....

been taught to speak. Although I have no recollection of physical pain in the act of speaking, I felt the strongest possible indisposition to use my vocal organs. I seemed to labour under a moral disability which cannot be described by comparison with any disinclination which the reader can be supposed to have experienced. The disin clination which one feels to leave his warm bed on a frosty morning is nothing to that which I experienced against any exercise of the organs of speech. The force of this tendency to dumbness was so great, that for many years I habitually expressed myself to others in writing, even when not more than a few words were necessary; and when this mode of intercourse could not be used, I avoided occasions of speech, or heaved up a few monosyllables, or expressed my wish by a slight motion or gesture."

When Kitto was voyaging to the Mediterranean, his kind-hearted and intelligent companions had recourse to a very justifiable artifice to induce him to use his vocal powers. His account of it, and its results, show what may be accomplished in cases of unwillingness to speak on the part of the deaf, who have once acquired the knowledge of language and the power of speech. "After much reasoning with me on the matter, they entered into a conspiracy, in which the captain of the ship joined, not to understand a word I said, otherwise than orally, throughout the voyage. In this they persevered to a marvel; but as I had much to ask, since I had not before been at sea, I made very great progress with my tongue during the six weeks' voyage, and by the time we reached our destination had almost overcome the habit of clutching a pen or pencil to answer every question that was asked me. From this time I usually expressed myself orally to those whom I knew, in the ordinary intercourse of life; but when my communication required many words, it was usually conveyed in writing. This, also, I at length dropped, and strangers only were addressed in writing Finally, I ventured to accost even strangers with the tongue, and it was only when not understood that I resorted to the pen. At first, strangers could rarely understand me without much difficulty; but under the improvement which practice gave, my voice was so much bettered that the instances in which it was not readily understood gradually diminished, and at the present day I rarely find even a foreigner to whom my language is not clear."

The importance of inquiries into the causes of deafness has been recognised in all our institutions for the deaf and dumb, and ought to be urged upon the registrar-general when the next census for Great Britain is taken. The report on the 'Status of Disease' in Ireland has to a certain extent cleared the way and shown the value of such inquiries. The series of questions issued by the commissioners in that country is given below, and might be adopted in future investigations. They show the data on which the tables in the report were constructed. They were kindly received by the community, and in only one instance was the required information refused.

1. Whether the person was born deaf and dumb, or became so afterwards.

2. If he (or she) was born deaf and dumb, to what cause is such defect attributed by the friends or relatives; whether to fright, hereditary predisposition, or the near relationship of parents-such as the intermarriage of cousins? If attributed to any of these causes, state the degree of relationship existing between the parents, and specify the nature of the fright or accident experienced.

3. If he (or she) became deaf and dumb since birth; state at what age, and to what cause or disease has such been attributed.

4. Is he (or she) paralytic, idiotic, or in any other way mentally or physically affected?

5. Whether any other members of the family, parent or parents, or grandparents, uncles, aunts, or cousins, have been deaf and dumb, and whether they were by the father's or the mother's side. If such relatives were living on March 30, 1851, please state their names, and the barony, parish, and townland in which they were then residing.

6. Whether other members of the family, either dead or absent, such as brothers or sisters, were affected with deaf and dumbness; and if so, state the number and the position of each in the family, such as first, second, or third child, &c. If they were alive upon March 30, 1851, state where they lived and if dead, give the date and cause of death, and the age at which they died.

7. If the person is educated, state where, and by what means such education was acquired.

8. State

-'s position in the family, whether first, second, or third child in a family of living, and dead. N.B.-State the number

of living and dead required in this query.

9. If he (or she) has been married, state the result of such marriage in males and females, and whether any of them have been mute from birth, or became so by accident or disease.

The efforts made by our institutions, those of different countries of Europe, and in some instances by their governments, and by America, have from time to time thrown considerable light on the causes of deafness; but, except the Report for Ireland above referred to, nothing of importance or authority has yet been published in this kingdom; the medical and social aspects of deaf-dumbness have therefore been very partially considered. It is proposed in the present article to bring together such tables and facts as are trustworthy, and available for the purposes of comparison, together with a body of statistics which have recently been collected for the same object.

