The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-12-01


1oRy 0ftAe IFoas0eos - ahe Mind
IL O0eess aDd In Pupils, With It's
RsosPs@oD aDA DsnaadDs. I
[Ffon Our Travelling Correspondent
wYANDorrE, Kansas,
N0venbef q, $50. J
Some weeA. since gave you quite long
letter concerning the Asylum for the Deaf
and Dumb at Olathe, with condensed but
rather extensive history Of the treatment Of
this class of our nnfortunates from time inn
memorial I had then Termed the purpose
of visiting the different charitable institn-
tons reared by our State, to its glory, in va
rious places, and publishing such facts as
might tend towards keeping up the interest OF
the people in their welfare, and produce the
most thorough development capable of being
attained in institutions of this character. An
opportunity is now offered me to say some
thing concerning the Blind Asylum, which
has been permanently located at this
point.
The question upon which we started out in
the other letter occurs here: How do the
blind see, and the deaf hear, and the dumb
speaky' OF the three faculties here suggest
ed, there can be no doubt that the privation
, ocasionei by the loss Of sigh; is far greater
than that resulting from the loss Of either
or Of both Of the others. We have
only to imagine our eyes closed
| upon all that is beautiful in the
world, conveyed to the mind through the
sense of seeing, to cause a realization of that
melancholy fact. l have consulted the bes;
authorities upon the subject Of the blind, and
from them shall give, in condensed form,
the history Of their treatment and the &C
cepted theories and facts of the present day
concerning the loss OF sight:
"The blind are persons who have either
lost, or never possessed the power of vision
Blindness may be either complete or incom
plete 1t is complete when there is no con-
sciotsness Of light, and no ability TO discern
even the dim form Of large objects. 1t o.
curs in amaurosis, and in all those case.
which are the result Of destruction OF thu
hall of the eye. In incomplete blindness
there is a Consciousness OF light, which ELI
ables the person to distinguish between ia,
and nights when a light comes into !
dark room, we can distinguish its presenc,
through our closed eyes-and To discern i'm
perfectly the outline of objects OF considera
BILE size
There is a class in most OF the institution,
for the instruction Of the blind, called = see
ing blind" who are capable of Distinguishing
objects bv some exertion, and who, in conse
1uence vi this imperfect vision, are doubIy
unfortunate, lacking the high cultivation o
the other senses SO commonly attained by thu
blind, and yet not possessing sufficient vislor
To he of much service to them. Yet, DESPITE
this difficulty, some of them have attained tt
considerable distinction. The blindness q
the celebrated American preacher ant
lecturer, Rev. W. q. Millburn, wa
of this description. BLINDNESS, thougl
congenital in many instances, Is les
frequently SO than deafness. When con
genital, its causes are generally analogous Il
those which induce i,!iocy, deafness and in
sanity. lntermarriage oil near relations
scrOfnla, or other diseases OF parents, and III
temperance on the part OF parents, are yer.
ever. which cannot thus lie accounted for
Blindness occurring subsequent to birth, i
usually the result OF pur'lent oPhtha lmia
cOnjunctivitis, iritiS, cataract, amaurosis, o
gutta serena; small pOx, scarlet fever, measles
or accidents from powder, blows on the eye
etc. OF the diseases enumerated, purulen
ophthalmia and amau-osis are most fatal L
sight. The latter, which consists in paraly
STA of the optic nerve, isvery seldom cured
it was the c,,,se of Millions blindness. Age
persons frequently become blind from ,h
inability OF the lachrymal glands to secret
tears sufficient to lubricate the eve; from an
sOrption OF the aqueous hImor, opacity OF th
cornea, or lens, etc Persons afflicted witt
congenital blindness, and who, consequently
have no idea of vision, have nccasionali
been restored to sight by surgical operations
but in most cases, the result his been S'!ch
confusion Of ideas rs to make vision OF it'll
service for a long time.
The diseases of the eye have, q
late wears, received much attention
and eminent men have made thei
treatment a. pecia!ity most ofour large cite
have hospitals or iniirmaries devoted to tn
treatment of these disease and Jones, Law
renee, Mckenzie, Hays and Others, hav
published elaborate treatises on the subject
MANY persons have been cured, when nc
afflicted with the incurable phases o! blind
ness. The statistics of blindness in diheren
countries reveal some singular facts. As W
proceed toward the equator. the proportio
of the blind to the native population increase
with great rapidity; and the same fact is oh
servable in the very high ATTITUDES. NJ
Zune, the late accomplished director of tn
Institute for the blind OF Berlin, some year
ago prepared a table ON the subject, whic
Subsequent observations on the Eastern Con
tinent have been nearly verified. The fol
lowing are the results at which he arrived: