riding (she was a great horsewoman), billiards, and other topics she thought would interest me, explaining the difference between their game of billiards and ours, giving me the names of the different woods the cues were made of, and conversing with me as freely as though she had been a hearing person; indeed, several times during the day, my wife forgot that she was speaking to one deaf, so accurately did this deaf young lady read everything that was said to her when she could see the speaker's face; but occasionally my wife, forgetting this, turned away, and, of course, received no answer. Yet, had she been sent to a 'French' system school, all speech would have been lost. There would have been no attempt made to keep up, or restore, the speech of a child so young; and one more would have been added to the long list of the dumb.
The next and last case of a semi-mute—well known, but which did not come under our own observation—is that of a man who went through part of the civil war in the United States as a private soldier. He spoke so well that for some time the secret of his deafness was undiscovered. One night, however, he was challenged by a sentry, and, taking no notice, was wounded. This led to discovery, and he had to leave the army. His early history is interesting and instructive, and I will give it almost in his own words as told to a friend of mine. He lost hearing through fever at five years of age, but retained his speech. His friends communicated with him by writing. One day sitting on the floor he watched his father and a neighbour talking, and when the neighbour left, he looked up and said, 'Did not Mr. say so
