[Extracted from the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania.] 
ON DEAF-MUTISM AND THE METHOD OF EDUCATING THE 
DEAF AND DUMB. 
is' 
By LAURENCE TURNBULL, M.D., 
PHYSICIAN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE EYE AND EAR OF HOWARD HOSPITAL, 
PHILADELPHIA. 
Absolute deafness is far more of a hindrance insaoqjiirkjg tm . 
education than blindness. The lot of the uneducated an4-igno- 
rant deaf-mute is sad indeed; cut off from his fellow-men, with 
nothing but his animal passions and appetites, he is almost allied to 
the lower order of the brute creation. It is not to be wondered at, 
that daring the early times, even among the so-called civilized and 
refined nations of Egypt, Greece, and in the great city of Rome, 
the condition of this class was truly deplorable. The old idea that 
speech was essential to reason, prevented attempts at their instruc- 
tion, and they were not permitted to become members of any religious 
denomination. Even when they committed outrages against law 
and order, or after the commission of the crime of murder, they 
were not allowed to act as witnesses in their own defence. 
As early as the fifteenth century, some faint effort was made to 
teach these unfortunates by a celebrated Benedictine monk,1 who, 
it is stated, taught two deaf-mutes, sons of a Castilian nobleman, 
this, no doubt, at an immense cost of time and money. But it was 
to the sixteenth century that the great honor is due of being the 
year of jubilee to the deaf and dumb. And to the Abbd de L’Epde 
this great gift was given to teach deaf-mutes, by a s\rmbolic lan- 
guage, so that they might know good from evil, and give to them 
aspirations after true knowledge, fitting them for a happy home here 
and a better world above. In this, the good abb6 showed true 
Christian genius, devoting his whole life to giving and teaching 
1 Teaching articulation to deaf-mutes was first practised by Pedro Ponce de 
Leon, who died in 1584, and was first described hy Juan Pabbo Bonet, in a disser- 
tation published in 1620 ; then by John Wallis, in an appendix to bis English 
Grammar, entitled “ Tractatus Grammatico-pliysicus de Loquela and shortly 
after by Joliana Conrad Amman, in his “ Suidus Soqueus,” Amsterdam, 1692, 
and “ Dissertatis de Loquela,” Amsterdam, 1700. 2 
them a language so that they could communicate with each other 
and with those they loved. 
Another devoted man, the Abbe Sicard, took up the clue already 
given, and adopted the sign language for their instruction, and 
enlarged and improved it, reducing it to a system. The lives of 
two such devoted Christian men aroused public attention to the 
wants of deaf-mutes, and slowly but surely vanquished the preju- 
dices that had existed against them even amongst professing Chris- 
tians. 
Gradually, schools were founded, and capable teachers spent 
their lives in instructing the deaf-mutes. Germany was not long 
after France in this philanthrope labor, for in 1700 Samuel 
Heinicke, a Saxon by birth, developed the “ Artificial Method” now 
termed German, in contra-distinction to what was already known, 
to the honor of France, as the “ French System,” or finger alphabet 
and artificial signs and gestures. The principal aim of Heinicke 
was to cultivate whatever remained of speech by developing all its 
power, which exists in all (save a very few). The training of the 
eye to watch the motion of the lips requires the cultivation of all 
the powers of observation and imitation. In the early stage of this 
system artificial signs are absolutely necessary, but when these have 
been acquired they are to be merely used as a ladder to reach the 
higher region, where the finger alphabet and other artificial signs 
are excluded. 
There ought to be a commissioner in every State to examine 
and classify the deaf and dumb, where all who are found to possess 
any degree of hearing or any remnant of speech (having lost hear- 
ing after learning to talk), or any who manifest a marked facility 
in vocal utterances, should be assigned to the articulating schools, 
while all others should be placed in the older establishments, where 
the language of signs is made the basis of instruction. 
In a recent convention of Teachers of Visible Speech, to which 
the writer was invited, an interesting address was made by Mr. Win. 
Martin Chamberlain, of Marblehead (a semi-mute), which shows the 
advantages of lip-reading and articulation. We can only give an 
abstract. He addressed the audience by word of mouth, and although 
his speech was somewhat defective, he was perfectly understood by 
all present. He stated that he lost his hearing entirely at five years 
of age, and would, as a natural sequence, have lost his speech also, 
had it not been his good fortune to have parents who appreciated its 
value, and used persistent efforts to have him make use of his vocal 
organs. He was educated at Hartford, where he entered as a pupil 
about the time when articulation was beginning to attract atten- 3 
tion in America, and his ability to articulate induced his teachers 
to encourage him to recite his lessons orally instead of by signs, 
lie stood before the convention without having heard a sound for 
thirty-five years, a living example of what can be done for a semi- 
mute by mere persistent effort on the part of friends, without any 
special instruction. 
In an admirable letter from B. St. John Ackers, of England, in 
the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, April, 1874, he gives 
his conclusions, after examining the systems all over the world, in 
the interest of a deaf and dumb daughter. u Our conclusions are 
in favor of the ‘ German System'1 for all who have once heard, for 
most of the semi-deaf, and a large majority of the toto congenital. 
