tained only the flexibility of thofe of a perfon newly dead. This went off; fhe recovered her appetite and her fpeech, but the head-ach continued; and foon after fhe fell into a delirium, accompanied with convulfions, ftartlings, and a trembling of the arms and legs, and fometimes fhe could not be kept in bed. To remove this, fhe was bled in the foot, and blifters were applied to her legs. This threw her into a total languor, and fhe loft the ufe of all her limbs, and the power of eating and speaking, retaining only her hearing, feeing, and feeling, and a little refpiration. Except in the delirium mentioned above, which did not continue long, fhe ftill preferved the ufe of her reason, which the employed to intimate, by inarticulate founds, what fhe liked or difliked. The e founds were at firft only two: fhe multiplied them afterwards, and began to add to them a little motion of her hands, which increafed as the founds became more varied: ftill fhe took nothing but water, and that in a very fmall quantity: hence her belly fhrunk fo much, that one imagined they could feel the vertebræ through it, and could diftinguish none of the inteftines. All that part, and the lower extremi ties, which had loft all feeling, feemed to be feized with a partial palfy. As to the reft, the body ftill kept its colour, her eye was brifk, her lips of a good red, and her complexion very fresh; her pulfe was regular, and even ftrong. She still continued the fame regimen, except that fhe swallowed the water with much more ease, and in greater quantity. A phyfician of Beaune, who saw her in this coundition, could not believe her fole nourishment was water, till a lady, at his defire, took her into her houfe, and kept her long enough to fatisfy him of it: he then thought to deceive her, by giving her, inftead of water, veal broth highly clarified. He indeed deceived her fenfes, but not her stomach, which immediately threw up the broth with naufeas and violent convulfions, which were followed by a fever. On her leaving this lady's houfe, her father carried her with him on a pilgrimage. On her return, fhe was fo diftreffed with thirft, that she made a violent effort, and her speech returned, to ask for water: from this time the retained the use of her speech, which became more and more familiar to her. She alfo increased the quantity of her drink, which fhe difcharged plentifully by urine. It will be eafily imagined, from the regimen fhe had fo long observed, that he had no discharge by stool. She now recovered the use of her arms fo far as to be able to spin, to drefs herself, and to make use of two short crutches, by the help of which the dragged herself on her knees, not being able yet to use her legs; by this means the could go to the jar which contained all her provifions, and even to the houses of fome neighbours; fhe was in this condition when M. Lardillon faw her on the 9th of December, 1754, above three years after the beginning of her diforder. He obferved that the began at that time to raise her right knee; that neither the flesh of her thigh, nor that of her leg, on that fide, was fallen away, : away, nor those of her arms and An account of a periodical Dumbness: Curious. T HE fon of an inn-keeper at Jefing, in the duchy of Wirtemberg, of a choleric conflitution, and about 25 years of age, was taken fo ill after fupper on St. Stephen's day, now upwards of 15 year ago, that he could neither ftand nor fit. He was also so fick at heart, that, had he not been relieved by copious vomiting, he was often apprehenfive of being fuffocated. About an hour after, he was better; but, during three whole months, he became much dejected and melancholy, and fometimes as if feized with fear. After the expiration of this term, he was fuddenly ftruck dumb, without being able to pronounce the leaft word, or form the leaft found, though he could fpeak very articulately before. At first, the lofs of his fpeech and voice was instantaneous, but began to continue longer every day; fo that, from the duration of fome minutes, it amounted to half an hour, two hours, three hours, and laftly, to twenty-three hours, yét without order. Such was his condition upwards of half a year. At laft, the return of his fpeech kept fo conftant and regular an order, that now, for 14 years together, he cannot fpeak but from noon, during the space of an intire hour, to the precife moment of one o'clock. Every time he lofes his fpeech, he feels fomething rife from his stomach to his throat. He cannot be deceived by the tranfpofition of hours, because he obferves always and very exactly the term, from twelve to one, though no bell rings nor clock ftrikes. Excepting this lofs of speech, he makes no complaint of the diforder of any animal function. Both his internak and external fenfes are found: he hears always very exactly, and anfwers by geftures or writing to the queftions propofed to him. He eats and drinks heartily, and is very handy and active in doing the bu finefs of the family. At his