Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-16

NC the 'ueaI-fnute probe
j giving considerable agitation just at present
W 'he scientific mind in New England. And no
wonder. since it has been recently shown that
during the last thirty years, while the populs-
Non Of the United States has simply doubled,
the number Of deaf and dumb people in this
country has been multiplied by Ave? This
really appalling increase has no other cause
than the intermarriage of persons born thus
objective, the offspring of such unions being
almost invariably similarly afflicted. The latter
marry among themselves in turn, producing
another generation of unfortunates without
speech or hearing. who do likewise, and SO on.
the result being the propagation of special
human breed lacking two senses of the five
with which the animal man is designed by ma
ture to be equipped.
The first recorded intermarriage Of deaf
mutes in America was that of a Massachusetts
couple In 1919. From 1850 to 1880 there was no
less than J, 400 such marriages, and alrta adv
deaf-mutes by descent have appeared in the
fourth generation numerously There is every
reason tor surprising that their number. will
60 increasing indefinitely, until there comes
to be recognized a separate variety of the race.
all the members of which are born deaf and
therefore. dumb. Cheerful prospect is il not?
Is II not strange that SO mOurnful a state o:
affairs should have been brought about bv one
OF the most benetcent works ever attempted
by human kindness aud charity?
Until within quite few years deaf-mutes
were kept so entirely secluded by reason OF
their helplessness, that marriages among them
were unknown. But at length benevolent
science extended a friendly hand. taught them
a language they could understand gave them
knowledge through that language of all things
others know, and even showed them with end
less pains how to speak with the voices they
could not themselves hear. In this manner
they were enabled to assume the conditions of
hT1ru 10 70 lou
creatures. form societies, marry and have chill
dren. For obvious reasons, they nearly always
marry one another. II, on the other hand,
they take partners who are normally equipped
as regards the primary senses, the resulting
offspring more than apt to be born deaf
and dumb. If not. then some of the grand
children viii be. and the curse Will appear for
generations In the family. Internationally.
II Is interesting to observe that the telephone
il merely a sort Of copy of the human ear and
works on the same general principles. Prof
Bells instrument has diaphram like the drum
of the ear. IN contact with which is "a carbon
pencil. The sOund-waves made by the voice
agitate the diaphram and are transmitted bv the
carbon pencil to the wire that CONVEYS the
message. The place of the carbon pencil in
the ear Is taken by little cartilaginoUs projec-
ton that Is III contact with the drum. This
transmits the sOund-waves 10 the brain through
the nerves Of sensation, which take the place of
the wires In the telephone and thus ii Is one
hears. Ii the drum - broken, or too thick
ened to vibrate readily, or if any other essen-
tal parts are defective. the person is deaf. His
telephone Is busted" so to speak
IL would surely be a sad case OF evolution
backward II human beings were to lose the
power of speech 1t took them so many hundred
thousands of years To obtain. That the men of
the caves and the river-drifts could not talk has
been satisfactorily proved BY the fact tha. none
Of their skulls have the little bCny process
called the genial tubercle" TO which the mus
cles that control the movements OF the tongue
are fastened. Without this very essential ex-
crescence they must have been as dumb as the
other beasts of the field. Indeed, it is a theory
well accepted scientifically now that man has
only been a speaking animal for abOut 1000
years. That Is the reason why the traditions of
no race. not even those of the Chinese and an
clent Egyptians have ever gone back further
than seventy centuries from lsS9 of the Christ
ian era-a mere bubble on the shores of eter-
nifty,
FIRST TALKERs.
The first tribes of men to acquire the lingual
faculty had their home in Central Asia. SO
great an advantage did this power of speech
give them that they spread rapidly all over the
earth. Traditions of human experience and
observation began to be handed down by word
of mouth. and lnasmuch as such traditions
never extended back further than about 5000
T. g.. a. time Il now reckOned. il was taken for
granted by historians that the world began at
that date. 80 it is found that all the ancient
races, coming as they did from the same geo.
graphical source. in MesOpOtamid or therpabOut
attribute the Creation to period 1000 years
ago Ii Is curious to observe that they pre-
serve strikingly similar records regarding a
certain Deluge-dOubtless a local affair III re-
ality-whIch wiped out nearly everybody
Many authorities are of the opinion that new
languages were originally formed by children
under the talking age. who strayed away in the
wilderness. and, managing 10 survive, invented
words OF their own, children will.
To come of the scientific perch. however
and return 20 the deaf-mutes of the future. it
may b. said that they Will be worse off than
tine speechless cave-men of old. since the latter
could at any rate hear. Taking a broad view of
the case. one can hardly deny that the prospect
ahead Of the civilized person who has the i'll
luck to live two thousand years hence is far
from pleasant. He Is likely TO be deaf and
dumb. viii doubtless be entirely bald-headed
and ONLY the most powerful cOnclave lenses
Will give sight TO his myopic eyes. OF teeth he
l. apt 10 have few or none, since those useful
Instruments are being supplied to each sue
Credlng generation OF poorer and poorer
material by the art contractor nature, and very
much below the grade the original specifications
attached to the human plan called for. SO
dental surgeons say. at least About that time
all the available coal in the world Will have
completely given out. and there will be nothing
left Tor the inhabitants to do but to hubble
Ground the equator until the final freeze-out
Tins Is not a Pessimistic view. Ii is simply in
tended 10 show how fortunate any one nova
DAYS should consider himself to be that he is
born III the nineteenth century, when people
can still bear and see and talk and chew and
escape the Necessity Of wearing a wig
ALCOHOLIC EFFECTS.
This time IL Is Boston genius who. in his
eageruess to reform at least one OF the vices of
the age, has announced the discovery OF a
method by which alcoholic liquors NAV be rem
dered entirely Misunderstanding and therefore
harmless. We're II not too frivolous an obiec-
tlOn. II might be remarked that whisky is not
harmful because IL intoxicates IL is a poison
which attacks certain organs Of the body and
causes them 10 become diseased: the Intoxica-
ton il merely. to those who drink fre-water
AL agreeable incidental. However. this point
NAV be politely waived The notion of this in
yentor Il to have the law direct that all drinka-
bies containing alcohol shall. before being sold
b. mixed with q very small proportion of pc
culIar powder compounded by himself. which
will deprive them Of any intoxicating quality
without affecting their flavor a particle. Thus
persons who are fond OF these beverages will
be able to booze indefinitely without running
any risk of getting drunk-a condition highly
calculated 10 cause modification 10 their friends
and pain TO themselves. No longer. If this
happy plan prevails, will the nocturnal topper
struggle in vain 10 discover the elusive keyhole
ia the small hours of the morning; nor Will the
excessive rushing of the GROWER that goes often
to the bar give rise TO family jars and police
court unpleasantnesses. In short the demon
OF rum will be overcome by an antidote. to be