Popular Education / For the use of Parents and Teachers, and for Young Persons of Both Sexes

by Ira Mayhew

Oliver Caswell.—Had I not devoted so much space to this subject already, it would be interesting to consider the case of Oliver, who, like Laura, is deaf, dumb, and blind. His experience is full of interest, though less striking than that already presented. His progress in learning language, and in acquiring intellectual knowledge, is comparatively slow, because he has not that fineness of fiber and that activity of temperament which enable Laura to struggle so successfully against the immense disadvantages under which they both labor. Oliver is a boy of rather unfavorable organization; he had been deaf and blind from infancy; he received no instruction until he was twelve years old, and consequently lost the most precious years for learning; he has nevertheless been taught to express his thoughts both by the finger language and by writing; he has also become acquainted with the rudiments of the common branches of education, and is intelligent and morally responsible. His case proves, therefore, very clearly, that the success of the attempt made to instruct Laura Bridgman was not owing solely to her uncommon capacity.

Oliver's natural ability is small, and his acquired knowledge very limited; but his sense of right and wrong, his obedience to moral obligations, and his attachment to friends, are very remarkable.[24] He never willfully violates the rights or injures the feelings of others, and seldom shows any signs of temper when his own seem to be invaded. He even bears the teasing of little boys with gentleness and patience. He is very tractable, and always obeys respectfully the requests of his teacher. This shows the effect which kind and gentle treatment has had upon his character, for when he first went to the institution in Boston he was sometimes very willful, and showed occasional outbursts of temper which were fearfully violent. "It seems hardly possible," says Dr. Howe, "that the gentle and affectionate youth, who loves all the household and is beloved by all in return, should be the same who a few years ago scratched and bit, like a young savage, those who attempted to control him."

We regard it as a fact fully established that the sense of touch may be cultivated to a much greater extent than most persons are aware of. The same remark will apply to the cultivation of all the senses. We shall consider them separately.

The Sense of Touch.—The remarks already made apply chiefly to this sense. The nerves that supply it proceed from the anterior half of the spinal cord. This sense is most delicate where there are the greatest number of nervous filaments, and those of the largest size. The hands, and especially the fingers, have a most delicate and nice sense of touch, though the sense is extended over the whole body, in every part of which it is less or more acute. In this respect, then, this sense is unlike the others, which are confined to small spaces, as we shall see when we come to consider them. The action of the sensitive nerves depends upon the state of the brain, and the condition of the system generally. In sound and perfect sleep, when the brain is inactive, ordinary impressions made upon the skin are unobserved. Fear and grief diminish the impressibility of this tissue, while hope and joy increase it. The quantity and quality of the blood also influence sensation. If this vital fluid becomes impure, or its quantity is diminished, the sensibility of the skin will be impaired thereby. Whatever affects the general health affects the healthy action of this sense. It is also much affected by sudden changes in temperature. If the skin is wounded while under the influence of cold, the pain will be slight. By carrying this chilling influence too far, the surface becomes entirely destitute of sensation. This is produced by the contraction of the blood-vessels upon the surface. On the contrary, when the chilled extremities are suddenly exposed to heat, the rapid enlargement of the contracted blood-vessels excites the nerves unduly, which causes the pain experienced on such occasions.

The sensibility of the nerves depends much upon the habits of persons. Suppose two boys go out to play when the thermometer stands at the freezing point, and that one of them has been accustomed to exercise in the open air, and to practice daily ablution, while the other one has been confined most of the time to a warm room, and has been accustomed to wash only his hands and face. The skin of the former, other things being equal, will be active and healthy, while that of the latter will be enfeebled and diseased. The organs of touch diffused over the body at the surface will be very differently affected in these two boys, and the perceptions of their minds will be alike dissimilar. One will be roused to action, and will feel just right for some animating game. Both body and mind will be elastic and joyous. He will bound like the roe, make the welkin ring with his merry shout, and return to the bosom of his family with a gladdened heart, ready to impart and receive pleasure, while the other boy will be too keenly affected by the contact of the air, and think it too cold to stay out of doors. He will thrust his hands into his pockets, and curl himself up like one decrepit with age. His teeth will chatter and his whole frame tremble. Of course, very different reflections will be awakened in his mind. He will hurry back to the fireside, thinking winter a very dismal season, and will be apt to fret himself and all about him, because of the confinement from which he has not the resolution to break out.

The sensibility of the cutaneous nerves in these two cases depends upon the habits of the persons. If the latter would practice frequent ablutions, and excite a healthy action in the skin by friction and exercise, and conform to other laws of health, he would experience all that gladness of heart, and elasticity of body and mind, which the other is supposed to enjoy. Hence the advantages resulting from a strict conformity to the laws of health in this particular as well as in others that are generally regarded as more important.

The general law that the exercise of a faculty increases its power is applicable to the senses. We have referred to the blind, who read as rapidly as seeing persons by passing their fingers over raised letters, the sense of touch being substituted by them for that of vision. Nor is the education of this sense useful to the blind merely. It may frequently be appealed to with great advantage by all who have cultivated it. The miller, for example, can judge more accurately of the quality of flour and meal, by passing some between his fingers than by the exercise of vision. The cloth-dresser, also, by the aid of this sense, not only marks the nicest shades of texture in examining cloths of different qualities, but in many instances learns to distinguish colors by the sense of touch with perhaps greater accuracy than is common with seeing persons.

The Sense of Taste.—The sense of taste bears the greatest resemblance to the sense of feeling. The upper surface of the tongue is the principal agent in tasting, though the lips, the palate, and the internal surface of the cheeks participate in this function, as does the upper part of the œsophagus. The multitude of points called papillæ, scattered over the upper surface of the tongue, constitute the more immediate seat of this sense. It is in these sensitive papillæ that the ramifications of the gustatory or tasting nerves terminate. When fluids are taken into the mouth, and especially those whose taste is pungent, these papillæ dilate and erect themselves, and the particular sensation produced is transmitted to the brain through the medium of the minute filaments of the gustatory nerves.

In order fully to gratify the taste in eating dry, solid food, it is necessary that the food be first reduced to a liquid state, or, at least, that it be thoroughly moistened. Nature has made full provision for this in furnishing the mouth with salivary glands, whose secretions are most abundant when engaged in masticating dry, hard substances. These quickened secretions contribute to gratify the taste and increase the pleasure of eating, and, at the same time, materially aid in the important processes of mastication and digestion. Nature, also, with her accustomed bounty, has furnished man with a great variety of articles for food. By this means the various tastes of different persons may be gratified, although, in many instances, those articles of food which are most agreeable to some persons are extremely disagreeable to others.

Many persons can not eat the most nourishing food, as fruits, butter, etc., because to them the taste of these articles is disagreeable. But this is very easily accounted for, as in the mouth the food mixes with various fluids that differ in different persons, and in the same person at different times. These fluids, and particularly the saliva, assist in the formation and change of taste. This accounts not only for the different tastes of different persons, but also for the varying taste of the same persons, and for that fickleness of taste which is so common in sickness, when the fluids of the mouth, in a disordered and deranged state, mix with the food, and produce the disagreeable taste so often complained of at such times, and which, moreover, occasionally create a permanent dislike for food that was previously much relished.