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Untitled Article
impediment caused him to fall . The formation of the bone and muscles of his leg was very peculiar , and could only be accounted for on the supposition that he had been constantly kept sitting on the floor , with his legs stretched straight out . It was ascertained _ , partly from the youth himself , after he had learned to speak , and partly from circumstantial evidence , that he had been confined from early childhood in a small , dark
chamber , where he had always remained in the same position , and where he had never seen a human creature . Every morning he found a supply of bread and water by his side ; and some opiate appears to have been occasionally put into the water , after waking from the effects of which , he found that his clothes had been changed , and his nails cut . His sole occupation was playing with two wooden horses and some bits of ribbon . Here he was
not unhappy , for he knew no other state . The man with whom he had always been , but whose face he never saw , taught him , shortly before his appearance in Nuremberg , to pronounce a few words ; and having set him upon his feet , endeavoured to teach him to stand and walk . How lie got to Nuremberg , he knows not ; but coarse clothes and boots were put upon him , ( for in his confinement he had only trowsers and a shirt , ) and he was left , as described , in the street . Who he is , or what he is , he knows not , nor how long or where he was kept in confinement . The only proof of this strange story is the assertion of the youth himself , and the much stronger testimony of his bodily and mental condition . He was like a new born child in all which must be acquired by experience : he was destitute of words , ignorant of common objects , and of the daily occurrences of nature , and he abhorred the usual customs , conveniences , and necessaries of life . Bread and water were the only sustenance he would take ; other things make him shudder even at the smell ; and wine or coffee , mixed with his water , gave him sweats , vomiting , and violent headaches .
During his abode with the police , he exhibited an almost complete indifference and insensibility to external objects , until a policeman gave him a little toy horse , with which he was much delighted , and he amused himself entirely with playing with it , seated in his usual awkward position , and insensible to every thing going on around . Very near objects he would sometimes gaze at , with a stupid look , occasionally expressive of curiosity and astonishment , but passing and distant objects remained unnoticed . He was delighted at the sight of a lighted candle , and forthwith put his fingers into the flame . Of distance he had no notion , but tried , like an infant , fo catch at bright objects . Feigned cuts and thrusts were made at him , with a naked sabre , without exciting his apprehension , or even causing him to wink . The sound of the neighbouring clock and belly was at first dis-
Untitled Article
520 Caspar Hauser .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 520, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/8/
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