The times., 1901-05-29
Milking the Blind to See.

Making the Blind to See.
DR.. Heller the Director of the Vienna
Institution for the Blind, has been max
ing some interesting experiments with
a view of restoring the sight of the
blind, or rather developing it, as his
subjects are mostly taken from among
those who are born blind. In such
cases, it is said, the aiIment is what is
called psychicaI blindness, the eye, so
far as can be discovered, being per
fectIy formed.
Dr. Heller has had thirty years ex-
perience with deaf. dumb, and blind
people, and having discovered that
deaf persons who have perfectly formed
ears cannot hear because the connec-
ton with the brain fails, he began
series Of experiments which have re-
suited in making seventy-twO such
children hear and speak. His success
in this line made him think that some
thing might be done for the blind in
like condition. and he accordingly ex-
perimented on them in much the same
way. In the case of blind boy FIVE
years old, who had been blind from
birth, the scientist developed ability to
distinguish objects and coiors. and 10
read.
This is one of those miracles of the
nineteenth century which are so COM
mon, in the wonderful progress which
science has made, that they attract but
little attention. For such n cure men
in old times would have been either
canonized or burned at the stake for
sorcery. Now it passes as one of the
incidents of the history Of science.
There was nothing miraculous or ex-
traordinary about The methods en-
ployed by DR.. Heller, however. except
the patience and faith which enabled
him to conduct them. He began by
taking the child into a perfectly dark
room. where the only point of light
was a movable Illuminated transparent
disc. It is well known that many blind
people can distinguish light from dark
ness, but nothing more. After the child
had become able to discern the disc, a
large house key was placed in his hands
and then behind the disc; and the boy
soon learned to distinguish the key
from ball or other object. Then the
disc was covered with red glass, and
the gradually educated eye became able
to see the difference between the red
light ard the white. Then geometrical
figures, lines, triangles, and circles
were drawn upon the disc. and finally
letters and figures. After a whIi1 the
instruction was extended to daylight,
and then progress was rapid.
There is no question that the educa-
ton of the nerves and muscles is a
matter most complicated and curious,
and often neglected in peop.e who are
not blind. The human hody is a
mechanism so complex that inability 20
use a certain set of muscles often re-
suits from simple disuse. Some defect
in the brain prevented the blind child
from making connection between it and
the eyes, and the muscles OF the eye
were not trained unconsciodsly. as in
the case of u seeing infant, but re-
mained inert. The consequence was
that artificial means had to be en-
plcyed, and were employed with sue
cess
1t would be idle to imagine that all
blind persons could be cured in this
way, of course, or even large proper
tion Of them. since this afiiiction is most
often due to actual defect in the seeing
apparatus. But at any rate the ex-
periments show the close connection
between the nervous system and the
functions of the body, and the results
which may be accomplished by COM
paratively simple means, in cases where
surgery and medicine are useless. No
body knows how many ailments besides
blindness might be cured by the method
of rescuing disused muscles from idle
ness. if people only knew enough to
try 1t. There have been cripples before
now who became well when some
strong interest in life forced them to
try with all their might TO use the dis
abled limb.