of the qualities of bodies which influenced his determinations and his affections. On all occasions, however, it was clear, that he made his experiments on the objects which he examined with all the accuracy and caution that his circumscribed means of gaining intelligence could admit. The senses he enjoyed being thus disciplined, acquired a preternatural degree of acuteness, and must have furnished him with information respecting the qualities of many bodies, which we either overlook, or are in the habit of obtaining through other channels.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the boy's mind was his avidity and curiosity to become acquainted with the different objects around him. When a person came into the room where he was, the moment he knew of his presence, he fearlessly went up to him, and touched him all over, and smelled him with eagerness. He showed the same inquisitiveness in becoming acquainted with every thing within the sphere of his observation, and was daily in the habit of exploring the objects around his father's abode. He had become familiar with all the most minute parts of the house and furniture, the out-houses, and several of the adjacent fields, and the various farming utensils.

He showed great partiality to some animals, particularly to horses, and nothing seemed to give him more delight than to be put on one of their backs. When his father went out to ride, he was always the first to watch his return; and it was astonishing how he became warned of this, from remarking a variety of little incidents. His father putting on his boots, and such like occurrences, were all accurately observed by the boy, and led him to conclude how his father was to be employed. In the remote situation where he resided, male visiters were most frequent, and, therefore, the first thing he generally did, was to examine whether or not the stranger wore boots; if he did, he immediately quitted him, went to the lobby, found out, and accurately examined, his whip, then proceeded to the stable and handled his horse with great care, and the utmost attention. It occasionally happened, that visiters arrived in a carriage. He never failed to go to the place where the carriage stood, examined the whole of it with much anxiety, and amused himself with the elasticity of the springs.

The locks of doors attracted much of his notice, and he seemed to derive great pleasure from turning the keys.

He was very docile and obedient to his father and to his sister, who accompanied him to London, and reposed in them every confidence for his safety, and for the means of his subsistence.

It has been already noticed, that he never took food from any one but the branches of his own family. I several times offered him an apple, of which I knew he was extremely fond, but he al

ways refused it with signs of mistrust, though the same apple, afterwards given him by his sister, was accepted of greedily.

It was difficult to ascertain the manner in which his mind was guided in the judgment he formed of strangers, as there were some people whom he never permitted to approach him, whilst others at once excited his interest and attention.

The opinions which he formed of individuals, and the means he employed to study their character, were extremely interesting. In doing this, he appeared to be chiefly influenced by the impres sions communicated to him by his sense of smell. When a stranger approached him, he eagerly began to touch some part of his body, commonly taking hold of the arm, which he held near his nose, and after two or three strong inspirations, through the nostrils, he appeared to form a decided opinion regarding him. If this was favourable, he showed a disposition to become more intimate, examined more minutely his dress, and expressed by his countenance more or less satisfaction: but if it happened to be unfavourable, he suddenly went off to a distance, with expressions of carelesness or of disgust.

When he was first brought to my house to have his eyes examined, he both touched and smelled several parts of my body, and the following day, whenever he found me near him, he grasped my arm, then smelled it, and immediately recognised me; which he signified to his father by touching his eyelids with the fingers of both hands, and imitating the examination of his eyes, which I had formerly made. I was very much struck with his behaviour during this examination. He held his head, and allowed his eyes to be touched, with an apparent interest and anxiety, as if he had been aware of the object of my occupation. On expressing to his father my surprise at the apparent consciousness of the boy of what was to be done, he said that he had frequently, during the voyage from Scotland, signified his expectation and his desire that some operation should be performed on his eyes. About two years before this period, he had been brought up to London by sea, with the hope of getting an attempt made to improve his sight and his hearing. The membrane of the tympanum of both ears was punctured by Mr. Astley Cooper, with no benefit; and seve ral medical gentlemen examined his eyes, and endeavoured to perform some operations on them. In this, however, they completely failed, from the powerful resistance which he made to all their efforts to secure him, and hold the eye quiet. The lively remembrance which he seemed to have of these events, and the recurrence of the same circumstances attending his coming here at this time, made him very naturally conceive that his parents had again brought him from home with the same view as formerly. During the first examination, and on several future ones, when L

purposely handled the eye roughly, I was surprised to find him submit to every thing that was done, with fortitude and complete resignation; as if he was persuaded that he had an organ imperfectly developed, and an imperfection to be remedied by the assistance of his fellow creatures.

Many little incidents in his life have displayed a good deal of reasoning and observation. On one occasion, a pair of shoes were given to him, which he found too small, and his mother put them aside into a closet. Some time afterwards, young Mitchell found means to get the key of the closet, opened the door, and taking out the shoes, put them on a young man, his attendant, whom they fitted exactly.

On another occasion, finding his sister's shoes very wet, he appeared uneasy until she changed them.

From his father having had farm servants, he attempted to imitate them in some of their employments, and was particularly fond of assisting them in cleaning the stable.

At one time, when his brothers were employed making basketwork, he attempted to imitate them; but he did not seem to have patience to overcome the difficulties he had to surmount.

In many of his actions, he displayed a retentive memory, and in no one was this more remarkable than on his second voyage to London. Indeed, as the objects of his attention must have been very limited, it is not to be wondered at that those few should be well remembered.

