439 



DEAF AND DUMB, EDUCATION OF THE 



DEAF AND DUMB, EDUCATION OF THE. 



430 



expected from the theories they advocate ; in conversation even witl 

 their most advanced pupils, " they employ a large number of sign 

 for individual words, and not merely substantives and verbs, bu 



even adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions About one-third o 



the most advanced class, with the aid of the signs employed by the 

 teacher, and the frequent repetition made use of, appear to under 

 stand the most of what the instructor says ; another third appear tc 

 lose a considerable part, while the remainder only seize the mos 

 common words, and are obviously much of the time at a loss as to 

 what is going on." 



No deaf-mute in Germany would be able to take part in th 

 miscellaneous conversation of a social circle. One of the German 

 teachers informed Mr. Day that on becoming associated with Haber 

 maas as an instructor at Berlin, he early took occasion to say, " You 

 speak too fast, in order for me to understand you ; you must speak 

 slowly, and endeavour to make the form of the letters as much as 

 possible on your lips." Partly from the too great rapidity, anc 

 partly from the "distance also, it would be impossible for a deaf 

 mute to understand a public speaker. Even Habermaas was unable to 

 understand what was said from the pulpit. The power of reading 

 on the lips, although of course very limited, is available to those 

 who possess it under the following circumstances : First, there must 

 be a sufficient degree of lit/hi. One of the German teachers apologisec 

 for the mistakes made by a pupil by observing that it was twilight 

 and she could not readily see the motions of the lips. Secondly, it is 

 generally necessary for the deaf-mute to have a full view of the 

 mouth of the person speaking. In some cases, pupils succeed in 

 reading from the lips of the teacher with only a side view. Thirdly 

 the deaf-mute must be near the person speaking ; some can read on 

 the lips of their own teachers at the distance of ten and even fifteen 

 feet ; usually, however, five feet may be considered the maximum 

 and many are obliged to be as near as two or three feet. Some 

 teachers are accustomed to make such contortions of the face, in 

 exhibiting the tongue, teeth, and lips, as to render it unpleasant to 

 look at them; others, on the contrary, affirm that these unnatural 

 motions of the mouth are unnecessary, and appear to succeed as well 

 in making themselves understood as the former. 



With regard to the influence of articulation on health no statistics 

 had been collected ; some teachers contented themselves with observing 

 that they could not say they had seen any injurious consequences, 

 while others admitted that if, in some cases, it had a tendency to 

 strengthen, in others it had a tendency to irritate the lungs, and that 

 no argument in favour of articulation could be drawn from its 

 sanitary effects. Frequently, in witnessing the intense, often amount- 

 ing to nearly spasmodic, efforts, made by deaf and dumb children 

 in producing vocal sounds, I have felt sure that no parent or physician 

 would be willing to have the lungs of a child or patient, suspected of 

 being inclined to disease, exposed to such a trial. Even the advocates 

 for articulation have their apprehensions, and thus express themselves : 

 " At the outset, caution must be exercised not to cultivate readiness 



in xpeaking, at the expense of the health and life of the pupils 



\Viien instruction in articulation is commenced at a Uter period 

 (than three or four years of age) gi-eat prudence is necessary that the 

 organs unexercised. and therefore weak, be not too much strained." 

 Of the 92 actual or dismissed pupils in four schools, who are known 

 to have died, 39 perished of consumption. Of the 20 deceased pupils 

 of the Leipzig institution up to 1838, 17 were reported as having 

 died of diseases of the lungs. The distinguished and amiable deaf- 

 mute teacher at Leipzig, Karl Wilhelm Teuscher, who during the 

 fifteen years of his connection with the institution was regarded with 

 pride as a testimony of what could be done for the deaf and dumb, 

 died, it could not be concealed, in consequence of a lung disease, in- 

 duced chiefly by exertions in instructing his pupils to speak. Was 

 such a fact ever recorded of a teacher who could hear ? 



Mr. Day selected a number of cases of young men who were 

 engaged in business, in order to ascertain the extent to which articula- 

 tion was useful to them in the ordinary affairs of life. The first, a 

 compositor in a printing-office, who had been one of the head scholars, 

 could be communicated with ri'vtf race, in simple words and phrases, 

 but the foreman and journeymen would never think of holding a long 

 conversation with him as with other men ; a cabinet-maker who had 

 left the school four years was similarly reported of; a silversmith was 

 a somewhat better example, but he made unpleasant distortions in 

 xpeaking ; another boy, who was met in the street, was conversing 

 with his fellow-apprentice by signs, not In/ the voice ; an older sister of 

 the last, was reported of as deriving very little advantage from her 

 articulation ; and in the family of these two, conversation was carried 

 on by pantomimic signs. A young man who had been ten years at 

 school could not understand his employer nor the head clerk, nor 

 ">uM they understand him except by writing; and these were the 

 usual reports in all the cases examined. An eminent clergyman ob- 

 served, " What is truly valuable in the instruction of our deaf and 

 dumb, is the ability to read and write they acquire. Their ability to 

 speak and read on the lips is trifling, and of very little value." 



