92 SEVENTH REPORT—1837 : 
Again, there are many persons who lose their sight after having 
learned the common form of letters ; and they have little diffi- 
culty in recognising them by the touch, but would be discouraged 
by a new character*.”’ 
The Doctor, after stating some cases of bedridden persons, and 
persons of weak sight though not blind, reading the raised type 
with their fingers, goes on to say: ‘‘ We have about fifty in this 
institution who are of the age for instruction, and forty of them 
can read; twenty can read very fast, and will run through a 
chapter of the Testament in just the time it takes a seeing per- 
son to read twice the quantity,-observing all the stops. Some 
of our children at the age of six can read. 
«<* * * * * The elevation of the letters, the hardness and du- 
rability of the impression, the strength of the paper, the method 
of binding, all these are to be considered, experimented upon, 
and greatly improved. It is a wide and interesting field, and 
right glad am I that labourers have entered into it in England ; 
and I wish only that they may work with one common plan. 
I believe much more printing has been done for the blind in this 
Institution than in all England * * * having obtained the sanction 
of the American and Massachusetts Bible Societies, the Ame- 
rican Tract Society, &c. I have printed an abridgement of Mur- 
ray’s Grammar, a Spelling Book, a Hymn Book, The Dairy- 
man’s Daughter, Baxter’s Call, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Child’s 
First Book, second ditto, and last, not least, the entire New 
Testament ! 
“T have now in the press a Geography, and shall continue as 
long as I have health and the means to operate with. 
** With regard to any funds to be applied by your Society, I 
would earnestly recommend, and in the name of the blind im- 
plore, that they may be upon works which have not yet been 
printed for them, or which they cannot obtain for a long time. 
Their hooks must be few and the same work should not be print- 
edin different places, but different books, so that exchanges may 
be made; for instance, if you could send us fifty copies of the 
Psalms or* * *,we could send you fifty of the Acts or the Evan- 
gelists * * *, We should like very much to print an edition of 
the Psalms of David, say five hundred copies, for the use of the 
blind of England and of this country : the expense would pro- 
bably be from 225/. to 250/. if done up in the best and most du- 
rable stylet. Perhaps it would be more extensively useful to print 
them on our medium type, that is a size between the large type 
* This is much against the use of arbitrary alphabets. 
+ The Committee have voted 150/. and are to receive fifty or a hundred 
copies. 
