In addition to these two classes, I have met with a few instances in which pupils born deaf, as far as was known, articulated better than would be expected, but, in every such case, on closer inquiry, circumstances came out altogether peculiar. Where, for instance, a deaf mute has been ten years under instruction, in the family of the principal, and trained with much care, to show how much can be done, and to serve for exhibition to strangers, or where the parents, in opulent circumstances, and with a small family, have devoted themselves for a long course of years to his instruction, it is evident that these advantages, combined with peculiar physical and mental aptitude for instruction in mechanical articulation, render the case entirely distinct from that of ordinary deaf mutes.

On the whole, then, it may be said, that those pupils in the German schools, who succeed to any considerable degree in speaking, were either already, to some extent, in possession of spoken language before they lost the power of hearing, or are only partially deaf, or, in addition to extraordinary aptitude for learning, have received a degree of attention very far beyond what it is possible to devote to most of the deaf and dumb. Without affirming that all the pupils who belong to these classes are favorable specimens of what can be done in articulation, I feel safe in expressing the opinion, that a considerable number would be able to make themselves understood by their friends and those with whom they daily associate. In a very few instances the attainment might be somewhat greater, but as a general rule, this is the farthest limit ever reached, in return for the time employed and efforts expended in teaching articulation, in the German institutions for the deaf and dumb.

On the other hand, there is another part of the pupils, constituting the exceptions at the other extreme, to whom

instruction in articulation is a dead loss. In many cases, indeed, no attempt is made to teach them to speak. Of these, some are incapacitated for instruction in speaking, by defective formation of the vocal organs; some by inconsiderate surgical operations, performed under the mistaken idea that the child's dumbness arose from confinement of the tongue; others on account of physical or nervous weakness; and others still in consequence of the want of sufficient mental activity to seize and retain the varying positions of the organs of speech. The number of this class to whom instruction in articulation is not given, or if attempted, is a complete failure, varies somewhat in different schools. Combining, however, the judgment of judicious teachers, with my own observations, I think they may be safely reckoned as one-tenth of the whole. Of those, to whom, in consequence of peculiarly favorable circumstances, articulation promises to be of use, and of whom success, in the modified sense just explained, can be predicated, the proportion may be one-fifth, or two-tenths;' leaving seven-tenths, or the great mass, though differing somewhat in their attainments, yet only able, as a general thing, to make themselves understood in the articulation of frequently repeated sentences and single words, and to whom this limited acquisition can be of very little worth.

Perhaps it is scarcely necessary to observe, that I have found no instance of so great correctness in speaking, even among those who lost their hearing after having acquired the use of spoken language, that their infirmity would not be suspected; and I feel no hesitation in saying, that in respect

An intelligent gentleman at my side, who has visited several of the best German schools for the deaf and dumb, thinks this estimate is too large. On account of the final result, however, to which I have arrived, and to avoid the suspicion of endeavoring to make out a case, I prefer to err in this extreme rather than in the other.

to those born deaf, such an attainment is absolutely impossible.1

2. Results of Instruction in Reading on the Lips.

1. Preliminary Remarks.-Because the articulation of the deaf and dumb in the German schools must be pronounced to be generally of little value, it by no means necessarily follows, that the attempt to teach them to read words and sentences on the lips of others, may not be successful. Indeed, the German teachers, with a sort of half consciousness of the ill success of the effort to teach their pupils to articulate, are frequently accustomed to retire back upon the ground, that, even if many cannot be taught to speak, the power of reading on the lips is of great advantage, and justifies the expenditure of the time they devote to it. I have made this, therefore, an object of separate inquiry, with a view of arriving at a conclusion altogether independent of the other.

A practical difficulty I soon experienced, arose from the constant use of pantomimic signs made by the teachers, and that to a degree far greater than would be expected from the theories they advocate. It is not intended to say that they avail themselves of the full advantages of the natural sign language of the deaf and dumb. This, their views in respect to it, forbid. But certain it is, that in conversation with

Distance has something to do with the marvelous. In the United States we hear such stories of Germany. In Germany the scene changes to England. The following from a German publication may be taken as a specimen: "A very intelligent friend of mine, who visited the London institution in 1838, and who heard one of the pupils read a page out of a book, assured me that from the distinct enunciation and correct intonation of the reader, he should never have imagined, (had he not been in a deaf and dumb institution,) that the reader had no hearing." Undoubtedly a case in which the hearing was lost at a late period.

their most advanced pupils, they employ a very large num ber of signs for individual words, and not merely substantives and verbs, but even adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. Some teachers, indeed, I have seen, and in schools which have distinguished themselves by their zeal against the use of signs, giving out whole sentences, even down to the most unimportant word, in this manner, and in the order of the German language. In one instance, I ventured to observe that these were not very unlike methodical signs. "Oh, no!" said the gentleman, "these are only school signs." From the following instances some idea may be formed, both of the degree to which pantomimic signs are relied on to make the motions of the lips intelligible, and also, without this assistance, how much the deaf and dumb are able to understand.

In one of the best schools I visited, the following simple narrative was to be written by the pupils of the oldest class, who had been, for the most part six, and some ten years and more, under instruction. "Abraham possessed great herds, many meadows and fields. Abraham had a young cousin, Lot. He also possessed many herds. The herdsmen of Abraham strove with the herdsmen of Lot. Abraham would have no strife. He was friendly, and said to the shepherds, 'do not strive.' He gave to Lot a beautiful land, and Lot went there with his herdsmen. The herdsmen were quarrelsome-had quarrels. Abraham and Lot were peaceablehad peace. Good men love peace." This was very slowly read by the teacher. Then explanations were given when necessary, and finally, the story was read again, the pupils all imitating him, and pronouncing the words after him as they were able. An active pantomime accompanied the whole. Not only by changing his position, and making his countenance as expressive as possible, did the instructor endeavor to convey an idea of the meaning, but also by making signs, generally restrained, and sometimes not more

than a fragment of a sign, for a large number of words. Those which I noted down, and which were by no means the whole, were, drive, meadow, strive, say, belong, come, saw, go, here, stay, thy, mine, and, separate, young, older, led, God, must, not, pleasure, and peace. This exercise occupied an hour.

In another school, the oldest class, which had been four years under the instruction of a superior teacher, appeared so well, that I requested him to dictate a paragraph to this class only once, and to abstain from all pantomime. He willingly did so, and dictated to four of his scholars the following: "As Jesus, on the morrow, was going into the city, he hungered. And he saw a fig tree at a distance which had leaves. Then he went near, that he might find something upon it, and found nothing but leaves. And Jesus said to it, let no man eat fruit from thee again forever! And his disciples heard it, and the fig tree immediately withered."

The best scholar wrote the whole in fifteen minutes from the commencement of the reading, the pupil who sat next to him, five years under instruction, was able to do nothing, and the two others were able to write only a part. The following translation of what the first wrote, will give, I think, an accurate idea of the degree of his correctness: "As Jesus on morrow was going into the city, he hungered and he saw a fig tree which had only leaves. And he went near and sought upon to the fig tree whether he might find a fruit, but he found not a single fruit, said; now become because thou hast no fruit. His disciples heard it and the fig tree immediately withered."

One of the most favorable specimens of the power of reading on the lips I have seen, was in the well conducted school at Hamburg. At the request of the accomplished senior teacher, Mr. Glitz, to have his class tested, the