FOOTNOTES:
[546] In America the one-hand alphabet is used practically altogether, which is also the case with most of the countries of Europe. In England the double-hand is employed mainly. Finger-spelling, as well as sign-making, is very old with the human race. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans are said to have made use of a system of finger notation. In the Middle Ages monks in their enforced silence often resorted to a finger alphabet. Dalgarno, one of the early English writers on the deaf, had an alphabet in which the letters were represented by parts of the hand. See J. C. Gordon, "Practical Hints to Parents concerning the Preliminary Training of Young Deaf Children", 1886, p. 34ff.; W. R. Cullingworth, "A Brief Review of the Manual Alphabet for the Deaf", 1902.
[547] For a description of the sign language, see J. S. Long, "The Sign Language: a Manual of Signs", 1910. See also American Journal of Science, viii., 1824, p. 348; Annals, i., 1847, pp. 55, 79; v., 1852, pp. 83, 149; vii., 1855, p. 197; xvi., 1871, p. 221; xviii., 1873, p. 1; xxxii., 1887, p. 141; lvii., 1911, p. 46; Proceedings of American Instructors, ii., 1851, p. 193; iv., 1857, p. 133; vii., 1870, p. 133; xii., 1890, pp. 100, 171; Report of New York Institution, 1838, p. 14; 1840, p. 17; American School, 1856, p. 18; California School, 1875, p. 24. See also "The Deaf: by their Fruits," by the New York Institution, 1912.
[548] Against the arguments to abolish the sign language, it is claimed that signs are free, and are as natural to the deaf as spoken words to the hearing; that with certain of the deaf, especially the congenitally deaf, they are all but indispensable; that they cause mental stimulation as cannot otherwise be done; that the acquisition of speech requires a great amount of time, which is often needed for other things; that the voices of many of the deaf are disagreeable and attract notice; that communication readily and with pleasure among the deaf by speech and speech-reading cannot be accomplished to any wide extent; that only with the gifted few, and not with the general body of the deaf, can such proficiency in the use of speech and speech-reading be attained as to cause them to be "restored to society", in that they can with ease and with any considerable degree of satisfaction carry on intercourse with the hearing; and that, finally, the great majority of the deaf vigorously demand the retention of the sign language.
[549] The New York Institution, by a resolution adopted at the first meeting of its board of directors in 1818, decided for the employment of articulation teaching, which policy was continued for some ten years. Report, 1908, p. 30; E. H. Currier, "History of Articulation Teaching in the New York Institution", 1894 (Proceedings of American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, iv., sec. 12); American Journal of Education, iii., 1828, p. 397.
[550] In addition, there have always been sporadic instances of private instruction in speech, as by one's family or friends.
[551] It is also claimed that it was by accident that the sign method came into vogue in America, Gallaudet in his trip to Europe having found the London and Edinburgh schools closed to him, and having for this reason been compelled to turn to France, where the sign method was in use.
[552] It is interesting to note that after Mann and Howe had made their report, the American School at Hartford and the New York Institution sent special representatives to Europe to investigate, these advising little change on the whole. See Report of American School, 1845, p. 25; New York Institution, 1844, p. 62; 1851, p. 83.
[553] See "Life and Works of Horace Mann", 1891, iii., p. 245; "Life and Journals of Samuel G. Howe", 1909, p. 169; Report of Board of Charities of Massachusetts, 1867, p. lxxii.; 1868, p. lx.; Report of Special Joint Committee of the Legislature on Education of Deaf-Mutes, Massachusetts, 1867; North American Review, lix., 1844, p. 329; civ., 1867, p. 528; American Review, iii., 1846, p. 497; Common School Journal (Boston), vi., 1844, p. 65; Nation, iv., 1867, pp. 249, 339; Report of New York Institution for Improved Instruction, 1868, p. 5; 1870, p. 10; American School, 1849, p. 33; 1866, p. 18; 1867, p. 29; 1868, p. 16; Clarke School, 1875, p. 5; Addresses at 25th Anniversary of Clarke School, 1892; Report of Committee of School for Deaf-Mutes (Horace Mann), 1873, p. 3; 1891, p. 8; Annals, xxi., 1876, p. 178; Lend a Hand, xiii., 1894, p. 346; International Review, xi., 1881, p. 503; G. G. Hubbard, "Education of Deaf Mutes", 1867, and "Rise of Oral Method" (in collected writings, 1898); A. G. Bell, "The Mystic Oral School: Argument in its Favor", 1897, and "Fallacies concerning the Deaf", 1883; Boston Parents' Education Association, "Offering in behalf of the Deaf", 1903; Fred Deland, "Dumb No Longer: the Romance of the Telephone", 1903; Educational Review, xii., 1896, p. 236; Century Magazine, xxxi., 1897, p. 331; American Educational Review, xxxi., 1910, pp. 219, 281, 415; Proceedings of American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, i., 1891, p. 89; Volta Review, xiv., 1912, p. 579 (Proceedings of same); Evidence before Royal Commission on the Deaf, etc., 1892, i., p. 6; ii., p. 3; iii., p. 208.
[554] In many of the day school laws the use of the oral method is required, which is also partly the case in several state institutions.
[555] These statistics are taken from the Special Reports of the Census Office, 1906, p. 86, and the January issues of the Annals. See also Volta Review, xv., 1913, p. 90; Proceedings of American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (Condition of Articulation Teaching in American Institutions), ii., 1892; Report of Committee of Horace Mann School, Massachusetts, 1891, p. 8ff.; 1895 (Proceedings of 25th Anniversary).
[556] The greatest usefulness of this speech is often found in one's own family circle, or with immediate friends.
[557] Jan., 1914, lix., p. 41.
[558] The choice of methods for pupils may often depend on their classification, as noted before, into deaf-mutes, that is, those who have never been able to hear; semi-mutes, those who have been able to hear and speak, and retain their speech to some extent; and semi-deaf, those able to hear a little.
[559] For accounts of possible correspondence or extension courses for the deaf outside the schools, see Report of California Institution, 1904, p. 18.
[560] From Annals, Jan., 1914, (lix., p. 23). For a few schools the figures refer to the number present on November 10, 1913. The total number on this date was 13,450. The Volta Review for May, 1913 (xv., p. 99), gives the total number present on March 1, 1913, as 13,143. The Report of the United States Commissioner of Education gives the number for 1911-1912 as 13,690: in institutions, 11,244; in day schools, 1,928, and in denominational and private schools, 518. The total number of volumes in the libraries of the institutions was reported to be 132,461. For tables respecting the schools, see [Appendix B].
[561] Normal departments for the training of hearing teachers of the deaf are maintained at Gallaudet College and the Clarke School, the latter having a special fund, largely contributed by the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. Several of the institutions also have training classes, and there are normal departments in connection with the Chicago and Milwaukee day schools. On the subject of pensions for teachers of the deaf, see Annals, xxix., 1884, p. 304; Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, xviii., 1908, p. 146; Report of California School, 1912, p. 12.
[562] Report, 1912, ii., ch. xiii.
[563] It is hardly necessary to state that physical education is provided for in the schools for the deaf quite as fully as in the regular schools.
[564] The first school to give industrial training was the American School at Hartford, this being begun in 1822. See History, 1893, p. 15; Report of New Hampshire Board of Charities, 1908, p. 184.
[565] On this industrial training, see Craftsman, xiii., 1908, p. 400.
[566] ii., ch. xiii.
[567] Annals, Jan., 1914 (lix., p. 23).
[568] Ibid., p. 42.
[569] In some of the schools, as we find from the reports, the value of the products of the farms and gardens may amount to a tidy sum, as may also be the case with the trade schools.