when the pupils, one hundred and twenty in number, were assembled in the chapel to receive familiar religious instruction from the catechist.

In this exercise, as at Vienna, signs were freely used, and their indispensability in this branch of instruction was admitted by Mr. Kolatko and the catechist. The pupils were, however, taught to repeat the creed and the Lord's prayer orally. This last I heard recited in concert by the children in a manner that was by no means unpleasant to the ear.

By invitation of the director I addressed the pupils in the sign language, and succeeded in making them understand me without difficulty.

Desiring to make an experiment as to the proportion of this deaf assemblage that would understand me in a simple oral utterance, I said slowly in German, "My mother is deaf and dumb." A murmur of interest arose from many pupils, and I judged that from one-third to one-half of those before me gathered the import of what I said; those who did, repeated my remark to the others in signs so quickly, however, that I cannot undertake to be very certain in my estimate of the number who actually caught my meaning at first hand.

On leaving the chapel I examined the school-rooms and gathered much which will serve to assist me in forming the conclusions I am required to make, but which, as it adds nothing new to what I have already laid before you, I will not take time to describe.

In the course of conversation on the general subjects of our profession, Mr. Kolatko said that not quite one-half of the mass of the deaf and dumb succeeded in articulation, and that he was not inclined to press it after finding that the pupil did poorly, satisfying himself with teaching the use of written language, the principles of morality and religion, and some useful handicraft.

THE INSTITUTION AT BERLIN, PRUSSIA.

The success of the combined system is most happily illustrated in this institution; signs and the manual alphabet being freely used while the teaching of "articulation is not unduly exalted.

A boy born deaf displayed uncommon facility in speaking and lip-reading, understanding me most readily and having a voice of uncommon cadence in one to whom the world of sound is absolutely a terra incognita. The general ability of the pupils in articulation was quite equal to that displayed in schools where signs are admitted only under protest.

Mr. Reimer, the director, who has been connected with the institution for forty-four years, told me that religious instruction was given in signs, and that he made constant use of them in his daily communications with a majority of the pupils.

That in an institution founded by a son-in-law and disciple of Heinicke, such views should now govern and be frankly avowed, will be a matter for congratu lation among those who have at heart a unity of system among all schools for the deaf and dumb.

THE INSTITUTIONS AT MILAN, ITALY.

No less than four schools for the deaf and dumb, embracing one hundred and seventy-one pupils, are found in the beautiful capital of Lombardy. Two of these are but departments of one organization, founded in 1855, “dell' Instituto dei Sordo-muti poveri di Campagna della Provincia di Milano,” located in widely separated portions of the city, the one for boys and the other for girls, there being sixty pupils in each. The director is Cav. Sac. Guilio Tarra, to whose earnest and intelligent efforts the rapid growth and flourishing condition of this institution are mainly owing.*

A number of useful class-books have been prepared by Signor Tarra, also several valuable pamphlets designed to awaken an interest in deaf-mutes, copies of all of which he kindly furnished me.

The French alphabet and signs are made the basis of instruction in this institution, and a course of study extending over a period of six years, involving all, that is usually embraced in a corresponding period by the American schools, is afforded all the pupils. In addition to this, articulation is attempted with all effort in this branch, being suspended, however, as at Paris and Brussels, with those pupils who plainly lack the ability to succeed.

I spent many hours, with the assistance of a competent interpreter, in a critical examination of the pupils of this institution.

The standard of intellectual attainments at given points in the course compared favorably with that in the best institutions I have seen on either side of the Atlantic, while to about one-third of the pupils, including several deaf from birth, had been imparted a considerable degree of facility in oral speech and lipreading.

Signor Tarra expressed the opinion that the proportion of deaf-mutes capable of deriving substantial advantage from studies in articulation would seldom be found greater than thirty per cent., and this would include the semi-mute and the semi-deaf. He was, however, decided in placing a high value to these of the acquisition of speech, and considered that the labor necessary on the part of teacher and pupil to success was amply rewarded by the results secured.

The royal institution for deaf-mutes at Milan, founded in 1805, was in 1863, by the Italian government, erected into a normal school, having as its object the training of speaking young men and women in the art of instructing the deaf and dumb with a view of supplying competent teachers for vacancies occurring in the existing schools of the country, and also to prepare for effective labor in behalf of the deaf and dumb any desiring to undertake the establishment of new institutions.

In connection with this higher department, and necessary to its successful operation, is a model primary school for deaf-mutes, of forty pupils, in which the methods of instruction are substantially the same as in the schools of Signor Tarra; signs and dactylology, with articulation, being combined practically in the same proportions in both institutions.

