Chapter THREE: Published Reports on Tested Children (2)

Her parents, however, have requested that we keep her in
our junior high school for a postgraduate year, because they
feel that the influence of this school is needed by J. M. We
shall, therefore, try to provide a special course for her next
fall. If we found out that it does not work out successfully, we
will enter her in the senior high school in February, 1925. If,
on the other hand, we find that we can give her the sort of
education that will be helpful to her in our junior high school
and that she responds rightly, we shall hold her here until
June, letting her enter the senior high school at the age of
twelve and one half years.

Interpreting and summarizing our experience with J. M.: Our
system of individual instruction has permitted her to make
full use of her intellectual ability. When we tried to depart
from it to prevent her progress from becoming too rapid, she
showed a lack of interest and in some parts of her school work
she did not work up to capacity, and even became to a slight
extent a discipline problem. Given, however, an incentive to
first-class work and the training in social behavior which we
are trying to give in our junior high school, J. M. developed
successfully and well. On the whole, our system has enabled
us to deal with her flexibly and as an individual. It has
prevented us from prolonging our mistakes. Probably no system,
or uniform plan, can be made to fit children of such exceptional
mental endowments. The most we can hope for is a flexibility
which will enable us to deal with such children as individuals,
feeling our way as we go along.

As for family background, J. M. originates from ancestors of very superior intelligence. Her parents were both tested by means of Army Alpha and both scored far above the generality of adults. Her father was educated as an electrical engineer but subsequently went into investment banking. J. M.'s paternal grandfather was an architect, trained in Manchester School of Science. He also attended the University of Edinburgh. The paternal great-grandfather was an architect and shipbuilder, expert in laying out factories, and he was descended from a line of builders. The paternal grandmother was an English woman, educated by her aunt, "who had advanced ideas on what a girl should study." The father of this grandmother was a dealer in building materials.

On the maternal side, J. M.'s grandfather was first a teacher, then a merchant, who became very wealthy, and a mayor of a Southern town for eighteen years. The line of his descent was through Southern planters. The maternal grandmother was the daughter of a college professor, who in turn was the son of a physician and surgeon, coming from a long line of physicians. The mother of the maternal grandmother was descended from wealthy farmers. It is of some interest that for three generations at least, J. M. and her immediate progenitors were born when the parents were thirty years or older, in some cases being more than sixty years old.

_The case of E. B._ This child was described in 1924, by Stedman (22), as having "the highest IQ yet reported." Exception was taken some years ago by the present writer to this description, on the ground that the test by which E. B. registered an IQ of 214 was not first given to the child. She had been tested previously by Stanford-Binet, at the age of 5 years 9 months, earning an IQ of 175. When tested in the Psychological Department of the Los Angeles city schools at the age of 8 years 11 months, E. B. made the record of a superior adult, earning an IQ of 214 (S-B). The record is thus ambiguous, and will be included here only because we cannot say how much allowance should be made for "test wisdom" on second test. However, subsequent history points to 175 IQ as the more probably correct status for this child, since when she was tested at the age of 21 years 1 month, by Lorge and Hollingworth (16), using CAVD, Levels M, N, O, P, and Q, and other tests of cultural and specifically scientific knowledge, the result placed her among individuals who in childhood had tested between 170 and 180 IQ (S-B).

E. B. was born on September 21, 1913. When 4 years 6 months old she was placed in a convent school on account of her mother's departure for France. She was not enrolled as a pupil but was allowed to sit with the high first grade when she wished, because her chum sat there. In four months, at the close of the school year, it was discovered that she could read any page in the reader which had been used as a text, and any page in the public school first reader, which she had never seen before. Accordingly, though not yet 5 years old, she was "promoted" to the second grade.

At the close of the next school year she was promoted to the
fourth grade, aged 5 years 9 months. Before E.B. was 6 years
old she had read practically every book listed by the public
library at Des Moines for children of the first six grades. At
the age of 9 years 4 months she was doing eighth-grade and
post-eighth grade work. Her favorite books at the age of 9
years include Barrie's _The Little Minister_, _Sentimental
Tommy_ and _Tommy and Grizel_; Hugo's _Les Misérables_;
Dickens's _Oliver Twist_, _Our Mutual Friend_, and _David
Copperfield_; Eliot's _Silas Marner_ and _Mill on the Floss_;
Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_; Hutchinson's _If Winter Comes_
and _This Freedom_. . . . Until she entered the opportunity
room, E. B. never had a child companion, and was unpopular with
children. She was friendly but shy, and was unable to comply
with the play standards of other children. In the opportunity
room she made better social adjustments. She is cheerful,
affectionate, and considerate to the point of self-denial.
She obeys implicitly, but is forgetful in the commission of
small duties, perhaps because engrossed with more interesting
matters. She thinks along economic and political lines, and
can hold her own even with many adults in conversing on these
subjects. . . . Health is excellent. She has had the usual
children's diseases, but has recuperated very quickly. . . .
E. B. is of French, English, and Scotch descent. The father
finished high school at 13, and was an A and B student at
the University, taking gold medals for original composition.
He is a writer and an editor. . . . The paternal grandfather
is a lawyer, teacher, and author. The paternal grandmother
has mathematical ability. E. B.'s mother entered school at
8 years, and completed high school at 15. She then entered
business college, and completed the course in less than three
months. She then entered college, working her way through with
consistently A records. She was editor of a national magazine
at 25, and at the time of investigation was an editorial writer
on _Screenland_. . . . The maternal grandfather's history is
unknown. It is thought that he was average; but the maternal
great-grandfather was probably superior. At 21 he could neither
read nor write, but just at this time a public school was
established near his home. He entered, and finished the
course for the entire eight grades in sixteen months. . . .
E. B.'s mother states that E. B. first spoke words with meaning
at 7 or 8 months of age, and that she walked at 10 months.
When she was 3 years old her parents discovered that she
knew the alphabet, which she seems to have learned by asking
questions about printed signs. She has had very little formal
instruction at home, for her mother has been active in newspaper
work most of the time, usually working at night.

E. B. entered college in a large city at 12 years 0 months of age. The girls in this college are very highly selected for intellect, and E. B. did not do outstanding work among them. She encountered many difficulties, but graduated at the age of 16 years 9 months with a creditable rating. At the age of 20 years she married, holding also at that age a very responsible post in charge of cash for the metropolitan branch of one of the largest manufacturing and distributing companies in the United States. It is her aim to become a writer.

_Verda_. In 1925 Terman (26) reported two children not elsewhere described, with IQ's above 180 (S-B), Verda and Madeline [below], both discovered during the census of the gifted taken in California.

The occupational level among Verda's male ancestors has been largely in the professions and in business. Her father is a successful life insurance salesman, and shows musical, mechanical, and literary ability. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction. Her mother is of French and English ancestry, a descendant in direct line from Governor Bradford, of colonial New England, and is related to many notables. Verda has no brothers or sisters.

The child's first words were articulated at 7 months, and she talked in sentences at 15 months. She hummed a tune at 17 months' could name all the primary colors at 22 months; could count to 13 at 25 months. Her first poem (said in rhyme and meter) was composed at the age of 2 years 9 months. This was recorded by her mother. She did not herself put on paper her literary compositions until the age of 5 years, when she learned to print. After this the stories she composed were no longer recorded by her mother. Soon after she was 4 years old she brought a book to her parents and read to them. Up to that time she had had no formal instruction in reading but she had been read to.

Verda did not enter school until she was 8 years 7 months old, beginning in the high fourth grade.

Her IQ was first determined at the age of 11 years 1 month by an incomplete test, made as a demonstration before by an incomplete test, made as a demonstration before a group of teachers in the limited time of fifty minutes, and was calculated at 175. When at age 11 years 7 months she was fully tested in a standard situation, she passed every test provided on Stanford-Binet, proving at an IQ ("corrected" [2]) of 186. Through four years of high school she received an "A" grade in every academic subject, with the exception of one semester of French and one of biology, in which the grade was "B." She was graduated from high school at age of 16 years 9 months.

According to her own testimony, Verda's usual amount of study during her senior year was only six hours a week outside of school hours. "She is fond of parties and dances, and is very active in student life, particulary through her literary contributions. She rates herself as rather disliking study. She would rather read, play the piano, compose music, stories, or plays, or spend time with her friends." (In 1926 she won a gold medal in a piano-playing contest.) She has shown a wide margin of energy and ability over and above what is necessary for a "straight A" record in high school.

There is much more in the description of this child that is interesting, but the case cannot here be quoted in full.

_Madeline_. At the age of 6 years 7 months Madeline yielded an IQ of 192 (S-B). She was then in the third grade, but her scores on Stanford Achievement Tests corresponded to fifth- and sixth-grade norms. At 7 years of age, her parents' chief concern in regard to her was to prevent her from reading too much.

