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Spirit Rappings. the Man-Turtle: Mesmerism

In his actions and talk he has a slow, measured, jerking style; MESMERISM. he is almost constantly moving his head, and his eyes are ever restless and snappish. He has a docile disposition, but is sullen, morose, and irascible when angered. He is not very sociable, scarcely ever speaks unless addressed, and when young never mingled with children nor engaged in juvenile sports. His greatest delight is summer bathing, and he will remain under water for a very long time; he takes great pleasure with small children, also, and is especially fond of babies. He will eat anything set before him, but prefers vegetables, fish, and bread. During early childhood he was a constant care to his parents, as he was unable to feed himself, his claws, or fins, being too small to hold either spoon or knife.

He seemed to have no passions or affections, and cares no more for the female sex than for his own; he possesses but little emotion if any, and obeys a summons to a funeral of a fellow inmate as cheerfully as if it were a call to dinner. He is now (1880) thirty years old, without a single idea of the world outside of the house and farm on which he has lived for the last twenty-seven years. It has been impossible to teach him anything but the few words which he hourly utters; he has no remembrance of dates or of incidents; he is ignorant of his age and everything connected with the past. All is blank; he exists only in the present, without a sorrow for the past or a thought of the future.