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Let me observe here, that Helen's dreams, like those of all other persons, are the result of the spontaneous action of her mental faculties. They are accurately modelled upon the experiences of her waking life, producing sensations similar in kind to those received in her state of consciousness, but without order or congruity, because uncontrolled by the will. Persistent inquiries have elicited the fact, that light and sound are as completely absent from her dreams as they are from her eyes and ears. The last time that we questioned her closely as to whether she ever dreamed of seeing or hearing, she replied with emphasis, "No! I am blind and deaf."

But, remarkable as is the velocity with which she writes her thoughts upon the air, still more so are the ease and accuracy with which she reads the words formed in the same way by another person, grasping his hand in hers, and following every movement of his fingers as letter after letter conveys his meaning to her mind. Nor is the swiftness with which she peruses the embossed page, nor the rapidity with which she spells out with one hand what she reads with the other, less wonderful.

Helen is a close observer of the actions, manners and movements of those around her, and takes the greatest delight in trying to reproduce some of them. This tendency towards imitation is very strong, and enables her both to amuse herself and to entertain others. Frequently she utters sounds as if she were singing, or holds a book before her and pretends to read by moving her lips. When she visited Wellesley College, she examined the statuary carefully, and afterwards imitated the various attitudes, which had attracted her attention. This she did with great exactness, copying from the statue of the dancing girl, for instance, the position of feet, hands, arms, head, -- indeed, of the whole body.

Lack of space prevents me from enlarging on this topic; but I must give one more anecdote. Helen went to church one Sunday with Mrs. Hopkins, Miss Sullivan having first charged her little pupil to be quiet while in the sacred edifice. At first she was inclined to talk with her lingers, and asked what the minister was saying. Mrs. Hopkins told her, and then reminded her of the injunction to be still, which had been given to her. Helen immediately obeyed, turned her head in a listening attitude, and said "I listen."

Doubtless this gifted child is endowed with a set of intellectual faculties of the highest order, which enable her to observe acutely, to apprehend readily, to understand clearly, to imagine vividly, and to reason correctly. But the crowning glory of her talents consists in the tenacity of her memory and in the extraordinary quickness of her perceptions. In respect to both these mental qualities she has but few equals. All that appears to be miraculous or mysterious in her case can be traced either to one or both of these sources, and be thereby explained.

Helen seldom, if ever, forgets anything that she has once learned. Names, facts, descriptions, figures, dates, all are arranged in perfect order in the capacious recesses of her cerebral structure, so that she can use them at will. Her remembrance of past occurrences is very accurate. She can give the name and residence of any person with whom she is slightly acquainted, with perfect exactness. You may ask her about something which she wrote to a friend or put down in her diary six or seven months ago, and she will repeat the statement almost word for word. Last June she was introduced to a young Greek student, whose long name, consisting of twenty-eight letters, was spelled to her only once. In repeating it she made but one mistake. This was corrected, and about three months later she asked me where Mr. F-r-a-n-c-i-s D-e-m-e-t-r-i-o-s K-a-l-o-p-o-t-h-a-k-e-s was.

But, great as is the tenacity of her memory, the keenness of her perceptive faculties is even greater, -- it is simply marvellous. As soon as a sensation, even of the faintest kind, reaches the sensorium, being telegraphed to her brain through the medium of the organ of touch, or through the slightest muscular contact or pressure, her mind seems to emit a species of electric light, which illumines the regions of thought, and renders things clear to the understanding. The vision of

"That inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,"

is so perfect in Helen's case, that the images of her perceptions dance before it like the daffodils of Wordsworth. Instances illustrative of this point are very numerous, and are of the most profound interest, both from a physiological and psychological point of view. Miss Sullivan has given in her sketches quite a number of them, and I have room here for only one other, which I copy from my memoranda.

One day a number of persons assembled in our dining-room were shown by Miss Moulton, the matron of the institution, a crystal lemon-squeezer of new design, and all tried in vain to guess what it was. It had never been used, and its shape failed to suggest to any one its purpose, until Helen examined it. She immediately spelled "lemonade," and wished for a tumbler, in which to prepare some. When the glass was brought, she put the squeezer in proper position upon it. On being closely questioned as to what had suggested to her an idea, which the adults around her had failed to catch, she twice put her hand to her forehead, and spelled "I think."