1017] on The Organs of Hearing in Relation to War 09 



calculated mainly on the degree of deafness. Complete deafness 

 ranks as the equivalent of the loss of one limb for pensioning purposes. 

 In our warrant it counts as To per cent of complete disablement, and 

 carries a minimum pension of nineteen shillings and sixpence a week. 



The assessment of the degree of dulness of hearing calls for tact, 

 judgment and sometimes ingenuity on the part of the examiner. 



Although the case of the deaf man is not so hard from the wage- 

 earning point of view as that of the blind one, it has some peculiarly 

 pifiahle aspects, and is often characterised by a degree of moroseness, 

 suspicion and depression from which the sightless soldier is singularly 

 free. Those who may understand his difficulties and needs, and who 

 may be in a position to help in removing them, would be doing a 

 truly humane act by taking up his case. 



Postscript. — The lecturer has (since the delivery of this lecture) 

 had the opportunity, of visiting various lip-reading classes for 

 soldiers in France, and of reporting on them. As President of the 

 Special Aural Board under the ]\Iinistry of Pensions, he has taken 

 a share in the establishment of lip-reading classes in London and 

 the various " pension areas" throughout the kingdom. (The earliest 

 established class was, however, the one conducted in Edinburgh by 

 Miss Stormonth.) The headquarters in London are located at 

 28 Park Crescent, where lip-reading classes are carried on daily, while 

 recreation and refreshment are also provided. In this way the fatigue 

 incident to the strain of attention during the class-hours is neutralised 

 to the utmost possible extent. Reports on the subject are found in 

 " Ptecalled to Life," No. o, and in the Reports on the Inter- Allied 

 Conference on the "Treatment and Training of the Disabled," 

 London, 1918. 



[D. G.] 



ANXUAL MEETING, 



Tuesday, May 1, 1017. 



The Duke of Northumberland, K.G. P.C. D.C.L. LL.D. F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. 



The Annual Report of the Committee of Visitors for the year 

 1916, testifying to the continued prosperity and efficient management 

 of the Institution, was read and adopted. 



Thirty-three new Meml)ers were elected in 1916. 



Sixty-two Lectures and Nineteen Evening Discourses were 

 delivered in 1016. 



H 2 



