New-York daily tribune., 1854-09-06

Eleekets in It's action, the mental manifestation.
diminish and the man Il seen 10 be weak man II
not q fool long before he dies.
To show the elOse conne1ion between physical
csusos and moral results. where lone would be sus-
pected by the casual observer, Or. Hove cites the
follow iug eIt sogdinsy esse which occurred among
his pupils:
W, lad Of ten years Old, was brought 70 us
because he could not be taught in common schools,
nor governed by common methods. There was
nothing IN hs appearance 10 Indicate any mental de-
fciency or any bodily defect or ailment. On the
contrary, he wa a brghtlOoking, hearty, active
little fellow. He was well formed in al respects-
His hesh hard and elastic, his skn clear his eye
bright, and his bearing and actions showed that ne
was full Of the elastic vigor OF youth. He showed
10 sign Of mbecilify or deficiency Of any particular
faculty. He conYersed well and seemed 20 be docile
and seotonae nevertheless, be could not be taugat
By the common methods and he was, moreover, the
very incarnation Of mischief he had genus Tor
torTne ntng people and manifested itself In tnou-
ssnd ingenious and striking ways. He seemed pos,
sessed Of evil spirit which would not be e1orcsed
by any prayer. nor subdued by any rod. II eonuhu,
ally prompted him to mischief; and It was feared
that, e. be grew older, be would become dangerous
20 be left At large. o.,
Now. but for one additional symptom, II would
have seemed absurd to attribute this boys Peryer,
sfy Of disposition and of behavior 70 any physic
cause. He would have been whipped A. hsneh'y'
wicked bow: and when grown oder, have n5en pun-
ished uerhaps a. a perverse criminal. Iiis addl-
tiona SYMPTOM the occurrence, At Irregular periods
Of severe hts Of an epleptic character. Inc Sprii
suddenly rends him. he falls down; Il convulsed- and
then after few moments struggle, becomes again
the mischievOus imp that he wa before
Here is q clear indication Of physical affection OF
the brain or come part Of the nervous system nut,
whether structural or functional, has not YET Deen
ascertained. II was, however, soon discovered, by
close watching that he had the habit Of slyly chew
ing and swallowing bits of wood, straw strings, or
ANYTHING that be could force down his throat Every
effort made 10 break up this habit, bat IN va'n'
No enresties could prevail with him 10 orego ~ no
watching could prevent him from indulging IT, A
wire mask was fastened upon his face and taken of
only At meal times; but even then if unmatched Tor
q moment be would cOntriye % work straw or
crooked stick under the mask and into his mouth.
Of fcourse every one Of these ndgestble substances
reusnsd for an indefinite time IN the allnentary
canal and caused irritation which extended to the
brain, and tended to produce fits.
Now this boy wac so intelligent and apparently 80
rational that this habit Of swallowing sticks and the
Ike might be set down by unrehecting persOns as
only another sign Of bis perverse disposition. But
the boy swallowed these substances because be tell
at the stomach an irresistible craving for them aud
this craving was, probably, only the symptom oi
morbid condition OF the brain. lie could no more
stop the craving than he could prevent ht He had
less power to resist the craving than the topper the
ouium eater or the smoker has 10 resist the craving
for the fevore stimulus for his moral sense had never
been fully developed, and could not be appealed to.
In tie practical operation Of the school the first
aim is to arouse the attention Of the pupils especially
to the forms, and other qualities Of obiects The
next is TO teach them the names by which objects
arc called. This, in fact, is teaching language,
but idiots do not pass beyODd the mere rudiment-
airy part of language, because they do not comPre-
hend any thing more Than the general forms,
and tonsible qualities and attributes of objects.
"Wben IL comes TO that subtle but real transition
from language expressive Of the qualities and attri-
butes Of material objects, TO language expressive of
minateral and moral relations, they stumble at the
very threshold. An ido. may perhaps, make the
transition perfectly enough from the pleasure of tast-
ng sweets TO pleasure in society Of another 10 say,
undersiandingly, love John or Mary; possibly 10
say John or MARY is sweei-goOd- bat here
be stops: or If, as are sometimes told, he does
not stop here, bu. goes on TO acquire the more COM
pex parts of language then heis no longer an idiot.
None Of the pupils, then, language in the more
complex and subtle forms. Aiew make use of all the
common parts Of speech. Six substantiyes only
Seven are speechless, or only interjectonal ex
pressions. few can read simple sentences and COM
prehend them. Some pronounce words which they
sec pointed out, without really knowing the meaning
Arithmetic is constantly studied - excellent gym
nastic exercise. Some idiots quick at figures.
DR. Howes remarks on this subject are pointed:
Cphering said an eminent philosopher, is done in
a small corner of mans brain, and he might have
added that il may be done in small corner OF very
small brain. Men OF quick paris are sometimes 80
deficient in the faculty of number that they can
hardly understand simple arithmetsal processes;
and some even perplexed about reckoning change
for money. On the other hand, there are persons
Of less tkan general average ability, who have what
10 be an iDtutive perception OF the relations of
numbers and who can see at glance the result of
intricate combinations, which ordinary persons can
arrive at only by long and abOrious cipherng.
Some of these mathematical prOdiges. as they are
called not only have no other faculty well devel-
oped except that of number but even this to
work after they pas the period Of youth and from
eing toerably bright, they become intolerably stu
pd- Such cases goto confirm the notion of the inde
por'dence of the faculty by which We perceive the
relations Of number.
few Years ago, when one of these prodigies
Al the hight of his renown he was examined by Mr.
c., a rude but very able mathematician, who tried
in vain to porplex him by arthmetical questions
These were solved simultaneously aud correctly, ~
Mr.. G.. was obliged 10 acknowledge, after quarter
OF All hours work with slate and pencil upon each Of
them. He then examined hun little upon others
iects and being asked whether the youth would not
make great mathematician, he replied contemPtu-
ously, mo! he will never bu anything but thunder
ing cipherer"
About half of the pupils study geography. One
clsss name the great divisions OF land and water
the mountains, rivers, and the like. They can give
the names of the States and tell what Is the capital
Of each. With an expert teacher they can make
recitation that excites the admiration of charitable
audience. Linear drawing and writing taught TO
all who are capable of learning "The change which
has been brough, about in many of the unfortunate
children is very great. Their dirty and disOrderly
habits have been corrected. They can take care OF
themselves in respect to many wants which formerly
had to be ministered to by others. They can dress
and feed themselves with much more readiness AMI
piopriety Some are beginning TO be useful in various
ways. Nothing, however, need be added upon this
matter TO what has been said in former reports.