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Kaspar Hauser. 
285 
delighted with its brilliancy, and put his hand fearlessly into the 
flame, to draw it back instantly with screams and cries of pain. 
He appeared to be ignorant of the nature and uses of all the 
objects around him, and when people made passes at his face 
with swords and knives he did not shrink nor even close his eyes. 
When shown the reflection of his face in a mirror he looked 
behind the glass to find out who was there. If he saw any glitter- 
ing substance he tried to grasp it, and if he could not reach it, or 
if it were withheld from him, he wept. 
A few days after his arrival he was taken around the walls of 
the city to see whether he could recognise the gate by which he 
had entered ; but not only was this endeavour of no avail, he did 
not appear to notice anything around him with intelligence, and 
when brought close to an object he stared at it as though he had 
never seen the like before. Every human being he met, whether 
man, woman, or child, he called by the one word Bua (boy); 
every dumb animal, whether dog, cat, goose, or hen, he called 
Ross (horse). He seemed pleased with white animals, but those 
that were dark coloured or black awakened in him disgust and 
tear. A black hen happened to cross his path, which set him in 
such a panic that he screamed and made a great effort to run, 
which, however, was impossible, as he could scarcely walk without 
help. 
He seemed to come only gradually to the use of his senses. 
He had been several days in the Tower before he noticed the 
striking of the clocks and the ringing of the church bells, and 
:hese sounds were listened to with great astonishment. 
Some time afterwards a wedding procession, headed by a band 
of music, happened to pass under his window, and he drank in 
the harmonious sounds with ecstasy, remaining in the same atti- 
tude of absorbed attention long after the music had ceased to be 
audible to his companions. By way of experiment, the soldiers 
took him one day to a parade and stationed him close to the 
largest drum of the regimental band ; but at the first strokes he fell 
into convulsions, and was obliged to be carried off without delay. 
He was happiest when allowed to remain in his chamber, sur-