THE GROWTH OF HUMAN FACULTIES.
[To VIZ EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR:] Sin,—Yolar article in the Spectator of July 11th on "The Growth of Human Faculties" reminds me of an incident in my life which may be of interest to some of your readers. A good many years ago when I was collector and Magistrate of Broach District,'Bombay Presidency, a Brahmin from Baroda called on me and asked to be allowed to give a performance in mental arithmetic; he was an elderly man with a very care- worn expression of countenance. I readily assented to his request, and afteN consulting the Municipal Committee I placed our Board-room at his disposal for an afternoon s6ance. A considerable number of educated spectators assembled, and on my entering the room I found the performer seated at the head of the table and busy shuffling a pack of native cards, as I was told, for the purpose of keeping his brain quiet. I picked out two or three men from the company good at figures, and these drew up some fifteen or sixteen questions, including addition, division, multiplication, and subtraction, sums to lines of eight or ten figures, cubic and square root, and some other items. The whole were carefully worked out, the answers verified and written down on a sheet of paper, which was given to me. I was quite satisfied there was no collusion. The performer was a stranger to Broach, and, so far as I could ascertain previously, unkncwr 4o all present.
All being ready one of my clerks began to read out the sum in order ; he was occasionally asked by the performer to repeat a line or a figure, but otherwise there was no cessation in the reading out. When finished the Brahmin got up, and, after a pause of not more than two or three minutes, proceeded to give the answers vivii-voce, which he did perfectly, correctly, and without a pause until he came to the last two questiona, when he seemed puzzled and put his hand to his head and looked out of a window ; he exclaimed, "I am very sorry, the sun has set, my bolt is shot, I can do no more." This was said in the Mahratta language, as he knew no English. I could find out nothing about him beyond the fact that he was a needy Brahmin, a banger-on of the Baroda Court, a high. caste mendicant in fact, a large class, especially in native States.—I am, Sir, &c., Basset, Southampton, July 13th. W. RAMSAY..
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