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Untitled Article
able . He even left his playthings and his favourite horses , for writing and drawing , and complained of being bothered by the multitude of his visitors , who did not leave him time to learn . He also frequently expressed a desire to go back to his hole , as he had not there suffered from headaches , nor had been teased as he
was in the world . Indeed , he was subject to many painful sensations from his new impressions , especially from the sense of smell , and he was troubled by the incessant questions and by the inconsiderate and not very humane experiments of the visitors . His remembrance of the names and titles of visitors , of flowers , &c . was very remarkable , but this power decreased , or appeared to decrease , as the powers of his understanding increased . The excitement which he received from the numerous visitors
in the prison , his extraordinary efforts to acquire knowledge , the unusual quantity of light and free air , and the many strange and often painful excitements of his senses , at length were more than his feeble frame could withstand . He became ill ; and his unconquerable aversion to every thing but bread and water , prevented medicines from bein ? administered to him .
On the 18 th of July , ( nearly two months after he was first discovered in Nuremberg , ) he was released from the tower , and committed to the care of Professor Daurner ; and so great was the curiosity he excited , that the magistrates were obliged to issue an order to prevent the admission of future visitors . He now for the first time , slept in a bed , and had dreams ; he related his dreams
as actual occurrences ; and it was some time before he learnt to perceive the difference between waking and dreaming . It was the work of much time and difficulty to accustom him to ordinary food ; and after this was accomplished , he grew considerably in a short space of time ; but a constant head-ache and inflammation of the eyes prevented him , long after his recovery , from reading , writing , or drawing .
With regard to vision , he appears to have been in a state nearly resembling that of the blind boy couched by Cheselden ; for instance , he could not distinguish between a round or triangular object and a mere painting of such objects ; or between a painting and a carving of a man and horse ; but by packing and unpacking
his playthings , he gradually learnt the difference . Being shown a beautiful prospect from a window , he drew back with horror ; and being asked some time afterwards , when he had learned to speak , why he did so , he said it appeared as if a wooden shutter had been placed close before his eyes spattered with different colours . Indeed , it was some time before he could distinguish distant
objects , for when he did go out , it was but a short distance , and his weak eyes anil constant danger of falling , prevented him from looking round . He could see with unusually little light , and though his eyes were weak , his sight , both of near and distant objects , was remarkably acute . Hi * hearing was at first very acute , but it became less delicate
Untitled Article
522 Caspar Nauser .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 522, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/10/
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