188 SPEECH LEARNED BY IMITATION. 



Emily. I had no idea that speech is so exclusively 

 a thing of imitation. A person then who should be se- 

 cluded from all society from infancy, would be destitute 

 of the power of speech. 



Dr. B. Not precisely so, neither, for the power of 

 hearing still remaining, he could not help becoming ac- 

 quainted with some kind of sounds. Hence he would 

 be capable of uttering articulate sounds, though they 

 would be obscure and unintelligible to every body else. 

 Every individual speaks the language that he has learnt 

 from others ; in the situation you refer to, he could 

 learn no known language, but would form one of his 

 own, though it would amount to nothing more than a 

 confused jumble of strange sounds. However, to re- 

 move all doubt from your mind, let me relate a curious 

 story illustrative ^of this doctrine, which I have on un- 

 doubted authority : 



Several years ago, there lived in the county of Wash- 

 ington, State of Maine, a family, of which the children, 

 though having the sense of hearing perfectly, and being 

 apparently as active and intelligent as other children, 

 could not talk. They lived in a thinly inhabited part 

 of the country, and at two or three miles' distance from 

 any other family. The father at length grew very 

 anxious, fearing there was a physical defect in their vo- 

 cal organs, and requested 1 some intelligent gentlemen in 

 a neighboring town, to examine the children, and say 

 whether any thing could be done for their relief. These 

 gentlemen accordingly went and found the children ac- 

 tive, sprightly, and able to understand whatever was 

 said to them, as far as ari^ children could be expected 

 to, who had lived in such seclusion from the rest of the 

 world. The oldest one was thirteen years old and 

 could pronounce distinctly several common words and 

 phrases, as yes sir no sir milk bread door, &c. 

 and so could the next oldest ; but they were incapable 

 of pronouncing any sentence of six words. What was 

 remarkable, they had a language of their own which 



