenuity of a, 316
Spider, curious anecdote of a, 318
Spirits of wine, to ascertain the strength of, 839
Spontaneous inflammations, 786
Sports, book of, 766
'Squire, old English, 925
Stalk, animated, 392
Star, falling or shooting, 401
Stephenson, the eccentric, 895
Steel, to melt, 830
Stick, to break a, on two wine-glasses, 871
Stone, the meteoric, 401
Stone, the Labrador, 402
Stone, the changeable, 404
Stone-eater, remarkable account of, 94
Stonehenge, 592
Storks, 229
Storm, singular effects of a, 519
Strasburg clock, 705
Sugar, antiquity of, 390
Sulphur mountains, 424
Sun, diminution of the, 673
Sun, spots in the, 671--to shew ditto, 852
Surgical operation, extraordinary, 791
Swine's concert, 750
Sword-swallowing, 62
Sympathetic inks, 853 to 857
T
Tallow-tree, 378
Tantalus' cup, 852
Tape-worm, 222
Tea, Chinese method of preparing, 388
Telegraph, 708
Temple of Tentira, in Egypt, 550
Tenures, curious, 628
Thermometrical experiments, 863
Thermometer, moral and physical, 817
Thread burnt, not broken, 844
Thunder powder, 836
Thunder rod, 654
Tides, 479
Titles of books, 755
Toad, common, description of, 161
Topham, Thomas, character of, 115
Tornado, description of a, 510
Torpedo, 200
Tortoise, the common, 176
Tree of Diana, 852
Trees, account of a country, in which the inhabitants reside in, 45
U
Unbeliever's creed, 776
Unfortunate artificer, 745
Unicorn, 179
Upas, or poison tree, 383
V
Valentine's-day, origin of, 632
Van Butchell, Mrs. preservation of her corpse, 902
Vegetable kingdom, curiosities in the, 363
Vegetables, number of known, 367
Vegetable fly, 341
Velocity of the wind, 517
Ventriloquism, 58
Vesuvius, 434, 947
Vicar of Bray, 748
Voltaic pile, to make a cheap, 847
Vulture, Egyptian, 228
Vulture, secretary, 228
W
Wasp, curiosities respecting the, 285
Watch, the mysterious, 835
Watches, invention of, 707
Water, to boil without heat, 835
Water, to weigh, 834
Water, to retain, in an inverted glass, 835
Waterspout, 663
Waves stilled by oil, 480
Weaving engine, 712
Whale, great northern, or Greenland, 204
Whale fishery, 208
Whig and Tory, explanation of the terms, 776
Whirlpool near Sudero, 489
Whirlwinds of Egypt, 509
Whispering places, and extraordinary echoes, 802
Whitehead's ship, 712
Whittington, Sir Richard, 932
Wild man, account of a, 76
Wind, velocity of, 517
Winds, remarkable, in Egypt, 507
Wine cellar, curious, 799
Winter in Russia, 524
Wolby, Henry, extraordinary character of, 105
Women with beards, curious account of, 32
Wooden eagle, and iron fly, 711
Writing, origin of the materials of, 751
Writing, minute, 753
X
Xerxes' bridge of boats over the Hellespont, 586
Z
Zeuxis, celebrated painter, 116.
INTRODUCTION.
"Ye curious minds, who roam abroad,
And trace Creation's wonders o'er!
Confess the footsteps of the God,
And bow before him, and adore."
It was well observed by Lord Bacon, that "It would much conduce to the
magnanimity and honour of man, if a collection were made of the
extraordinaries of human nature, principally out of the reports of
history; that is, what is the last and highest pitch to which man's
nature, of itself, hath ever reached, in all the perfection of mind and
body. If the wonders of human nature, and virtues as well of mind as of
body, were collected into a volume, they might serve as a calendar of
human triumphs."
The present work not only embraces the Curiosities of human nature, but of
Nature and Art in general, as well as Science and Literature. Surrounded
with wonders, and lost in admiration, the inquisitive mind of man is ever
anxious to know the hidden springs that put these wonders in motion; he
eagerly inquires for some one to take him by the hand, and explain to him
the curiosities of the universe. And though the works of the Lord, like
his nature and attributes, are great, and past finding out, and we cannot
arrive at the perfection of science, nor discover the secret impulses
which nature obeys, yet can we by reading, study, and investigation,
dissipate much of the darkness in which we are enveloped, and dive far
beyond the surface of this multifarious scene of things--The noblest
employment of the human understanding is, to contemplate the works of the
great Creator of the boundless universe; and to trace the marks of
infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, throughout the whole. This is the
foundation of all religious worship and obedience; and an essential
preparative for properly understanding, and cordially receiving, the
sublime discoveries and important truths of divine revelation. "Every
man," says our Saviour, "that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me." And no man can come properly to Christ, or, in other
words, embrace the christian religion, so as to form consistent views of
it, and enter into its true spirit, unless he is thus drawn by the Father
through a contemplation of his works. Such is the inseparable connection
between nature and grace.
A considerable portion of the following pages is devoted to Curiosities in
the works of Nature, or, more properly, the works of God, for,
"Nature is but an effect, and God the cause."
The Deity is the
"Father of all that is, or heard, or hears!
Father of all that is, or seen, or sees!
Father of all that is, or shall arise!
Father of this immeasurable mass
Of matter multiform; or dense, or rare;
Opaque, or lucid; rapid, or at rest;
Minute, or passing bound! In each extreme
Of like amaze, and mystery, to man."
The invisible God is seen in all his works.
"God is a spirit, spirit cannot strike
These gross material organs: God by man
As much is seen, as man a God can see.
In these astonishing exploits of power
What order, beauty, motion, distance, size!
Concertion of design, how exquisite!
How complicate, in their divine police!
Apt means! great ends! consent to general good!"
This work also presents to the reader, a view of the great achievements of
the human intellect, in the discoveries of science; and the wonderful
operations of the skill, power, and industry of man in the invention and
improvement of the arts, in the construction of machines, and in the
buildings and other ornaments the earth exhibits, as trophies to the glory
of the human race.
But we shall now give the reader a short sketch of what is provided for
him in the following pages. The work is divided into eighty-seven
chapters. The Curiosities respecting Man occupy eleven chapters. The next
four chapters are devoted to Animals; then two to Fishes; one to Serpents
and Worms; three to Birds; eleven to Insects; six to Vegetables; three to
Mountains; two to Grottos, Caves, &c.; one to Mines; two to the Sea; one
to Lakes, Whirlpools, &c.; one to Burning Springs; one to Earthquakes; one
to Remarkable Winds; one to Showers, Storms, &c.; one to Ice; one to
Ruins; four to Buildings, Temples, and other Monuments of Antiquity; and
one to Basaltic and Rocky Curiosities. The fifty-eighth chapter is devoted
to the Ark of Noah--the Galley of Hiero--and the Bridge of Xerxes. The
next six chapters detail at length the various Customs of Mankind in
different parts of the World, and also explain many Old Adages and
Sayings. The next five chapters exhibit a variety of curious phenomena in
nature, such as the Ignis Fatuus; Thunder and Lightning; Fire Balls; Water
Spouts; Fairy Rings; Spots in the Sun; Volcanoes in the Moon; Eclipses;
Shooting Stars; Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights; &c. &c. The
seventieth chapter is on Galvanism. The seventy-first on Magnetism. The
next three chapters delineate the principal Curiosities respecting the
Arts. Then follow five chapters on some of the principal Curiosities in
History; three on the Curiosities of Literature; and five on Miscellaneous
Curiosities. An Appendix is added, containing a number of easy, innocent,
amusing Experiments and Recreations.
This is "A New Compilation," inasmuch as not one article is taken from any
book bearing the title of Beauties, Wonders, or Curiosities. The Compiler
trusts the work will afford both entertainment and instruction for the
leisure hour, of the Philosopher or the Labourer, the Gentleman or the
Mechanic. In short, all classes may find in the present work something
conducive to their pleasure and improvement, in their hours of
seriousness, as well as those of gaiety; and it will afford a constant
source of subjects for interesting and agreeable conversation.
THE BOOK OF CURIOSITIES.
CHAP. I.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING MAN.
_The Human Body--the Countenance--the Eye--the Ear--the Heart--the
Circulation of the Blood--Respiration--the Hair of the Head--the
Beard--Women with Beards--Sneezing._
"Come, gentle reader, leave all meaner things
To low ambition, and the pride of kings.
Let us, since life can little more supply
Than just to look about us, and to die;
Expatiate free o'er all this scene of Man,
A mighty maze! but not without a plan.
A wild, where weeds and flow'rs promiscuous shoot;
Or garden, tempting with forbidden fruit.
Together let us beat this ample field,
Try what the open, what the covert yield;
The latent tracts, the giddy heights, explore,
Of all who blindly creep, or sightless soar:
Eye nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies,
And catch the manners living as they rise;
Laugh where we must, be candid where we can,
But vindicate the ways of God to man."
We shall, in the first place, enter on the consideration of THE
CURIOSITIES OF THE HUMAN BODY.--The following account is abridged from the
works of the late Drs. Hunter and Paley.
Dr. Hunter shows that all the parts of the human frame are requisite to
the wants and well-being of such a creature as man. He observes, that,
first the mind, the thinking immaterial agent, must be provided with a
place of immediate residence, which shall have all the requisites for the
union of spirit and body; accordingly, she is provided with the _brain_,
where she dwells as governor and superintendant of the whole fabric.
In the next place, as she is to hold a correspondence with all the
material beings around her, she must be supplied with organs fitted to
receive the different kinds of impression which they will make. In fact,
therefore, we see that she is provided with the _organs of sense_, as we
call them: the eye is adapted to light; the ear to sound; the nose to
smell; the mouth to taste; and the skin to touch.
Further, she must be furnished with _organs of communication_ between
herself in the brain, and those organs of sense; to give her information
of all the impressions that are made upon them; and she must have organs
between herself in the brain, and every other part of the body, fitted to
convey her commands and influence over the whole. For these purposes the
_nerves_ are actually given. They are soft white chords which rise from
the brain, the immediate residence of the mind, and disperse themselves in
branches through all parts of the body. They convey all the different
kinds of sensations to the mind in the brain; and likewise carry out from
thence all her commands to the other parts of the body. They are intended
to be occasional monitors against all such impressions as might endanger
the well-being of the whole, or of any particular part; which vindicates
the Creator of all things, in having actually subjected us to those many
disagreeable and painful sensations which we are exposed to from a
thousand accidents in life.
Moreover, the mind, in this corporeal system, must be endued with the
power of moving from place to place; that she may have intercourse with a
variety of objects; that she may fly from such as are disagreeable,
dangerous, or hurtful; and pursue such as are pleasant and useful to her.
And accordingly she is furnished with limbs, with _muscles_ and _tendons_,
the instruments of motion, which are found in every part of the fabric
where motion is necessary.
But to support, to give firmness and shape to the fabric; to keep the
softer parts in their proper places; to give fixed points for, and the
proper directions to its motions, as well as to protect some of the more
important and tender organs from external injuries, there must be some
firm _prop-work_ interwoven through the whole. And in fact, for such
purposes the _bones_ are given.
The prop-work is not made with one rigid fabric, for that would prevent
motion. Therefore there are a number of bones.
These pieces must all be firmly bound together, to prevent their
dislocation. And this end is perfectly well answered by the _ligaments_.
The extremities of these bony pieces, where they move and rub upon one
another, must have smooth and slippery surfaces for easy motion. This is
most happily provided for, by the _cartilages_ and _mucus_ of the joints.
The interstices of all these parts must be filled up with some soft and
ductile matter, which shall keep them in their places, unite them, and at
the same time allow them to move a little upon one another; these purposes
are answered by the _cellular membrane_, or edipose substance.
There must be an outward covering over the whole apparatus, both to give
it compactness, and to defend it from a thousand injuries; which, in fact,
are the very purposes of the _skin_ and other integuments.
Say, what the various bones so wisely wrought?
How was their frame to such perfection brought?
What did their figures for their uses fit,
Their numbers fix, and joints adapted knit;
And made them all in that just order stand,
Which motion, strength, and ornament, demand?
_Blackmore._
Lastly, the mind being formed for society and intercourse with beings of
her own kind, she must be endued with powers of expressing and
communicating her thoughts by some sensible marks or signs, which shall be
both easy to herself, and admit of great variety. And accordingly she is
provided with the _organs_ and faculty of _speech_, by which she can throw
out signs with amazing facility, and vary them without end.
Thus we have built up an animal body, which would seem to be pretty
complete; but as it is the nature of matter to be altered and worked upon
by matter, so in a very little time such a living creature must be
destroyed, if there is no provision for repairing the injuries which she
must commit upon herself, and those which she must be exposed to from
without. Therefore a treasure of blood is actually provided in the heart
and vascular system, full of nutritious and healing particles; fluid
enough to penetrate into the minutest parts of the animal; impelled by the
heart, and conveyed by the arteries, it washes every part, builds up what
was broken down, and sweeps away the old and useless materials. Hence we
see the necessity or advantage of the _heart_ and _arterial system_.
What more there was of the blood than enough to repair the present damages
of the machine, must not be lost, but should be returned again to the
heart; and for this purpose the _venous_ system is provided. These
requisites in the animal explain the circulation of the blood, _a
priori_.[1]
All this provision, however, would not be sufficient; for the store of
blood would soon be consumed, and the fabric would break down, if there
was not a provision made by fresh supplies. These, we observe, in fact,
are profusely scattered round her in the animal and vegetable kingdoms;
and she is furnished with hands, the fittest instruments that could be
contrived for gathering them, and for preparing them in their varieties
for the mouth.
But these supplies, which we call food, must be considerably changed; they
must be converted into blood. Therefore she is provided with teeth for
cutting and bruising the food, and with a stomach for melting it down; in
short, with all the organs subservient to digestion: the finer parts of
the aliments only can be useful in the constitution; these must be taken
up and conveyed into the blood, and the dregs must be thrown off. With
this view, the intestinal canal is provided. It separates the nutritious
parts, which we call chyle, to be conveyed into the blood by the system of
the absorbent vessels; and the coarser parts pass downwards to be ejected.
We have now got our animal not only furnished with what is wanting for
immediate existence, but also with powers of protracting that existence to
an indefinite length of time. But its duration, we may presume, must
necessarily be limited; for as it is nourished, grows, and is raised up to
its full strength and utmost perfection; so it must in time, in common
with all material beings, begin to decay, and then hurry on into final
ruin.
Thus we see, by the imperfect survey which human reason is able to take of
this subject, that the animal man must necessarily be complex in his
corporeal system, and in its operations.
He must have one great and general system, the vascular, branching through
the whole circulation: another, the nervous, with its appendages--the
organs of sense, for every kind of feeling: and a third, for the union and
connection of all these parts.
Besides these primary and general systems, he requires others, which may
be more local or confined: one, for strength, support, and
protection,--the bony compages: another, for the requisite motions of the
parts among themselves, as well as for moving from place to place,--the
muscular system: another to prepare nourishment for the daily recruit of
the body,--the digestive organs.
Dr. Paley observes, that, of all the different systems in the human body,
the use and necessity are not more apparent, than the wisdom and
contrivance which have been exerted, in putting them all into the most
compact and convenient form: in disposing them so, that they shall
mutually receive from, and give helps to one another: and that all, or
many of the parts, shall not only answer their principal end or purpose,
but operate successfully and usefully in a variety of secondary ways. If
we consider the whole animal machine in this light, and compare it with
any machine in which human art has exerted its utmost, we shall be
convinced, beyond the possibility of doubt, that there are intelligence
and power far surpassing what humanity can boast of.
One superiority in the natural machine is peculiarly striking.--In
machines of human contrivance or art, there is no internal power, no
principle in the machine itself, by which it can alter and accommodate
itself to injury which it may suffer, or make up any injury which admits
of repair. But in the natural machine, the animal body, this is most
wonderfully provided for, by internal powers in the machine itself; many
of which are not more certain and obvious in their effects, than they are
above all human comprehension as to the manner and means of their
operation. Thus, a wound heals up of itself; a broken bone is made firm
again by a callus; a dead part is separated and thrown off; noxious juices
are driven out by some of the emunctories; a redundancy is removed by some
spontaneous bleeding; a bleeding naturally stops of itself; and the loss
is in a measure compensated, by a contracting power in the vascular
system, which accommodates the capacity of the vessels to the quantity
contained. The stomach gives intimation when the supplies have been
expended; represents, with great exactness, the quantity and quality, of
what is wanted in the present state of the machine; and in proportion as
she meets with neglect, rises in her demand, urges her petition in a
louder tone, and with more forcible arguments. For its protection, an
animal body resists heat and cold in a very wonderful manner, and
preserves an equal temperature in a burning and in a freezing atmosphere.
A farther excellence or superiority in the natural machine, if possible,
still more astonishing, more beyond all human comprehension, than what we
have been speaking of, is the distinction of sexes, and the effects of
their united powers. Besides those internal powers of self-preservation in
each individual, when two of them, of different sexes, unite, they are
endued with powers of producing other animals or machines like themselves,
which again are possessed of the same powers of producing others, and so
of multiplying the species without end. These are powers which mock all
human invention or imitation. They are characteristics of the _Divine
Architect_.--Thus far Paley.
Galen takes notice, that there are in the human body above 600 muscles, in
each of which there are, at least, 10 several intentions, or due
qualifications, to be observed; so that, about the muscles alone, no less
than 6000 ends and aims are to be attended to! The bones are reckoned to
be 284; and the distinct scopes or intentions of these are above 40--in
all, about 12,000! and thus it is, in some proportion, with all the other
parts, the _skin_, _ligaments_, _vessels_, and _humours_; but more
especially with the several vessels, which do, in regard to their great
variety, and multitude of their several intentions, very much exceed the
homogeneous parts.
--------------------How august,
How complicate, how wonderful, is man!
How passing wonder He who made him such!--
From different natures marvellously mixt;--
Though _sully'd_ and _dishonour'd_, still DIVINE!
_Young._
"Come! all ye nations! bless the LORD,
To him your grateful homage pay:
Your voices raise with one accord,
JEHOVAH'S praises to display.
From clay our complex frames he moulds,
And succours us in time of need:
Like sheep when wandering from their folds,
He calls us back, and does us feed.
Then thro' the world let's shout his praise,
Ten thousand million tongues should join,
To heav'n their thankful incense raise,
And sound their MAKER'S love divine.
