Part 24

Prior to the 18th century, blind beggars existed in such numbers that they struggled for standing room in positions favourable for asking alms. Their very affliction led to their being used as spectacles for the amusement of the populace. The degraded state of the masses of the blind in France attracted the attention of Valentin Hauy. In 1771, at the annual fair of St Ovid, in Paris, an innkeeper had a group of blind men attired in a ridiculous manner, decorated with peacock tails, asses' ears, and pasteboard spectacles without glasses, in which condition they gave a burlesque concert, for the profit of their employer. This sad scene was repeated day after day, and greeted with loud laughter by the gaping crowds. Among those who gazed at this outrage to humanity was the philanthropist Valentin Hauy, who left the disgraceful scene full of sorrow. "Yes," he said to himself, "I will substitute truth for this mocking parody. I will make the blind to read, and they shall be enabled to execute harmonious music." Hauy collected all the information he could gain respecting the blind, and began teaching a blind boy who had gained his living by begging at a church door. Encouraged by the success of his pupil, Hauy collected other blind persons, and in 1785 founded in Paris the first school for the blind (the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles), and commenced the first printing in raised characters. In 1786, before Louis XVI. and his court at Versailles, he exhibited the attainments of his pupils in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and music, and in the same year published an account of his methods, entitled _Essai sur l'education des aveugles_. As the novelty wore off, contributions almost came to an end, and the Blind School must have ceased to exist, had it not been taken, in 1791, under the protection of the state.

The emperor of Russia, and later the dowager empress, having learned of Hauy's work, invited him to visit St Petersburg for the purpose of establishing a similar institution in the Russian capital. On his journey Hauy was invited by the king of Prussia to Charlottenburg. He took part in the deliberations of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, and as a result a school was founded there.

Edward Rushton, a blind man, was the projector of the first institution for the blind in England--the School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool. In 1790 Rushton suggested to the literary and philosophical society of which he was a member, the establishment of a benefit club for the indigent blind. The idea was communicated to his friend, J. Christie, a blind musician, and the latter thought the scheme should also include the instruction of young blind persons. They circulated letters amongst individuals who would be likely to give their assistance, and the Rev. Henry Dannett warmly advocated the undertaking. It was mainly due to his co-operation and zeal that Messrs Rushton and Christie's plan was carried out, and the Liverpool asylum was opened in 1791. Thomas Blacklock of Edinburgh, a blind poet and scholar, translated Hauy's work on the _Education of the Blind_. He interested Mr David Millar, a blind gentleman, the Rev. David Johnston and others in the subject, and after Blacklock's death the Edinburgh Asylum for the Relief of the Indigent and Industrious Blind was established (1793). Institutions were established in the United Kingdom in the following order:--

School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool 1791 Royal Blind Asylum, Edinburgh 1793 Bristol Asylum 1793 School for the Indigent Blind Southwark (now removed to Leatherhead) 1799 Norwich Asylum and School 1805 Richmond Asylum, Dublin 1810 Aberdeen Asylum 1812 Molyneux Asylum, Dublin 1815 Glasgow Asylum and School 1827 Belfast School 1831 Wilberforce School, York 1833 Limerick Asylum 1834 London Society for Teaching the Blind to Read, St John's Wood, N. 1838 Royal Victoria School for the Blind, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1838 West of England Institute for the Blind, Exeter 1838 Henshaw's Blind Asylum, Manchester 1839 County and City of Cork Asylum 1840 Catholic Asylum, Liverpool 1841 Brighton Asylum 1842 Midland Institute for the Blind, Nottingham 1843 General Institute for the Blind, Birmingham 1848 Macan Asylum, Armagh 1854 St Joseph's Asylum, Dublin 1858 St Mary's Asylum, Dublin 1858 Institute for the Blind, Devonport 1860 South Devon and Cornwall Institute for the Blind, Plymouth 1860 School for the Blind, Southsea 1864 Institute for the Blind, Dundee 1865 South Wales Institute for the Blind, Swansea 1865 School for the Blind, Leeds 1866 College for the Sons of Gentlemen, Worcester 1866 Northern Counties Institute for the Blind, Inverness 1866 Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind, Upper Norwood 1872 School for the Blind, Sheffield 1879 Barclay Home and School for Blind Girls, Brighton 1893 Homes for Blind Children, Preston 1895 North Stafford School, Stoke-on-Trent 1897

Many of the early institutions were asylums, and to the present day schools for the blind are regarded by the public as asylums rather than as educational establishments. With nearly all these schools workshops were connected. In 1856 Miss Gilbert, the blind daughter of the bishop of Chichester, established a workshop in Berners Street, London, and since that date workshops have been started in many of the provincial towns.

