THE FOKMATION OF A DEAF VARIETY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 219 



5. AnotlRT iiu'tliod ofcoiisolidiitiug' the deal' :iii(l diiiiili into a distinct class in tlic couinuuiity 

 would be to reduce the sioiilaiiguage to wilting-, so lliat tlie deaf-mutes would have a common 

 literature distinct from tbe rest of the world. Such a s])ecies of writing would coustitute a form 

 of ideograi)liy like the Egyptian hieroglyphics. This, J understand, has already been accom])lislied 

 by the late Mr. George Huttoii, of Ireland, afterwards priiu-,i|)al of the Institution for the Deaf and 

 Dumb in Halifax, Nova Scotia.* The full publication of his method was jjrevented by his i)rema- 

 ture death; but a committee was appointed by the Indianai)i)lis ('onvention of American Instruc- 

 tors of the Deaf and Dund), to a(;t in conjunction with his successor and son, Mr. J. Scott Hutton, 

 to attempt tbe recovery of the system from the posthumous papers of Mr. George Huttou. I have 

 not yet seen the report of the committee. 



6. Another and very powerful method of obstructing intercourse with hearing persons and 

 compelling deaf-mutes to associate exclusively with one another would be to disseminate througli- 

 out the community incorrect ideas concerning the deaf and dumb, so that people should avoid and 

 even fear them. The growth of erroneous ideas is favored by collecting deaf mutes into institu- 

 tions away from public observation. People rarely see a deaf-mute, and their information con- 

 cerning tliem is chieHy derived from books and periodicals. 



Whatever the cause, it is certainly the case that adult deaf-mutes are sometimes lianipered by 

 the instinctive prejudices of hearing persons with whom they desire to have business or social re- 

 lations. Many persons have the idea they are dangerous, morose, ill-tempered, &c. Then again 

 people do not understand the mental condition of a persou who cannot speak and who thinks in 

 gestures. He is sometimes looked upon as a sort of monstrosity, to be stared at and avoided. 

 His gesticulations excite surprise and even sometimes alarm in ignorant minds. In connection 

 with this subject I may say that as lately as 1857 a deaf-mute was shot dead in Alabama by a 

 man who was alarmed by his gestures. t In fact fallacies concerning the deaf and dumb are so 

 common as to touch us all and to suggest the advisability of seriously examining the fundamental 

 ideas we hold concerning them. 



I have elsewhere discussed the subject of " Fallacies concerning the deaf and the influence 

 of these fallacies in iirev^enting the amelioration of their condition," and shall not therefore en- 

 large upon the subject here. I shall simply give ;i few of the conclusions at which I arrived in the 

 paper referred to.l 



"1. Those whom we term 'deaf mutes' have no other natural defect than that of deafness. 

 They are simjjly persons who are deaf from childhood, and many of them are only ' hard of hearing.' 



";i. Deaf children are dumb not on account of lack of hearing, but of lack of instruction. No 

 one teaches them to speak. 



"3. A gesture-language is developed by a deaf child at home, not because it is the only form 

 of language that is natural to one in his condition, but because his parents and friends neglect to 

 use the English language in his presence in a cleaily visible form. 



"4. («) The sign-language of our institutions is an artificial and conventional language derived 

 from pantomime. 



"(6) So far from being natural either to deaf or hearing persons, it is not understood by deaf 

 children on their entrance to an institution. Nor do hearing persons become sufficiently familiar 



*See Mr. Hutton's article "Upon the Practicability aud Advautages of Mimography," Americau Annals of the 

 Deaf anil Dumb, vol. xiv, pp. 157-182. 



t See American Annals of the Deaf ami Dumb, Vol. x, p. IIG. 



t See Bulletin Philos.)phical Society of Washington, D. C, October '27, ISri'-i; also American Auuals of the Deaf and 

 Dumb, January, 1884. 



