IB;-, 



DUMB AND DEAF. 



I....:. 



Familiar 

 object. 







Engraringt 

 to be tiled. 



Explana- 

 tion of Ge- 



to pronounce it ; hf is then hcwn the object named, 

 mid made to point to it, while bepftnoanCM the name; 

 till he remember* tlie connection between the tutmc and 

 tin- thine sufficiently, to point out the object when 

 i the name, or to pronounce and write the name 

 when .shewn the object. From the parts of the body, 

 we proceed to tlii- cox (ring of it, and learn the names 

 of the articles- of dress, in the same manner. We tln-n 

 leant the names of the next mo ' familiar objects ; such 

 as articles of furniture, chair, table, \c. always taking 

 care to make perfect as we go on, and frequently going 

 over all we have learnt, till every word becomes fa- 

 miliar in its articulation, orthography, and meaning. 



Hitherto all is very easy. The objects, of which 

 we have been learning the names, are within our reach, 

 and about us in our apartment. But we are not al- 

 ways so confined ; and we can hardly take a tep beyond 

 ihe threshold of our room, till we meet with something 

 that we know very well by Right, but cannot name. 

 We cannot remove it to our apartment to learn its 

 name there ; nor can we very conveniently carry our 

 writing tablets with us, on all occasions. 



Here another art, that speaks to the ri/e, comes to 

 our aid : and the tool of the engraver, by furnishing us, 

 in small compass, with the lines that bound the visual 

 appearances of objects, in perspective order, enables us 

 to Keep their resemblances at hand ; association recal- 

 ling those properties which manifest themselves to our 

 other senses. 



With this view, Dr Watson has had executed, for the 

 use of his pupils, a series of engravings, representing, 

 with all the requisite accuracy, upwards of O'OO diffe- 

 rent objects. These are all comprehended in SO octa- 

 vo pages, and annexed to his work, which we have al- 

 ready so often quoted. The selection has been made. 

 with very great judgment, and cannot fail to be of the 

 utmost use in the education of the Deaf and Dumb. 



These engravings are accompanied with a printed 

 vocabulary, consisting of the names of all the objects 

 which the engravings represent, and also of all those 

 words which are explained in the earlier lessons, before 

 the engravings are nad recourse to. This vocabulary 

 is arranged in such a manner as to serve another very 

 important purpose, namely, the explanation of a con- 

 siderable number of general or generic terms. It is 

 classified or divided into sections : at the top of each 

 election is written, in larger characters, a general term ; 

 and under this are placed the names of various objects, 

 to which this term is applicable : Thus, 



FISH. 



METAL. 



Gold. Lead. 



Silver. Iron. 



Copper. Tin, &c. 



According to thin simple and most obvious method, 



may all general terms be explninrd. \\V m-ominriid, Pumbtni 

 however, to I)r Watson, that he i-hoidd revi-e h;.s vo- 

 cabulary for this purpose. It M-enis to u.- SUM < ptihle """"" 

 of considerable improvement. The generic names are 

 not philosophically chosen, and the illustration!* of tin in 

 often not strictly accurate. 



After having made the pupil familiar with this ex- or Adjce- 

 tensive catalogue of particular and general word-, \\ . 

 should be disposed to deviate a little t'rom the plan re- 

 commended by this author, and to explain next to the 

 scholar as many of those words which grammarians 

 call adjectives, as can conveniently be illustrated by 

 example: And when he has been sufficiently exercised 

 in these, it seems to us, that we ought then to proceed 

 to instruct him gradually in all the remaining kinds of 

 words together ; in verbs, and admrbs, and prejiui- 

 tions, \c. all in connection. For this purpose, we ought 

 to begin with the illustration of short and simple sen- 

 tences, and proceed by degrees to such as are longer 

 and more complicated. Considerable assistance, we be- 

 lieve, may be derived at the commencement from the 

 engravings by Dr Watson already referred to ; for ma- 

 ny of these do not merely represent single and insula- 

 ted objects, but objects in various relations to other ob- 

 jects, sometimes acting, sometimes acted upon ; conse- 

 quently, they are applicable to a variety of illustrations. 

 All the Plates, from Plate 4. to Plate 23. inclusive, 

 of his work, seem very well adapted to this end. We 

 know- not whether the intelligent author has ever ap- 

 plied them in this manner. 



But in the more advanced stages, it will be found, The use 

 that our illustrations must be derived entirely either bo made of 

 from actual examples, or from the language of natural Natural 

 si^i.s. Dr Watson strongly inculcates the propriety of Sl 8 B *' 

 the teacher's learning this natural language from the 

 Deaf and Dumb themselves ; and the application which 

 he afterwards directs should be made of it to the pur- 

 poses of their own instruction, seems to us exceedingly 

 judicious. " Every one," says he, ' who would un- 

 dertake the arduous task of successfully teaching the 

 Deaf and Dumb, should closely turn his attention to 

 the study of that language termed tittlural, where it 

 consists of gesture and feature, in order to enable 

 him to comprehend, as far as possible, the signs of his 

 scholars. Of how much importance it is to a teacher 

 of the Deaf and Dumb to understand their signs, 

 will readily be apprehended, if any one will attempt 

 either to teach or to learn a language, without having 

 another, common to master and scholar. As if, for in- 

 stance, an Englishman, understanding no language but 

 his own, should attempt to teach it to a German, or 

 vice versa. But never let any thing so chimerical be 

 thought of, as an attempt to turn master to the Di-af 

 and Dumb, in the art of signing. Wliattver others may 

 say, I own, I have always found it bet to become, in 

 some measure, a learner, instead of teacher, of this 

 mode of expression." " How much more- fanciful and 

 useless." he afterwards remarks. ( having just supposed 

 a European endeavouring to Dew-model the scanty vo- 

 cabulary of a South Sea islander) " how much more 

 fanciful and useless, is an attempt to met!,odi/.e signs 

 for the instruction of the I u-af and I mini) ! Would it 

 not be a more natural and rational mode of priH-cdurc 

 for the teacher to begin, by watching the objects and 

 occasions to which l,i pplini n-.e words of his, 



barbarous speech ; that by knowing these he n.iglit gra- 

 dually substitute the words of the language to be taught, 

 using the Jormer only as an introduction to the latter ? 

 3 



