510 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



correctly ; but when he applied 

 himself te it, he said it was 

 19,316,025. On being questioned 

 as to the cause of liis hesitation, he 

 replied that he did not like to mul- 

 tiply four figures by four figures : 

 but, said he, *' I found out ano- 

 ther way ; I multiplied 293 by 293, 

 and then multiplied this product 

 twice by the number 15, which 

 produced the same result." On 

 another occasion, his highness the 

 Duke of Gloucester asked him the 

 product of 21,734 multiplied by 

 543; he immediately replied, 

 11,801,562: but, upon some re- 

 mark being made on the subject, 

 the child said that he had, in his 

 own mind, multiplied 65,202 by 

 181. Now, although, in the first 

 instance it must be evident to 

 every mathematician that 4395 is 

 equal to 293 X 15, and conse- 

 quently that (4395)2= (293)^ X 

 (15)2; and, further, that in the 

 second case, 543 is equal to 181 X 

 3, and consequently that 21734 X 

 (181 X 3) = (21734 X 3) X 181; 

 yet, it is not the less remarkable, 

 that this combination should be 

 immediately perceived by the 

 child, and we cannot the less ad- 

 mire his ingenuity in thus seizing 

 instantly the easiest method of 

 «olving the question proposed to 

 him. 



It must be evident, from what 

 has here been stated, that the sin- 

 gular faculty which this child pos- 

 sesses is not altoget'ier dependant 

 upon his memory. In the multi- 

 plication of numbers, and in the 

 raising of powers, he is doubtless 

 considerably assisted by tliat re- 

 markable quality of the mind : 

 and in this r-espect he might be 

 considered as bearing some resem- 

 •blaace (if the difference of age 



did not prevent the justness of the 

 comparison) to the celebrated Je- 

 dediah Buxton, and other persons 

 of similar note. But, in the ex- 

 traction of the roots of numbers, 

 and in determining their factors (if 

 any), it is clear, to all those who 

 have witnessed the astonishing- 

 quickness and accuracy of this 

 child, that the memory has little 

 or nothing to do with the process. 

 And in this particular point con- 

 sists the remarkable difterence be- 

 tween tlie present and all former 

 instances of an apparently similar 

 kind. 



It has been recorded as an asto- 

 nishing effort of memory, that the 

 celebrated Euler (who, in the sci- 

 ence of analysis, might vie even 

 with Newton himself), could re- 

 member the first SIX powers of 

 every number under 100. This, 

 probably, must be taken with some 

 restrictions; but, il" true to tlie 

 fullest extent, it is not more asto- 

 nishing than the efforts of thia 

 child ; with this additional circum- 

 stance in favour of the latter, that 

 he is capable of verifying in a very 

 few seconds, every figure which he 

 may have occasion i'or. It has 

 been further remarked by the bio- 

 grapher of that eminent mathema- 

 tician, that, " he perceived, almost 

 at a simple glance, tiie factors of 

 which his formulae were composed ; 

 tlie particular system of factors 'be- 

 longing to the question under con- 

 -sideration ; the various artifices by 

 which that syste i may be simpli- 

 fied and reduced ; and the relation 

 of the several factors to the condi- 

 tions of the hypothesis. His ex- 

 pertness in this particular probably 

 resulted, in a great measure, from 

 the ease with which he perfoiujed 

 rauthematicalinvestigationsbj-bead. 



He 