After the beginning of the 19th century, institutions for the blind were established in various parts of Europe. The institution at Vienna was founded in 1804 by Dr W. Klein, a blind man, and he remained at its head for fifty years. That of Berlin was established in 1806, Amsterdam, Prague and Dresden in 1808, Copenhagen in 1811. There are more than 150 on the European continent, most of them receiving aid from the government, and being under government supervision.

The first school for the blind in the United States was founded in Boston, Mass., chiefly through the efforts of Dr John D. Fisher, a young physician who visited the French school. It was incorporated in 1829, and in honour of T.H. Perkins (1764-1854) who gave his mansion to the institution was named the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum (now School) for the Blind. Aid was granted by the state from the beginning. In 1831 Dr Samuel G. Howe (q.v.) was appointed director, and held that position for nearly forty-four years; being succeeded by his son-in-law Michael Anagnos (d. 1906), who established a kindergarten for the blind at Jamaica Plain, in connexion with the Perkins Institution. Dr Howe was interested in many charitable and sociological movements, but his life-work was on behalf of the blind. One of his most notable achievements was the education of Laura Bridgman (q.v.) who was deaf, dumb and blind, and this has since led to the education of Helen Keller and other blind deaf-mutes. The New York Institution was incorporated in 1831, and the Pennsylvania Institution was founded at Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. The Ohio was founded at Columbus in 1837, Virginia at Staunton in 1839, Kentucky at Louisville in 1842, Tennessee at Nashville in 1844, and now every state in the Union makes provision for the education of the blind.

STATISTICS

England and Wales.

In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The following table shows that the proportion of blind persons to population has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year

## particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the

first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871 and 1891 was not maintained.--

+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+ | Year.| Number of | Blind per Million | Persons Living to | | | Blind. | of the Population | one Blind Person. | +------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+ | 1851 | 18,306 | 1021 | 979 | | 1861 | 19,352 | 964 | 1037 | | 1871 | 21,590 | 951 | 1052 | | 1881 | 22,832 | 879 | 1138 | | 1891 | 23,467 | 809 | 1236 | | 1901 | 25,317 | 778 | 1285 | +------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+

The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891-1901, as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus lends support to the contention, in the _General Report_ for 1891, that the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies which may result in blindness.

+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | Age-Period. | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | Under 5 years | 198 | 196 | 185 | 166 | 155 | 129 | | 5-10 | 297 | 256 | 259 | 288 | 188 | 192 | | 10-15 | 365 | 366 | 359 | " | 290 | 323 | | 15-20 | 416 | 415 | 404 | 388 | 370 | 239 | | 20-25 | 481 | 443 | 451 | 422 | 385 | 359 | +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | Total under 25 | 339 | 322 | 317 | 298 | 269 | 261 | +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

In 1886 a royal commission on the blind, deaf and dumb was appointed by the government, and, after taking much valuable evidence, issued an exhaustive and instructive report. Following on the practical recommendations submitted by this commission, the Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893, was passed, under which the education of the blind became for the first time compulsory. In terms of this statute, the school authorities were made responsible for the provision of suitable elementary education for blind children up to sixteen years of age, and grants of L3, 3s. for elementary subjects, and of L2, 2s. for industrial training, were contributed by the state towards the cost of educating children in schools certified as efficient within the meaning of the Elementary Education Act 1876. The principal aim of the Education Act of 1893 was to supply education in some useful profession or trade which will enable the blind to earn their livelihood and to become useful citizens; but the weak spot was that no provision was made therein for the completion of their education and industrial training after the age of sixteen.

In England and Wales, in 1907, there were twenty-four resident schools and forty-three workshops for the blind. In many of the large towns, day classes for the education of blind children have been established by local education authorities. There are forty-six home teaching societies, who send teachers to visit the blind in their homes, to teach adults who wish to learn to read, to act as colporteurs, to lend and exchange useful books, and to act as Scripture readers to those who are aged and infirm. All the home teaching societies for the blind and many public libraries lend embossed books. The public library at Oxford has nearly 400 volumes of classical works for the use of university students.

A society was instituted in 1847 by Dr W. Moon for stereotyping and embossing the Scriptures and other books in "Moon" type. The type has been adapted to over 400 languages and dialects. After Dr Moon's death in 1884 the work was carried on by his daughter, Miss Adelaide Moon, and the books are much used by the adult blind.