At 7 months of age Madeline was able to distinguish all the pictures on the walls of her home when they were named to her. She could identify the pictures of six American poets when she was a little over a year old. She knew the common flowers by name before the age of 3. Her mother reported that "reading seemed to be born in her." She could count to 100 at 3 years, played parchesi at 4 years, and "carried the powers of 2 mentally to the 20th, as a Sunday afternoon pastime before the age of 6." At 7 years of age she was writing poetry with religious thought expressed.

Entering school in the first grade at the age of 4 years 11 months, Madeline was held in the ordinary course on account of her age and in order to improve in handwork, in which she seemed deficient. She was listless and bored at school, and developed habits of procrastination and time-wasting. In high school, however, she began to take an interest in the work offered, and at the time of report she was finishing the ninth grade with "A" ratings in all except an occasional course which she regarded as uninteresting or meaningless.

Often when she is sent out to the back yard at night to dispose
of kitchen refuse, she fails to return until her mother goes
in search of her. Her mother always finds her studying the
heavens. Madeline has recently developed a strong interest in
astronomy, has devoured several books on the subject, and is
planning to become an astronomer.

The health of this child has always been good. She has had the usual children's diseases, and contracts colds, but has never been seriously ill.

Madeline's ancestry is very superior. On the paternal side, the grandfather was of English-Irish descent; the grandmother, of Scottish-French descent. Teaching and preaching have been the usual occupations. On the maternal side, the grandfather was of German-Dutch descent; the grandmother, of English descent. The child's parents are both university graduates, and they have done graduate work. She has two younger sisters, of 167 and 162 IQ (S-B), respectively. The family is in very moderate financial circumstances, having taken responsibility in the care of relatives.

_Rosemarie_. In 1928, Schorn (20) reported upon a girl aged 4 years 6 months, who tested at 8 years Mental Age in the Psychologisches Institut at Würzberg. This report gives her an IQ of 184. She was brought to attention because she could read fluently at the age of 3 years 6 months, without having been schooled.

The case of this child illustrates some of the points of misunderstanding of such children by those who have not seen several like them. Because she could not perform motor tasks in advance of her years, it was concluded that she "was not generally bright."

_The case of K_. In 1934 Goldberg (11) described the case of K, a boy who achieved an IQ of 196 (S-B) when tested at the age of 6 years 7 months.

K was born June 25, 1927, in New York City, of Jewish parents, and is an only child. The parents state from memory that K started to walk at 14 months of age, and could talk rather fluently at the age of 1 year 6 months. Dentition began at 8 months of age. His health has been very good, and he has had no serious illnesses.

When K was 20 months old, he knew his alphabet and within a
short while after that he was able to recite it backwards.
At about the same time he had a set of blocks, which offered
him additional opportunity for developing a well-nigh astounding
feat. He could by looking at one of the figures on a given
block call off from memory the other five objects on the
remaining sides. This he was able to do for almost the entire
set. At about 2 years of age K knew his own name and address
and what is more significant the addresses and telephone numbers
of the entire family, numbering about a dozen.

By studying a calendar he learned to tell on what particular
day a certain date would fall. For example, if he were asked
on what day of the week July 16 would fall he would indicate
Thursday. . . .

K began to read at about 4 years of age. He was given no
formal training in the beginning mechanics of reading. The
only assistance he received was a suggestion that he "pronounce
words by syllables." At this time he was already reading simple
words easily.

K is of Jewish origin. Mr. K at the time of K's birth was
32 years of age, and Mrs. K was 35. Neither K's mother
nor his father has had the benefit of college training. They
are for the most part self-educated. Mr. K is a proprietor of
a small retail business.

At the age of 6 years 7 months K's height with shoes was 47.3 inches, and his weight was 52 pounds. He is well nourished, and his physical condition was found negative for all unfavorable indications. When asked for the year, in the test at year IX (S-B), K said, "It is 1934, but if you believe in the Jewish calendar, it is 5694."

_The case of B_. Witty and Jenkins (36) have reported the case of B, a gifted Negro girl, who was tested at the age of 9 years 4 months, earning an IQ of 200 (S-B), "corrected" score, and of 187, "uncorrected" score. [3] At the time of testing, B was in the low fifth grade at school, her mental age being 17 years 5 months at least ("uncorrected" score). She had received but one double promotion though others were offered by the school, because B's mother is afraid that the child will get too far from her age group.