time of speaking, his difcourfe is discreet and fenfible, for a perfon of his education; and, if defired to read, which he fometimes does of himfelf, he is fure to ftop fhort always in filence the moment that one o'clock in the afternoon locks up the powers of his tongue. There cannot be a more extraor dinary cafe than this, nor one fo much deferving of the attention of the curious. How to account for it, must be extremely difficult. Per haps haps fomething he eat at fupper, when he was first taken ill, has ever fince remained undigested in his ftomach or inteftines; and as he ufed to feel fomething rifing from thence towards his throat, it probably caused the extinction of his voice, which he did not recover till it again fubfided. An account of a French lady, blind from her infancy, who can read, write, and play at cards, &c. A Young gentlewoman of a good family in France*, now in her 18th year, lost her fight when only two years old, her mother having been advised to lay fome pigeons blood on her eyes, to preferve them in the fmall-pox; whereas, fo far from answering the end, it eat into them: nature, however, may be faid to have compenfated for the unhappy mistake, by beauty of perfon, fweetness of temper, vivacity of genius, quickness of conception, and many talents which certainly much alleviate her misfortune. She plays at cards with the fame readiness as others of the party; fhe first prepares the packs allotted to her, by pricking them in feveral parts, yet fo imperceptibly that the closest inspection can scarce difcern her indexes. She forts the fuits, and arranges the cards in their proper fequence, with the fame precifion, and nearly the fame facility, as they who have their fight. All the requires of those who play with her, is to name every card as it is played; and thefe fhe retains fa exactly, that the frequently performs fome notable ftrokes, fuch as fhew a great combination and strong memory t a The most wonderful circumstance is, that she should have learnt to read and write; but even this is readily believed on knowing her method. In writing to her, no ink is used, but the letters are pricked down on the paper; and by the delicacy of her touch, feeling each letter, the follows them fucceffively, and reads every word with her fingers ends. She herself in writing makes ufe of pencil, as she could not know when her pen was dry; her guide on the paper is a fmall thin ruler, and of the breadth of her writing. On finishing a letter, the wets it, fo as to fix the traces of her pencil, that they are not obfcured or effaced : then proceeds to fold and feal it, and write the direction; all by her own addrefs, and without the affiftance of any other perfon. Her writing is very strait, well cut, and the spelling no lefs correct. To reach this fingular mechanifm, the indefatigable cares of her affectionate mother were long employed, who accuftom.. ed her daughter to feel letters cut in cards or pafteboard, brought her to diftinguish an A from a B, and thus the whole alphabet, and afterwards to fpell words; then by the remembrance of the fhape of the letters to delineate them on paper, and lastly, to arrange them fo as to form words and fentences. She has learnt to play on the guittar, and has even contrived a way of pricking down the tunes as an affiftance to her memory. So delicate are her organs, that in finging a * Madamoiselle de Salignac, born at Xaintonge. In this refpect the is equalled, if not excelled, by Mr. Stanley, organift of St. Andrew's, who, though blind almost from his his birth, plays at whift as well as moft men. tune, tune, tho' new to her, she is able to name the notes. In figured dances fhe acquits herfelf extremely well, and in a minuet with inimitable ease and gracefulnefs. As for the works of her fex, she has a masterly hand, she fews and hems perfectly well; and in all her works the threads the needles for herself, however small. By the watch, her touch never fails telling her exactly the hour and minute *. As a fupplement to this letter we fhall give a poftfcript of the late bishop (then Dr.) Burnet to the fecond letter of his travels. : "In the account that I give you of Geneva, I forgot to mention a very extraordinary perfon that is there, Mrs. Walkier; her father is of Staff-house, fhe loft her fight when she was but a year old, by being too near a ftove that was very hot there refts in the upper part of her eye fo much fight, that the diftinguishes day from night: and when any perfon ftands between her and the light, he will diftinguish by the head and its dress a man from a woman, but when she turns down her eyes the fees nothing: fhe hath a vast memory befide the French, that is her natural language, fhe fpeaks both High - Dutch, Italian and Latin, he hath alfo the pfalms by heart in French, and many of them in Dutch and Italian: the underftands the old philofophy well, and is now ftudying the new: fhe hath ftudied the body of divinity well, and hath the text of the fcriptures very