The only point remaining to be mentioned refers to the comparative 

 difficulties the German and English languages present in the teaching 

 of articulation. It is demonstrable that less favourable results would 

 ririne m our language than in some others. The German, the Italian, 



and the Spanish, are all favourable, being pronounced with slight 

 exceptions as they are written. In languages on the contrary, such 

 as the English and the French, iu which the connection between 

 the orthography and the pronunciation is irregular and varying, less 

 assistance of this kind can be derived. In English, many of the 

 letters have so many different'sounds, and many too are so silent, that 

 the written word would be a source of perplexity in its pronunciation, 

 which is not the case in the German language. Mr. Day's conclusion 

 is given as follows : as a regular fart of a system of public education, 

 its introduction into our institutions I am persuaded would be a serious 

 misfortune to the cause of deaf and dumb instruction. The schools 

 visited by Mr. Day were those of Riehen and Zurich, in Switzerland ; 

 Tubingen and Gmiind, in Wurtemberg ; Pforzheim, in Baden ; 

 Frankfort on the Maine, Bremen, and Hamburg ; Cologne, Miinster, 

 Halberstadt, Halle, Weissenfels, Erfurt, and Berlin, iu Prussia ; 

 Leipsig and Dresden, in Saxony; Weimar and Eisenach, in Weimar ; 

 and that of Brunswick. There are several particulars in Mr. Day's 

 report which have not been touched upon here, such as the general 

 knowledge and acquirements of the German pupils compared with 

 others, their religious training, the great expense attending the articu- 

 lation course of instruction, from the greater number of instructors 

 required, the loss of time involved in a mechanical acquisition, and 

 consequently the less progress made by the pupils in any definite 

 time. All these are subjects which should enter into the considera- 

 tion of those whose province it is to conduct or direct the education of 

 the deaf and dumb. 



The period prescribed for instruction in the public institutions for 

 the deaf and dumb varies in different countries ; in few cases is it 

 so short as in England : in nearly all the Continental institutions of 

 celebrity it is considerably longer. With us only five years in most 

 instances are allowed for the education of pupils, who are wholly or 

 partially sustained by the funds contributed for their support. Through- 

 out France, Switzerland, Wurtemberg, Sweden, and Poland, the pupils 

 are permitted to continue six years. At the institution of Groningen, 

 at those of Copenhagen and Sleswig, the pupils remain seven or eight 

 years ; at Vienna from six to eight years ; at Berlin they continue from 

 six to nine years ; and at Leipzig for a like period. Should no other 

 modification of the institutions of Great Britain take place with regard 

 to the duration of a pupil's continuance in them, it would be well if 

 some provision were made to enable pupila of superior talent, and 

 those intended for the more liberal arts and trades, to continue under 

 special instruction, to qualify them for their future business, for a 

 longer period than those who need no such preparation. Nearly every 

 boy may learn to make shoes, to hew wood, and to draw water ; but 

 it requires a peculiar training to form artists, engravers, clerks, carvers, 

 modellers, and superior mechanics arts in which there is nothing to 

 prevent the deaf and dumb from excelling. 



The subjects on which instruction is imparted must necessarily vary 

 with the length of time given to education. The following plan of a 

 course of instruction cannot be satisfactorily accomplished in less than 

 six years ; it is, however, an approximation to what is attempted in 

 some of the British institutions. Still, it must be clear to every 

 one that the educational results attainable in a limited number of years 

 must depend greatly on the age of a pupil at admission. A term of 

 six years, from eight to fourteen, would produce very inferior results 

 to a term from ten to sixteen years of age. We have already noticed 

 the instruments of teaching, and shall proceed to mention the matter 

 of instruction and its division with regard to time, which is assumed 

 to be pretty nearly what is actually accomplished. With regard to a 

 sixth year, were our institutions so modified as to enable the pupils to 

 be kept for such additional time, it would generally be devoted to con- 

 firming the pupils in their previous acquirements, to a repetition of 

 subjects of more than common interest, and to special instruction, 

 according to the dispositions and endowments of the pupils, connected 

 with their future destination. In short, it should in every way be 

 made a retrospective year as regards their school acquirements, and 

 prospective as to their future interests. 

 The subjects for instruction are : 

 Language, including nomenclature and syntax. 



Writing, as an acquirement and a means towards higher attainments. 

 Reading, by dactylology and by the eye. 

 Religion and morals, preceptal and applied. 

 Geometry and mechanical drawing. 

 Geography, physical and political. 

 Arithmetic, elementary and applied. 

 Drawing, as an art and in connection with design. 

 History, ancient (from the Old Testament). 



History, modern (of England especially, and exemplary biography). 

 History, natural (animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms). 

 Physics (properties of natural bodies, astronomy, mechanics, chem- 

 stry, &c). 



Composition (to induce the ready use and application of language). 



The Pint Year would be generally devoted to instruction in language 



>y means of natural signs, dactylology, and writing. Instruction in 



lumbers and their combinations by sensible objects, by manual notation 



DACTYLOLOGY], by figures, and by words. Occasional instruction in 



moral and religious duties by signs. 



Second Year. Instruction in language, continued by the same instru- 



