Advice to the deaf. The present state of aural surgery; with new modes of curing diseases of the ear, and remarks on the causes and prevention of deafness and on ear trumpets, cornets, etc / [John Harrison Curtis].

  • Curtis, John Harrison, 1778-approximately 1860
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Advice to the deaf. The present state of aural surgery; with new modes of curing diseases of the ear, and remarks on the causes and prevention of deafness and on ear trumpets, cornets, etc / [John Harrison Curtis]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    63/84 (page 51)
    'Iren, and I found that many of the most healthy coidd hear a little. Since that time, I have received letters from Dr. Bohni and M. Saegert, approving of my plan of treatment, and ex- pressing their intention to make trial of it in their institution. In the asylums at Vienna, Hamburg, and Leipsic*, also, 1 found several children who could hear ; and, I have no doubt, that there are many children in British asylums who can hear, and who might, by proper means, be restored to the full enjoyment of the sense of hearing and speech. So long ago as 1817, I addressed a letter to the Committee and Governors of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, proposing that an aurist by profession should be appointed to inspect all infants previous to their admission into that institution ; and that where no structural defect was discovered, the appropriate measures for * At the latter place I was permitted to examine the children, both boys and girls; and Mr. Reich has kindly forwarded to me the following parti- culars of their cases:— “ In der Taubstumen-Anstalt zu Leipzig befinden sich gegenwartig 37 Zoglinge mannlichen Gesclilects, 19 weiblichen. Unter ihnen haben noch etwas Sprachgehor, 3 Knaben, 2 Madchen; etwas Schallgehor, 7 Knaben, 4 Madchen. Nicht taubgeboren waren 15 mannliche Zoglinge, 7 weibliche. Die Zahl der Taubgebornen iibertrift um einige wenige die Zahl der Taubgewor- denen. Es sind aber noch 11 Kinder in der Anstalt, bei denen es ungewiss ist ob sie nicht auch mit Gehcir geboren, aber in der ersten Entwickelungspe- riode, in Folge vernachlassigter Pflege des Gehors verlustig worden sind. Die Ursache der enstandenen Taubheit ist grostentheils das Scharlachfieber. “ M. C. G. Reich, Dir. u. Ritter, dem Herrn H. Curtis, Esquire, sich hochachtungsvoll empfehlend.” Leipzig, Sept. 12, 1840. TRANSLATION. “ In the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at Leipzic, there are at present 56 pupils—37 boys, and 19 girls: of these, 3 boys and 2 girls can hear words a little; 7 boys and 4 girls hear something of sounds. Of the male pupils 15 were not born deaf, and of the female 7. The number of those born deaf a little exceeds that of those who became deaf. There are now in the Insti- tution 11 children, respecting whom it is uncertain whether or not they were born with the faculty of hearing, and have lost it in the first stage of de- velopment in consequence of neglect. The most frequent cause of deafness is scarlet fever.* “ M. C. G. Reich, Director and Knight, to J. H, Curtis, Esq., with best respect.” * A variety of curious causes may be found in the works of French authors, and also in my Essay on the Deaf and Dumb.