The next step was, to teach the cretin some knowledge of objects around
him, animate and inanimate, and of his relations to them. The exercise
of the senses followed, and gayly colored pictures were presented to the
eye, charming music to the ear, fragrant odors to the smell, and the
varieties of sweet, bitter, sour, and pungent substances to the taste.
When the perceptive faculties were thus trained, books were made to take
the place of object lessons; reading and writing were taught by long and
patient endeavor; the elements of arithmetic, of Scripture history, and
of geography were communicated; and mechanical instruction was imparted
at the same time.
Under this general routine of instruction, Dr. Guggenbuehl has conducted
his establishment for seventeen years, often with limited means, and at
times struggling with debt, from which, more than once, kind English
friends, who have visited the Hospital, or become interested in the man,
during his occasional hasty visits to Great Britain, have relieved him.
His personal appearance is thus described by a friend who was on
terms of intimacy with him; the place is at one of Lord Rosse's
_conversazioni_. "Imagine in the crowd which swept through his
Lordship's suite of rooms a small, foreign-looking man, with features of
a Grecian cast, and long, shoulder-covering, black hair; look at
that man's face; there is a gentleness, an amiability combined with
intelligence, which wins you to him.
Pages:
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88