40 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 311 



capable of amelioration than the graver. Classification under the 

 graver forms tends to the exclusion of the lesser from the returns ; 

 but classification under the lesser forms would include the graver, 

 and be less objectionable to friends, so that evasions would be 

 fewer, and the returns more accurate and complete. For example : 

 the blind, deaf-and-dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bed- 

 ridden, and otherwise disabled, would all be returned under the 

 head of defects in sight, hearing, mind, or body ; but the converse 

 would not necessarily be true. 



The returns should include all persons laboring under disabili- 

 ties of sight, hearing, mind, or body, of sufficient magnitude to pre- 

 vent education in ordinary schools, lessen wealth-producing power, 

 and incapacitate for military service. 



The deaf and the blind should be grouped into a sub-class by 

 themselves, and separated as much as possible from the other de- 

 fective classes, because they are enumerated chiefly for educational 

 purposes, whereas the others need eleemosynary care or restraint. 



Public establishments for purely educational purposes should be 

 classified as "schools," and not as "asylums." They should be 

 included in statistics relating to the general education of the people, 

 and excluded from those relating to charitable institutions. 



Many children who cannot profitably attend ordinary public 

 schools on account of disabilities are allowed to grow up without 

 instruction, because parents object to send them to asylums, or in- 

 stitutions governed by State boards of charity. 



The statistics of the Tenth Census show the following figures re- 

 lating to defective children of school age (six years and under 

 twenty-one) : — ■ 



The term " deaf-and-dumb " is not only objectionable in itself, 

 but is incorrect, because it classifies those who belong to this class 

 as laboring under a double disability instead of a single one. 



Deaf-mutes are simply persons who are deaf from childhood ; 

 and dumbness or muteness is the result of the natural defect, and 

 not a defect in itself. The vocal organs are not defective. 



Many of the so-called deaf-and-dumb can speak. Some had ac- 

 quired the art before hearing was lost, and others acquired it by 

 instruction in school. 



In the census of 1880 all persons who lost hearing before they 

 reached the age of sixteen years are classified as " deaf-and-dumb," 

 whether they can speak or not. 



This incorrect and very objectionable classification leads to eva- 

 sion and inaccurate returns. 



Dumbness by itself is not a defect calling for enumeration in the 

 census (unless, indeed, for statistical purposes and the determina- 

 tion of causes), for defective speech alone is not a disability that 

 prevents instruction in ordinary schools. It does not materially 

 lesson wealth-producing power, nor does it incapacitate the person 

 for military service. 



Persons who have not studied the subject generally fail to realize 

 that deaf-mutes should be classified among the deaf, and not 

 among the dumb ; and enumerators, therefore, can hardly be ex- 

 pected to follow the classification. 



For the sake of accuracy in the returns, therefore, it would be 

 well to make defective speech a subject of inquiry in the primary 

 schedule relating to population. The dumb who are deaf, and the 

 dumb who are idiotic, will appear on supplementary schedules re- 

 lating to the deaf or the feeble-minded ; and the dumb who are 

 neither deficient in mind nor hearing need have no special schedule 

 of inquiry. 



Special schedules relating to all the defective classes (except the 

 dumb) should be prepared with the assistance of experts of two 

 kinds ; viz., specialists who have studied the causes of the defects. 



and teachers who are familiar with the special methods of instruc- 

 tion necessary. 



The gravity of the disabilities resulting from deafness can be as- 

 certained from two elements : (i) the age or period of life at which 

 the defect occurred; and (2) the amount of deafness (whether total 

 or partial). The former element is the more important of the two, 

 for a slight defect of hearing in an infant results in graver disabili- 

 ties than total deafness occurring in adult life. For example : in 

 the case of the deaf infant, the defect interferes with the acquisi- 

 tion of language through the ear, and the child remains dumb. 

 His thoughts are carried on without words, so that a mental con- 

 dition exists which is abnormal. His ignorance is so great as to be 

 appalling; for his mind is deprived of every thing that other people 

 have ever heard of or read about that is not derived directly from 

 their own observation. Without special instruction, such children 

 grow to adult life with all the passions of men and women, but 

 without the restraining influences that spring from a cultivated un- 

 derstanding. 



Persons who become deaf in adult life have no greater disability 

 than the defect itself ; but, where deafness occurs in childhood, in- 

 cidental disabilities arise which are greater than the natural defect ; 

 but because they are incidental, and not natural, they are capable 

 of amelioration, and even complete removal, by suitable instruction 

 in special schools. Hence the very great importance of a correct 

 enumeration of the young deaf children. 



In the primary schedule relating to population the defective 

 classes should be grouped together under the head of " physical 

 and mental condition," instead of under " health," as was done in 

 1880. The following form is suggested for incorporation in the 

 primary schedule relating to population : — 



PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CONDITION. 



The enumerator should be instructed to ask whether the person 

 has perfectly normal sight, hearing, and speech ; whether the mind 

 is normally developed and in a healthy condition ; and whether the 

 bodily condition is normal and the general health good. If the 

 answer is " yes," the enumerator should indicate the reply by a 

 horizontal mark (— ) placed in the proper column ; if " no," by a 

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

 swered in a satisfactory and reliable manner, the column should be 

 left blank. If the physical or mental condition is reported as " not 

 perfectly normal " (/),the enumerator should then inquire whether 

 the disability is sufficiently great to prevent instruction in an ordi- 

 nary school, to interfere with the acquisition of a suitable means of 

 livelihood, and to incapacitate for military service. If the answer 

 is "yes," he should change the negative mark (/) into a cross (x), 

 and proceed to put the interrogatories contained in the supplemen- 

 tary schedule relating to the special class of defect noted. 



As the^supplementary schedules should be prepared with the 

 assistance of specialists, it may perhaps not be advisable for me at 

 the present time to refer to the details, excepting so far as to say 

 that inquiries should be instituted relating to the causes of defects 

 and their inheritance by offspring. The marital relations of defec- 

 tive persons should be noted and the results tabulated. The total 

 number of children born to them should be recorded, and the num- 

 ber who died young. The record should also note the number of 

 defective and normal offspring. 



