Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-24

square for each and every insertion.
WHAT THE BLIND CAN DO.
A recent number OF the L0nd0l
Oaatssr-g ReUietB contains a very inter
es-inr srlicle on the Training OF th,
Blind. from which We make the follow
iur extracts
"Tn The yesr seventeen hundred and
Jg7aye. m one Of the Fellows rooms al
Chri,t's College, Cambridge, sat three
learned and famous men discussing q
kn1tty point over the winter fire. Two
o. them were anriquaries a. well rs
scholars. aud on the tatie before them
lav a small drawer Of Roman coins. con-
c-ning some Of which the battle WaNed
hot Over one head.es~ emperor, whose
very name and date none but the iniria-
ted could guess at from the coin before
them the discussion grew especially
fierce IL had been purchased 81 a rare
and matculesS gem hv the elder of the
ta-o collectors. who both agreed as To ir-
extreme value and deferred as to lis
exact date. Their friend uy tae ire took
no part in the Discussion but, at last,
when the coin was handed "a him for
examination and Judgment, his answer
Ha5 ur0m2- and decided enough.
Strange 80 say, he did not glance At The
medal. but having felt it over caTfully
with the tips 0f his fingers, he next APP
piled DO 70 his tongue. This dOue, hs
quietly Laid the Eeadiess Augustus down
On the liable, saying ~ he did SOC
fifty 3. c., or eighty-eight A. D.,
the thing isn't worth q shilling; ] doubt
very much it, being gold. and Hm sure
a O.. a. sH.|
rnat be was IN the right The thing that
had been shown % hImand detected was
. clever counterfeit. got Up for the occa-
sion ofan antiquarian sale, Just as Roman
coins were dug UP a month or two ago in
making ths Thames embaukmeut Yet
this keen ja5Ee was q blind man, and
had never sci eyes on a coin, good, bad,
or Indifferent having lost not only his
eve sszht. but even his yegy eye balls, by
rbe small pJx in eighteen hundred and
sf-tv-tvv0, when but q twelvemOnth Old.
lie was now Luca-iau Professor Of
Msrhsmatics iu the first University 9f
the World. q friend Of Winston, HALEY,
and -ir Isaac Newton. whose PrineipIa'
formed the chief subject Of bis public leC-
ture~.
.His whole lie from bJyh0od had been
one Of striking interest, though we can
do no more than touch the few salient
points whish starJIs Us in the career OF
a blind man. At the free school Of PEN
ui-taue. in Yorkshire, and with the help
Of a reader aQl such few books a. Dis
father. an exciseman. could progure llr
him az home, by diut Of uuwea-led per-
severance. he managed to acquire such
z knowledge Of the classics s. 70 master
the works Of E1aiid, ArchimedeS, Di1-
uhlnuIs and Newton, in their original
l4rea'. aud Latin. This was ali done be-
fore he was twenty; at twenty-five he
sgas famous teacher Il Cambridge
The Power oFrouri.
sHe has - become acquainted almost
au-Trelvbv igltcE and ear, with little help
from q c9mpaUi0u's longer experience.
IL + 30 utterly new and strange 10 him,
thar for the first day or two he l- entirely
dependent upon some pupil s or teacher
hand 10 ger a. rar B. the school room, the
dining room or basket shop, 81 of which
are widely aparr But within d Wees
die chances are that out Of his eig,tly
blind fellow uuDiis he has chosen one as a
camnsHi0n. and probably his friend, for
several wears - come, .WEos n need be,
CONVEYS him across lie Opea yard
u any special p0iEt-t0 the dormi-
tory. or through the more intricate
navigation Uf the staiscdse Leading
20 tie band room. In month al the
Uiain sailing Is fairly mastered. Heeau
had his wav fr0l the dining room % ihs
basket shop. and down that shop, one
hundred and fifty yards long, just A. The
very site % his own box "a WhlcH ie
sits % split the WIJhes for basket Jf-.
