ilELES KELLEil. ^9 



a little ship at sea." Of a test of Helen's hearing when she was eight 

 years old, Miss Sullivan writes: "All present were astonished when 

 she appeared to hear not only a whistle, but also an ordinary tone of 

 voice. She would turn her head, smile and act as though she had 

 lieard what was said. I was then standing beside her, holding her 

 hand. Thinking that she was receiving impressions from mo, I put 

 her hands upon the table and withdrew to the opposite side of the 

 room. The aurists then tried their experiments with quite different 

 results. Helen remained motionless through them all, not once show- 

 ing the least sign that she realized what was going on." "A medal- 

 lion of Homer hangs on the wall of my study, conveniently low, so that 

 1 can easily reach it and touch the beautiful, sad face with loving rev- 

 erence. How well I know each line in that majestic brow — tracks of 

 life and bitter evidences of struggle and sorrow; those sightless eyes 

 seeking, even in the cold plaster, for the light and the blue skies of his 

 beloved Hellas, but seeking in vain; the beaiitiful mouth, firm and 

 true and tender. It is the face of a poet and of a man acquainted with 

 sorrow. ' ' Her occupation during a lecture at college is thus described : 

 ''The lectures are spelled into my hand as rapidly as possible, and 

 much of the individuality of the lecturer is lost to me in the effort to 

 keep in the race. The words rush through my hand like hounds in 

 pursuit of a hare which they often miss. But in this respect, I do 

 not think I am much worse off than the girls who take notes. If the 

 mind is occupied with the mechanical process of hearing and putting 

 words on paper at pell-mell speed, I should not think one could pay 

 much attention to the subject under consideration or the manner in 

 which it is presented. I can not make notes during the lecture be- 

 cause my hands are busy listening." 



The position of the sense of smell in the commonwealth of sensa- 

 tion is for Homo sapiens not a very lofty one. Its exercise is limited, 

 and even when efficient, it is tabooed by the dictates of good manners. 

 Yet it combines, even in those with a full quota of senses, with other 

 forms of knowledge-getting, and frequently has a leading associative 

 force. For the deaf -blind any 'window of the soul,' however narrow 

 its aperture, is a welcome source of illumination; and it is easy to 

 discover in the narrative of Helen Keller's experiences, references and 

 allusions that clearly indicate the direct and associative value of olfac- 

 tory impressions. 



"We walked down to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance 

 of the honeysuckle with which it was covered." "Suddenly a change 

 passed over the tree [in which she was seated]. All the sun's warmth 

 left the air. I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, M^hich 

 meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strange odor 

 came up from the earth. I knew it was the odor that always precedes 



