Library Collections: Document: Full Text

The account given in the Report of Laura Bridgman, though sufficiently minute for conveying an idea of her situation and acquirements, is not sufficiently so for those who regard her case as interesting and important in a psychological point of view.

Such persons are assured that careful observations continue to be made, with a view to ascertaining the order of developements and the peculiar character of her intellectual faculties. The result will probably be made public, mean time, the following general observations, added to those in the last Reports, will serve to make out a general continuous history of the case.

Having mastered the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes, and learned to spell readily the names of every thing within her reach, she was then taught words expressive of positive qualities, as hardness, softness; and she readily learned to express the quality, by connecting the adjective hard on soft with the substantive; though she generally followed what one would suppose to be the natural order in the succession of ideas, placing the substantive first.

It was found too difficult, however, then to make her understand any general expression of quality, as hardness, softness in the abstract. Indeed, this is a process of mind most difficult of performance to any, especially to deaf mutes.

One of her earliest sentences after learning the adjectives was this -- she had found the matron ill, and understood that her head pained her, so she said, "Smith head sick -- Laura sorry."

Next she was put to the positive expression of relation to place, which she could understand. For instance, a ring was taken and placed on a box, then the words were spelt to her, and she repeated them from imitation. Then the ring was placed on a hat, and a sign given her to spell, she spelt, ring on box -- but being checked, and the right words given, she immediately began to exercise her judgment, and, as usual, seemed intently thinking. Then the same was repeated with a bag, a desk, and a great many other things, until at last, she learned that she must name the thing on which the article was.

Then the same article was put into the box, and the words ring in box given her -- this puzzled her for many minutes, and she would make mistakes; -- for instance, after she had learned to say correctly whether the ring was on or in a box, a drawer, a hat, a bucket, &c., if she were asked where is house, or matron, she would say in box. Cross questioning, however, is seldom necessary to ascertain whether she really understands the force of the words she is learning; -- for when the true meaning dawns upon her mind, the light spreads to her countenance.

In this case the preception seemed instantaneous, and the natural sign by which she expressed it was peculiar and striking: she spelt o n, then laid one hand on the other; then she spelt, i n t o, and enclosed one hand within the other.

Some idea of the difficulty of teaching her common expressions, or the meaning of them, may be found from the fact that a lesson of two hours upon the words right and left was deemed very profitable, if she in that time really mastered the idea.

No definite course of instruction can be marked out, for her inquisitiveness is so great, that she is very much disconcerted if any question which occurs to her is deferred until the lesson is over. It is deemed best to gratify her, if her inquiry has any bearing on the lesson; and often she leads her teacher far away from the objects he commenced with.

For instance picking up a nail in one of her lessons she instantly asked its name, and it being spelt, she was dissatisfied, and thought the teacher had made a mistake, for she knew n a i l stood for her finger nail, and she was very anxious to go to head quarters, to be sure the teacher was right.

She often asks questions which unfortunately cannot be satisfactorily answered to her, for it is painful to excite such a vivid curiosity as now exists in her mind, and then baulk it. For instance, she once asked with much eagerness why one arrangement of letters was not as good as another to express the name of a thing; as why t a c, should not express the idea of the animal, as well as c a t. This she expressed partly by signs, and partly by words, but her meaning was perfectly clear; she was puzzled and wished an explanation.

An extract from the diary kept by her instructer, will give an idea of her manner of questioning.

December 3.

"Spent one hour in giving Laura an idea of the meaning of the words left and right. She readily conceived that left hand, meant her left hand, but with difficulty generalized the term. At last however she caught the idea, and eagerly spelt the name of her arms, hands, fingers, feet, ears, &c., as they were touched, and named them, right or left, as might be; suddenly pausing however, and looking puzzled, she put her finger on her nose, and asked if that were left or right; thus she continually puzzles one: but such is her eagerness to find out one's meaning, such a zealous co-operation is there on her part, that it is a delightful task to teach her."