A HUMAN ELECTRIC BATTERY.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 103, 20 September 1879, Page 3

A HUMAN ELECTRIC BATTERY.

The Bondgn (Out.] Advertiser stairs that we have been favoured with the ihlaiT.s { ono of the strangest cases of «!..-ii »" ever heorj, and one- which ia i - .. . xcit(< a good deal of interest iii.e: s ii.euical men. The. particulars of the case are given below. It seems ''> at about two years since a daughter .1 Mr. Richard Clare, Caroline by name, am] then 17 years of age, living in. lot No. 25, on the second concessions of 'todney, was taken ill. Her disease •■■i:M not be correctly diagnosed, and had many poculiar.featurex. Her app - tite fell str, and she lost flesh till from a strapping girl of 130 pounds weight she baroly weighed 87 pounds. There |lid not seem to be any organic complaint, The bodily functions 'were not impaired, and although she ato less than formerly, tiie falling off in this respect was not such as hi itself w.>uld alarm her -friends. After the lapse pf a fow,.iiionths she took to her bed. Tlu.iL.it was that a change Iplaco in her mental condition. erly she was noted rather - for \ laik ivorsational Jiowcre, but now tits or -s would come over her. on the ] nsiway of which her eyos would beset and glazed, her'body almost and while in that state she would tree eloquently, and give vivid <les--908 of far off scenes, far exceeding ir beauty anything whi ~ she had een or presumably ever rend of. e passing away If the Uossitudo ■disposition to move, she-was tacimd surly in reply to any questions, continued till about a ino»th.siiic an extraordinary chango oecurrod. ir!, although frtill not gaining tlesh. ral to rally. She became light'd and gay, and. her friends antio d BO early release for her from the to which she had been confined g. their expectations were in.vain e is now about the house apparently 01 bodily, as ever. But a most retble development has taken place I constantly (riving otr electrical ages, and MUM to be o perfoit y. A person, nnless possessed of try strongest nerves, caunot shake With her, nor ran anyone pjaeeiliui in a pail of water wjtfi'b'er. «By g hands, she can send a- Hi»rp.sb.ook jh fifteen or twenty people in a and sho KMMMM all the attractions laguet. If she attempts to pick up

a knife, the. blade will jump i,.to ho.' talid, ami a paper of needles will bang suspended from one of hoi- lingers. 80 « 10 »gb developed is this electrical power that .she cannot reW from bor touch "t steel without a ligoroua pull On her entering a room, a peueptible influence seizes hold of all others, and while ■some are affected to sleepiness, others are ill and fidgity till they leave, and even a considerable time afterward. A sleeping babe will wake up with a start, nt her approach, but with u st-oke of her hand she can at once coax it to a slumber again. Animals are also subject to her influence, and a pet dog of the house hold will li, fur hours at her feet as nationless as in death. A curious part at tl*e phenomena ia the fact that the electricity can he imparted by her to any article with which she habitually comes in contact. The other day u younger suiter, while doing the housework, took up a pair of corset* belonging to Caroline, and on her hand touching the steel she was compelled to (bop them with a loud cry and an exclamation to the effect that she had run a needle into her linger. Wooden spoons have had to he mode for her, aB she cannot touch metal. Altogether the case is most remarkable ..me, and .attracts scores of visitors to the house of Mr. Clare. Medical men ore especially interesting themselves, ami it has been stated that Dr. Tye, of Thames. villa, will read a paper on the sul j. 1 1 at the.meeting of the Provincial MtiUnaJ Association, which is to he held ,1. London in the course of this summer. Mr. Clare is the father of a family 01 seven children, none of whom, except Caroline, show any abnormal qualities.