When rolling years have ceas'd their rounds,
Yet shall his goodness onward tend;
For his great mercy has no bounds,
His truth and love shall never end!"
So curious is the texture or form of the human body in every part, and
withal so "fearfully and wonderfully made," that even atheists, after
having carefully surveyed the frame of it, and viewed the fitness and
usefulness of its various parts, and their several intentions, have been
struck with wonder, and their souls kindled into devotion towards the
all-wise Maker of such a beautiful frame. And so convinced was Galen of
the excellency of this piece of divine workmanship, that he is said to
have allowed Epicurus a hundred years to find out a more commodious shape,
situation, or texture, for any one part of the human body! Indeed, no
understanding can be so low and mean, no heart so stupid and insensible,
as not plainly to see, that nothing but Infinite Wisdom could, in so
wonderful a manner, have fashioned the body of man, and inspired into it a
being of superior faculties, whereby He teacheth us more than the beasts
of the field, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of the heaven.
--------------Thrice happy men,
And sons of men, whom God hath thus advanc'd;
Created in his image, here to dwell,
And worship him; and, in return, to rule
O'er all his works.
_Milton._
We now proceed to consider THE CURIOSITIES OF THE HUMAN COUNTENANCE.--On
this subject we shall derive considerable assistance from the same German
philosopher that was quoted in the last section. Indeed, we shall make a
liberal use of Sturm's Reflections in our delineations of the Curiosities
of the human frame.
The exterior of the human body at once declares the superiority of man
over all living creatures. His _Face_, directed towards the heavens,
prepares us to expect that dignified expression which is so legibly
inscribed upon his features; and from the countenance of man we may judge
of his important destination, and high prerogatives. When the soul rests
in undisturbed tranquillity, the features of the face are calm and
composed; but when agitated by emotions, and tossed by contending
passions, the countenance becomes a living picture, in which every
sensation is depicted with equal force and delicacy. Each affection of the
mind has its particular impression, and every change of countenance
denotes some secret emotion of the heart. The _Eye_ may, in particular, be
regarded as the immediate organ of the soul; as a mirror, in which the
wildest passions and the softest affections are reflected without
disguise. Hence it may be called with propriety, the true interpreter of
the soul, and organ of the understanding. The colour and motions of the
eye contribute much to mark the character of the countenance. The human
eyes are, in proportion, nearer to one another than those of any other
living creatures; the space between the eyes of most of them being so
great, as to prevent their seeing an object with both their eyes at the
same time, unless it is placed at a great distance. Next to the eyes, the
eye-brows tend to fix the character of the countenance. Their colour
renders them particularly striking; they form the shade of the picture,
which thus acquires greater force of colouring. The eye-lashes, when long
and thick, give beauty and additional charms to the eye. No animals, but
men and monkeys, have both eye-lids ornamented with eye-lashes; other
creatures having them only on the lower eye-lid. The eye-brows are
elevated, depressed, and contracted, by means of the muscles upon the
forehead, which forms a very considerable part of the face, and adds much
to its beauty when well formed: it should neither project much, nor be
quite flat; neither very large, nor small; beautiful hair adds much to its
appearance. The _Nose_ is the most prominent, and least moveable part of
the face; hence it adds more to the beauty than the expression of the
countenance. The _Mouth_ and _Lips_ are, on the contrary, extremely
susceptible of changes; and, if the eyes express the passions of the soul,
the mouth seems more peculiarly to correspond with the emotions of the
heart. The rosy bloom of the lips, and the ivory white of the teeth,
complete the charms of the human face divine.
Another Curiosity on this subject is, the wonderful diversity of traits in
the human countenance. It is an evident proof of the admirable wisdom of
God, that though the bodies of men are so similar to each other in their
essential parts, there is yet such a diversity in their exterior, that
they can be readily distinguished without the liability of error. Amongst
the many millions of men existing in the universe, there are no two that
are perfectly similar to each other Each one has some peculiarity
pourtrayed in his countenance, or remarkable in his speech; and this
diversity of countenance is the more singular, because the parts which
compose it are very few, and in each person are disposed according to the
same plan. If all things had been produced by blind chance, the
countenances of men might have resembled one another as nearly as balls
cast in the same mould, or drops of water out of the same bucket: but as
that is not the case, we must admire the infinite wisdom of the Creator,
which, in thus diversifying the traits of the human countenance, has
manifestly had in view the happiness of men; for if they resembled each
other perfectly, they could not be distinguished from one another, to the
utter confusion and detriment of society. We should never be certain of
life, nor of the peaceable possession of our property; thieves and robbers
would run little risk of detection, for they could neither be
distinguished by the traits of their countenance, nor the sound of their
voice. Adultery, and every crime that stains humanity, might be practiced
with impunity, since the guilty would rarely be discovered; and we should
be continually exposed to the machinations of the villain, and the
malignity of the coward: we could not shelter ourselves from the confusion
of the mistake, nor from the treachery and fraud of the deceitful; all the
efforts of justice would be useless, and commerce would be the prey of
error and uncertainty: in short, the uniformity and perfect similarity of
faces would deprive society of its most endearing charms, and destroy the
pleasure and sweet gratification of individual friendship.
We may well exclaim with a celebrated writer,--
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in
faculties! in form, and moving, how express and admirable! in action,
how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god!"
The next subject is, THE CURIOUS FORMATION OF THE EYE.--The _Eye_
infinitely surpasses all the works of man's industry. Its structure is one
of the most wonderful things the human understanding can become acquainted
with; the most skilful artist cannot devise any machine of this kind which
is not infinitely inferior to the eye; whatever ability, industry, and
attention he may devote to it, he will not be able to produce a work that
does not abound with the imperfections incident to the works of men. It is
true, we cannot perfectly become acquainted with all the art the Divine
Wisdom has displayed in the structure of this beautiful organ; but the
little that we know suffices to convince us of the admirable intelligence,
goodness, and power of the Creator. In the first place, how fine is the
disposition of the exterior parts of the eye, how admirably it is
defended! Placed in durable orbits of bone, at a certain depth in the
skull, they cannot easily suffer any injury; the over-arching eye-brows
contribute much to the beauty and preservation of this exquisite organ;
and the eye-lids more immediately shelter it from the glare of light, and
other things which might be prejudicial; inserted in these are the
eye-lashes, which also much contribute to the above effect, and also
prevent small particles of dust, and other substances, striking against
the eye.[2] The internal structure is still more admirable. The globe of
the eye is composed of tunics, humours, muscles, and vessels; the coats
are the cornea, or exterior membrane, which is transparent anteriorly, and
opake posteriorly; the charoid, which is extremely vascular; the uvea,
with the iris, which being of various colours, gives the appearance of
differently coloured eyes; and being perforated, with the power of
contraction and dilatation, forms the pupil; and, lastly, the retina,
being a fine expansion of the optic nerve, upon it the impressions of
objects are made. The humours are the aqueous, lying in the forepart of
the globe, immediately under the cornea; it is thin, liquid, and
transparent; the crystalline, which lies next to the aqueous, behind the
uvea, opposite to the pupil, it is the least of the humours, of great
solidity, and on both sides convex; the vitreous, resembling the white of
an egg, fills all the hind part of the cavity of the globe, and gives the
spherical figure to the eye. The muscles of the eye are six, and by the
excellence of their arrangement it is enabled to move in all directions.
Vision is performed by the rays of light falling on the pellucid and
convex cornea of the eye, by the density and convexity of which they are
united into a focus, which passes the aqueous humours, and pupil of the
eye, to be more condensed by the crystalline lens. The rays of light thus
concentrated, penetrate the vitreous humour, and stimulate the retina upon
which the images of objects, painted in an inverse direction, are
represented to the mind through the medium of the optic nerves.
------------------The _visual orbs_
Remark, how aptly station'd for their task;
Rais'd to th' imperial head's high citadel,
A wide extended prospect to command.
See the arch'd outworks of impending lids,
With hairs, as palisadoes fenc'd around
To _ward annoyance_ from without.
_Bally._
Again:--
Who form'd the curious organ of the _eye_,
And cloth'd it with its various tunicles,
Of texture exquisite; with crystal juice
Supply'd it, to transmit the rays of light;
Then plac'd it in its station eminent,
Well _fenc'd_ and _guarded_, as a _centinel_
To watch abroad, and needful caution give?
_Needler._
The next subject is, THE CURIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE EAR.
The channel'd ear, with many a winding maze,
How artfully perplex'd, to catch the sound.
And from her repercussive caves augment!
_Bally._
Dark night, that from the eye his function takes,
The ear more quick of apprehension makes;
Wherein it doth impair the seeing sense,
It pays the HEARING--_double recompense_.
_Shakspeare._
Although the ear, with regard to beauty, yields to the eye, its
conformation is not less perfect, nor less worthy of the Creator. The
position of the ear bespeaks much wisdom; for it is placed in the most
convenient part of the body, near to the brain, the common seat of all the
senses. The exterior form of the ear merits considerable attention; its
substance is between the flexible softness of flesh, and the firmness of
bone, which prevents the inconvenience that must arise from its being
either entirely muscular or wholly formed of solid bone. It is therefore
cartilaginous, possessing firmness, folds, and smoothness, so adapted as
to reflect sound; for the chief use of the external part is to collect the
vibrations of the air, and transmit them to the orifice of the ear. The
internal structure of this organ is still more remarkable. Within the
cavity of the ear is an opening, called the meatus auditorius, or auditory
canal, the entrance to which is defended by small hairs, which prevent
insects and small particles of extraneous matter penetrating into it; for
which purpose there is also secreted a bitter ceruminous matter, called
ear-wax. The auditory canal is terminated obliquely by a membrane,
generally known by the name of drum, which instrument it in some degree
resembles; for within the cavity of the auditory canal is a kind of bony
ring, over which the membrana tympani is stretched. In contact with this
membrane, on the inner side, is a small bone (malleus) against which it
strikes when agitated by the vibrations of sound. Connected with these
are two small muscles: one, by stretching the membrane, adapts it to be
more easily acted upon by soft and low sounds; the other, by relaxing,
prepares it for those which are very loud. Besides the malleus, there are
some other very small and remarkable bones, called incus, or the anvil, as
orbiculare, or orbicular bone, and the stapes, or stirrup: their use is,
to assist in conveying the sounds received upon the membrana tympani.
Behind the cavity of the drum, is an opening, called the Eustachian tube,
which begins at the back part of the mouth with an orifice, which
diminishes in size as the tube passes towards the ear, where it becomes
bony; by this means, sounds may be conveyed to the ear through the mouth,
and it facilitates the vibrations of the membrane by the admission of air.
We may next observe the cochlea, which somewhat resembles the shell of a
snail, whence its name; its cavity winds in a spiral direction, and is
divided into two by a thin spiral lamina: and lastly is the auditory
nerve, which terminates in the brain. The faculty of hearing is worthy of
the utmost admiration and attention: by putting in motion a very small
portion of air, without even being conscious of its moving, we have the
power of communicating to each other our thoughts, desires, and
conceptions. But to render the action of air in the propagation of sound
more intelligible, we must recollect that the air is not a solid, but a
fluid body. Throw a stone into a smooth stream of water, and there will
take place undulations, which will be extended more or less according to
the degree of force with which the stone was impelled. Conceive then, that
when a word is uttered in the air, a similar effect takes place in that
element, as is produced by the stone in the water. During the action of
speaking, the air is expelled from the mouth with more or less force; this
communicates to the external air which it meets, an undulatory motion; and
these undulations of the air entering the cavity of the ear, the external
parts of which are peculiarly adapted to receive them, strike upon the
membrane, or drum, by which means it is shaken, and receives a trembling
motion: the vibration is communicated to the malleus, the bone immediately
in contact with the membrane, and from it to the other bones; the last of
which, the stapes or stirrup, adhering to the fenestra ovalis, or oval
orifice, causes it to vibrate; the trembling of which is communicated to a
portion of water contained in the cavity called the vestibulum, and in the
semicircular canals, causing a gentle tremor in the nervous expansion
contained therein, which is transmitted to the brain; and the mind is thus
informed of the presence of sound, and feels a sensation proportioned to
the force or to the weakness of the impression that is made. Let us
rejoice that we possess the faculty of hearing; for without it, our state
would be most wretched and deplorable; in some respects, more sorrowful
than the loss of sight; had we been born deaf, we could not have acquired
knowledge sufficient to enable us to pursue any art or science. Let us
never behold those who have the misfortune to be deaf, without endeavoring
better to estimate the gift of which they are deprived, and which we
enjoy; or without praising the goodness of God, which has granted it to
us: and the best way we can testify our gratitude is, to make a proper use
of this important blessing.
We now proceed to a more particular description of THE CURIOSITIES OF THE
HUMAN HEART; AND THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.
------Though no shining sun, nor twinkling star
Bedeck'd the crimson curtains of the sky;
Though neither vegetable, beast, nor bird,
Were extant on the surface of this ball,
Nor lurking gem beneath; though the great sea
Slept in profound stagnation, and the air
Had left no thunder to pronounce its Maker:
Yet Man at home, _within himself_ might find
The Deity immense, and in that frame
_So fearfully, so wonderfully made_!
See and adore his providence and power.
_Smart._
With what admirable skill and inimitable structure is formed that muscular
body, situated within the cavity of the chest, and called the human heart!
Its figure is somewhat conical, and it is externally divided into two
parts: the base, which is uppermost, and attached to vessels; and the
apex, which is loose and pointing to the left side, against which it seems
to beat. Its substance is muscular, being composed of fleshy fibres,
interwoven with each other. It is divided internally into cavities, called
auricles and ventricles; from which vessels proceed to convey the blood to
the different parts of the body. The ventricles are situated in the
substance of the heart, and are separated from each other by a thick
muscular substance; they are divided into right and left, and each
communicates with its adjoining auricle, one of which is situated on each
side the base of the heart. The right auricle receives the blood from the
head and superior parts of the body, by means of a large vein; and in the
same manner the blood is returned to it from the inferior parts, by all
the veins emptying their stores into one, which terminates in this cavity;
which, having received a sufficient portion of blood, contracts, and by
this motion empties itself into the right ventricle, which also
contracting, propels the blood into an artery, which immediately conveys
it into the lungs, where it undergoes certain changes, and then passes
through veins into the left auricle of the heart, thence into the left
ventricle, by the contraction of which it is forced into an artery,
through whose ramifications it is dispersed to all parts of the body, from
which it is again returned to the right auricle; thus keeping up a
perpetual circulation, for, whilst life remains, the action of the heart
never ceases. In a state of health the heart contracts about seventy times
in a minute, and is supposed, at each contraction, to propel about two
ounces of blood; to do which, the force it exerts is very considerable,
though neither the quantity of force exerted, nor of blood propelled, is
accurately determined. The heart comprises within itself a world of
wonders, and whilst we admire its admirable structure and properties, we
are naturally led to consider the wisdom and power of Him who formed it,
from whom first proceeded the circulation of the blood, and the pulsations
of the heart; who commands it to be still, and the functions instantly
cease to act.
This important secret of the circulation of blood in the human body was
brought to light by William Harvey, an English physician, a little before
the year 1600: and when it is considered thoroughly, it will appear to be
one of the most stupendous works of OMNIPOTENCE.
_The blood_, the fountain whence the spirits flow,
The generous stream that waters every part,
And motion, vigour, and warm life conveys
To every particle that moves or lives,
----------------through unnumber'd tube.
_Pour'd by the heart_, and _to the heart again
Refunded_.----------
_Armstrong._
Who in the dark the vital flame illum'd,
And from th' impulsive engine caused to flow
Th' ejaculated streams through many a pipe
_Arterial_ with meand'ring lapse, then bring
Refluent their _purple tribute_ to their fount:
Who spun the _sinews'_ branchy thread, and twin'd
The azure _veins_ in spiral knots, to waft
Life's tepid waves all o'er; or, who with _bones_
Compacted, and with nerves the fabric strung:
Their specious form, their fitness, which results
From figure and arrangement, all declare
Th' Artificer Divine!
_Bally._
Again:--
------The nerves, with equal wisdom made.
Arising from the tender brain, pervade
And secret pass in pairs the channel'd bone.
And thence advance through paths and roads unknown.
Form'd of the finest complicated thread,
The num'rous cords are through the body spread.
These subtle channels, such is every nerve,
For vital functions, sense, and motion serve;--
They help to labour and concoct the _food_,
Refine the _chyle_, and animate the _blood_.
_Blackmore._
We now proceed to some CURIOUS AND INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING
RESPIRATION, OR THE ACT OF BREATHING.
Anatomists have, not unaptly, compared the lungs to a sponge; containing,
like it, a great number of small cavities, and being also capable of
considerable compression and expansion. The air cells of the lungs open
into the windpipe, by which they communicate with the external atmosphere:
the whole internal structure of the lungs is lined by a transparent
membrane, estimated by Haller at only the thousandth part of an inch in
thickness; but whose surface, from its various convolutions, measures
fifteen square feet, which is equal to the external surface of the body.
On this extensive and thin membrane innumerable branches of veins and
arteries are distributed, some of them finer than hairs; and through these
vessels all the blood in the system is successively propelled, by an
extremely curious and beautiful mechanism, which will be described in some
future article.
The capacity of the lungs varies considerably in different individuals.[3]
On a general average, they may be said to contain about 280 cubic inches,
or nearly five quarts of air. By each inspiration about forty cubic inches
of air are received into the lungs, and at each expiration the same
quantity is discharged. If, therefore, we calculate that twenty
respirations take place in a minute, and forty cubic inches to be the
amount of each inspiration, it follows, that in one minute, we inhale 800
cubic inches; in an hour, the quantity of air inspired will be 48,000
cubic inches; and in the twenty-four hours, it will amount to 1,152,000
cubic inches. This quantity of air will almost fill 78 wine hogsheads, and
would weigh nearly 53 pounds. From this admirable provision of nature, by
which the blood is made to pass in review, as it were, of this immense
quantity of air, and over so extensive a surface, it seems obvious, that
these two fluids are destined to exert some very important influence on
each other; and it has been proved, by a very decisive experiment of Dr.
Priestley's, that the extremely thin membrane, which is alone interposed,
does not prevent the exercise of the chemical affinity which prevails
between the air which is received in the lungs, and the blood which is
incessantly circulating through them. It must surely, therefore, be of the
first importance to health, that the fluid of which we hourly inhale, at
least, three hogsheads, should not be contaminated by the suspension of
noxious effluvia.
