1853.] OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 293 
and dumb person, in the workhouse at Rotherhithe, one at Bath, 
two at Lausanne, &c. 
There is a similar case at Bruges under the care of that great 
friend to the blind, the Abbé Carton. When seen by the Lecturer, 
she was about twenty-two years of age, had been in the school not 
a year, and yet had learned to knit even fancy work although 
she had only three senses remaining. He gave her the letter 
O, embossed on a bit of card; she shewed that she knew it by 
making her mouth circular and drawing her finger round it. 
Other letters were variously designated. When she wanted coffee 
she imitated the grinding of it by turning her hand as if she had 
the mill. The Lecturer wished to see her knit. She objected to 
that as it was a saint’s day, which she denoted by shewing that 
she had her best clothes on, but intimated that if he would come 
on the morrow, (which she signified by laying her head on her 
hand, as if on a pillow) she would knit for him, &c. &c. 
In the school at St. John’s Wood there is a blind and deaf man 
who as yet retains his speech. He knows when the master comes 
into the room either by feeling the jar of his step or by his sense of 
smell. Communications are made to him by writing with the 
finger on his hand or back, and he very readily comprehends them. 
Here is a proof of the advantage of employing the common alphabet ; 
for had he learned an arbitrary character very few could hold 
intercourse with him. 
“Instructors of the blind should be strictly moral and heartily 
inclined, irrespective of trouble or reward, to promote the welfare of 
their pupils: they should have a fondness for children and for 
teaching — they should possess mildness, patience, kindness, sym- 
pathy, tranquillity, and perseverance, with a spirit of order and 
regularity. These are the moral principles or qualities to be desired 
in those who undertake the education of the blind. On the other 
hand they should have moderate learning, talent to impart it, and a 
certain acquaintance with the various branches of knowledge ; for 
as their pupils cannot refer to books, the teacher must be everything 
to them.—It is easy to imagine that an educated blind person would be 
the best teacher of the blind, in such things as require a peculiar 
mode of treatment, especially in mechanical operations.” (Klein.) 
The Lecturer then explained some of the many ingenious contri- 
vances used in teaching the blind. The first was a board of cork 
with a few pins and a string, which he considers very useful. The 
pins are stuck into the cork at the angles of any straight- 
lined diagram and the string passed round them, forming a figure 
which the blind can readily feel. If circles are wanted they may be 
made of wire or cut in pasteboard, &c. 
The next was a mariner’s compass without the glass, in order 
that the blind may feel the needle. After it has stood long enough to 
take its proper direction, it is fixed in that position by a small lever 
