BORN BLIND AND DEAF. 17 



a key, or any instrument that gave a sharp sound when struck 

 against his teeth. This would seem to indicate that the audito- 

 ry nerve was not altogether dormant 



" In 1808, and again in 1810, his father carried him to Lon- 

 don, where operations were performed upon his eyes by the 

 most eminent practitioners, with very little, or rather with no 

 (permanent) success * ; while an attempt that was made at the 

 same time, to give him the sense of hearing, by piercing the 

 tympanum, totally failed. 



" Such is the brief history of this poor lad : it remains now to 

 give some account of his appearance, behaviour, the feelings by 

 which he seems to be actuated, the manner in which he con- 

 veys his desires, and the methods by which he is managed. 



" 1. His countenance, notwithstanding his unfortunate de- 

 fects, does by no means indicate fatuity ; nay, the lineaments 

 of thought are very observable upon it. His features at times, 

 (in church, for instance, and during the time of family prayer), 

 are perfectly composed and sedate ; when sensible of the pre- 

 sence 



* That one of these operations was attended with considerable success in the 

 first instance, appears not only from the extracts already copied from Mr War- 

 drop's narrative, but from the following passage in a letter to that gentleman 

 from the Reverend Mr Mitchell. This letter is dated 5th October 1810, 

 about a month after Mr Mitchell and his son had left London, to return home 

 by sea. 



" James seemed much amused with the shipping in the River, and tiU we 

 passed Yarmouth Roads. During the rest of the passage, we were so far out at 

 sea, that there was little to attract his notice, except the objects around him on 

 deck 



His eye is now pretty free of the redness it had when he left town, and the 

 cataract in the same moveable state, sometimes covering more and sometimes 

 less of the pupil. Though his sight is not much increased since we left London, 

 yet I am perfectly satisfied that what he has got is of essential service." 



V0L.VIL c 



