justify its use, on the ground, that words given to the deaf mute for the first time orally, are not certain to be understood, and that the manual alphabet is a convenient means of supplying the defect.

III. METHODS AND PROCESSES OF INSTRUCTION.

In passing now to the application of these theoretical views, in the actual instruction of the deaf and dumb, we shall find an advantage in treating of particular branches separately and in the following order:

1. Method of Instruction in Articulation.

Before describing the manner in which speaking is taught, without the aid of hearing, it seems necessary to observe, that deaf mutes in general possess perfect organs of speech !(1) They make involuntary, and frequently also voluntary sounds, and could they only hear what sounds are made by others in speaking, would be able to imitate them, or in other words, to talk. As total deafness debars from all such knowledge, they necessarily remain silent or mute; in other words, they are dumb solely in consequence of deafness. Even where a child has already learned to talk, but subsequently at a tender age becomes deaf, he gradually loses one word after another, from no longer hearing them spoken, and finally relapses into silence.

The end proposed in teaching articulation is, by means of the eye, aided by the sense of touch, to supply to the deaf mute the lost sense of hearing. As different sounds

(1.) Exceptions to this remark are rare. At Cologne, I saw a deaf and dumb boy, dwarfish in size, the orifice of whose throat seemed to be of double the ordinary size. He was able to make a variety of sounds, but not enough to represent the different articulations of spoken language; at two other schools, also, I saw similar instances.

represent themselves, each in a different manner, on the lips, or in the position and play of the vocal organs, although frequently with very slight variations, the effort is made to accustom the deaf mute to notice and recognize these positions and variations on the one hand, and on the other, to imitate them himself, with the addition of those emissions of sound of which he is naturally capable. In this process, nearly every teacher has certain peculiarities of his own, although in the main they do and must agree. In the following description, Mr. Hill's course has been generally preferred, as being on the whole as successful as any, with occasional reference also to other teachers and published works.

1. Qualifications required in an instructor. In order to be a successful teacher of articulation, according to the German measure of success, it is necessary to have, first, well formed and perfect organs of speech and a correct pronunciation; secondly, an accurate knowledge of the vocal organs, and of their positions and motions in the production of different sounds; thirdly, skill in making the deaf mute perceive the different motions of the mouth, and teaching him to imitate them himself; and finally, "infinite patience." "The difficulty," says one, "consists more in the expenditure of strength, which the exertion of teaching the deaf and dumb to articulate requires, than in the understanding of what is to be done, which demands no special genius."

2. General description of the method of teaching. In order to make the pupil acquainted with the position of the organs necessary for the production of the sounds of language, the teacher places his own organs in the necessary position, makes the scholar by sight and feeling notice these positions ; encourages him to do the same himself; helps him when he does not succeed; and finally, proceeds from simple to composite sounds, that is, to syllables and words, and from these to sentences.

As apparatus, a looking glass, in which the pupil may view the position of his own mouth, as compared with that of the teacher's, and a paper-folder, used to direct the motions of the pupil's tongue, are generally employed. Such contrivances as india-rubber tongues, the expediency of which has sometimes been suggested, are in fact never resorted to.(1) Some teachers, instead of a paper-folder, put their fingers into the scholar's mouth. This Mr. Hill discountenances, on the ground, among others, that "sometimes unwittingly and sometimes on purpose, the scholar is in danger of biting it."(2)

(1.) It has found its way into the books, and is frequently stated as a fact, that Mr. Reich of Leipzig, uses an india-rubber flexible tongue, in instruction. I have it on his own authority that this is an entire mistake.

