Caxton's Book: A Collection of Essays, Poems, Tales, and Sketches.

by W. H. Rhodes

  [Decoration]

  XI.

  _THE TELESCOPIC EYE._

  A LEAF FROM A REPORTER'S NOTE-BOOK.

  For the past five or six weeks, rumors of a strange abnormal developmentof the powers of vision of a youth named Johnny Palmer, whose parentsreside at South San Francisco, have been whispered around in scientificcircles in the city, and one or two short notices have appeared in thecolumns of some of our contemporaries relative to the prodigious _lususnaturae_, as the scientists call it.

  Owing to the action taken by the California College of Sciences, whosemembers comprise some of our most scientific citizens, the affair hasassumed such importance as to call for a careful and exhaustiveinvestigation.

  Being detailed to investigate the flying stories, with regard to thepowers of vision claimed for a lad named John or "Johnny" Palmer, as hisparents call him, we first of all ventured to send in our card toProfessor Gibbins, the President of the California College of Sciences.It is always best to call at the fountain-head for useful information, ahabit which our two hundred thousand readers on this coast can neverfail to see and appreciate. An estimable gentleman of the Africanpersuasion, to whom we handed our "pasteboard," soon returned with thepolite message, "Yes, sir; _in_. Please walk up." And so we followed ourconductor through several passages almost as dark as the face of the_cicerone_, and in a few moments found ourselves in the presence of,perhaps, the busiest man in the city of San Francisco.

  Without any flourish of trumpets, the Professor inquired our object inseeking him and the information we desired. "Ah," said he, "that is along story. I have no time to go into particulars just now. I amcomputing the final sheet of Professor Davidson's report of the Transitof Venus, last year, at Yokohama and Loo-Choo. It must be ready beforeMay, and it requires six months' work to do it correctly."

  "But," I rejoined, "can't you tell me where the lad is to be found?"

  "And if I did, they will not let you see him."

  "Let me alone for that," said I, smiling; "a reporter, like love, findshis way where wolves would fear to tread."

  "Really, my dear sir," quickly responded the Doctor, "I have no time tochat this morning. Our special committee submitted its report yesterday,which is on file in that book-case; and if you will promise not topublish it until after it has been read in open session of the College,you may take it to your sanctum, run it over, and clip from it enough tosatisfy the public for the present."

  Saying this, he rose from his seat, opened the case, took from apigeon-hole a voluminous written document tied up with red tape, andhanded it to me, adding, "Be careful!" Seating himself without anotherword, he turned his back on me, and I sallied forth into the street.

  Reaching the office, I scrutinized the writing on the envelope, andfound it as follows: "Report of Special Committee--BoyPalmer--Vision--Laws of Light--Filed February 10, 1876--Stittmore,Sec." Opening the document, I saw at once that it was a full, accurate,and, up to the present time, complete account of the phenomenal case Iwas after, and regretted the promise made not to publish the entirereport until read in open session of the College. Therefore, I shall becompelled to give the substance of the report in my own words, onlygiving _verbatim_ now and then a few scientific phrases which are notfully intelligible to me, or susceptible of circumlocution in commonlanguage.

  The report is signed by Doctors Bryant, Gadbury and Golson, three of ourablest medical men, and approved by Professor Smyth, the oculist. Sofar, therefore, as authenticity and scientific accuracy are concerned,our readers may rely implicitly upon the absolute correctness of everyfact stated and conclusion reached.

  The first paragraph of the report gives the name of the child, "JohnPalmer, age, nine years, and place of residence, South San Francisco,Culp Hill, near Catholic Orphan Asylum;" and then plunges at once into_in medias res_.

  It appears that the period through which the investigation ran was onlyfifteen days; but it seems to have been so thorough, by the use of theophthalmoscope and other modern appliances and tests, that no regretsought to be indulged as to the brevity of the time employed inexperiments. Besides, we have superadded a short and minute account ofour own, verifying some of the most curious facts reported, with severaltests proposed by ourselves and not included in the statement of thescientific committee.

