CHAPTER XVI.

Hold taken on the public Mind by Prodigies--Dutch Boy with Hebrew Words on the Iris of each Eye--Boy with the word Napoleon in the Eye--Child with a Golden Tooth--Speculations on the Subject--Superstition respecting changeling Children in the Isle of Man--Waldron’s Description of a Changeling--Cases of extraordinary Sleepers--The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus--Men supposed, in the northern Regions, to be frozen during the Winter, and afterwards thawed into Life again--Dr. Oliver’s Case of a Sleeper near Bath--Dr. Cheyne’s Account of Colonel Townshend’s power of voluntarily suspending Animation--Man buried alive for a Month at Jaisulmer--The Manner of his Burial, and his Preparation for it. 221