The Arkansas advocate., 1833-10-09


 uso--.N Y. Messenger.
 ----------..-
 faomfh Juiy No. offhe .NorfA .4m Reuicio EDUCATION OF THE BLIND.
 People arc not generally aware of the powers of the ear, and instances which we may quote of 1t in the blind may appear at first incredible; we have known blind men, for instance, who could not only ascertain the shape and dimensions of an apartment by tic sound of their voice, but who could, on entering one with which they were fa- miliar, toll by striking their cane on the floor, and listening to the echo, whether any of the large articles of furniture had been removed from 1t, or shifted from their usual places. What seeing person would think 1t possible, with his eyes bandagcd, to tell which was the tallest, and which was the shortest ot q number of speakers, merely 1 by the direction in which the sound came from their mouths to his earl Yet, many blind persons cannot only do this, but can ascertain very nearly the ages of the per- sons. We have made this experiment. in more than fifty instances with the blind, and Tn the great majority of cases they came as near the mark us we did, aided by the eyes. There IS no doubt the voice IS changed with every changing year; we seize only upon the extremes of the chain; we can tell tho shrill streams of the child, from the rough firm voice of manhood, and the trembling tones of old age, but besides these---be- sides tine difference III the volume and pitch which exists between the voices of different persons, there IS another produced by the | ~ f.f It press upon the voice, as surely as upon the face. The blind man tests these by his practised car. nnd not only can ascertain with tolerable correctness the age of the < speaker, but pronounce upon his height, the dimensions of his chest, and so forth.
 - N q. t.,,, the most extraordinary part of the discriminating power of some blind men, who seize upon the slight variations of the intonation of the voice, ;is We do upon the changes of the countenance, and judge by them of what IS passing in the minds of the speaker We all of us wear at times Il mask upon the countenance, and draw the curtain of hypocrisy over this window of the soul, to conceal what was going or within; but we seldom think of the voice; and it is upon this that the blind man seizcs, as upon the thread, to direct him to the seat of the passions. Hence 1t is, that some of them can ascertain on so short an acquaintance the disposition and character of persons: they arc not imposed on by the splendor of dress, they are not prejudiced by an ungain-s ly air, they are not won by a smile, nor arc they dazzled by the blaze of the beauty or led captive, as many are wont to be, by the facination of lovely eye. The voice is h l them the criterion of beauty, and when it's melodious tones come forcibly stamped with sincerity from the soul, their imaginations at once give to the speaker a graceful form and beautiful face. It Is recorded of the l father of Fletcher the novelist, that he was long continued in the post of Judge ill the Police Court of London, after he became blind and that he knew the voices oi more than three thousand of the light-fingercd gentry, and could recognize them at once when brought in.
 l The ear of some animals is surprisingly acute and there IS n6 doubt that 1t IS iin- proved by blindness; we know of horse 1 who, after becoming blind, evidently had his hearing very much sharpened, for when feeding i'll the pasture with others, far from the road, he would hear the sound of hoofs, and raise his head and whlnny out his sac lute, long before his companions betrayed any consciousness of the approach of the passing stranger
 So with the blind man; when he is walk- ing along the street he caii tell whether it is wide or marrow, whether the houses are high or low; whether an opening which lie may be passing is court closed up at the end, or whether 1t has an outlet 10 another 1 sireei; and nc can tell bys fhe sound of his 1 footsteps in what lane, or court or square he is. He goes along boldly, seeming to sec with his cars and have landmarks Ill the air.
 The accuracy of the car gives to blind persons very great advantage in music. they depend entirely upon #, and hence l they harnonize so well together, and keep such perfect accord in time, that Paganilli, after listening to some pieces performed by pupils of the Institution for the Blind in. Paris, declared that he never before had aif adequate notion of what harmony was.
 The touch is capable of being equally perfected, and many remarkable instances