BORN BLIND AND DEAF. tl7 



the points of his fingers ; then applies -it to his mouth, and in- 

 sinuates his tongue into all its inequalities, thus using it as an 

 organ of Touch as well as Taste ; and, lastly, if it is a body 

 that admits of it, he rattles it between his teeth. All this is 

 done with singular rapidity. In fact, he loses but little time, 

 in discovering, by the actual use of his organs of touch, taste, 

 and smell, those qualities of bodies which we are content to in- 

 fer from their visible appearance alone. 



His sense of smell is unquestionably extremely acute. But 

 I have not been able to learn any fact which could lead me to 

 believe, that he could, in a room at least, discover a person by 

 this sense alone, at the distance of twelve feet. It has been 

 said, that he could follow the footsteps of another person for 

 two miles, guided merely by smelling. But his sister assures 

 me, that there is no foundation for this report. As to a power 

 of determining the direction of an object, by some distinct qua- 

 lity in its odour, like that quality in sound by which we disco- 

 ver the direction of a sounding body, I could not perceive that 

 he enjoyed any such power more than other persons. Indeed 

 it is not likely that his faculties should differ in kind from our 

 own, however much they may in number and degree *. 



Since his sight has begun to improve, his excursions have be- 

 come bolder and more extensive. He has sometimes wandered 



upwards 



* Hie Adolescens, annum nunc agens xviii, et optima semper usus valetudine, 

 vegetus est, et admodum robustus : quin et solita setate pubescere visus est, par- 

 tibus genitalibus ut in viris se habentibus ; neque dubitari potest quin brevi fu- 

 turus sit ivrru'/oi,, labiis et mento densa jam inumbratis lanugine. Curiose autem 

 percontanti famuli et amici (masculini scilicet sexiis, quos solos de his rebus in- 

 terrogare fas erat) omnes mihi testabantur nihil se observasse, unde colligerent 

 ilium Veneris stimulum unquam sensisse, vel differentiae sexus notionem ha- 

 bulsse. 



12 



