^ SPEECH FOB DEAF CHILD BEN. 371 



us so much happiness, and -which we find early in life carries 

 messages to the brain in behalf of some sense lying dormant, 

 must concentrate its gaze upon a small space, the human face. 

 The range being limited, more detail is noticeable ; attention is 

 not diverted by general movements embodying arbitrary or natu- 

 ral signs, to the hand and arm, or to the whole figure. There is 

 an opportunity to increase constantly an appreciation of shades 

 of expression just as a discernment of the nice distinctions of 

 well-chosen words is attained. The result is, the deaf child fol- 

 lows in the face of a reader the details of a story with all the relish 

 the hearing would in listening. There is no staring, simply a 

 quiet, steady gaze. The repeating of the words seen, proves the 

 close connection between the eye and the speech-center. 



There is no doubt many children born deaf have hearing suffi- 

 cient if educated to enable them to receive correct impressions 

 through that sense, and to be in a condition similar to that of 

 so-called hard-of-hearing persons. One reason they do not use 

 the ear to better advantage is that they are ignorant of linguistic 

 sounds. The adult losing his hearing power has the advantages 

 of a full vocabulary, a knowledge of the structure of the lan- 

 guage, and a mastery of its idioms, combined with an ability to 

 hold conversation in his own hands ; he can learn speech-reading, 

 which with him is a high degree of expression-reading, and he 

 need not change his vocation or pleasures, save those requiring a 

 somewhat sensitive condition of the auditory sense. It would be 

 far otherwise if he had to secure language with the small amount 

 of hearing he now possesses. Many children are deaf because of 

 a slow perception of sound, without reference to any functional 

 disability. They must be taught to listen, for without the strain 

 of attention the loudest noises may be unheeded. The work of 

 opening to them an appreciation of the world of sound is called 

 development of hearing, and is thus designated to distinguish it 

 from improvement of hearing ; the latter is an assistance to deaf- 

 ness arising from a diseased condition of the ears, and is rendered 

 by various mechanical aids, such as noise, hearing tubes, and 

 trumpets. In developing hearing, progress depends upon using 

 the auditory sense alone. When the vision and hearing work to- 

 gether in aural instruction, there is an unnatural dependence of 

 the latter upon the former, and no regard paid to the hereditary 

 tendencies to action between ear and speech-center. The result is 

 that the pupil seldom understands a new word unless he first sees 

 it upon the lips. After instruction which compelled the hearing 

 to rely upon its single efforts the various sounds of the language 

 are appreciated immediately in any order given ; as all words are 

 but rearrangements of the same elements, new ones can be re- 

 peated as readily as familiar ones. The strain of attention being 