For the remainder, I cannot imagine any system more appropriate 
than the ‘ French,’ only recording our opinion in favor of fewer signs, 
and increased use of dactylology, and writing in the more advanced 
pupils.” What struck him most was the contrast in the French and 
German systems in the love of home. Those .taught under the 
“ French system” care comparatively little for the “ holidays” for 
home and relations. AVhy ? Because the institution is their home, 
the principal, matron, and teachers, their parents and relations. 
“ Let them be taught b}r tlie ‘ German System,’ and this will enable 
them to think in the written idiom of the language of their country ; 
will enable them to hold conversation with hearing persons, to 
understand much that is spoken to them, and will make them figu- 
ratively less deaf and truly less dumb ; indeed not dumb at all.” 
It will be seen by the above quotation that he is of the same 
opinion as we are,1 as lookers on, and not personally affected, 
giving an impartial opinion of what we consider the best method 
of instructing the deaf-mute. We do not find fault with what has 
been done, but rather rejoice that thousands of deaf-mutes have re- 
ceived the advantage of an education, and that there is also a national 
college at Washington where more advanced studies can be pur- 
sued, and young deaf-mutes are graduated with a standing for 
scholarship not inferior to that achieved by the graduates of other 
colleges. This college bears to other institutions for the deaf and 
dumb the same relation that colleges for hearing and speaking 
persons bear to primary schools and academies. The charge for 
board and tuition in college is only one hundred and fifty dollars 
for the academic year. Congress, however, makes provision for the 
free admission of residents of the District of Columbia who have 
not the means of supporting themselves, and for those whose fathers 
are in the military or naval service of the United States. In the 
1 Turnbull on Diseases of the Ear, chap, xix., p. 437. 4 
Columbia Institution, which is a branch of this college, there is a 
Primary Department and also an instructor in articulation. Until 
recently the plan adopted in England was the French system, but 
now a change has taken place, and schools employing the so-called 
German system are to be found in London, one at 12 Fitzroy 
Square, and the other at old Kent Road. The first of these Insti- 
tutions is termed the “ Association for the oral instruction of the deaf 
and dumb.” This system is now taught by Mr. Van Praugh, assisted 
by three ladies; it was founded in 1872 with four pupils; now, 1874, 
thirty-six are in attendance, and it is not a charity but a pay school. 
The second is a true charity, and was founded in 1792, for the support 
and education of the deaf and dumb children of the poor. Accord- 
ing to Fry’s London Charities the year’s receipts last reported were 
£10,040, in round numbers $50,200 ; the number of persons benefited 
last 3rear, 1872, was two hundred and eighty-eight. It has also a 
branch at Margate sea-shore incorporated in 1862. This old and 
deserving metropolitan charity (the first of its kind in Great 
Britain) has up to the present time (1873) received under foster- 
ing protection 3900 deaf and dumb children from all parts of the 
United Kingdom. With very few exceptions these poor children 
come of indigent parentage ; they have, therefore, been boarded, 
clothed, and specially educated for an average period of five years, 
each child, at the sole cost of this charity. Moreover, when their 
educational term has expired, the arm of assistance has been still 
further extended to them ; and of 1360 former inmates who have 
been taught, and acquired a knowledge of various useful occupa- 
tions, 324 deaf and dumb children are now (1873) under instruc- 
tion at the town and sea-side establishment. About 260 former 
pupils are now serving terms of apprenticeship, the premiums 
(which are required in England) for which have been found by 
the committee. There is also a Jewish Deaf and Dumb Home, 
founded in 1867, at 44 Burton Crescent, W. C., to support and 
train deaf-mute Jewish children of both sexes to speak and to read 
from the lips of others, also to give general instruction to other 
deaf-mute children. Miss Hull has also a school in London, where 
the deaf and dumb children are taught by Mr. Bell’s method of 
visible speech.1 
“Visible speech3 does not prevent the employment of any means 
that are or have been used by others. Imitation and mechanical 
1 See the writer’s account in Med. and Surg. Reporter, 1872. 
2 Extract from a letter to the writer, by Miss Fuller, the Principal of the 
School for Instruction in Articulation of the Deaf and Dumb, in Boston, June 
9th, 1874. 5 
aids are used whenever the pupil can be assisted by them; but 
when these fail, visible speech comes in to the assistance of the 
pupil. 
“This system gives the pupil a knowledge of the concealed parts 
of the mouth, and of the movements of such parts, so that he is 
enabled to gain conscious control over them. 
“ The writing of any sounds that the pupils may utter, serves to 
interest them in the practice of elements and combinations, which 
gives them great power over their organs of speech, and obviates the 
necessity of telling them that a sound is wrong, if it is not the one 
the teacher wishes to obtain. 
“It is our practice to write all sounds in the visible speech sym- 
bols, but practise most those that are essential in English speech. 
The symbolizing of odd sounds also leads the pupils to think about 
and study the parts of the mouth that produce them. 
“ I inclose to you some lines upon ‘Visible Speech,’ which were 
written by one of our pupils, a young lady who lost her hearing 
entirety at the age of eight years. 
