LAURA BRIDGMAN. 
EXTRACTS 
FROM THE 
REPORTS OF DR. S. G. HOWE. 
BOSTON: 
REPRINTED AT SOUTH BOSTON INQUIRER OFFICE. 
1873. LAURA BRIDGMAN. 
Extract from Dr. Howe's Deport for the year 1840. 
There is one whose situation is so peculiar, and whose case is so 
interesting in a philosophical point of view, that we cannot forbear 
making particular mention of it; we allude to Laura Bridgman, the 
deaf, dumb, and blind girl, mentioned in the two last Reports. 
The intellectual improvement of this interesting being, and the 
progress she has made in expressing her ideas is truly gratifying. 
She uses the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes, with great facility 
and great rapidity; she has increased her vocabulary so as to compre- 
hend the names of all common objects; she uses adjectives expressive 
of positive qualities, such as hard, soft, sweet, sour, &c.; verbs ex- 
pressive of action, as give, take, ride, run, &c., in the present, past, 
and future tense; she connects adjectives with nouns to express their 
qualities; she introduces verbs into sentences and connects them by 
conjunctions; for instance, a gentleman having given her an apple, 
she said man give Laura sweet apple. 
She can count to high numbers; she can add and subtract small 
numbers. 
But the most gratifying acquirement which she has made, and the 
one which has given her the most delight, is the power of writing a 
legible hand, and expressing her thoughts upon paper; she writes with 
a pencil in a grooved line, and makes her letters clear and distinct. 
She was sadly puzzled at first to know the meaning of the process 
to which she was subjected, but when the idea dawned upon her mind, 
that by means of it she could convey intelligence to her mother, her 
delight was unbounded. She applied herself with great diligence, 
and in a few months actually wrote a legible letter to her mother, in 
which she conveyed information of her being well, and of her coming 
home in ten weeks. It was indeed only the skeleton of a letter, but 
still it expressed in legible characters, a vague outline of the ideas 
which were passing in her mind. She was very impatient to have 
the man carry this letter, for she supposed that the utmost limit of the 
Post Office Department was to employ a man to run backward and 
forward between our Institution and the different towns where the 
pupils live, lo fetch and carry letters. We subjoin to this Report an 
exact fac simile of Laura’s writing, observing that she was notprompt- 
ed to the matter, and that her hand was not held in the execution; 
the matter is quite original, and the chirography is entirely her own. 
She has improved very much in personal appearance as well as in 
intellect; her countenance beams with intelligence; she is always 4 
active at study, work, or play; she never repines and most of the 
time is gay and frolicksome. 
She is now very expert with her needle, she knits very easily, and 
can make twine bags and various fancy articles, very prettily. She is 
yery docile, has a quick sense of propriety, dresses herself with great 
neatness, and is always correct in her deportment. In short, it would 
be difficult to find a child in the possession of all her senses, and the 
enjoyment of the advantages that wealth and parental love can be- 
stow, who is more contented and cheerful, or to whom existence 
seems a greater blessing than it does to this bereaved creature, for 
whom the sun has no light, the air no sound, and the flowers no 
color or smell. 
For the method of teaching her, and for further particulars of her 
case, we refer you to Appendix B. APPENDIX B. 
The account given in the Eoport of Laura Bridgman, though suffi- 
ciently minute for conveying an idea of her situation and acquirements, 
is not sufficiently so for those who regard her case as interesting and 
important in a psychological point of view. 
Such persons are assured that careful observations continue to be 
made, with a view to ascertaining the order of developements and the 
peculiar character of her intellectual faculties. The result will pro- 
bably be made public, mean time, the following general observations, 
added to those in the last Reports, will serve to make out a general 
continuous history ot the case. 
Having mastered the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes, and 
learned to spell readily the names of eveyy thing within her reach, 
she was then taught words expressive of positive qualities, as hard- 
ness, softness; and she readily learned to express the quality, by con- 
necting the adjective hard on soft with the substantive; though she 
generally followed what one would suppose to be the natural order in 
the succession of ideas, placing the substantive first. 
It was found too difficult, however, then to make her understand 
any general expression of quality, as hardness, softness in the ab- 
stract. Indeed, this is a process of mind most difficult of performance 
to any, especially to deaf mutes. 
One of her earliest sentences after learning the adjectives was this— 
she had found the matron ill, and understood that her head pained 
her. so she said, ''■Smith head sick—Laura sorry.” 