In 1868 Dr T.R. Armitage, being aware of the great improvements which had been made in the education of the blind in other countries, founded the British and Foreign Blind Association. This association was formed for the purpose of promoting the education and employment of the blind, by ascertaining what had been done in these respects in various countries, by endeavouring to supply deficiencies where these were found to exist, and by attempting to bring about greater harmony of action between the different existing schools and institutions. It gave a new impetus to the education and training of the blind in the United Kingdom. At that time their education was in a state of chaos. The Bible, or a great part of it, had been printed in five different systems. The founders took as an axiom that the relative merits of the various methods of education through the sense of touch should be decided by those and those only who have to rely on this sense. The council, who were all totally or partially blind, spent two years in comparing the different systems of embossed print. In 1869 and 1870 Dr Armitage corresponded with Dr J.R. Russ in regard to the New York Point. No trouble was spared to arrive at a right conclusion. The Braille system was finally adopted, and the association at once became a centre for supplying frames for writing Braille, printed books, maps, music and other educational apparatus for the blind. All books printed by the association are printed from stereotyped plates embossed by blind copyists. About 3000 separate works, varying in length from 1 to 12 volumes, have been copied by hand to meet the requirements of public libraries and individuals. About 700 ladies, who give their services, make the first Braille copy of these books, and they are recopied by blind scribes, chiefly women and girls, who are paid for their work.

The National Lending library, London, was founded in 1882. It has over 5500 volumes in Braille and other types. Books are forwarded to all parts of the United Kingdom.

There are fourteen magazines published in embossed type in the United Kingdom.

There are thirty-six pension societies--the principal are Hetherington's, Day's, the Clothworkers', the Cordwainers', the National Blind Relief Society, Royal Blind Pension Society and Indigent Blind Visiting Society.

The Gardner Trust administers the income of L300,000 left by Henry Gardner in 1879. The income is used for instructing the blind in the profession of music, in suitable trades, handicrafts and professions other than music, for pensions, and free grants to institutions and individuals for special purposes.

Scotland.

According to the census of 1901, Scotland had 3253 (or 727 per million) blind persons, as against 2797 in 1891, but in a paper read at the conference in Edinburgh, 1906, the superintendent of the Glasgow Mission to the Out-door Blind stated that there were 758 employed or being educated in institutions, and 3238 known as "out-door blind," making a total of 3996. There are in Scotland ten missions, so distributed as to cover the whole country, and regular visits are made as far north as the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In carrying on the work, there are twenty-four paid missionaries or teachers and a large number of voluntary helpers. These societies originated in a desire to teach the blind to read in their own homes, and to provide them with the Scriptures and other religious books, but the social, intellectual and temporal needs of the blind also receive a large share of attention. These teachers afford the best means of circulating embossed literature, therefore the library committee of the Glasgow corporation has agreed to purchase books and place them in the mission library instead of in the public library. As the institutions provide for only a small number of the blind, strenuous efforts are made by the committee and teachers of missions to find some employment for the many adults who come under their care.

In Glasgow, a ladies' auxiliary furnishes work for 150 knitters, and takes the responsibility of disposing of their work. In Scotland there are five schools for the young blind, and in connexion with each is a workshop for adults. In Edinburgh the school is at West Craigmillar, and the workshop in the city, but both are under the same board of directors.

Ireland.

According to the census of 1901, there were 4253 totally blind persons in Ireland, a proportion of 954 per million, as against 1135 in 1891. Of these, 2430 were over 60 years of age and 11 over 100. These figures do not include the partially blind, who numbered 1217. The fact that so many aged blind persons are to be found in Ireland is doubtless due to an ophthalmic epidemic which occurred during the Irish famine. There are twelve institutions, a home mission and home teaching society; nine of these institutions are asylums, that system having been largely adopted in Ireland. The scarcity of manufacturing industries, except in a few northern counties, entails a lack of work suited to the blind. The Elementary Education Act (Blind and Deaf) does not extend to Ireland.

The following table gives the number of blind in age-groups in 1901:--

+---------------+---------+----------------+---------+ | Age-Period. | Number. | Age-Period. | Number. | +---------------+---------+----------------+---------+ | Under 5 years | 10 | 50-55 | 392 | | 5-10 | 38 | 55-60 | 314 | | 10-15 | 64 | 60-65 | 617 | | 15-20 | 73 | 65-70 | 382 | | 20-25 | 95 | 70-75 | 540 | | 25-30 | 116 | 75-80 | 306 | | 30-35 | 146 | 80-85 | 372 | | 35-40 | 146 | 85-90 | 118 | | 40-45 | 205 | 95 and upwards | 95 | | 45-50 | 224 | | | +---------------+---------+----------------+---------+

British Colonies.

In the Dominion of Canada, South Africa, the states of the Australian Commonwealth and New Zealand, provision is made by the government for the education of the young blind, and in some cases for training the adults in handicrafts. Embossed literature is carried free of expense, and on the Victorian railways no charge is made for the guide who accompanies a blind person.

The following were the census returns for 1901:--

Victoria 1082 Tasmania 173 New South Wales 884 New Zealand 274 (1891) South Australia 315 Natal 68 Queensland 209 Cape Colony 2802 (1904) West Australia 121 Canada 3279

In Australia there are institutions for the blind at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brighton, Brisbane and Maylands near Perth. In New Zealand the institution is at Auckland.