“ VISIBLE SPEECH. 
The ear has caught the forms of sound 
Upon the walls of speech; 
But all in vain till now, the eye 
Has sought their clue to reach. 
Now, with a mirror newly hung, 
Those walls of speech are graced ; 
And in that mirror every sound 
Can find its image traced. 
The blended tones which give to thought 
Its outward voice and sign, 
Revealed alike to ear and eye, 
With clearest lustre shine. 
This to the child of silence brings 
A gift unknown before ; 
Unlocks the long-closed gates of speech, 
Opes wider learning’s door. 
The thought of speech, to him denied, 
Has often filled his heart; 
And, like a sword of ice, has sent 
Its chill through every part. 
Before him now the forms of sound 
In true reflection lie ; 
For, though mist shrouds his ear, it sheds 
No dimness o’er his eye. 6 
This gift, like sunlight, shall reveal 
What shadows else had marred ; 
To him whose skill has bade it shine, 
’Twill prove its own reward. 
In power and clearness may it grow, 
Till greater still is found 
The power it wields, the light it sheds 
Upon the world of sound. 
April, 1874. 
A. C. J.â€~ 
We must not forget, in doing credit to those who lutve done 
so much for the deaf and dumb, the name of Rev. Thomas H. Gal- 
laudet, D.D., whose last resting place at Hartford we visited with 
feelings of admiration for his distinguished scholarship, and for 
his true Christian charity and patience. He taught the interesting 
daughter of Dr. Coggswell, of Hartford, who was deaf, dumb, and 
blind, and ultimately founded the American Asylum at Hartford. 
This truly good and great man proceeded to Europe in 1807, and be- 
came the pupil of the Abbe Sicard; after remaining for some time 
he returned to the United States accompanied by M. Clerc, one of 
the favorite pupils of Sicard, who organized the Pennsylvania Insti- 
tution for the Deaf and Dumb at Philadelphia, and subsequently 
returned to Hartford, there remaining until his death. 
In their labors these two good men were united, and also in their 
renown, as each received for their valuable services from the direc- 
tors, a silver pitcher and salver. In death they were not divided, 
their tombs standing side by side in the ground of the asylum, 
visited by loving and devoted pupils from all parts of this broad 
land. Both Rev. Dr. Gallaudet, and his son, Dr. Edward M. Gal- 
laudet, the President of the Deaf-Mute College at Washington, 
have been warm friends of the sign language, and we availed our- 
selves in our work, of the report of his first visit to Europe in Octo- 
ber, 1867. We again give his conclusions, after another visit in 
1872: “ While he would by no means claim that the system in gen- 
eral use throughout the United States is free from defects in its 
practical workings, he is convinced that the principle on which it 
rests is sound, and that greater benefits can be secured to the mass 
of deaf-mutes through its agency, than by any system which under- 
takes to make articulation its basis ; assuming to teach all deaf- 
mutes to speak, and discarding t e language of signs.” 
In the seven years since that visit, a great change has taken 
place in the various deaf and dumb institutions in the United 
States, and not only are these several institutions solely devoted 
/ 7 
to articulation, but all of the principal ones have teachers in articu- 
lation. 
I trust that my object will be accomplished : First, in interesting 
physicians in preventing deaf-mutism, by careful and conscientious 
treatment of the diseases which cause it, namely, scarlet fever, 
cerebro-spinal meningitis, obstructed Eustachian tubes, measles, 
and syphilis. Secondly, in inducing a certain amount of study 
of the two main systems of instruction of which the writer has 
endeavored to give an impartial account, so that the physician can 
recommend to his patient, relatives, or friends the proper mode of 
instruction ; also to see that no improperly treated case of diphtheria 
or tonsillitis is allowed to be the cause of the deafness followed by 
dumbness. It is also surprising how often Eustachian tubes, ob- 
structed from cold, are a cause.of extreme deafness, and how long this 
may exist, and yet with persevering effort the child may ultimately 
recover its hearing, and with it speech if it has ever been able to 
talk. Numerous cases of this form of disease have come under the 
writer’s notice. What is to be done, is the persevering use of 
astringents applied to the nasal cavity, fauces, enlarged tonsils, and 
swollen mucous membrane, with the use of tonics of iron, etc. 
Another important agency is the use of Politzer’s air douche, to 
keep the tubes free from mucus, 
No one can know the distress of having a child a deaf-mute, until 
one of his own household is afflicted in this way, as is graphically 
depicted in the following quotation : “ The last of my family, father, 
mother, and near relations gone. After many years of married 
life, a child w'as born, a daughter. What my feelings of joy it 
is not difficult to imagine; but alas! all was soon changed. At 
three months old a fever came, and our hope, our darling, after lin- 
gering between life and death, was spared, but not the same. No, 
in time we found her hearing was gone. Oh! the agony of mind we 
suffered, words can scarcely depict. She had the benefit of the best 
medical and surgical skill; but alas, both were powerless.”1 
1 American Annals of tlie Deaf and Dumb, April, 1874.