i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



this end in view, we might attempt to formulate some plan which should 

 lead the deaf children of deaf-mutes to marry one another instead 

 of marrying deaf-mutes who have not inherited their deafness, or to 

 marry hearing persons belonging to families in which deafness is he- 

 reditary. If, for instance, a number of the large deaf-mute families of 

 the United States were to settle in a common place so as to form a 

 community largely composed of deaf-mutes, then the deaf children 

 born in the colony would be thrown into association with one another, 

 and would probably marry in adult life or marry hearing persons 

 belonging to deaf-mute families, and each succeeding generation of 

 deaf-mutes would increase the probability of the deaf-mute element 

 being rendered permanent by heredity ; and we might anticipate that 

 a very few generations would suffice for the establishment of a perma- 

 nent race of deaf-mutes with a language and literature of their own. 



Plans for the formation of such a community of deaf-mutes have 

 many times been discussed by the deaf-mutes themselves, contribu- 

 tions of money for the purpose have been publicly offered, and it has 

 even been proposed to procure the enactment of laws to secure the 

 descent of the land and other property in the deaf-mute line alone, so 

 that the hearing children would be led to leave the community. A 

 colony of this sort has even been founded in Manitoba, and twenty- 

 four deaf-mutes with their families have already arrived from Europe 

 and have settled upon the land, while more are expected this year. 



The analogy of all other organisms would lead us to expect that, 

 with all these selective influences at work, the number of deaf-mutes 

 should increase rapidly, and the interesting question, " How far do the 

 facts justify this opinion ? " at once presents itself, and we ask, first, 

 whether deafness is hereditary ; and, second, whether it is true that 

 many deaf-mutes marry ; and, third, whether our system of education 

 does lead those who marry to select deaf-mutes as their partners ; and, 

 fourth, whether deafness is more frequent among their children than 

 it is in the community at large. 



If the published records answer all these questions in the affirma- 

 tive, it is clear that, however much the present system may appeal to 

 our sympathies, it is neither the best one for the interests of the whole 

 community, nor the best for the deaf themselves, since it tends to in- 

 crease the evil which it is designed to alleviate. 



Few of the institutions publish any record regarding the relatives 

 of pupils, but the records of the American Asylum, at Hartford, Con- 

 necticut, show that, of 2,106 pupils admitted to that institution, 693, 

 or nearly 33 per cent, were known to have deaf-mute relatives, and in 

 the majority of these cases the pupils have more than one relative deaf 

 and dumb, while in a few cases as many as 15 deaf-mute relatives are 

 recorded. The report of this institution for 1877 shows that 



593 pupils had one or more brothers or sisters deaf and dumb. 

 100 " " cousins " 