  To begin, then, with the beginning of the inquiries by the committee.They were conducted into a small back room, darkened by old blanketshung up at the window, for the purpose of the total exclusion ofdaylight; an absurd remedy for blindness, recommended by a noted quackwhose name adorns the extra fly-leaf of the San Francisco _TruthTeller_. The lad was reclining upon an old settee, ill-clad and almostidiotic in expression. As the committee soon ascertained, his motheronly was at home, the father being absent at his customaryoccupation--that of switch-tender on the San Jose Railroad. She notifiedher son of the presence of strangers and he rose and walked with a firmstep toward where the gentlemen stood, at the entrance of the room. Heshook them all by the hand and bade them good morning. In reply toquestions rapidly put and answered by his mother, the following accountof the infancy of the boy and the accidental discovery of hisextraordinary powers of vision was given:

  He was born in the house where the committee found him, nine years agothe 15th of last January. Nothing of an unusual character occurred untilhis second year, when it was announced by a neighbor that the boy wascompletely blind, his parents never having been suspicious of the factbefore that time, although the mother declared that for some monthsanterior to the discovery she had noticed some acts of the child thatseemed to indicate mental imbecility rather than blindness. From thistime forward until a few months ago nothing happened to vary the boy'sexistence except a new remedy now and then prescribed by neighbors forthe supposed malady. He was mostly confined to a darkened chamber, andwas never trusted alone out of doors. He grew familiar, by touch andsound, with the forms of most objects about him, and could form veryaccurate guesses of the color and texture of them all. Hisconversational powers did not seem greatly impaired, and he readilyacquired much useful knowledge from listening attentively to everythingthat was said in his presence. He was quite a musician, and touched theharmonicon, banjo and accordeon with skill and feeling. He was unusuallysensitive to the presence of light, though incapable of seeing anyobject with any degree of distinctness; and hence the attempt to excludelight as the greatest enemy to the recovery of vision. It was verystrange that up to the time of the examination of the committee, noscientific examination of the boy's eye had been made by a competentoculist, the parents contenting themselves with the chance opinions ofvisitors or the cheap nostrums of quacks. It is perhaps fortunate forscience that this was the case, as a cure for the eye might have been anextinction of its abnormal power.

  On the evening of the 12th of December last (1875), the position of thechild's bed was temporarily changed to make room for a visitor. The bedwas placed against the wall of the room, fronting directly east, withthe window opening at the side of the bed next to the head. The boy wassent to bed about seven o'clock, and the parents and their visitor wereseated in the front room, spending the evening in social intercourse.The moon rose full and cloudless about half-past seven o'clock, andshone full in the face of the sleeping boy.

  Something aroused him from slumber, and when he opened his eyes thefirst object they encountered was the round disk of her orb. By someoversight the curtain had been removed from the window, and probably forthe first time in his life he beheld the lustrous queen of nightswimming in resplendent radiance, and bathing hill and bay in effulgentglory. Uttering a cry, equally of terror and delight, he sprang up inbed and sat there like a statue, with eyes aglare, mouth open, fingerpointed, and astonishment depicted on every feature. His sudden, sharpscream brought his mother to his side, who tried for some moments invain to distract his gaze from the object before him. Failing even toattract notice, she called in her husband and friend, and together theybesought the boy to lie down and go to sleep, but to no a
vail. Believinghim to be ill and in convulsions, they soon seized him, and were on thepoint of immersing him in a hot bath, when, with a sudden spring, heescaped from their grasp and ran out the front door. Again he fixed hisunwinking eyes upon the moon, and remained speechless for severalseconds. At length, having seemingly satisfied his present curiosity, heturned on his mother, who stood wringing her hands in the doorway andmoaning piteously, and exclaimed, "I can see the moon yonder, and it isso beautiful that I am going there to-morrow morning, as soon as I getup."

  "How big does it look?" said his mother.

  "So big," he replied, "that I cannot see it all at one glance--as big asall out of doors."

  "How far off from you does it seem to be?"

  "About half a car's distance," he quickly rejoined.

  It may be here remarked that the boy's idea of distance had beenmeasured all his life by the distance from his home to the street-carstation at the foot of the hill. This was about two hundred yards, sothat the reply indicated that the moon appeared to be only one hundredyards from the spectator. The boy then proceeded of his own accord togive a very minute description of the appearance of objects which hebeheld, corresponding, of course, to his poverty of words with which toclothe his ideas.

  His account of things beheld by him was so curious, wonderful andapparently accurate, that the little group about him passed rapidly froma conviction of his insanity to a belief no less absurd--that he hadbecome, in the cant lingo of the day, a seeing, or "clairvoyant" medium.Such was the final conclusion to which his parents had arrived at thetime of the visit of the scientific committee. He had been classed withthat credulous school known to this century as spiritualists, and hadbeen visited solely by persons of that ilk heretofore.