The discrepancies in this table are not greater than might be expected, some of them may arise from imperfect knowledge on the part of those who furnished the information, but it is highly probable that if there are errors in one column they are balanced by opposite of the aggregate cases which are brought to our institutions are of conones, and we may come to the very safe conclusion that three-fourths genital deafness. This is the largest number of cases that has ever been accumulated for comparison, connected with the institutions for the deaf and dumb in this kingdom.

The report on the status of disease for Ireland presents a very different proportion, which cannot be reconciled with the result obtained in any other country. It gives us a total of 4747 (excluding the dumb not deaf, the paralytic, and the idiotic); of this number 3885 were born deaf, and 535 only became so after birth; 327 cases are, however, reported as uncertain or unknown; still if these were added to the cases of acquired deafness, the proportion would remain very large of congenital cases. The Belfast institution proportions, in Table I., are to a considerable extent confirmatory of the large number of congenital

cases in Ireland.

This table shows that more than two-fifths of the cases are of acquired Threedeafness, leaving out of consideration the uncertain ones. fourths of the English pupils and not quite one-half of the American ones were born deaf and dumb. One-fourth of the English pupils and two-fifths of those of the United States became deaf by accident or disease. The European table which follows (excepting Germany) offers somewhat similar results to that for Great Britain, namely one-fourth acquired to three-fourths congenital. TABLE III. PROPORTIONS OF CONGENITAL DEAFNESS. (EUROPE.)

Hence it appears that in Germany more than half of the cases reported, namely, 52 per cent., were of acquired deafness, an extraordinary revelation if this result may be taken to represent the proportions throughout the deaf and dumb population of that country, and one that should lead to further investigations. As a country, the United States approximates more nearly to Germany than any other, showing an average of 42 per cent. of acquired deafness, thus:--Ohio nearly 51 per cent., Illinois 45, Hartford 44, Indiana 42, Kentucky 40, New York 38, and Philadelphia 36 per cent. These proportions are for the different districts whence the respective institutions are supplied with pupils. This great prevalence of acquired deafness in Germany and the United States may now be usefully compared with the proportions in the United Kingdom, and with other parts of Europe. Ireland, the country par excellence of the congenitally deaf, presents us with only 11 per cent. of acquired deafness, and with 82 per cent. congenital, the other 7 per cent. being of uncertain origin. The four northern counties of England, represented by Newcastle-upon-Tyne, show a proportion of 33 per cent. of the pupils of acquired deafness; Liverpool, representing portions of Lancashire, Cheshire, and a large floating population from various places, exhibits 26 per cent. of its cases of acquired deafness; the Yorkshire Institution, operating chiefly within that county, has also had 26 per cent. of its cases of this class, and 3 per cent. uncertain; London and Exeter show an equal ratio, namely, 24 per cent.; the former not only provides for the metropolis, but also receives pupils from all parts of the kingdom, while Exeter is limited to the four western counties; Birmingham receives children from the midland counties chiefly, and shows that 22 per cent. of them were not born deaf. Glasgow obtains about half its pupils from Lanarkshire, and the others from all parts of Scotland, and shows that 20 per cent. of its number were not congenitally deaf, while Belfast differs but little from the Commissioners' Report for Ireland, by witnessing that only 14 per cent. of its pupils became deaf after birth. We are thus made aware that the average of acquired deafness in Great Britain is 25 per cent., while Germany has more than double that proportion, and the United States of America show a ratio of 42 per cent. The average for Europe, excepting Ireland and Germany, is the same as for Great Britain, but offers the following anomalies: Belgium, St. Petersburg, the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg and Nancy (France) vary from 20 to 22 per cent. only; the Duchy of Modena, the Paris Institution, and that of Groningen show respectively 25, 28, and 31 per cent., while Tuscany and Copenhagen each present 39 per cent. of acquired deafness.

suppressed eruptions in various diseases. The attention of the physician is not only directed to the cure of the present disease for which he is immediately consulted, but also to the prevention of any evil consequences which might follow such disease. Can it be possible that in the wilder districts of Germany, and in the newly settled counties of the United States-from the difficulty of procuring prompt attention, or the distance of a medical practitioner, disease is often suffered to have its way, and is then followed by consequences which the exercise of timely skill might have averted? This cause has doubtless operated, and may still operate among the rural populations of England. Why does it not produce a larger proportion of acquired deafness in Ireland?

