BORN BLIND AND DEAF. 31 



The case described in the foregoing papers is said by Mr 

 Wardrop, in a letter of his already quoted, to be unique, to the 

 best of his knowledge ; and that it really is so, I am inclined to 

 believe, as far as this can be inferred from the silence of scienti- 

 fic writers *. That it is, at least, a very rare occurrence, is de- 

 monstrated 



when the coffin was about to be lifted, in order to be carried to the church-yard, 

 James Mitchell clung to it, endeavouring to prevent its being carried away, 

 and that he (Mr Campbell) was obliged to remove him from it by force." 



After quoting the above passage, Mr Glennie adds : — " Mr Macfarlane, 

 in his remarks on the apparent inconsistence between Dr Gordon's account of 

 young Mitchell and his own, has expressed what occurred to me immediately 

 after I read your last letter. His words are : " I would observe, that the cir-. 

 cumstances mentioned by Dr Gordon, of Mitchell's running through the 

 crowd, and touching every person, do not, in my opinion, amount to a proof, 

 that he was insensible of the loss which he had sustained, and felt no grief on 

 that account. In acting thus, Mitchell (if the expression may be allowed) was 

 merely viewing the assemblage of people around him. This he could not do by 

 his eyes ; but being eager to examine them, he did so by means of the senses of 

 which he has the use. In short, he was grieved ; but, in this instance, his curio- 

 sity overcame his grief." The remark certainly does honour to Mr Macfar- 

 lane's sagacity, and, in my opinion, goes far to reconcile the two narratives. I 

 hope to be able soon, through Dr Gordon's means, who proposes to pass a part 

 of this summer in that neighbourhood, to obtain from the mother and sister of 

 the young man, a still more circumstantial account of his general behaviour, and 

 of the apparent state of his feelings at this trying crisis of his life. Some very 

 interesting particulars, with respect to these points, (which have been already 

 communicated to me by this gentleman) may be found in an Appendix annexed 

 to this memoir. (May 20. 1812.) 



* In Diderot's very ingenious and fanciful Letter on the Blind, there are va- 

 rious allusions to the hypothetical case of an Aveugle-Sourd-Muet. In one pas- 

 sage, 