ready : on all which matters I had long converfations with her. She not only fings well, but the plays rarely on the organ; and I was told the played on the violin, but her violin was out of order. But that which is most of all, is, fhe writes legibly: in order to her learning to write, her father, who is a worthy man, and hath such tendernefs for her, that he furnisheth her with masters of all forts, ordered letters to be carved in wood, and she by feeling the characters formed fuch an idea of them, that the writes with a crayon fo diftinctly, that her writings can be well read, of which I have feveral effays. I faw her write, the doth it more nimbly than can be imagined; fhe hath a machine that holds the paper, and keeps her always in line. But that which is above all the reft, fhe is a perfon of extraordinary devotion, great refignation to the will of God, and a profound humility. The pre The reader may obferve from this account, that the French lady has nothing to boast of in which the is not excelled by the gentleman already mentioned, except reading and writing. The works peculiar to her fex are gained mechanically; but the diftinguishing colours, telling the precise time by a watch, naming the notes in mufic, and many other things depending upon the ear and touch, are fo familiar to Mr. Stanley, that his friends ceafe to think them extraordinary in him: his naming the number of perfons in a room on entering it; his direct ing his voice to each perfon in particular, even to strangers when they have once fpoken; his miffing any person abfent, his telling who that perfon is; his conceptions of youth, beauty, fymmetry, and fhape, are fuch wonderful attainments as are, perhaps, all peculiar to himself; with which nothing that is reported of the French lady can be brought in competition. VOL. V. F ceptor ceptor that the father kept in the houfe with her, hath likewife a wonderful faculty of acquiring tongues. When he came firft to Geneva (for he is of Zurich) he spoke not a word of French, and within thirteen months he preached in French correctly, and with a good accent: he alfo began to ftudy Italian in the month of November, and before the end of the following February he preached in Italian; his accent was very extraordinary, for the Italian language is not spoken in Geneva, tho' the race of the Italians do keep up ftill an Italian church there." ed and grew hard; his tongue feemed to be ftiff and rolled up towards the roof of his mouth; fo that he seemed always dumb; had he not vouchfafed to speak a few words once a fortnight or three weeks. This impoftor proceeded fo far, as to accufe a poor honeft, indu. ftrious old woman, named Joan Cock, of witchcraft, and of bewitching him in particular. And by his artful behaviour, when the was brought ever fo fecretly into the room where he was, raised a ftrong prefumption of the truth of his accufation; for which crime of witchcraft the poor woman was appre An account of the impofture of the hended, and obliged to take her boy of Bilfon. THE boy of Bilfon, who was only thirteen years old, by inftruction, could fo conduct himself before the public, that the fpectators were induced, by the exraordinary fits, agitations, and the furprifing diftempers wherewith he feemed to be affected, to believe him to be poffeffed of a devil, and bewitched. In his fits, he seemed to be both deaf and blind, writhing his mouth, continually groaning and panting, and although often pinched with men's fingers, pricked with needles, tickled on his fides, whipped feverely with rods, and treated with other corrections, he was never known to difcover the leaft fenfe of what was done unto him. When he was thought to be out of his fits, he digefted nothing given him for nourishment, but would often furprise the company with voiding and cafting rags, thread, ftraw, crooked pins, needles, &c. out of his mouth. By fuch means his belly grew almoft as flat as his back; his throat fwell tryal at Stafford affizes in 1620, to the manifeft danger of her life, but acquitted by the jury. The judges then committed the care of the boy to the bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, then prefent in court, who carried him to his palace at Ecclefhall; and there hav-. ing firft taken the advice of wellapproved phyficians, concerning the ftate of his body, his lordship did intend to proceed with him by feverities; but being informed, in the mean time, that the boy always fell into agitations and violent fits, upon hearing these words of St. John's gofpel, In the beginning was the Word, &c. he refolved to begin with this experiment: "Boy, faid the bishop, it is either thou thy felf, or the devil, that abhorrest those words of the gofpel; and if it be the devil, there's no doubt of his understanding all languages; fo that he cannot but know, and fhew his abhorrence, when I recite the fame fentence in the gofpel out of the Greek text: But if it be thyself, then thou art an execrable wretch, who playeft the devil's |