It is observed by Mr. Buxton, the head-master of the Liverpool Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, in a paper published in the Liverpool Medico-Chirurgical Journal,' January, 1859: "It is certainly remarkable, that while, according to the ascertained facts, not half so many children are born deaf in any given population in the United States as in Europe, still the excessive prevalence of deafness from disease or accident, brings up the proportion of deaf-mutes to the whole population to very nearly the same ratio which is found among ourselves. In this county of Lancaster it is 1 in 2045, and for the whole white population of the United States it is 1 in 2152." The thirtyfifth Annual Report of the New York Institution compares the United States in this respect with Europe: " In Europe generally, the chances of the birth of a deaf-mute child are more than twice as great as in the United States, or 615 in a million against 278 in a million; but the chances of the loss of hearing after birth, are in Europe generally much less than in the United States, namely, 154 in a million there, and 222 in a million here; while in Ireland this proportion is only 80 in a million." The Commissioners' Report on the status of disease in Ireland, supplies a hint respecting acquired deafness which ought to be regarded with special attention: "Comparing the congenital with the acquired cases, we find some remarkable differences, caused by localities. In the former class, the proportions are 1 in 1872 in the civic, and 1 in every 1517 in the rural; whereas in the latter the reverse obtains, that class being in the proportion of 1 in 9519 in the civic, and 1 in 11,749 in the rural-the congenital form of disease existing most amongst the rural population; and that acquired after birth prevailing most in crowded cities and towns, where children and young persons are particularly exposed to accidents, scrofulous affections and deleterious influences arising from density of population, unwholesome food, impure air, and insufficient sewerage. Moreover, the populations of cities and towns being in great part recruited by immigration from the rural districts, the deaf and dumb are more likely to remain with their friends in their native homes than those possessing speech and hearing." Respecting the diseases on which deafness followed, we have the following information from various institutions; the heads adopted by Mr. Toynbee, though too few, have been adhered to in Tables V. and VI., among other reasons from the immense variety of causes assigned for the malady in other tables, but in Table VII. the heads of the Census Commissioners for Ireland are followed :

If

Glasgow Institution

18

9

19

44

89

Yorkshire ditto

29

19

13

61

19

141

Birmingham ditto

18

28

8

29

9

93

These results suggest several questions for further inquiry; they cannot be accidental; variations so great must have adequate causes. geographical position could have any influence, it might be adduced that the United States and Germany are both continental, while Ireland, with results so opposite, is insular; but Great Britain is also insular, and presents the medium ratio between the two. The AngloAmericans, the Germans, the Britons are all of the same mixed Teutonic race; the Irish have in them the Celtic element; the isothermals which pass through the United States also enclose Germany, the south of Ireland, and the south of England. The popula tions are subject to similar diseases, and have equal advantages of medical aid in cases of illness-yet deafness supervenes upon one or other disease twice in Germany for once in Yorkshire, twice in the United States for once in Glasgow, four times in Connecticut (Hartford) for once in Ireland, and three times in the North of England (Newcastle) for once in Ireland. Brighton, representing the counties of Sussex, Hampshire, and Kent, presents a similar result to Newcastleon-Tyne. Why there should be two cases of acquired deafness in Tuscany and Belgium for one at St. Petersburg, or why Belgium, itself below the average, should have two for one in Ireland, is a curious matter for future research.

The deaf and dumb are found chiefly among the poor in England, and it is probable that deafness will diminish from the great attention now given to this class, whether within or out of unions; in this respect the very poor are better cared for than those just above them, who never seek parochial aid; probably better, in the matter of medical attendance, than the well-to-do scattered rural population, and this circumstance alone will tend to prevent the supervention of deafness from

Belfast ditto Exeter ditto

Total.

(UNITED STATES.)

