Of course it cannot be supposed that the qualities here attempted to be indicated are in any way equal in value. For cheapness, for instance, cannot be considered of equal importance to certainty; and so again, if the books in any system cannot be read, any other qualities they may contain are of no use whatever. Still, it is felt that the above table possesses some interest, and as such it is inserted here.

THE BEST SYSTEM OF READING FOR THE BLIND.

In considering the question of what arrangements are desirable to enable the blind to read with the greatest amount of certainty, ease, and fluency, and to supply them with books of the cheapest and most portable description, it is necessary thoroughly to comprehend the peculiarities of the agent by which the reading must be performed, viz. the sense of feeling, or touch. Touch differs from sight in many respects, but chiefly in this, that while sight can take in at one glance many objects included within a vast area, touch can only convey to the brain by one act of contact the impression of the first small point that arrests its progress. To illustrate this statement with respect to sight is needless, but with regard to touch, the following example may serve to elucidate our meaning.

6

Let a small horizontal line be made in relief on a piece of paper, the person who wishes to feel it proceeds from the left side of the paper, quite unconscious of what may meet his finger; he presently comes in contact with a point, which fact with more than lightningspeed is conveyed to the brain. He then immediately proceeds along the line, and, far quicker than we can describe it, he comes to the extremity. Thus the act of feeling the smallest horizontal line involves the necessity of conveying to the brain, through the tactual nerve, at least three impressions, viz. contact, continuation, and conclusion. Now it is obvious, that if it were possible to convey to the brain a distinct idea of one special letter or word every time the finger came in contact with a point, tangible reading' would, under such circumstances, reach perfection; and if this desideratum cannot be fully attained, it must be admitted that the nearer we approach to its realization, the more likely we shall be to fulfil the task we have in view. Under these circumstances, therefore, although we cannot do all that could be wished, yet, as the present modes of printing in relief are radically defective, it is our duty to embody the results of experience by the formation of a system of reading which may give to the blind greater advantages than they now possess. The first thing is to select the most tangible characters, viz. those whose properties can be perceived immediately that the finger comes in contact with them; and with regard to this point, after a careful examination of more than thirty systems, extending over many years, we are enabled to state that in our opinion the characters possessing the greatest tangible power are the following:

A dot at the top of the line, a dot at the bottom, two dots placed perpendicularly from the top of the line, two dots placed perpendicularly from the bottom, two dots placed perpendicularly, one at the top and the other at the bottom, three dots placed perpendi

cularly, a short perpendicular line from the top, a short perpendicular line from the bottom, and a long perpendicular line.

The characters possessing second-class tangible power are:-A short perpendicular line with a dot above, a short perpendicular line with a dot below, a horizontal line at the top, a horizontal line at the bottom, a small solid circle at the top, a small solid circle at the bottom, two small circles placed perpendicularly, a semicircle to the left, a semicircle to the right, an oblique line to the left, an oblique line to the right, a semicircle at the top, and a semicircle at the bottom. We thus obtain twenty-two characters, and the additional number required to complete the alphabet and the figures, etc. are easily obtained by the use of curves and lines united, etc. They, however, possess inferior tangible power, and may be denominated thirdclass characters. Next to the importance of selecting the best characters is the solution of the question, how they shall be employed? And here we have to deal with this fact, that a very great disparity exists between the frequency with which the various letters of the alphabet are used, e.g., in an ordinary book, the letter e is employed above sixty times more frequently than z, thirty times more than j, fifteen times more thank. The letters t, a, i, n, o, and s are used more than four times as often as b, f, g, and P, and more than twice as frequently as c, m, d, and 1. Under these circumstances it is a matter of the highest importance to represent the letters which occur most frequently by characters possessing the greatest amount of tangible power, and which occupy the least space. Such an arrangement is presented in the foregoing description of characters, which we have employed for many years in making memoranda, and which we hope soon to offer to the blind generally, as the “Tactual System of Relief Print.”

ABBREVIATIONS.

It has been well said by Horne Tooke, that "Abbreviations are the wheels of language, the wings of Mercury, and though we might be dragged along without them, it would be with much difficulty, very heavily, and tediously."

If these observations be true with regard to abbreviations and their use by the sighted, with how much. greater force do they apply to the blind, whose sense of touch is so limited in its exercise, as compared with the range possessed by the sense of sight!

Much has been said against abbreviations, which is chiefly owing to the misuse that has been made of them. All abbreviations should be definite, and never liable to change; one character or sign should never be used to indicate more than one thing, and nothing should be left to the discretion of an editor. With these conditions fulfilled, what can fairly be said against abbreviations? If it is understood that the letter t represents the word the, why should the reader be compelled to feel three letters instead of one, and to pay for the printing of that which is an injury to him rather than a benefit?

By the judicious use of fixed abbreviations, the ease and fluency of reading may be greatly promoted, and the price and bulk of books considerably reduced.

GENERAL REMARKS ON READING.

Our system may possibly be opposed by some who may say, on reading the foregoing remarks, "This is all very well, but these are not the common letters." To such we would rejoin, that surely it must be admitted that whatever is intended to be perceived by a given sense should be adapted to the peculiar circumstances connected with that sense, and what may be suited to one sense may be very unfit for another; in

fact, if it be admitted, as we think it must, that each faculty given to man is designed by the Creator to perform its own special service, and that this service cannot be as well performed by any other faculty, it follows that whatever is best suited for one sense cannot be, in virtue of that suitability, equally welladapted to another. Under these circumstances, and in view of the facts stated in other parts of this work, we entirely disregard the pretensions set up in favour of imposing the Roman alphabet on the blind to the exclusion of all others. We may, however, here express the opinion that children should be taught the common alphabet, in order that they may be enabled to understand, as far as possible, the means by which their sighted brethren read; may also have it in their power to decipher inscriptions on milestones, housedoors, tombstones, etc., and that they may be gradually prepared to employ the common letters in writing, but to do more than this in connection with the common alphabet is simply a waste of money and time. The Tactual System, recently explained, so fully meets all the requirements of the sense of touch, that by simply altering the spaces between the letters and the words, according as a book may be specially intended for those whose sense of feeling is keen, or for those in whom it is dull, the wants of the different classes of readers may be fully met.

Many persons advocate the use of a sharp embossment, but this is an error, as sharp print, although pleasant when any one first begins to read, becomes painful after the operation has been continued a short time; this, the author can vouch for by long experience, and he is informed by credible persons that when they have read a sharp embossment like Frere's, for some time, a stinging sensation occurs in the point of the finger, which gradually extends itself up the hand until it reaches the wrist; it is also stated, by a person who was in a school in the United States for some time, that