192 



DUMB AND DEAF. 



Ke'mont'i 



Book. 



Irish ; or like a printer of Greek or A IK. knows 



iH-it'icr the Hiuiul nor signification of what he print- 

 ctli." 



lie conclusion of the letter, lie mentions the pro- 

 gress he hail already made, which he pronounce- to 

 dcd his expectations. His pupil had been 

 with him only about two months ; :md yet in that short 

 time he had got over the gre :te-t difficulties of Ixith de- 

 .lents; there was hardly any word which (with 

 deliberation) he could not pronounce ; mid lie had al- 

 learncd the meaning of n considerable part of 

 those English words which ;irc in most frequent use. 



About thirty-six years after this, a letter of l)r Wal- 

 lis'g was printed in the Philosophical Transactions, 

 (Phil. TIUHI. HJ98, p. 353.) in reply to one from Mr 

 Thomas Beverly, in which that gentleman had request- 

 ed his advice, relative to the education of five Deaf and 

 Dumb children. In this letter Dr Wallis mentions, 

 that, four or five-and-thirty years before, he had taught 

 Mr Alexander Popham, who had been born Deaf, to 

 speak distinctly, and to understand a Language so as 

 to express his mind tolerably well by writing, and to 

 understand wliat was written to him by others Prior 

 to this, too, he states his having taught Mr Daniel 

 M linlcy ; the -.:me gMtbam, we presume, whose edu- 

 cation he hail just entered iijxjn, when he wrote to Mr 

 Boyle in 1662. " Some other Deaf persons," he also 

 adds, " I have not attempted teaching them to speak ; 

 but only so as (in good measure) to understand a lan- 

 guage, and to express their mind (tolerably well) in 

 writing. Who have thereby attained a much greater 

 measureof knowledge in many things, than was thought 

 attainable to persons in their circumstances; and be- 

 come capable (upon further improvement) of such fur- 

 ther knowledge as is attainable by reading." 



After stating shortly the mode of proceeding in 

 teaching the Dumb to sjwak, and referring to his Tren- 

 tise de Loquela, with that view, he observes : " TJlis is, 

 indeed, the shorter work of the two, (however looked 

 upon as the more stupendous.) But this, without the 

 other, would be of little use. For, to pronounce words- 

 only ns a parrot, without knowing what they signify, 

 would do us but little service. The other part of the 

 work (to teach a Language) is what you now enquire 

 alxjut.'' He then goe- on to detail the method he had 

 followed in this department with success, and which 

 reflect-- equal credit on his ncuteness and good sense. 



In the PkXotOpMcal Tranisucti'i* for .January 1-id'S, 

 p. (502, there is an account of a small Tract which was 

 published the preceding year, both in Latin and Ger- 

 man, by F. M. B. V. Helmont, entitled Alphub-lum 

 Nuliixe. In the first dialogue of the first part, the au- 

 thor is said to treat " of the motions and configura- 

 tions of the mouth of man ; and how a man bom D <f. 

 and consequently Dumb, may come to understand, both 

 them, and by them, the mind of him that forms them ; 

 where it is observed, that a man lx>rn I)eat'is not alto- 

 gctl.'T 'ic-tituc of all motion of his tongue, and that he 

 may he taught to understand others by the motions of 

 the mouth and tongue, much after the manner as others 

 are taught to read. To which i annexed, a im t' .. I 

 suitable to that principle, of teaching Dc-ifand Dumb 

 men to speak ; together with an example of a musician, 

 who l>eing altogether Deaf, and weak-sighted withal, 

 was, by the author, brought so far in the space of three 

 weeks, that he waa able to answer to all that was spo- 

 ken to him, provided it were done slowly, and with a 

 well opened mouth ; who also after \< ard's by himself, 

 ds coon as he had by this very way learned to know the 



Dumb M 

 Deaf. 



letter-, and to read, did, by confronting only th. 

 man and Hebrew liible-, learn in n short tint the He- ^ 

 brew tongue so well, that now he under-: .i.d- the ""V 

 whole Hebrew liible." 



The subjects of the remaining parts of this work, all 

 relate to Speech or Language; but they seem to be 

 treated in a very whimsical manner. 



In Hili'i. Dr 1 lolilcr published his I-'.U'nif;>ls of Speech, Dr Ilolde 

 ni'/t an Appendix ciinci-rnm^ /ifi -u>i.\ D<-<il' and Dumb. 

 The appendix contain- an account of the metluxl he 

 employ ed in the education of a Deaf and Dumb per- 

 son, who was recommended to his care in . M.".*!, and 

 whom he taught successfully to speak. The whole- 

 work is rather tedious and obscure. 



The translator of De L'Kpie's M,-llnt-l. ( I'rrf. p. vii.) George 

 refers to a work printed in 1(>7<', entitled a Treat isf siUcoce. 

 ciiiicetning those that are Horn Dif an/ Dumb; and 

 bearing the name of George Sibscote, as its author. It 

 is said to treat of die tuition of the Deaf and Dumb, 

 rather in a loose and general manner, as a subject of 

 speculative enquiry ; but we have never seen it 



The next work, in point of date, relative to this sub- 

 ject, is a small treatise by George Dalgarno, published 

 at Oxford in Ifi'so, under the following title : Diiias- 

 calocopliu.t, or the Deaf and Du\nb Man I'utor, I*, n-fncft 

 is added, a Di.vccjw.sr nf the ntilnre and ntiin 

 Diiilile C'onso/iaiitt: Bo'h winch Tracts bein^ the /irtt 

 (for what the Author hunts) that have been published 

 upon cither of the Subjects. 



This treatise is purely speculative. The author docs 

 not profess to have actually taught the Deaf and 

 Dumb ; he only points out their capability of being in- 

 structed, and lay- dcr.vn the general principles accord- 

 ing to which he concci\cs that their l'.diic.ition ought 

 to be conducted. It is obvious, however, not only from 

 the title-page, but also from the whole tenor of his 

 treatise, tli,:t he' \\a- altogether ignorant of the sin 

 fill labours of Wallis, and Holder, and the other au- 

 thors, to whom we have referred, as preceding him in 

 this department ; a circumstance for which it is not 

 'o account, when we consider that he had lived 

 at Oxford for upwards of twenty years prior to the pub- 

 lication of his book. 



The only media, he conceives, by which instruction 

 can be effectually conveyed to the Deaf and Dumb, or 

 by which they can be ciinblcd to communicate their 

 thoughts to others, are Writing and Manu.il speech. He 

 ..i doubt that a De..f Man may be taught to speak 

 7v>c//y; but he seems to think th.it this sort of speech 

 w II always be so imperfect in him, that it is not worth 

 his acquiring. As to such a person's being able, by 

 the eye, to understand the speech of others, he endea- 

 vours to prove that that is impossible, by an argument 

 a posteriori, as he calls it, delivered in the regular form 

 of Syllogism. 



In consequence of these false views, his attention 

 seems to have Ix-en chiefly directed to the improve- 

 ment of the department of Diictylr>li>i>y; and after much 

 search and many changes, he fixes on a Finger-. \lphalx-t 

 performed with one hand, which he regards as a very 

 ini|x>rtant discovery and which he dcscnlx-s minutely 

 in his eighth Chapter. 



The parts of his treatise, however, which appear to 

 US to possess most merit, are those he entitles the 

 Dm!' Man's Diliimary, and the (irammar for Deaf 

 Pertont The general principles according to which 

 he proposes, in these, that the Deaf and Dumb should 

 be instructed in the Mi-imitii: '// lVur,Li, are quite cor- 

 rect; and accord completely with those which Walli- 