In Cape Colony between 1875 and 1891, there was an extraordinary increase in blindness, but between 1891 and 1904 the rate per 10,000 has decreased 23.78%. There is an institution at Worcester for deaf-mutes and blind, founded in 1881. It is supported by a government grant, fees and subscription.

Schools for the blind were established by the Dominion government at Brantford, Ontario (1871), and Halifax, Nova Scotia (1867).

In Montreal there are two private institutions, the M'Kay Institute for Protestant Deaf-Mutes and Blind, and a school for Roman Catholic children under the charge of the Sisters of Charity.

United States.

In the United States the education of the blind is not regarded as a charity, but forms part of the educational system of the country, and is carried on at the public expense. According to the _Annual Report_ of the Commissioner of Education for 1908, there were 40 state schools, with 4340 pupils. The value of apparatus, grounds and buildings was $9,201,161. For salaries and other expenditure, the aggregate was $1,460,732. The United States government appropriates $10,000 annually for printing embossed books, which are distributed among the different state schools for the blind. Beside these state schools, there are workshops for the blind subsidized by the state government or the municipality. Commissions composed of able men have recently been appointed in several of the states to take charge of the affairs of the blind from infancy to old age. The exhaustive summary of the 12th census enables these commissions to communicate with every blind person in their respective states.

At the 12th census a change was made in the plan for securing the returns, and the work of the enumerators was restricted to a brief preliminary return, showing only the name, sex, age, post office address, and nature of the existing defects in all persons alleged to be blind or deaf. Dr Alexander Graham Bell, of Washington, D.C., was appointed expert special agent of the census office for the preparation of a report on the deaf and blind. He was empowered to conduct in his own name a correspondence relating to this branch of the census inquiry. A circular containing eighteen questions was addressed to every blind person given in the census, and from the data contained in the replies the following tables (I., II., III., IV.) have been compiled.

TABLE I.--_The Blind, by Degree of Blindness and Sex._

+----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+ | | The | The | The | | Sex. | Blind. | Totally | Partially | | | | Blind. | Blind. | +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+ | Number-- | | | | | Total | 64,763 | 35,645 | 29,118 | | Male | 37,054 | 20,144 | 16,190 | | Female | 27,709 | 15,501 | 12,208 | +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+ | Per cent distribution-- | | | | | Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | | Male | 57.2 | 56.5 | 58.1 | | Female | 42.8 | 43.5 | 41.9 | | | | | | | Number per 1,000,000 | | | | | population of same sex-- | | | | | Both sexes | 852 | 469 | 383 | | Male | 955 | 519 | 436 | | Female | 745 | 417 | 328 | +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+

TABLE II.--_The Blind, by Degree of Blindness, Age-Periods, Colour and Nativity._

+--------------------------+----------+----------------------------+----------+ | | | White. | | | Degree of Blindness and | All +--------+---------+---------+ Coloured.| | Age-Period. | Classes. | Total. | Native. | Foreign-| | | | | | | born. | | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | Number-- | | | | | | | The blind | 64,763 | 56,535 | 45,479 | 10,694 | 8228 | | Under 20 years | 8,308 | 7,252 | 6,937 | 231 | 1056 | | 20 years and over | 56,165 | 49,067 | 38,388 | 10,420 | 7098 | | Age unknown | 290 | 216 | 154 | 43 | 74 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | The totally blind | 35,645 | 30,359 | 23,636 | 6,511 | 5286 | | Under 20 years | 4,123 | 3,543 | 3,377 | 129 | 580 | | 20 years and over | 31,363 | 26,704 | 20,179 | 6,636 | 4639 | | Age unknown | 159 | 112 | 80 | 19 | 27 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | The partially blind | 29,118 | 26,176 | 21,843 | 4,183 | 2942 | | Under 20 years | 4,185 | 3,709 | 3,560 | 102 | 476 | | 20 years and over | 24,802 | 22,363 | 18,209 | 4,057 | 2439 | | Age unknown | 131 | 104 | 74 | 24 | 27 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | Number per 1,000,000 | | | | | | | population of same age--| | | | | | | The blind | 852 | 846 | 804 | 1,047 | 896 | | Under 20 years | 247 | 250 | 248 | 215 | 229 | | 20 years and over | 1,334 | 1,305 | 1,348 | 1,143 | 1574 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | The totally blind | 469 | 454 | 418 | 637 | 576 | | Under 20 years | 123 | 122 | 121 | 120 | 126 | | 20 years and over | 745 | 710 | 708 | 698 | 1033 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+ | The partially blind | 383 | 392 | 386 | 410 | 320 | | Under 20 years | 124 | 128 | 127 | 95 | 103 | | 20 years and over | 589 | 595 | 639 | 445 | 541 | +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+