The pupil should early be instructed in the method of telling the time by touch on a watch or clock. For this purpose, a card or wooden dial-plate, with movable hands and raised figures, would be found useful; but if this is not at hand, the face of an old clock or watch may be employed. The first thing the student requires to know is the part of the timepiece at which the figure 12 is placed; he should then be told to put the timepiece so that the figure 12 is from him, which would cause the 6 to be nearest to him, the 3 on his right-hand, and the 9 on his left. The figure 1 would be the first to the right of the 12, the 2 to the right of the 3, the 4 to the left of the 3, the 5 to the right of the 6, the 7 to the left of the 6, the 8 to the right of the 9, the 10 to the left of the 9, and the 11 to the left of the 12. The distance these figures are from each other will depend on the circumference of the face of the timepiece employed, but a little practice will soon accustom the pupil to the space occupied by each of the twelve divisions of the circle, and he will soon perceive when the short hand points to a given figure, and will thereby be informed of the hours. He will also, with equal ease, detect the indications of the long hand, by remembering that, when it is at 12, the hour is finished ; when at I it is 5 minutes past, at 2, 10 minutes, and when at 3 that it is a quarter-past; when at 4, 20 minutes past, at 5, 25 minutes past, at 6, half-past, at 7, 25 minutes to, at 8, 20 minutes to, at 9, a quarter to, at 10, 10 minutes to, and at 11, 5 minutes to the hour. By increased practice, the divisions between the figures will be accurately determined, so that the time may frequently be told even to a minute. course, the use of a repeating watch would dispense with the necessity of feeling the hands, but it occupies a great deal of time, and is never preferred by any one who has once adopted the common mode.

Of

The remarks that have been made on education in this work, apply equally to the blind of every class of

society under the age of fourteen, and are only limited in their application by the means possessed of carrying them out. It will now, however, be desirable to make a few observations on matters which affect only some one particular body of persons. As by far the greater number of the blind belong to the poorer classes of society, we shall proceed, in the first place, to make some suggestions on the treatment of blind children whose parents are poor, and we shall then offer a few observations on the training of children belonging to the upper classes.

ON THE BLIND CHILDREN OF THE POOR.

What the feelings of a parent in the humble walks of life must be on finding his child hopelessly blind may more readily be imagined than described. His child for ever helpless, dependent on others for the common necessaries of life, cut off from the enjoyment of every blessing this world can give and for ever dependent on his father and mother who can barely by dint of the most arduous labour procure daily bread; and even when the warmth of parental affection nerves the father and mother to the firm resolve that their poor sightless child shall never want a home while they have hands to work, even then comes the crushing thought of "Oh! when we are dead what will our poor boy do?" "What will become of our poor blind child?" Yes! these are thoughts which must convulse the heart of every parent worthy of the name on finding himself in such a painful position, and when two or more children in the same family are without vision (which is more frequently the case than is generally supposed), how crushing must be the calamity! How overwhelming the situation! But the position, distressing as it is, is not as dark as it appears.

The above reflections, though true, are only so

to a limited extent, for, by the blessing of God on man's efforts, these calamities may be almost entirely averted.

Courage, then, afflicted father! Courage, then, desponding mother! Your heavenly Father has not left you without cause for hope. If your child is not blessed with sight, yet God has given him faculties which may be cultivated so that the evils you dread may be altogether averted. How then, it may naturally be asked, is this to be done? The answer is briefly this:-Do what you can for your child during the years that he is with you at home, and seek the aid of the benevolent institutions that exist for the assistance of the blind.

While the child is at home, the suggestions made in the previous article under the head of "The Training of Blind Children" should be carried out as far as possible, and the blind boy or girl should be made useful in household matters, by being employed in cleaning knives and forks, candlesticks, fire-irons, and other articles of furniture; and here we may insert a remark which may be found useful, viz. that when a blind person stoops to pick up anything, he should not put his head forward, as persons generally do, but should bend his knees as females do in making a curtsey, this will prevent him striking his head against anything that may be in the way.

The child should be allowed to make himself of use by going alone short distances on errands. Every advantage should be taken of parochial day and Sunday schools, as much oral information may be acquired in them, especially if the teachers are kindly disposed and take an interest in their blind pupils. Books in raised letters may be procured from the "British and Foreign Bible Society," London; or from "The Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind," 210, Oxford Street, near Portman Square, W., and 125 and 127, Euston Road, London, N.W.

EDUCATION OF THE BLIND OF THE UPPER CLASSES. 43

In some of the larger towns, persons from charitable societies visit the blind at their own homes to teach them to read. It is very important that the child should be encouraged to attend regularly a place of worship. When his friends cannot accompany him, he should be induced to go alone, for nothing is so well calculated to afford comfort under affliction as the revealed will of God; and although, perchance, the heart of the blind child may be light and joyous, yet in riper years he will need all the comfort that Christianity can give to shield him from the assaults of the powers of evil, who will be ever tempting him to repine at the privation which God in infinite wisdom has imposed on him; and it cannot be too often remembered that habits formed in youth are generally permanent, so that he who has been accustomed to do what is good when a boy will in all probability do the same on becoming a man. When all is done that can be accomplished for the blind child of the poorer classes at his home, it will indeed be very little compared with what he requires, and the parents must therefore seek admission for their son or daughter to one of the institutions for the education and employment of the blind, of which establishments there are forty-six in Great Britain and Ireland.

THE EDUCATION OF THE BLIND OF THE UPPER CLASSES.

The question of imparting to the youthful blind of the upper classes an education suited to their condition is a matter of such great importance that it may very well excite surprise that scarcely any attention has hitherto been paid to the subject.

No human being, however favoured by social position, was created to be a useless inhabitant of the world, and he who cares for the happiness of his off

spring, the good of mankind, or the commandments of God, will not allow secondary considerations to interfere with his duty as the parent of a blind child.

The paths of usefulness open to the blind of the upper classes are neither few nor unimportant; indeed there is scarcely any branch of science that has not been adorned by the labours of the sightless. To prove this statement, reference need only be made to the pages of this work devoted to biography, where it will be seen that the blind have distinguished themselves in the following positions, viz. musicians, teachers of languages and mathematics; lecturers on chemistry, mechanics, and kindred subjects; writers on military science, poets, historians, journalists, solicitors, barristers, magistrates, clergymen, sculptors, and statesmen, etc. etc.

In undertaking to provide for the training of a blind child, the first thing to be desired is to give him an education equal to that obtained by the sighted of his own social grade. To do this in the case before us, the great point to be aimed at is to give him the special instruction he needs as a blind youth, without in any way cutting him off from the collegiate advantages enjoyed by his sighted compeers; to do this, all that is necessary is that a professor connected, say with King's College, London, should make himself acquainted with matters connected with the education of the blind, and should then open his house for the admission of blind pupils, in the same way that gentlemen connected with such colleges undertake the care of other students. If the professor in question also had sighted pupils, so much the better, as competition on fair terms is what the blind require, instead of suppression or absorption. An usher might be kept specially to attend to the blind, in a mixed establishment, should such a course be found desirable. It is obvious from this plan that while the