* * * * *
(_To the Editor._)
A correspondent having expressed a wish to obtain some knowledge of
Dr. Katerfelto, of juggling memory, perhaps the following may be
acceptable: Between thirty and forty years ago he travelled through the
principal towns of the northern counties with a caravan filled with
philosophical apparatus, giving lectures where a sufficient audience
could be collected. He appeared to be about five feet ten, rather thin,
and towards fifty. He was dressed in a black gown and square cap; his
apparatus was in excellent order, and very well managed, he conducted
every experiment with great certainty, never failing; and though much
knowledge might be gained from his lecture, people seemed more inclined
to laugh than to learn; perhaps from his peculiar manner, and partly
from his introducing something ludicrous, as on exhibiting the powers of
a magnet, by lifting a large box, he observed it was not empty, and on
opening the lid, five or six black cats put up their heads, which he
instantly put down, saying, "it is not your hour yet." Also when about
to prove the truth of what he advanced, by experiment, he had a strange
way of calling your attention by saying, "But then look _here_,"
raising his voice loud at the word "here." The lecture was succeeded
by a display of legerdemain, in which I thought him very superior
to Breslaw.
It was said then, that he had originally been a soldier in the Prussian
service, and had procured his discharge.