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518 



The String-Alphabet. 



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through the medium of a language addressed to tho touch, 

 there are some that would doubtless he more expeditious 

 than theirs ; hut they flatter themselves that, when all the 

 advantages and disadvantages of each particular method 

 are duly considered, the plan which they have been led to 

 adopt will appear, upon the whole, decidedly the best. There 

 (MM scarcely be any system of tangible signs, which it would 

 be less difficult either to learn or to remember; since a 

 person of ordinary intellect may easily acquire a thorough 

 knowledge of the string- alphabet in an hour and retain it 

 for ever. Yet the inventors can assure their renders that 

 it is impossible for the pen or the press to convey ideas 

 with greater precision. Besides the highly important pro- 

 perties of simplicity and accuracy which their scheme 

 unites, and in which it has not been surpassed, it possesses 

 various minor, nor yet inconsiderable advantages, in which 

 it is presumed it cannot be equalled by anything of its 

 kind. For example, its tactile representations of articulate 

 sounds are easily portable the materials of which they are 

 meted may always be procured at a trifling expense 

 and the apparatus necessary for their construction is ex- 

 tremely simple. In addition to the letters of the alphabet, 

 there have been contrived arithmetical figures, which it is 

 hoped will be of great utility, as the remembrance of num 

 bcrs is often found peculiarly diflicult. Palpable commas, 

 semicolons, &c. have likewise been provided to bo used, 

 when judged requisite. The inventors have only to add, 

 that sensible of the happy results of the invention to them- 

 selves, and commiserating the fate of thc-ir fellow-pri. oners 

 of darkness, they most earnestly recommend to all intrusted 

 with the education of persons deprived of sin lit carefully 

 to instruct them in tho principles of orthography, as the 

 blind being in general unable to spell is the chief obstacle 

 to their deriving, from the new mode of signifying thought, 

 tho much-wanted benefit which it is designed to extend to 

 their melancholy circumstances.' 



We entirely agree in the views here taken of the string- 

 alphabet ; as an auxiliary to the blind in the acquh* 

 and application of language, and in the absence of a tan- 

 gible writing on paper, we think no invention is superior 

 :> it, nnd we should he glad to have seen it in more common 

 ue among the blind in our recent inquiries at various 

 institutions. The advice to instruct the blind carefully in 

 .spelling is important, fur if this acquirement bo not made, 

 they cannot communicate by lan^uaue with their fellow 

 men otherwise than orally. To those blind persons who 

 lia\<- lived together in institutions, and formed friendships 

 which they wih to continue when scparad-d by distance, 

 tho string-alphabet offers a mode of correspondence as per- 



fect as our pen, one too which may he intrusted to ordinary 

 persons to convey without any probability of the communi- 

 cation being deciphered. 



David Macbeath, one of the inventors, died suddenly, at 

 the age of forty-two, in November, 1834 ; he had been con- 

 nected with the Edinburgh Asylum, as pupil and teacher, 

 for twenty-five years. His inventions for leaching were nu- 

 merous, and applicable to instruction in music, arithmetic, 

 and mathematics. His string-alphabet was fully described 

 in the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,' some years ago. 

 He conducted the public examinations of the Edinburgh 

 pupils, where he never failed to excite the interest and 

 attention of those present towards the objects of his solici- 

 tude. One of his pupils is at present a teacher in the 

 Glasgow Asylum, and two others are similarly employed in 

 America. 



In the infancy of tho art of teaching the blind, r. 

 music was invented, in order that they might he enabled to 

 acquire their lessons independent of a master. This inven- 

 tion is at present little used, for the constant practice of 

 those who pursue this branch of study is a continual exer- 

 cise of the memory, and they are able to learn vcr\ lung 

 pieces by the ear alone. \Ve may here mention the inven- 

 tion of Don Jaime Isern, the object of which is to enable a 

 blind composer to transfer his thoughts to paper in the 

 usual music, il notation, without the necessity of employing 

 an amanuensis. For this invention the law silver medal 

 of the London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu- 

 factures, and Commerce was yiven to Don J. Isern in l*-17. 

 There is a full description of it, with illustrative en 

 ings, in vol. xlv. of the 'Society's T. .-.' In the 



\iilume there is an interesting communication on the 

 subject of types for the blind, by Mr. O. Gibson of I?:i i 

 ham. Phi* common nation is connected with various imvn 

 lions which we have had the pleasure of inspecting, and of 

 which wo shall give a short account, referring our readers 

 who desire to be made perfectly acquainted with the inven- 

 tion to the work above mentioned. Mr. Gilisoifs aim has 

 been to supply the blind with a modi! of writing and Keeping 

 their own accounts. ' A cube of wood, or of nnj other con- 

 venient material, the size of which will depend on the delicacy 

 of touch in each blind person, is to have raised on one side 

 of it a letter, or figure, or stop, in the manner of a printer's 

 type. On the opposite or lower side of the cube is a repre- 

 sentation of the same character as is on the upper side, but 

 i ol needle-points inserted into the wood. If therefore 

 a piece of paper be laid on a cushion, or surface of felt, and 

 the type be pressed down, the points will enter the paper, 

 and lo'rm on the uudcr surface of it a raised or embossed 