90

103

16

83

19

22

49

16

50

49

43

8

3

Total

It is impossible to say from any existing data, whether boys or girls are more liable to the infirmity of deafness arising from other diseases. The Irish Report gives 419 cases of acquired deafness, in which the sex is distinguished; of these, 216 are males, and 203 females. It is, however, remarked, "that according to the present census there is rather an undue proportion of males over females in Ireland." Parents and nurses have the popular opinion that it is more difficult to rear boys than girls-that a girl will battle through a severe illness, where a boy would fail to do so-that a boy would be left with disease upon him, when a girl would be free from any secondary complaint; there are doubtless cases, where life is saved at the expense of one or other of the organs; but which sex most readily yields to the lesser deprivation to prevent the greater, must at present remain uncertain. The Yorkshire Institution has had under instruction 300 boys and 234 girls, among them were 141 cases of acquired deafness; 84 of these cases were boys, and 57 were girls-a fair relative proportion of either sex, namely, 60 per cent. of boys, and 40 per cent. of girls.

Efforts can only be made to prevent a recurring calamity, when its extent and the external circumstances tending to produce it are known; the various diseases favourable to the supervention of deafness have been named, and the next circumstance which claims notice is the age at which experience has shown the greatest liability to the influence of disease arises. It might be wished that all institutions supported by the state or by public benevolence were required to record such facts, as far as possible, for the general welfare, then would our information afford more conclusive results

manifest that the most fatal time of a child's life for the acquisition of deafness is that between 1 and 2 years of age, and that the next most dangerous period is between 2 and 3; after 5, the liabilities decrease materially. It will be evident then, that great care should be exercised by parents during the continuance and development of all diseases to which children are subject during the first quinquenial period of their life, and more especially with reference to those diseases which are shown in the previous tables to be favourable to the supervention of deafness.

The tendency of deafness to run in families is well known. The Report of the Belfast Institution for 1854 shows, on a list of 68 pupils, one instance of 5 (all) in a family deaf and dumb, four cases of 3 in a family, and ten cases of 2 in the same family. The 534 pupils who have been received into the Yorkshire Institution have arisen out of 416 families; of this number, 342 had only a single case of deafness among their children, the other cases arose out of 74 families-45 of which had two each (90), 18 had three each (54), 7 had four each (28), and 4 had fire each (20), making 192 cases. Of the Birmingham pupils, 412 were received out of 369 families; of these, 305 had each one deaf and dumb, 43 families had two each (86), 15 had three each (45), 4 had four each (16), one had five (5), and one had seven (7). The 239 pupils of the Exeter Institution have been received out of 164 families, 149 were single instances in the family, 20 families had each two (40), 12 had each three (36), and 4 had each four (16). The thirty-fourth Report of the Glasgow Institution shows that in 298 families there was one case in each, in 36 families, two in each (72), in 20 families, three in each (60), in 3 families, four in each (12), in one family five (5), and in one seven (7), making 454 cases of deaf and dumb in 369 families. The Report of the London Asylum for 1859 shows a selected list of 23 families, containing 160 children, of whom 105 are deaf and dumb. The thirty-fifth Report of the New York Institution contains much interesting information of the tendency of deafness to run in families, with especial reference to the pupils of that and other institutions in the United States, but space forbids our extracting any portion; enough has been shown above to illustrate this part of the subject, except that it seems desirable to insert the following table (in col. 411) from the census of Ireland, which is introduced in the Report by these observations: "In 3415 instances of deaf-mutes, concerning whom the particulars were available, we have acquired the information shown in the annexed table, with respect to the numbers of which the families consisted in which one or more mutes were born in each. From it we perceive that families consisting of five, six, seven, and eight, presented the greatest number of mutes. The family position of the deaf and dumb is also shown in it, as well as in the foregoing Table. In one instance, two mute children, one the tenth and the other the last, occurred in a family of twenty-nine, all born of the same parents; the twenty-ninth child, now aged fifty-five, is still living in the county of Cork."

