It will be seen on reference to the table that the English institutions for the deaf-and-dumb depend for their support on voluntary contributions, donations, legacies, and annual payments made on behalf of the pupils. In all cases there are restrictions as to the age of admission, and in nearly all the managers are obliged to resort to the objectionable system of admitting the majority of the children after periodical elections by the subscribers, -a system which has the effect of shutting out many deserving objects, besides being attended with useless expense to the friends of the applicants. Nearly all the reports issued from these institutions represent that the funds at the disposal of the managers are inadequate to meet the increasing applications for admission; and earnest appeals are made to the charitable to send in contributions.

The ordinary means of instruction are in a great measure inapplicable to children whose original condition, as a writer on the subject has remarked, is far worse than that of persons who can "neither read nor write;" for it is that of persons who can neither read, nor write, nor hear, nor speak,-who are unable to ask for information when they want it, and unable to understand what is imparted to them by words. Deaf-and-dumb children cannot be grouped with other children in ordinary schools with a reasonable prospect of making much educational progress. The mode of giving them instruction being peculiar, and their mode of receiving it being also peculiar, the necessity for committing them to the care of specially qualified teachers arises precisely as in the case of other children requiring instruction in special subjects, such as drawing or music. From these considerations it may be inferred that the education of deaf-mutes can

Darmstadt, 2; Switzerland, 9; Austria, 15 (with 741 pupils); Saxony, 2; Holland, 3; Sweden, 1; Prussia, 25; Savoy, 1; Russia, 2; United States of America, 22; with 2,000 pupils. "Status of Disease," 1861, p. 28. Mr. Kennedy, in his preliminary report on the 8th Census of the United States, observes" the support of these 22 institutions costs not far from 350,000 dols. annually, of which as much as 300,000 dols. is appropriated by the legislatures of 29 states. Provision for the education of the deaf-and-dumb, in some cases restricted to the indigent, in others made free to all, is made by law in all the states except the sparsely settled ones.' A state provision for the same object exists in France, Belgium, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and in several other European countries.

only be effectually carried beyond the mere rudiments by means of the special schools established for their benefit.

It has been contended, however, that the "asylums" and other institutions for deafmutes as well as those of the blind, are open to objection, because their inmates are isolated from the world without, and cut off from family and social ties. The authority of the Canon Carton, of Bruges, who has devoted many years to the education of the deaf-anddumb has been cited in favour of this view; but he has only recommended that in their early years they should be educated in ordinary schools among children of their own age, before their admission into special institutions. The objections urged against these institutions apply equally to hospitals, workhouses, almshouses, and similar establishments, where persons of the same class, or suffering under the same disability, are, for reasons of economy and convenience, collected together. Doubtless such persons would be better off in wellordered homes amongst kind and watchful relatives; but we know that advantages are offered to them in public establishments which they could not hope to attain in their often wretched habitations, and although these advantages are obtained at the sacrifice of home ties, the recipients are, upon the whole, great gainers by the removal to institutions where they are no longer a burden to those whose narrow means scarcely enable them to supply their own necessities.

With respect to deaf-and-dumb children, we are inclined to think that more might be done for them in the way of elementary instruction either at home or in ordinary day schools than at present. If assistance were afforded by popular manuals and school books, and if certificated schoolmasters of national schools were encouraged before leaving the training colleges to acquire the simple methods of conveying instruction to deaf-mutes, many of the years during which these children now

66

vegetate,"

to use the expression of the Canon Carton, in utter neglect, would be turned to useful account in the acquisition of rudimentary knowledge, and much valuable time would afterwards be saved to the professional teacher. At the ordinary day schools they would not only acquire the habit of order, but would

learn to imitate letters and to write the names of many common objects. As the children are upon an average nearly nine years old before they are eligible for admission into the schools for the deaf-and-dumb, the necessity for some preparatory education is apparent.

Associated with the institutions are several branch societies, by the agency of which deafand-dumb children of the poor are sent to the parent establishments to be educated at the expense of the charitable in their own localities. This is an excellent arrangement, which might with advantage be carried out in all the counties which are without institutions of their own; at present it too frequently happens that the charities in the large towns are burdened with the expense of inmates admitted without payment from distant parts.