  The committee having fully examined the boy, and a number of independentwitnesses, as to the facts, soon set about a scientific investigation ofthe true causes of of the phenomenon. The first step, of course, was toexamine the lad's eye with the modern ophthalmoscope, an invention ofProfessor Helmholtz, of Heidelberg, a few years ago, by means of whichthe depths of this organ can be explored, and the smallest variationsfrom a healthy or normal condition instantaneously detected.

  The mode of using the instrument is as follows: The room is madeperfectly dark; a brilliant light is then placed near the head of thepatient, and the rays are reflected by a series of small mirrors intohis eye, as if they came from the eye of the observer; then, by lookingthrough the central aperture of the instrument, the oculist can examinethe illuminated interior of the eyeball, and perceive every detail ofstructure, healthy or morbid, as accurately and clearly as we can seeany part of the exterior of the body. No discomfort arises to the organexamined, and all its hidden mysteries can be studied and understood asclearly as those of any other organ of the body.

  This course was taken with John Palmer, and the true secret of hismysterious power of vision detected in an instant.

  On applying the ophthalmoscope, the committee ascertained in a momentthat the boy's eye was abnormally shaped. A natural, perfect eye isperfectly round. But the eye examined was exceedingly flat, very thin,with large iris, flat lens, immense petira, and wonderfully dilatedpupil. The effect of the shape was at once apparent. It was utterlyimpossible to see any object with distinctness at any distance short ofmany thousands of miles. Had the eye been elongated inward, or shapedlike an egg--to as great an extent, the boy would have been effectuallyblind, for no combination of lens power could have placed the image ofthe object beyond the coat of the retina. In other words, there are twocommon imperfections of the human organ of sight; one called _myopia_,or "near-sightedness;" the _presbyopia_, or "far-sightedness."

  "The axis being too long," says the report, "in myopic eyes, parallelrays, such as proceed from distant objects, are brought to a focus at apoint so far in front of the retina, that only confused images areformed upon it. Such a malformation, constituting an excess ofrefractive power, can only be neutralized by concave glasses, which givesuch a direction to rays entering the eye as will allow of their beingbrought to a focus at a proper point for distant perception."

  "Presbyopia is the reverse of all this. The antero-posterior axis ofsuch eyes being too short, owing to the flat plate-like shape of theball, their refractive power is not sufficient to bring even parallelrays to a focus upon the retina, but is adapted for convergent raysonly. Convex glasses, in a great measure, compensate for this quality byrendering parallel rays convergent; and such glasses, in ordinary cases,bring the rays to a focus at a convenient distance from the glass,corresponding to its degree of curvature." But in the case underexamination, no glass or combination of glasses could be inventedsufficiently concave to remedy the malformation. By a mathematicalproblem of easy solution, it was computed that the nearest distance fromthe unaided eye of the patient at which a distinct image could be formedupon the retina, was two hundred and forty thousand miles, a fractionshort of the mean distance of the moon from the earth; and hence itbecame perfectly clear that the boy could see with minute distinctnesswhatever was transpiring on the surface of the moon.

  Such being the undeniable truth as demonstrated by science, thedeclaration of the lad assumed a far higher value than the mere dicta ofspiritualists, or the mad ravings of a monomaniac; and the committee atonce set to work to glean all the astronomical knowledge they could byfrequent and prolonged night interviews with the boy.

  It was on the night of January 9, 1876, that the first satisfactoryexperiment was tried, testing beyond all cavil or doubt the powers ofthe subject's eye. It was full moon, and that luminary rose clear anddazzlingly bright. The committee were on hand at an early hour, and theboy was in fine condition and exuberant spirits. The interview wassecret, and none but the members of the committee and the parents of thechild were present. Of course the first proposition to be settled wasthat of the inhabitability of that sphere. This the boy had frequentlydeclared was the case, and he had on several previous occasionsdescribed minutely the form, size and means of locomotion of theLunarians. On this occasion he repeated in almost the same language,what he had before related to his parents and friends, but was moreminute, owing to the greater transparency of the atmosphere and theexperience in expression already acquired.

