THE WILD BOY OF PINDUS 319 



that he went often on all-fours, and in that posture 

 ran fast ; that he ate nuts and roots ; that he sucked 

 up the buttermilk va /5o<a, the Greek word, is used 

 of the manner in which a horse drinks water, and 

 it will be found that it is a peculiarity of the Re- 

 lapsed Man that he does not drink or lap, but 

 sucks up milk or water in this eager, swallowing 

 way that he went naked ; and that he had not, 

 and has not, learnt to talk, but can mimic animal 

 sounds. 



Relapsed Man is found in three forms one, 

 the most marked and least human, is that which 

 ensues when he has, as a child, been carried off and 

 kept often for several years by a wild animal. 

 This is the acute form of relapse, and exhibits all 

 the symptoms of the Pindus boy, with several 

 others, among them a wholly carnivorous appetite, 

 the voice of a wild beast, extreme ferocity, and a 

 temper quite impossible to humanise. The second 

 and milder form occurs when a young child has run 

 wild or been deserted, and manages to keep itself 

 alive without human aid, to which form the case 

 of the Greek boy belongs. The wild boy of 

 Hanover, found in the last century, was a similar 

 instance. He ran on all-fours, ate nothing but roots 

 and nuts, and was without speech. The third form, 

 now very rare in Europe, but not uncommon in the 



