LANGUAGE AND BRAIN DISEASE. 783 



confuses trade, but which may, in default of anything better, still 

 keep the stream of commodities flowing in the natural channels. 



Now suppose a student, having reached the stage of progress 

 above indicated, visits the country whose language he has been 

 reading. What he hears at first is almost wholly unintelligible, 

 though the same words in print would be familiar. A little later 

 it is not uncommon to hear a sentence without comprehending it 

 at all, when suddenly it will flash upon the mind of the hearer as 

 though seen in print and pronounced by himself, and then it is 

 readily understood. The same thing occurs in listening to one's 

 native tongue when the auditory center has been slightly dam- 

 aged by disease. 



In these cases the damaged or un practiced auditory center 

 recognizes but a part of what is heard, but this is enough to sug- 

 gest to the well-practiced visual center the complete memory of 

 the visual words, which then calls up their usual, possibly incor- 

 rect, sound and utterance, with the associated meaning. 



As time passes, the strange sounds, through constant repeti- 

 tion and efforts to imitate them, grow familiar and become 

 strongly associated with every-day experiences, so that as soon as 

 a word is heard the idea is vividly present in consciousness. If 

 the student reads now, he finds his former disadvantages greatly 

 diminished. He reads faster and with less fatigue, finding a 

 clearness and vigor of meaning before unknown. It is not be- 

 cause his vocabulary is larger, but because it is more efficient. 

 The auditory center, which formerly, through lack of practice, 

 failed to properly perform an essential part of the work, is now, 

 at the suggestion of the visual center, quick to recall each sound, 

 and, re-enforced by the utterance-memory, it is quick, accurate, 

 and vigorous in reviving each idea. The work of exchange is 

 now done by the true coin of the realm. 



The more carefully any teacher or thoughtful student will 

 consider his own experience, the more he will be convinced of 

 what the facts of brain disease demonstrate, that a good method 

 of learning any language, whether the aim be to speak or only 

 to read, must make the thorough training of the auditory and 

 motor speech-centers a fundamental object. This training can be 

 perfectly attained only by living where the language to be learned 

 is spoken ; but, although the difficulties at home are great, if the 

 essential requisite is only kept in view, a great deal can be accom- 

 plished. This we owe to the clear insight and faithful work of 

 the inventors of the natural method. Although this method is 

 well known, it may not be amiss to give a sketch of how the best 

 results may be obtained. 



The first part of the course of instruction should be devoted 

 exclusively to the sounds of the commonest words, their reproduc- 



