197 



BLIND, ALPHABETS FOR THE. 



BLIND, CENSUS OF THE. 



198 



less bulky than those in the Roman type and consequently cheaper." 

 The statement received from Birmingham is similar to the above, " All 

 the pupils read on Lucas's system, it is much liked by them, and pre- 

 ferred to any other ; the value of a full orthography is understood, but 

 the bulk and expense are considered objectionable. The Roman type 

 is not generally considered readable." (Whether Alston's or the 

 American Roman type is here referred to is not stated.) The Exeter 

 school furnishes the following information. " Lucas's books are used 

 here, and with but one or two exceptions, all have been able to read 

 the scriptures. Our pupils have tried several systems. All of which 

 they could learn, but they find Lucas's the easier to read." " The 

 London Society for teaching the blind to read," situated in Avenue 

 Road, Regent's Park, has become the head-q uarters of Lucas's system. 

 This society has published the whole of the Bible, which is sold in 

 separate books or portions, the Liturgy, and several elementary works. 

 The system has been revised and improved under the superintendence 

 of the Rev. J. W. Gowring. Mr. Moon's printing establishment is at 

 Brighton, but it has agencies at work in London, Birmingham, Edin- 

 burgh, and many other places for the introduction of the books. 

 Moon's system has been well-received by the blind and extensively 

 adopted ; it is used in the schools of Brighton and Edinburgh. The 

 testimony of Thomas Campbell in the name of the inmates of the 

 asylum in the latter-mentioned city, speaks of Moon's books as 

 superior to all others ; his letter traces the efforts made in that asylum 

 with respect to Gall's, Alston's, the American, and Lucas's systems, 

 and his conclusions are entitled to consideration, for they are the 

 results of experience strongly supported by facts which are adduced. 

 He emphatically states " that Mr. Moon's system is not only the 

 best ever devised, but that it is the only one capable of imparting 

 lasting benefits to the working blind." In the various publications 

 advocating the use of this system great stress is laid on its adaptability 

 for the aged, the nervous, and the working blind those generally in 

 whom the sense of feeling is less than ordinarily acute. It is clear 

 that as a system it can afford to stand on its own merits, and that its 

 adherents need not depreciate other plans while they support its 

 peculiar claims to public favour. This observation is made with 

 reference to the disparaging remarks on other systems in Moon's 

 ' Blind Readers and their Books." Frere's publications are used in the 

 Liverpool asylum ; a society was also established at Blackheath some 

 yean ago for teaching the blind to read on Frere's system. 



The price of these comparatively expensive books is a consideration 

 which must not be lost sight of in any estimate of their respective 

 claims on public notice. In another part of this article it is stated 

 that a guinea was the sum proposed by Gall for a copy of the gospel 

 of St. John ; this, however, was the fancy price of an article new in 

 itself, and for which there was no known market. All this is changed, 

 as will be seen by a comparison of the prices annexed. The Gospel of 

 St. John is now charged 4a. in Lucas's stenographic character ; 4s. 6rf. 

 in Alston's Roman capitals : 8s. in Moon's arbitrary character. The 

 book of Genesis is 8s. in Lucas's; 10*. in Alston's; 21s. in Moon's. 

 The New Testament is charged 11. 16s. in Lucas's ; 2/. in Alston's ; 

 41. 17. in Moon's. The Old Testament, 8/. In. id. in Lucas's ; 7'. 15s. 

 in Alston's ; and 11?. 11s. in Moon's, without the books of Leviticus, 

 Numbers, and 2 Chronicles; the addition of these will make the 

 cost not less than 131. IQt. This discrepancy in price is very great, 

 and it is clear that Mr. Moon must reduce his prices to obtain that 

 favour which he doubtless desires. How strange it is, however, that 

 Alston's Old Testament in Roman capitals, without signs or contrac- 

 tions, can be had for less money than Lucas's with the aid of steno- 

 graphy and its very numerous contractions ! Does stenography 

 actually increase the bulk and expense of the books for the blind ! 

 The American books are much lower in price than any of the above ; 

 the letters are capitals and lower case, but so small that, in this 

 country, they are considered unreadable by the blind. We have 

 four systems in England, the Scriptures in each, besides many other 

 book*. And another character is projected. Mr. Littledale, himself 

 blind, and the present superintendent of the school at York, proposes 

 to bring out a "selected alphabet," made up of capitals and lower 

 caw letters, readable by any seeing instructor of a blind child ; his 

 strong impression being that the Roman character ought not to be 

 Mi atide for one less universally known, and that no stenographic, 

 or otherwise arbitrary alphabet, will meet the requirement"! of both 

 children and adults for reading, writing, and accounts. 



The writer of this article is not connected with any school for the 

 blind; ha does not wish to appear as a partisan of any system of 

 typography for them, he has endeavoured to set forth the excellences 

 and the defects of existing systems of printing, and to show the 

 reeulfc a* given by their respective advocates, while his wish is to 

 ee the superiority of a single system established, in order that the 

 united efforts of all who are now engaged on methods so diverse 

 m *7 be combined for the production of good and cheap books for 

 the blind. Enormous expenses have been incurred, chiefly by the 

 benevolent public, in the purchase of the numerous founts of type, 

 and in the establishment of several printing offices, where one would 

 have sufficed if unanimity had prevailed. Each system has its adhe- 

 rent*, but little good has been accomplished compared with such 

 results as would have arisen from unity of purpose and willing co-ope- 

 ration. There cannot be a remunerating sale for the books produced 



on all the different systems. Zeal and benevolence may commence a 

 good work of this nature, but it can only become an enduring benefit 

 on the commercial principle. When this principle cannot be applied, 

 zeal and benevolence will fail in providing heart-work and funds which 

 must be so largely wasted. It may be a hard thing for men to sacrifice 

 wishes long indulged and to forget objects for which they have lived 

 and striven, but if the interests of the community, or of a class, 

 require it, men of ardent and kindly feeling will not be backward in 

 making such sacrifices. A conference should be held, partly com- 

 posed of intelligent blind men, to ascertain whether it is possible to 

 unite all parties in the prosecution of one system of printing, or 

 whether all should persevere in a course which divides the friends of 

 the blind and injures their cause. There are men living who have 

 devoted years to the consideration of the question, and who would be 

 glad to consider it by the lights of science and experience. 



