GENERAL MEETING. 55 
in the year 1648 a treatise entitled “ Philocophus; or, the Deaf and 
Dumbe Man’s Friend. Exhibiting the Philosophicall verity of that 
subtile Art, which may inable one with an observant Hie, to Heare 
what any man speaks by the moving of his lips. Upon the same 
Ground, with the advantage.of an Historicall Exemplification, ap- 
parently proving, That a Man Borne Deafe and Dumbe may be 
taught to Heare the sound of words with his Hie, and thence learn 
to speak with his tongue.” 
Articulation Teaching in America. 
In Europe at the present time deaf children are much more com- 
monly taught to speak and undérstand speech than in this country. 
In the majority of our schools and institutions articulation and 
speech-reading are taught to only a favored few, and in these schools 
no use is made of articulation as a means of communication. A 
considerable number of the deaf children in our institutions could 
once hear and speak, and those pupils who retain some knowledge 
of spoken language have their vocal organs exercised for an hour 
or so a day in an articulation class under a special articulation 
teacher, but this is not enough exercise to retain the speech. I have 
seen a boy who became deaf at 12 years of age, and who had previ- 
ously attended one of our public schools, go into an institution for 
the deaf and dumb talking as readily as you or I and come out a 
deaf mute. 
Few, if any, attempts are made to teach articulation to those who 
have not naturally spoken, except at the special request of parents 
who desire that the experiment shall be tried with their children. 
I have seen a congenital deaf mute, who also had a sister deaf and 
dumb, who was taught to speak in adult life, and I found upon ex- 
periment that he could understand by ear the words and sentences 
that he had been taught to articulate when they were spoken in an 
ordinary tone of voice about a foot behind his head, yet this young 
man had been educated at one of our best institutions without ac- 
quiring articulation, and as a consequence he grew up a deaf mute 
and married a deaf mute. He informed me himself that he could 
hear the people talking in the workshop where he was employed, 
but did not understand what they said. 
As a matter of personal observation I am convinced that a large 
proportion of the congenitally deaf are only hard of hearing, and 
this belief is supported by the fact that it used to be the custom in 
