The Savage of A'veyron. 9^5 



a cleanlincfs in it to which he had been before a ftranger : 

 his clioice was direfted bv the fmell. 



The eye of this child was wild and wandering : he faw, 

 without doubt, but he never dwelt on the objecL The loudcil 

 noifes appeared fcarccly to ftrike his ear; a piOol fliot would 

 not make him turn his head. Superficial obfervers would 

 have concluded that he was deaf; but C. Ytard was aware 

 that, even when the fenfc is perfeft, no perception is pro- 

 duced unlefs the mind is attentive; and he was not a(to- 

 Uilhed that the violence of this found made no imprcffion on 

 a being whom it could not intereit. He found a new proof 

 of the juftnefs of his obfervation in the attention which his 

 pupil bellowed on the fniallell found w-hich could intercft 

 him, fuch as the cracking of a nut, or the turning of a kev. 



In the mean time new habits were formed in the boy ; a 

 number of ijew neceflitics arofe; food, drefs, reft, and walk- 

 ing out, were fo many new means of augmenting his depcnd- 

 ance. Finding hinifelf under the neceffity of availing him- 

 felf of thofe about him, he has begun to feel the force of 

 Hioral affeiSlions, and has conceived a particular attachment 

 to his govcrnefs. His ideas have been multiplied and con- 

 nedled; fome efforts have been made to amufe him, and it 

 is contrived to unite inftruclion with amufement. He has 

 been exercifed at comparifons; they have accuftomed him 

 to compare objefts with their images, and in thefe compa- 

 rifons he has only been conftraincd'to ufe the united powers 

 of judgment and of memory. C. Ytard thought this a fa- 

 vourable moment to teach him our written characlers, and 

 he made ule of the method employed in the inftruclion of 

 the deaf and dunib ; he wrote the name of the obje^ft on the 

 image, and then, by effacing the image, he hoped that the 

 nanie would remain conneiSfcd with the remembrance of ihe 

 obje6l; but this method proved unfuccefsful. Then other 

 means were ufed, wdiich are detailed in C. Ytard's publica- 

 tion, the cfiedt of which was^ as happy as could be hoped* 

 The boy now diftinguifhes the chara6lers of the alphabet, and 

 places them in their oider; he pronounces the words lait, 

 faupe (not foup), in the common tone, and then brings the 

 proper letters, and forms thefe words. In this manner, he 

 every day acquires a new word; he already begins to emergti 

 from his ignorance; he has entered on the territory of reafon; 

 he is in polfeflJon of fomc of our terms of fpeech, and will 

 foon be cnabLd to give us fome infoimation refpefting his 

 early condition ; a fubjed which, of all others, muft be molt 

 intcrefting to cuiiolitv. 



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