The purity of the atmosphere may be impaired either by the operation of
what some denominate natural causes, or by the influence of circumstances
resulting from our social condition. Its chemical constitution is changed
by respiration; the vital principle is destroyed, and its place supplied
by a highly poisonous gas.
The emanations from the surface of our bodies contribute, in a still
greater degree, to vitiate the atmosphere, and to render it less fit for
the healthful support of life. Many of the organs which compose our
wonderfully complicated frame are engaged in discharging the constituent
parts of our bodies, which, by the exercise of the various animal
functions, are become useless, and, if retained, would become noxious.
Physiologists have instituted a variety of experiments, to ascertain the
amount of the exhalations from the surface of the body. Sanctorius, an
eminent Italian physician, from a series of experiments performed during a
period of thirty years, estimates it as greater than the aggregate of all
our other discharges. From his calculations it would appear, that if we
take of liquid and solid food eight pounds in the twenty-four hours, that
five pounds are discharged by perspiration alone, within that period; and
of this, the greater part is what has been denominated insensible
perspiration, from its not being cognizable to the senses. We may estimate
the discharge from the surface of the body, by sensible and insensible
perspiration, as from half an ounce to four ounces per hour.
The exhalations from the lungs and the skin are, to a certain extent,
offensive even in the most healthy individuals; but when proceeding from
those labouring under disease, they are in a state very little removed
from putrefaction.
Animal miasmata, like all other poison, become more active in proportion
to the quantity which we imbibe. When, therefore, the air is stagnant, and
when many individuals contribute their respective supplies of effluvia to
vitiate it, the atmosphere necessarily becomes satured with the poison;
and when inhaled, conveys it in a more virulent and concentrated state to
the extensive and delicate surface of the lungs.
The collection of animal effluvia in confined places, is the source of the
generation and diffusion of febrile infection: but when the miasmata are
respired, in a diluted state, the ill effects which they produce, though
slower in their operation, are equally certain. They, to a certain extent,
pollute the fountain of life, and ultimately break down the vigour of the
most robust frame; impairing the action of the digestive organs,
engendering the whole train of nervous disorders, and rendering the body
more susceptible of disease.
The lungs and the skin may equally become the means of introducing
poisonous or infectious matter into the constitution. The venom of a
poisonous animal, the matter of small-pox, and many other contagions,
produce their influence through the medium of the skin. Infectious
diseases are communicated by the reception of air in our lungs,
impregnated with contagious matter. The influence of the constant
respiration of air in any degree impure, is fully evinced in the pallid
countenances and languid frames of those who live in confined and
ill-ventilated places; and the health of all classes of society suffers
precisely in proportion to the susceptibility of their constitutions, and
according to the greater or less impurities of the air which they
habitually respire.
Of the offensive nature of animal effluvia, the senses of every one who
enters a crowded assembly, must immediately convince him. When, therefore,
we reflect on the state of the air which we breathe in churches, theatres,
schools, and all crowded assemblies; and when we consider the amount of
the exhalations emitted by each individual, and the very offensive nature
of those emitted by many; and when, on the other hand, we take into
consideration the importance of air to life, and the great quantity of
this fluid which we daily respire, we must be naturally led to the
adoption of such measures as would secure in our private dwellings, as
well as in our public buildings, a full and unintermitting supply of fresh
atmospheric air.
It is curious to observe the influence of habit, in reconciling us to many
practices which would otherwise be considered in the highest degree
offensive. Thus, while, with a fastidious delicacy, we avoid drinking from
a cup which has been already pressed to the lips of our friends, we feel
no hesitation in receiving into our lungs an atmosphere contaminated by
the breath and exhalations of every promiscuous assembly.
"Were once the energy of air deny'd,
The heart would cease to pour its purple tide
The purple tide forget its wonted play,
Nor back again pursue its curious way."
The next Subject of Curiosity we shall consider, is, THE HAIR OF THE HEAD.
If we consider the curious structure, and different uses of the hair of
our heads, we shall find them very well worth our attention, and discover
in them proofs of the wisdom and power of God.
In each entire hair we perceive with the naked eye, an oblong slender
filament, and a bulb at the extremity thicker and more transparent than
the rest of the hair. The filament forms the body of the hair, and the
bulb the root. The large hairs have their root, and even part of the
filament, enclosed in a small membraneous vessel or capsule. The size of
this sheath is proportionate to the size of the root, being always rather
larger, that the root may not be too much confined, and that some space
may remain between it and the capsule. The root or bulb has two parts, the
one external, the other internal. The external is a pellicle composed of
small laminæ; the internal is a glutinous fluid, in which some fibres are
united; it is the marrow of the root. From the external part of the bulb
proceed five, and sometimes, though rarely, six small white threads, very
delicate and transparent, and often twice as long as the root. Besides
these threads, small knots are seen rising in different places; they are
viscous, and easily dissolved by heat. From the interior part of the bulb
proceeds the body of the hair, composed of three parts; the external
sheath, the interior tubes, and the marrow.
When the hair has arrived at the pore of the skin through which it is to
pass, it is strongly enveloped by the pellicle of the root, which forms
here a very small tube. The hair then pushes the cuticle before it, and
makes of it an external sheath, which defends it at the time when it is
still very soft. The rest of the covering of the hair, is a peculiar
substance, and particularly transparent at the point. In a young hair this
sheath is very soft, but in time becomes so hard and elastic, that it
springs back with some noise when it is cut. It preserves the hair a long
time. Immediately beneath the sheath are several small fibres, which
extend themselves along the hair from the root to the extremity. These are
united amongst themselves, and with the sheath that is common to them, by
several elastic threads; and these bundles of fibres form together a tube
filled with two substances; the one fluid, the other solid; and these
constitute the marrow of the hair.
The wonders of creating power are seen in every thing, even in the hair
that adorns our surface.
All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.
That, chang'd thro' all, and yet in all the same;
Great in the earth, as in th' ethereal frame;
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,
Lives thro' all life, extends thro' all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent;
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part,
As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart;
As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns,
As the rapt seraph that adores and burns:
To him no high, no low, no great, no small;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.
_Pope._
We shall now introduce to our readers some _Ancient and Modern Opinions
respecting the Hair_.
The ancients held the hair a sort of excrement, fed only with
excrementitious matters, and no proper part of a living body. They
supposed it generated of the fuliginous parts of the blood, exhaled by the
heat of the body to the surface, and then condensed in passing through the
pores. Their chief reasons were, that the hair being cut, will grow again,
even in extreme old age, and when life is very low; that in hectic and
consumptive people, where the rest of the body is continually emaciating,
the hair thrives; nay, that it will even grow again in dead carcases. They
added, that hair does not feed and grow like the other parts, by
introsusception, i. e. by a juice circulating within it, but, like the
nails, by juxtaposition. But the moderns are agreed, that every hair
properly and truly lives, and receives nutriment to fill it, like the
other parts; which they prove hence, that the roots do not turn grey in
aged persons sooner than the extremities, but the whole changes colour at
once; which shews that there is a direct communication, and that all the
parts are affected alike. In strict propriety, however, it must be
allowed, that the life and growth of hairs is of a different kind from
that of the rest of the body, and is not immediately derived therefrom, or
reciprocated therewith. It is rather of the nature of vegetation. They
grow as plants do, or as some plants shoot from the parts of others; from
which, though they draw their nourishment, yet each has, as it were, its
distinct life and economy. They derive their food from some juices in the
body, but not from the nutritious juices of the body; whence they may
live, though the body be starved. Wulferus, in the _Philosophical
Collections_, gives an account of a woman buried at Nurenberg, whose grave
being opened forty-three years after her death, hair was found issuing
forth plentifully through the clefts of the coffin. The cover being
removed, the whole corpse appeared in its perfect shape; but, from the
crown of the head to the sole of the foot, covered over with thick-set
hair, long and curled. The sexton going to handle the upper part of the
head with his fingers, the whole fell at once, leaving nothing in his hand
but a handful of hair: there was neither skull nor any other bone left:
yet the hair was solid and strong. Mr. Arnold, in the same collection,
gives a relation of a man hanged for theft, who, in a little time, while
he yet hung upon the gallows, had his body strangely covered over with
hair.
Before we dismiss this subject, we shall give the following curious
_Instances of the Internal Growth of Hair_.
Though the external surface of the body is the natural place for hairs, we
have many well-attested instances of their being found also on the
internal surface. Amatus Lusitanus mentions a person who had hair upon his
tongue. Pliny and Valerius Maximus say, that the heart of Aristomenes the
Messenian, was hairy. Cællus Rhodiginus relates the same of Hermogenes the
rhetorician; and Plutarch, of Leonidas king of Sparta. Hairs are said to
have been found in the breasts of women, and to have occasioned the
distemper called _trichiasis_; but some authors are of opinion, that these
are small worms, and not hairs. There have been, however, various and
indisputable evidences of hairs found in the kidneys, and voided by
natural discharge. Hippocrates says, that the glandular parts are the most
subject to hair; but bundles of hair have been found in the muscular parts
of beef, and in parts of the human body equally firm. Hair has been often
found in abscesses and imposthumations. Schultetus, opening the abdomen of
a human body, found twelve pints of water, and a large lock of hair
swimming loosely in it. It has, however, been found on examination, that
some of the internal parts of the body are more subject to an unnatural
growth of hair than others. This has long been known to anatomists; and
many memorable instances have been recorded by Dr. Tyson, and others. In
some animals, hairs of a considerable length have been discovered growing
in the internal parts; and on several occasions, they have been found
lying loosely in the cavities of the veins. There are instances of mankind
being affected in the same manner. Cardan relates, that he found hair in
the blood of a Spaniard; Slonatius, in that of a gentlewoman of Cracovia;
and Schultetus declares, from his own observation, that those people, who
are afflicted with the plica polonica, have very often hair in their
blood.
We shall, in the next place, call the reader's attention to some CURIOUS
REMARKS CONCERNING THE BEARD.
A beard gives to the countenance a rough and fierce air, suited to the
manners of a rough and fierce people. The same face without a beard
appears milder; for which reason, a beard becomes unfashionable in a
polished nation. Demosthenes, the orator, lived in the same period with
Alexander the Great, at which time the Greeks began to leave off beards. A
bust, however, of that orator, found in Herculaneum, has a beard, which
must either have been done for him when he was young, or from reluctance
in an old man to a new fashion. Barbers were brought to Rome from Sicily,
the 454th year after the building of Rome. And it must relate to a time
after that period, what Aulus Gellius says, that people accused of any
crime were prohibited to shave their beards till they were absolved. From
Hadrian downward, the Roman emperors wore beards. Julius Capitolinus
reproaches the Emperor Verus for cutting his beard at the instigation of a
concubine. All the Roman generals wore beards in Justinian's time. The
pope shaved his beard, which was held a manifest apostasy by the Greek
church, because Moses, Jesus Christ, and even God the Father, were always
drawn with beards by the Greek and Latin painters. Upon the dawn of smooth
manners in France, the beaus cut the beards into shapes, and curled the
whiskers. That fashion produced a whimsical effect: men of gravity left
off beards altogether. A beard, in its natural shape, was too fierce even
for them; and they could not, for shame, copy after the beaus. This
accounts for a regulation, anno 1534, of the University of Paris,
forbidding the professors to wear a beard.
Now follows, _A curious account of_ WOMEN _with Beards_.
Of women remarkably bearded we have several instances. In the cabinet of
curiosities at Stutgard, in Germany, there is the portrait of a young
woman, called _Bartel Graetje_, whose chin is covered with a very large
beard. She was drawn in 1787, at which time she was but twenty-five years
of age. There is likewise, in another cabinet, the same portrait of her
when she was more advanced in life, but likewise with a beard. It is said,
that the Duke of Saxony had the portrait of a poor Swiss woman taken,
remarkable for her long bushy beard; and those who were at the carnival of
Venice in 1726, saw a female dancer astonish the spectators, not more by
her talents, than by her chin covered with a black bushy beard. Charles
XII. had in his army a female grenadier, who wanted neither courage nor a
beard to be a man. She was taken at the battle of Pultowa, and carried to
Petersburg, where she was presented to the czar, in 1724: her beard
measured a yard and a half. We read in the Trevoux Dictionary, that there
was a woman seen at Paris, who had not only a bushy beard on her face, but
her body likewise covered all over with hair. Among a number of other
examples of this nature, that of the great Margaret, the governess of the
Netherlands, is very remarkable. She had a very long stiff beard, which
she prided herself on: and being persuaded that it contributed to give her
an air of majesty, she took care not to lose a hair of it. It is said,
that the Lombard women, when they were at war, made themselves beards with
the hair of their heads, which they ingeniously arranged on their cheeks,
that the enemy, deceived by the likeness, might take them for men. It is
asserted, after Suidas, that in a similar case the Athenian women did as
much. These women were more men than our _Jemmy-Tessamy_ countrymen. About
a century ago, the French ladies adopted a mode of dressing their hair in
such a manner, that curls hung down their cheeks as far as their bosom.
These curls went by the name of _whiskers_. This custom, undoubtedly, was
not invented after the example of the Lombard women, to fight men.
We shall close this chapter with some curious observations ON SNEEZING.
The practice of saluting the person who sneezed existed in Africa, among
nations unknown to the Greeks and Romans. Strada, in his _Account of
Monomotapa_, informs us, (_Prol. Acad._) that when the prince sneezes, all
his subjects in the capital are advertised of it, that they may offer up
prayers for his safety. The author of the conquest of Peru assures us,
that the cacique of Gachoia having sneezed in the presence of the
Spaniards, the Indians of his train fell prostrate before him, stretched
forth their hands, and displayed to him the accustomed marks of respect,
while they invoked the sun to enlighten him, to defend him, and to be his
constant guard. The ancient Romans saluted each other on these occasions:
and Pliny relates, that Tiberius exacted these signs of homage when drawn
in his chariot. Superstition, whose influence debases every thing, had
degraded this custom for several ages, by attaching favourable or
unfavourable omens to sneezing, according to the hour of the day or night,
according to the signs of the zodiac, according as a work was more or less
advanced, or according as one had sneezed to the right or to the left. If
a man sneezed at rising from table, or from his bed, it was necessary for
him to sit or lie down again. 'You are struck with astonishment,' said
Timotheus to the Athenians, who wished to return into the harbour with
their fleet, because he had sneezed; 'you are struck with astonishment,
because among ten thousand there is one man whose brain is moist.' It is
singular enough, that so many ridiculous, contradictory, and superstitious
opinions, have not abolished those customary civilities which are still
preserved equally among high and low. The reason is obvious: they are
preserved, because they are esteemed civilities, and because they cost
nothing. Among the Greeks, sneezing was almost always a good omen. It
excited marks of tenderness, of respect, and attachment. The young
Parthenis, hurried on by her passion, resolved to write to Sarpedon an
avowal of her love; she sneezes in the most tender and impassioned part of
her letter: this is sufficient for her; this incident supplies the place
of an answer, and persuades her that Sarpedon is her lover. Penelope,
harassed by the vexatious courtship of her suitors, begins to curse them
all, and to pour forth vows for the return of Ulysses. Her son Telemachus
interrupts her by a loud sneeze. She instantly exults with joy, and
regards this sign as an assurance of the approaching return of her
husband. (_Hom. Odyss._ lib. xvii.). Xenophon was haranguing his troops; a
soldier sneezed in the moment when he was exhorting them to embrace a
dangerous but necessary resolution. The whole army, moved by this presage,
determined to pursue the project of their general; and Xenophon orders
sacrifices to Jupiter the preserver. This superstitious reverence for
sneezing, so ancient, and so universal even in the times of Homer, excited
the curiosity of the Greek philosophers, and of the rabbins. These last
have a most absurd tradition respecting it. Aristotle remounts likewise to
the sources of natural religion, because the brain is the origin of the
nerves, of our sentiments, sensations, &c. Such were the opinions of the
most ancient and sagacious philosophers of Greece; and mythologists
affirmed, that the first sign of life Prometheus's artificial man gave,
was by sternutation.
CHAP. II.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING MAN.--(_Continued._)
_Difference between the Sexes--Comparative Number of the Sexes at a
Birth--Extraordinary Prolification--Extraordinary Instances of Rapid
Growth--Giants--Dwarfs--Kimos--Curious Account of the
Abderites--Account of a Country in which the Inhabitants reside in
Trees._
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES.
O woman, lovely woman! Nature made you
To temper man!------------
Angels are painted fair to look like you.
There's in you all that we believe of heav'n,
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love!
_Otway._
Under his forming hands a creature grew;
--------------------------------adorn'd
With what all earth or heaven could bestow,
To make her amiable.----
Grace was in all her steps, heav'n in her eye,
In every gesture dignity and love.
_Milton._
Lavater has drawn the following characteristic distinctions between the
male and female of the human species. The primary matter of which women
are constituted, appears to be more flexible, irritable, and elastic, than
that of man. They are formed to maternal mildness and affection; all their
organs are tender, yielding, easily wounded, sensible, and receptible.
Among a thousand females, there is scarcely one without the generic
feminine signs,--the flexible, the circular, and the irritable. They are
the counterpart of man, taken out of man, to be subject to man; to
comfort him like angels; and to lighten his cares. This tenderness, this
sensibility, this light texture of their fibres and organs, this
volatility of feeling, render them so easy to conduct and to tempt, so
ready of submission to the enterprise and power of the man; but more
powerful, through the aid of their charms, than man with all his strength.
