B walked a few steps at 8 months (under the excitement of running after a dog), but walked no more till she was 12 months old. She employed short sentences when she was about 16 months of age. Her mother reports that B expressed her thought in sentences, rather than in isolated words, almost from the beginning of language development; she excited considerable comment among friends by displaying an extensive vocabulary and by using nursery rhymes at age 2.
B was taught to read by her mother at age 4, by the "picture-story" method. (She knew the alphabet long before.) A few lessons only were given her and thereafter B read and has continued to read independently.
B has had no serious illnesses or accidents; her health history appears normal and her physical condition at the present time is excellent. Furthermore, she seems unusually well balanced from the standpoint of mental hygiene. B exhibits regularity in habits, sleeps soundly, seldom reports dreams, displays no unusual fears, and adapts herself quickly and successfully to the demands of her child-group.
B's parents appear distinctly above the average both in intelligence and in academic training. The mother finished a two-year normal course and taught for a number of years in a metropolitan school system. The father is an electrical engineer, a graduate of Case College of Applied Science; he has pursued graduate studies at Cornell University, and has done some college teaching. At present he is a practicing electrical engineer. . . . Her maternal great-grandfather (who is still active and robust at age 82) was private secretary to each of four executives of a large railroad system. . . . Her paternal grandfather was an inventor and manufacturer of polishes and waxes. . . .
The mother reports B to be of pure Negro stock. There is no record of any white ancestors on either the maternal or paternal side.
B has not much ability or interest in music. Her favorite subject is science, and chemistry attracts her to the extent that she wishes to become a chemist.
_Child R_. In 1936, Zorbaugh and Boardman (38) described a boy, R, of IQ 204 (S-B). They mention also three other children of IQ above 180, tested at New York University's Clinic for the Social Adjustment of the Gifted, but R is the only one described.