Next she was put to the positive expression of relation to place, 
which she could understand. For instance, a ring was taken and 
placed on a box, then the words were spelt to her, and she repeated 
them from imitation. Then the ring was placed on a hat, and a sign 
given her to spell, she spelt, ring on box—but being checked, and the 
right words aiven, she immediately began to exercise her judgment, 
and, as usual, seemed intently thinking. Then the same was repeated 
with a bag, a desk, and a great many other things, until at last, she 
learned that she must name the thing on which the article was. 
Then the same article was put into the box, and the words ring in 
box given her—this puzzled her for many minutes, and she would 
make mistakes;—for instance, after she had learned to say cor- 
rectly whether the ring was on or in a box, a drawer, a hat, 
a bucket, &c., if she were asked where is house, or matron, she 
would say in box. Cross questioning, however, is seldom necessary 
to ascertain whether she really understands the force of the words she 
is learning;—for when the true meaning dawns upon her mind, the 
light spreads to her countenance. 
In this case the perception seemed instantaneous, and the natural 
sign by which she expressed it was peculiar and striking: she spelt o 
n. then laid one hand on the other; then she spelt, into, and enclos- 
ed one hand within the other. 
Some idea of the difficulty of teaching her common expressions, or 
the meaning of them, may be found from the fact that a lesson of two 
hours upon the words right and left was deemed very profitable, if she 
in that time really mastered the idea. No definite course of instruction can be marked out, for her inquis- 
itiveness is so great, that she is very much disconcerted if any question 
which occurs to her is deferred until the lesson is over. It is deemed 
best to gratify her, if her inquiry has any bearing on the lesson; and 
often she leads her teacher far away from the objects he commenced 
with. 
For instance picking up a nail in one of her lessons she instantly 
asked its name, and it being spelt, she was dissatisfied, and thought 
the teacher had made a mistake, for she knew nail stood for her rin- 
ger nail, and she was very anxious to go to head quarters, to be sure 
the teacher was right. 
She often asks questions which unfortunately cannot be satisfacto- 
rily’ answered to her, for it is painful to excite such a vivid curiosity as 
now exists in her mind, and then baulk it. For instance, she once 
asked with much eagerness why7 one arrangement of letters was 110c 
as good as another to express the name of a thing; as why tac 
should not express the idea of the animal, as well as cat. This she 
expressed partly by signs, and partly by words, but her meaning was 
perfectly7 clear; she was puzzled and wished an explanation., 
An extract from the diary kept by her instructer, will give an idea 
of her manner of questioning. 
December 3. 
“Spent one hour in giving Laura an idea of the meaning of the 
words left and right. She readily conceived that left hand, meant her 
left hand, but with difficulty generalized the term. At last however 
she caught the idea, and eagerly spelt the name of her arms, hands, 
fingers, feet, ears, &c., as they were touched, and named them, right 
or left, as might be; suddenly pausing however, and looking puzzled, 
she put her finger on her nose, and asked if that were left or right; 
thus she continually puzzles one; but such is her eagerness to find out 
one’s meaning, such a zealous co-operation is there on her part, that 
it is a delightful task to teach her.” 
“Uses today freely the prepositions in and on: she says teacher sit- 
ting in sofa:—do not dare to correct her in such cases of anomalous 
Usage of the preposition, but prefer to let her be in error, than shake 
her faith in a rule given: the corrections must be made by and by: 
the sofa having sides, she naturally says in.'" 
In her eagerness to advance her knowledge of words and to com- 
municate her ideas she coins words, and is always guided by analogy, 
Sometimes her process of word-making is very interesting; for instance, 
after some time spent in giving her an idea of the abstract meaning of 
alone, she seemed to obtain it, and understanding that being by one's 
self was to be alone, or al one. She was told to go to her chamber, or 
school, or elsewhere and return alone; she did so, but soon after, 
wishing to go with one of the little girls, she strove to express her 
meaning thus, Laura go al-two. 
The same eagerness is manifested in her attempts to define for the 
purpose of classification : for instance, some one giving her the word 
bachelor she came to her teacher for a definition, she was taught that 
men who had wives were husbands, those who had none, bachelors; 
when asked if she understood she said “man no have wife-bachelor— 
Tenny bachelor: referring to an old friend of her. Being told to de- 
fine bachelor, she said “bachelor, no have wife, and smoke pipe.''’ Thus 
she considered theindividual peculiarity7 of smoking in one person, as a 
specific mark of the species bachelor. 
Then in order to test her knowledge of the word, it was said by her 
teacher Tenny has got no wife, what is Tenny? 
