Year: 1861

1 Pecniiarities of the Blind.


| Those who have closely observed the conduct Of
| the blind must, we imagine, have been sometimes
startled with the precise knowledge they appear
10 possess OF what is going on around them. 1t
would seem as though some new sense had stepped
i IN to supply the want Of the faculty which, b1iey
nave lost or have never possessed. We know that


this is not the case, and that the ready powers of
| perception and appreciation which sometimes as


fonish US are the results of that finished educaioa


OF the other senses, which is in manner enforced
| upon those who live in perpetual darkness. We
snail Jot down few instances which have come
| within our own observation and knowledge, and
| which, while interesting in themselves, will serve


70 lil13trate the operation of what some writer's in


alludlng to this subject, have wrongly termed the
| sixth sense.
| poor, blind pensioner who travels London


daily to call on his patrons for their contributions,
| and whose rounds are not much short of hundred


miles per week, on being asked how he finds bis
| way abou5, tells US that on starting from home he
counts the tnrnings and crossings, however nu-


merous they may be, perhaps over Eve miles


route until he arrives at the street or row of build


ings which he wants. He then +" sticks it,, or


counts the houses by their entrances with his stick


until he comes to the right dwelling. This once
certified, is never forgotten; for, IL he should
| chance to miscSunt, he would be made sensible of


his error by the different shape of the beilhandle,


the knocker, the railings, some triling peculi-


arlty in the doorstep, etc. which, though they


might escape the observation of ordinary persons,


are obvious enough to the blind.


/


the sound of their football, and will not allow them


to pass him without giving them the good day.''
| He can always tell when he is passing house or
| houses of two, three four stories high, by the
difference in the sound Of his own step, or of the
! touch of his stick on the flags. He knows the
trees by their odor. grocer's shop, a chemists


shop leather-cutterFs or butchers, is palpa-
BILE to him as milestone to traveller or liaht-


house to sailor. II he s put ont of his reck
oning, it is through meeting friend and having


gossip until he forges himself in this case he has


either to 60 back or forward sticking it," until
| he has recovered one of his landmarks This poor
| fellow has perambulated London alone for twenty


years, in all weathers, with other guide than bis


stick, yet is never known to lose his way. If the


reader will compare these facts with his own ex-


perience in the dark VITA the cases Of persons
who lose themselves in a London fog, in neigbbor-


hoods with which they have long been well ac-


quainted, he will see sufficient cause to marvel at
| the resources of the blind.


friend of the writer, attending church on a


Sunday morning in village where he had arrived
| the day BEFORE encountered blind man cropping
| at the principal door, which, for some cause, hap
| pened on that day to be closed. Our friend took
| him by the hand, and led him in at side door.


After the service he led him out; but the blind man


was quite nonplussed, "Wil you be so good as TO


put me where you found me first ?' he said; and he
was conducted back to the front door. Having


certified himself of his position by touch, he at


once set off for his home which was at three miles


distance-our friend accompanying part of the
way. When they had walked something more than


a mile along the road the blind man stopped, "Will


you have the Kindness he said, to put your


hand behind that hurdle in the hedge, and lift ont
| my walking stick? I always leave it there when
go to church" Now the man had been talking all
the way from the village, and he could not have
been counting his steps or his invisible landmarks,
| and there appeared to be nothing whatever in the


level road which could have indicated to one stone
blind the exact spot on which he stood. As onr
friend lifted out the stout cudgel, which certainly
did not look at all like church-going article he


asked him he could tell SO precisely where he was.
| iS n n he nd ma


"and that causes lull in the air, because it stops


the current; L always know when come to the
| tree.n I--


Not many months back, q traveller was riding, on
| one of the bleak and stormy nights for which the
| past year will long be remembered, over dreary


district of hill down and dale, in central Yorkshire.


lay in the teeth of the wind and tempest, which


threatened to sweep him from the road. As he


struggled on, the night grew dark and the storm


more furious. Not relishing the idea of being be-
| lated that wild spot, he set spurs to his steed


and, trusting to the animals instinct and foot


edness galloped through the darkness towards his
destination. He had reason to repent of his pre-


cipitation, for the horse dverged from the track,
and became entangled in clump of gorse and
| shrub, and he hmseswas thrown, but fortunately,
| without any serious injury. He was able to mount


again and recover the path, and proceeding more


cautiously arrived at the village inn where he in
| tended to put up about midnight. Here, on dis


mounting, he discovered that he had lost his watch
which had been severed from the ribbon that
Il
| the ground among the gorse where he had been


thrown. He grieved at the loss of valuable
tme-piece, and bemoaned his misfortune with the
landlord.


There was poor blind man sitting in the bar,
who Immediately rose and volunteered to go in
search of the missing watch. The case appeared
hopeless to the traveller, who could scarcely de-
scribe the spot where his misfortune had overtaken
him, and who deemed the attempt to recover it on
the part of a blind man as supremely ridiculous;
and, indeed, he limited as much. In spite Of this
encouragement, however, the blind man seized his
staff and set fourth in the midst of the wind ard
the pouring rain. He knew the district better than
the traveller did. He traversed the six miles of
stormy heath and mountain, and, needless Of the
driving scud, commenced his search. Having ar.
rived at the spot he set his ear to the ground and
CROPPED through the gorse in all directions; the


wind howled and the long grass whisled around
him, but amid those wild and melancholy soundshe
was able at length to identity the still small ticking


of the watch, which he recovered, placed in his
! bosom, and brought back in triumph. Here is an
exploit riyaling almost the fairy feas of Fine ear


himself; it is one however, for the truth of which
we can vouCh while it is which it is most GER
tain that none other than blind man could have
| accomplished.


| 1t is probable that, in most blind persons, that
faculty of the mind which phrenologiBts have sup


posed to be demonstrated by the organ of locality,
| must be exercised and perfected to eXtraordi-


nary degree. A blind workman, if he use a score


or more of tools, always places his hand on the
| right one when wanted and will tell in IN instant,
| and even after q considerable lapse of time,
whether his tool.box had been tampered with, or


the arrangement Of the implements altered. The


perfection of this faculty is sometimes exhibited in


blind chess players, who generally attain to re-


narkabie proficiency in the most complicated of
| all games. We have seen boys of tender age, and


who were born blind, playing this difficult game in


a mastery way, and generally checkmating their


more mature antagonists. Their sole guide is their
! sense of touch and it is astonishing to note with


what rapidity they ascertain all they want to know


by this means. BY merely laying the palm of the
hand and the tinger-tips on the pieces as they


stand, they master in moment the position of the


contending forces, aud, without being Informed of


the adyersary's plans, make the necessary dispo
| son to defeat them.


| PRESCRIPTION FOR A FASHIONABLE LADY. =
| Madam, allow me to prescribe for you. have


had long experience in the management of deli.


cate women, and believe can give you some i'm
/! porant advice. For the present, prescribe only
| for your feet: ~