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Kaspar Hauser.
29
in order, and as regularly packed them into their respective boxes
on going to bed.
His next passion was for pictures of all kinds, and the friendly
citizens of Nuremberg ministered generously to this taste by
supplying him with engravings and coloured prints, which he
fastened to the walls of his chamber with spittle. It is a pity that
Kaspar Hauser’s physical condition at the time of his arrival in
Nuremberg was not thoroughly examined by scientific specialists,
as much valuable information might have been derived from an
analysis of the secretions of a human being whose life thus far had
manifestly been carried on under abnormal circumstances. The
jailer noticed that the boy’s spittle was as tenacious as glue ; he
had no difficulty in making his pictures adhere to the wall by that
medium, and when the paper was removed it stuck so fast that a
portion of the plaster gave way also.
Among Kaspar Hauser’s many visitors were some persons who,
instead of regarding him as an object of curiosity or as a butt for
practical jokes, took pains to teach him language, by repeating
words slowly, and showing him by signs or pictures the thing
represented by the sound, and such benevolent efforts were fully
rewarded in the aptness and pleasure displayed by their recipient.
About two weeks after his arrival, he had the good fortune to
awaken the special interest of Professor Daumer, a young and
*houghtful scholar, who felt it to be his mission to devote himself
to the care of the strange being so suddenly and mysteriously
‘hrown upon the charity of the town.
The Mayor, also, Herr Binder, as Chief of the City Police,
took a deep interest in the foundling, and encouraged him to
visit frequently at his house, where the family took great pains to
help him express his thoughts, hoping thereby to arrive at a
solution of the secret of his past existence. As the result of
patient questioning of the youth, and of a careful interpretation of
his hesitating attempts to tell his story, the Mayor was able as
carly as July #, 1828, about six weeks after Kaspar’s arrival in
Nuremberg, to publish the statement which has since served as
the basis of all the many descriptions of Kaspar Hauser’s long
\