Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1857-05-28

r valleys Of the Alps are deprived of sunshine
: except for an hour Or two at high oon-that
the atmosphere is hot, impure and loaded with
miasm. Niepice, the French Statist, reckons
as one great cause, the Mauraase ecu de rie, OR
, bad brandy of the country, which is univer-
sally drank to great excess. All the regions
in this country where cases of Cretinism are
found, abound in limestone rocks
The first attempt TO educate an idiot was
made involuntarily by Doct. Itard, of the Deaf
and Dumb Asylum in Paris, 1901, upon wild
man found naked in the forest of the Aveyron.
This savage was called by the wise men, whose
JOY was great at bis discovery " a wild product
OF the solitude" and his education was at
tempted in demonstration of the materi.list
theory of Locke and Condillac The theory
held, that all our ideas are derived Immediately
from the senses and that our mental faculties
are only sensations transformed that by caus-
ing certain sensations, certain ideas would be
generated, and from these given kind of char
acter produced.
Efforts to educate that savage, and demon
strate that theory, were fruitless, for he was
an Idiot, and after six years of devotion to
lbs pupil, his educator Was rewarded by being
able to cause him to make one gut eral, Idotic
The first attempt to educate an idiot, as
such, and we may well lie p.oud of the fact
was made in our own State In 1918 an ID
lot girl was received into the American Asy-
lum for the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, for
instruction, and remained there until her death
in 1924. Since that time numbers have been
received there, and instructed by the Teachers
of that Institution. In 1924 Doct. Belhomme
of Paris, wrote an able pamphlet upon ldiocy,
and demanded in the name of humanity, that
attempts for their education should be made.
In 1928 the President of the Academy of
Medicine, and Inspecto. General of the Luna
tic Asylums Of France, NJ. Ferrus, organized
school for the training Of the more intelli-
gent Idiots at the Bicetre, one of the large
hospitals for the insane at Paris
In 1888, nearly 40 years after his first at
tempt, Itard was requested to undertake the
education Of another Idiot but he was old,
and suffering from illness. Doct. Z. Seguin
undertook the difficult task, assisted by the
counsels and experience Of Itard and after his
death, by the celebrated Esquirol. In 1889
+ appeared the first pamphlet upon the progress
of that Idiot. In 1889 young physician of
Zurich, observed poor Cretn muttering a
prayer before crHcifx, evidently unconscious
of what he was doing He found upon enquiry
that the Cretin had been taught that prayer
when child, by his mother This aroused his
attention--he became convinced that the Gre
! tin possessed rudmental intellect, and in
letter tc a friend, he uttered the following sub
lime sentiment: a being in whom it is pos
sbe to awaken a thought of Cod is worthy
Of every sacrifice and labor for it is Of more
value to save one human soul, than to gain all
| the treasures of the world" In lS41 he es-
tablished a school for their training, which
though begun in feebeness, has been the parent
of many Others In 1912 a school was estab-
lished by NJ. Segert in Berlin.
OF all the Continental English and Amer
lean Schools established since that time, will
not speak Suffice it to say, that MaSsachu-
sets, Rhode Island, New York, and Pennsyl-
vania have already made provision for the ed
ucaton of their Idiotc children and youth and
various other States have the subject now ul-
der consideration.
The numbers of this unfortunate class will
not diminish except by education. Like the
Insane, they can be as cheaply supported in on
institution as any where But very few are
aware Of the great number of Idiots. In this
State, they are certainly one to every five hun
drcd inha btants Not only Connecticut, but
nearly every State, has its Insane Asylum, and
yet the United States Census shows that some
States have twice as many Idiots as Lunatics.
In Others the proportion is less In New Eng
land and New York. the number of Lunatics
and Idiots is about the same. Virginia has
ISL Idiots to 100 Lunatics. Tennessee has
lis, and Alabama 206 Idiots to every 100
Lunatics.
We have thus briefly seen what Idiocy is
i glanced at some of its causcs-and the whole
subject shows u.s. that in its treatment and
cure, it is nearly allied to, and dependent upon
the Medical Profession. Our profession. is a
noble one, and with few exceptions its ranks
are filled with energetic, selEdenying, philan-
thropic men, whose ears are open to every cry
of distress, and whose hearts respond to every
humane appeal ;-men who may avow as their
own the famous sentiment of Latin classic "
am a man, and nothing human is foreign to me"
Every leading effort for the improvement and
education of the Idotic, in this and every coun-
try, has been made by members of cur profess
sion. This demand comes too late in the
march of philanthropy. But shall it not be
heard :? Because of the very long neglect OF
this class, shall we not more cordially respond
to this pleading wall of debased humanity :!
The last century saw the letters knocked from
the limbs of the Lunatic-the pages of learn
ing literally opened to the minds of the Blind !;
a knowledge Of mind and matter, and the great
truth connected with his immortality given the
Deaf Mute but it saw no effort made to
raise the Idiot from brutishness to manhood.
1t was left to the present century to discover
and demonstrate the fact that the Idiot could
be raised from his lowly and sad condition, ed
} ucated mentally, morally, and physically, and
made comfort, instead of being burden, to
families and friends.
| Till Society realizes the great truth, that it
responsible for the condition Of the individuals
) which compose it'll Che rich map shall feel
that the beggar whom he drives from his door
is not only annoying him by bis Importantly