VOCAL LANGUAGE OF LAURA BRIDGEMAN. 115 



netic or pictorial sign, or the written word. Yet until some recog- 

 nized analogy between symbols, letters, or other arbitrary signs, and 

 the things so expressed, could be established, all efforts at interchange 

 of thought between herself and others, were limited to the few simple 

 signs by which she had learned to commvmicate her sense of hunger 

 and thirst, and her pleasure or distaste in reference to any action 

 affecting herself. The very simple process adopted by her intelligent 

 teacher has been thus recorded by himself. " The first experiments 

 were made by pasting upon several common articles, such as keys, 

 spoons, knives, and the like, little paper labels, on which the name of 

 the article had been printed in raised letters. The child sat down with 

 her teachers, and was easily led to feel these labels, and examine them 

 curiously. So keen was the sense of touch in her tiny fingers, that she 

 immediately perceived that the crooked lines in the word key, differed 

 as much in form from the crooked lines in the word spoon as one 

 article differed from the other. Next similar labels, on detached 

 pieces of paper, were put into her hands, and she now observed that 

 the raised lines on these labels resembled those pasted on the articles. 

 She showed her perception of this resemblance by placing the label 

 with the word key upon the key, and the label spoon upon the spoon." 

 A familiar token of approval encouraged Laura to persevere in this 

 exercise, until she had, in a similar way associated the printed names 

 of many familiar objects with the things, so that when a number of 

 printed labels were thrown together in a heap, she would select from 

 them the proper one to represent any object produced. 



Here, as will be seen, the teaching of words preceded that of letters. 

 The Tjext step was to cut up the labels into their component signs ; 

 and to teach her to arrange the k, e, y, together to form key^ as the 

 sign of that object ; and the k, n, i,f^ e, as the combined symbol of 

 knife. The process was necessarily slow. The teacher had to enlist 

 the sympathies of the child, in what was as yet the mere solution of a 

 set of arbitrary puzzles. It was indispensable, therefore, to avoid fa- 

 tiguing her, and so creating a distaste for the employment ; and thus 

 week after week elapsed, with no very encouraging progress. Though, 

 perhaps, the same might be said in most first efforts at communicatiag 

 the knowledge of letters and printed words to the ordinary pupils of 

 an infant school. But this was the crucial stage of success or failure. 

 ' Beyond this, in other cases it has been found impossible to advance; 

 and only the riesponfiive intelligence of the ptipil could avert failuriel 