We have now to consider some of the causes which are productive of deafness. The laws which influence the physical condition of mankind are becoming better known than they were formerly, and all new discoveries which tend to the amelioration of "the ills which flesh is heir to," are appreciated and applied as opportunities arise. Some of these evils are transitory, and yield to the efforts made for their relief; others, though permanent, may in many instances be divested of their worst character; some are to a large extent preventible, and among this

class deafness, both in its congenital and acquired forms, may be placed. The condition of things necessary to bring about such a result may be aided and encouraged by wise legislative enactments, by increased knowledge, and a willingness to observe the laws which govern and regulate life and health. When it is generally admitted that obedience to these laws is favourable to soundness of body and mind, and that a disregard of them brings its own punishment in the form of disease, and early death, we may hope that many of the afflictions under which mankind labour will pass away or suffer diminution.

The principal ascertained causes of congenital deafness are hereditary transmission, consanguine marriages, feebleness of constitution in the parents, scrofula, the influence of locality, and the ill-health of or accident to the mother during pregnancy. The experience of our institutions at home and abroad, and the researches and opinions of scientific men have accumulated evidence on all these causes which entitles them to separate consideration. The results of such researches and opinions will be given, but only to such an extent as can be borne out by the confirmatory experience of the writer. Cases similar to those to be adduced are of constant occurrence in all institutions for the deaf and dumb, and might be multiplied to an almost indefinite extent. The physical history of deafness has attracted much attention during recent years, and the surmises of a quarter of a century ago, have now in many instances, become established facts.

Several cases of the transmission of deafness through three generations are known to the writer of this article; evidence of a similar nature from other sources is proof sufficient that one of the main causes of deafness is Hereditary Transmission. "It has been clearly ascertained," says Mr. Harvey, On the Ear,'" that the most common cause is a strumous and delicate habit of the body, generally hereditary." An important table is given in the census returns for Ireland, "showing the result of hereditary predisposition, or family peculiarity in the production of congenital muteism. From its arrangement we learn that in 329 instances, numbering 471 persons born in families some of the previous members or collateral branches of which were mute, 249 persons were born deaf and dumb where the disease appeared to come from the father's side; whereas in the other division, where the affection was transmitted through the female line the number amounted but to 222. Among the examples which are given illustrative of this table we find the following: "In cases of single congenital muteism, where the relatives were also deaf and dumb, there were by the father's side-in two instances an uncle and an aunt, in one case two grandaunts, in one instance two aunts, in one case an aunt and a cousin, in another case two nieces and a cousin, in another instance six cousins; in three cases there were four cousins; in eleven instances, three cousins; and in nine cases two cousins, all deaf-mutes. Where two of the family were affected with congenital deaf-dumbness, in two instances four cousins were in a similar condition, in two cases three cousins were deaf and dumb, and in four instances two cousins were thus afflicted. Where three cases of congenital deaf-dumbness occurred in the same family, in one case the great-grandfather had been deaf and dumb, in two instances two grand-uncles had likewise been deafmutes, and in five cases two cousins were in a similar condition. Where the relationship came by the mother's side, there were in cases of single congenital muteism, one instance of a niece and one cousin; eight cases where three cousins were deaf and dumb; and

fourteen instances where two cousins were thus affected. In cases of two mutes in the same family, we find that in one case two aunts were also deaf and dumb, in one case three cousins, and in four cases two cousins laboured under the like defect. Where three mutes occurred in the same family, in one instance an uncle and an aunt, and in another a half-uncle and an aunt, were deaf and dumb; and two cases presented two cousins also deaf and dumb." The thirty-fourth Report of the Glasgow Institution (1855) gives cases similar in character to the above, from the records of that institution, and every school of the kind could supply facts bearing on the hereditary transmission of deafdumbness.