The female thinks not profoundly; profound thought is the power of the
man. Women feel more. SENSIBILITY is the power of woman: they often rule
more effectually, more sovereignly, than man. They rule with tender looks,
tears, and sighs, but not with passion and threats; for if, or _when_,
they so rule, they are no longer _women_ but _abortions_. They are capable
of the sweetest sensibility, the most profound emotion, the utmost
humility, and the excess of enthusiasm. In their countenance are the signs
of sanctity and inviolability, which every feeling man honours, and the
effects of which are often miraculous. Therefore, by the irritability of
their nerves, their incapacity for deep inquiry and firm decision, they
may easily, from their extreme sensibility, become the most irreclaimable,
the most rapturous enthusiasts. Their love, strong and rooted as it is, is
very changeable; their hatred almost incurable. Men are most profound;
women are more sublime. Man hears the bursting thunder, views the
destructive bolt with serene aspect, and stands erect amidst the fearful
majesty of the streaming clouds; woman trembles at the lightning, and the
voice of distant thunder; and sinks into the arms of man. Woman is in
anguish when man weeps, and in despair when man is in anguish; yet has she
often more faith than man. Man, without religion, is a diseased creature,
who would persuade himself he is well, and needs not a physician; but
women without religion are monstrous. A woman with a beard is not so
disgusting as a woman who is a free-thinker; her sex is formed to piety
and religion: to them Christ first appeared. The whole world is forgotten
in the emotion caused by the presence and proximity of him they love. They
sink into the most incurable melancholy, as they also rise to the most
enraptured heights. Male sensations is more imagination, female more
heart. When communicative, they are more communicative than man; when
secret, more secret. In general they are more patient, long-suffering,
credulous, benevolent, and modest. They differ also in their interior form
and appearance. Man is the most firm; woman is the most flexible. Man is
the straightest; woman the most bending. Man is serious; woman is gay. Man
is the tallest and broadest; woman the smallest and weakest. Man is rough
and hard; woman smooth and soft. Man is brown; woman is fair. Man is
wrinkly; woman is not. The hair of man is more strong and short; of woman
more long and pliant. The eye-brows of man are compressed; and of woman
less frowning. Man has most convex lines; woman most concave. Man has most
straight lines; woman most curved. The countenance of man, taken in
profile, is more seldom perpendicular than that of woman. Man is most
angular; woman most round.
In determining the comparative merit of the two sexes, if it should be
found (what is indeed the fact) that women fill up their appointed circle
of action with greater regularity than men, the claim of preference must
decide in their favour. In the prudential and economical parts of life,
they rise far above us.
The following is a very curious calculation of THE COMPARATIVE NUMBER OF
THE SEXES AT A BIRTH.
The celebrated M. Hufeland, of Berlin, has inserted in his Journal of
Practical Medicine, some interesting observations in illustration of the
comparative numbers of the sexes at a birth. The number of males born, to
that of females, observes the learned Professor, seems to be 21 to 20 over
the whole earth; and before they reach the age of puberty, the proportion
of the sexes is reduced to perfect equality; more boys than girls die
before they are fourteen. After extending his interesting comparison over
animated nature in general, Professor Hufeland enters into an inquiry,
peculiar to himself, in endeavouring to ascertain the principles and
commencement of the equality of the sexes. In some families, says he,
equality evidently does not hold. In some, the children are all boys; in
others, all girls. He next proceeds to take several families, as 20, 30,
40, or 50, in one place, in conjunction; or small villages of 150 or 300
inhabitants. But even then, the just proportion was not yet established.
In some years, only boys, in others only girls were born; nay, this
disproportion continued for a series of a year or two; but by uniting ten
or fifteen years together, the regular equality appeared. He next
considered, that what took place in small populations must take place
every year in larger societies; and he accordingly found it confirmed by
actual enumeration. He went so far as, by the aid of the minister of
state, Schackman, to ascertain the comparative number of boys and girls
born in one day over the whole Prussian dominions, and the result
corresponded with his anticipations. The general conclusions arrived at by
M. Hufeland, are as follow:--
1st. There is an equal number of males and females born in the human
race.--2d. The equality occurs every day in a population of ten
millions.--3d. Every week in 100,000.--4th. Every month in 50,000.--5th.
Every year in 10,000.--6th. And in small societies of several families,
every ten or fifteen years.--7th. That it does not occur in individual
families.
The reader will be amused by the following instances of EXTRAORDINARY
PROLIFICATION.
The prolific powers of some individuals among mankind are very
extraordinary. Instances have been found where children, to the number of
six, seven, eight, nine, and sometimes sixteen, have been brought forth at
one birth. The wife of Emmanuel Gago, a labourer near Valladolid, was
delivered, the 14th of June, 1799, of five girls. The celebrated Tarsin
was brought to bed in the seventh month, at Argenteuil near Paris, 17th of
July, 1779, of three boys, each fourteen inches and a half long, and of a
girl thirteen inches: they were all baptized, but did not live twenty-four
hours. In June, 1799, one Maria Ruiz, of Lucena in Andalusia, was
successively delivered of sixteen boys, without any girls: seven of them
were alive on the 17th of August following. In 1535, a Muscovite peasant,
named James Kyrloff, and his wife, were presented to the Empress of
Russia. This peasant had been twice married, and was then seventy years of
age. His first wife was brought to bed twenty-one times; namely, four
times of four children each time, seven times of three, and ten times of
two; making in all fifty-seven children, who were then alive. His second
wife, who accompanied him, had been delivered seven times, once of three
children, and six times of twins. Thus he had seventy-two children by his
two marriages.
We now proceed to narrate some EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCES OF RAPID GROWTH.
A remarkable instance of rapid growth in the human species was noticed in
France, in 1729, by the Academy of Sciences. It was a lad, then only seven
years old, who measured four feet eight inches and four lines high,
without his shoes. His mother observed his extraordinary growth and
strength at two years old, which continued to increase with such rapidity,
that he soon arrived at the usual standard. At four years old he was able
to lift and throw the common bundles of hay in stables into the horses'
racks; and at six years old, he could lift as much as a sturdy fellow of
twenty. But although he thus increased in bodily strength, his
understanding was no greater than is usual with children of his age; and
their playthings were also his favourite amusements.
Another boy, a native of Bouzanquet, in the diocese of Alais, though of a
strong constitution, appeared to be knit and stiff in his joints, till he
was about four years and a half old. During this time, nothing farther was
remarkable respecting him, than an extraordinary appetite, which nothing
could satisfy, but an abundance of the common aliments of the inhabitants
of the country, consisting of rye bread, chesnuts, bacon, and water. His
limbs, however, soon becoming supple and pliable, and his body beginning
to expand itself, he grew up in such an extraordinary manner, that at the
age of five years he measured four feet three inches. Some months after,
he was four feet eleven inches; and at six, five feet, and bulky in
proportion. His growth was so rapid, that every month his clothes required
to be made longer and wider; yet it was not preceded by any sickness, nor
accompanied with any pain. At the age of five years his voice changed, his
beard began to appear; and at six, he had as much as a man of thirty; in
short, all the unquestionable marks of maturity were visible in him.
Though his wit was riper than is commonly observable at the age of five or
six, yet its progress was not in proportion to that of his body. His air
and manner still retained something childish, though by his bulk and
stature he resembled a complete man, which at first sight produced a very
singular contrast. His voice was strong and manly, and his great strength
rendered him already fit for the labours of the country. At five, he could
carry to a great distance, three measures of rye, weighing eighty-four
pounds; when turned of six, he could lift up easily to his shoulders, and
carry loads of one hundred and fifty pounds weight to a great distance;
and these exercises were exhibited by him as often as the curious engaged
him thereto by some liberality. Such beginnings made people think that he
should soon shoot up into a giant. A mountebank was already soliciting his
parents for him, and flattering them with hopes of putting him in a way of
making a great fortune. But all these hopes suddenly vanished. His legs
became crooked, his body shrunk, his strength diminished, his voice grew
sensibly weaker, and he at last sunk into a total imbecility;--thus his
rapid maturity was followed by as swift decay.
In the _Paris Memoirs_, there is an account of a girl, who, when four
years old, was four feet six inches in height, and had her limbs well
proportioned, and her breasts fully expanded, like those of a girl of
eighteen. These things are more singular and marvellous in the northern
than in the southern climates, where females come sooner to maturity. In
some places of the East Indies, they have children at nine years of age.
It seems at first view astonishing, that children of such early and
prodigious growth do not become giants; but it appears evident, that the
whole is only a premature expansion of the parts; and accordingly, such
children, instead of becoming giants, always decay and die apparently of
old age, long before the natural term of human life.
As it is our intention in this work to keep as close as possible to facts,
we shall not, knowingly, deal in fiction or fable. It is from a most
respectable source that we have derived the following CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF
GIANTS.
M. Le Cat, in a memoir read before the Academy of Sciences at Rouen, gives
the following account of giants that are said to have existed in different
ages. Profane historians have given seven feet of height to Hercules,
their first hero; and in our days we have seen men eight feet high. The
giant, who was shown in Rouen, in 1735, measured eight feet some inches.
The emperor Maximin was of that size. Shenkins and Platerus, physicians of
the last century, saw several of that stature; and Goropius saw a girl who
was ten feet high. The body of Orestes, according to the Greeks, was
eleven feet and a half; the giant Galbara, brought from Arabia to Rome,
under Claudius Cæsar, was near ten feet; and the bones of Secondilla and
Pusio, keepers of the gardens of Sallust, were but six inches shorter.
Funnam, a Scotsman, who lived in the time of Eugene II. king of Scotland,
measured eleven feet and a half; and Jacob Le Maire, in his voyage to the
Straits of Magellan, reports, that on the 17th of December, 1615, they
found at Port Desire, several graves covered with stones; and having the
curiosity to remove the stones, they discovered human skeletons of ten and
eleven feet long. The Chevalier Scory, in his voyage to the Peak of
Teneriffe, says, that they found, in one of the sepulchral caverns of that
mountain, the head of a gaunche, which had eighty teeth, and that the body
was not less than fifteen feet long. The giant Ferragus, slain by Orlando,
nephew of Charlemagne, was eighteen feet high. Rioland, a celebrated
anatomist, who wrote in 1614, says, that some years before, there was to
be seen, in the suburbs of St. Germain, the tomb of the great giant
Isoret, who was twenty feet high. In Rouen, in 1509, in digging in the
ditches near the Dominicans, they found a stone tomb, containing a
skeleton whose skull held a bushel of corn, and whose shin bone reached up
to the girdle of the tallest man there, being about four feet long; and,
consequently, the body must have been seventeen or eighteen feet high.
Upon the tomb was a plate of copper, whereon was engraved, "In this tomb
lies the noble and puissant lord, the Chevalier Ricon De Vallemont, and
his bones." Platerus, a famous physician, declares, that he saw at
Lucerne, the true human body of a subject which must have been at least
nineteen feet high. Valence, in Dauphiné, boasts of possessing the bones
of the giant Bucart, tyrant of the Vivarias, who was slain with an arrow
by the Count De Cabillon, his vassal. The Dominicans had a part of the
shin bone, with the articulation of his knee, and his figure painted in
fresco, with an inscription, showing "that this giant was twenty-two feet
and a half high, and that his bones were found in 1705, near the banks of
the Morderi, a little river at the foot of the mountain of Crusal, upon
which (tradition says) the giant dwelt." M. Le Cat adds, that skeletons
have been discovered of giants, of a still more incredible height, viz. of
Theutobochus, king of the Teutones, found on the 11th of January, 1613,
twenty-five feet and a half high; of a giant near Mazarino, in Sicily, in
1516, thirty feet; of another, in 1548, near Palermo, thirty feet; of
another, in 1550, of thirty-three feet; of two found near Athens,
thirty-three and thirty-six feet; and of one at Tuto, in Bohemia, in 1758,
whose leg bones alone measured twenty-six feet! But whether these accounts
are credited or not, we are certain that the stature of the human body is
by no means fixed. We are ourselves a kind of giants, in comparison of the
Laplanders; nor are these the most diminutive people to be found upon the
earth.
The Abbé La Chappe, in his journey into Siberia, to observe the last
transit of Venus, passed through a village inhabited by people called
Wotiacks, who were not above four feet high. The accounts of the
Patagonians likewise, which cannot be entirely discredited, render it very
probable, that somewhere in South America there is a race of people very
considerably exceeding the common size of mankind; and consequently that
we cannot altogether discredit the relations of giants, handed down to us
by ancient authors, though what degree of credit we ought to give them, is
not easy to be determined.
No less true than remarkable is the following CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF DWARFS.
Jeffery Hudson, the famous English dwarf, was born at Oakham in
Rutlandshire, in 1619; and about the age of seven or eight, being then but
eighteen inches high, was retained in the service of the Duke of
Buckingham, who resided at Burleigh on the Hill. Soon after the marriage
of Charles I. the king and queen being entertained at Burleigh, little
Jeffrey was served up to table in a cold pie, and presented by the duchess
to the queen, who kept him as her dwarf. From seven years till thirty, he
never grew taller; but after thirty he shot up to three feet nine inches,
and there fixed. Jeffery became a considerable part of the entertainment
of the court. Sir William Davenant wrote a poem called _Jeffreidos_, on a
battle between him and a turkey cock; and in 1638 was published a very
small book, called the _New Year's Gift_, presented at court by the Lady
Parvula to the Lord Minimus, (commonly called _Little Jeffery_,) her
majesty's servant, written by Microphilus, with a little print of Jeffery
prefixed. Before this period, Jeffery was employed on a negociation of
great importance: he was sent to France to fetch a midwife for the queen;
and on his return with this gentlewoman, and her majesty's dancing-master,
and many rich presents to the queen from her mother Mary de Medicis, he
was taken by the Dunkirkers. Jeffery, thus made of consequence, grew to
think himself really so. He had borne with little temper the teazing of
the courtiers and domestics, and had many squabbles with the king's
gigantic porter. At last, being provoked by Mr. Crofts, a young gentleman
of family, a challenge ensued: and Mr. Crofts coming to the rendezvous
armed only with a squirt, the little creature was so enraged, that a real
duel ensued; and the appointment being on horseback, with pistols, to put
them more on a level, Jeffery, at the first fire, shot his antagonist
dead. This happened in France, whither he had attended his mistress during
the troubles. He was again taken prisoner by a Turkish rover, and sold
into Barbary. He probably did not remain long in slavery, for, at the
beginning of the civil war, he was made a captain in the royal army; and
in 1644, attended the queen to France, where he remained till the
Restoration. At last, upon suspicion of his being privy to the Popish
plot, he was taken up in 1682, and confined in the Gate-house of
Westminster, where he ended his life in the sixty-third year of his age.
[Illustration: THE ORANG-OUTANG, Satyr, Great Ape, or Man of the
Woods.--Page 178.]
[Illustration: JEFFREY HUDSON.--Page 40.
A remarkable English dwarf who flourished in the reigns of Charles the
First and Charles the Second. The female figure is the midwife whom he
brought from France for the Queen.]
In the memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences, a relation is given by
the Count de Tressau, of a dwarf, called _Bebe_, kept by Stanislaus III.
king of Poland; who died in 1764, aged twenty-three, when he measured only
thirty-three inches. At his birth, he measured only between eight and nine
inches. Diminutive as were his dimensions, his reasoning faculties were
not less scanty; appearing indeed not to have been superior to those of a
well-taught pointer: but, that the size and strength of the intellectual
powers are not affected by the diminutiveness or tenuity of the corporeal
organs, is evident from a still more striking instance of littleness,
given us by the same nobleman, in the person of Monsieur Borulawski, a
Polish gentleman, whom he saw at Luneville, whence he visited Paris, and
who, at the age of twenty-two, measured only twenty-eight inches. This
miniature of a man, considering him only as to his bodily dimensions,
appears a _giant_ with _regard_ to his mental powers and attainments. He
is described by the count as possessing all the graces of wit, united with
a sound judgment and an excellent memory; so that we may with justice say
of M. Borulawski, in the words of Seneca, and nearly in the order in which
he has used them, "_Posse ingenium, fortissimum ac beatissimum, sub
quolibet corpusculo latere_." Epist. 66. Count Borulawski was the son of a
Polish nobleman attached to the fortunes of King Stanislaus, who lost his
property in consequence of that attachment, and who had six children;
three dwarfs, and three well grown. What is singular enough, they were
born alternately, a big one and a little one, though both parents were of
the common size. The little count's youngest sister was much less than
him, but died at the age of twenty-three. The count continued to grow till
he was about thirty, when he had attained the height of three feet two
inches: he lived to see his fifty-first year. He never experienced any
sickness, but lived in a polite and affluent manner, under the patronage
of a lady, a friend of the family, till love, at the age of forty-one,
intruded into his little peaceful bosom, and involved him in matrimony,
care, and perplexity. The lady he chose was of his own country, but of
French extraction, and the middle size. They had three children, all
girls, and none of them likely to be dwarfs. To provide for a family now
became an object big with difficulty, requiring all the exertion of his
powers (which could promise but little) and his talents, of which music
alone afforded any view of profit. He played extremely well upon the
guitar; and by having concerts in several of the principal cities in
Germany, he raised temporary supplies. At Vienna he was persuaded to turn
his thoughts to England, where, it was believed, the public curiosity
might in a little time benefit him sufficiently to enable him to live
independent in so cheap a country as Poland. He was furnished by very
respectable friends with recommendations to several of the most
distinguished characters in this kingdom, as the Duchess of Devonshire,
Rutland, &c. whose kind patronage he was not backward to acknowledge. He
was advised to let himself be seen as a curiosity, and the price of
admission was fixed at a guinea. The number of his visitors, of course,
was not very great. After a pretty long stay in London, he went to Bath
and Bristol; visited Dublin, and some other parts of Ireland; whence he
returned by way of Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, to London. He
also visited Edinburgh, and some other towns in Scotland. In every place
he acquired a number of friends. In reality, the ease and politeness of
his manners and address pleased no less than the diminutive yet elegant
proportions of his figure, astonished those who visited him. His person
was pleasing and graceful, and his look manly and noble. He spoke French
fluently, and English tolerably. He was remarkably lively and cheerful,
though fitted for the most serious and rational conversation. Such was
this wonderful little man--an object of curiosity really worthy the
attention of the philosopher, the man of taste, and the anatomist. His
life has been published, written by himself.
The following account of a singular nation of dwarfs, is taken from the
Monthly Review for 1792, being Vol. 7, of the new series. The subject is a
review of "A Voyage to Madagascar; by the Abbé Rochon." They are called
THE KIMOS.
The Kimos are a nation of pigmies, said to inhabit the mountains in the
interior part of the island of Madagascar, of whom tradition has long
encouraged the belief:--but Flacourt, in the last century, treated the
stories then in circulation with great contempt. The Abbé Rochon, however,
has revived them; and has not only given them the sanction of his own
belief, but that of _M. Commerson_, and of _M. de Modave_, the late
Governor of Fort Dauphin. As their opinions are of weight, and as the
subject is curious, we shall present our readers with an epitome of the
memoirs which these gentlemen drew up concerning the _Kimos_, and which
our author has inserted entire in the body of his work.