  The Lunarians are not formed at all like ourselves. They are less inheight, and altogether of a different appearance. When fully grown, theyresemble somewhat a chariot wheel, with four spokes, converging at thecenter or axle. They have four eyes in the head, which is the axle, soto speak, and all the limbs branch out directly from the center, likesome sea-forms known as "Radiates." They move by turning rapidly like awheel, and travel as fast as a bird through the air. The children areundeveloped in form, and are perfectly round, like a pumpkin or orange.As they grow older, they seem to drop or absorb the rotundity of thewhole body, and finally assume the appearance of a chariot wheel.

  They are of different colors, or nationalities--bright red, orange andblue being the predominant hues. The reds are in a large majority. Theydo no work, but sleep every four or five hours. They have no houses, andneed none. They have no clothing, and do not require it. There being nonight on the side of the moon fronting the sun, and no day on theopposite side, all the inhabitants, apparently at a given signal of somekind, form into vast armies, and flock in myriads to the sleepinggrounds on the shadow-side of the planet. They do not appear to go veryfar over the dark rim, for they reappear in immense platoons in a fewhours, and soon spread themselves over the illuminated surface. Theysleep and wake about six times in one ordinary day of twenty-four hours.Their occupations cannot be discerned; they must be totally differentfrom anything upon the earth.

  The surface of the moon is all hill and hollow. There are but few levelspots, nor is there any water visible. The atmosphere is almost asrefined and light as hydrogen gas. There is no fire visible, nor arethere any volcanoes. Most of the time of the inhabitants seems to bespent in playing games of locomotion, spreading themselves into squares,circles, triangles, and
other mathematical figures. They move always invast crowds. No one or two are ever seen separated from the main bodies.The children also flock in herds, and seem to be all of one family.Individualism is unknown. They seem to spawn like herring or shad, or tobe propagated like bees, from the queen, in myriads. Motion is theirnormal condition. The moment after a mathematical figure is formed, itis dissolved, and fresh combinations take place, like the atoms in akaleidoscope. No other species of animal, bird, or being exist upon theilluminated face of the moon.

  The shrubbery and vegetation of the moon is all metallic. Vegetable lifenowhere exists; but the forms of some of the shrubs and trees areexceedingly beautiful. The highest trees do not exceed twenty-five feet,and they appear to have all acquired their full growth. The ground isstrewn with flowers, but they are all formed of metals--gold, silver,copper, and tin predominating. But there is a new kind of metal seeneverywhere on tree, shrub and flower, nowhere known on the earth. It isof a bright vermilion color, and is semi-transparent. The mountains areall of bare and burnt granite, and appear to have been melted with fire.The committee called the attention of the boy to the bright "sea ofglass" lately observed near the northern rim of the moon, and inquiredof what it is composed. He examined it carefully, and gave such a minutedescription of it that it became apparent at once to the committee thatit was pure mercury or quicksilver. The reason why it has but veryrecently shown itself to astronomers is thus accounted for: it appearsclose up to the line of demarcation separating the light and shadow uponthe moon's disk; and on closer inspection a distinct cataract of thefluid--in short, a metallic Niagara, was clearly seen falling from thenight side to the day side of the luminary. It has already filled up avast plain--one of the four that exist on the moon's surface--andappears to be still emptying itself with very great rapidity and volume.It covers an area of five by seven hundred miles in extent, and maypossibly deluge one half the entire surface of the moon. It does notseem to occasion much apprehension to the inhabitants, as they were soonskating, so to speak, in platoons and battalions, over and across it. Infact, it presents the appearance of an immense park, to which theLunarians flock, and disport themselves with great gusto upon itspolished face. One of the most beautiful sights yet seen by the lad wasthe formation of a new figure, which he drew upon the sand with hisfinger.

  The central heart was of crimson-colored natives; the one to the rightof pale orange, and the left of bright blue. It was ten seconds informing, and five seconds in dispersing. The number engaged in theevolution could not be less than half a million.

  Thus has been solved one of the great astronomical questions of thecentury.

  The next evening the committee assembled earlier, so as to get a view ofthe planet Venus before the moon rose. It was the first time that thelad's attention had been drawn to any of the planets, and he evinced theliveliest joy when he first beheld the cloudless disk of thatresplendent world. It may here be stated that his power of vision, inlooking at the fixed stars, was no greater or less than that of anordinary eye. They appeared only as points of light, too far removedinto the infinite beyond to afford any information concerning theirproperties. But the committee were doomed to a greater disappointmentwhen they inquired of the boy what he beheld on the surface of Venus. Hereplied, "Nothing clearly; all is confused and watery; I see nothingwith distinctness." The solution of the difficulty was easilyapprehended, and at once surmised. The focus of the eye was fixed bynature at 240,000 miles, and the least distance of Venus from the earthbeing 24,293,000 miles, it was, of course, impossible to observe thatplanet's surface with distinctness. Still she appeared greatly enlarged,covering about one hundredth part of the heavens, and blazing withunimaginable splendor.