Consanguine Marriages are, next to hereditary transmission, perhaps the most fertile source of deafness. Every institution in the kingdom bears witness to this fact in the numerous cases of pupils who are the offspring of first cousins. And deafness is not the only evil result; idiotcy, blindness, feebleness of frame, insanity, the death of children in early life, and various physical imperfections, such as club-foot, harelip, and spinal deformities are too often the result of such marriages. Mr. Buxton says, " In an inquiry which I made sometime ago, from a large number of persons, I found that about every tenth case of deafness resulted from the marriage of cousins ;" and Dr. Peet, of the New York Institution, confirms this ratio; the writer's experience is very similar, and has extended to other mental and physical defects, as well as to deafness, as a common result of such marriages. The Irish Commissioners report on this branch of their inquiry as follows: "Among the predisposing causes of hereditary disease, the too close consanguinity of parents has long been looked upon as paramount, and consequently, an inquiry was made as to its probable effect in producing deaf-dumbness. Returns of this nature must be expected to be deficient; still, 170 instances were recorded, in which the parents were related in the degrees of first, second, or third cousins. The result of these intermarriages was 109 cases of one in a family deaf and dumb, of which ninety-four were congenital and five acquired; three were dumb only, and seven dumb and idiotic. Thirty-seven cases of congenital and one of acquired deaf-dumbness occurred, where two of the family were affected, including four out of the fifteen cases of twins already specified. Of the remainder, seventeen instances occurred in which three of the same family; and three where four in the one family were deaf and dumb. In one of the instances where six in the family were deaf and dumb, and in the cases of both seven and eight deaf and dumb in families, the parents were also nearly connected. These numbers include, not merely the living upon the night of the 30th of March (when the census was taken), but all the children living or dead, born deaf and dumb of the same parents." A writer in the 'British Quarterly Review' (No. LVII.) has taken up this subject in its many bearings, and as our own experience confirms his statements, we do not hesitate to quote them: "Popular opinion and scientific induction equally lead to the impression, that although one marriage between near relatives may be unattended by evil consequences immediately perceptible, yet it is very rare that the second or third is so innocent. There usually arises amongst the children resulting from such unions a tendency to disorders, functional or organic, of the nervous system, or of the nutritive organs, tending in the former case to unsoundness of mind, and in the latter to conditions bordering on scrofula, or an allied affection. M. Devay found in the children proceeding from 121 consanguine marriages, twenty-two cases of sterility (actual and virtual), twenty-seven cases of various defor mities, and two deaf-mutes. Dr. Boinet knew five idiots in five different families sprung from this sort of marriage. A celebrated lawyer, married to a cousin, lost three children from hydrocephalus. A manufacturer at Lyon, similarly married, had fourteen children; eight died of convulsions at an early age; only one survived; the remainder died of scrofulous affections. In our own circle of acquaintance we know several families where there is an idiot child, or where several of the children have the most strongly-marked nervous peculiarities, to which the parents and the ancestry were strangers, and for which there seemed to be no plausible reason, except that their parents were cousins, and that the families had been in the habit of intermarrying." The writer of this article has, for several reasons, preferred giving the above extracts to detailing similar cases which have come within his own observation, but he is acquainted with more than fifty instances in which cousins have intermarried, and whose children have been visited with one or more of the evils above alluded to; he, therefore, regards such marriages as the transgression of a natural law, which is followed by its own punishment.

The records of every institution for the deaf and dumb, and the observations of individuals who have applied themselves to this inquiry, show that constitutional feebleness in one or both parents is a cause of deaf-muteism. In every institution there is a larger proportion of orphans and half-orphans than would be found among the children in an ordinary school, and also a larger proportion of parents labouring under some physical infirmity. On one of these points, the New York Report, to which we have before referred says, "We have noticed that a large proportion of our pupils, perhaps one-fifth, had lost one or both parents before they came to school; but we have no data to show that this is a larger proportion of orphans and halforphans than would be found on an average in a promiscuous collection of children who were not deaf." To this testimony it may be added,

that one-fourth of the children in the Yorkshire Institution (1858-9) had lost one or both parents in early life, a sure indication of feebleness of constitution, and that a certain number of those living were of delicate frame.

Scrofula in parents, transmitted to the offspring, is generally admitted to be a cause of deafness; it is well known to the medical attendants of all institutions for the deaf and dumb, that strumous affections are common among the pupils, and that they are by no means confined to the congenitally deaf; in some of the cases of children born deaf, unhealthy parents have doubtless originated the disease, independent of any hereditary deafness. Scrofula and consumption, and scrofula changing into one of the protean forms of consumption, or exhibiting itself in glandular swellings, can scarcely fail to be transmitted from parent to child. At the same time there are many apparently healthy parents, and also parents known to be free from any disease, whose children are unhealthy, which can only be accounted for on those obscure physiological conditions which constitute what is called by breeders of animals, a bad cross.

