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Show AN ACHROMATIC BOY. Among the wonders of California is a recently discovered small boy, with unique and marvelous eyes. He is now nine years of ago, and until within the lant few months bin parents have believed him to bo totally blind. This belief, being based upon the boy's utter inability to soo anything, was not pcrhapB altogether irrational. When kindly - disposed playmates present a slraugo cat, a tomato can, and a piece of string to a healthy and active small boy onlj to find that he cannot perforin the simple feat of putting them accurately tugnthor, it ia safe to decide- that there is eomc-thiug eomc-thiug physically as well as morally wrong about him. And when the same small boy can be left for hours in the immediate presence of accetwi-ble accetwi-ble jam without showing tho faintest desire to wallow in it, tho conclusion that he must bo blind is irresistible. Tho Californian boy of whom inen-1 inen-1 lion has just been mado exhibited for moro than eight years tho 1nn.1i unvarying inability to i-eu any object whatever, and it is not sliange that bo obtained tho reputation of unmitigated unmiti-gated blinJnefa. On Dec. 12 last this remarkable boy accidentally awoko in the night, and loudly remarked that ho saw the moon. Not only did he porceivo tho existence of that respectable satellite, but ho saw it as from a distance of two hundred yards, and could thus accurately describe its contents. He saw hills and valleys and trees anil telegraph poles, ami. in fact, all the natural beauties which constitute an alluring landscape. Moreover, he saw inhabitants of a now and extraordinary extraor-dinary pattern. According to this veracious small boy, tho Lunarians run chiefly to legs. They aro constructed con-structed 011 tho model of a cart-whool without a rim, and rcvolvo with enormous enor-mous rapidity on tho extremities of their radiating legs, which rcsemblo in number and disposition the spokes of na ordinary and earthly wheol. These Bpokes, however, aro oviduntly not developed uutil tho Luuarian' emerges from the period of infancy, inasmuch as the Lunar babies reseiii- : ble pumpkins, and display no vestige . of even rudimentary legs." It appears th:it there is a college of . sciences in California, consisting of a number of learned men, described by the local press as mathematical and geological sharps. As soon as the wonderful astronomical discoveries made by the suppored blind boy were brought to the attention of these scientific gentlemen, thev at once dropped the slates on which they were calculating, iu accordance with a rcqueit of the legislature, the probabilities proba-bilities in favor of four aces being dealt to any one man in a party of six, and promptly undertook to investigate inves-tigate the small boy's visual powers. In due time they reported that the boy's lunar observations were unquestionably unques-tionably accurate, and they explained his vast superiority to any telescope hitherto constructed by deciding that his focsl distance was of an abnormal character. In the opinion ol theso ingenious and accomplished scientific persons, the boy possesses achromatic eyes constructed expressly in order to observe objects at a distance of 2-10,000 miles, and the inability ot such eyes to preceive objects close at hand is natural and inevitable. The! best modern telescope brings the moon within an apparent distance of thirtv milps hut. if t.ha mom really only thirty miles distant, the telescope could not show it. It ia no wonder that a bay afflicted or rather gifted with a focal distance greater than that of the telescope should have been blind to the presence of cats and jam. Had he been shown ft cat at the distance of240,000 miles, there is no doubt that he would instantly have called for strings and tomato cans, and displayed the liveliest interest in the apparent duty of the hour. The discovery of this unparalleled boy marks a new era in the science of astronomy. Of course, his peculiarities peculiari-ties will at once be made to serve the Interests of science. He will be equatorially mounted in the California observatory in place of the now obsolete ob-solete telescope, and will give him a constant sidereal motion. From twilight twi-light to dawn he will be constantly kept at work discovering asteroids and comets, and taking photographs of distinguished Lunar citizens. The utmost care will be taken to keep him in perfect order, and visitors will be strictly forbidden to touch him or to breathe upon his eyea. Only the best of oil and the softest of chamois leather will be used in polishing him, and only tho most experienced astronomers as-tronomers will be allowed to wind up his clock-work or to move him on his axis. Such a boy, if once broken or scratched, cannot be replaced or repaired, re-paired, and no mechanician wilt think it possible to con -ive an artificial boy of anything like his power. Let us hope that this last and best gift of California lo mankind will be placed at the disposal of the most eminent astronomers of the age, and that they will employ every available monent in gazing through him at the wonders of the starry heavens. Had Herschel only possessed a purely achromatic boy, with a focal distance of ninety feet, he would have left nothing for future astronomers to discover; and if Prof, Peters will now undertake to keep his eye constantly applied to the California boy, he will in a few months' time capture every asteroid and comet now at liberty, and become as familiar with topography of the sun, the moon, and the planet as he ia with the interior of his present oheervatory. New York Times. |