  Experiments upon Jupiter and Mars were equally futile, and the committeehalf sorrowfully turned again to the inspection of the moon.

  The report then proceeds at great length to give full descriptions ofthe most noted geographical peculiarities of the lunar surface, andcorrects many errors fallen into by Herschel, Leverrier and Proctor.Professor Secchi informs us that the surface of the moon is much betterknown to astronomers than the surface of the earth is to geographers;for there are two zones on the globe within the Arctic and Antarcticcircles, that we can never examine. But every nook and cranny of theilluminated face of the moon has been fully delineated, examined andnamed, so that no object greater than sixty feet square exists but hasbeen seen and photographed by means of Lord Rosse's telescope and De laRuis' camera and apparatus. As the entire report will be orderedpublished at the next weekly meeting of the College, we refrain fromfurther extracts, but now proceed to narrate the results of our owninterviews with the boy.

  It was on the evening of the 17th of February, 1876, that we venturedwith rather a misgiving heart to approach Culp Hill, and the humbleresidence of a child destined, before the year is out, to become themost celebrated of living beings. We armed ourselves with a pound ofsugar candy for the boy, some _muslin-de-laine_ as a present to themother, and a box of cigars for the father. We also took with us a verylarge-sized opera-glass, furnished for the purpose by M. Muller. Atfirst we encountered a positive refusal; then, on exhibiting the cigars,a qualified negative; and finally, when the muslin and candy were drawnon the enemy, we were somewhat coldly invited in and proffered a seat.The boy was pale and restless, and his eyes without bandage or glasses.We soon ingratiated ourself into the good opinion of the whole party,and henceforth encountered no difficulty in pursuing our investigations.The moon being nearly full, we first of all verified the tests by thecommittee. These were all perfectly satisfactory and reliable.Requesting, then, to stay until after midnight, for the purpose ofinspecting Mars with the opera-glass, we spent the interval in obtainingthe history of the child, which we have given above.

  The planet Mars being at this time almost in dead opposition to the sun,and with the earth in conjunction, is of course as near to the earth ashe ever approaches, the distance being thirty-five millions of miles. Herises toward midnight, and is in the constellation Virgo, where he maybe seen to the greatest possible advantage, being in perigee. Mars ismost like the earth of all the planetary bodies. He revolves on his axisin a little over twenty-four hours, and his surface is pleasantlyvariegated with land and water, pretty much like our own world--theland, however, being in slight excess. He is, therefore, the mostinteresting of all the heavenly bodies to the inhabitants of the earth.

  Having all things in readiness, we directed the glass to the planet.Alas, for all our calculations, the power was insufficient to clear awaythe obscurity resulting from imperfect vision and short focus.

  Swallowing the bitter disappointment, we hastily made arrangements foranother interview, with a telescope, and bade the family good night.

  There is but one large telescope properly mounted in the city, and thatis the property and pride of its accomplished owner, J. P. Manrow, Esq.We at once procured an interview with that gentleman, and it was agreedthat on Saturday evening the boy should be conveyed to his residence,picturesquely situated on Russian Hill, commanding a magnificent view ofthe Golden Gate and the ocean beyond.

  At the appointed hour the boy, his parents and myself presentedourselves at the door of that hospitable mansion. We were cordiallywelcomed, and conducted without further parley into the loftyobservatory on the top of the house. In due time the magnificent tubewas presented at the planet, but it was discovered that the power it wasset for was too low. It was then gauged for 240,000 diameters, being thefull strength of the telescope, and the eye of the boy observer placedat the eye-glass. One cry of joy, and unalloyed delight told the story!Mars, and its mountains and seas, its rivers, vales, and estuaries, itspolar snow-caps and grassy plains--its inhabitants, palaces, ships,villages and cities, were all revealed, as distinctly, clearly andcertainly, as the eye of Kit Carson, from the summits of the SierraNevada range, beheld the stupendous panorama of the Sacramento Valley,and the snow-clad summits of Mount Hood and Shasta Butte.

  [Decoration]