"Lovers of the marvellous, (says _M. Commerson_,) who would be sorry to
have the pretended size of the Patagonian giants reduced to six feet, will
perhaps be made some amends by a race of pigmies, who are wonderful in the
contrary extreme. I mean those half men, who inhabit the interior part of
the great island of Madagascar, and form a distinct nation, called, in the
language of the country, _Kimos_. These little men are of a paler colour
than the rest of the natives, who are in general black. Their arms are so
long, that when stretched out, they reach to the knees, without stooping.
The women have scarcely breasts sufficient to mark their sex, except at
the time of lying-in; and even then they are obliged to have recourse to
cow's milk, to feed their children.
"The intellectual faculties of this diminutive race are equal to those of
the other inhabitants of the island, who are by no means deficient in
understanding, though extremely indolent. Indeed, the Kimos are said to be
much more active and warlike, so that their courage being in a duplicate
ratio of their size, they have never suffered themselves to be oppressed
and subdued by their neighbours, who have often attempted it. It is
astonishing, that all we know of this nation is from the neighbouring
people; and that neither the governors of the Isle of France, of Bourbon,
nor the commanders of our forts on the coast of Madagascar, have ever
endeavoured to penetrate into this country. It has indeed been lately
attempted, but without success.
"I shall however attest, as an eye-witness, that in a voyage which I made
in 1770 to Fort Dauphin, _M. de Modave_, the last governor, gratified my
curiosity, by shewing me, among his slaves, a female of the Kimos tribe,
about thirty years of age, and three feet seven inches high. She was of a
much paler colour than any other natives of Madagascar that I had seen,
was well-made, and did not appear misshapen, nor stinted in her growth, as
accidental dwarfs usually are. Her arms were indeed too long, in
proportion to her height, and her hair was short and woolly: but her
countenance was good, and rather resembled that of an European than an
African. She had a natural habitual smile on her face, was good-humoured,
and seemed, by her behaviour, to possess a good understanding. No
appearance of breasts was observable, except nipples: but this single
instance is not sufficient to establish an exception so contrary to the
general law of nature. A little before our departure from Madagascar, the
desire of recovering her liberty, joined to the fear of being carried into
France, stimulated this little slave to run away into the woods.
"On the whole, I conclude, in firmly believing the existence of this
diminutive race of human beings, who have a character and manners peculiar
to themselves. The Laplanders seem to be the medium between men of the
common size and these dwarfs. Both inhabit the coldest countries and the
highest mountains upon the earth. These of Madagascar, on which the
_Kimos_ reside, are sixteen or seventeen hundred toises, or fathoms, above
the level of the sea. The plants and vegetables which grow on these
heights, are naturally dwarfs."
_M. de Modave_ says,--"When I arrived at Fort Dauphin, in 1768, I had a
memoir put into my hands, which was ill drawn up, giving an account of a
pigmy race of people, called _Kimos_, who inhabit the middle region of
Madagascar, in latitude 22°. I tried to verify the fact, by preparing for
an expedition into the country which is said to be thus inhabited: but by
the infidelity and cowardice of the guides, my scheme failed. Yet I had
such indisputable information of this extraordinary fact, that I have not
the least doubt of the existence of such a nation. The common size of the
men is three feet five inches. They wear long round beards. The women are
some inches shorter than the men, who are thick and stout. Their colour is
less black and swarthy than that of the natives; their hair is short and
cottony. They forge iron and steel, of which they make their lances and
darts; the only weapons that they use. The situation of their country is
about sixty leagues to the north-west of Fort Dauphin. I procured a female
of this nation, but she was said to be much taller than usual among the
_Kimos_, for she was three feet seven inches in height. She was very thin,
and had no more appearance of breasts than the leanest man."
To these relations, the _Abbé Rochon_ says, he might add that of an
officer who had procured a _Kimos_ man, and would have brought him to
Europe, but M. de Surville, who commanded the vessel in which he was to
embark, refused to grant his permission.
Respectable historians have presented us with the following curious
account of the ABDERITES, or INHABITANTS OF ABDERA.
It is reported, that in the reign of Cassander, king of Macedon, they were
so pestered with frogs and rats, that they were obliged to desert their
city for some time: and Lucian tells us, that in the reign of Lysimachus,
they were for some months afflicted with a fever of a most extraordinary
nature, whose crisis was always on the seventh day, and then it left them;
but it so distracted their imaginations, that they fancied themselves
players. After this, they were ever repeating verses from some tragedy,
and particularly out of the Andromeda of Euripides, as if they had been
upon the stage; so that many of these pale, meagre actors, were pouring
forth tragic exclamations in every street. This delirium continued till
the winter following; which was a very cold one, and therefore fitter to
remove it. Lucian, who has described this disease, endeavours to account
for it in this way:--Archelaus, an excellent player, acted the Andromeda
of Euripides before the Abderites, in the height of a very hot summer.
Several had a fever at their coming out of the theatre, and as their
imaginations were full of the tragedy, the delirium, which the fever
raised, perpetually represented Andromeda, Perseus, Medusa, &c. and the
several dramatic incidents, and called up the ideas of those objects, and
the pleasure of the representation, so strongly, that they could not
forbear imitating Archelaus' action and declamation: and from these the
fever spread to others by infection.
A most respectable writer (Madame De Genlis) has given us the following
curious account of a COUNTRY, THE INHABITANTS OF WHICH RESIDE IN TREES.
A young Spanish adventurer, of the name of Vasco Nugnez, whom a handsome
figure, united to a natural wit and courage, advanced to the highest
eminence of glory and fortune; pursuing his researches over the Darien, a
region abounding in lakes and marshes, arrived in a country where the
houses were of a very singular contrivance, being built in the largest
trees, the branches of which enveloped the sides, and formed the roof.
They contained chambers and closets of a tolerable construction. Each
family was separately lodged. Every house had two ladders, one of which
reached from the foot to the middle of the tree, and the other from thence
to the entrance of the highest chamber: they were composed of cane, and so
light as to be easily lifted up, which was done every night, and formed a
security from the attacks of tigers and other wild beasts, with which this
province abounds. The chief of the country was in his palace, that is to
say--his tree, when the Castilians came among them. On seeing the
strangers, he hastened to draw up his ladders, while the Spaniards called
to him aloud to descend without fear. He replied, that being unconscious
of having offended any one, and having no concern with strangers, he
begged he might be suffered to remain undisturbed in his habitation. On
this they threatened to cut down or set fire to his tree, and at length
obliged him to descend with his two sons. To their inquiries, 'if he had
any gold,' he replied, that he had none there, because it was of no use to
him; but, if they would suffer him to go, he would fetch them some from a
neighbouring mountain. The Castilians the more readily believed the
promise, as he consented to leave with them his wife and children. But
after having waited some days for his return, they discovered that this
pretence was only a stratagem to withdraw himself from their hands; that
their hostages likewise, during the night, had found an opportunity of
escaping by means of their ladders, and that the inhabitants of every
neighbouring tree had, in the same manner, fled.
CHAP. III.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING MAN.--(_Continued._)
_Astonishing Acquisitions made by Blind Persons--Wonderful
Performances of a Female, blind almost from Infancy--Wonderful
Instances of Adroitness of Persons born defective in their
Limbs--Curious Account of Incapacity of distinguishing
Colours--Ventriloquism--Sword-swallowing._
ASTONISHING ACQUISITIONS MADE BY BLIND PERSONS.
We find various recompenses for blindness, or substitutes for the use of
the eyes, in the wonderful sagacity of many blind persons, recited by
Zahnius, in his 'Oculus Artificialis,' and others. In some, the defect has
been supplied by a most excellent gift of remembering what they had seen;
in others, by a delicate nose, or the sense of smelling; in others, by an
exquisite touch, or a sense of feeling, which they have had in such
perfection, that, as it has been said of some, they learned to hear with
their eyes, so it may be said of these, that they taught themselves to see
with their hands. Some have been enabled to perform all sorts of curious
and subtle works in the nicest and most dexterous manner.--Aldrovanus
speaks of a sculptor who became blind at twenty years of age, and yet, ten
years after, made a perfect marble statue of Cosmo II. de Medicis; and
another of clay, like Urban VIII. Bartholin tells us of a blind sculptor
in Denmark, who distinguished perfectly well, by mere touch, not only all
kinds of wood, but all the colours; and F. Grimaldi gives an instance of
the like kind; besides the blind organist, living in Paris, who is said to
have done the same. The most extraordinary of all is a blind guide, who,
according to the report of good writers, used to conduct the merchants
through the sands and deserts of Arabia.
James Bernouilli contrived a method of teaching blind persons to write. An
instance, no less extraordinary, is mentioned by Dr. Bew, in the
"Transactions of the Manchester Society." It is that of a person, whose
name is John Metcalf, a native of the neighbourhood of Manchester, who
became blind at so early an age as to be altogether unconscious of light,
and its various effects. His employment in the younger period of his life
was that of a waggoner, and occasionally as a guide in intricate roads
during the night, or when the common tracks were covered with snow.
Afterwards he became a projector and surveyor of highways in difficult and
mountainous parts; and, in this capacity, with the assistance merely of a
long staff, he traverses the roads, ascends precipices, explores valleys,
and investigates their several extents, forms, and situations, so as to
answer his purpose in the best manner. His plans are designed, and his
estimates formed, with such ability and accuracy, that he has been
employed in altering most of the roads over the Peak in Derbyshire,
particularly those in the vicinity of Buxton; and in constructing a new
one between Wilmslow and Congleton, so as to form a communication between
the great London road, without being obliged to pass over the mountain.
Although blind persons have occasion, in a variety of respects, to deplore
their infelicity, their misery is in a considerable degree alleviated by
advantages peculiar to themselves. They are capable of a more fixed and
steady attention to the objects of their mental contemplation, than those
who are distracted by the view of a variety of external scenes. Their want
of sight naturally leads them to avail themselves of their other organs of
corporeal sensation, and with this view to cultivate and improve them as
much as possible. Accordingly, they derive relief and assistance from the
quickness of their hearing, the acuteness of their smell, and the
sensibility of their touch, which persons who see are apt to disregard.
Many contrivances have also been devised by the ingenious, for supplying
the want of sight, and for facilitating those analytical or mechanical
operations, which would otherwise perplex the most vigorous mind, and the
most retentive memory. By means of these, they have become eminent
proficients in various departments of science. Indeed, there are few
sciences in which, with or without mechanical helps, the blind have not
distinguished themselves. The case of Professor Saunderson at Cambridge,
is well known. His attainments and performances in the languages, and also
as a learner and teacher in the abstract mathematics, in philosophy, and
in music, have been truly astonishing; and the account of them appears to
be almost incredible, if it were not amply attested and confirmed by many
other instances of a similar kind, both in ancient and modern times.
Cicero mentions it as a fact scarcely credible, with respect to his master
in philosophy, Diodotus, that "he exercised himself in it with greater
assiduity after he became blind; and, which he thought next to impossible
to be performed without sight, that he professed geometry, and described
his diagrams so accurately to his scholars, as to enable them to draw
every line in its proper direction."
Jerome relates a more remarkable instance of Didymus in Alexandria, who
"though blind from his infancy, and therefore ignorant of the letters,
appeared so great a miracle to the world, as not only to learn logic, but
geometry also to perfection; which seems (he adds) the most of any thing
to require the help of sight."
Professor Saunderson, who was deprived of his sight by the small-pox when
he was only twelve months old, seems to have acquired most of his ideas by
the sense of feeling; and though he could not distinguish colours by that
sense, which, after repeated trials, he said was pretending to
impossibilities, yet he was able, with the greatest exactness, to
discriminate the minutest difference between rough and smooth on a
surface, or the least defect of polish. In a set of Roman medals, he could
distinguish the genuine from the false, though they had been counterfeited
in such a manner as to deceive a connoisseur, who judged of them by the
eye. His sense of feeling was so acute, that he could perceive the least
variation in the state of the air; and, it is said, that in a garden where
observations were made on the sun, he took notice of every cloud that
interrupted the observation, almost as justly as those who could see it.
He could tell when any thing was held near his face, or when he passed by
a tree at no great distance, provided the air was calm, and there was
little or no wind; this he did by the different pulse of air upon his
face. He possessed a sensibility of hearing to such a degree, that he
could distinguish even the fifth part of a note; and, by the quickness of
this sense, he not only discriminated persons with whom he had once
conversed so long as to fix in his memory the sound of their voice, but he
could judge of the size of a room into which he was introduced, and of his
distance from the wall; and if he had ever walked over a pavement in
courts, piazzas, &c. which reflected a sound, and was afterwards conducted
thither again, he could exactly tell in what part of the walk he was
placed, merely by the note which it sounded.
Sculpture and painting are arts which, one would imagine, are of very
difficult and almost impracticable attainment to blind persons; and yet
instances occur, which shew, that they are not excluded from the pleasing,
creative, and extensive regions of fancy.
De Piles mentions a blind sculptor, who thus took the likeness of the Duke
de Bracciano in a dark cellar, and made a marble statue of King Charles I.
with great justness and elegance. However unaccountable it may appear to
the abstract philosopher, yet nothing is more certain in fact, than that a
blind man may, by the inspiration of the Muses, or rather by the efforts
of a cultivated genius, exhibit in poetry the most natural images and
animated descriptions even of visible objects, without deservedly
incurring the charge of plagiarism. We need not recur to Homer and Milton
for attestations to this fact; they had probably been long acquainted with
the visible world before they had lost their sight, and their descriptions
might be animated with all the rapture and enthusiasm which originally
fired their bosoms, when the grand and delightful objects delineated by
them were immediately beheld. We are furnished with instances in which a
similar energy and transport of description, at least in a very
considerable degree, have been exhibited by those on whose minds visible
objects were never impressed, or have been entirely obliterated.
Dr. Blacklock affords a surprising instance of this kind; who, though he
had lost his sight before he was six months old, not only made himself
master of various languages, Greek, Latin, Italian, and French; but
acquired the reputation of an excellent poet, whose performances abound
with appropriate images and animated descriptions.
Dr. Nicholas Bacon, a blind gentleman, descended from the same family with
the celebrated Lord Verulam, was, in the city of Brussels, with high
approbation created LL. D. He was deprived of sight at nine years of age
by an arrow from a cross-bow, whilst he was attempting to shoot it. When
he had recovered his health, which had suffered by the shock, he pursued
the same plan of education in which he had been engaged; and having heard
that one Nicasius de Vourde, born blind, who lived towards the end of the
fifteenth century, after having distinguished himself by his studies in
the university of Louvain, took his degree as D. D. in that of Cologne, he
resolved to make the same attempt. After continuing his studies in
learning philosophy and law a sufficient time, he took his degree,
commenced pleading as counsellor or advocate in the council of Brabant,
and has had the pleasure of terminating almost every suit in which he has
been engaged to the satisfaction of his clients.
Another instance, which deserves being recorded, is that of Dr. Henry
Moyes, in our own country; who, though blind from his infancy, by the
ardour and assiduity of his application, and by the energy of native
genius, not only made incredible advances in mechanical operations, in
music, and in the languages; but acquired an extensive acquaintance with
geometry, optics, algebra, astronomy, chemistry, and all other branches of
natural philosophy.
From the account of Dr. Moyes, who occasionally read lectures on
philosophical chemistry at Manchester, delivered to the Manchester Society
by Dr. Bew, it appears, that mechanical exercises were the favourite
employment of his infant years: and that at a very early age he was so
well acquainted with the use of edge-tools, as to be able to construct
little windmills, and even a loom. By the sound, and the different voices
of the persons that were present, he was directed in his judgment of the
dimensions of the room in which they were assembled; and in this respect
he determined with such a degree of accuracy, as seldom to be mistaken.
His memory was singularly retentive; so that he was capable of recognizing
a person on his first speaking, though he had not been in company with him
for two years. He determined with surprising exactness the stature of
those with whom he conversed, by the direction of their voices; and he
made tolerable conjectures concerning their dispositions, by the manner in
which they conducted their conversation. His eyes, though he never
recollected having seen, were not totally insensible to intense light: but
the rays refracted through a prism, when sufficiently vivid, produced
distinguishable effects upon them. The red produced a disagreeable
sensation, which he compared to the touch of a saw. As the colours
declined in violence, the harshness lessened, until the green afforded a
sensation that was highly pleasing to him, and which he described as
conveying an idea similar to that which he gained by running his hand over
smooth polished surfaces. Such surfaces, meandering streams, and gentle
declivities, were the figures by which he expressed his ideas of beauty;
rugged rocks, irregular points, and boisterous elements, furnished him
with expressions for terror and disgust. He excelled in the charms of
conversation; was happy in his allusions to visual objects, and discoursed
on the nature, composition, and beauty of colours, with pertinence and
precision.
This instance, and some others which have occurred, seem to furnish a
presumption, that the feeling or touch of blind persons may be so improved
as to enable them to perceive that texture and disposition of coloured
surfaces by which some rays of light are reflected, and others absorbed;
and in this manner to distinguish colours.
In music, there are at present living instances of how far the blind may
proceed. In former periods we shall find illustrious examples, how amply
nature has capacitated the blind to excel, both in the scientific and
practical departments of music.
In the sixteenth century, when the progress of improvement both in melody
and harmony was rapid and conspicuous, FRANCIS SALINAS was eminently
distinguished. He was born A. D. 1513, at Burgos in Spain; and was son to
the treasurer of that city. Though afflicted with incurable blindness, he
was profoundly skilled both in the theory and practice of music. As a
performer, he is celebrated by his contemporaries with the highest
encomiums. As a theorist, Sir John Hawkins says, his book is equal in
value to any now extant in any language. Though he was deprived of sight
in his earliest infancy, he did not content himself to delineate the
various phenomena in music, but the principles from whence they result,
the relations of sound, the nature of arithmetical, geometrical, and
harmonical ratios, which were then esteemed essential to the theory of
music, with a degree of intelligence which would have deserved admiration,
though he had been in full possession of every sense requisite for these
disquisitions. He was taken to Rome in the retinue of Petrus Sarmentus,
archbishop of Compostella, and having passed twenty years in Italy, he
returned to Salamanca, where he obtained the professorship of music, an
office at that time equally respectable and lucrative. Having discharged
it with reputation and success for some time, he died at the venerable age
of seventy-seven.
In the same period flourished CASPAR CRUMBHOM, blind from the third year
of his age; yet he composed several pieces in many parts with so much
success, and performed both upon the flute and violin so exquisitely, that
he was distinguished by Augustus, elector of Saxony. But preferring his
native country, Silesia, to every other, he returned to it, and was
appointed organist of the church of St. Peter and Paul in Lignitz, where
he had often the direction of the musical college, and died June 11,
1621.
