BLIND. 175 BLIND. articles in common use, such as spoons, forks, and keys, labels were pasted, containing their names printed in raised letters. Laura felt of these carefully, and soon distinj.'uished the dilfcr- ence between the crooked lines — s p o o n and key. Then small detached labels containing the same names were <:iven to her, and the child, observing their similarity, laid these on the arti- cles thus designated. The same process was re- peated with all the articles she could handle. After a time the labels were cut up into their component letters and these were arranged side by side. They were then mixed in a heap, and a sign was made to her to arrange them herself. The meaning of these exercises now dawned upon her mind, and the important step was taken. Laura's education was continued imtil she was twenty. She learned to converse fluently in the manual alphabet, to read easily, and to write well and correctly. She studied arithmetic, algebra, geography, history, and elementary physiology. She was an expert needlewoman, could sew on the sewing-machine, and knit fine lace. With Oliver Caswell and other blind deaf- mutes, Dr. Howe began first with the manual alphabet, instead of with printed labels. The Perkins institution has maintained as a specialty the teaching of blind deaf-mutes, Helen Keller having begun her education under the direction of this school. The separation of the sexes was early insisted upon by Dr. Howe, on the ground that while marriage between defectives is always unfortu- nate, it is especially so in the case of a class so helpless as the blind. In 1868-09 the cottage or family system was introduced, the State of Massachusetts appropriating nearly $100,000 for cottages for the girls. Tiie Kindergarten for the Blind, an offshoot of the parent institution, was founded in 1887 by Michael Anagnos. the son-in-law and suc- cessor of Dr. Howe, who has continued the policy of the latter, and has greatly enlarged the work of the institution. An opportunity is thus af- forded for a continuous education from the earli- est stage to the gates of the college, where it is thought more desirable to have the blind mingle with the seeing than to remain segregated as a class apart. The work of educating the adult blind in their o«Ti homes was begun in ^Massachusetts in IIJOO, the Legislature appropriating a sum of money to be expended by the Perkins Institution in this way. Several teachers were employed, and the enterprise proved so successful that the State increased its appropriation the following year. Instruction is given in reading and in several branches of handicraft, suited to the .sex and the physical condition of each person. The in- stitution places at the disposal of these out- door pupils, free of all charge, its large library of books in embossed tj-pc of four different kinds. In this maimer an attempt is made to solve the problem of educating, clieering, and rendering in a measure self-supporting and independent those who become blind after the period of childliood and youth has passed. The first thought and purpose of building up special institutions for the instruction of the blind seem to have occurred to benevolent per- sons in Xew England, New York, and Pennsyl- vania almost simultaneously, but without con- cert. The New York Institution for the Blind was incorporated April 22, 1831, througn the eflorts of Dr. Samuel Akerlv and !Mr. Samuel Wood. On March 1.5, 1832, "Dr. John D. Kuss began the education of three pupils, and although he resigned his position in 1830, he continued to manifest much interest in the improvement of educational appliances for the blind. The progress of the school was for some years retarded by the want of an efficient head to direct its affairs. In 1845 Mr. James F. Chamberlain was elected superintendent, and the institution entered upon an era of prosperity and advance- ment which has continued to this day. The ex- cellent Pennsylvania Institution, which has grown to be among the foremost of the world, was founded in Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. RolK'rt Vaux had for some years urged the necessity of making such a pro- vision for the education of the blind. Julius R. Friedlander, the first principal, had had experi- ence in European institutions for the blind, and came to Philadelphia in the hope of establishing a school for their benefit. He organized the school with great care and deliberation, gave ex- hibitions of the attainments of his pupils before the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Xew Jersey, and obtained appropriations for the support of beneficiaries from each of these States, and later from Maryland. The Ohio School for the Blind was established at Columbus in 1837. The Virginia school opened at Richmond in 1838, and that of Kentucky at Louisville in 1842. In inOO there were 37 institutions in the United States, with 393 instructors and 3665 pupils, of whom 417 were in kindergartens, 1738 received instruction in vocal music, 1797 in instrumental music, and 1924 were in the industrial depart- ments. The libraries contained 100,000 volumes. The value of buildings and grounds was $6,500,- 000, and the annual expenditure was over $1,000,000. In Europe, 5Ir. Anthony Buckle, superintend- ent of the Yorkshire school, who died in 1900, did much for the elevation of the blind in the indus- trial and moral .scale, as well as for their intel- lectual and spiritual enliglitenment. The Ecole Brnille, situated at Saint Mande. one of the suburbs of Paris, is administered with vigor and efficiency by Monsieur A. Pephau. It is under the control of the municipal authorities and entirely supported by the city. The Institution 7<atioiiale of Paris, the school founded by Haiiy, is liberally supported by the State, and its pupils, selected from a large number of appli- cants residing in all the districts of France, are, as a rule, superior in intelligence to those of other European ami of American schools. The institu- tions for the blind of tiermany do not differ from those of France in any of the fundamental prin- ciples upon which the work is conducted. They employ a class of instructors superior to those of any other coimtry. Few of the teachers are blind," and most of them are graduates of the German universities. The Imperial institution for the blind in Vienna now occupies a fine build- ing, situated near the Prater, and well calculated to meet all demands for the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual development of its inmates, in addition to a commodious and well-equipped gyninasitnn, excellent .school and music rooms, and a printing-olTicc with the necessary tools and machinery, it contains a museum, which is the best of its kind in Europe, in arrangement, classi-