BLIND, CENSUS OF THE. In Great Britain and the islands of 

 the British seas (exclusive of Ireland), there were 21,487 totally blind 

 persons at the time of the last census 11,273 males and 10,214 females. 

 Previous to 1851, no account had been taken of the number of the 

 blind in Great Britain and Ireland, so that there are no means of ascer- 

 taining whether their number is increasing or decreasing relatively to 

 the population. The numbers above given furnish a proportion of 1 in 

 1*75 in Great Britain, 1 in 979 in England and Wales, 1 in 960 in Scot- 

 land, and 1 in 837 in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. These 

 proportions vary in different parts of the kingdom : in London the 

 proportion is 1 in 1025, and it is nearly the same in the north midland, 

 the south midland, the northern (including Yorkshire), and the south- 

 eastern divisions of the kingdom ; the west midland division presents 

 us with 1 in 906 ; the eastern, 1 in 888 ; Wales, 1 in 847 ; and the 

 south-western, 1 in 758 : while the north-western district shows only 

 1 in 1167; the southern counties of Scotland, 1 in 1065; and the 

 northern counties, 1 in 823. 



On comparing these results with those obtained in other countries, 

 we find that in the flat champaigns of Belgium, Hanover, portions of 

 Saxony, Prussia, and some other German states, and the plains of 

 Lombardy and Denmark, the proportion is 1 in 950 ; in the more ele- 

 vated portions of Saxony, Prussia, Wurtemburg, Nassau, the duchies 

 of Altenburg and Hesse, and aUo part of Brunswick, 1 in 1340; in 

 Alpine regions, and countries elevated from 2000 to 8000 feet above 

 the sea-level, as in some of the Swiss cantons, Sardinia, &c., 1 in 1500 ; 

 while in Norway, according to the returns made in 1845, the proportion 

 was 1 in 482. Thus the level portions of Europe present nearly the 

 same results as Britain, while there are certain discrepancies in the 

 above numbers which cannot at present be accounted for. 



It has been thought that blindness has been increased by many of 

 the employments followed in populous manufacturing towns; but it is 

 clear, from the census returns, that a much larger proportion of blind 

 persons is found in agricultural than in manufacturing and mining 

 counties. For example, in Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and 

 Somerset (south-western division), the average is 1 in 758 ; in Essex, 

 Suffolk, and Norfolk, 1 in 888 ; and in the northern counties of Scot- 

 land, which include the Highlands, 1 in 823 ; while the highest pro- 

 portion, namely, 1 in 665, is observed in Herefordshire. Contrasting 

 these averages with the following manufacturing or mining counties, 

 no unfavourable inference can be drawn as to the physical effects of 

 manufactures on the sense of sight : in the West Riding of Yorkshire 

 the blind are 1 in 1231 ; in Cheshire and Lancashire, 1 in 1167 ; in 

 Durham, 1 in 1163 ; hi Staffordshire, 1 in 1082. It should be remem- 

 bered, that the asylums and schools which have been established for 

 the reception and instruction of those deprived of sight are located in 

 the principal cities and towns. Where, however, the towns are large, 

 the number of inmates of these establishments only slightly affect the 

 proportion which the blind bear to the general population. In London 

 the proportion is 1 in 1025 ; in Manchester, 1 in 1107 ; in Liverpool, 

 1 in 999; in Birmingham, 1 in 1181. Conclusions unfavourable to the 

 rural districts should not however be deduced from a mere comparison 

 of the proportion of the blind to the population of all ages. Blindness 

 is a common infirmity of old age ; and an examination of the ages of 

 the blind shows that nearly one-half of the persons deprived of sight 

 are above 60 years of age. It follows, therefore, that in those localities 

 in which the largest numbers of old men and women are living, the 

 largest proportion of the blind will be found. In the great seats of 

 manufacturing industry the population generally is much younger than 

 in most of the agricultural counties where persons in large numbers, and 

 especially females, are living, in circumstances favourable to longevity, 

 at very advanced ages. Thus, in counties presenting the highest and 

 lowest proportions of blind persons, the influence of age is sufficiently 

 apparent. The proportion of population in Herefordshire aged 60 years 

 and upwards is 10 per cent., while the proportion of blind of the same 

 age is 61 per cent.. In Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset, 

 the proportion aged 60 years and upwards on the whole population is 

 9 per cent. ; on the blind it is 53 per cent. In Essex, Suffolk, and 

 Norfolk, only 8 per cent of the whole population attain 60 years and 

 upwards, while of the blind in the same locality, 50 per cent, attain 

 this age. In the northern counties of Scotland, 9 per cent, of the 

 population reach the advanced age specified; while of the blind, 54 per 

 cent, attain the age of 60 and upwards. These four geographical 

 are those in which the highest proportion of blind persons 