The influence of locality has often been assigned as one of the predisposing causes of deafness. A spontaneous disease seems to arise in such cases which may become hereditary, and an accidental circumstance of this nature may favour an acquired peculiarity which may be transmitted to generations. Several cases are on record of the successive inhabitants of damp houses having deaf and dumb children, who were previously free from any predisposition to deafness. Our own experience has shown that a large number of the children of the Yorkshire Institution were born on the eastern side of the mountainous district, extending from Derbyshire, through Yorkshire, into Cumberland; the institutions of Birmingham, Manchester, and London, have received pupils from the other side of this chain of hills; and thus to a certain extent the theory of the Abbé Daras, and the correctness of the observations in the Irish census alluded to in the preceding article, are confirmed. The goitrous neck in Derbyshire, in the Swiss Alps, and in certain parts of Hindustan, is attributed to local influence, and the offspring of parents thus afflicted are subject to those hard tumours about the neck, ears, and chin, while many of them are deaf and dumb.

The ill-health of, or accident to the mother during pregnancy, is often mentioned as one of the causes of deafness in the offspring. Mr. Buxton, the principal of the Liverpool school for the deaf and dumb, mentions some of these cases, which we give in nearly his own words. "The Irish Census Returns record 127 instances in which the deafness of the child was ascribed to fright, experienced by the mother before its birth; but though subsequent inquiry was made into a sufficient number of these cases, in order to obtain some trustworthy information as to the causes of fright, no result was arrived at which was worthy of detailed publication. At Leipsic, in three cases of congenital deafness, the misfortune was ascribed to the fright of the mother, and in three others to mechanical violence-one before birth, and two from difficult delivery. At Groningen, the mothers of sixteen affirmed that they had been frightened during pregnancy by the hoarse cries of a deaf-mute, or pretended deaf-mute. Two women of distinguished families, and of delicate constitution (!), ascribed the misfortune of their children to the impression received by witnessing the performance of the drama-the Abbé de l'Epée.' Another French lady of rank, assigned the deafness of her child to the lively emotion (!) which she experienced from the circumstance of king Louis Philippe having considerately offered her a chair, upon some public occasion, when she was evidently unfit to bear the fatigue of standing. M. Herbert Valleroux, in his work on Deaf-Dumbness, mentions that several examples of the effect of mental impression are known to him, one instance being that of two children, whose mother ascribed their privation to a paroxysm of anger, experienced during her pregnancy. In America, instances are known in which a mother supposed the deafness of her offspring to be owing to such causes as the following: stopping the ears that she might not hear the screams of an elder child undergoing a surgical operation, or the cries of a dying child; frights received from deaf-mutes or from persons pretending to be such; the sympathy or shock excited by seeing deaf-mute children for the first time; and the fear when one child has become deaf by disease or accident, that the next comer might be born so. The latter reason has been frequently assigned as one of the causes for the existence of more than one deaf child in the same family; as if excessive anxiety and fear begot the very evil it dreaded, and thus ran to meet what it would most avoid.' A woman living in one of the eastern counties, who had three children born deaf, stated that before the birth of each, she had been alarmed by a deaf and dumb beggar. After the birth of the third, she never saw the man again, and all the children she had afterwards possessed their hearing perfectly. Another woman who had three or four deaf children out of six, stated that before the birth of the first she was summoned to the help of a neighbour who had been seized with a fit, which rendered her speechless, and shortly proved The sight so affected the expectant mother, as to deprive her of speech for several hours; her eldest child, who was subsequently born, proved deaf and dumb, as were also her third and fifth; the sixth died before the fact could be ascertained; the second and fourth heard perfectly." Some of the above cases are cited in the Report of the New York Institution, where it is very properly remarked, that "it may

fatal.

allay the anxieties of mothers on this subject to learn, that whether we call such cases of deafness effects or mere coincidences, they are comparatively infrequent, amounting at the most to one case in twenty."

