ON TEACHING THE DEAF AND DUMB TO SPEAK. 313 
ference. When you teach the afpirate of any letter by a 
fimple breathing, the organs being fomewhat fimilarly dif- 
pofed, he perhaps may {tumble upon another vocal or af- 
pirate: if fo, fhew him the letter he obtains by the error, 
as if you had no intention, in that inftance, to teach the 
letter in affinity with the laft; and let him repeat the found, 
whether vocal or afpirate, till he is perfe@tly acquainted 
with it, and the appropriated chara@er. You mutt then 
turn to another, taking care, that while he acquires, he 
does not forget, and let him often repeat them. When 
you have proceeded through the greateft part of the letters 
in this manner, and find that either the vowels or af- 
pirates which correfpond to each other are wanted, you 
muft take fuch as it would be proper to begin with, and 
I think that none would ferve better than v—f; j—f; z 
—s; p—s;in which, if the pupil be fenfible, he will foon 
difcover a connection, and will be induced to fearch for 
the fame affinities in the other letters, whether the lan- 
guage he learns contains them or not—It will be neceflary, 
according to the age and difpofition of the pupil, to ufe 
different methods of difpofing his organs; not only by 
letting him feel, how your tongue is raifed to the roof 
of your mouth, pufhed forward, depreffed, withdrawn, 
&c. but alfo to difpofe his, by your fingers, and have a 
looking glafs always prefent, to fhew him wherein he errs 
in not juftly imitating you; and alfo to let him fee when 
he is right in his efforts. This will teach him what is 
neceflary 
3dly, To know what others fay, when they converfe 
with, or afk him any queftion. This is the moft difficult 
in teaching the furd, becaufe moft of the letters are formed 
in the mouth and throat, out of fight; and here vifion alone 
obtains the meaning. The mirror, however, will facili- 
tate much the mode of learning what-others fay, by the 
VOL. II. Rr deaf 
