is liable, but they are more especially needful to be observed in the preservation of the delicate and valuable organs of sight.

The observations on the preservation of the eyes contained in Mackenzie's volume of Five Thousand Receipts,' are so important that we cannot refrain from inserting them here. The writer says,

"1. Never sit for any length of time in absolute gloom, or exposure to a blaze of light. The reason on which this rule is founded proves the impropriety of going hastily from one extreme to the other, whether of darkness or of light, and shows us that a southern aspect is improper for those whose sight is weak and tender.

"2. Avoid reading small print, and straining the eyes by looking at minute objects.

"3. Do not read in the dusk, nor, if the eyes be disordered, by candle-light.

"4. Do not permit the eyes to dwell on glaring objects, more particularly on first waking in the morning; the sun should not, of course, be suffered to shine in the room at that time, and a moderate quantity of light only should be admitted. For the same reasons, the furniture, walls, and other objects of a bedroom should not be altogether of a white or glaring colour; indeed, those whose eyes are weak would find considerable advantage in having green for the furniture and prevailing colour of their bed-chambers. Nature confirms the propriety of this fact, for the light of the day comes on by slow degrees, and green is the universal colour she presents to our eyes.

"5. Those individuals who are rather long-sighted should accustom themselves to read with less light, and with the book somewhat nearer to the eyes than what they naturally like; while others, that are rather short-sighted, should use themselves to read with the book as far off as possible. By these means, both will improve and strengthen their sight, while a contrary course increases its natural imperfections."

USE OF SPECTACLES.

"From whatever cause the decay of sight arises, an attentive consideration of the following rules will enable any one to judge for himself when his eyesight may be assisted or preserved by the use of proper glasses :

"1. When we are obliged to remove small objects to a considerable distance from the eye, in order to see them distinctly.

"2. If we find it necessary to get more light than formerly, as, for instance, to place the candle between the eye and the object.

"3. If, on looking at, and attentively considering a near object, it fatigues the eye and becomes confused, or if it appears to have a kind of dimness or mist before it.

"4. When small printed letters are seen to run into each other, and hence, by looking steadfastly on them, appear double or treble.

"5. If the eyes are so fatigued by a little exercise, that we are obliged to shut them from time to time so as to relieve them by looking at different objects.

"When all these circumstances concur, or any of them separately takes place, it will be necessary to seek assistance from glasses, which will ease the eyes, and in some degree check their tendency to become worse; whereas, if they be not assisted in time, the weakness will be considerably increased, and the eyes be impaired by the efforts they are compelled to exert."

ON THE TRAINING OF BLIND CHILDREN.

"Is

IN treating of education in general, Plato says, not that the best education which gives to the mind and to the body all the force, all the beauty, and all the perfection of which they are capable?"

On undertaking the education of blind children, in addition to the ordinary rules and circumstances which obtain in the training of the sighted, it is useful to bear in mind that the principal object to be sought is, so to develope the senses of hearing, touch, smell, and taste, and so to expand the mind, strengthen the judgment and the general health of the pupil, that the loss of sight may become as small an evil as possible. In carrying out this design it must be remembered that success is as often prevented by parents and guardians doing too much as it is retarded by their doing too little. As the health of the body is dependent to a very great extent on the condition of the mind, and as the mind cannot be kept in health unless it receives sufficient variety of pleasing impressions through the medium of the external senses, it is important that the blind infant be supplied with as much change as possible, especially as the sense of sight, through which the greatest number of impressions are usually made on the brain, is wanting in his case. A cheerful nurse is very desirable to sing to the child, and to introduce little things for its amusement. It may be mentioned, en passant, that it is particularly desirable that the blind child should be suckled by its own mother, as it usually requires to be more carefully nourished than other infants. Small musical toys should be provided, which the child should be encouraged to use for himself. He should be taken frequently into the open air, and if practicable, should be allowed to hear the singing of birds, to enjoy the sweet scent of flowers, etc.; he should early be accustomed to hear vocal and instrumental music; should be allowed to feel all kinds of objects, and should be told the names of whatever he heard or felt; he should also be told, as his age increased, the names of whatever he tasted, and of the odours which attracted his attention. Buffon says, "that children should be allowed the free use of their hands from the moment of their birth;" and if this be true with regard to children in general, how much more must it be so

in the case of those without sight, who should be encouraged by every possible means to develope the faculties they possess, in order that they may feel less painfully the want of the sense they have lost. The blind child should be weaned at the usual age, and be allowed to walk alone by the chairs, like other children. It may be remarked, however, that guards should be used to keep him from fires, stairs, and open windows.

The faculty of speech should be early cultivated, and as soon as possible the child should be induced to feed himself with a spoon. The blind infant should not be allowed to sleep more than other children, and opiates of all kinds should be studiously avoided. While the heavy affliction from which the child suffers makes the parents more solicitous over their charge, this solicitude should not degenerate so as to cause them to indulge their offspring to his injury, for an over-kind parent has often proved the greatest enemy the blind person has ever known.

Wholesome correction should not be withheld because the child is without sight, but it should never be administered in anger, and should be rather of a moral than of a physical nature. The punishment should always be proportionate to the offence, that the child may thereby acquire ideas of justice; and it should be borne in mind that indiscriminate kindness is as bad in its effects as unrelenting harshness, and that those parents are most lastingly revered who temper firmness with kindness. When the child is about four years old, it will be well for him to be taught to read by raised letters. The system of tangible print employed may be the common English or Roman alphabet; if, however, proper elementary books for children and the Holy Scriptures are not procurable in Roman type large enough to be easily felt, it will be better to use the alphabet generally known as 'Moon's,' or any other that can be easily obtained, provided it possesses the essential quality of being easily felt. For a descriptive

account of the different systems of tangible typography the reader is referred to another part of this volume. Instances have occurred of blind children of four-anda-half years being able to read the Bible with fluency, but it is undesirable to seek to imitate such examples, for prodigies are unnatural beings, who die before arriving at maturity, or who only reach it in a state of mental exhaustion which dooms them to premature inanition. What is to be sought is to give to the child a healthy body, active perceptive organs, and a sound mind; and forcing children beyond their years is the surest way to prevent the attainment of these objects.

The importance of a truly religious training cannot be over-estimated, but by the term "religious" we would not be understood to mean 66 sectarian," neither by the avoidance of the word "sectarian" would we wish to imply that the education should be of a latitudinarian character. The training should be based on the love of God to man, as exhibited in his every-day dealings with His creatures, and as revealed in the Bible. For the blind a sound and healthy religious education is even more important than for the sighted, inasmuch as the privation under which they suffer exposes them to many evils to which those who see are

not so liable. We know that it has often been said that the blind are not as amenable to temptation as the sighted, but whoever reflects for a few minutes on the subject will perceive that the special temptation to which the blind are liable is one which pervades their whole lives, and far outweighs any advantage that may appear to exist in their favour. The temptation in question is the following: a blind person, as soon as he begins to think, naturally says to himself, "Why am I made to differ from the mass of mankind?” "Why am I excluded from the inestimable blessing of sight, and thereby made dependent on my fellowman for the common necessaries of life, and cut off from all the beauties of Nature, and why am I sent