October 17^ 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



219 



Intercourse under these circumstances is necessarily limited. The 

 absence of hearing power makes the individual more dependent 

 upon his other senses, which consequently acquire a high degree 

 of development and acuity by constant practice. Sight, touch, 

 and general sensation take the place of the lacking sense, in addi- 

 tion to performing their inherent physiological functions, in the 

 acquisition of mental training and knowledge. Observers will 

 note that the gaze of the deaf-mute wanders from object to ob- 

 ject, interrogating them as to their significance. The conclusion 

 drawn from such an inspection depends for correctness upon the 

 reasoning faculties and intellectual vigor of the individual. In 

 general, the uneducated deaf-mutes recognize a difference between 

 right and wrong; not the moral right and wrong in the full sense of 

 the expression, but sufficient to enable them to evade coming in con- 

 flict with the lavv. They are able to perform mechanical labor, 

 and try to make themselves useful. In earlier times, when they 

 were not recognized as responsible beings, they were sometimes 

 employed at services where secrecy was desirable, as the law did 

 not recognize them as witnesses, even in their own behalf. As a 

 consequence of frequent mis^underslandings with their fellow- 

 Tjeings, they are apt to become quick-tempered. Some drag and 

 sbuflBe thfir feet in walking,— a habit due to their infirmity and 

 the want of education. The general sensation of deaf-mutes is 

 very acute; and it is very seldom that we hear of a deaf-mute 

 being run over by vehicles, or meeting with kindred accidents, 

 in this great metropolis. Their manners, morals, and understand- 

 ing will depend largely upon their associates. Despite the fact 

 that uneducated deaf-mutes have given evidence of a high order 

 •of intelligence, they were not recognized as rational beings by the 

 ancients, and were classed with idiots. Our progenitors did not 

 underrtand the connection between hearing, speech, and thought; 

 and Hie deaf mutes were denied the capacity of intellectual cul- 

 ture, and were allowed to remain in a deplorable state of igno- 

 jrance. The first intimation to be found regarding the instruction 

 of this unfortunate class occurs in Rudolph Agricola's works, "De 

 Inventione Dialecticse." This writer flourished during the close 

 •of the fifteenth century. He relates the case of a deaf mute who 

 ■could converse by writing. From the sixteenth to the seventeenth 

 century quite a number of cases of deaf-mutes who were edu- 

 cated individually are recorded, some by means of the sign- 

 language, and others by articulation. J. P. Bonnet taught deaf- 

 mutes by articulation, and published his method at Madrid in 

 1620. 



The credit for establishing the first school for deaf-mutes be- 

 longs to De 1' Epee. This school, established at Paris in 1760, 

 became a state institution in 1791. While this was a momentous 

 :Step forward in the history of deaf-mutism, the founder unfortu- 

 nately made the sign-language the basis of his instruction. His 

 idea was, that spoken language is foreign to the deaf-mute, because 

 he cannot acquire it through the same channel as we do (by hear- 

 ing), and that his natural language is one of signs, because he 

 uses them ; and therefore De 1' Ep6e's system develops from the 

 natural sii;ns, which necessity compels the deaf-mute (o use, an 

 artificial sign-language which has no analogy in construction 

 with spoken language, and imparts to the deaf-mute all informa 

 tion in that artificial sign-language, and makes the acquisition of 

 his native language a secondary achievement, as we, for instance, 

 learn a foreign language by means of our mother tongue. 



In 1778, Heinricke opened a school for deaf mutes in Leipzig, 

 and made articulation the basis of instruction. Since Ibat time 

 these two systems have been in vogue, and are designated, after 

 their origin, the French and the German system respectively. 

 The German system approaches in principle to the method of 

 nature. A. child is made to acquire language by frequent repre- 

 sentation of the word to its mind through the sense of hearing. 

 To overcome this obstacle in the deaf child, the word is exhibited 

 to him through the sense of sight, and in a twofold manner, — by 

 articulation and by writing. The word is thus ingrafted upon 

 the mind by two impressions without the intervention of any 

 artificial signs. As a consequence, those taught by articulation 

 share as fully in the possession of a mother-tongue as their more 

 fortunate brethren, excepting that this end is obtained at a some- 

 what later period in life, They employ it in reflection ; and it is 



the language they dream in (they speak in their dreams as normal 

 individuals), for they are unacquainted with any other. Those 

 taught by signs reflect by means of signs, and translate their im- 

 pressions into our language when necessity compels them to. 