The only other branch of inquiry coming within the scope and space assigned to this article, is that of the marriage and intermarriage of the deaf and dumb. How truly does the experience of all our institutions prove the correctness of the observation in the Census Report for Ireland-"the defect is seldom transmitted direct from deaf and dumb parents to children." How few of the pupils in our schools are the offspring of deaf and dumb parents; there are exceptions, but these only prove the position. The Principal of the Hartford Asylum (Connecticut) says-" In only a few instances have we known it transmitted from parents to their children." The Principal of the New York Institution says-"We can show that it is much the most common for the children of deaf-mute parents to possess the faculties of which their parents were deprived." Among the 534 pupils of the Yorkshire Institution there have only been two cases in which one of the parents was deaf and dumb, and two instances in which both parents laboured under this infirmity; in one of the former class there were three of the children deaf and dumb, in one of the latter all the offspring, four in number, are deaf and dumb.

Thirty-four of the former pupils of the Yorkshire Institution are known to have entered into the marriage state; there are probably many others; of this number twenty-four have married deaf and dumb partners, one of these instances is that just recorded of all the offspring being deaf and dumb, but no others are known; the other ten are married to hearing and speaking persons, and we have heard of no case of a child among them labouring under the defect of the deaf and dumb parents. Most of the parents are still young, and they may yet have children inheriting the parental defect.

We conclude then that there are no sufficient reasons why the deaf and dumb should not marry, unless we lived under laws which were designed to exterminate deafness, or to prevent every possible mode of its transmission. Discretion must guide mankind, understanding must keep them in this point as in many other social and physical relations with which laws cannot interfere. We have seen that deaf and dumb offspring are neither the inevitable nor the ordinary result of marriages in which one of the parties is deaf and dumb, but in the case of intermarriage the liability is greatly increased and strengthened. The physical weakness which produced the deafness under which the parents labour has nothing to overcome it, as in the case of only one of the parents being deaf and dumb; and if either the husband or the wife is a member of a family which contains other deaf-mutes in its direct or collateral branches, the probability of deaf and dumb children being produced is thereby greatly augmented. The cases of transmission for two or three generations, known to the writer of this article, are all of this class-all among families which have the peculiar hereditary predisposition to this defect. It is well known, and daily observed, even by non-professional observers, that forms of the body, features, deformities, and physical habits are transmitted from parent to child; that intellectual characteristics are frequently transmitted, that moral qualities and tendencies to vice are inherited from parents, and re-appear in their sons and daughters.

Twenty-five years ago there were few statistical documents to assist us in our inquiries as to the physical condition of the deaf and dumb. Since that time most of the institutions in the kingdom have collected data, and some of them have published the results of their researches. The article written for the 'Penny Cyclopædia,' in 1837, suggested a series of heads as a foundation for such investigations. We are thankful to acknowledge how thoroughly the subject has been taken up in the New York Institution, and the aid we have derived from its thirtyfifth report, so frequently referred to. Mr. Buxton, of the Liverpool Institution, has been a successful labourer in a similar direction; and the reports of the Belfast, Glasgow, and Exeter Institutions have also supplied valuable matter, of which we have availed ourselves in the course of this article.

DEAF AND DUMB, EDUCATION OF THE. Before the practicability of instructing the deaf and dumb was admitted, it was generally supposed that instruction by means of the conventional signs and sounds denominated language was limited to those who could hear. The idea never entered the mind of man, or if it did it was as instantly rejected, that the deaf-mute was not, on account of his deafness, bereft of his reasoning faculties, nor excluded from the means of connecting thought with symbols. It was not till the 16th century that the possibility of carrying forward the process of education in the absence of all hearing, received any serious consideration. Even at the present day there are many persons who are at a loss to conceive not only how abstract notions, but even how the names of palpable objects are made known to the deaf, and at a still greater loss to imagine how they can be brought to use language to express their ideas. Having themselves obtained knowledge through the ear, having been accustomed to impart their thoughts by oral communications, they seem to forget that the mind has intelligence in all the senses connecting it with the external world, and conveying knowledge to those higher faculties which compare, discriminate, and judge. In an intelligent though uneducated deaf person, an observer would find these processes going forward, though confined indeed to a