Hearing is the natural way of understanding, and it is deplorable when a person is deprived of this faculty. A moderate degree of deafness may be benefited by the use of an ear-trumpet. In the presence of total deafness, however, such an instrument is useless. Deaf persons must learn to read from the lips, just like mutes who are taught this in their youth. Plates XXI. and XXII. show clearly the position of the lips when uttering various sounds. It is of benefit to the patient to read frequently from the lips of those about him. A patient's surroundings can do much toward bringing about good results ; for the more occasion a patient has to practise lip reading, the sooner he will be able to apply this method of under standing.
If deafness exist at birth, deaf-mutism will be the inevitable consequence. Total dumbness may result also when children grow deaf at a very early age. Children who have become totally dumb from deafness, or who are congenitally deaf and dumb, had better be placed in an institution for deaf mutes. In good institutions, children•not only learn the language thoroughly by aid of the sense of touch, but their eyes become trained to read fluently from the lips. They are as well off as in a public school, being prepared for the ordinary pursuits of life, and deriving the same privileges as other members of the social body. Some discretion should, however, be exercised in their choice of a pursuit. Many callings, such as lithography, printing, clock-making, book-binding, etc., are open to deaf-mutes ; and there are many deaf and dumb persons who not only derive a good income from their work, but who show marked efficiency in their professions. If the mental faculties of a deaf and dumb child be of a high order, there are still other pursuits to choose among. Cases are known of deaf-mutes who have studied, and followed callings demanding high education. Of late, attempts have been made to study the effect of hearing exercises in congeni tal deafness. In the presence of total deafness such exercises are useless, but where there is some trace of hearing they are of more value, especially for the acquirement of correct speech.
Aphasia is a peculiar form of speech disturbance resulting from disease or injury to the speech mechanism. According to whether it affects the sensory or the motor part of the apparatus of speech, distinction is made between sensory aphasia and motor aphasia. The former condition gives rise to word-deafness or word-blindness ; while motor aphasia renders the affected person unable to give expression to his thoughts. In some forms of aphasia the patient may be able to speak and hear perfectly normally, but be incapable of comprehending spoken sounds. Still another form is char
acterised by inability to interpret written characters, although the patient's sense of sight is otherwise unaffected. The treatment of aphasia must be directed toward the causative factor, which may be cerebral haemorrhage, brain tumours, or some form of mental disease.
Amnesia, or morbid forgetfulness, may be mentioned in this article, as being a rather frequent cause of halting or stuttering speech. It may be caused by great excitement, by exhaustion following sexual excesses. by severe and prolonged headache, or by febrile diseases. Verbal amnesia is a special form, which causes the patient to forget the meaning of Nvords, so that he selects wrong terms in his speech, or fails to understand what is said to him. Amnesia is a frequent accompaniment of old age ; and it exists as a transient symptom in many cases of acute drunkenness, and as a more or less permanent condition in habitual drunkards. The cause must be treated in order to remove the symptom.
Apraxia is a very serious, but fortunately rare condition. The indi vidual affected by this disease loses all power of communicating his thoughts, by words as well as by signs. and forgets the use of even the most common objects. He may attempt to get his legs into his coat-sleeves, believing them to be trousers ; he may use his tea or coffee for his ablutions ; and make other equally radical mistakes.
SPERMATORRHCEA.—See SEMINAL LOSSES.
SPICES.—It is •a peculiarity of the most important animal foods that they have but little flavour and taste. Since, for this reason, they exert hut an insufficient stimulation upon the body, it is necessary, by the addition of spices, to supply what Nature has denied them. Spices belong to the great group of food stimulants which are distinguished from the foodstuffs According to this criterion, vinegar and common salt may also be classified as spices, and likewise various artificial preparations, such as meat extract, etc. All these substances are to answer the twofold purpose of promoting the appetite by acting as stimulants upon the organs of smell and taste, and of stimulating the digestive organs to a thorough digestion by the secre tion of sufficient digestive juices. Common salt has still another purpose— namely, to preserve the normal amount of salt in the human body, 6o per cent. of which is an o'S per cent. solution of common salt. This substance, therefore, is justly considered a true food also ; but in cooking it should, nevertheless, be employed only to a moderate degree, as an abundant use of it may have serious disadvantages. Animal foods, as a rule, require a smaller addition of salt than do vegetable foods.