She paused, and then said, Tenny is wrong ! 7 
The word widow being explained to her, a woman whose husband 
is dead, and she being called upon to define she said, “widow is woman, 
man dead, and cold'' and eked out her meaning, by sinking down, and 
dropping her hand, to signify in the ground. 
Tire two last words she added herself, they not having been in the 
definition: but she instantly associates the idea of coldness and burial 
with death. 
Her having acquired any idea of death was not by the wish of her 
teacher, it having been his intention to reserve the subject until such a 
developement of her reason should be attained as would enable him 
to give a correct idea of it. 
He hopes still, by aid of the analogy of the germination and growth 
of plants, to give her a consoling hope of resurrection, to counter* 
balance the almost instinctive dread of death. 
She had touched a dead body before she came to the Institution. 
She easily acquired a knowledge and use of active Verbs, especially 
those expressive of tangible action; as to walk, to run, to sew, to 
shake. 
At first, of course, no distinction could be made of mood and tense, 
she used the words in a general sense, and according to the order of 
her sense of ideas; thus, in asking some one to give her bread, she 
would first use the word expressive of the leading idea, and say 
"Laura, bread, give." If she wanted water she would say water, 
drink, Laura. 
Soon, however, she learned the use of the auxiliary verbs, of the 
difference of the past, present and future tense; for instance, here is 
an early sentence, Keller is sick—when trill Keller tcell; the use of be 
she had not acquired. 
Having acquired the use of substantives, adjectives, verbs, prepos- 
itions and conjunctions, it was deemed time to make the experiment of 
trying to teach her to write, and to show her that she might communi- 
cate her ideas to persons not in contact with her. 
It was amusing to witness the mute amazement with which she sub- 
mitted to the process, the docility with which she imitated every motion, 
and the perseverance with which she moved her pencil over and over 
again in the same track, until she could form the letter. But when at last 
the idea dawned upon her, that by this mysterious process she could 
make other people understand what she thought, her joy was bound- 
less. 
Never did a child apply more eagerly and joyfully to any task than 
she did to this, and in a few months she could make every letter dis- 
tinctly, and separate words from each other. 
The following anecdote will give an idea of her fondness for teas- 
ing, or innocent fun or mischief. Her teacher looking one day unob- 
served into the girls’ play room, saw three blind girls playing with the 
rockinghorse. Laura was on the crupper, another in the saddle, and 
a third clinging on the neck, and they were all in high glee, swinging 
backward and forward as far as the rockers would roll. There was a 
peculiarly arch look in Laura’s countenance—the natural language of 
sly fun. She seemed prepared to give a spring, and suddenly when 
her end was lowest, and the others were perched high in the air, she 
sidled quickly off on to the floor, and down went the other end so 
swiftly as to throw the girls oft the horse. 
This Laura evidently expected, for she stood a moment convulsed 
with laughter, then ran eagerly forward with outstretched hands to 
find the girls, almost screamed with joy. As soon, however, as she 
got hold of one of them, she perceived that she was hurt, and in- 8 
stantly her countenance changed, she seemed shocked and grieved, and 
after caressing and comforting her playmate, she found the other, and 
seemed to apologise by spelling the word—wrong, and caressing her. 
When she can puzzle her teacher she is pleased and often purposely 
spells a word wrong with a playful look; and if she catch her teacher 
in a mistake, she hursts into an ecstacy of laughter. 
Wlv n her teacher had been at work giving her an idea of the words 
carpenter, chair maker, painter. &c., in a generic sense, and told her 
that blacksmith made nails, she instantly held up her fingers and 
asked if blacksmith made them, though she knew well he did not. 
With little girls of her own age she is full of frolic and fun, and no 
one enjoys a game at romps more than Laura. 
She has the same fondness for a dress, for ribbons, and for finery as 
other girls of her age, and as a proof that it arises from the same am- 
iable desire of pleasing others, it may be remarked that whenever she 
has a new bonnet or any new article of dress, she is particularly de- 
sirous to go to meeting, or to go out with it. If people do not notice 
it, she directs their attention by placing their hand upon it. 
Generally she indicates her preference for such visitors as are the 
best dressed. 
She is so much in company with blind persons that she thinks 
blindness common, and when first meeting a person she asks if they 
are blind, or she feels of their eyes. 
She evidently knows that the blind differ from seeing persons, for 
when she shows blind persons any thing she always puts their fingers 
on it. 
She seems to have a perception of character, and to have no es- 
teem for those who have little intellect. The following anecdote is 
significant of her perception of character, and shews that from her 
triends she requires something more than good-natured indulgence. 
