40 ACCOUNT OF A BOY 



In order to complete the history of Mitchell, I am aware 

 that a variety of curious points still remain to be ascertained ; 

 and, if I had not been anxious to bring it forward to public no- 

 tice, even in its present imperfect state, without any farther 

 delay, I should have been inclined to retain it in my own 

 hands, till my information on the subject should have been a 

 little more ample. My wish, I must acknowledge, is, That 

 some plan could be devised for removing the young man to 

 Edinbursh ; or rather (as he has been accustomed hitherto to 

 enjoy the air and the freedom of the country), to some quiet 

 residence in the neighbourhood ; — to some situation, in short, 

 Avhere an opportunity would be afforded for examining and re- 

 cording, under the eye of this Society, the particulars of a case, 

 to which it is to be hoped, that nothing similar will again oc- 

 cur in our times. Something, it would appear from JDr Gor- 

 don's statement, may perhaps, at a future period, be attempted 

 for the extraction of his cataracts, — in which event (should 

 the operation succeed), I need not say, what an accession 

 would at once be made to his own enjoyments, and to his va- 

 lue as an object of philosophical curiosity : — But even on the 

 supposition that this hope should be disappointed, a subject of 

 inquiry not less interesting than any question connected with 

 the Theory of Vision, will still remain, — to ascertain how far it 

 mi^ht be possible, by following out the Abbe Sicabd's hints, 

 to cultivate the intellectual and moral faculties of a human be- 

 in", destitute of the two senses which are the ordinary vehicles 

 of all our acquired knowledge. Nor do I apprehend that this 

 experiment would be attended with such insuperable difficul- 

 ties 