(2.) Hill: Mech. Sprech., 26. This remark would seem to point to an unwillingness on the part of deaf mutes to learn to speak. That the exercise, especially at first, is exceedingly trying to them, hardly admits of doubt. Every one who has made the attempt to learn the sounds of a foreign language, can remember what severe drafts were made upon his patience, when after the hundredth repetition of a difficult sound, he only succeeded in making a distant imitation. How vastly must the difficulty be enhanced in the experience of the deaf and dumb, who labor under the double disadvantage, of being obliged to articulate with organs to which exercise has given no flexibility, and to imitate sounds, which they cannot hear, or even form a conception of. I shall never forget the unpleasant impression made upon me, in watching the efforts of a little deaf mute who had been at school not quite three months, and to whom the instructor was laboring to teach the articulation of the letter s. The child did not bring his tongue far enough forward, and the only sound he made was that of sch. (sh.) A quarter of an hour the teacher spent in endeavoring to remedy the mistake, frequently running his paper-folder into the child's mouth, and pressing down his tongue, but without success. The exercise, it was evident, was laborious to the teacher, and towards the end, especially, most painful to the scholar. Indeed, at last the child lost all courage, and appeared the perfect image of despair. Although compulsion is sometimes obliged to be used, yet on the whole, nothing connected with articulation appears so really surprising, as the degree of patience exercised by the pupils.

One of the earliest requisites in such a course, is evidently, the power on the part of the deaf mute of making voluntary sounds. When the hearing is only partially lost, or the child has become deaf after having once learned to talk, and in certain other cases, there is no peculiar difficulty. Sometimes, on the other hand, considerable time and labor are spent in making the pupil understand what is required of him. At Leipzig, I saw a little girl who had been under instruction a couple of weeks, but without making any progress. Day after day, she had been called up, and the teacher had pronounced the usual sound a (a as in father,) with the customary devices of prolongation and percussion, placing her little hand before his mouth and under his chin, to show her that the breath must be strongly expired and a jar be made in the vocal organs, but all to no effect. She placed her hand, as she was directed, before her own mouth and under her chin, breathing strongly enough, but making no sound. As I saw her from time to time, on my visits to the school, with her mouth wide open, but in complete ignorance of the manner of producing the jar she noticed in her teacher, I became interested in the case, and requested the teacher to inform me, as soon as he succeeded. In the course of the week, he brought me word that she had overcome the difficulty. When his own patience was nearly exhausted, another deaf and dumb girl had undertaken the matter, and instantly succeeded. Very possibly, the teacher himself would have attained the same result, had he continued his efforts a moment longer. The child, it appears, had first succeeded in making a sound when her hand was under her chin; aud in consequence, such an association between the vibration and the position of the hand was established in her mind, that in no other way was she able for some days to make any sound at all. The instant her hand was removed, the sound ceased.

The process of instruction is exceedingly slow and elementary, and requires that only one scholar be taught at a time. Seating himself beside a window, so that the light shall fall fully upon his face, placing his head in an easy position, and bringing the scholar before him, in such a manner that the pupil's eye shall be on a level with the teacher's mouth, the latter commences with a single sound, and then gradually passes on to others, until all are exhausted. It deserves to be noticed, although it cannot be said that one has borrowed the improvement from the other, that in Germany, both in the schools for hearing children and the deaf and dumb, the sounds of the letters of the alphabet are taught instead of the names. For deaf mutes, indeed, no other course would be practicable.

The best order in which to teach the sounds of the alphabet varies somewhat with different pupils, and hence it is the practice of the best teachers, as early as possible, to try all the sounds of the alphabet, in order both to test the pupil's capability, and ascertain to what points their attention must be specially directed. Generally, however, experience has shown the following order to be as successful as any, viz: h; a (ah), u (oo), i (ee); p, t, k, or b, d, g; o, e (a in fate); au (ou), ai (i in lion); f, s, ch, (the last a peculiar sound); w (nearly v), ƒ, j, (y); ä (or ae); b, d, g, or p, t, k; sch (sh); m, n, ng; l; r; ö; ü; (the two last have a peculiar sound.) Care must be taken not to practice the pupil too long on the consonants alone, but, as soon as possible, to bring k and t, for instance, into connection with the vowels, in the formation of simple syllables. This is the first stage. With some variations in the order of the letters and syllables, relieved also by exercises in learning to make the written characters, the pupil is practiced in these elementary sounds during several weeks.

Next follow the consonants placed after the vowels, and