dental deafness are remebered—often it is a fever that takes away hearing and leaves mind and body in an enfeebled condition. Such, however, is just as often the case with hearing children after suffering like maladies. The brain is uninjured in the vast majority of the deaf, and is exactly the same as that of hearing children.
Another very common fallacy is that the child does not speak—is dumb—on account of some malformation of the vocal organs. Now, this is so rare a case, if indeed it exist at all, that it cannot be classed as one of the causes of dumbness. Indeed, there are but two causes, so far as I know, of absolute dumbness, viz., want of brain power, and deafness. As the latter causes dumbness only on account of want of proper education, the former is the only true cause. The term 'deaf and dumb' is really an unnatural and artificial one, expressing not the action of nature under favourable circumstances, but the result of neglect.
It is not uncommon to meet with dumb persons who have their hearing perfect; their dumbness arises from defect of brain. But what I have never met with, is dumbness from deafness, except through disuse of voice. There is no such thing as a child born dumb because deaf. The born deaf are at first exactly the same as hearing children; they cry, sneeze, cough, crow, laugh, aye, and talk too, like hearing children. This may seem very startling; but startling though it be, it is true. The born deaf do talk, in their own baby language, just like hearing children of the same age, only we do not understand them. What mother understands all her hearing baby says at first? But, it will be said, 'Even if this be
