The morning times., 1896-05-10
HEARING WITH THE EYES
A New Means for Relieving
Deafness.
Miss Warrsn's Scheme for Helping Those
Who Are Merely Hard Of Hearing, and
Opening to Them Once More the
Pleasures Of Conversation.

There Is a woman in New York CITY
who has Invented system by which any
person or common intelligence who SUI
1ers from deafness can hear the slightest
whisper The afflicted one can. in fact,
hear words formed on the lips without
any emission OF sound whatever and IN
derstand clearly what is said when an
individual of acute hearing would b. un-
able to comprehend a word All this u
done without ear trumpets or any grim
acing and gestiCuIating on the part OF the
person who speaks, and in some thirty
or forty lessons anyone having mind 20
can master the system sufficiently 70 put
it into practical use
MISS WARREN's PLAN.
Its originator is a stout, fair clever
looking lady, who began by teaching that
tedious and valuable method by which
children who are mutes can learn 20 CON
verse with The rest OF the world a method
that originated in Germany and has been
brought TO high state OF perfection only
in America This method does away with
hand signs entirely. forces the child 70 use
It's own vocal cords, and read what il
said by others from the motion OF the lips.
But IL did seem to me-" said Miss
Warren when talking OF her achievements
Ill behalf OF deaf mutes, ''that something
might be done along the same lines to al
hard OF hearing. / wanted to give them
some refuge from the necessity Of losing
half their intercourse with both friends
AND family, and something to relieve them
from the embarrassing aHeFna tive or
being screamed at or dropped out OF the
conversation. & little while ago an es-
innate was made showing that in tie
United States alone there were three hun
dred thousand persons under twenty-five
VINO had grown deaf since their teens.
This Included the class suffering from
almost total loss OF auTal power, brought
about by three causes, hereditary wea K
ness OF the ears, continued catarrhal troubles
or nervous dyspepsia. Every year the
statistiCian remarked, this number was
greatly added TO, because in the last
twenty-five years deafness has been greatly
OH the increase.
Not only do more persons lose the
healthy command Of their auTdl organs,
but the trouble is uOtiCeable earlier in
life AT sixteen or eighteen The weI kness
begins to- be apparent, while our grand
parents never knew such an affHCti0n
until they bad Eved ct least thTee-sCoTe
years, but modern science expatlates many
OF the evils resulting from our CiviliZa on. -
THE NEW METHOD.
Now, whatever is the cause Of a pupils
deafness, I never pretend 70 treat their
ears Deafness is only increased by strain
ing the weakened mechanism OF the ear or
throwing great volume OF sound into Il,
so adaptation has been made from the sys-
tenn taught the children born mutes I5
has been found that the forty odd sounds
made by the voice IN speaking English are
revealed in Just sixteen facial movements,
or expressions Tie deaf person is taught
TO put aside all dependence on sound, and
read the lbs whit heir eyes ThemOyements
Of the no nth, aided by the expression of tEe
eyes, the rising and falling or the chin. and
contraction and expansion OF tie muscles
about the nose and lips tell the whole
story to eyes trained IN observation.
When a pupil comes To me for In
struCtiOn,' said Miss WARREN Il first
give her series OF twenty lessons. ex-
planning the whole method. teen I put
ber into 4 class and expect that IN fifteen
or twenty lessons more she viii know
enough 10 comprehend any simple sentence
and to easily grasp at others In the class
I read aloud, from the Bible chiefly and
then from the daily papers.
In reading there IS 10 emission Of sound
whatever only the natural rapid move
meOt OF the lips and yet the pupils hear.
for the strange phase of lip reading 10
that Tire GeJTcSt person seems 70 get the
sense through that natural channel, the
ear. At home my scholars practice their
lessons BY repeated lessons before a mirror
women are vastly quicker at mastering i D
reading than men. Their native curiosity
10 know all that is said. their rapid powers
OF intuition and talent for detail helps
them in learning, while II is easier TO read
the lip movements OF q wCTrGn'S face.
Feminine features are more sensitive and
active than those of men. their lips are
more flexible, and women moreover allow
their emotions to come To the surface ex-
pressing volumes in the lift OF the eyebrows,
quick fTOwu OF tilt OF the nose. These
characteristics bring numbers OF women
into my classes. where they rapidly catch
on as one might say, and from class
work my pupils are advised to haunt the
thcaters. listen to sermons. watch others
in the street cars and take part in famiII
conversations.
In six months by enthusiastic study any
ordinarily bright girl cHn put herself back
into almost uninterrupted communion
/ ton with the talkativc world ard the
, more she employs her sense Of sight
the more acute will be her feeling that
she hears.
So strong is this heller sometimes THAI
a deaf person once addressed. only by q
movement OF the lips and not even q
whisper OF sound. begged me not to
speak so loud, and another bright Young
! pupil cOntemptuouSly criticized a woman
/ opposite her in the street cars for shout
ing out her private affairs when the
wOmans voice was really only audible
to her companion. 1t seemed, however.
painful revelation OF domestic matters
to the young girl who read the entirs
conversation from the lips alone.
MARGARET BISLAND