To these might be added MARTIN PESENTI of Venice, a composer of vocal and
instrumental music almost of all kinds, though blind from his nativity;
with other examples equally worthy of public attention. But if vulgar
prejudice is capable of blushing at its own contemptible character, or of
yielding to conviction, those already quoted are more than sufficient to
shew the musical jugglers of our time that their art is no monopoly, with
which those alone who see are invested, by the irrevocable decree of
heaven.
In the _Annual Register_ for 1762, the following narrative of the
surprising acquisitions of a blind lady is inserted. "A young gentlewoman
of a good family in France, now in her eighteenth year, lost her sight
when only two years old, her mother having been advised to lay some
pigeon's blood on her eyes, to preserve them in the small-pox; whereas, so
far from answering the end, it eat into them. Nature, however, may be said
to have compensated for the unhappy mistake, by beauty of person,
sweetness of temper, vivacity of genius, quickness of conception, and many
talents which certainly much alleviate her misfortune. She plays at cards
with the same readiness as others of the party. She first prepares the
pack allotted to her, by pricking them in several parts; yet so
imperceptibly, that the closest inspection can scarce discern her indexes:
she sorts the suits, and arranges the cards in their proper sequence, with
the same precision, and nearly the same facility, as they who have their
sight. All she requires of those who play with her, is to name every card
as it is played; and these she retains so exactly, that she frequently
performs some notable strokes, such as shew a great combination and strong
memory. The most wonderful circumstance is, that she should have learned
to read and write; but even this is readily believed on knowing her
method. In writing to her, no ink is used, but the letters are pricked
down on the paper, and by the delicacy of her touch, feeling each letter,
she follows them successively, and reads every word with her finger ends.
She herself in writing makes use of a pencil, as she could not know when
her pen was dry; her guide on the paper is a small thin ruler, and of the
breadth of the writing. On finishing a letter, she wets it, so as to fix
the traces of her pencil, that they are not obscured or effaced; then
proceeds to fold and seal it, and write the direction; all by her own
address, and without the assistance of any other person. Her writing is
very straight, well cut, and the spelling no less correct. To reach this
singular mechanism, the indefatigable cares of her affectionate mother
were long employed, who accustomed her daughter to feel letters cut in
cards of pasteboard, brought her to distinguish an A from a B, and thus
the whole alphabet, and afterwards to spell words; then, by the
remembrance of the shape of the letters, to delineate them on paper; and,
lastly, to arrange them so as to form words and sentences. She has learned
to play on the guitar, and has even contrived a way of pricking down the
tunes, as an assistance to her memory. So delicate are her organs, that in
singing a tune, though new to her, she is able to name the notes. In
figured dances she acquits herself extremely well, and in a minuet, with
inimitable ease and gracefulness. As for the works of her sex, she has a
masterly hand; she sews and hems perfectly well; and in all her works she
threads her needles for herself, however small. By the watch her touch
never fails telling her exactly the hour and minute."
Diderot gives a very curious account of a blind lady. It is so remarkable,
that we shall distinguish it by the separate title of WONDERFUL
PERFORMANCES OF A FEMALE, BLIND ALMOST FROM INFANCY.
The name of this remarkable person was, Mademoiselle Melanie de Salignac,
a young lady, who had been blind almost from her birth. Her feeling,
hearing, and smell, were exquisite. She could distinguish, by the
impression of the air, whether it was fine or cloudy, whether she was in
an open place or a street, and whether the street was open at the
end;--also, whether she was in a room or not, and of what size it was.
Having once gone over a house, she became so well acquainted with the
different parts, as to be able to warn others of any danger they were
exposed to, by the existence of a step, or the lowness of a door. She
could thread the smallest needle, with the greatest dexterity; and could
execute every sort of needle-work. She played very well at many games at
cards, which she distinguished by some little mark, known to herself by
the touch, but imperceptible to the sight of any other person. She had
learnt, and understood very well, music, geography, geometry, and dancing.
She was, indeed, extremely clever; what made her more interesting, she was
modest, mild, cheerful, and affectionate. She wrote with a pin, by
pricking a sheet of paper, stretched on a frame, and read what she had
written, by feeling the pin-marks on the other side of the paper. She
could read a book, printed on one side only; some were printed expressly
for her, in this manner. In a piece of twelve or fifteen lines, if the
number of letters in each word, together with the letter which it began
with, was given her, she could tell every word, however oddly composed.
"This fact," says Diderot, "was attested by every one of her family, by
myself, and twenty other persons, still alive. She died at the age of
twenty-two. She was the daughter of Madame de Blacy, a woman
distinguished for the eminence of her moral qualities," and moving in a
respectable sphere of life.--See _Grimn's Memoirs_.
We now proceed to detail the following WONDERFUL INSTANCES OF ADROITNESS
OF PERSONS BORN DEFECTIVE IN THEIR LIMBS.
Several instances of such births have occurred, and the wonderful
acquirements of persons thus maimed by nature have often been the subject
of public astonishment, and proved a source of gain to themselves or their
relations.
Giraldus Cambriensis speaks of a young woman born without arms, whom he
saw at Chester, in the reign of Henry II. He mentions her working very
dexterously with her needle.
Stowe gives an account of a Dutchman born without arms, who in 1581,
exhibited surprising feats of activity in London; such as flourishing with
a rapier, shooting an arrow near a mark, &c.
Bulwer, in his Artificial Changeling, speaks of John Simons, a native of
Berkshire, born without arms or hands, who could write with his mouth;
thread a needle; tie a knot; shuffle, cut, and deal a pack of cards, &c.
He was shewn in public in 1653.
John Sear, a Spaniard, born without arms, was shewn in London in King
William's reign, who could comb and shave himself, fill a glass, thread a
needle, embroider, write six sorts of hands, and play on several
instruments of music.
Matthew Buckinger, a German, born without arms or legs, who came to
England, wrote a good hand, (many specimens of which are extant,) and
performed several wonderful feats. He died in 1722, aged forty-eight.
Thomas Pinnington, a native of Liverpool, born without legs or arms,
performed much the same feats as Sear, in 1744, and several years ensuing;
since which, a Miss Hawtin, from Coventry, born without arms, and others
whose names have not been mentioned, have exhibited themselves at
Bartholomew Fair and other places.
Thomas Inglefield, born without arms or legs, at Hook, in Hampshire, (anno
1769) died a few years ago in London. He was not publicly shewn, but got
his bread by writing and drawing. There are two portraits of him, one of
which was etched by himself.
There was, a short time since, a farmer living at Ditch-heat in
Somersetshire, born without arms,--William Kingston, of whom frequent
mention has been made in the public papers. He surpasses, according to
accounts which seem very well attested, all that have been yet spoken of.
The following account was given a few years since, in the papers, by a
person who visited him. "In order to give the public a satisfactory
account of William Kingston," says the writer, "I went to Ditcheat and the
next morning got him to breakfast with me at Mrs. Goodfellow's, and had
ocular proof of his dexterity. He highly entertained us at breakfast, by
putting his half-naked feet upon the table as he sat, and carrying his tea
and toast between his great and second toe to his mouth, with as much
facility as if his foot had been a hand, and his toes fingers. I put half
a sheet of paper upon the floor, with a pen and ink-horn. He threw off his
shoes as he sat, took the ink-horn in the toes of his left foot, and held
the pen in those of his right. He then wrote three lines as well as most
ordinary writers, and as swiftly. He writes all his own bills and other
accounts. He then shewed me how he shaves himself with the razor in his
toes; and he can comb his own hair. He can dress and undress himself,
except buttoning his clothes. He feeds himself, and can bring both his
meat or his broth to his mouth, by holding the fork or spoon in his toes.
He cleans his own shoes, lights the fire, and does almost any domestic
business as well as any other man. He can make hen-coops. He is a farmer
by occupation. He can milk his cows with his toes, and cuts his own hay,
binds it up in bundles, and carries it about the field for his cattle.
Last winter he had eight heifers constantly to fodder. The last summer he
made all his hay-ricks. He can do all the business of the hay-field
(except mowing) as fast and as well with his feet as others can with rakes
and forks. He goes to the field, and catches his horse. He saddles and
bridles him with his teeth and toes. If he has a sheep among his flock
that ails any thing, he can separate it from the rest, and drive it into a
corner when nobody else can: he then examines it, and applies a remedy to
it. He is so strong in his teeth, that he can lift ten pecks of beans with
them. He can throw a great sledge-hammer as far with his feet, as other
men can with their hands. In a word, he can nearly do as much without as
others can with their arms.
"He began the world with a hen and chickens. With the profit on these he
procured a ewe. The sale of these procured a ragged colt (as he termed it)
and a sheep, and he now occupies a small farm."
"Necessity is the mother of invention." This proverb was never more fully
exemplified than in the cases above mentioned. Habit, early acquired and
long practised, may render the toes almost as useful as the fingers: the
lips are also endued with acute feeling and great flexibility, and may
become powerful assistants where the hands are wanting. One lesson, at
least, may be taught by this maimed tribe:--that few things are so
difficult, that they cannot be acquired by perseverance and application.
While some persons are noted for their extraordinary and wonderful
faculties, others are remarkable for defects in natural capacities. The
reader will feel interested in the following CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF INCAPACITY
OF DISTINGUISHING COLOURS.
Of this extraordinary defect in vision, we have the following instances in
the Philosophical Transactions for 1777. One of the persons lived at
Maryport in Cumberland. The account was communicated by Mr. Huddart to Dr.
Priestley; and is as follows:--"His name was Harris; by trade a shoemaker.
I had often heard from others that he could discern the form and magnitude
of all objects very distinctly, but could not distinguish colours. This
report had excited my curiosity; I conversed with him frequently on the
subject. The account he gave was this: That he had reason to believe other
persons saw something in objects which he could not see: that their
language seemed to mark qualities with precision and confidence, which he
could only guess at with hesitation, and frequently with error. His first
suspicion of this arose when he was about four years old. Having by
accident found in the street, a child's stocking, he carried it to a
neighbouring house to inquire for the owner: he observed the people called
it a _red_ stocking, though he did not understand why they gave it that
denomination, as he himself thought it completely described by being
called _a stocking_. This circumstance, however, remained in his memory,
and together with subsequent observations, led him to the knowledge of
this defect. He also observed, that when young, other children could
discern cherries on a tree by some pretended difference of colour, though
he could only distinguish them from the leaves, by the difference of their
size and shape. He observed also, that by means of this difference of
colour they could see the cherries at a greater distance than he could,
though he could see other objects at as great a distance as they, that is,
where the sight was not assisted by the colour. Large objects he could see
as well as other persons; and even the smaller ones, if they were not
enveloped in other things, as in the case of cherries among the leaves. I
believe he could never do more than guess the name of any colour; yet he
could distinguish white from black, or black from any light or bright
colour. Dove or straw colour he called _white_, and different colours he
frequently called by the same name; yet he could discern a difference
between them when placed together. In general, colours of an equal degree
of brightness, however they might otherwise differ, he confounded
together. Yet a striped ribbon he could distinguish from a plain one; but
he could not tell what the colours were with any tolerable exactness. Dark
colours, in general, he often mistook for black; but never imagined white
to be a dark colour, nor dark to be a white colour. He was an intelligent
man, and very desirous of understanding the nature of light and colours,
for which end he had attended a course of lectures in natural philosophy.
He had two brothers in the same circumstances as to sight; and two others
(brothers and sisters) who, as well as their parents, had nothing of this
defect. One of the first mentioned brothers, who is now living, I met with
at Dublin, and wished to try his capacity to distinguish the colours in a
prism; but not having one by me, I asked him, whether he had ever seen a
rainbow? he replied, he had often; and could distinguish the different
colours; meaning only, that it was composed of different colours, for he
could not tell what they were. I then procured, and shewed him a piece of
ribbon: he immediately, and without any difficulty, pronounced it a
striped, and not a plain, ribbon. He then attempted to name the different
stripes: the several stripes of white he uniformly, and without
hesitation, called white: the four black stripes he was deceived in; for
three of them he thought brown, though they were exactly of the same shade
with the other, which he properly called black. He spoke, however, with
diffidence, as to all those stripes; and it must be owned, that the black
was not very distinct: the light green he called yellow; but he was not
very positive: he said, "I think this what you call yellow." The middle
stripe, which had a slight tinge of red, he called a sort of blue. But he
was most of all deceived by the orange colour: of this he spoke very
confidently, saying, "This is the colour of grass, this is green." I also
shewed him a great variety of ribbons, the colour of which he sometimes
named rightly, and sometimes as differently as possible from the true
colour. I asked him, whether he imagined it possible for all the various
colours he saw to be mere difference of light and shade; and that all
colours could be composed of these two mixtures only? With some hesitation
he replied, No, he did imagine there was some other difference. It is
proper to add, that the experiment of the striped ribbon was made in the
day-time, and in a good light."
Incredible as the above phenomena may appear, we can add the following
fact in confirmation of them, from personal knowledge. There is a
gentleman now living in Edinburgh, whose optical nerves have laboured
under a defect perfectly similar, since his infancy; but whose powers of
vision are in other respects so much superior to those of most other
people, that he draws the most striking likenesses, being a limner by
profession, and requires for this purpose only once to see the person
whose portrait is intended to be drawn, scarcely desiring a single
sitting, much less repeated visiting. And what is still more
extraordinary, he can, from such a momentary glance, retain the idea of
the features, and even the gait and manner of the person, for years
afterwards, so exactly as to be able to finish either a miniature head, or
full portrait, at that distant period, as well as if the person were
present. His friends, incredulous of this phenomenon, have, by placing his
colours out of the order in which he keeps them, sometimes made him give a
gentleman a _green beard_, and paint a beautiful young lady with a pair of
_blue cheeks_.
We now proceed to the consideration of a very remarkable acquirement of
man, called VENTRILOQUISM.
This is an art of speaking, by means of which the human voice and other
sounds are rendered audible, as if they proceeded from several different
places; though the utterer does not change his place, and in many
instances does not appear to speak. It has been supposed to be a natural
peculiarity; because few, if any persons, have learned it by being taught,
and we have had no rules laid down for acquiring it. It seems to have been
in consequence of this notion, that the name 'Ventriloquism' has been
applied to it, from a supposition that the voice proceeds from the thorax
or chest. It has seldom been practised but by persons of the lower classes
of society; and as it does not seem to present any advantages beyond that
of causing surprise and entertainment, and cannot be exhibited on an
extended theatre, the probability is, that it will continue amongst them.
Mr. Gough, in his Manchester Memoirs, and in various parts of Nicholson's
Journal, has entertained the opinion that the voice of ventriloquists is
made to proceed, in appearance, from different parts of a room, by the
management of an echo. But the facts themselves do not support this
hypothesis, as a great and sudden variety and change of echoes would be
required; and his own judicious remarks, in the same work, on the facility
with which we are deceived as to the direction of sound, are adverse to
his theory. From numerous attentive observations, it appears manifest that
the art is not peculiar to certain individuals, but may with facility be
acquired by any person of accurate observation. It consists merely in an
imitation of sounds, as they occur in nature, accompanied with appropriate
action, of such a description as may best concur in leading the minds of
the observers to favour the deception.
Any one who shall try, will be a little surprised to find how easy it is
to imitate the noise made by a saw, or by a snuff-box when opened and
shut, or by a large hand-bell, or cork-cutter's knife, a watch while
going, and numberless other inanimate objects; or the voices of animals,
in their various situations and necessities, such as a cat, a dog, or a
hen enraged, intimidated, confined, &c.; or to vary the character of the
human voice by shrillness or depth of tone, rapidity or drawling of
execution, and distinctness or imperfection of articulation, which may be
instantly changed by holding the mouth a little more opened or more closed
than usual, altering the position of the jaw, keeping the tongue in any
determinate situation, &c. And every one of the imitations of the
ventriloquist will be rendered more perfect by practising them at the very
time the sounds are heard, instead of depending on the memory. The leading
condition of performance is, that the voices and sounds of the dramatic
dialogue to be exhibited, should succeed each other so rapidly that the
audience should lose sight of the probability that one actor gives effect
to the whole, and that where the business is simple, the aid of scenery or
local circumstance should be called in.
We have seen an eminent philosopher of our own time, who had no previous
practice of this art, but when speaking on the subject in a mixed company,
took up a hat, and folding the flaps together, said, by way of example,
"Suppose I had a small monkey in this hat;" and then cautiously putting
his hand in, as if to catch it, he imitated the chatter of the supposed
struggling animal, at the same time that his own efforts to secure it had
a momentary impression on the spectators, which left no time to question
whether there was a monkey in it or not: this impression was completed
when, the instant afterwards, he pulled out his hand as if hurt, and
exclaimed, "He has bit me!" It was not till then that the impression of
the reality gave way to the diversion arising from the mimic art; and one
of the company, even then, cried out, "Is there really a monkey in the
hat?"
In this manner it was that, at the beginning of the last century, the
famous Tom King, who is said to have been the first man who delivered
public lectures on experimental philosophy in the country, was attended by
the whole fashionable world, for a succession of many nights, to hear him
"kill a calf." This performance was done in a separated part of the place
of exhibition, into which the exhibiter retired alone; and the imagination
of his polite hearers was taxed to supply the calf and three butchers,
besides a dog who sometimes raised his voice, and was checked for his
unnecessary exertions. It appears, from traditional narrative, that the
calf was heard to be dragged in, not without some efforts and conversation
on the part of the butchers, and noisy resistance from the calf; that they
conversed on the qualities of the animal, and the profits to be expected
from the veal; and that, as they proceeded, all the noises of knife and
steel, of suspending the creature, and of the last fatal catastrophe,
were heard in rapid succession, to the never-failing satisfaction of the
attendants; who, upon the rise of the curtain, saw that all these
imaginary personages had vanished, and Tom King alone remained to claim
the applause.
