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THE

Scots Magazine,

AND

EDINBURGH LITERARY MISCELLANY,

For DECEMBER 1813.

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Description of BLACKNESS CASTLE. BLACKNESS CASTLE is situated on a projecting point on the southern coast of the Firth of Forth, in the parish of Carriden, and county of Linlithgow. It is a fortress of great antiquity, the first erection of which is involved in obscarity. The town and port of Blackness were anciently of great distinction, and formed the principal emporium of this part of Scotland. "There were,' says Sir Robert Sibbald, "many rich men masters of ships lying there; and the cities of Glasgow, Stirling, and Linlithgow, had a great trade from thence with Holland, Bremen, Hamburgh, Queensburgh, and Dantzick, and furnished all the West country with goods they imported from these places, and were loaded outwards with the product of our own country*. The attack of the port of Blackness was a principal object with the English in their expeditions into the Firth of Forth. In 1481, under the reign of James III. they burnt the town with a store ship which was lying in the harbour +.

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The Nobles, irritated by the igno. ble conduct of James, took up arms.

In the course of military operations, they met his troops near Blackness, and a skirmish ensued, which terminating to the disadvantage of the king, he concluded with them the however, did not produce any lasting pacification of Blackness which, harmony.

Somerset into Scotland under the During the victorious expedition of reign of Edward III. of England, attack. The result is stated by PatBlackness was one of the objects of ten, in his narrative of this expedi

tion.

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had laied ye Mary Willoughby, and the Antony of Newcastel, ii tall ships, whiche with extreme injury they had stollen from us before tyme, whé no war between us; with these ley thear also an oother large vessel called (by them) the Bosse and a vii mo, whear of part laden with merchandize. My Lord Clynton, and his copenie, w right hardy approche, after a great conflicte betwixt the castel and our vessels, by fyne force, wan from them those i ships of name, and burnt all ye residue befere their faces as they ley

Under the reign of Charles II., Blackness was one of the king's castles, and the Earl of Livingston was hereditary Constable +.

In the course of the sixteenth century Borrowstonness, being nearer to Linlithgow, and possessing some other advantages of situation, rose to a rivalship with Blackness. In 1680, it succeeded, notwithstanding the opposition of the latter place, in being declared a port for entry. Blackness then sunk gradually into total insignificance, and scarcely any vestiges of the town now remain. The castle however is still kept up, in conformity to an article in the treaty of Union. It is garrisoned by a governor, Lieutenant Governor, 2 gunners, 1 serjeant, 2 corporals, and 14 or 15 pri

vates.

for the exercise of this beneficence, than that of the youth whose wors derful powers we are now to notice. At the age of nine, he is able to perform, by the mere operation of the mind, questions the solution of which, with every assistance, would puzzle experienced arithmeticians,

Many persons, of the first eminence for their knowledge in mathematics, and well known for their philosophical inquiries, have visited his, and they have all been struck with astonishment at his extraordinary powers. He will not only determine, with the greatest facility and dispatch, the exact number of minutes, or seconds, in any given period of time; but will also solve any other question of a similar kind. He will tell the exact product arising from the multiplication of any number, consisting of two, three, or four figures, by any other number consisting of the like number. of figures. On any number, consisting of six or seven places of figures, being proposed, he will determine, with equal expedition and ease, all the factors of which it is composed. This singular faculty consequently extends not only to the raising of powers, but also the extraction of the square and cube ronts of the number proposed; and likewise to the means of determining whether it be a prime number (or a number incapable of division by any other number;) for which case there does not exist, at present, any general rule amongs

Account of ZERAN COLBUBN, the mathematicians. All these, and a vawonderful Arithmetician.

To protect and cherish the promises of early genius, and prepare it for future usefulness, has always been considered to be the duty of an enlightened and generous public. Few better opportunities can be presented

riety of other questions connected therewith, are answered by this child with such promptness and accuracy (and in the midst of his juvenile pursuits) as to astonish every person whe has visited him.

At a meeting of his friends, which was held for the purpose of concerting the best method of promoting the • Dalziel's Fragments of Scottish history, cation, this child undertook, and comviews of the father respecting his edupletely succeeded in raising the num

P. 80.

+Caledonia, III. 859.

ber

ber 8 progressively up to the sixteenth power!!! and in naming the last result, viz. 281,474,976,710,656, he was right in every figure.