A new scholar entered school—a little girl about Laura’s age. She 
was very helpless, and Laura took great pride and great pains in 
showing her the way about the house, assisting her to dress and un- 
dress, and doing for her many things which she could not do for her- 
self. 
In a few weeks it began to be apparent even to Laura, that the 
child was not only helpless but naturally very stupid, being almost an 
idiot. Then Laura gave her up in despair and avoided her. and has 
ever since had an aversion to being with her, passing her by as if in 
contempt. By a natural association of ideas she attributes to this 
child all those countless deeds which Mr. Nobody does in every house 
—if a chair is broken, or any thing misplaced and no one knowrs wrho 
did it, Laura attributes it at once to this child. 
It has been observed before that she is familiar with the processes of 
addition and subtraction in small numbers. Subtracting one number 
from another puzzled her for a time, but by help of objects she ac- 
complished it. She can count and conceive objects to about one hun- 
dred in number—to express an indefinitely great number, or more 
than she can count siie says, hundred. If she thought a friend was to 
be absent many years she would say—will come hundred Sundays— 
meaning weeks. She is pretty accurate in measuring time, and 
seems to have an intuitive tendency to do it. Unaided by the changes 
of night and day. by the light, or the sound of any timepiece, she nev- 
ertheless divides time accurately. 
With the days of the week, and the week itself as a whole she is per- 
fectly familiar; for instance, if asked her what day will it be in fifteen 
days more, she readily names the day of the week. The day she di- 9 
vides by the commencement and end of school, by the recesses, and 
by the arrival of meal-times. 
She goes to bed punctually at seven o’clock, and of her own accord. 
For some time after she came under our charge she had some one to 
put her to bed every night; but soon it was thought best to send her 
alone, and that she might not wait for any one, she was left alone one 
evening and she sat until quite late, a person watching her: and at 
last she seemed to form her resolution suddenly—she lumped up and 
groped her way up to bed. From that time to this she has never re- 
quired to be told to go to bed, but at the arrival of the hour lor retir- 
ing, she goes by herself. 
Those persons who hold that the capacity of perceiving and meas- 
uring the lapse of time is an innate and distinct faculty of the mind, 
may deem it an important fact that Laura evidently can measure time 
so accurately as to distinguish between a half and whole note of mu- 
sic. 
Seated at the pianoforte she will strike the notes in a measure like 
the following, quite correctly. 
Now it will be perceived that she must have clear perception of 
lapse of time in order to strike the two eighths at the right instant, for 
in the first measure they occur at the second beat, in the second meas- 
ure at the third beat. 
There is no doubt that practice will enable her to sub-divide time 
still more minutely. Possibly some attach an undue degree of impor- 
tance to this power of measuring time, considered in a metaphysical 
point of view, for any one may make the same experiment upon him- 
self, and by stopping his ears and closing his eyes, will find he can 
measure time, or the duration of his sensation, and know which of two 
periods is longest; nevertheless we shall continue carefully to note the 
phenomena in the case of Laura for the benefit of whom they may 
concern. 
It is intereresting in a physiological point of view to know the effect 
of the deprivation of three senses upon the remaining two. 
The sense of smell being destroyed, it seems a curious question 
whether the effect upon the organ of taste is general or particular. 
That is, whether the taste is blunted generally, and for all things alike, 
or whether one kind of sapidity is more effected than another; to as- 
certain this some experiments have been tried but as yet not enough to 
enable one to state confidently the results in minute distinction. The 
general conclusions are these. 
Acids seem to make vivid and distinct impression upon the taste, 
and she apparently distinguishes the different, degrees of acidity, bet- 
ter than of sweetness or bitterness. She can distinguish between wine, 
cider and vinegar, better than substances like manna, liquorice and 
sugar. Of bitters she seems to have less perception or indeed hardly 
any, for on putting powdered rhubarb into her mouth she called it tea, 
and on one saying no, and telling her to taste close, she evidently did 
try to taste it but still called it tea, and spit it out—but without any 
contortion or any indication of its being particularly disagreeable. 
Of course she has a repugnance to these kind of experiments, and it 
seems almost imposing upon her good-nature to push them very far; 10 
we shall however be soon able to ascertain certainly how far she can 
distinguish different sapid bodies. Those who are curious in the phy- 
siology of the taste know that t he highest degree of gusto, or the acme 
of pleasure, is not obtained until just as the morsel has slipped over 
the glottis, and is on its way beyond power of recall down the oesoph- 
agus. This seems to be a wise precaution of nature to prevent the 
stomach being cheated of its due, tor if the highest degree in pleasure 
of eating could be obtained without absolutely swallowing the morsel 
—the epicure could have an exhaustless source of pleasure and need 
never degenerate into the gourmand. 