A similar fact may be quoted in the person of that facetious gentleman,
who has assumed and given celebrity to the name of Peter Pindar. This
great poet, laughing at the proverbial poverty of his profession, is
sometimes pleased to entertain his friends with singular effusions of the
art we speak of. One of these is managed by a messenger announcing to the
Doctor (in the midst of company) that a person wants to speak with him: he
accordingly goes out, leaving the door a-jar, and immediately a female
voice is heard, which, from the nature of the subject, appears to be that
of the Poet's laundress, who complains of her pressing wants, disappointed
claims, and of broken promises no longer to be borne with patience. It is
more easy to imagine than describe the mixed emotions of the audience. The
scene, however, goes on by the Doctor's reply; who remonstrates, promises,
and is rather angry at the time and place of this unwelcome visit. His
antagonist unfortunately is neither mollified nor disposed to quit her
ground. Passion increases on both sides, and the Doctor forgets himself so
far as to threaten the irritated female; she defies him, and this last
promise, very unlike the former ones, is followed by payment; a severe
smack on the face is heard; the poor woman falls down stairs, with horrid
outcries; the company, of course, rises in alarm, and the Doctor is found
in a state of perfect tranquillity, apparently a stranger to the whole
transaction.
A very able ventriloquist, Fitz-James, performed in public, in
Soho-square, about four years ago. He personated various characters by
appropriate dresses; and by a command of the muscles of his face he could
very much alter his appearance. He imitated many inanimate noises, and
among others, a repetition of noises of the water machine at Marli. He
conversed with some statues, which replied to him; and also with some
persons supposed to be in the room above, and on the landing-place; gave
the watchman's cry, gradually approaching, and when he seemed opposite the
window, Fitz-James opened it and asked what the time was, received the
answer, and during his proceeding with his cry, Fitz-James shut the
window, immediately upon which the sound became weaker, and at last
insensible. In the whole of his performance, it was clear that the notions
of the audience were governed by the auxiliary circumstances, as to
direction, &c. This mimic had, at least, six different habitual modes of
speaking, which he could instantly adapt one after the other, and with so
much rapidity, that when in a small closet, parted off in the room, he
gave a long, confused, and impassioned debate of democrats (in French, as
almost the whole of his performance was;) it seemed to proceed from a
multitude of speakers: and an inaccurate observer might have thought that
several were speaking at once. A ludicrous scene of drawing a tooth was
performed in the same manner.
These examples, and many more which might be added, are sufficient, in
proof that ventriloquism is the art of mimicry, an imitation applied to
sounds of every description, and attended with circumstances which produce
an entertaining deception, and lead the hearers to imagine that the voice
proceeds from different situations. When distant low voices are to be
imitated, the articulation may be given with sufficient distinctness,
without moving the lips, or altering the countenance. It was by a supposed
supernatural voice of this kind, from a ventriloquist, that the famous
musical small-coal man, Thomas Britton, received a warning of his death,
which so greatly affected him, that he did not survive the affright.
The following quotation from Richerand's Physiology will be sufficient to
give the reader a further idea of the mechanism of this singular art. "At
first," says Richerand, "I had conjectured that a great portion of the air
driven out by expiration did not pass out by the mouth and nostrils, but
was swallowed and carried into the stomach, reflected in some part of the
digestive canal, and gave rise to a real echo; but after having
attentively observed this curious phenomenon, in Mr. Fitz-James, who
represents it in its greatest perfection, I was enabled to convince myself
that the name ventriloquism is by no means applicable, since the whole of
its mechanism consists in a slow gradual expiration, drawn in such a way
that the artist either makes use of the influence exerted by volition over
the muscles or parietis of the thorax, or that he keeps the epiglottis
down by the base of the tongue, the apex of which is not carried beyond
the dental arches.
"He always makes a strong inspiration just before this long expiration,
and thus conveys a considerable mass of air into the lungs, the exit of
which he afterwards manages with such address. Therefore, repletion of the
stomach greatly incommodes the talent of Mr. Fitz-James, by preventing the
diaphragm from descending sufficiently to admit of a dilatation of the
thorax, in proportion to the quantity of air that the lungs should
receive. By accelerating or retarding the exit of the air, he can imitate
different voices, and induce his auditors to a belief that the
interlocutors of a dialogue, which is kept up by himself alone, are placed
at different distances; and this illusion is the more complete in
proportion to the perfection of his peculiar talent. No man possesses, to
such a degree as Mr. Fitz-James, the art of deceiving persons who are
least liable to delusion, he can carry his execution to five or six
different tones, pass rapidly from one to another, as he does when
representing an animated dispute in the midst of a popular assembly."
Some persons are of opinion that the witch of Endor was a ventriloquist,
and that she practised this art before King Saul, and deceived him in the
resurrection of Samuel; the present writer, however, does not vouch for
this opinion.
Another very extraordinary acquirement, and which the present writer has
been witness to, is, SWORD-SWALLOWING.
This surprising act is performed by the Indian Jugglers; the following
account of which, is extracted from Forbes's Oriental Memoirs.
"I have elsewhere mentioned some feats of the Indian Jugglers: at Zinore I
saw one which surpassed every thing of the kind I had before witnessed, I
mean the swallowing a sword up to the hilt. Had I not afterwards met with
the same set on the island of Salsette, exhibiting before the English
chief at Tannah, I should have doubted the evidence of my senses. I
witnessed the fact more than once, and am convinced there was no
deception. Finding my tale generally disbelieved in Europe, I suppressed
it; but having since read a clear and satisfactory account of this
extraordinary transaction, drawn up by Mr. Johnson, surgeon in the navy,
who, in the year 1804, was an eye-witness of this performance, and having
described it as a professional man, I shall transcribe the account from
his memoir:--
"'Having been visited by one of these conjurers, I resolved to see clearly
his mode of performing this operation; and for that purpose ordered him to
seat himself on the floor of the veranda. The sword he intended to use has
some resemblance to a common spit in shape, except at the handle, which is
merely a part of the blade itself, rounded and elongated into a little
rod. It is from twenty-two to twenty-six inches in length, about an inch
in breadth, and about one-fifth of an inch in thickness; the edges and
point are blunt, being rounded, and of the same thickness as the rest of
the blade; it is of iron or steel, smooth, and a little bright. Having
satisfied himself with respect to the sword, by attempting to bend it; and
by striking it against a stone, I firmly grasped it by the handle, and
ordered him to proceed. He first took a small phial of oil, and with one
of his fingers rubbed a little of it over the surface of the instrument;
then, stretching up his neck as much as possible, and bending himself a
little backwards, he introduced the point of it into his mouth, and pushed
it gently down his throat, until my hand, which was on the handle, came
in contact with his lips. He then made a sign to me with one of his hands,
to feel the point of the instrument between his breast and navel: which I
could do, by bending him a little more backwards, and pressing my fingers
on his stomach, he being a very thin and lean fellow. On letting go the
handle of the sword, he instantly fixed on it a little machine that spun
round, and disengaged a small fire-work, which encircling his head with a
blue flame, gave him, as he then sat, a truly diabolical appearance. On
withdrawing the instrument, several parts of its surface were covered with
blood, which shewed that he was still obliged to use a degree of violence
in the introduction.
"'I was at first a good deal surprised at this transaction altogether; but
when I came to reflect a little upon it, there appeared nothing at all
improbable, much less impossible, in the business. He told me, on giving
him a trifle, that he had been accustomed, from his early years, to
introduce at first small elastic instruments down his throat, and into his
stomach; that by degrees he had used larger ones, until at length he was
able to use the present iron sword.'" Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. pp.
515-517.
Two of these jugglers have lately visited England, and performed the above
exploit, with many others, almost equally surprising, to the satisfaction
of crowded audiences.
We may learn from various instances in this chapter the value of
perseverance; this will overcome difficulties, which at first appear
insuperable; and it is amazing to consider, how great and numerous
obstacles may be removed by a continual attention to any particular point.
By such attention and perseverance, what may not man effect! Any man,
unless he be an absolute idiot, may by these means raise himself to
excellence in some branch or other; and what is best of all, by divine
assistance, and by unwearied and keen application, he may resist
temptation, conquer the evil principle, rise superior to all the
difficulties and trials of life, excel in wisdom and goodness, and thus be
fitted for a better country, when death summons him away from the present
world.
--------------------------------Man must soar.
An obstinate activity within,
An insuppressive spring, will toss him up,
In spite of fortune's load. Not kings alone,
Each villager has his ambition too;
No sultan prouder than his fetter'd slave.
Slaves build their little Babylons of straw,
Echo the proud Assyrian, in their hearts,
And cry--"Behold the wonders of my might!"
And why? Because immortal as their lord;
And souls immortal must for ever heave
At something great; the glitter, or the gold;
The praise of mortals, or the praise of heav'n.
_Young._
CHAP. IV.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING MAN.--(_Continued._)
_Instances of Extraordinary Gluttony--Instances of Extraordinary
Fasting--Wonders of Abstinence--Sleep Walking--Sleeping Woman of
Dunninald--Instances of Extraordinary Dreams--Poetical, Grammatical,
and Scientific Deaths--Anthropophagi, or Men-Eaters--Account of a Wild
Man._
INSTANCES OF EXTRAORDINARY GLUTTONY.
Habitual gluttons may be reckoned among the monsters of nature, and even
punishable for endeavouring to bring a famine into the places where they
live. King James I. when a man was presented to him who could eat a whole
sheep at one meal, asked, "What work could he do more than another man?"
and being answered, "He could not do so much," said, "Hang him, then; for
it is unfit a man should live, that eats as much as twenty men, and cannot
do so much as one."
The emperor Clodius Albinus devoured more than a bushel of apples at once.
He ate 500 figs to his breakfast, 100 peaches, 10 melons, 20lbs. of
grapes, 100 gnat-snappers, and 400 oysters.
Hardi Canute, the last of the Danish kings in England, was so great a
glutton, that an historian calls him Bocca di Porco, "Swine's-mouth." His
tables were covered four times a day with the most costly viands that
either the air, sea, or land, could furnish; and as he lived he died; for,
revelling at a banquet at Lambeth, he fell down dead.
One Phagon, in the reign of Aurelianus, at one meal, ate a whole boar, 100
loaves of bread, a sheep, and a pig, and drank above three gallons of
wine.
One Mallet, a counsellor at law, in the reign of Charles I. ate at one
time a dinner provided in Westminster for 30 men. His practice not being
sufficient to supply him with better meat, he fed generally on offals, ox
livers, hearts, &c. He lived to near 60 years of age, but during the seven
last years of his life ate as moderately as other men.
Among the many accounts of extraordinary eaters, there are, perhaps, none
that have exceeded those of Nicholas Wood, of Harrison, in Kent, related
in Fuller's Worthies, p. 86, whose enormous appetite appears to exceed all
probability.
He ate at one meal a whole sheep, of sixteen shillings price, raw; at
another time, thirty dozen of pigeons. At Sir William Sidley's, in the
same county, he ate as much victuals as would have sufficed thirty men.
At Lord Wotton's mansion-house, in Kent, he devoured, at one dinner, 84
rabbits, which, at the rate of half a rabbit a man, would have served 168
men. He ate to his breakfast 18 yards of black-pudding. He devoured at one
meal a whole hog; and after it, being accommodated with fruit, he ate
three pecks of damsons.
Gluttony is a most degrading vice. Be sober; be temperate; be virtuous;
for
Health consists with temperance alone.
And peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own.
_Pope._
We shall, with the readers permission, now introduce some EXTRAORDINARY
INSTANCES OF FASTING.
A full account of a very uncommon case is given in the Phil. Trans, vol.
lxvii. part I. _Janet M'Leod_, an inhabitant in the parish of Kincardine,
in Ross-shire, continued healthy till she was fifteen years of age, when
she had a pretty severe epileptic fit; after this she had an interval of
health for four years, and then another epileptic fit, which continued a
whole day and a night. A few days afterwards she was seized with a fever,
which continued with violence several weeks, and from which she did not
perfectly recover for some months. At this time she lost the use of her
eyelids; so that she was under the necessity of keeping them open with the
fingers of one hand, whenever she wanted to look about her. In other
respects she continued in pretty good health; only she periodically spit
up blood in pretty large quantities, and at the same time it flowed from
the nose. This discharge continued several years; but at last it ceased;
and soon after she had a third epileptic fit, and after that a fever, from
which she recovered slowly. Six weeks after the crisis, she stole out of
the house unknown to her parents, who were busied in their harvest work,
and bound the sheaves of a ridge before she was observed. In the evening
she took to her bed, complaining much of her _heart_ (probably meaning her
_stomach_) and her head. From that time she never rose for five years, but
was occasionally lifted out of bed. She seldom spoke a word, and took so
little food, that it seemed scarcely sufficient to support a sucking
infant. Even this small quantity was taken by compulsion; and at last,
about Whitsunday, 1763, she totally refused every kind of food or drink.
Her jaws now became so fast locked, that it was with the greatest
difficulty her father was able to open her teeth a little, in order to
admit a small quantity of gruel or whey; but of this so much generally run
out at the corners of her mouth, that they could not be sensible any had
been swallowed. About this time they got some water from a noted medical
spring in Brae-Mar, some of which they attempted to make her swallow, but
without effect. They continued their trials, however, for three mornings;
rubbing her throat with the water which ran out at the corners of her
mouth. On the third morning, during the operation, she cried out, "Give me
more water;" and swallowed with ease all that remained in the bottle. She
spoke no more intelligibly for a year, though she continued to mutter some
words, for 14 days, which her parents only understood. She continued to
reject all kinds of food and drink till July, 1765. At this time her
sister thought, by some signs she made, that she wanted her jaws opened;
and this being done, not without violence, she called intelligibly for
some liquid, and drank with ease about an English pint of water. Her
father then asked why she would not make some signs when she wanted to
drink? To which she answered,--why should she, when she had no desire? It
was now supposed that she had regained the faculty of speech; and her jaws
were kept open for about three weeks, by means of a wedge. But in four or
five days she became totally silent, and the wedge was removed, because it
made her lips sore. She still, however, continued sensible; and when her
eyelids were opened, knew every body. This could be guessed from the signs
she made. By continuing their attempts to force open her jaws, two of the
under fore teeth were driven out; and of this opening her parents
endeavoured to avail themselves, by putting some thin nourishing drink
into her mouth, but without effect, as it always returned by the corners.
Sometimes they thought of thrusting a little dough of oatmeal through this
gap of the teeth, which she would retain a few seconds, and then return
with something like a straining to vomit, without one particle going down.
Nor were the family sensible of any thing like swallowing for four years,
excepting the small draught of Brae-Mar water, and an English pint of
common water. For the last three years she had no natural discharge,
except that once or twice a week she passed a few drops of water.
In this situation she was visited by Dr. Mackenzie, who communicated the
account to the Royal Society. He found her not at all emaciated; her knees
were bent, and the hamstrings tight, so that her heels were drawn up
behind her body. She slept much, and was very quiet; but when awake, kept
a constant whimpering like a new-born weakly infant. She never could
remain a moment on her back, but always fell to one side or another; and
her chin was drawn close to her breast, nor could it by any force be moved
backwards. The Doctor paid his first visit in October, 1767; and five
years afterwards, viz, in October, 1772, was induced to pay her a second
visit, by hearing that she was recovering, and had begun to eat and drink.
The account given him was most extraordinary.
Her parents one day returning from their country labours, (having left
their daughter fixed to her bed as usual,) were greatly surprised to find
her sitting upon her hams, in a part of the house opposite to her
bed-place, spinning with her mother's distaff. All the food she took at
that time was only to crumble a little oat or barley cake in the palm of
her hand, as if to feed a chicken. She put little crumbs of this into the
gap of her teeth; rolled them about for some time in her mouth; and then
sucked out of the palm of her hand a little water, whey, or milk; and this
only once or twice a day, and even that by compulsion. She never attempted
to speak; her jaws were fast locked, and her eyes shut. On opening her
eyelids, the balls were found to be turned up under the edge of the os
frontis; her countenance was ghastly, her complexion pale, and her whole
person emaciated. She seemed sensible and tractable, except in taking
food. This she did with the utmost reluctance, and even cried before she
yielded. The great change of her looks, Dr. Mackenzie attributed to her
spinning flax on the distaff, which exhausted too much of the saliva; and
therefore he recommended to her parents to confine her totally to the
spinning of wool. In 1775, she was visited again, and found to be greatly
improved in her looks as well as strength; her food was also considerably
increased in quantity; though even then she did not take more than would
be sufficient to sustain an infant of two years of age.
In the _Gentleman's Magazine_, for 1789, p. 1211, is recorded the death of
one Caleb Elliot, a visionary enthusiast, who meant to have fasted 40
days, and actually survived 16 without food, having obstinately refused
sustenance of every kind.
At the same time that we should guard against superstitious fasting, we
should be cautious not to transgress the bounds of temperance. Occasional
abstinence is useful and praiseworthy, and we shall now give some
instances of The WONDERS OF ABSTINENCE.
Many wonders are related of the effects of abstinence, in the cure of
several disorders, and in protracting the term of life. The noble
Venetian, Cornaro, after all imaginable means had proved vain, so that his
life was despaired of at 40, recovered, and lived to near 100, by mere
dint of abstinence; as he himself gives account. It is indeed surprising
to what a great age the primitive Christians of the East, who retired from
the persecutions into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt, lived, healthful
and cheerful, on a very little food. Cassian assures us, that the common
rate for 24 hours was 12 ounces of bread, and mere water; with this, St.
Anthony lived 105 years; James the hermit, 104; Arsenius, tutor of the
Emperor Arcadius, 123; S. Epiphanius, 115; Simeon, the Stylite, 112; and
Romauld, 130. Indeed, we can match these instances of longevity at home.
Buchanan writes, that one Lawrence preserved himself to 140, by force of
temperance and labour; and Spottiswood mentions one Kentigern, afterwards
called St. Mongah, or Mungo, who lived to 185, by the same means.
Abstinence, however, is to be recommended only as it means a proper
regimen; for in general it must have bad consequences, when observed
without a due regard to constitution, age, strength, &c.
According to Dr. Cheyne, most of the chronical diseases, the infirmities
of old age, and the short lives of Englishmen, are owing to repletion; and
may be either cured, prevented, or remedied, by abstinence: but then the
kinds of abstinence which ought to obtain, either in sickness or health,
are to be deduced from the laws of diet and regimen. Among the brute
creation, we see extraordinary instances of long abstinence. The serpent
kind, in particular, bear abstinence to a wonderful degree. Rattlesnakes
are reported to have subsisted many months without any food, yet still
retained their vigour and fierceness. Dr. Shaw speaks of a couple of
cerastes, (a sort of Egyptian serpents,) which had been kept five years in
a bottle close corked, without any sort of food, unless a small quantity
of sand, wherein they coiled themselves up in the bottom of the vessel,
may be reckoned as such: yet when he saw them, they had newly cast their
skins, and were as brisk and lively as if just taken.