B was discovered by asking a teacher to nominate the "most intelligent" and "best student" among children in her class. B was nominated as "best student," while a girl four years older, whose IQ turned out to be below 100, was nominated as "most intelligent." This circumstance is illustrative of the lack of insight which necessarily exists in relation to such children where teachers have no special instruction in regard to them. The report continues:

The following items were secured from B's baby book, and
from the mother's reports. B, an only child, was born November
18, 1924. The mother was then 27 years of age, and the father
31. B weighed 6 3/4 pounds at birth, 14 pounds at 3 months, and
17 1/2 pounds at 9 months. At 9 years and 5 months, B weighed
60 pounds and was 50 inches in height; this is normal for a
child of her height and age (Baldwin-Wood norms).

B walked a few steps at 8 months (under the excitement of
running after a dog), but walked no more till she was 12
months old. She employed short sentences when she was about 16
months of age. Her mother reports that B expressed her thought
in sentences, rather than in isolated words, almost from the
beginning of language development; she excited considerable
comment among friends by displaying an extensive vocabulary
and by using nursery rhymes at age 2.

B was taught to read by her mother at age 4, by the "picture-story"
method. (She knew the alphabet long before.) A few lessons only
were given her and thereafter B read and has continued to read
independently.

B has had no serious illnesses or accidents; her health history
appears normal and her physical condition at the present time
is excellent. Furthermore, she seems unusually well balanced
from the standpoint of mental hygiene. B exhibits regularity
in habits, sleeps soundly, seldom reports dreams, displays no
unusual fears, and adapts herself quickly and successfully to
the demands of her child-group.

B's parents appear distinctly above the average both in
intelligence and in academic training. The mother finished a
two-year normal course and taught for a number of years in
a metropolitan school system. The father is an electrical
engineer, a graduate of Case College of Applied Science; he has
pursued graduate studies at Cornell University, and has done
some college teaching. At present he is a practicing electrical
engineer. . . . Her maternal great-grandfather (who is still
active and robust at age 82) was private secretary to each of
four executives of a large railroad system. . . . Her paternal
grandfather was an inventor and manufacturer of polishes and
waxes. . . .

The mother reports B to be of pure Negro stock. There is
no record of any white ancestors on either the maternal or
paternal side.

B has not much ability or interest in music. Her favorite subject is science, and chemistry attracts her to the extent that she wishes to become a chemist.

_Child R_. In 1936, Zorbaugh and Boardman (38) described a boy, R, of IQ 204 (S-B). They mention also three other children of IQ above 180, tested at New York University's Clinic for the Social Adjustment of the Gifted, but R is the only one described.

R was brought to the Clinic when he was 8 years old, and
at that time he had on the Stanford-Binet an IQ of 204. His
father, an engineer, is a well-known writer in the scientific
field. His mother holds a doctor's degree in physical chemistry
from a foreign university. Neither the father nor the mother
has been tested, but they are both persons of very unusual
mental ability. R's two younger brothers are also of very
superior mentality. The family is of Jewish origin and both
the father and the mother were born in a foreign country.

R, their first child, was born when the mother was thirty
and the father was thirty-five. His early development was
exceedingly precocious. His first tooth erupted at five months
of age; he began to walk at nine months and was running at
eleven months; he was talking in sentences at eleven months;
he learned to read at four years of age, and was reading
omnivorously before he entered school. When he entered school
he had an unusual vocabulary, using such words as "casuistry"
and "disproportionate." At the age of 2 he was modeling in
clay, and at the age of 3 he began to design and make machines.
He applied through his father to the United States Patent Office
for two patents before he was 8 years old. At 8 years of age
he had a large library in his home composed mostly of books
of science, history, and biography, which he had catalogued
himself, on the Dewey decimal system. At this age he was writing
a book on electricity. Also at the age of 8 he had a small
machine shop in which he was working on his machines. At the age
of 6 he enjoyed discussing philosophy. At the age of 7 he would
debate on the significance of religion in world development.

The day he first came to the Clinic, Claudel's experiments
on developing power by raising the colder water from the lower
levels of the sea had just been reported in the scientific
section of the _New York Times_. R explained the theory involved
much more clearly than had the scientific writer of the _Times_.

R is well developed physically, above average in height, and
considerably above average in weight, likes the outdoors,
especially hiking and riding horseback. At the age of 9 he showed
the first symptoms of the approach of puberty. R is well adjusted
to his school and his playmates, plays on their soccer and
baseball teams, is well liked, and is a leader in many of their
activities.