 Even De 1' Epee acknowledges this latter fact.' For the benefit of 

 those who are unacquainted with the method of teaching deaf- 

 mutes to speak, I will give a brief illustration. The easiest sounds 

 to begin with are the vowels a, o, u {a as in father, o as in hold, 

 and u as in flute). The teacher writes the letter a on the black 

 board, and the chUd copies it. The pupil then places his hand on 

 the teacher's chest while the latter is in the act of pronouncing 

 the letter. By this means the pupil feels the expiratory thrill 

 caused by the articulation of the letter, and will further note that 

 the tongue lies flatly upon the floor of the oral cavity, and that 

 the mouth is ?pen. The child will have very little difficulty in 

 pronouncing the letter: it may occasionally be necessary to de- 

 press his tongue once or twice. The pupil is then caused to plac? 

 his hand upon his own chest, and repeats the letter. By feeling 

 the vibration, he becomes conscious of the fact that he has accom- 

 plished the feat. The letters o and u are pronounced with visible 

 modifications of the position of the lips. 



In m the lips are slightly closed, and the air passes in a vibration 

 through the nose. By placing the forefinger of the pupil against the ■ 

 nostril, he will feel the letter as it is pronounced. After a few at- 

 tempts, he will readily succeed in enunciating the letter himself. In 

 / the tip of the tongue rests against the upper part of the lower 

 gum; the upper teeth rest lightly upon the lower lip; and the 

 lips are lightly closed excepting at the centre, where a small 

 opening is preserved, through which the air hisses. If the pupil 

 holds the back of the hand a little distance from the mouth, he 

 will feel the letter as it is pronounced. He will easily learn to 

 pronounce the letter after one or two endeavors. By holding his 

 hand before his own mouth, he perceives whether he pronounces 

 the letter correctly or not. In v the upper teeth rest lightly 

 against the lower lip, and the air passes through them. By hold- 

 ing the back of his hand under the chin, the pupil will again feel 

 the letter pronounced. In s the tip of the tongue rests against 

 the upper gum, the teeth are closed, and the air hisses through 

 them. The pupil will learn to pronounce the letter at the first 

 attempt. 



Now, some may consider this to be a very slow process, which 

 exhausts the patience of both teacher and child ; but let me say, 

 as one familiar with the subject, that this is not the case. With 

 a little experience on the part of the teacher, a class of ten or 

 twelve congenital mutes of ordinary intelligence will acquire the 

 entire alphabet within ten or twelve weeks, and will be able to 

 read from the lips, and speak and write such monosyllabic words 

 as "book," '-fan," "hand," "mouth," "cap," "fish," "hat," 

 "house," "cup," "man," etc. At the expiration of the first year 

 they will be able to make use of simple sentences. Even though 

 the voice of some congenital mutes mny not be as pleasant as that 

 of others, the labor expended is not lost; for such have the 

 advantage, first, of being able to read from the lips whatever is 

 spoken; and, second, the value ot the impression which has been 

 made upon the mind by articulating the word. I need scarcely 

 say that all this is more readily acquired by semi-mutes, and that 

 their voices sound more pleasantly to the ear. We should, more- 

 over, consider the injustice which has been and is now practised 

 against the semi-mutes, and they constitute a large percentage. 

 By tljose schools which make use of the sign-language, they are 

 classed with congenital mutes, who employ only signs in commu- 

 nicating with one another, and naturally the former do not find 

 opportunity for retaining what speech they may have possessed. 

 Sometimes even the teacher is a mute. Under these circum- 

 stances, and as if designedly, the semi-mule is bound to forget 

 speech, especially after he has acquired the sign-language; and 

 flnally he becomes so imbued with muteness, that he actually 

 becomes ashamed to use his voice. I have had the opportunity of 

 observing the effect produced upon semi-mutes, when brought to 

 an institution where signs were used. For a while they could 

 not recover from their bewilderment and confusion when they, 



' See my article on "Deaf-Mutism: its Pathology, Causes, and Treatment,' 

 in the New York Medical Record, Nov. 3, 1-88. 



