mation of blind or deaf children is less vague than that acquired by others even of the quickest perception. Their knowledge has been acquired from careful examination of objects that of others (too commonly) only from words, the conventional signs of objects. Any one may satisfy himself by attention to his thoughts in a reverie, when there is no interference of outward objects or his own volition, that they pass in sequences, linked in conformity with well-ascertained laws of the mind.

Now, as the deaf and the blind are less interfered with by external objects, these sequences are less liable to interruption in their minds than in those of others, and consequently they are likely to pass more of their time than others in this sort of mental rumination. It is, therefore, of greater consequence to them than to others that useful subjects should be given for the occupation of their thoughts. For the mind will be occupied by reiterations of past impressions, when not interfered with; and that these reiterations are repetitions of previous adjustments the

following cases have a tendency to prove :An undertaker was stopped by fever while conducting an ostentatious funeral through Salisbury. When not roused from his delirium, he was incessantly giving hurried and anxious directions to his servants for the disposal of bodies sent to this "atri Janitor dites" for interment.

My friend, Dr. Holmes, of Clifton, allows me to make this use of the following case:He had the fluid drawn from the head of a boy who had previously lain in a state of insensibility from hydrocephalus. The child, when freed from the pressure of the fluid, began and continued to sing "Cherry ripe." After a time, the fluid had again accumulated, and the child remained insensible and silent till the fluid was again drawn off. Then the again incessant repetition of "Cherry ripe perplexed Dr. Holmes and all who heard it even more than before. At length, the boy's sister recollected that, previously to his illness," he had day after day been fascinated by an itinerant organ, which seldom played any other tune.

It has been reported, that the last words of one of our most distinguished Judges (Lord Tenterden), to an ideal jury, were, "Gentlemen of the jury, are you agreed in your verdict?" or, as another edition has it, "You are discharged."

The well-known instances which Pope has given of the ruling passion strong in death, appear to me mere reiterations of habituallyrecurring adjustments. The engine of the body continues to do its work so long as the steam of vitality is kept on.

It has been shown in a former page, that there can be no correct sensation without correct adjustment, and if no distinct sensation, of course no clear and well-defined thought. Some of the most distinguished men of the present day have therefore instructed students in the several arts how to observe, and thus be enabled to carry out the inductive method of the immortal Bacon.

The late Sir William Herschell has given

a useful detail of the rest and relaxation from all previous adjustments by which he prepared his eyes for astronomical observations. I scarcely need remind the reader, that the pupil of the human eye is found to be more or less contracted not only in proportion to the stronger or fainter light to which the eye is exposed, but also in the ratio of the distance of the object looked at. As the pupil dilates and contracts in ratio of distance, the muscular sense of the pupil measures distance, and the rays of light more or less vivid are the excitors, and thus the eye does measure distance.

The practice of the late Mr. Woodfall, who so long and so faithfully reported the debates in the House of Commons, affords a proof how much the memory gains in efficiency by rest. He is said not to have been in the habit of writing what he had heard till refreshed by a few hours' sleep. All studious men must have observed that the stream of thought is both stronger and more copious after rest than when fatigued.

Mr. Dickens tells us, that when unstrung

by sea-sickness, he could no longer think even for his own amusement, much less for that of others.

Going To a Diorama, all is dark: our pupils having been contracted, and thus adjusted to see by the glare of day, they do not admit light enough to enable us to grope our way through passages unavoidably dark from situation. But after the retina has been less excited, in the darkened room of the diorama, a different adjustment has been effected by the expansion of the pupil, and we are surprised to find all so light on our return, which appeared to have been so dark on our entrance.

Any one may form some notion of the dif

ference of mental feelings in the blind when compared with his own, by giving all his attention to the intimation he receives from touch while groping his way in the dark. This, too, will satisfy him of the intense mental attention which must be given to their corporeal feelings when compared with the vague and superficial view of relative situations of furniture, walls, doors, and windows to those who can see. The blind are careful