We regret to find that the educators of the deaf-and-dumb, like those of the blind, are not agreed in the solution of many important questions connected with the difficult task they have undertaken. The system of lip reading and articulation, the artificial method of teaching the deaf-and-dumb to speak, so warmly advocated by some, has been condemned by others as sheer waste of time and labour; it is said to be gradually falling into disuse in the British institutions, although practised with so much success by Braidwood, Watson, and their immediate followers who made themselves familiar with the nature of speech and the anatomy of the organs employed in the utterance of words. In the United States, where the education of deaf-mutes has been carried to a higher point than has yet been attained in other countries, the system of articulation has been entirely disregarded.

It is stated on good authority that about 16 per cent., or one in six of the deaf-and-dumb are of the proper age for instruction at school. This proportion of one in six, however, is far from being reached in England, even if every allowance be made for pupils not in the special institutions. Of 12,236 mutes of both sexes, only 1,001, or one in twelve, were under tuition at the institutions; but in the householders' schedules 829 boys and 463 girls, making together 1,292 under 20 years of age, were entered as "scholars" in conformity with the instruction which required that children, if daily attending school, or receiving regular

tuition under a tutor or governess at home, should be so described. As there are very few private schools for the deaf-and-dumb, and they contain only a small number of pupils, the children returned as "scholars" must of necessity include many who were only in attendance at ordinary day schools. Inclusive of these, the number under instruction does not exceed 10.5 per cent., or about one in nine of the deaf-and-dumb. The guardians of the poor are under a moral if not a legal obligation to send poor deaf-and-dumb children to the special schools, in order that they may become self-sustaining and not burdensome members of the community; and we agree with the Irish Census Commissioners in thinking that this duty should be rendered a compulsory one.

We have already alluded to the inquiry which through the courtesy of the clergy in Herefordshire we have been enabled to make, as supplementary to the information collected at the Census, into the circumstances connected with the cases of blindness and deaf mutism in the parishes of that county, where the ratio of the blind and of the deaf and dumb to the general population is higher than in any other part of England. The facts thus obtained concerning the deaf and dumb in Herefordshire do not indeed furnish any solution of the causes of this high ratio, a solution only to be arrived at after a minute and patient study of all the circumstances likely to influence the physical and social condition of the inhabitants ; but the details, although confined to a comparatively small number of cases, are nevertheless not devoid of interest.

In a population of 106,796 within the regis tration limits of Herefordshire in 1861, there were 107 mutes, or 1 in every 1,000 persons. In 1851 the number returned was 94, or 1 in every 1,054 inhabitants. The clergyman of each parish in which any deaf mute was living at the time of the Census was furnished with a form containing the name, age, occupation, and place of abode of the person referred to, and beneath were printed the questions to which answers were desired. We had the satisfaction to receive information, more or less precise, with respect to almost every individual named, except where removal from the parish or death had occurred during the interval between the

Census and this inquiry. Some of the statements furnished by the relatives of the mutes were of course of a vague and hearsay character, while in a few instances it was difficult to obtain correct answers to the questions bearing upon the other members of the family afflicted and the relationship of the parents, but upon the whole the answers appear to be tolerably complete.

Thus 38 were between the speaking age and 20 years of age, 62 were between 20 and 60, and 7 were aged 60 and upwards. There is no institution for the deaf and dumb in Herefordshire; a few children, therefore, may have been absent in schools at a distance. For the sake of convenience, we shall notice the results of the answers to our inquiries in the order in which the latter appeared in the printed

forms.

The object of the first question was to ascertain whether the deafness was congenital or acquired. 66 persons, 34 males and 32 females, were stated to have been born deaf; in 23, the defect was attributed to disease or accident; and in 5 cases no information on the subject was obtainable. The ratio of cases of congenital deafness, 70 per cent., is much higher than the supposed average of the whole kingdom; it is well known, however, that acquired mutism is much less common in the rural parts than in the large towns.

Our next inquiry had reference to the supposed cause of the defect in persons congenitally deaf, and elicited the following particulars with respect to the 66 individuals so described: -In 20 cases, the defect was attributed to fright or morbid impressions acting on the mind. of the mother during pregnancy; in 7 to hereditary predisposition; in 3 to deafness or illness of mother; and in 3 to the near relationship of parents, first cousins, in two instances. No cause could be assigned in the 33 remaining cases. The causes of the defect in the case of those whose deafness was produced by disease or accident formed the next head of inquiry, with the following results:-Affections acting locally on the organs of hearing: Small-pox 1, measles 1, scarlatina 4; total 6. Diseases and accidents affecting the brain and nervous system :-Fever 2, water on the brain 1, abscess on brain 1, convulsions 2, epilepsy 1, fall from a height 2, effect of a cut 1; total

10. Unclassified :-Scrofula 1, unspecified 6; total 7, in all 23. Of these 23 persons, 12 were males and 11 females, and in more than half the cases the disease or accident occurred "in infancy" or before the third year of age; in every case it occurred before the seventh year. The exact year, however, was not always stated.

