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Untitled Article
in time . His sense of smell was painfully acute , and caused him more misery than all his other senses . All odours wpre more or less disagreeable to him , and powerful odours caused violent head * aches , sweats , and even attacks of fever . The smell of meat , cheese , vinegar , wine , &c , was very painful to him , and even the ink , paints , and pencils , he used , gave him annoyance .
His obedience was unconditional and boundless to those who had acquired authority over him ; but this had no connexion with his knowing , believing , and judging . He must be convinced by his senses or understanding , before he would acknowledge any thing to be true ; otherwise he would leave the matter undecided .
When told that in winter all things would be covered with a cold white substance , he plainly evinced that he would believe this when he saw it , not before . When the snow did come , he took some up with great glee , but immediately dropped it , crying out that the white paint had bitten his hand . It required no little pains and patience on the part of Professor Daumer to teach hirn the difference between organized and
unorganized bodies , between animate and inanimate things , and between voluntary motion and motion that is communicated from without . Men or animals cut in stone , carved in wood , or painted , he conceived to be animated ; it appeared strange to him that horses , unicorns , &c , hewn or painted on the walls , did not run away . He expressed his indignation against a statue in the
garden , because it did not wash itself ; and was struck with horror at the sight of a great crucifix . If a sheet of paper was blown down by the wind , he thought that it had run away from the table ; he supposed that a tree manifested its life , by moving its branches ; and its voice" by the rustling of its leaves ; and was angry with a boy for striking it with a stick . He also thought that the balls of nine-pins ran voluntarily along , and stopped when they were tired .
To animals he long ascribed the properties of men . He was angry with the cat for taking her food with her mouth ; and wished to teach her to use her paws and sit upright ; and he expressed great indignation at her unwillingness to attend to what he said .
He wondered whv some oxen , who were Winer on the navement . He wondered why some oxen , who were lying on the pavement , did not go home and lie down there . He spoke of trees as if they had been stuck in the ground ; and of leaves and flowers , as if they were the work of human hands ; nor did natural objects
interest him otherwise than by causing him to ask who made them . The first external object that produced any great effect upon him , was the sight of the starry heavens : it was then for the first time that he was heard to complain against the author of his captivity , who had prevented him from beholding such a glorious sight .
Though too weak and awkward to take much exercise without great fatigue , he exhibited an extraordinary fondness for horses , and being sent to a riding-school , soon excelled in riding to a degree that astonished every one .
Untitled Article
Caspar Hauter . 528
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 523, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/11/
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