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that can excite compafTion, or demand encouragement. It 

 provides iiillruclion for the indigent bhncl, in a trade, by 

 which tliey may be able to provide, either wholly or in part, 

 for tlieir own fiibfiilence ; and thus, inilead of being alto- 

 gether a burden to the community, they will be of feme fer- 

 vice to it ; and inilead of being depreffed and cheerlefs them- 

 felves, under a fenfe of their total dependence, and for want 

 of regular employment, habits of induilry will relieve their 

 fpirits, and produce the mod beneficial eifecls on their ftate 

 and charaftcr. The children of this uiltitution, amounting 

 in the prefent year (1804) to 32, are completely clothed, 

 boarded, lodged, and inllrutled, gratis. The articles at 

 prefent manufaftured in the fchool are fhoemakers'-thread, 

 fine and coarfe thread, window fa(h-linc, and cloaths'-line (of 

 a peculiar conftrnclion, and made on a machine adapted to 

 the uie of blind perfons), by the females ; and window and 

 fafh-hne, cloaths'-line, hampers, and wicker baflcets, by the 

 males. The fuccefs that has crowned tlie efforts of the 

 friends of this inllitution, fince its firfl: ellablifhrnent, affords 

 luffieient evidence of the degree in which the ficuation and 

 faculties of the blind are capable of improvement ; and a 

 view of it in its prefent profpcrous ftate, mull be gratifying 

 to perfons of humane and companionate feelings. Here they 

 will not find the fchohrs fitting in liftlefs indolence, which is 

 commonly the cafe with the blind, or brooding in filence 

 over tlieir own defects, and their inferiority to the rell of 

 mankind ; but they will behold a number of individuals, of 

 a clafs iiitherto confidered as doomed to a life of furrow and 

 difcontcnt, and to be provided for merely in alms-houfes, 

 or by donations of charity, not lefs animated in their amufe- 

 ments, during the hours of recreation, and far more cheer- 

 fully attentive to their work in thofe of employment, than 

 perfons poffcfled of fight. This important and ufeful inlli- 

 tution is under the direftion of a prefident, eight vice-prefi- 

 dents, a trealurer, and a committee of 24 members. A fub- 

 fcription of one guinea annually, or of not lefs than 20 

 guineas at once, or within one year, conftitutes a m.ember. 



To this article we fltall fubjoin the following direftions 

 given by Mr. Thickneffc, for teaching the blind to write : 

 " Let any common joiner make a flat board, about 14 

 inches long, and 12 wide; in the middle of which let a 

 place be funk, deep enough, when lined with cloth, to hold 

 only two or three flieets of fool's-cap paper, which mull 

 quite fill up the fpace : over this muft be fixed a very thin 

 falfc frame, which is to cover all but the paper, and failened 

 on by four little pins, fixed in the lower board : and acrofs 

 the lower frame, juft over the paper, mull be a little Aider, 

 an inch and, a half broad, to ilip dov/n into fevcral receffes 

 made in the upper frame, at a proper diftance for the lines, 

 wdiich fliould be near an inch afunder ; and this ruler, on 

 which the writer is to reft his fourth and little finger, mull 

 be made full of httle notches, at a quarter of an inch diftant 

 from each other; and thefe notches will inform the writer, 

 by his little finger dropping from notch to notch, how to 

 avoid running one letter into another. When he comes to 

 the end of the line, he muft move his Aider down to the 

 next groove, which may cafily be fo contrived with a fpring 

 to give warnins: that it is properly removed to the fecond 

 line, and fo on." 



Blindness, in the Vstennary Art, a difeafe very fre- 

 quently happening to horfes. The eye of the horfe is fub- 

 jetl to various difeafes which may occafion hlindnefs, as the 

 cataract, the giiltaferena, opacity of the cornea or its cover- 

 ings, &c. 