With a view to ascertain the existence of any family peculiarity or hereditary taint, information was sought as to whether any other members of the family were similarly affected. In none of the cases of acquired mutism was there any mention of relatives so affected; but 27 of the persons born deaf were stated to have deaf and dumb relatives; viz.—in 2 instances, the mother; in 2 families, two brothers; in 1 family, three brothers; in 5, a brother and a sister; in 1, a brother, a sister, and an uncle; in 1, three sisters; in 1, a brother, a sister, and two distant cousins whose grandfather was first cousin to their grandfather; in 1, an uncle and a brother. In one of the families, three out of six children were deaf and dumb, the defect having appeared in alternate children. A few of the returns speak of the parents as unhealthy, or labouring under deformities, &c., and some of the children are illegitimate.

Of 57 adult deaf and dumb persons above 20 years of age, 4 of the men and 2 of the women were married, and in 5 instances they had children, none of whom were mutes.

The last question had reference to their employments and means of support, and from the answers it appears that out of 94 at all ages, 30 were able wholly or partially to maintain themselves, of whom 16 were agricultural labourers, 1 farmer, 3 needlewomen, 2 living on their means, &c. Including 29 children, 64 were unable to support themselves; of these 13 were supported by relatives and 10 were paupers. It will be seen that the proportion of the deaf and dumb able to support themselves by their own industry is much larger than that of the blind.

It is a matter of regret that the Census inquiry into the number of the deaf and dumb in other parts of the country could not have been supplemented by a secondary inquiry of the same nature as that just noticed with respect to Herefordshire. We did not feel justified, however, in taxing the clergy with

the laborious task of investigating these cases while the services they rendered were gratuitous; moreover, we had reason to believe that in the populous town districts the plan of procedure which was adopted with success in rural parishes, where nearly every inhabitant is known to the clergyman, would have proved inadequate for the purpose of obtaining such information from persons in all grades of society. We venture to hope, however, that the additional information now afforded by the Census of 1861 with respect to both the blind and the deaf and dumb-imperfect as it is, compared with collected in Ireland,-will throw some light on the important inquiry as to how far these afflictions are inevitable, and how far they are preventible by the progress of sanitary and medical science, and by the avoidance of all those conditions which are likely to favour their development and perpetuation.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

We have already adverted to the aggregate number of the people of England and Wales who at the date of the Census were lodged in the workhouses, prisons, hospitals, lunatic asylums, and other establishments, which it has been found convenient to include under the general designation of "Public Institutions." During the last decenniad there has been a considerable increase in the number of these institutious. The great principle of practical benevolence has been actively at work, and, with the increased wealth of the country, there has been remarked a greater disposition on the part of the rich to do good while living, instead of merely bequeathing a portion of what they have amassed to be dispensed in charitable objects after their decease. In the detailed tables will be found a statement for each of the eleven divisions of England and Wales, showing the total number of persons, and also of special inmates, (paupers, prisoners, &c.) in each of the principal public institutions. The chief aggregate results disclosed by these tabular statements will now be briefly noticed.

certain conditions. Our system of relief to the poor consequently entails upon the country a vast expense, and no less a sum than 77,960,000l. was raised in poor rates in England and Wales in the ten years ended in 1860. Of this amount, however, upwards of 18,000,000l. were disbursed as part of the costs of the police and for other purposes unconnected with the relief of the poor; but Parliament voted during the ten years 1,246,000l. in part payment of the salaries of schoolmasters and medical officers, and for other expenses not charged upon the rates.

The average net expenditure on the poor in England during the period under notice may be taken roughly at 6,000,000l. per annum, equal to an annual charge of nearly 6s. per head on the population; while the average number of paupers, in-door and outdoor, was 892,670, or 4.7 per cent. of the people. In Scotland, during the same period, the annual average of paupers was 120,600, or 4.0 per cent. of the population. In Ireland, where out-door relief is almost extinct, the paupers were 95,880, or 1.5 per cent.

