EDUCATION BY THE TOUCH ALPHABET.
LAURA BRIDGEMAN, the celebrated blind deaf mute, who gained such notoriety for the wonderful gift she possessed of acquiring knowledge through her only two faculties, and whose death was so much lamented in the scientific world a short time ago, has a youthful and very worthy successor in Miss Helen A. Keller, who is at present an inmate of the Perkins' Institute for the Blind in Boston. She was deprived of her sight and hearing at the age of eighteen months. At the age of six, being deaf, dumb, and blind, she was put under the charge of Miss Annie M. Sullivan, who undertook to instruct her in the touch alphabet, and so eager was her pupil for knowledge, and so quick of perception, that she now is able to read and write with perfect facility. It will be a matter of the profoundest interest to watch the development of human nature uninfluenced by the usual surroundings of life, and to watch the soul expand and grow by its own virility. No better insight into the character of this poor unfortunate is afforded than by a letter that she wrote to a gentleman who sent her a mastiff puppy as a present. He did not have long to wait for his reward in the receipt of the letter printed below, which is taken from the Forest and Stream, to which we are indebted for it. Its purity of diction and correctness of style is quite remarkable for a child of only nine years, especially when it is remembered that practically all her knowledge has been imparted by sense of touch. The letter, which was written in pencil, in clear, distinct, round characters, is as follows:— SOUTH BOSTON, MASS., Nov. 20, 1889.
MY DEAR MR. —: I have just received a letter from my mother, telling me that the beautiful mastiff puppy you sent had reached Tuscumbia safely. I thank you very much for the nice gift. I am very sorry that I was not at home to welcome her. But my mother and my baby sister will be very kind to her while her mistress is away. I hope she is not lonely and unhappy. I think puppies can feel very homesick as well as little girls. I should like to call her Lioness for your dog. May I? I hope she will be very faithful, and brave too. I am studying in Boston with my dear teacher. I learn a great many new and wonderful things. I study about the earth and the animals, and I like arithmetic exceedingly. I learn many new words, too. Exceedingly is one that I learned yesterday. When I see Lioness I will tell her many things which will surprise her greatly. I think she will laugh when I tell her that she is a vertebrate, a mammal, a quadruped, and I shall be very sorry to tell her that she belongs to the order carnivora. I study French, too. When I talk French to Lioness I will call her 'Mon beau chien.' Please tell Lion that I will take good care of Lioness. I shall be happy to have a letter from you when you like to write to me. From your loving little friend,
HELEN A. KELLER. P. S.—I am staying at the Institute for the Blind.
H. A. K.