On the same day she
walked round a pond, and was pleased with the glistening of the
sun's rays on the water, as well as with the blue sky and green
shrubs, the colors of which she named correctly.
"She had as yet acquired, by the use of her sight, but very
little knowledge of any forms, and was unable to apply the
information gained by this new sense, and to compare it with
what she had been accustomed to acquire by her sense of touch.
When, therefore, a silver pencil-case and a large key were given
her to examine with her hands, she discriminated and knew each
distinctly; but when they were placed on the table, side by
side, though she distinguished each with her eye, yet she could
not tell which was the pencil-case and which was the key.
"On the twenty-fifth day after the operation she drove in a
carriage for an hour in the Regent's Park, and asked more
questions, on her way there, than usual, about the objects
surrounding her, such as, 'What is that?' 'It is a soldier,' she
was answered. 'And that? See, see!' These were candles of
various colors in a tallow-chandler's window. 'Who is that that
has passed us just now?' It was a person on horseback. 'But what
is that on the pavement, red?' It was some ladies who wore red
shawls. On going into the park she was asked if she could guess
what any of the objects were. 'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'there is
the sky; that is the grass; yonder is water, and two white
things,' which were two swans.
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