Some physiologists who have speculated upon this subject, consider 
that this final climax of the pleasure of taste is produced by a fine 
aroma which rising from the morsel, and mounting up the fauces pleas- 
antly titilates the ramifications of the olfactory nerve. The fact that 
when we have a cold in the head, and the fauces are obstructed, the 
taste blunted seems to bear out this supposition; but from some obser- 
vations in Laura, one would be inclined to think that some other cause 
must contribute to the effect. 
She appears to care less for the process of mastication than degluti- 
tion ; and probably it is only the necessity of mechanical trituration 
of food, which induces her to go through with it, before hastening to 
the pleasant part of swallowing. Now as the imperfection of smell 
impairs the taste in the tongue and palate during mastication, it should 
have the same effect in deglutition, supposing this theory to be correct; 
but it seems not to be so—else Laura would have little inducement to 
swallow—save to fill a vacuity of stomach. Now it seems doubt- 
ful whether the feeling of vacuity of stomach, strictly speaking, would 
show a child the road for the food, or whether it would not be as likely 
to stuff bread into its ear, as into its mouth—if it had no pleasurable 
sensation in tasting; and further, if the pleasurable sensation did not 
increase and tempt to deglutition, it is doubtful whether hunger or vacu- 
ity of stomach alone would teach a child to swallow the chewed 
morsel. 
On the whole she seems to care less for eating than most children of 
her age. 
With regard to the sense of touch it is very acute—even for a blind 
person. It is shown remarkably in the readiness with which she dis- 
tinguishes persons; there are forty inmates in the female wing, with 
all of whom of course Laura is acquainted; whenever she is walking 
through the passage-ways, she perceives by the jar of the floor, or the 
agitation of the air, that some one is near her, and it is exceedingly 
difficult to pass her without being recognized. Her little arms are 
stretched out, and the instant she grasps a hand, a sleeve, or even part 
of the dress, she knows the person and lets them pass on with some 
sign of recognition. 
The innate desire for knowledge, and the instinctive efforts which 
the human faculties make to exercise their functions is shown most 
remarkably in Laura. Her tiny fingers are to her as eyes, and ears, 
and nose, and most deftly and incessantly does she keep them in mo- 
tion ; like the feelers of some insects which are continually agitated, 
and which touch every grain of sand in the path, so Laura’s arms and 
hands are continually in plajr; and when she is walking with a person 
she not only recognizes everything she passes within touching distance, 
but by continually touching her companion’s hands she ascertains 
what he is doing. A person walking across a room while she had 
hold on his left arm, would find it hard to take a pencil out of his 
waistcoat pocket with his right hand, without her perceiving it. 11 
Her judgment of distances and of relations of place is very accurate; 
she will rise from her seat, go straight towards a door, put out her 
hand just at the right time, and grasp the handle with precision. 
When she runs against a door which is shut, but which she expected 
to find open, she does not fret, but rubs her head anu laughs, as though 
she perceived the ludicrous position of a person flat against a door 
trying to walk through it. 
The constant and tireless exercise of her feelers gives her a very ac- 
curate knowledge of everything about the house; so that if a new 
article, a bundle, bandbox or even a new book is laid anywhere in the 
apartments which she frequents, it would be but a short time before in 
her ceaseless rounds she would find it, and from something about it 
she would generally discover to whom it belonged. 
She perceives the approach of persons by the undulations of the air 
striking her face; and she can distinguish the step of those who tread 
hard, and jar the floor. 
At table, if told to be still, she sits and conducts herself with pro- 
priety; handles her cup, spoon, and fork, like other children; so that 
a stranger looking at her would take her for a very pretty child with a 
green ribbon over her eyes. 
But when at liberty to do as she chooses, she is continually feeling 
of things, and ascertaining their size, shape, density, and use—asking 
their names and their purposes, going on with insatiable curiosity, 
step by step, towards knowledge. 
Thus doth her active mind, though all silent and darkling within, 
commune by means of her one sense with things external, and gratify 
its innate craving for knowledge by close and ceaseless attention. 
Qualities and appearances, unappreciable or unheeded by others, 
are to her of great significance and value; and by means of these her 
knowledge of external nature and physical relations will in time be- 
come extensive. 
If the same success shall attend the cultivation of her moral nature, 
as has followed that of her intellect and her perceptive faculties, great 
will be the reward to her, and most interesting will be the results to 
others.