DEAF AND DUMB. 



sider the quality as part of the object, or as inherent, in 

 it. In Uie same way he. iTiM-ee.K \uihot her adjectives. 

 sudi as circular, spherical, &c., expressing Uu- form 

 of objects; writing Uieui in the interval- of the letter- 

 composing the uaineof the respective objects, effacing 

 Uifin ami substituting otliers according as Uie form ot 

 the object is varied. In order to lead lus pupil to form 

 Uie abstraction of the quality thus c\[>n -sc.l, tliat is, 

 to tiie use of the adjective as a separate word ready 

 to be applied to ditfercut substantives, he employs the 

 following diagram, the different lines of which he 

 traces before liis eyes : 



I- b A 1 I' u E e R 



r 



The words thus obtained, he afterwards unites by a 

 connecting line, thus : 



PAPER BLUE. 



In order to form tliis into a complete sentence, the 

 word it, instead of the line, is inserted, of which line 

 accordingly it may be regarded as the substitute and 

 representation : 



PAPER is BLUE. 



By thus indicating Uie nature of a verb, and after- 

 wards teaciiing the pupils that the verb can express 

 either an existence or an action, past, present, or 

 future, the teacher leads them to the system of con- 

 jugation, and to all the shades of tenses adopted 

 in various languages. The significations and in- 

 flections of pronouns, with the corresponding affec- 

 tions of verbs in regard to number and person, are 

 conveyed to the minds of the deat and dumb by con- 

 trivances very analogous to the preceding, and which 

 need not be dwelt upon, after the example already 

 given. 



As soon as the pupil is made familiar with the use 

 of letters, it will be advantageous to instruct him in 

 another mode of visible communication, very easy to 

 be acquired, namely, the manual alphabet, as it is 

 called ; that is, the expression of letters by different 

 positions of the fingers. This is a very simple art com- 

 monly learnt at school, and is easily retained or reco- 

 vered when lost. There is another mode of intercourse 

 still quicker in its operation, and which it may be 

 very convenient to employ. It is that of indicating 

 the forms of letters by the point of the finger moved 

 in the air, constituting as it were an aerial writing 

 -vhich by a little use is quickly followed by the eye. 

 Another important branch of the education of 

 the deaf and dumb is that of teaching them to speak, 

 and to understand what is spoken by others, by ob- 

 serving the motions of their lips. Experience has 

 shown that this task, though laborious and tedious, is 

 not attended with extreme difficulty, great patience 

 and perseverance being all that is requisite to ensure 

 success in ordinary cases. But for all the details on 

 this head we beg to refer our readers to the book of 

 Dr Joseph Watson on the Instruction of the Deaf 

 and Dumb, published, in London, 1809, in two 

 volumes, 8vo. Dr Watson had the management oi 

 the asylum for educating the deaf and dumb chil- 

 dren of the poor, established, in the vicinity oi 

 London, in 1792, one rule of which is, that no child 

 be admitted there under the age of nine years. 

 This age was not fixed upon, from an idea that it was 

 the earliest at which their regular education coulc 

 be advantageously begun. But Jive years being 

 deemed, generally speaking, sufficient to accomplish 



that course of instruction, thought most essential to 

 such children destined to earn their bread by the la- 

 bour of their hands, and fourteen being Uie earliest 

 age at which they could be apprenticed, it was judged 

 best for Uie economical purpose of Uie institution, not 

 to receive Uiein before Uie age of nine years. An 

 institution of a similar kind was established at Bir- 

 iningliarn, to which Mr T. Braidwood, who conducted 

 a private school for the same object at Hackney, was 

 appointed teacher, a liberal subscription having been 

 raised, a building for Uie reception of children was 

 completed and opened in January, 1815, which is 

 competent to contain forty children. 



In June, 1810, a similar society was instituted at 

 Edinburgh. The first teacher was Mr J. Braid- 

 wood, who was afterwards succeeded by Mr Kiani 

 burgh, who has been very successful, and the numl>cr 

 of pupils generally amounts to above .fifty. They 

 are all instructed hi reading, writing, and arithmetic, 

 and carefully taught Uie principles of the Christian 

 religion. They are also taught to express Uieir 

 wants and ideas in articulate speech ; Uie female 

 pupils are taught needle-work, and those of an in- 

 ferior station are qualified for domestic service. A 

 certain number of the boys are brought up in the in- 

 stitution to the trade of shoemaking. This institu- 

 tion is supported by private subscription and by 

 Uie aids furnished by auxiliary societies in other 

 parts of Scotland. The charge for each pupil for edu- 

 cation and board is about 20. From the results oi 

 inquiries it appears that in Scotland alone the num 

 ber of deaf and dumb persons is not less than eight 

 hundred. 



American System. This system has been materi- 

 ally modified in the school of Paris itself, and in 

 several others on Uie continent of Europe, which 

 adopt the same principles. As the American system 

 of instruction, devised by Mr Gallaudet, without any 

 knowledge of others, except that of Paris, on which 

 it is founded, comprises most of these improvements, 

 with some others of great importance, peculiar to it- 

 self, we cannot do better, within the limits allowed 

 us, than to describe this as we have found it, in his 

 own statement, and in the American asylum. Mr 

 Gallaudet has combined the fundamental principle 

 of Heinicke " first ideas, then words" with that 

 of De 1'Epee that " the natural language of signs 

 must be elevated to as high a degree of excellence 

 as possible, in order to serve as the medium for giv- 

 the ideas clearly, and explaining Uiem accurate- 

 ly?' He has added another of no small importance 

 that, as words describe rather the impression, or 

 states of mind produced by external objects, than 

 those essential qualities which are beyond our reach, 

 the process of learning them would be facilitated by 

 leading the pupils to reflect on their own sensations 

 and ideas ; and he states, as the result of his experi- 

 ence, that, among deaf mutes of equal capacities, 

 " those who can be led to mark or describe, with the 

 greatest precision, the operations of their own mind, 

 uniformly make the most rapid progress in the ac- 

 quisition of written language, and of religious truth." 

 A leading object, therefore, in connexion with the 

 first lessons, in which sensible ideas are presented 

 and named, is to establish a free communication 

 with the pupil, in the sign language, in reference to 

 his feelings and thoughts, as excited by Uie objects 

 which he sees, or the events of his own life. He 

 easily comprehends those of others, and is thus led 

 to learn the names of the simple emotions and acts 

 of the mind. Hence he is brought to think of an in- 

 visible agent, which we term the soul, as the feeling 

 and percipient being ; and, by a natural transition, 

 led, by the use ofsigns alone, 



as the first Cause 



to the Great Spirit, 

 to "his character, as our Creator 



