The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-03 00:00:00

LITER A TURE.
.1-LEI'ORT EGO,
VERIES OF THE I DUMB.

By A. Turnbull, M.D.
Although this pamphlet has fallen into our hands
as it were accidentally, being " printed for private
distribution only," we conceive ourselves to be autho-
rised to direct the attention of the public to the cir-
cumstance of its appearance for two very simple, but,
as we regard them, very forcible and conclusive rea-
sons. First, the subject-rnatter contained in these
sixty-five pages is altogether too replete with facts
bearing upon the misfortunes of the multitude, and
upon the possibility of their alleviation, to admit of
their being concealed from general examination.
Secondly, the document has been already commented
on in one of our morning Contemporaries, and in
terms of sufficiently emphatic eulogium to justify
our subsequent reference to its revelations. To those
Who have familiarised themselves with our sentiments
it were superfluous to say that we are altogether
devoid of sympathy for the contemners of every new
system on the naked score of its novelty. To
others we would observe, that in our esti-
mation such prejudgment is not less unjust
to originators than it is odious and con-
temptible on the part of their contemporaries.
At the same time we are as far removed in our tem-
perament from that silly credulity which swallows
unthinkingly any theory, however crude, and any
Speculation, however chimerical. Caution in the
acceptance of new facts is, we take it, not less essen-
tial for the happiness of mankind, and for the steady
advancement of knowledge, than their blind and
ignorant rejection would be injurious to the great
causes of the welfare of society, and of the progress
of civilization. And especially is this caution re-
quisite in regard to any innovation in the treatment
of disease. The exquisite value of life, and of the
organs of life, and of the senses, whose healthy pos-
session constitutes the material enjoyment of life,
renders it imperative on every rational,man to receive
only after the most exacting scrutiny any of those
novel schemes of medical treatment which are occa-
sionally brought under consideration. Nevertheless
it would be equally as frivolous to reject as to
receive those schemes precipitately—it would be
worse than idle, it would be prejudicial to the in-
terests of the world, to deny to those projects
that calm, and careful, and dispassionate
Investigation to which they are for a thousand
reasons entitled. And the more is this incumbent
on us whenever the medical or surgical innovator
lays before us his discoveries in all their nude beauty
or deformity, without decking them out in the tawdry
rags of empyricism, or endeavouring to cheat the
Imagination into belief by clothing his arguments in
!2.111e mysterious and incomprehensible jargon.
eoretie propositions should, in the same way, be
treated as of no account whatever when weighed in
the
scales of judgment against practical demonstra-
tions. One fact should outbalance one hundred
thousand hypotheses.
Dr. Turnbull is himself clearly impressed with the
force. of such reflections. For he here explains him-
selfise the. simplest language with regard to his
speaking,
relating to the organs of hearing and
king. He altogether eschews anything at all
approaching to mystery. He betrays only aremark-
e solicitude to
remark-
able • •
discoveries tested
havethe truth or fallacy of those
by scrutiny, and to that
end he speaks only in a diction comprehen-
sible t
to
the most shallow understanding. lie
indulges in no theories, in no wiredrawn
conjectures, in none of these fascinating
but
pernicious vagaries of the mind, which are only
the da.y-dreams, the mirages, and the fata morganas
of
ph philosophy. His pamphlet is plainly and frankly
a "
Report of Facts, narrating the Recoveries of the
Deaf and Dumb in 1840, 1841, and 1848." As FACTS
they must be received. There is no alternative.
Either we must look upon them as "facts,' or we
must come to the conclusion that a vast number of
people scattered over all parts of the United Kingdom
are in a conspiracy together to deceive the judgment
of those who may be induced to pay the matter any
consideration. A thing more than improbable. A
thing altogether impossible—seeing the number of
witnesses and testimonies of unimpeachable integrity,
and observing the perfect uniformity and congruity
of their statements. The contents of the pamphlet
would be sufficiently remarkable for the candour they
evince in the circumstance that they are the disinte-
rested effusions of third parties, and not the interested
composition of the discoverer of the remedy. They
consist principally of letters penned by the patients
themselves, or by witnesses resident at Glasgow,
Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, and
elsewhere, including many physicians of eminence,
besides magistrates, journalists, and clergymen of the
Establishment. Dr. Turnbull allows himself no op-
portunity is dilate upon his system of treatment;
he permits its effect to show itself in the impar-
tial vouchers of those who have either witnessed or
experienced its influence. And the importance of the
present publication, in as far as it bears upon this very
singular innovation upon aural surgery, is peculiarly
heightened by the fact that the pamphlet affords con-
clusive evidence that most of the cures effected by the
Doctor in 1840 and 1841 prove, on investigation, to
have been permanent, and not, as was conjectured
would be the eate—evanescent. The experience of
seven years has attested the efficacy of the treatment;
and the result of his inquiries during the summer of
1848 shows very clearly that Dr. Turnbull acted
judiciously in desisting, as he tells us he has pur-
posely done for several years, from attendance on
deaf and dumb cases, in order that the experiment
might be fairly made as to the permanency of the im-
provement in the organs of those who were originally
subjected to the treatment. The nature of
this process—peculiar alike for its rapidity
and its simplicity—is easily explained. It
appears to be nothing more than the dropping of a
Very small quantity of a certain liquid into the orifice
conducting into the ear, and the subsequent rubbing
of the membrane of the tympanum with a soft piece
of leather. A plug of jeweller's cotton is subse-
quently inserted. The cotton is withdrawn within a
quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, and the effect
is Clearly perceptible. Numerous conj ectures have
been made as to the exact nature of this liquid, one
of the latest being that it is nothing less than an
alkaloid in solution. Whatever it may be, we cannot
but look forward with anxious curiosity to the disclo-
sure of the real character of the discovery, a disclo-
sure which must materially affect the reputation of the
discoverer, and one which, we are gratified to ob-
.ltrve, is here announced to be in preparation for pub-
lication in a work of a more extensive
description. With this, however, notwithstanding its
interest, we have nothing whatever to do at present.
Our immediate duty is to examine into the peculiarity
and authenticity of the facts narrated in the pam-
phlet. As to their authenticity, there remains no
room for hesitation for the reasons already enume-
rated. As to their peculiarity, it is scarcely possible
to afford any accurate conception without recapitulat-
ing the details of everyi separate case submitted to
Dr. Turnbull. Individuals of all ages and of both
sexes have derived through his instrumentality that
precious faculty which enables us to commune with
each other; and the earnest expressions of their gra-
titude to the man whose benevolent genius has, under
God, conferred upon them that inestimable blessing
imparts to almost every page a tone strangely and
touchingly beautiful. Until the appearance of the
larger work, which, as we have said, Dr. Turnbull
declares to be preparing for publication, we can only
proclaim the existence of these very remarkable
" facts " as to the cures effected by him upon the
deaf mutes commonly called " deaf and dumb." We
do so with a profound sense of those sacred claims of
justice which should ever be the inspiration of a
journalist. •

DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICE OF LIFE
ASSURANCE ; with SuoyAestionslexander Robe for a R6medy.
Fourth Edition. By
W.S.A.I.A.
rtson,
This clear and well-written pamphlet, which has
eready reached a fourth edition, fully explains the
state of the law, and the practice with respect to the
important principles of life assrueratnlefilttsptooinbtes
doeu!
forcibly and distinctly the
rived from a judicious and well-devised system of
insurance. Persons in possession of moneys derived
from their own exertions sufficient to provide for
the comforts and welfare of wives or
so long as life is spared to the husband and father, will
anxiously desire to render a continuation of these ad-
vantages certain, and not contingent upon the preca-
rious tenure of life. Portions of the annual income
may easily be allocated for such a purpose, and if
interest,
the to-accumulate steadily at compound
the object may in time be attained. The process of
accumulation is, however, necessarily tedious, and
many temptations may occur to induce parties to
break in upon what should be regarded as
"sacred
funds." Many will refrain from setting aside
tae stipulated sums, or may even be in-
duced, in a season of difficulty, to encroach
upon the former savings, who would make the
greatest exertions to pay up their annual premiums.
There is no certainty either as to the continuance of
a single life, although the average duration of a num-
ber of such lives may be calculated 'with the utmoat
precision ; the object may be defeated, therefore, by
the occurrence of a not very improbable contingency ;
and the anxiety of the provider for the interests of
those dependent on him will therefore necessarily be
continued for many pars. By effecting an insurance
on his life this anxiety will be at once and for ever
removed. The .moment the policy is ef-
fected future provision for his family is
secured. Although he should die within a
a few weeks lie will be enabled to dispose by will of
as much property as if he had for twenty years or
upwards steadily set aside an amount equal to the
annual premium with all accumulations. The author
well sums up these advantages in the following able
passage :--
"By the application of a portion of annual income,