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An odd accident happened to two blind men who lived in the same neighbourhood: they met accidentally in the street, and one ran against the other, who was of a very irritable temper, with such violence as to knock off his hat His passion rose at this cruel insult, as he thought it proceeded from some person who had done it by design. He stamped and threatened, used ill words, clenched his fists, and asked how any one could serve a blind man so. The other, who was more composed, as soon as he could gain attention, cried out, "Patience man, I am as blind as yourself."

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On the authority of the writer already quoted, I venture to relate some wonderful instances of the adroitness of persons born defective in their limbs, which I shall give in his own words, as I do not choose to vouch for their authenticity.

Several instances of such births have occurred, and the wonderful acquirements of persons thus maimed by nature, have often been the subject of public astonishment, and proved a source of gain to themselves or their relations.

"Giraldus Cambriensis speaks of a young woman born without arms, whom he saw at Chester, in the

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reign of Henry the Second. He mentions her working very dexterously with her needle.

"Stowe gives an account of a Dutchman born without arms, who, in 1581, exhibited surprising feats of activity in London; such as flourishing with a rapier, shooting an arrow near a mark, &c.

"Bulwer, in his Artificial Changling, speaks of John Simons, a native of Berkshire, born without arms or hands, who could write with his mouth; thread a needle; tie a knot; shuffle, cut, and deal a pack of cards, &c. He was shown in public in 1653.

"I have a handbill of John Sear, a Spaniard, born without arms, shown in London in king William's reign, who professes that he can comb and shave himself, fill a glass, thread a needle, embroider, write six sorts of hands, and play on several instruments of music.

"Matthew Buchinger, a German, born without arms or legs, who was in England the beginning of this century, wrote a good hand (many specimens of which are extant) and performed several wonderful feats. He died in 1722, aged 48.

"Thomas Pinnington, a native of Liverpool, born without legs or arms, performed much the same feats as Sear, in 1744, and several years ensuing; since which, a Miss Hawtin, from Coventry, born without arms, and others whose names have not been mentioned, have exhibited themselves at Bartholomew Fair and other places.

"Thomas Inglefield, born without arms or legs, at Hook, in Hampshire (anno 1769) died a few years ago

in London. He was not publicly shown, but got his bread by writing and drawing. There are two portraits of him, one of which was etched by himself.

"There is now living a farmer, at Ditcheat in Somersetshire, born without arms, William Kingston, of whom frequent mention has been made in the public papers. He surpasses, according to accounts which seem very well attested, all that have been yet spoken of. He transacts all the business of his farm, can milk his cows, make his hay, catch his horse, bridle and saddle it, dress and undress himself, comb and shave, write out his bills, &c. It is said, too, that he is a good boxer, and has been victorious in a pitched battle."

These accounts are most wonderful, and would have been more satisfactory, if the persons who relate such extraordinary facts had taken the pains to describe the manner in which those things that seem impracticable were performed. I should like to know by what means a man without arms can comb his head, or catch a horse; not that I mean to deny the probability of it, as I am fully aware, that the resources of such persons are` beyond what any one professing the full use of their limbs can suppose. "Necessity is the mother of invention," a proverb never more fully exemplified than in the cases above mentioned.

Habit early acquired and long practised, may render the toes almost as useful as the fingers: the lips also are endued with acute feeling and great flexibility, and may become powerful assistants where the hands are wanting. One lesson, at least, may be taught by this

maimed tribe: That few things are so difficult, that they cannot be acquired by perseverance and application.

FIRE.

As I was one evening sitting alone, in a thoughtful mood, I amused myself in fancying resemblances in the changes of a clear coal fire, that burned with great brightness. In the hollow of one part I saw a volcano, issuing out flames and smoke; in another, an old man leaning on a staff. Here were huge rocks and fantastic precipices, overhanging a vast cavern, fitted for the reception of a banditti; and there a warrior with a helmet on his head. Imagination was on the wing: one shape succeeded another, in which my mind's eye perceived a likeness to some known object; till at length fancy yielded to reason, and I began to turn my attention to the nature and qualities of fire, a subject that excited my curiosity the more I considered it. I had recourse to my library for information; and having collected many particulars, I shall communicate them to my readers, to whom it is probable they will be as new as they were to

me.

The ancients had very inaccurate ideas of this element: they viewed it with a reverential awe, and attributed to it the principle of life and animation. In some

of the nations of antiquity it was reverenced as the Supreme Deity; and was worshipped by the Egyptians and the Greeks under the name of Vulcan, who, by some, is supposed to have been the same person as the Tubal Cain of the Hebrews, who probably first applied it to the fusion of metals, and other chemical purposes. Nor is it very surprising, that in the days of religious ignorance, when every valuable object was converted into a divinity, that a principle so active and powerful should obtain this distinction. The source of light and warmth, diffusing its genial influence all over the earth, producing a change of seasons and climates, according to the proportions in which it is diffused, was too striking to escape notice, especially when united with the visible effects of fire applied to combustible substances. This subtile, invisible agent has the power of expanding bodies, and rendering them hot to the touch. It melts many solids into fluids, and changes fluids into steam or vapour. We know that it exists, because we see its effects; but whether it is a distinct substance, subsisting by itself, or caused by the motion of the particles of other bodies, is a question that has long exercised the ingenuity of the greatest philosophers. Bacon, Boyle, and Newton, adopted the latter opinion; whilst Boerhaave, who gave particular attention to the subject, maintained the contrary doctrine, and drew his inference from the equality of the heat produced by striking steel and flint against each other, whether in Nova Zembla, or under the equator. He supposes, with several philosophers of later date, that fire exists

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