_Other cases_. In addition to these children who have been somewhat fully described, a few others testing above 180 IQ (S-B) have been mentioned in the literature of gifted children or their records have appeared in tabulations. In 1923 Dvorak told of a boy of IQ 183 (S-B) who was examined at the University of Minnesota. This boy was conspicuously maladjusted at school. He "hated school," and did poor work there. He was 8 years 7 months old at the time of examination, and passed the tests at a mental level of 15 years 9 months. The educational authorities were unsympathetic and resistant to advice, but finally placed the child in the fifth grade, where both work and conduct improved greatly. This observer also mentions a boy of 189 IQ (S-B) who was tested at the same University.

Cyril Burt, writing of mental tests in the schools of London, cites an English boy of 190 IQ, but does not give a description of him. The value of these mere mentions is slight because there is no elaboration and no subsequent history of the cases which would be useful for purposes of generalizations.

GENERALIZATIONS

The preceding [cases] describe in some detail 19 cases rating 180 IQ or better, if those be included (3 cases) that were reported before the Stanford Revision came into use. Although the reports are lacking in uniformity and vary in emphasis, it is possible to glean from them a few generalizations concerning origin and development among the gifted.

Origin is extremely varied as regards racial stock. In describing the 14 American children, German descent is mentioned 3 times, French 3, Scottish 5, English 5, Swedish 1, Scotch-Irish 1, Dutch 1, Jewish 1, Negro 1. There is one German child.

The occupational status of the fathers all fall in Class 1 or Class 2 of Taussig's rating--professional, clerical, or business proprietors. Social-economic status wherever mentioned is said to be moderate. None is stated to be very wealthy or very poor.

Age of parents at birth of the exceptional child covers a wide range.

Development is decidedly ahead of schedule for the group in all respects. Reported age of walking (7 cases stated) ranges from 7 months to 14 months. Talking in sentences, in the 10 cases in which it is given, ranges from 8 months to 19 months. In 13 cases the age of reading is assigned, this being always 3.5 or 4 years.

General health is, whenever mentioned, always reported as good, and except for the twins, born prematurely, physique is superior.

In the array of 19 cases there are 12 girls and 7 boys, whereas of the 12 cases to be [later] reported [in] this study only 4 are girls. In the grand total there are 16 girls and 15 boys.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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3. BINET, A., et SIMON, TH. "New Methods for the Diagnosis of the Intellectual Level of Subnormals." _L'Année Psychologique, 1905_, pages 191-244.

4. ------ "The Development of Intelligence in the Child."_L'Année Psychologique, 1908_, pages 1-90.

5. BUSH, A. D. "Binet-Simon Tests of a Thirty-nine-Months-Old Child." _Psychological Clinic_, 1914.

6. COX, C. M. _The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses_. Genetic Studies of Genius: Vol. 2. Stanford University Press, Stanford University, California; 1926.

7. DOLBEAR, K. E. "Precocious Children." _Pedagogical Seminary_, Vol. 19, pages 461-491 (1912).

8. DUFF, F., and THOMSON, GODFREY H. "The Social and Geographical Distribution of Intelligence in Northumberland." _British Journal of Psychology_ (1923).

9. GALTON, FRANCIS. _Hereditary Genius_. The Macmillan Company, London; 1892. (First Ed., 1869.)

10. GESELL, ARNOLD. "Mental and Physical Correspondence in Twins." _Scientific Monthly_ (1922).

11. GOLDBERG, SAMUEL. "A Clinical Study of K, 196 IQ." _Journal of Applied Psychology_, Vol. 18, pages 550-560 (1934).

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13. HIRT, ZOE I. "A Gifted Child." _Training School Bulletin_, Vol. 19, pages 49-54 (1922).

14. I. E. R. Intelligence Scale CAVD, Levels A to Q. Printed in 5 parts. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York; 1925.

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16. LORGE, I., and HOLLINGWORTH, L. S. "The Adult Status of Highly Intelligent Children." _Journal of Genetic Psychology_, Vol. 49, pages 215-226 (1936).

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18. ROOT, W. T. _A Socio-Psychological Study of Fifty-three Supernormal Children_. Psychological Monographs, 1921, 29, No. 133, pages 134 ff.

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[1] It is not absolutely clear from Terman's text whether the 15 children above 180 IQ (S-B) are to be thought of as representing the 643 children statistically treated in _Genetic Studies of Genius:_ Vol. I, or whether they rest upon the "nearly one thousand" as a base, who were located. [[In a personal communication Professor Terman writes that it was 15 out of 643.]]

