The New York herald., 1922-10-19
BLIND GIRL SMELLS
COLOR, FEELS SOUND
Case Rivals That of Helen
Keller in Numerous
Respects.
CAN TALK BY TOUCH
Nose Enables Her to Tell
Who Supervised Making
of Students Dress.
DOCTOR TELLS OF TESTS
Medical Journal Reports on
Unusual Development Of
Willetta Huggins.
DOCTOR TELLS OF TESTS

Willetta Higgins. a seventeen
year-old Wisconsin girl, although
completely blind and deaf, can "see"
colors by smell and hear" sounds by
touch. Ir many ways her case is
more remarkable than Helen Kellers.
In the current number of the
Journal OF the american Medical As
sociation DIR. Thomas ]. Williams Of
Chicago announces the result of
series of experiments with Willetta
covering several weeks at the Wis
consin School for the Blind.
These are some of the marvellous
feats the blind-deaf girl accom-
plished:
She heard" DR.. Williams talk by
resting her finger tips on his larynx,
his head or his chest. She learned to
distinguish the vibrations of speech
through intervening objects such as
billiard cue resting on the speakers
head or chest. She caught the vibra-
tons in the air by holding sheet of
paper between her hands and letting
the speaker talk against" it. She
heard words spoken over. the tele-
phone by resting her fingers against
the receiver. She learned to talk by
holding her fingers on her own
larynx.
smells Color of Thread.
Her sense OF smell Or. Williams SAYS.
mas been developed 10 a degree hitherto
unheard Of This was discovered in
her sewing class when she began 10 tell
dinerent colored threads by smelling
them She was able 20 tell by smell
not only which student had made a par
ticular dress but which teacher had
supervised its making. She easily dis
tinguished the colors of flowers and
even could determine by smell how many
persons up TO eight were in room
with her.
AT one or my examinations" DR..
Williams writes. II handed her a sweat
er the body OF which was orchid color
with deep hem OF purple, the weave
being Identical. She smelled IL and said
n was a lavender In the body but that
there was deep purple color there too.
] asked her TO find he line OF demarca-
fion between the two colors. which she
DID as accurately as II she were able
20 see.
II took some Holmgren's yarns.
handed a different color TO each nf
eight persons present told them to re-
member the color given them and after
turning out the light each OF us CROP
fngly found our way before her With
our yarns. which she placed in turn 20
her nose and correctly named the colors
and tints (whether light or dark) Of
each.
zone ~ the women present wore a hat
on which was embroidered a three color
design. Wliietta correctly named the
three coiors. the color Of the hat and
it, lining.
II gave her a string of colored beads
and sct % Different colored glass
lenses. but win these she was lost. She
rsid she could not smell these because
-thcy keep their smell inside of them"
she gets no appreciablc odor from them
or from any giaSed surface as. for In
Stance. pottery. though she can distin-
ruish unglaxed pottery fairly well. She
states that All glass smells green 80
she cannot detect other colorr In glass. +"
Heler Keller was Wnietia'E inspira-
tion. Until two years ago she was list
less and apatnctc Dr Williams says
Physically her condition. was good and
or normal development for a girl 81 rs.
w hich she had possessed in small de-
gree 90 the nre ~ i2. caused her %
develop a peculiar. morbid uninfer-
ested. morose attitude toward every
thing"
IN 1880 teacher o. the deaf ~ Eau
C'iaire. NNis ieid fhe riti ~ MiFa kelier's
method ~ communication Mliletta was
fntervrfnd nnd gradually heEan % shov
rnertal deVrinuwent. snerEiuE from her
shell ~ lndlreffnes in MANNER that
had seemed irnroeFl lnie for hef when she
possessed partial vision and henrinG
Can TaIk ~ Teach.
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