In Italy, where a great work is still to be accomplished before education will be within reach of all deaf-mutes susceptible of instruction, the importance of this normal school can hardly be overestimated. As an evidence likewise of the humane character of the government, a proof of an enlightened public sentiment, and a growing spirit of nationality in reunited Italy, the act of assembly and royal decree providing for the organization and support of this institution must challenge the admiration of the world.

The annual appropriation of the government is sixty-five thousand francs, ($13,000) and the last year eight young men and twenty-one young women received instruction in the normal department.

The effect on the local institutions of the country in securing harmony of method, as new institutions are formed and the graduates of the normal school find their way into the old establishments, will be most salutary, and the example of Italy might well be followed by nations who have been accustomed to deem themselves far in advance of her in works of philanthropy and education.

The fourth school for deaf-mutes I visited is, more properly speaking, a class of twelve girls in a large educational establishment conducted by sisters of a religious order. These children are from wealthy families who prefer to have them educated thus, rather than to place them in institutions exclusively for deaf-mutes.

The methods of instruction so closely resemble those already described, and the success attained so nearly corresponds with that exhibited in the other schools in Milan, that I will not occupy time in describing what I saw and heard in this establishment.

THE INSTITUTION AT GENOA, ITALY.

My visit to this institution happened to be on a fête day; and I was therefore unable to see the schools in actual operation.

The pupils were, however, assembled and a few pleasing and creditable exercises were engaged in, but not sufficiently extended to serve as an index of their intellectual attainments.

Articulation is taught to a limited extent in this institution, being made of less importance, I judged, than in the Milan schools.

The venerable director, Signor Boselli, may be regarded as the patriarch of his profession in Italy, having been fifty-four years engaged in teaching deafmutes. He has published valuable works on the deaf and dumb, and kindly presented me with a volume he had just issued giving the history of his institution and involving much interesting information relative to the work of deafmute instruction in Italy. This book was printed by the pupils in the institu tion and is a handsome specimen of typography.

THE INSTITUTION AT TURIN, ITALY.

Here, as in the other Italian schools I visited, articulation is accorded a place in the course of instruction. It is not, however, attempted with all.

The director, Cav. Don Benedetto Conte, expressed the opinion that not more than oue-fourth of the whole number of deaf-mutes could derive any practical advantage from articulation, which, however, was taught in his school to about one-half the pupils.

A female teacher in this institution, said to have been deaf from birth, spoke and read with unusual sweetness and fluency.

In an impromptu exhibition of the pupils, kindly afforded me by the director, many creditable exercises were performed, giving evidence of much intelligence and careful training. The alphabet in use in Italy differs slightly from the French, but the signs so nearly resemble our own, that I had little difficulty in using the language as a means of communication in all the Italian schools.

As would be naturally expected in this country, instruction in art forms an important feature in the schools for the deaf and dumb. In the institutions of which I have spoken, I found classes in drawing and painting. In that of Genoa, and in the royal institution at Milan, sculpture was regularly taught; wood and copper plate engraving was also taught at Milan.

THE INSTITUTION AT DRESDEN, SAXONY.

In this establishment I elicited no facts in my examination of the schools not demonstrated in accounts I have already given of other institutions. Articulation is attempted with all, and is considered, rather than signs, as the basis of instruction.

At the same time, Mr. Jenke, the director, who stands high among the German teachers, acknowledged fully the necessity of using signs in imparting religious instruction, and admitted that one-half the deaf and dumb could never dispense with signs, and that not more than one-half could properly be said to succeed with articulation.

I asked him if, in his opinion, deaf-mute young men of talent, graduating from the best German institutions, could continue their education through a university for hearing and speaking youth. His answer was an emphatic negative. He said it would be impossible for them to understand the lectures.

He expressed much interest and surprise when I told him of our college, and the facility with which lectures by speaking gentlemen, with the voice, could be translated immediately into the sign language, and all the ideas of the speaker conveyed to the students as rapidly as they could be uttered orally.

He also expressed the opinion, in answer to my inquiries, that a college for deaf-mutes would be impracticable when articulation was attempted to be made the sole medium of communication between the professors and students.

THE INSTITUTION AT LONDON.

This institution, at present conducted by Rev. J. H. Watson, the successor in his position of his father and grandfather, has under its control three hundred and fifty pupils, two hundred and ninety-two living in London, and fifty-eight at a branch establishment at Margate, being the largest institution for deaf-mutes in Europe.

It is one of the most richly endowed establishments of its kind in the world, reporting an income the last year, from investments, indicating the possession of a capital of £185,100, equal to upwards of $1,000,000 in United States currency. Articulation is undertaken to be taught to all the pupils; the success attained, however, so far as I was enabled to judge, is very limited.

The efficiency of the institution seems to be greatly interfered with by the crowded condition of the buildings, they being barely sufficient for half the number of pupils they now contain. And it is to be hoped, for the sake of the unfortunate children whose interests are here at stake, that radical improvements may be effected in this prominent and wealthy establishment.