He was

then tried as to other numbers, consisting of one figure, all of which he raised (by actual multiplication and not by memory) as high as the tenth power, with so much facility and dispatch, that the person appointed to take down the results was obliged to enjoin him not to be so rapid! With respect to numbers, consisting of two figures, he would raise some of them to the sixth, seventh, and eighth power, but not always with equal facility for the larger the products became, the more difficult he found it to proceed. He was asked the square root of 106929, and before the number could be written down he immediately answered 327. He was then required to name the cube root of 268,336,125, and with equal facility and prompt ness he replied 645. Various other questions of a similar nature, respect ing the roots and powers of very high numbers, were proposed by several of the gentlemen present, to all of which he answered in a similar manner. One of the party requested him to name the factors which produced the number 247483, which he did by mentioning the two numbers 941 and 263; which indeed are the only two numbers that will produce it. Another of them proposed 171395, and he named the following factors as the only ones that would produce it, viz. 5X34279, 7X24485, 59 × 2905, 83X2065, 35X4897, 295X581, and 413X415. He was then asked to give the factors of 36083; but he immediately replied that it had none; which in fact was the case, as 36083 is a prime number*. Other numbers

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It had been asserted and maintained by the French mathematicians, that 4,294,967, 297 (=232+1) was a prime number: but the celebrated Euler detected the error, by discovering that it was equal to 6,700,417

were indiscriminately proposed to him, and he always succeeded in giv ing the correct factors, except in the case of prime numbers, which he discovered almost as soon as proposed. One of the gentlemen asked him how many minutes there were in fortyeight years; and before the question could be written down, he replied 25,228,800; and instantly added, that the number of seconds in the same period was 1,513,728,000. Various questions of the like kind were put to him; and to all of them he answered with nearly equal facility and promptitude; so as to astonish every one present: and to excite a desire that so extraordinary a faculty should (if possible) be rendered more extensive and useful.

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It may naturally be expected that these wonderful talents, which are so conspicuous at this early age, will, by a suitable education, be considerbly improved and extended; and that some new light will eventually be thrown upon these subjects, for the elucidation of which, his mind appears to be peculiarly formed by nature, since he enters into the world with all those powers and faculties which are not even attainable by the most eminent at a more advanced pe riod of life. Every mathematician must be aware of the important advantages which have sometimes been derived from the most simple and trifling circumstances, the full effect of which has not always been evident at first sight. To mention one singular instance of this kind. The very simple improvement of expressing the powers and roots of quantities by means of indices, introduced a new and general arithmetic of exponents and this algorithm of powers led the way to the invention of logarithms, by

means

X641. The same number was proposed to this child, who found out the factors by the mere operation of his mind.

means of which, all arithmetical computations are so much facilitated and abridged. Perhaps this child possesses a knowledge of some more impor tant properties connected with this subject; and although he is incapable at present of giving any satisfactory account of the state of his mind, or of communicating to others the knowledge which it is so evident he does

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possess, yet there is every reason to Monthly Memoranda in Natural His

believe, that when his mind is more
cultivated, and his ideas more ex-
panded, he will be able not only to
divulge the mode by which he at
sent operates, but also point out some
new sources of information on this in-
teresting subject.

pre

With the view of forming a provision for educating this wonderful child, it is proposed to publish an "Account of his Life," in one volume Quarto, embellished with a por

trait.

The work will be printed on the best paper, in a style of superior ele gance it will contain a minute detail of the discovery and developement of his extraordinary powers ;the names of individuals who first witnessed the expansion of his infant faculties ;-an enumeration of several hundred intricate questions, and his extemporaneous answers;-tables of his method of extracting the cube and square roots, and determining the difference of those roots.

The price to Subscribers will be 6.1. 11s. 6d., and may be paid to either of the Committee.

The following most learned and highly respected gentlemen, who are well acquainted with the extraordinary abilities of this child, have under taken to serve him by receiving subscriptions.

IN EDINBURGII. Professor Lesslie. Dr T. Brown. Professor Playfair. Lord Meadowbank.

IN LONDON.

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Scottish Literary Notices.

A SECOND Volume of the Elements

Mind, by Dugald Stewart, Esq. of the Philosophy of the Human formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, will appear in a few days.

The new edition of Swift's Works, upon which Mr W. Scott has for several years been employed, will be pub. lished early in January next. It will contain a Life of the Author, Basil Montagu, Esq. Notes Critical and Illustrative, &c. A. Carlisle, Esq. &c., and will form Nineteen volumes

Sir J. Mackintosh.
Sir H. Davy.

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