Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1840-04-09

consider ono OF the Creates; curosiIics that has ever
fsllt n under eur eye Il written by Laura Brids
man. who is deal. blind and dumb II my OF our
readcrs DESTROYS Of Knowing something of her.
'hey read the following:
LAURA BRIDCMAN.
The last number OF the Annual Report Of the Trus-
tees OF the Perkins Institution and Asylum for the
blind. contains further interesting intelligence
respecting tins little girl who is deaf dumb and blind
>he Is also deprived of the of smell. and enjoys
taste but impcrfecily--hc touch. alone being the me
dium of communicated between her and the ou,cr
world The following account Of the progress Of this
little girl in intellectual know ledge rs furnished by the
report
There is one whose situ,tion !. SO peculiar end
whose interesting a philosophical point of
view. that cannot fcrbear making particular men.
ton of il; we allude To Laura Bridcman the deaf
dumb. and blind girl. mentioned in the two last re-
port.
The Intellectual Improvement of this interesting be-
ing AID the progress she has made in expressing her
ideas, is ituly gratifying
She uses the manual alphabet Of the deaf muies
with great facility and great rapidly. she has increas
ed her vocabulary 10 comprehend the names Of
all commod objects; she uses adJecves expressive OF
positive qualities such hanl, sof sweet sour &c
verbs expressive Of actions give. take ride. run.
c the present past and future tense; she connects
adochvcs With nouns TO express their qualities; she
introduces verbs into sentences and connects them by
D
her an apple, she sad giue LAURA streef dpf,lc
She can count TO high numbers; she can add and
subtract small numbers.
But the most gratifying requirement which she has
made. ane the one which has given her the most de-
light is the power Of priting iegiLle hand and eI
pressing her thoughts upon Paper She writes with
pencil m gTooVed ine and makes her letters clear
and distinct
| She sadly puzzled at frsi to know the mean
/ irg OF the process which sho was subjected but
when the idea dawncd upon her mind, that by means
of u she could convey in. ligence her mother her
delight WINS unboundsd. She applied herself with
great diligence. end IN n few months actually Wrote
egle letter her mother ia which she nyeyed in
formation O: her being well. aud of her coming home
IN ton weeks. IL was indeed. only the skeleton Of n
letter; but still IL expressed in egble characters n
vague outline of the ideas which were RAISING la her
mind She wai very inpatient TO have nc carry
Tins lciier--or she Supposed tina, the limit
the Pusi Office Department was To employ n nun 10
run backward and forward between our Institution
and the different towns where TIC pupils live To fetch
aud carry letters. We suhon this report an exact
fac siliie of Laurss Misunderstanding that she was
not prompted TO the matter, and thai her hand Was
not held IN the execution. The matter is quite origi-
nal. and the chirography is entirely her own.
/ She has improved very much in personal appear
ancc. as well rs in in;eec-her coun. enance beams
WIKI neliigence-shr is always active M study work
or pay-she never repinos and of the time is gay
and rolicksUme.
i She is row very expert with her needle; sh, kni,s
very ensIly asd can make Irvine bags and various fan.
c. articles. very pretlily She is very doce--has a
qiek sense OF propriey-lreSses herself with crea,
nentness. and Is always correct ia aer derormcni-
la short, II would be difficult 10 find child in the ps
session Of all her and The enjoy meni of the I'D
saniages that wealth and parental love can bes,ny
who Is more cheer!u!, 10 whom existence seems q
gr' alter blessing than it does this bereaveL creature
or whom the sun has no light the air no sound and
The flowers color smell
In the appendix. more elatorlte description is civ
en- OF The case and acquirent OF this lle gir,-
thus shut ont IN great degree from communication
with her fellow beings IL must be cr,tf-ing IN thoxs
who are interested the study OF The operations of the
hunal mind. To know that careful observations con
true 10 be made with view Of asceriainrC the or
der OF developments. and the peculiar oh. rae er 81
her intellectual faculties The following extracts from
the appendix will be found Interesting:
Having mastered Inc manqal alphabet of the dea
mnies and learned TO spell readily tho names or ever,
ming within her reach. she then taught words ex
es'e o. positive Qualities as hardness. softaess and
she readily learned 10 express he quality by connect
g the adjective hard s3ft with tho substantive tho
she generally followed what would suppose la b,
The natural order in the succession OF IDEAS p!acinr
the substantive first
, No definite cogr1c OF instruction can be marked
oii Tor nor nquisivencss IS great that she is very
much dIscoacerted If anyqueston which occurs to ne
Is deferred until the lesson is II is deemed be-,
70 crafty her. II her enquiry has any bearing on tbs
essso; and oten she leads her teacher far away from
For instance. picking up nail in one OF her lessons
she instantly asked lis name-anl il being speli shs
was dissatisfied. and thought the teacher had made
mistake; Cor she knew II STOOD for her FINER mai
and sho very anxious 10 20 10 hea.-ouarer. 7,
be sure the teacher right
She Often asks questions which unfortunately canno
nc satisfactorily answered her; for is painI Il
eIeiie such vivid curiosity no exists in her mind
anr Then banlk H. For instance, once asked with
much eagerncss. Why arrangement OF letters wa,
10 tIta
rs why Tao. should not express the idea OF the ans
NAL rs well rs cat This she expressed nartIv n,
signs. and partly by words. but her meaning was per
ierily clear; she was puzzled and wished an oxpla
nation.
i In her eagerness to advance her KNOWLEDGE nj
words and 20 communicate her IDEAS she coined words
and IS always guided by analogy Sometimes her pro.
cess OF Uo-d-r1ok1g is very INTEREST," e. for instance
aer some Time spent in giving her idea Of the alb
strac meaning OF alone, she seemed 10 btain A. and
understanding that being by ones SELF was 10 be alone
or alone She was told to 60 10 her chamber or scho
or elsewhere. and return alone she did so; bur son
aIier' wishing TO 60 with Of the lIiie girls she
s'rovo &c express her meaning Thus. Laura oaL-tpo
having acquired The of snbsianii Is, adjeclives
verbs propositions aud cUnunctions il was deemed
ime 10 make The experiment Of trying TO teach hsr IN
pTe and 10 show her that she might uncate her
ideas TO persons not ia contact with her.
il was amusing u witness the mute amazenent with
which she su6mi.ad 10 The procoss-iho dociiify with
which she initiated eve, motion. and the perseverance
with which she moved her penciIo,er and again
IN the track, until she could iora the letter But
when at last the idea dawned upon her. that by this
mysterious process she could make other people I'M
detsiand what she thought. her JOY was boundlosg
! Never did child apply eagerly aud juylully
to any task Than she did 10 this, and in few months
she could make eve-y letter ds="tly. AID separate
words from each other
The following aneedoo will give an idea Of ne,
ondnesa Tor ienz;ng. or innocent fun. or mischief
Her teacher. looking one day into TIE oir,s -,
room saw three bind girls playing with The rockny
herse Laura was on The erupper another in the sal
die and third clingng The neck, and rbev ,,cro
al ~ high giee swinging backwards and forwards as
look IN Louras CONFERENCE.-The natural I,n,,,,. -
sly fun She seemed u pared 10 give a Spring, and
suddenly when her end was lowest. aud the o,hcr,
were perched high 10 the arr she sidlcd ancsly ,T
Oh 90 tho flor. md Lnrun ,.nu1 IL. ~