THE INSTITUTIONS AT EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

I was unfortunate in calling at these institutions at the season of their annual vacations, and so had no opportunity of examining the pupils or of conferring with the respective principals. I was informed, however, by assistant teachers, whom I had the pleasure of meeting, that articulation was taught to the semideaf and semi-mute, and also to those others, few in number, who seemed to have some special facility for acquiring it.

The old "Edinburgh institution" was founded by Thomas Braidwood, one of the pioneers of the artificial method, and was for many years ranked as an articulating school. Its present position goes to prove, therefore, that the success attained in this branch of deaf-mute instruction was not so great as to warrant its continuance as the basis of education. In both the Edinburgh schools signs and the manual alphabet are freely used through the entire course.

THE INSTITUTION AT BORDEAUX, FRANCE.

The method of instruction pursued here is made to conform very strictly to that of the Paris school, both being sustained by the imperial government as institutions of the state.

On the occasion of my visit the pupils, exclusively girls, were absent on a day's excursion into the country. I therefore spent my time in examining the buildings, which are by far the most magnificent in the world for institutions of this class, and will stand in future ages as a monument of the liberality and humanity of the present government of France.

The honorable minister of the interior, at the request of Hon. Mr. Dix, the representative of our government at Paris, has been kind enough to furnish me with the detailed plans and elevations of the buildings at Bordeaux, which constitute a very valuable acquisition to the archives of our institution.*

THE INSTITUTION AT MARSEILLES, FRANCE.

This institution, like the one at Bordeaux, follows the system pursued at Paris. At the time of my call the director was not at home, and the instructress I saw declined to admit me to the classes in the absence of the director. I did

During my stay in Bordeaux I was greatly aided in the prosecution of my work by Mr. Gleason, United States consul, who has my sincere thanks for his kind attention.

not feel warranted in remaining another day until he should return; and hence I am unable to do more than add the weight of this institution to the class now under consideration.

THE INSTITUTION AT MUNICH, BAVARIA.

In this school articulation is attempted with all, and the director, Rev. Joseph Gunkel, attaches great importance to it as the readiest means of communication between the deaf mute and his hearing fellow-men. He does not, however, claim that all can succeed in acquiring the power of art ficial speech and lip reading, and has no hesitation in making a free use of the sign language whenever it serves a better purpose than articulation. In religious instruction it is made the sole medium of communication, Mr. Gunkel entertaining the opinion that oral teaching in this particular is productive of very unsatisfactory and limited results. I spent some time in the school room in this establishment, examining the pupils in arithmetic, geography, and written language, as well as in articulation. În general intelligence the pupils compared favorably with children in our institutions who had been taught a corresponding period, and in articulation the results were very creditable. I remember, in particular, one bright boy, totally deaf since the age of four years, who had a musical voice; and read from my lips with very great facility.

THE INSTITUTION AT BRUGES, Belgium.

The renown of the Abbé Carton, for many years the distinguished head of this institution, led me to pay it a visit, and I was gratified to find it in a flourishing condition, under the guidance of a former assistant of Carton, the Abbe Biebuyck.

The system pursued is essentially the same as that of Paris, with rather less attention given to articulation.

All who desire instruction in this branch receive it; none, however, but the most successful are advised to continue.

The abbé mentioned to me, that in several cases parents of pupils request that their children shall not be taught art culation. He also said that cases had come to his knowledge where deaf-mutes had experienced serious injury to the lungs by the exertions they put forth in their oral exercises.

THE INSTITUTION AT ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA,

Established in eighteen hundred and six, and hence one of the oldest institutions in Europe. This presented, on the occasion of my visit, many more interesting features than I can allow myself to describe in this report. Of one peculiarity, however, not directly pertaining to the method of instruction, I will speak briefly. During the short northern summer at St. Petersburg, the heat is oftentimes as great as with us at Washington, and the change from the temperature of the preceding seasons consequently much greater. So depressing is the effect of this that the custom, common even with us, of seeking a temporary summer residence in the country, is well-nigh universal in the northern cities of Russia. In the institution for the deaf and dumb, the pupils, one hundred and sixty in number, are assembled from all parts of the empire, many, of course, coming from such distances that an annual visit to their homes is impossible; hence the majority remain at the institution during the summer season. As a measure, therefore, of hygiene, it has been found necessary to provide a country residence for the institution during the summer, and at the time of my visit (July 9) I found the entire establishment delightfully located on one of the pleasant islands near the city, in buildings rather slightly constructed of wood, but affording every essential comfort during the three months of their occupancy.

Ample grounds, forests, and bathing pools were open to the inmates of the institution, and their enjoyment of their rural abode was evidently very keen.