ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 83 



Dr. Welling asked if sign language did not convey ideas to deaf 

 persons more directly and impressively than oral language. 



President Gallaudet said that it certainly did, but only certain 

 kinds of ideas. He spoke of the superiority of the sign language 

 in large classes or where a great number of persons are addressed. 



Dr. Hoffman mentioned the meeting of the Ute Indians with 

 the deaf-mutes at the National Deaf-Mute College, and said that 

 they were able to carry on a free interchange of ideas, showing 

 that the syntax was identical. 



Dr. Fletcher inquired whether the presence of a beard or 

 moustache was not a serious obstacle to lip-reading. President 

 Gallaudet replied that it was a part of the regular course of 

 instruction to accustom the pupil to the beard and mustache, and 

 some became so expert that they could understand even when the 

 hand was held over the mouth and lips, by observing the peculiar 

 action of the other parts of the face, the eyes, head, etc. 



Mr. Ward asked if any data existed for determining whether 

 educated deaf-mutes, as a class, had contributed their share to the 

 intellectual work of the world, and mentioned the case of Mr. Leo 

 Lesquereux, the well-known vegetable paleontologist. He said 

 that, considering how small the class is, it would not, of course, 

 require a very great absolute number to constitute its quota. 



President Gallaudet thought that it had done so, and instanced a 

 number of deaf persons, of greater or less distinction in one way or 

 another, among them John Kitto, Charlotte Elizabeth, Ferd. Ber- 

 thier, and two brothers Moore, of Hoboken, embracing various 

 professions, authorship, and art. He further remarked that, of the 

 graduates from the National Deaf-Mute College, one had become a 

 successful patent lawyer and another an editor. 



Mr. Henry Baker spoke of Mr. Parkinson, the patent lawyer re- 

 ferred to, testified to his intelligence and business ability, and said 

 that the degree of master of arts had been conferred upon him. 



Mr. Ward said he thought the facts showed that the art of com 

 municating ideas was a necessary result of the possession of ideas 



