Singular arithmetical Potvers of a Child. 123 



Operation can take place ; since he will give the atiswer iw- 

 mediate/i/, or in a very few seconds, where it would require, 

 according to the ordinary method of solution, a very diffi- 

 cult and laborious calculation : and moreover, the know- 

 !edo;e of a prime nuniher cannot be obtained by any known 

 rule. 



It has been already observed, that it was evident, from 

 some singular facts, that the child operated by certain rules 

 known onlv to himself. This discovery was inade in one 

 or two instances, when he had been closely pressed upon 

 that point. In one case he was asked to tell the square of 

 4395; he at first hesitated, fearful that he should not be 

 able to answer it correcllv: hut when he applied himself 

 to it he said it was 19,Sl6,0-23. On being questioned as 

 to the cause of his hesitation, he replied that he did not 

 like to multiply four figures by four figures : but, said he, 

 '** I found out another'way ; I multiplied 293 by 293, and 

 " then nuiJtiplied this product twice by the number 15, 

 " wliich produced fhe same result." On another occasion, 

 his hifijhness the Dr.ke of Gloucester asked him the pro- 

 duct of 21,734 multiplied by 543: he immediately replied 

 Il,801,.^6'2 : 'out, upon some remark being made on the 

 subject, the ch Id said that he had, in his own mind, mul- 

 tiplied 63202 bv 181. Now, although in the first instance 

 it must be evident to every mathematician that 4395 is equal 

 to 293 X 15, and consequently that (4395)'= (293)- x (i5)^; 

 and further that in the second case 543 is equal to 181 X3, 

 and consequently that 21734 X (181 x 3) = (21 734 x 3) x 

 181 ; y«'t» It 15' not the less remarkable that this combination 

 should be immediutt'ly perceived by the child, and we can- 

 not the less admire his ingenuity in thus seizing instantly 

 the easiest method of solving the question proposed to him. 



It must be evident, from what has here been stated, that 

 the singular faculty which this child possesses is not alto- 

 gether dependent upon his memory. In the mnltiplication 

 of numbers and in the raising of powers., he is doubtless 

 Qonsiderably assisted by that remarkable quality of the 

 mind : and in this respect he ini<(ht be considered as hear- 

 ing some resemblance (if the difterence of age did not pre- 

 vent the justness of the comparison) to the celebrated Je- 

 dediah Buxton, and other persons of similar note. But, in 

 the extrnciion of the roots of numbers, and in determining 

 tht\T factors (if any), it is clear, to all those who have wit- 

 nessed the astonishing quickness and accuracy of this child, 

 that the memory has little or nothing to do with the pro- 

 cess. And in this particular point consists the remarkable 



difference 



