THE FORMATION OP A DEAF VARIETY OF THE HUMAN RAGE. 



187 



Table XII. — Showing Hnmher of pup! In iKtvin;/ one or more deaf-mute relatives. 

 "(Atueiii'Mii Asyliiiii for Dcaf-Mutes. Report for 1877.) 



Without going into detail, tlie results may be noted of an examination of a few otiier in.stitntiou 

 reports* wliere the deaf-mute relatives are recorded. 



Table XIII. — rroportion of the deaf and dumb having deaf-mute relatives. 



Institutions. 



American Asylum 



New York Institution 



Ohio Institution 



Indiana Institution . .. 



Illinois Institution 



Texas Institution. 



Tot.al 



N u m b e r of ' Percentage of 



Total number ' P"!""^ ^^^^ P"^'^^ ^""J" 

 ofpnpiLs. , ing deaf- ingdeaf- 

 '- mute rela-- mute rela- 

 tives, tives. 



2, 106 



1,165 



560 



283 



1,620 



89 



5,823 



693 

 380 

 166 

 103 

 356 

 21 



32.9 

 32.6 

 29.6 

 36.4 

 21.7 

 23.6 



1,719 



29.5 



The above table shows us that out of 5,823 deaf-mutes taken from different parts of the country 

 no less than 1,719, or 29J per cent., were known to have relatives deaf and dumb. 



If this proportion holds for the whole country, we must have in the United States about 10,000 

 deaf-mutes who belong to families containing more than one deaf-mute. f 



It is to be feared that the intermarriage of such i^ersons would be attended by calamitous results 

 to their offspring. 



These are not, however, the only cases in which we would anticipate that the deafness of the 

 parents might be transmitted to the children. The lessons we have learned from the lower animals 

 concerning heredity teach us that a certain physical peculiarity, which may normally make its 

 appearance only sporadically here and there, maybe perpetuated and rendered hereditary, by suit- 

 able selection, during a number of generations, of those individuals that happen to possess the 

 peculiarity from birth. 



*The tables relating to the deaf-mutes of Ohio', Indiana, New York, Texas, and Illinois have been compiled from 

 the following sources: 



1. Ohio. " List of pupils admitted to the Ohio Asylum previously to .lanuary, 18.'>4.'' American Aunals of the Deaf 

 and Dumb, Vol. VI, pp. 101-116. 



2. Indiana. " Catalogue of the pupils of the Indiana Institution from its commencement in 1843 to November 1, 

 1853." American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, Vol. VI, pp. 162-169. 



3. New York. "List of pupils of the New York lustitution, &c., complete from Jlay, 1818, to January, 1854.'' 

 American Annals of the Deaf aud Dumb, Vol. VI, pp. 19.5-225. 



4. Texas. " List of pupils in attendance at the Texas Institution (1881)." See Exhibit A, twenty-fifth annua] 

 report of the superintendent of the Texa.s Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Austin, Tex., November 1, 1881. 



5. Illinois. " List of pnpils of the Illinois In.stitutiou admitted between 1846 and 18'52." Twenty-first biennial 

 report of the trustees, superintendent, and treasurer of the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and 

 Dumb. Jacksonville, 111., October 1, 1882. 



tThe number is probably greater, even exceeding twelve thousand, as will be seen further on. (See Table XVII). 



