Ile „Ails' ed an account of the method he employed un his occasion, in 1692, entitled, Surdus Loquens. But after having occupicti himself occas,onally, as it would seem, in this species of education, for several }ears, durni,.• his residence as a physician at Amsterdam, he published this essay under au enlarged form in 1700, en titling it Dissertatia de Loquela. In this Dissertation he treats, not only of the means by which the Deaf and Dumb may be taught to speak, but of Voice and Speech in general, and of the nature and treatment of certain impediments or imperfections of Speech. The treatise is inferior, we think, in all its branches, to the writings of Wallis on the same subjects, but superior to the work of Holder. The author does not seem to have been aware when he composed it, that so much had been written before him relative to the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. lie only became acquainted with what Wal lis had done in this department, when his Dissertation was printing.
Alter this period, the number of teachers of the Deaf and Dumb seems to have increased very rapidly on the continent.
In 1749, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, re port very favourably, of the exertions of a M. Pereire, who seems to have been employed for some time pre viously, in educating the Deaf and Dumb in that city.
They state, that M. Pereire had presented to the Aca demy, two young persons born Deaf and Dumb, whom he had instructed to understand whatever was addressed to them, either in writing or by signs, and to reply either in writing, or vivd voce; that they read and pronounced all sorts of expressions in French; that they were ac quainted with Grammar and Arithmetic; and knew a little of Geography : That Pereire, in addressing his pupils, employed either Writing, or a Manual Alpha bet; but that he hoped to teach them, in time, to com prehend what was said to them, merely by the motions of the lips: That the progress of his pupils skewed the goodness of his Method of Instruction, which, however, he kept a secret ; and that the Academy conceived they could not too much encourage M. Pereire to cultivate so useful an art. (See Hist.de Roy. des Sciences, 1749, 8vo. p.269.) It does not appear that Pereire ever published a syste matic account of his mode of Instruction. But De l'Ep€e asserts (with what truth we know not) that he had profited by the labours of Wallis, and Bonnet, and Amman. (p. 277. of Work quoted at p. G.) A Nvell written memoir of his, however, will be found in the 5th volume of the Memoires Presentee a l'sicadimie Royale, (4to, Paris 1768,) in reply to one inserted in the same volume by M. Ernauld. In this memoir, besides vindicating his claim to the discovery of a very curious fact relative to the Deaf and Dumb, namely, that they may be taught to distinguish sounds to a certain extent, merely by the impressions produced on their skin by the breath of the person speaking, Pereire points out several very important distinctions in the degree of Deafness, with which different Deaf-mutes are affected.
M. Ernauld, who called forth this Memoir from Pe reire, undertook the education of two Deaf-mutes at Bordeaux in 1756, and the following year they appear to have been presented to the Royal Academy of Sciences. But there is every reason to suspect, that he had derived hints of the method he pursued from Pereire, and that he acted uncandidly towards this person. The Memoir, besides some general observations, contains an account of his successful progress with a third pupil.
From the report of the Royal Academy, it would ap pear that, prior to Pereire's lessons, Emmanuel Ramit es, Pierre de Castro, and Father Vanin, had been employed in teaching the Deaf and Dumb in Paris; and Ernauld mentions, in 1768, that Russet, Professor of Theology at Lausanne, and Rousset, residing near Nimes, had then devoted themselves to this occupation. None of these individuals, however, seem to have communicated either their methods, or the results of their exertions, to the public.
No person, perhaps, has ever conducted the educa tion of the Deaf and Dumb, in all its branches, with more distinguished success, than Mr Thomas Braidwood. Mr Braidwood was the first person who kept a regular aca demy, for this purpose, in Great Britain. He entered on the profession, with a single pupil, at Edinburgh, in 1764; but the number of his scholars increased with his reputation, and he continued teaching a large school, for many years, in this city, and afterwards at Hackney, near London, until his death in 1806. Innumerable testi monies might be produced as to the great proficiency of his scholars ; but we shall content ourselves with selecting one or two sentences from Dr Johnson on this subject, who visited Mr Braidwood's academy, while in Edinburgh, on his return from the Western Isles, in 1773.
There is one subject of philosophical curiosity," says he, " to be found in Edinburgh, which no other city has to show; a college of the Deaf and Dumb, who are tau got to speak, to read, to write, and to practise arithmetic, by a gentleman whose name is Braidwood. The number which attends him, is, I think, about twelve, which he brings together into a little school, and instructs according to their several degrees of profi ciency." —This school 1 visited, and found some of the.scho lars waiting for their master, whom they are said to receive at his entrance with smiling countenances and sparkling eyes, delighted with the hope of new ideas." improvement of Mr Braidwood's pupils is wonderful. They not only speak, write, and understand what is written, but if he that speaks looks towards them, and modifies his organs by distinct and full ut terance, they know so well what is spoken, that it is an expression scarcely figurative to say they hear with the eye." He afterwards adds, in his characteristic manner : " It was pleasing to see one of the most desperate of human calamities capable of so much help : whatever enlarges hope, will exalt courage; after having seen the Deaf taught arithmetic, who would be afraid to cultivate the Hebrides?" (Journey to the Western Isles.) It is said that Mr Braidwood was restrained from lay ing his system before the public, solely by a persuasion that he could not explain it in words with sufficient pre cision to enable any one to act upon it. But we fortu nately possess the means of appreciating its merits fully, in the work of his relation and able assistant Dr 'Watson; who, it is generally understood, teaches according to the principles of his master. That work, to which we have already referred so frequently, is, without any exception, the best that has yet appeared relative to the education of the Deaf and Dumb. How far Mr Braidwood was acquainted with the writings of Wallis we know not ; but his gene' al views are the same. Dr Watson seems to have methodised and improved the systems of both.