At the date of the Census the severe distress which has unhappily existed during the last two years in the cotton manufacturing districts in consequence of the civil war in the United States of America had not yet commenced, although in Her Majesty's speech on opening Parliament, 5th February, 1861, allusion was made to "the serious differences which have arisen among the States of the North American Union." According to the returns published by the Poor Law Board the average number of persons relieved, exclusive of vagrants and lunatic paupers in the quarter ended 31st March, 1861, was 889,942; viz., 131,501 in-door and 758,441 out-door. In the corresponding quarters of 1862 and 1863 the returns of pauperism gave the following numbers, in which the effects of the failure of the cotton supply are too plainly discernible :-In 1862, in-door, 143,926; out-door, 804,272; total, 948,198: in 1863, in-door, 143,661; out-door, 948,212; total, 1,091,873.

The number of paupers in workhouses (including children in the district schools) on the Census day was 125,722. This number is below the average for the quarter ending on the preceding 31st March, as derived from

the returns of the Poor Law Board; probably the explanation may be found in the fact that many paupers are in the workhouses in the months of January and February, who leave as soon as the weather becomes less severe and employment is obtainable, so that by the first week in April the number in-doors is greatly diminished. The ratio of paupers in workhouses was 1 in every 160 in the population, or 6 3 in every 1,000. At the Census of 1851 there were 126,488 in-door paupers, that is 1 to every 142 inhabitants, or 7 in 1,000. It should be borne in mind that the partial relief given to out-door paupers is often continued for short periods only, on account of sickness or temporary distress, while the relief given in the workhouses is not only so complete as to supply all the actual necessities of the destitute poor, but is often continued for long periods, and in the case of aged persons generally for the remainder of their days. According to a return made to the House of Commons, in 1861, no less than 14,216 paupers had been inmates of workhouses during 5 years and upwards, of whom 4,940 had been inmates between 10 and 20 years, 1,322 between 20 and 30 years, and 175 upwards of 30 years.

The highest ratios of in-door paupers to the general population are observed in the counties contiguous to the metropolis, namely, in Middlesex and Surrey (extra-metropolitan), Essex, and Kent, the pauper children belonging to several of the large London parishes being placed out in the Central District Schools and other establishments situated in those counties. In Hertfordshire also, and in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Wilts, and Leicestershire, the ratios are considerably above the average. In the North-western Division (Cheshire and Lancashire) 1 in-door pauper is returned in every 204 inhabitants: in the four northern counties 1 in 251; in Yorkshire 1 in 282; the lowest proportion is in the Welsh Division, where 1 in-door pauper is returned in every 319 of the population. In a few unions in Yorkshire and Wales, however, there are no workhouses, out-door relief only being given. The relative numbers of the sexes of in-door paupers are not widely different, 62,320 being males and 63,402 females. From the number of widows who are yearly left destitute, and

the comparative helplessness of women, when in distress, a large excess of females in workhouses might perhaps have been expected. To every 10,000 males and 10,000 females in England and Wales there were 64 males and 62 females in workhouses at the time of the Census.

It will be seen from the tables showing the ages of in-door paupers, that a large number of the aged, including some of the oldest people in the country, are sheltered in the workhouses; 20,882, or about one-sixth, were upwards of 70 years of age, including 390 aged 90 and upwards, and 19 said to be aged 100 and upwards; 45,903, or 37 per cent. of the whole number, were children under 15 years of age; 5,729 men and 13,876 women were between 20 and 40.

The abstract of the previous occupations of in-door paupers, in Summary Table XLIV., is derived from the statements of the masters of workhouses, who acted as enumerators for these institutions. It will be seen that almost every class of employment-professional, commercial, trading, manufacturing, and agricul tural-is represented. The largest items are: agricultural and farm labourers, 8,285 men and boys and 1,388 women and girls; labourers undescribed 5,324; domestic servants, 15,108, all but 647 of whom are females; charwomen, 2,699; washerwomen, 1,663; milliners, dressmakers, seamstresses, &c., 2,603; shoemakers (both sexes), 2,133; tailors, 942; cotton manufacture, 2,103; seamen, merchant service, 848; soldiers and Chelsea pensioners, 207.

2. Prisoners. Several important changes have been made in the law and practice relating to criminals since the Census of 1851. By an Act which came into operation in 1853, all sentences of transportation of less than 14 years were abolished prospectively, and sentences of "penal servitude" substituted for them, the terms of penal servitude being considerably shorter than those of transportation. At the same time power was given to grant tickets-ofleave to convicts for good conduct in prison, but revocable during the unexpired term of the sentence. By a subsequent Act (1857) sentences of transportation were abolished altogether, and sentences of penal servitude substituted for them in all cases. The sentences