The diforder, however, generally inducing blindnefs among 

 horfes is the cataract, and the inflamation of the external parts 

 of the globe of the eye, which precedes the obfcuration of 



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the cvyftalilne, is termed blindnefs, as though the difeafe was 

 really confirmed ; and horfes fo afFefted are confidered as 

 fuch, and denominated blind, though at this period of the 

 difeafe the fight is only rendered imperfeft. 



This deftruftive diforder, in general, commences with an 

 inflammation of the outer coats of the eye, as the memlrana 

 coiijunfUva, or cornea, or both together, and extending gra- 

 dually to the interior, inflames and dellroys the tranfparency 

 of the cryftalline, and obftrudls the admiffion of light. 



Thefe attacks of imflammation not unfrequently difap- 

 pear for a time, or, at leaft, become much lefs diflinguilh- 

 able, and then return again, obferving fomethmg like 

 regular periods of acceflion and remiffion; and from hence 

 the difeafe has been termed by fome the mean blindnefs, 

 and thefe changes were^ confidered as under the influence 

 of this planet, and correfpouduig with the periods of its 

 change ; there are, however, other caufes more powerful 

 in their influence, to which thefe changes in this dilorder 

 mav, with more appearance of truth, be attributed, as im- 

 proper expofure to excelTive cold, or drafts of air ; to 

 a clofe, low, over-heated liable, or fudden alternations 

 from the one to the other ; violent exercile and fweating ; 

 then wafliing with cold water, leaving the hair drenched 

 with it ; acrid volatile falts rifing from the dung ; over- 

 feeding with too hot, dry, and ftimulating fo6d, and all 

 other caufes inducing an increafed aftion of the heart and 

 arteries, naturally tend to induce a recurrence of this com- 

 plaint. 



As this difeafe is one of the moft interefting in the vete- 

 rinary art, and the moft neceflfary to be well underftood, 

 as well by profcflTional men, as by dealers and poffeflbrs of 

 horfes, we (hall defcribe at fome length the appearances by 

 which it is known to exift, and the means that have 

 hitherto been employed, as far as they have come to our 

 knowledge, for the removal of it. Thole who may defire to 

 be acquainted refptfting the information poflcfled by the 

 ancients of this complaint, and their praftices for its cure, 

 may be referred to the writings of Ablyrtus and Vegetius : 

 the latter, in his elegant work ik arte Veicrinaria, lib. 2. 

 cap. xvi. de fujfufwne oculoriim, has divided this diforder 

 into three kinds, under the Uiicojlcr.orhoriajis, protochoriafis, 

 hypochoriaju ; by his definitions, however, of tiiefe three 

 kinds, it appears that he only meant the different llages 

 of the formation of ihe cataraft, from the firft inflam- 

 mation of the eye, to the cryftalline becoming perfeclly 

 opake and burfting its capfule ; rnfhing to the anterior 

 chamber of the eye, and refting, like a white opake ball, 

 againft the cornea ; occafioning a total lofs of fight, and 

 which he compares to the yolk of an egg hurtling from 

 its fituation in the centre of the egg, and to which it can 

 never be again reduced. He confiders the caufe of this com- 

 plaint to be the rupture of the membrane containing the 

 fiijht ; by exceffive heat, or more certainly from the fatigiie 

 of a long journey, or the neglefted injury of the eve, from 

 the inattention of the mailer. His hypochuriafis, which 

 appears to be the firll ftage of this diforder, he fays, de- 

 fcends from the head, and often ftiews itfelf in one eye, and 

 then migrates to the other, and is attended with a flow 

 (if water or tears. His treatment, in this cafe, is to 

 bleed often from the eye-brow, or rather the eye-lids, 

 and from the temples ; to foment frequently with warm 

 water in which rue and fennel feeds have been boiled ; to 

 anoint the eye " cum coUyrio opopanato et opohalfamalo." 

 He alfo recommends applying the aClual cautery to the 

 temples above the veins. This author, in another chapter, 

 recommends, in this complaint, that yon fliould infpeft the 

 noftril on the fame fide with the morbid eye, and you will 



' find 



