" Desirous, however, to ascertain, whether he was able to distinguish objects, I held a letter before him at the distance of about twelve inches, when be told me, after a short hesitation, that it was a piece of paper ; that it was square, which lie knew by its corners ; and that it was longer in one direction than it was in the other. On being desired to point to the corners, he did it with great precision, and rea dily carried his finger in the line of its 'Longest diame ter. I then shewed him a small oblong band-box, covered with red leather; which he said was red, and square; and pointed at once to its four corners. After this, I placed before him an oval silver box, which he said had a shining appearance ; and, presently after wards, that it was round, because it had not corners. The observation, however, which appeared to me most remarkable, was that which related to a white stone mug ; which he first called a white bason, but soon after, recollecting himself, said, it was a mug, because it had a handle. These experiments did not give him any pain ; and they were made in the pre sence of his mother, and of Mr Woodford, a clerk to his majesty's treasury. I held the objects at different distances from his eye, and inquired very particularly if lie was sensible of any difference in their situation, which he always said he was, informing me, on every change, whether they were brought nearer to or car ried farther from it.
" I again inquired, both of his mother and of him self, whether he had ever, before this time, distin guished, by sight, any sort of object ?''and I- was as sured by both, that lie never had on any occasion ; and that, when he wished to discover colours; which he could only do when they were very strong, he had always been obliged to hold the colotuled object close to his eye, and a little on one side, to avoid the projection of the nose. No further experiments were made on that day. On the 1st of Janua'rk, I found that his eye continued quite free both from pain and inflammation, and that he felt no uneasiness on the approach of light. I sheaved him a table knife, which at first he called a spoon, but soon rectified the mis take, giving it the right name, and distinguishing the blade from the handle, by pointing to each as he was desired. He afterwards called a yellow pocket-book by its name, taking notice of the silver-lock on the cover. I held my hand before him, which he knew, hut could not at first tell the number of my fingers, nor distinguish any one of them from another. I then held up his own hand, and desired him to re Mark the difference between his thumb and fingers ; after which lie readily pointed out the distinctions in mine also. Dark coloured and smooth objects were 'snore agreeable to him than those which were bright and rough. On the 3d of January, he saw, from the drawing-room window, a dancing bear in the street, and distinguished a number of boys that were stand ing round him, noticing particularly a bundle of clothes which one of them had on his head. On the same evening, I placed him before a looking-glass, and held up his hand ; after a little time he smiled and said, he saw the shadow of his hand, as well as that of his head. He could not then distinguish his • features ; but, on the following day, his mother ha ving again placed him before the glass, he pointed to his eyes, nose, and mouth, and seemed much gratified With the sight." Mr Ware then proceeds to compare the case of Master W. with that of Cheselden's patient, and to deduce some general conclusions, which are altoge ther at variance with those of that celebrated anato mist. He finds'that Master W., instead of at first forming no judgment of distance, and thinking that • all objects touched his eyes, was able to distinguish, at the first moment of his seeing, a table a yard and a half from him ; and to prove that he had some ac curacy in his idea of distance, by saying, that it was a little farther off than his hand could reach. In
stead, also, of being unable to " know the figure of any thing, or any one thing from another, however different in shape and magnitude," Master W. knew and dincrified a letter, not only as white, but also as square, because it had corners ; and an oval silver box, not only as shining, but also as round, because it had not corners. These observations, he says, so contrary to the account we haie received of Mr Cheselden's patient, would have surpriSed him much more than they did, had he not previously, in some similar instances, had reason to suspect, that children, from whoin cataracts had been extracted,'had 'a no tion of distance the first moment they were enabled to see. " In the instance particularly of a young gentleman from Ireland," he subjoins, " fourteen years old, from each of whose eyes I extracted a ca taract, in the year 1791, in the presence of Dr Ha milton, physician to the London hospital, and who, before the operation, assured me, as did his friends, that he never had seen the figure Of any object, Dr Hamilton and myself were much astonished by the facility with which, on the first experiment, he took hold of my hand at different distances, mentioning whether it was brought nearer to, or carried further from him, and conveying his hand to mine in a circu lar direction, that We might be the better satisfied of the accuracy with which lie did it."—" In this case, however, and in others of a like nature, although the patients had certainly been blind from early in fancy, I could not satisfy myself, that they had not, before this period, enjoyed a sufficient degree of sight to impress the image of risible objects on their minds, and to give them ideas which could not afterwards be entirely obliterated. In the instance of Master W., however, no suspicion of this kind could occur ; since, in addition to the declaration of himself and his mother, it was proved, by the testimony of the sur geoh who examined his eyes in the country, that the cataracts were fully formed before he was a year old. And I beg leave to add farther, that on making in quiries of two children, between seven and eight years of age, now under my care, both of whom have been blind from birth, and on whom no operation has yet been performed, I find, that the knowledge they have of colours, limited as it is, is sufficient to enable them to tell whether coloured objects be brought nearer to or carried further from them ; for instance, whether they are at the distance of two inches or four inches from their eyes ; nor have either of them the slight est suspicion, as is related of Mr Cheselden's patient, that coloured objects, when held before them, touch their eyes." The conclusions of Mr Ware and of Mr Chesel den, although they seem so much at variance with each other, may, in our opinion, be perfectly recon ciled, upon the very simple supposition, that the pa tients, upon whom the observations of each were Made, were affected with blindness in different de grees. Mr Ware himself informs us, that all the pa tienti whom he had an opportunity of examining, Were able to distinguish colours before they were couched; to such a degree, as " to enable them to tell, wether coloured objects be brought nearer to or carried further from them." This being the case, it is not at all surprising, that the moment they were restored to sight they should be capable of forming a tolerable estimate of distances, and even of distinguishing forms which were simple and well de fined. It does not at all appear, however, that Mr Cheselden's patient had so much use of his eyes be fore he was couched. He could, indeed, discriminate strong colours, such as black, white, and scarlet ; but he was totally unable, as this celebrated anato mist expressly informs us, to distinguish the shape of tiny thing, and does not appear to have been in the least sensible when an object was brought nearer to or farther from his eyes.