46 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 337 



enumerator should indicate the reply by a horizontal mark (— ) 

 placed in the ' Hearing ' column ; if the hearing is not good, by a 

 mark sloping from right to left (/) ; and if the question is not an- 

 swered, the column should be left blank. If the hearing is re- 

 ported as ' not good' (/), the enumerator should then ascertain 

 the extent of the disability. If the person is too deaf to be taught 

 in ordinary schools for hearing persons, or cannot hear conversa- 

 tion in a loud tone of voice, the enumerator should c;)nvert the 

 sloping mark (/) into a cross (x), and proceed to put the inter- 

 rogatories contained in the supplementary schedule or card relating 

 to the deaf (see Paragraph 4, below). If, on the other hand, the 

 person is merely ' hard of hearing,' or if there is doubt whether the 

 deafness is sufficient to constitute the disability above specified, 

 the cross should not be made, and the person should not be entered 

 on the supplementary schedule or card relating to the deaf. 



" The condition of the speech should be ascertained and recorded 

 in a similar manner. If the person speaks well, the enumerator 

 should make a horizontal mark (— ) in the ' Speech ' column ; if 

 not, a sloping mark (/) ; and if the person cannot speak so as to 

 be understood, or cannot speak at all, the sloping mark should be 

 converted into a cross (X). 



" The deaf and the dumb would then be indicated as follows, 

 in Schedule No. i : — 



" The fact that there are three classes of dumb persons shows 

 the liability to error when the enumerator is instructed, as hereto- 

 fore, to inquire for the ' deaf and dumb.' Out of 29,776 idiots, 

 whose powers of speech were ascertained from physicians in the 

 last census, 7,396, or about one-fourth of the whole number, could 

 not articulate at all, or had no use of spoken language ; 14,707, or 

 about one-half, could articulate but imperfectly, or their use of 

 language was very defective ; the number who spoke intelligibly 

 was only 7,673. It thus appears that a large proportion of the 

 idiotic are no less ' dumb ' than deaf-mutes ; and it is almost in- 

 evitable, that, when dumbness is made prominent (as in the term 

 ' deaf and dumb '), the one class should be confused with the other, 

 resulting in the return of intelligent deaf-mutes as ' idiotic,' and of 

 idiotic hearing persons as ' deaf and dumb.' In the last census, 

 moreover, 2,339 persons were returned as both ' deaf-mute and 

 idiotic' It is extremely probable that among these were some 

 deaf-mutes of good mind, and some idiots who could hear. If a 

 census of the deaf is taken, this source of error will be removed. 

 Other advantages of the form of questions above proposed over the 

 former plan of asking for the ' blind, deaf and dumb, idiotic, insane, 

 maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled,' are explained 

 in Dr. Alexander Graham Bell's communication to Senator Hale 

 (Paragraphs 20-39), which was published in Science of Jan. iS. 



" 4. Mr. F. H. Wines of Springfield, 111., special agent of the 

 " Tenth Census," in charge of the statistics relating to the deaf and 

 other special classes of the population, who was invited to act with 

 this committee, but was unable to be present at our meeting, sug- 

 gested to us by letter, that, instead of supplementary schedules, the 

 enumerators should be provided with special cards, on which the 

 questions to be asked in the case of each deaf person should be 

 printed, with spaces for the answers ; and that the enumerators be 

 required to fill out these cards in dupHcate, — one copy for use, 

 and the other for preservation. We approve of the suggestion of 

 special cards, and recommend the following form, in addition to 

 such references as may be necessary for identification with Sched- 

 ule No. I. 



[Face of Card.] 

 [This space may be used for the necessary references for identifi- 

 cation with Schedule No. i.] 



THE DEAF. 



Instr^ictions to the Enumerator. 



Note A. — The questions on this card should be asked in the 

 case of every person who is too deaf to be taught in ordinary 

 schools for hearing persons, or who cannot hear conversation in a 

 loud tone of voice. ~ZT'^l, 



Note B. — Question No. 5 is very important, and every possible 

 effort must be made to obtain a correct answer. 



If the person was born deaf, write B ; if not, state the age at 

 which the hearing was lost. 



If it is difficult to find out the exact age at which the person be- 

 came deaf, ask at what period of life deafness occurred ; as, for 

 instance, whether it was in infancy (under 4 years of age), in child- 

 hood (under 10), in youth (under 20), in adult life (from 20 to 50), 

 or in old age. 



If you cannot get an answer to Question No. 5, state here the 

 reason why you cannot. 



Note C. — In answering Question No. S, use the same check- 

 marks as in Schedule No. i. 



1. Name of the deaf person ? 



2. Residence when at home : Town ? 

 County ? State .' 

 Post-office address .'' 



3. Name of this person's father ? 



[Reverse of Card.] 



4. Race or color of this person ? Sex ? Age ? 



5. At what age or period of life did this person become deaf ? 

 [See Note ^.] 



6. Cause of deafness } 



7. Did the deafness result from military service ? 



8. Physical and mental condition \j,&e. Note C'\. Sight? Hear- 

 ing ? Speech ? Mind ? Body .' 



9. Can this person hear sufficiently to perceive a warning shout 

 in case of danger } 



10. Is this person educated.' Where taught ? 



11. What is this person's occupation ? 



Monthly earnings ? % Value of property ? $ 



12. Is this person a pauper.' 



13. Were the parents of this person first-cousins.' 



14. Has this person had any deaf brothers or sisters? 



15. Is this person single (s) ; married (m) ; widowed (wid) ; or 

 divorced (d) ? 



If married, name of the wife (or husband) ? 



16. Name of the wife's (or husband's) father? 



17. Has the wife (or husband) had an) deaf brothers or sisters? 



18. How many children have been born of this marriage ? 

 How many of the children were deaf ? How many died 

 young ? 



19. Is the wife (or husband) deaf ? If so, became deaf 

 at what age or period of life ? [See Note B.] 



" 5. In addition to the statistics gathered by the enumerators^ 

 much valuable information relating to the deaf can be obtained by 

 means of inquiries addressed to principals of schools for the deaf, 

 teachers of common schools, physicians, and intelligent deaf per- 

 sons. We recommend that special cards with suitable questions 

 be addressed to each of these classes of persons. 



" 6. We recommend that some one thoroughly qualified by fa- 

 miliarity with the deaf be placed in charge of the entire work of 

 the census relating to this class. 



" 7. We recommend that in the publication of the results of the 

 census the deaf be separated from the pauper and criminal classes. 



" S. In the last census, 4,597 persons were returned as doubly or 

 trebly afflicted with deaf-mutism, idiocy, insanity, and blindness.. 

 Those who were returned as ' deaf and dumb and idiotic ' were re- 

 ported among ' the deaf and dumb ' and again among ' the idiotic,' 

 etc.; each of the doubly afflicted persons being thus counted twice, 

 and each of the trebly afflicted persons thrice. In this way the 

 4,597 doubly and trebly afflicted persons counted in the summing- 

 up of the insane, idiots, blind, and deaf-mutes ('Tenth Census, *" 

 vol. xxi. p, vii.), as 9,441 persons, more than double their actual num- 

 ber, making the total of these classes appear greater by 4,844 in- 

 dividuals than it really was. In order to insure accuracy with 