[2] Correction is attempted according to a formula for records exceeding the top of S-B, but this formula has never been actually validated.

[3] See previous footnote.

[a] "On December 3rd, 1721, someone first noticed that the child watched these figures here and there for a long time without stopping, and his little eyes at the same time stuck [upon them]. Someone said to him the names of these figures: that would be a cat, that a tower, a little sheep, a mountain. The following [lit. "other"] day, the 4th of December, someone asked him again, where the cat, the mountain, the little sheep were and [to] look there; the child indicated with his little tiny fingers there, and always hit upon the right picture, that they had named to him. Even more, now he gave effort himself to repeat the previously said words: cat, mountain, tower: hence, he saw with unrelated glances [likely, unrelated to the figures he was previously transfixed on] the speaking from the mouth [likely, of whoever named the objects], got the movement of the lips and the tongue [with] the same steady attending, slurred the word afterward and repeated this so often, until he finally pressed out one syllable after another.

[b] He [pronoun is literally "it," derived from neut. case noun "das Kind" i.e., "the child"] could read printed things in Latin and German.

He could not also write them; his little fingers were too weak to do so.

He could recite times tables both in and out of order. He could also count, subtract, add, and multiply.

In French, he got so far, that he could recount entire histories in this language.

In Latin, he learned over 1,500 good sayings from Latin-language authors.

He learned Low German from his nurse, of whom he didn't want to let go.

In geography, he continued to grasp the most curious things on each of the maps of existing places.

[c] Otto Pöhler, born the 20th of August, 1892 to Braunschweig, first and only child of a master butcher, got teeth at the correct time and learned to walk and speak at the right time. When he was five fourths of a year old, his grandmother led him outside the door and into the next streets and in the course of this named to him the names which were on the house and street signs, and also relatives wrote down him first name, Otto, multiple times. When the child then got a newspaper in his hands, he showed the same printed name, Otto. From then on, the grandmother explained to him the letters and read aloud to him single words; in the process, it resulted that the child had a prodigious memory for letters, words, and numbers.

When the little Otto was brought to me, he was, as I previously cited, 1_3/4 years old. He was very conversant, climbed immediately multiple times onto my knees, showed himself, overall, very mobile and restless. When he caught sight of one of the hanging wall calendars next to the writing table, he read loudly, unprompted, the large-print, Latin display on the same (April 27): "April two-seven..."

In October, 1894, I brought the young Otto, at the age of 2 years and 2 months, before the physician's country club. When the end of my delivered lecture about him came, which was led in the boardroom, one of the doctors showed the Börner's Medicinal-Calendar, with the request to read the Latin inscription. He read fluently: "Imperial Medicinal-Calender. Founded by Pa-ul Börner. One, eight, nine, four."

[d] He is not physically strong, but also not badly developed. At first glance the long skull and the strong back of the head stand out. In the delicate face clever, expressive eyes are captivating, which, with pondering, take on at first a curiously serious, concentrated expression. In the whole, he does not at all make an impression of an unhealthy, jaded child, but rather of a boy with a completely fresh and merry view of the world.

His biggest passion is still always reading, and the most important thing in the world to him are historic, biographic, and geographic dates. He knows the birth and death years of many German Kaisers, also many generals, poets, philosophers, mostly also birthdays and places of birth; furthermore the capitals of most states, rivers on which they lie and the like. He knows decisions of the beginning and end of the Thirty Year's and Seven Year's Wars, of the main battles of these and other wars. From statements of the mother, everything he picked up on without outside help, through the diligent study of a "patriotic calendar" and similarly discoverable literature in the house, also through the deciphering of monument inscriptions in the cities (for which he especially has passion). When two different pages with two 12-digit numbers were shown to him in succession, [the numbers of] which differed by one of the middle digits, he read them as far as the billons and could then, without looking at the pages again, with certainty, specify wherein the difference lay.

[e] Dr. Placzek et al. who earlier observed the boy, the definitive impression prevailed of a specially aroused, rapid, and sharp-thinking and, at the same time, a benign, quite loveable child. With the parents and particularly with the mother he's involved with the greatest affection.

[f] An _Obersekundaner_ is a pupil in seventh year of a German secondary school. "Gymnasium" here means secondary school.

[g] "Now, almost 17 years old, he is an intelligent, young man, equipped with an admirable memory, full of knowledge; a young man easily getting noticed, orienting, who, although in his way preferred before his contemporaries, has proven [to have] a humble, lovable nature."