He knows his own box. FOO, from smiths
and Browns on either side of him In
a wear he viii know probably his 5aH
tools ffoIB theirs by some lizzie taw gr
feature not patent 10 the eye ol d i)Qiter
on I'm q couple Of years he |ill know
the handle OF the GgUr 70 music room
No. five from that Or 40 six; De
viii run quickly with haf lEishei
basket in lis hand. from the WORKSHOP,
across wide yard, eNlfti} 70 inc very
door steD Of the open shed iH wLirl II
tank f0r soaking his willow work. ID IS
-eu-es Of touch and hearing are being
silently aud surely educated as their
education progresses they become Eeener,
hearing as a sharp sHd patrhigl sentinel
guide and spy: touch j. his servant ul al
l,e-i. and detective. To the seeing
touch Is su auxiliary, but % the 1ihq
i1- it is the primary SeH~s OF 1l,. li5 u
De knows his own clothes, and almost al
The property that Dee possesses his tools,
box bed. hat. fiddle, cupboard, zaal iu
chanel school room. and WOrk shop uY
it he reads !;is clls1Ier iu -t. john OF lu
Robinson Cru-1a he plays chess OF com-
fuoa-- works a sum iu long dlti~i9l nf
writes a letter home 70 mis- mother,
which She eau read with her eyes, and
he with IBIS fingers. BY the Aelp OF
touch DE U-eaves q rug Of cuiore1 "9o.s
embracing every variety Of scroll work,
or ~ those peculiar flowers and Iruil>
Ehifh grow only 0u carpet land, or
f-iuees with delicate gIeen and red door
mat for a iaIy's 50udoir; by touch he
feeS any curiosity such as lamp from
Che Pyramids, ar scrap of mineral,
which you describe % hini, aud which,
having once handled, be always speaks
Of as having been -e, n
1Eou the Blind weave Coiorss; Patterns
UThe weaver sets to work with a loom
cf the ordinary kind which We there
fore need not describe, and the only prob
Ienl i. how shall the blind workman ac-
curatalv follow a pattern Of ehich De-
cannot see a single step, In cJlOrs which
he cannot distinguish. We pause only
Tor a moment, by the way, % notice one
common and popular error stil anoat
viz that some clever blind people have
the power Of detecting coiors by The
touch. All we can say is that those who
have had the experience Of many year,
and opportunities for the personal exam
inati0u of many hundreds Of blind per
sons Of all ages and ranks, including
some Of remarkable ability, have not
teen able 10 find the remOtest trace OF
Vlch power There l. no more resen-
blauce now between sounds and c0iOr>
than ia the time Of GuiIlio, fifty years
ago, SD that no description viii enable a
blind man % disce,u between a crimson
poppy and the azure corn flower nor
can there be any perceptIble difference
Of texture In one mgTscl of wool. paper
cloth or feather stained red, and another
OF grassy green. Dr. Moves indeed, who
lost his sigIt ot three years Of age, s9ys
that red gave hiIn O disagreeable sensa-
ti0u, like the touch of a saw. and that
a. other colOrs become less intense they
decrease in harslness, until green cone
Neved 70 him an idea Ike that he felt iu
usssing his hand over polished surface.
But we suspect thar DR.. Move, was only
irving to rival the happy Shot IF another
blind man, who, saws Locke declared
ri.f searlet was 10 him 'like the sound OF
q trumpet Trumpets and scarlet go
vel together, GEq were perhaps, even
more frequently heard OF ana net with
--yeuty or eighty years ago Than they
are nsw. andthe name of one might Wei
suggest the other.
"A pupil Of Guillie's, al the Paris
Blind school, translated rU5e1ttc dertfrd
from Horace's Second Ode, by flsmin2
right hand" Being pressed 70 translate
literally, he gave as All equivalent 'ftD
When asked what he meant by a re-
0rm, be said thas he did mOt think like
I.oeke's blind man, that the oOlorred wa
like the soand Of a trumpet, hut he has
translated 81 ,famiag,' because he hae
been told that fire vas red whence ht
GaHolud6g that hest is accompanied hy
feducss which determined him 10 mark
the anger of Jupiter hy the egithet fam.
ing. because when irfitatod one IA hot
and when hot one must be red.
Touch, therefore, which can do 81
much fog the blind workman, can az
nothing for him here bat nevertheless
a. the Great Exhibition proved, he car
weave YOU a rug bright with all thecolon
Of the rainbow, exactly after The patten
which YOU prescribe scroll work, leaves
fruit, flowers, lozenges, stars or or0s
bars. In the first place, his threads 0
wool are all placed for him by his side
iu one exact order, say white, crimson
blue. yellow and maroon They are al
WAYS in the seine order and place, SO tina
he takes up whichever he needsWith un
erring certainty. Hung up 10 the bean
10 front oGhhp, but easily githin reach 0