THE BLIND 3 o 3 



the "Incorporated Nationaj Lending Library." It now comprises between 15,000 and 

 16,000 volumes of general Literature in Braille and Moon, and over 3,000 pieces of music. 

 There is an Esperanto Section containing 221 volumes, as well as books in foreign languages. 

 About 1,300 volumes are added annually, most of them transcribed by some 500 voluntary 

 writers. During the last three years there has been a 20 per cent increase of individual 

 subscriptions, and periodical consignments of books are sent to 34 Public Libraries, and to 

 48 Institutions. The postage on embossed books has been reduced in the United Kingdom, 

 and the Postmaster General has promised to bring the matter of international reduction 

 before the next conference of Postal Authorities at Madrid. 



Between 1906 and 1908, seven Unions were formed of the existing Institutions, Societies, 

 and Agencies for the Blind, in England and Wales. The Unions undertake to promote the 

 general welfare of the blind, to enlist fresh sympathy on their behalf, and to befriend them in 

 every possible way, so that no blind person shall be left uncared for. An important feature 

 of their work has been the increased attention given to the prevention of blindness. 



Ophthalmia neonatorum has been added to the list of notifiable diseases, and notifica- 

 tion has been made compulsory in 29 metropolitan boroughs, 59 other boroughs, and 125 

 rural and urban districts a total of 213, representing a population of 11,469,652. It 

 is hoped that this notification will soon be compulsory throughout the United Kingdom. 

 In 1908 Dr. Walker of Liverpool instituted the plan, of at once removing the infant whose 

 eyes were affected and the mother to a hospital. In 2\ years time, out of 434 cases of 

 ophthalmia neonatorum that were treated, only seven became blind. In the potteries 

 district of Staffordshire, as soon as notice is given, a nurse is appointed to visit the infant 

 in the home. During nine months' experience, out of 75 cases, only 2 per cent became blind. 

 If like results follow in all the boroughs where notification is compulsory, the number 

 of blind children in the United Kingdom will rapidly decrease. 



United States. In America liberal provision has been made for many years for the 

 elementary and secondary training of every blind child; including schools for the 

 coloured, there are 45, and in some large cities the public schools have departments for 

 blind children. The efforts of the newly appointed state commissions have been 

 chiefly directed to registering the adult blind/and as far as possible providing employ- 

 ment for them. An active propaganda for the prevention of blindness has been started. 

 In December 1910 a National Association for the Conservation of Eyesight was founded. 

 Its aims are (i) the prevention of infantile blindness, (2) the prevention of blindness from 

 industrial and other accidents, and from disease, (3) the conservation of vision through 

 improved hygiene during school life and in industrial occupations. The presence at the 

 first Conference of leading ophthalmologists, physicians, social workers, statisticians, 

 representatives of civic and labour organisations, illuminating engineers, and representa- 

 tives of Institutions and Societies for the Blind, give proof of its wide practical useful- 

 ness. The Russell Sage Foundation has made an appropriation for this field of work, 

 and appointed an able secretary to organise committees throughout the United States. 

 In many public schools labels are posted irj all text-books giving directions for the care 

 of the eyes in reading. The Massachusetts legislature has passed a bill empowering the 

 State Board of Health to investigate industrial eye diseases, and to enforce the use of 

 safety devices. It will not be long before other state legislatures do likewise. 



The large city schools are removing to the country. The Pennsylvania School, 

 opened in Philadelphia in 1833, has new buildings at Overbrook, and its grounds com- 

 prise 21 acres. The Perkins Institution at Boston, famous for the long continuance of 

 Dr. S. G. Howe as its Director, has erected new buildings costing $1,019,000 in a 

 suburb of Boston, where 37 acres bordering on the Charles River were purchased. The 

 Maryland School has been moved from Baltimore to a : site in the country covering 92 

 acres. A new feature is the opening of homes for blind babies in Massachusetts, New 

 Jersey, New York and Arizona. 



Canada. In. Canada there are 3 schools, and a new one for the Protestant blind of the 

 .province of Quebec was opened in 1912. The building and grounds have cost $100,000, 

 and the money has been raised mainly by the efforts of Mr. Philip Layton, a graduate of 

 the Royal Normal College for the Blind, Upper Norwood, England. (F. J. CAMPBELL.) 



THE DEAF AND Duns 1 



The British Registrar General stated in October 1912 that the tabulation of statistics 

 relating to deaf and dumb persons, as returned at the 1911 census, would not be complet- 

 1 See E. B. vii, 880 et seq. 