But it is even natural for divers species of creatures to pass four, five,
or six months' every year, without either eating or drinking. Accordingly,
the tortoise, bear, dormouse, serpent, &c. are observed regularly to
retire, at those seasons, to their respective cells, and hide
themselves,--some in the caverns of rocks or ruins; others dig holes under
ground; others get into woods, and lay themselves up in clefts of trees;
others bury themselves under water, &c. And yet these animals are found as
fat and fleshy after some months' abstinence as before.--A gentleman
(_Phil. Trans._ No. 194.) weighed his tortoise several years successively,
at its going to earth in October, and coming out again in March; and found
that, of four pounds four ounces, it only used to lose about one
ounce.--Indeed, we have instances of men passing several months as
strictly abstinent as other creatures. In particular, the records of the
Tower mention a Scotchman imprisoned for felony, and strictly watched in
that fortress for six weeks; in all which time he took not the least
sustenance; for which he had his pardon. Numberless instances of
extraordinary abstinence, particularly from morbid causes, are to be found
in the different periodical Memoirs, Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. It is
to be added, that, in most instances of extraordinary human abstinence
related by naturalists, there were said to have been apparent marks of a
texture of blood and humour, much like that of the animals above
mentioned; though it is not an improbable opinion, that the air itself may
furnish something for nutrition. It is certain, there are substances of
all kinds, animal, vegetable, &c. floating in the atmosphere, which must
be continually taken in by respiration. And that an animal body may be
nourished thereby, is evident from the instance of vipers, which, if taken
when first brought forth, and kept from every thing but air, will yet grow
very considerably in a few days. The eggs of lizards, also, are observed
to increase in bulk after they are produced, though there be nothing to
furnish the increment but air alone, in like manner as the eggs or spawn
of fish grow and are nourished by the water. And hence, say some, it is,
that cooks, turnspit dogs, &c. though they eat but little, yet are usually
fat.
We shall next offer the reader a few remarks on SLEEP-WALKING.
Many instances are related of persons who were addicted to this practice.
A very remarkable one has been published from a report made to the
Physical Society of Lausanne, by a committee of gentlemen appointed to
examine a young man who was accustomed to walk in his sleep.
The disposition to sleep-walking seems, in the opinion of this committee,
to depend on a particular affection of the nerves, which both seizes and
quits the patient during sleep. Under the influence of this affection, the
imagination represents to him the objects that struck him while awake,
with as much force as if they really affected his senses; but it does not
make him perceive any of those that are actually presented to his senses,
except in so far as they are connected with the dreams which engross him
at the time. If, during this state, the imagination has no determined
purpose, he receives the impression of objects as if he were awake; only,
however, when the imagination is excited to bend its attention towards
them. The perceptions obtained in this state are very accurate, and, when
once received, the imagination renews them occasionally with as much force
as if they were again acquired by means of the senses. Lastly, these
academicians suppose, that the impressions received during this state of
the senses, disappear entirely when the person awakes, and do not return
till the recurrence of the same disposition in the nervous system.
Our next article is, A CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE SLEEPING WOMAN OF DUNNINALD,
NEAR MONTROSE.
The following narrative was communicated to the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, by Dr. Brewster.
Margaret Lyall, aged 21, daughter of John Lyall, labourer at Dunninald,
was first seized with a sleeping fit on the 27th of June, 1815, which
continued to the 30th of June; next morning she was again found in a deep
sleep: in this state she remained for seven days, without motion, food, or
the use of any animal function. But at the end of this time, by the moving
of her left hand, and by plucking at the coverlet of the bed and pointing
to her mouth, a wish for food being understood, it was given her. This she
took; but still remained in her lethargic state till Tuesday the 8th of
August, being six weeks from the time she was seized with the lethargy,
without appearing to be awake, except on the afternoon of Friday the 30th
of June. During the first two weeks, her pulse was generally about 50, the
third week about 60, and previous to her recovery, at 70 to 72. Though
extremely feeble for some days after her recovery, she gained strength so
rapidly, that before the end of August, she began to work at the harvest,
on the lands of Mr. Arkley, and continued without inconvenience to perform
her labour.
The account is drawn up by the clergyman of the parish, and is accompanied
with the medical report of the surgeons who attended; to whose
attestations are added those of Mr. Arkley, the proprietor of Dunninald,
and Lyall, the father; and the statement is, in every respect, entitled to
the fullest credit.
We shall proceed to some INSTANCES OF EXTRAORDINARY DREAMS.
The following account is by no means intended either to restore the reign
of superstition, or to induce the reader to put faith in the numberless
ridiculous interpretations, given by some pretenders to divination, of the
ordinary run of dreams. The absurdity of the many traditional rules, laid
down by such persons; such as, that dreaming of _eggs_ prognosticates
_anger_; of the _washing_ of linens, forebodes _flitting_; of green
fields, _sickness_; of hanging, _honour_; of death, _marriage_; of fish,
_children_; and of raw flesh, _death_, &c. &c. can only be exceeded by the
folly of those who put faith in such fooleries. But instances have
occurred of particular persons, whose veracity cannot be doubted, having
dreams of so singular a nature, and so literally and exactly fulfilled,
that it may be well to mention one or two of them, for the entertainment,
at least, of the reader, if they should not contribute to his
improvement.--
Mr. Richard Boyle, manufacturer, residing in Stirling, about 1781, dreamed
that he saw a beautiful young woman, with a winding sheet over her arm,
whose image made a deep impression on his mind. Upon telling his mother
the dream, she said, you will probably marry that woman, and if you do,
she will bury you. Going to Glasgow in 1783, he met with a young woman in
a friend's house, exactly resembling the person he had dreamed of; and
notwithstanding the disheartening interpretation he had got, and the
additional discouraging circumstance told him, that she was already
engaged with another young man, was sure she was to be his wife, and did
not give up his pursuit till he made her his own. The melancholy part of
his dream was soon fulfilled. He lived only 15 months with her; a short,
but happy period. His widow, during his life, dreamed with equal exactness
of her second husband, whom she did not see till three years afterwards,
when the sight of him, at church, in Montrose, disturbed her devotion so
much, upon recollecting her dream, that she hardly knew a word the
minister said afterwards. Within less than two months, they were
introduced to each other; and within four, were married.--Another young
lady had dreamed so often, and so particularly, about the gentleman who
afterwards married her, that at their first meeting, she started back, as
if she had seen a ghost.--The editors of the Encyclopedia Perthensis
declare they knew the parties concerned in the foregoing relations. But
these instances of prophetic dreams, they observe, are trifling, compared
to one narrated in the _Weekly Mirror_, printed at Edinburgh, in 1781, and
signed _Verax_; and which, they say, they quote the more readily, as also,
from personal acquaintance with the parties, they know the narrative to be
true:
"In June, 1752, Mr. Robert Aikenhead, farmer, in Denstrath, of Arnhall, in
the Mearns, about 5 miles north of Brechin, and 7 from Montrose, went to a
market called _Tarrenty-fair_, where he had a large sum of money to
receive. His eldest son, Robert, a boy about 8 years of age, was sent to
take care of the cattle, and, happening to lie down upon a grassy bank
before sun-set, fell fast asleep. Although the boy had never been far from
home, he was immediately carried in his imagination to Tarrenty market,
where, he dreamed, that his father, after receiving the money, set out on
his return home, and was followed all the way by two ill-looking fellows,
who, when he had got to the western dykes of Inglis-Mauldy, (the seat of
the then Lord Halkerton, afterwards Earl of Kintore,) and little more than
a mile from home, attacked and attempted to rob him. Whereupon the boy
thought he ran to his assistance, and, when he came within a gun-shot of
the place, called out some people, who were just going to bed, who put the
robbers to flight. He immediately awoke in a fright, and, without waiting
to consider whether it was a vision or a reality, ran as fast as he could
to the place he had dreamed of, and had no sooner reached it, than he saw
his father in the very spot and situation he had seen in his dream,
defending himself with his stick against the assassins. He therefore
immediately realized his own part of the visionary scene, by roaring out,
_Murder!_ which soon brought out the people, who running up to Mr.
Aikenhead's assistance, found him victor over one of the villains, whom he
had previously knocked down with a stone, after they had pulled him off
his horse; but almost overpowered by the other, who repeatedly attempted
to stab him with a sword; against which he had no other defence than his
stick and his hands, which were considerably mangled by grasping the
blade. Upon sight of the country people, the villain who had the sword ran
off; but the other not being able, was apprehended and lodged in gaol.
Meantime there was no small hue and cry after young Robert, whose mother
missing him, and finding the cattle among the corn, was in the utmost
anxiety, concluding that he had fallen into some water or peat moss. But
her joy and surprise were equally great, when her husband returned with
the boy, and told her how miraculously both his money and life had been
preserved by his son's dream; although she was at first startled at seeing
her husband's hands bloody.
"To those who deny the existence of a God, (adds the writer,) or the
superintendence of a divine providence, the above narrative will appear as
fabulous as any story in Ovid. To those who measure the greatness and
littleness of events by the arbitrary rules of human pride and vanity, it
will perhaps appear incredible that such a miracle should have been
wrought for the preservation of the life of a country farmer. But all who
found their opinions upon the unerring rule of right and truth, which
assures us that a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without the permission
of our heavenly Father, (and who know, that in the sight of Him, with whom
there is no respect of persons or dignities, the life of the greatest
monarch on earth, and that of the lowest of his subjects, are of equal
value,) will laugh at such silly objections, when opposed to well-attested
facts. That the above is one, could be attested upon oath, were it
necessary, by Mr. and Mrs. Aikenhead, from whom I had all the particulars
above narrated about 15 months ago.--Edinburgh, March 12, 1781."--Indeed,
whoever can persuade himself that such facts as are stated above, can
happen by chance, may easily adopt the system of those philosophers, who
tell us that the universe was formed by the fortuitous concourse of atoms.
The title of our next subject is curious,--POETICAL, GRAMMATICAL, AND
SCIENTIFIC DEATHS.
The Emperor Adrian, dying, made that celebrated address to his soul, which
is so happily translated by Pope, in the following words:
Vital spark of heav'nly flame,
Quit, oh quit this mortal frame.
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
Oh the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.
Hark! they whisper; angels say,
Sister spirit, come away.
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight?
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death!
The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav'n opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?
Lucan, when he had his veins opened by order of Nero, expired reciting a
passage from his Pharsalia, in which he has described the wound of a dying
soldier. Petronius did the same thing on the same occasion.
Patris, a poet of Caen, perceiving himself expiring, composed some verses
which are justly admired. In this little poem he relates a dream, in which
he appeared to be placed next to a beggar, when, having addressed him in
the haughty strain he would probably have employed on this side of the
grave, he received the following reprimand:
"Here all are equal; now thy lot is mine!
I on my dunghill, as thou art on thine."
Des Barreaux, it is said, wrote, on his death-bed, that sonnet which is
well known, and which is translated in the "Spectator."
Margaret of Austria, when she was nearly perishing in a storm at sea,
composed for herself the following epitaph in verse:
"Beneath this tomb is high-born Margaret laid,
Who had two husbands, and yet died a maid."
She was betrothed to Charles VIII. of France, who forsook her. Being next
intended for the Spanish Infant, in her voyage to Spain she wrote these
lines in a storm.
Roscommon, at the moment he expired, with an energy of voice (says his
biographer) that expressed the most fervent devotion, uttered two lines of
his own version of "Dies Iræ!"
Waller, in his last moments, repeated some lines from Virgil: and Chaucer
took his farewell of all human vanities by a moral ode, entitled, "A
ballad made by Geffrey Chauycer upon his dethe-bedde lying in his grete
anguysse."
"The muse that has attended my course (says the dying Gleim, in a letter
to Klopstock[4]) still hovers round my steps to the very verge of the
grave." A collection of songs, composed by old Gleim on his death-bed, it
is said, were intended to be published.
Chatellard, a French gentleman, beheaded in Scotland, for having loved the
Queen, and even for having attempted her honour, Brantome says, would not
have any other viaticum than a poem of Ronsard. When he ascended the
scaffold, he took the hymns of this poet, and for his consolation read
that on death; which, he says, is well adapted to conquer its fear. He
preferred the poems of Ronsard to either a prayer-book or his confessor:
such was his passion.
The Marquis of Montrose, when he was condemned by his judges to have his
limbs nailed to the gates of four cities, the brave soldier said that, "he
was sorry he had not limbs sufficient to be nailed to all the gates of the
cities in Europe, as monuments of his loyalty." As he proceeded to his
execution, he put this thought into beautiful verse.
Philip Strozzi, when imprisoned by Cosmo the First, great Duke of Tuscany,
was apprehensive of the danger to which he might expose his friends, (who
had joined in his conspiracy against the duke,) from the confessions which
the rack might extort from him. Having attempted every exertion for the
liberty of his country, he considered it no crime therefore to die. He
resolved on suicide. With the point of the sword, with which he killed
himself, he first engraved on the mantle-piece of the chimney, this verse
of Virgil:
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor.
_Rise, some avenger, from our blood!_
Such persons realize that beautiful fiction of the ancients, who represent
the swans of Cayster singing at their death; and have been compared to the
nightingale singing with a thorn on its breast.
The following anecdotes are of a different complexion: they may perhaps
excite a smile. We have given them the title of GRAMMATICAL DEATHS.
Pere Bouhours was a French grammarian, who had been justly accused of
paying too scrupulous an attention to the minutiæ of letters. He was more
solicitous of his _words_ than his _thoughts_. It is said, that when he
was dying, he called out to his friends (a correct grammarian to the
last,) "_Je_ VAS, _ou je_ VAIS _mourir; l'un ou l'autre se dit!_"
When Malherbe was dying, he reprimanded his nurse for making use of a
solecism in her language! And when his confessor represented to him the
felicities of a future state in low expressions, the dying critic
interrupted him: "Hold your tongue," he said, "your wretched style only
makes me out of conceit with them!"
Several persons of science have died in a scientific manner.--Haller, the
greatest of physicians, beheld his end approach with the utmost composure.
He kept feeling his pulse to the last moment, and when he found that life
was almost gone, he turned to his brother physician, and observed, "My
friend, the artery ceases to beat,"--and almost instantly expired.
De Lagny, who was intended by his friends for the study of the law, having
fallen on an Euclid, found it so congenial to his disposition, that he
devoted himself to mathematics. In his last moments, when he retained no
further recollection of the friends who surrounded his bed, one of them,
perhaps to make a philosophical experiment, thought proper to ask him the
square of 12; the dying mathematician instantly, and perhaps without
knowing that he answered it, replied, "144."
The following lines, from the pen of Mrs. Barbauld, in an address to the
Deity, express the desires and hopes of a real Christian in the
contemplation of death:
"O when the last, the closing hour draws nigh,
And earth recedes before my swimming eye;
When trembling on the doubtful edge of fate,
I stand, and stretch my view to either state;
Teach me to quit this transitory scene
With decent triumph and a look serene;
Teach me to fix my ardent hopes on high,
And, having liv'd to thee, in thee to die!"
The following article is not of a pleasing description, but nevertheless
proper to be inserted in "The Book of Curiosities." It is ANTHROPOPHAGI,
OR MEN-EATERS:
The Cyclops, the Lestrygons, and Scylla, are all represented in Homer as
Anthropophagi, or man-eaters, and the female phantoms, Circe and the
Syrens, first bewitched with a show of pleasure, and then destroyed. This,
like the other parts of Homer's poetry, had a foundation in the manners of
the times preceding his own. It was still in many places the age spoken of
by Orpheus,
"When men devour'd each other like the beasts,
Gorging on human flesh."
History gives us divers instances of persons driven by excess of hunger to
eat their own relations. And also out of revenge and hatred, where
soldiers, in the heat of battle, have been known to be carried to such an
excess of rage, as to tear their enemies with their teeth.
The violence of love has sometimes produced the same effect as the excess
of hatred.
Among the Essedonian Scythians, when a man's father died, his neighbours
brought him several beasts, which they killed, mixed up their flesh with
that of the deceased, and made a feast.
Among the Massageti, when any person grew old, they killed him, and ate
his flesh; but if the party died of sickness, they buried him, esteeming
him unhappy.
Idolatry and superstition have caused the eating more human flesh, than
both love and hatred put together.
There are few nations but have offered human victims to their deities; and
it was an established custom to eat part of the sacrifices they offered.
It appears pretty certain, from Dr. Hawkesworth's account of the voyages
to the South Seas, that the inhabitants of New Zealand ate the bodies of
their enemies. Mr. Petit has a learned dissertation on the nature and
manners of the Anthropophagi. Among other things, he disputes whether or
no the Anthropophagi act contrary to nature? The philosophers, Diogenes,
Chrysippus, and Zeno, followed by the whole body of Stoics, held it a very
reasonable thing for men to eat each other.
According to Sextus Empiricus, the first laws were those made to prevent
men from eating each other, as had been done until that time.
The Greek writers represent Anthropophagi as universal before Orpheus.
Leonardus Floroventius informs us, that having fed a hog with hog's flesh,
and a dog with dog's flesh, he found a repugnance in nature to such food;
the former lost all his bristles; the latter its hair, and the whole body
broke out in blotches.
If even this horrid practice of eating human flesh originates from hunger,
still it must be perpetuated from revenge: as death must lose much of its
horror among those who are accustomed to eat the dead; and where there is
little horror at the sight of death, there must be less repugnance to
murder.
We shall conclude this chapter with AN ACCOUNT OF A WILD MAN, given by M.
Le Roy.
In 1774, a wild man was discovered in the neighbourhood of Yuary. This
man, who inhabited the rocks near a forest, was very tall, covered with
hair like a bear, very nimble, and of a gay humour. He neither did, nor
seemed to intend, harm to any body. He often visited the cottages,
without ever attempting to carry off any thing. He had no knowledge of
bread, milk, or cheese. His greatest amusement was to see the sheep
running, and to scatter them; and he testified his pleasure at this sight
by loud fits of laughter, but never attempted to hurt them. When the
shepherds (as was frequently the case) let loose their dogs at him, he
fled with the swiftness of an arrow, and never allowed the dogs to come
too near him. One morning he came to the cottage of some workmen, and one
of them endeavouring to catch him by the leg, he laughed heartily, and
then made
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