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young blind. It is by early training only that the blind, in 

 common with other*, can IKS brought under an effectual 

 menial nml moral discipline. By giving instmctinn to the 

 \oung in the hijrher departments of knowledge, and by thug 

 _- the intellectual character to the elevation of which 

 it is capable, we are of opinion the directors will discover 

 that the arts in which the blind are best fitted to excel are 

 nut the ordinary mechanical trades, to which, in our British 

 institutions, and too generally abroad, all higher considera- 

 tions have been sacrificed. Why are not their mental 

 power*, which are unaffected by their physical calamity, 

 cultivated? Such cultivation will qualify them for occupa- 

 tions in which they may succeed as well as those who pos- 

 sess the advantages of sight. The enlightened policy of 

 the directors of the Edinburgh Institution has placed them 

 in the first rank among the benefactors of the blind : their 

 school for the young is a most interesting section of their 

 establishment :" and it may be hoped that many of its pupils 

 will be trained to higher occupations than those of basket- 

 making, weaving, &c. We do not anticipate that all the 

 blind can bo exempted from manual labour, any more than 

 that all other men are fitted for employments requiring a 

 high degree of intellectual vigour, and acquirements which 

 even the greater portion of mankind are unable or unwilling 

 to make : but we do not hesitate to allinn that the blind 

 have been systematically trained in arts in which they never 

 can enter into competition with seeing persons ; and that 

 they have not been sufficiently educated in that kind of 

 knowledge in which they might have become at least us 

 perfect as those who possess all their faculties. The former 

 part of our proposition is allowed by the directors of the 

 Edinburgh Asylum, who say that 'when they (the blind) 

 heroine, as skilful workmen as their circumstances a hint, 

 they still labour under a disadvantage unknown to others.' 

 An argument which might with great propriety be used to 

 enforce the advantage of mental cultivation in preference to 

 manual dexterity, is the loss invariably attendant on the 

 manufactures carried on at the asylums. It appears to us 

 from our examination into the expenses of different esta- 

 blishments, that the more extensive the scale on which the 

 manual arts are conducted, the greater the losses, from 

 waste of materials, a succession of learners, &c. On the 

 score of cheapness therefore it is desirable that such opera- 

 tions should be confined within as narrow limits as may 

 seem prudent, and that intellectual education should be ex- 

 tended as widely as the talents and qualifications of the 

 pupils will allow. Instead of the accounts of such institu- 

 tions showing so great an amount of positive losses, we 

 should not only see this item reduced, but find the pupils 

 qualified for a sphere of usefulness superior to any which 



they cnn ever roach by any attainable degree of dexterity in 

 manual occupations. 



In the Edinburgh Asylum, the whole machinery seems 

 to be of a high order ; the devoted attention of the different 

 officers in visible in the discipline and happiness of the in- 

 mates, and there can be no doulit that the institution is 

 effecting great good. The young blind are instructed in re- 

 citing the scriptures, in spelling, in grammar, in vocal ami 

 instrumental music, in reading, by means of the sen 

 feeling ; in writing, arithmetic, mathematics, history, geo- 

 graphy, and astronomy. The means l>y winch instruction in 

 these various branches is conveyed have been mentioned : in 

 all institutions of this nature they must be generally tin- 

 varying perhaps in some of their details. Several of the me 

 chanicul contrivances for conveying -eicntific knowlci! 

 the pupils, are the inventions of Mr. Johnston, the secn-tary 

 (nephew of Dr. Johnston, who was named a.s one of the 

 founders of the institution), in conjunction with 1'r 

 Wallace, a gentleman who is deeply interested in all that con- 

 cerns the institution. An orrery, a cometnrium, and raised 

 maps of the heavens, all so constructed as to convey informa- 

 tion by the touch, while the reasoning powers are at the 

 same time addressed, are among the inventions of i 

 gentlemen. The map of the \vorld is described as comprising 

 'the eastern and western hemispheres, represented on cadi 

 side of a circular board. The land is made rough, the seas, 

 lakes, and rivers smooth. Towns are represented by small 

 pins. Mountains arc lidgcd, and boundaries simply i 

 Degrees of latitude are marked round the edge of the 

 of longitude along the equator, which is raised above the 

 surface of the earth. The orrery represents the orbits of 

 the planets by brass circles, and the planets themselves 

 are shown by spheres indicative of their relative dimen- 

 the spheres slide upon the brass orbits. The ecliptic exhi- 

 bits raised figures of the signs of the zodiac, the degr 

 the circle, and the days of the month, all tangible, and 

 adapted to the learner who has to depend upon touch for his 

 impressions. The arithmetical board has been much im- 

 proved at the Edinburgh school. It is 16 inches by 12, 

 and contains 400 pentagonal holes with a space of a 

 quarter of an inch between each. The pin is simply a 

 pentagon with a projection at one end on an angle, and on 

 the other end on the side. Being placed in the board, with :i 

 corner projection to the left upper corner of the board, it re- 

 presents 1 ; proceeding to the right upper corner it is 3 ; 

 the next corner in succession is 5 ; the next 7, and the last 9. 

 In like manner the side projection, by being turned to the 

 sides of the hole, progressively gives 2, 4,6, 8,0. The size of 

 the pentagon, and a drawing of the pin, showing the projec- 

 tions on the side and angle, are given with the hoard below. 



The Arithmetical Board. 



1 8 5 



9 2 4 ii 



..,.- 



By the use of this board the pupils may be carried to any 

 extent in arithmetical knowledge, and make their calcula- 

 tions with as much satisfaction as those who see. We have 

 the testimony of Dr. Cnillie, that the blind study the exact 

 sciences under great advantages, and with remarkable suc- 

 cess ; but we cannot agree with the doctor that the blind, 

 ny more than let dair-voyam hove a natural disposition 

 for mathematical studies. The eminent success of Saun- 

 derson, Moves, Cough, and others, afford sufficient proof that 

 blindness is no great impediment to such pursuits ; there may 

 possibly be some advantages consequent on the degree of 

 abstraction which appears necessarily to accompany blind- 

 ness. On this supposition however wo do not lay much 

 tress, because we cannot admit that there is naturally any 

 compensative principle by which men who labour under one 



defect or deprivation are enabled to exercise the powers 

 which are left to them with greater accuracy than others 

 who have no such deficiency. If a seeing person would 

 cultivate his sense of feeling to the same extent as the 

 blind, his perceptions of touch would be as delica' 

 those of the blind man. It is not probable that so relined a 

 cultivation will ever be- tested by experience, as it would 

 require a greater degree! i;f philosophical curiosity than we 

 ever witnessed or heard of, and be attended with a longer 

 and more painful effort than we think any one \\onld volun- 

 tarily undergo for the sake of making the experiment. 



Of the Edinburgh A>ylum we have only to add, that from 

 its admirable management it may be inferred that there 

 e\i-ts bnth ition and the capability, so far as its 



managers are concerned, to make it all that could be wished 