He seemed to select and show a preference to particular forms, smells, and other qualities of bodies. He has often been observed to break substances with his teeth, or by other means, so as to give them a form which seemed to please him. He also preferred to touch those substances which were smooth, and which had a rounded form; and he has been known to employ many hours in selecting from the channel of a river, which was near his father's house, small stones of a rounded shape, nearly of the same weight, and having smooth surfaces. These, too, he would arrange in a circular form on the bank of the river, and place himself in the centre of the circle. He also seemed to be much pleased with some smells, and equally disgusted with others, and this latter he expressed by squeezing his nostrils, and turning his head from whence the smell came. He showed an equal nicety in the selection of his food.

He sometimes showed a good deal of drollery and cunning, particularly in his amusements with his constant companion and friend, his sister. He took great pleasure in locking people up in a room or closet, and would sometimes conceal things about his person, or otherwise, which he knew not to be his own property; and when he was detected doing so, he would laugh heartily.

That he was endowed with affection and kindness to his own family cannot be doubted. The meeting with his mother, after his return from London, (to be afterwards noticed,) showed this very strongly. On one occasion, finding his mother unwell, he was observed to weep; and on another, when his attendant happened to have a sore foot, he went up to a garret room to find a particular stool for his foot to rest upon, which he himself had made use of on a similar occasion long before. He seemed fond, too, of young children, and was often in the habit of taking them up in his arms.

His disposition and temper were generally placid, and when kind means were employed he was obedient and docile. But if he was teased or interrupted in any of his amusements he became irascible, and sometimes got into violent paroxysms of rage. At no other time did he ever make use of his voice, with which he produced most harsh and loud screams.

It is not one of the least curious parts of his history, that he seemed to have a love of finery. He early showed a great partiality to new clothes, and when the tailor used to come to make clothes at his father's house, (a practice common in that part of the country,) it seemed to afford him great pleasure to sit down beside him whilst he was at work, and he never left him until his own suit was finished. He expressed much disappointment and anger, when any of his brothers got new clothes, and none were given to him. Immediately before he came to London, each of his brothers got a new hat, his father considering his old one good enough for the sea voyage. Such, however, was his disappointment and rage, that he secretly went to one of the out-houses and tore the old hat to pieces. Indeed, his fondness for new clothes afforded a means of rewarding him when he merited approbation, and his parents knew no mode more severe of punishing him than by obliging him to wear old ones.

With respect to the means which were employed to communicate to him information, and which he employed to communicate his desires and feelings to others, these were very ingenious and simple. His sister, under whose management he chiefly was, had contrived signs addressing his organs of touch, by which she could control him, and regulate his conduct. On the other hand, he, by his gestures, could express his wishes and desires. His sister employed various modes of holding his arm, and patting him on the head and shoulders, to express consent and different degrees of approbation. She signified time by shutting his eyelids and putting down his head; which done once, meant one night. He expressed his wish to go to bed by reclining his head; distinguished me by touching his eyes; and many workmen by imitating their different employments. When he wished for foodhe pointed to his mouth, or to the place where provisions were usually kept.

Operation.

In the hope of restoring this boy's sight, my attention was solely directed to the removal of the cataract of the right eye. Having thought it preferable to extract the lens of that eye, and conceiving this might be accomplished by having him properly secured, I placed him on a table in a room lighted from the roof: and having secured him with skilful assistants, I attempted to introduce the cornea knife; but the resistance which he made was such as to render it impracticable to use that instrument. He seemed to know that something was to be done to his eye, and he at first readily yielded and allowed himself to be placed and held on the table. The uneasiness, however, which the pressure necessary to keep the eyeball steady and the eyelids open, seemed to overcome his resolution, and his exertions became so violent that it was quite impossible to secure even his head.

A second attempt was made the day following, having previously taken more precautions in order to secure him; but so violent were his exertions and cries, and so irascible did he become, that all present were glad to relinquish their posts, and I was impressed with the conviction, that nothing but a powerful piece of machinery calculated to grasp every joint of his body would be at all sufficient to enable any operation to be performed. Some days having elapsed without the hope of being able to get the operation performed, I at last thought of a machine which completely answered the wished-for purpose, and which I may describe, as on a future occasion, under similar circumstances, it may be found useful. It consisted of a kind of box, long enough to contain all his body except the head. The sides were fixed on hinges, so that they might be folded in upon the body; it had no top part, and the bottom was made long enough to reach sufficiently far beyond the sides at one extremity, so that a perpendicular plane of wood was fixed on it, in which there was a niche of such a size as accurately to contain the head. The machine being placed erect, and lined with a blanket to prevent any risk of his being injured, he was easily secured in it by folding the sides on his body, and fixing them with circular ropes; and in this manner, notwithstanding a most powerful resistance and many harassing screams, he was placed on a table and kept quite steady. I had now given up all hopes of extracting the cataract, and determined to try couching, an operation which, though not generally so successful, was preferable in this case, as there was not so much danger of doing any essential injury to the eye, even if it did not succeed. Much difficulty was found in holding open the eyelids, and keeping the