Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/742

738 DEAF AND DUMB Granting that the process of intellectual ad- vancement may be slower, speech is so great a boon as amply to compensate for the sacrifice, being the readiest and quickest mode of com- munication, and the only one that can com- pletely restore a deaf mute to society. For the manual method it is claimed that the ab- sence of hearing not merely prevents any rela- tion between thought and speech, but even renders speech unnatural. Words are not the universal and absolute medium of thought. Nature can use, and in the deaf demands, visi- ble forms for its embodiment. They instinc- tively express themselves in gestures, and appre- hend new signs more readily than new words. Signs are addressed directly to the perceptive powers, and are thus the readiest and best means of promoting intellectual progress, even in the study of verbal language. The language of signs is also capable of conveying the high- est and most abstract ideas. All its deficien- cies are fully made up by writing and dactyl- ology, which are superior to lip-reading in precision of conveying words. To articula- tion there are grave practical objections. It can be acquired so as to be rendered ser- viceable only by the serai-deaf, the semi-mute, and a very small proportion of deaf mutes. Even these cannot control their voices, which are generally monotonous and often disagree- able, and unintelligible except to persons very familiar with them. To impart it requires much more time and labor, and an increased staff of teachers. Lip-reading is practicable only under very favorable conditions; the speaker must be very near, in a good light, and must enunciate slowly and distinctly ; and even then it is little more than guesswork. It is becoming more and more the general opinion that, on the one hand, articulation is not merely practicable but desirable with a certain proportion, and that, on the other hand, with the rest signs may be used to great- er advantage. Hence a combined method is now most in favor. But instructors differ greatly in their estimate of this proportion, and hence in the prominence they accord to one or the other method. Hirsch claims that 99 in 100 can acquire articulation to a serviceable extent. Hill estimates that 85 in 100 can con- verse with persons familiar with them, of whom 62 can do so easily, and 11 can converse readily with strangers on ordinary topics. Tarra considers only 30 per cent, likely to profit by .instruction in articulation; and H. |. Peet, only 15 per cent. The English and French languages have been found more diffi- cult than German, Danish, and Swedish, and the Slavic languages. In teaching articula- tion, it is of prime importance that the pu- pil perceive the difference between his own silent and vocalized breath; this perception Amman styled " the hearing of the deaf," and to produce it, the first great mystery of his art. The elementary sounds are then taught, six weeks at least being usually devoted to drill upon them, singly and in simple combina- tions of two or three, without regard to their meaning or want of it. When a perfect com- mand of the vocal organs has been obtained, longer combinations are taught, and finally sentences gradually increasing in length. The order in which sounds are introduced, and the time when meanings are associated with them, vary according to the peculiarities of the pu- pil and the theories of the teacher. It is im- portant to have daily exercises, however short, and to keep the pupil fresh and interested. With the semi-deaf and semi-mute, the task is rather to correct the erroneous and indistinct enunciation they are liable to fall into. The pupil has to rely much upon observation of the teacher's vocal movements; a little in- strument, somewhat like a paper-folder, has been used by some to assist in bringing the tongue into the proper position ; and diagrams and charts of the various positions of the vocal organs have been published by Baker of Don- csister and Vai'sse of Paris, among others. A new and valuable auxiliary has been found in the system of " visible speech " or universal alphabetics, invented by A. M. Bell of London, now in Boston. This consists of a series of symbols representing in outline the position of the organs in uttering every possible sound. Any language whatever can thus be phoneti- cally written in characters which indicate both the pronunciation and how to produce it. Though not originally devised for the benefit of the deaf, it was soon introduced into Miss Hull's private school in London, and is now in use in the institutions at Boston, Northampton, Hartford, Washington, and Jacksonville. Mr. Bell has also devised a system of notation to indicate pitch and tone, which, in the few cases where it has yet been tried, has proved capable of guiding to a correct and pleasing modula- tion. The language of signs is based upon the gestures devised by uneducated deaf mutes, which have been found strikingly similar to those employed by various savage tribes. They are: pointing to objects, expressions of real or simulated emotions, imitations of ac- tions, and representation with the hands of the shape or use of articles. For convenience, the pantomime required fully to express a conception is often reduced to a single sign, by seizing upon some striking characteris- tic, such as the horns of a cow, or the feeling of the pulse by a physician. Such abridgments are often contrived by the deaf themselves. Ordinary objects, qualities, actions, and rela- tions are readily represented; abstract ideas offer more difficulty. The simpler class are expressed by reference to some object having the quality intended; thus, touching the lips stands for redness. For a higher class re- course is had to rhetorical figures ; thus, justice is represented by imitating with the hands a pair of scales evenly balanced. Many words are indicated by their initial letter in the man- ual alphabet, combined with some gesture;