Facts and opinions relating to the deaf from America.

Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Facts and opinions relating to the deaf from America. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    48/212 (page 36)
    and the daily papers. Clay modelling continued and wood- carving begun. 'Mary McCowen.' •New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Station M., ' New York City: February 17, 1887. ' My dear Mr. Bell,—In reply to your communications of February 10 and 12, I would state that the work of developing the latent hearing of such pupils as we find, upon careful exami- nation, possess any appreciation of sound, has been carried on in this institution for nearly two years with the most gratifying as well as the most convincing results. ' That the hearing power is increased I will not claim, but it is certain that voice sounds are more readily recognised and in- terpreted after a systematic course of aural training, and there- fore, for practical purposes, it may not seem incorrect to assert that the hearing power is made available, if not increased, to such an extent, that many sounds which, before instruction was given, passed unnoticed, become readily appreciated and in- terpreted by the hitherto dormant ear. ' About seventeen per cent, of our pupils have the ability to comprehend sounds to a degree suflBcient to warrant the training of the auditory apparatus to perform, with instrumental aid, the functions which belong to the organ of hearing in its normal condition. ' Experiments with the various phones, trumpets, and tubes led to the perfecting of my conico-cylindrical tube, for which, from the testimony of teachers using it, as well as from my own observation, I feel justified in claiming that it is the most powerful conductor of voice sounds yet devised, and it has this superiority over any of the wholly metallic trumpets—in its use none of the unpleasant roarings are perceived. Besides, being flexible, it is easily carried. My duplex ear-piece with two conico-cylindrical tubes attached thereto gives, in many in- stances, a most perfect bridge across the chasm between hearing