The North-Carolinian., 1844-04-13
TEACHING rae DUNE


that such Is the case, on his personal knowl-
edge. The process il SO novel and itnpor-
,a,a that we extract the sccouni OF il glveu III
the Report. .s =
dan uninssrucied deaf and dumb child
must arrive at a considerable age before he
would be conscious Of the fact Of breathing,
that iaa116efore his mind would propose to it.
self. as distant idea, that he actually inhales
and exhales air. Having no ear, it would be
still later before be would recognise any dis
tinction between such inhalations aud espui-
sions Of the air as would be accompanied by
sound, and such as would not. The trst
s,ep. therefore, in the instruction Of II deaf
and dumb child, is to make him conscious OF
these facts To give him knowledge of the
fact that he breathes, the teacher, seating HIM
self exactly opposite the light, takes the pupil
, aPos hrs lap OF between his knees, so that the
pupils eve shall be on level with his own,
aud so that they can look each oiher directly
in the face. The teacher now takes the pu-
pii's rich. han in his left and the pupils left
band in the right. He places Que Of the pu-
pills hands immediai>;v before his own lips,
aud breathes upon it, He then brings the
pupils other hand into tho same position be-
fore his (the pupil's) lips, and through the
faculty of imitation, leads him to breath upon
upon by the teacher. This exercise Is varied
indefinitely as to stress or intention of breath
ian ], and the lessons are repeated again aud
again, -if necessary, until, in each case, the
feeling caused by the expulsion of air from
the pupils mouth on the back Of one hand,
beconea Identical with the feeling on the back
Of The other hand. caused by the explosion of
a, 4, ssssosS.i the teachers mouth. Sometimes
I.tlo play mnsles with the instruction and a
liaht object, as feather, or a bit Of paper, Is
blown by the breath.
Another accompaniment Of simple breath
ing is the expansion and subsistence Of the
chest, as the air 10 atserna ~ drawn into 1t aud
expelled from il. To make the pupil ac-
quainted with this fact, one of his hands Is
held before the teachers mouth above descrb-
ed, while the other is laid closely upon his
beast. The pupil rapidly perceives the fall
ing motion of the chest when the air is emit
ted from the lungs, and the rising motion
sfen it is =. ID. His hands are then trans
'1~~"e e ais own mouth and chest, wne:> The
!, performed by himself, ploduce cor
og motions aud sensations. These
ss must, Of course, be continued for a
or less length Of time, according 10 the
OF the scholar.
,;stea IS 10 teach the fact Of sounds,
sTes1 .sa'' = vase -. &c: c: his purpose,
be present, standing
nil The teacher and
. efore, and the teacher
ne pupils hands be-
.outh, aud placing the
-.- hreathes as hs.uore hes.ore.
@ mis- IS the mere physical
aced upon the pupils hands.
1---e acher speaks with loud voice,
s:sz. sz present turns round 20 an
ss same effect would be produced
.s.. sszz. .pon dog or other domestic ami
asdere the pupil perceives an entire
: new state of facts. The speaking is accom-
panied by a new position of the organs OF
speech, aud by greatly increased action OF
the chest and i. is Immediately followed by
a nosemen. or recognition on the part of the
third person. The pupils hands are then
transferred to his own mouth aud chest, and
he is led to shape his organs of speech in
imitation of his teachers, aud to make those
strong emissions of breath which produce
sound. When this sound has been produces
BY the pupil, both the teacher and the lhIre
person intimate, by their attention aud the
approval, :hat new thing has been done
aud from that moment, the peculiar effort o
the vibrations, necessary to the utterance Q
sounds, are new facts added to the pupil
store of knowledge.
These exercises having been pursued for
Sufficient length Of time, the teacher beg ius t.
Instruct iu the elementary sounds. The'let
ter is the first taught, being only haf
breathing, and therefore forming the connect
ing link between simple breathing and tn
utterance OF the vowel sounds.
Here it is obvious that the teacher must b
perfect master OF the various sounds Of III
language, and Of the positions into which a
the vocal organs mus, be brought in order ,
enuuciate them. All the combined and d
versified motions and position of lips, teet
tongue, glo,,is, windpipe, and SO forth, mu
be as familiar to him, as tn. position Of key
or cords to the performer on the most compl
Gated musical instrument. For this purpos
all the sounds of the languages and Of cour:
all the motions aud positions OF the organ
necessary to produce them, reduced to
regular series of gradaton. The variation
requisite for the vo~ei sounds, are formed j
to regular sequence, and a large table
prepared 10 which The consonant sounds a
arranged in scientific o,der. To indica
the difference between a long and sh'
sound, u lsng sound is uttered accomPani
by a slow motion Of the haud, and then she
souud Of the same vowel accompanied by