LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE LATE MR. G. P. BIDDER.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.1

SIR,—The notices which have recently appeared in your paper with respect to the late Mr. George Bidder have induced me to hunt out an old pamphlet which I have possessed for many years, and a few extracts from which you may possibly consider a welcome addition to what you have already published. It is a pamphlet of thirty-four pages, and contains a large number of questions proposed to George Bidder, at various places, in the years 1816-19, i.e., from the eleventh to the fourteenth year of his age. The title-page is unfortunately missing, but the printers are "M. Bryan and Co., Bristol," and I should suppose the pamphlet was published about 1820. The times and places at which the questions were propounded are usually given, and very frequently the names of the proposers (amongst whom are "the late Queen," the Duke of Kent, and several schoolmasters) ; the answers given by Bidder are appended, with the addition, in many instances, of the time the operation took him to perform. In short, the account has every appearance of being trustworthy. With your permission, I will give specimens, taken from each year in succession :-

1816 (10 years of age). What is the interest of £4,444 for 4,414 days, at 4i per cent, per annum ?—Answer, in 2 minutes, —£2,434 16s. 5+1.

1817 (10 years of age). How long would a cistern 1 mile cube be filling, if receiving from a river 120 gallons per minute without intermission ?—Answer, in 2 minutes,—years 14,300, days 285, hours 12, minutes 46.

1818 (11 years of age). Divide 468,392,413,563 by 9,076.— Answer, within 1 minute,-51,629,838.

There are 7 numbers in geometrical progression, the first is 6, and the seventh 705,894; what are all the intermediate terms ?— Answer, in 1 minute,-42 ; 294; 2,058; 14,406; 100,812.

1818 (12 years of age). If the pendulum of a clock vibrates the distance of 9:1- inches in a second of time, how many inches will it vibrate in 7 years, 14 days, 2 hours, 1 minute, 56 seconds, each year being 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 55 seconds ?— Answer, in less than a minute,-2,165,625,7441- inches.

1819 (13 years of age). What is the cube root of 897,339,273,974,002,153 ?—Answer, in 2} minutes,-964,537. To find a number whose cube less 19 multiplied by its cube shall be equal to the cube of 6.—Answer, instantly,-3.

No date is assigned to the following :—" The following ques- tion was put by Sir William Herschel, at Slough, near Windsor, to Master Bidder, and answered in one minute :—' Light travels from the sun to the earth in 8 minutes, and the sun being 98,000,000 of miles off, if light would take 6 years and 4 months

travelling at the same rate from the nearest fixed star, how far is that star from the earth, reckoning 365 days and 6 hours to each year, and 28 days to each month ?'—Answer, 40,6333740,000,000

miles."

To one of the questions, the following note is appended :—

"The proposer observed that the answer was not correct ; the boy said it was, and requested the proposer to work his sum over again. During the operation, George said he was certain he was right, for he had worked it in another way, and before the proposer found that he was wrong, and that the boy was right, the latter told the company that he had calculated it by a third mode !—W. Sam, Norwich."

I will give only one other example :—" A gentleman in London inquired of George how many bulls' tails would reach to the moon.

He immediately answered, 'One,—if it was long enough !' " In a recent article in the Spectator, it was implied that the powers of Bidder were undoubtedly surpassed by those of Zerah Colburn or Colborne. The following extract from the pamphlet goes to show that the contrary was the case :—

EXTRACT FROM A LONDON MORNING PAPER.—" A few days since, a meeting took place between the Devonshire youth, George Bidder, and the American youth-, Zerah Colborne, before a party of gentlemen, to ascertain their calculating comprehensions. The Devonshire boy having answered a variety of questions in a satisfactory way, a gentle- man proposed one to Zerah Colborne, viz.,—If the globe is 24,912 miles in circumference, and a balloon travels 3,878 feet in a minute, how long would it be in travelling round the world ? After nine minutes' consideration, he felt himself incompetent to give the answer. The same question being given to the Devonshire boy, the answer he returned in two minutes, viz.,-23 days, 13 hours, 18 min., was received with marks of great applause. Many other questions were proposed to the American boy, all of which he refused answering, while young Bidder readily replied to all. A handsome subscription was collected for the Devonshire youth."

If I am not trespassing unduly on your space, I should like to conclude with one other amusing extract :—

Buntompru.—Addressed to the wonderful phenomenon of England,

on witnessing his astonishing, accurate, and almost instantaneous mental calculation :— Aethalides' great powers you boast, And were the Muse of Numbers lost, I'd vow where Jove had bid her ; Were such numeric talents sold, Had I a mine of paltry gold,

I would become a Bidder.'

February 13th, 1816. J. T. B.

—I am, Sir, &c.,