lower lip is shut against the upper lip, and that this position is immediately relaxed and an expulsive puff of breath comes from the mouth as the position is relaxed. For "T" the tip of the tongue is raised against the upper gum, entirely closing the mouth passage and immediately relaxed with an expulsive puff of breath. For "K" the back of the tongue in like manner is closed against the soft palate and immediately relaxed with a puff of breath. For "B" the lips are closed, as in the position for "P," and at the same time a slight vibration of the vocal chords. For "D" the position of the tongue is the same as for "T," with voice sounded while this position is held. For the sound of "G," as heard in the word get, the back of the tongue is raised against the soft palate, as for "K," voice being sounded while the position is held. For "M" the lips are closed, as for "P" and "B," voice escaping through the nasal passage while the lips are thus held. For "N" the point of the tongue is against the upper gum, with voice through the nose. For the sound we call "Ng," as in the word sing, the back of the tongue is shut against the soft palate, and voice escaping through the nasal passages while the position is held. For "L" the point of the tongue touches the upper gum in the centre but does not entirely close the mouth passage, the voice escaping either side of the tongue. In like manner is the mechanism of the elements of all languages indicated. In the visible speech alphabet will be found symbols to represent all the sounds of all languages and all dialects, and any one understanding the principles of visible speech can articulate all these sounds by simply executing with the organs of speech whatever the symbols dictate.

During the summer of 1864, Mr. Bell's system was tested by many scientific and literary men of Great Britain, and commissioners from the principal European nations, to the entire satisfaction of all. Mr. Bell demonstrated that in his alphabet could be written any language or dialect, and any one understanding the mechanism and use of the symbols could pronounce any language written in these symbols with vernacular precision, though he did not understand the meaning of a single word he was articulating.

His experiments were made in the following manner : Mr. Bell sent his two sons, who were to articulate whatever should be written, out of the room. Different languages and provincialisms were then pronounced, and Mr. Bell wrote them in his symbols; then some affected speech and mispronounced words were given, which he also wrote with equal facility. Mr. Bell's sons were then called in, and they pronounced whatever Mr. Bell had written with perfect satisfaction. The accent, tone, indistinctness, and all the peculiarities of pronunciation were reproduced with surprising accuracy.

Prof. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, and son of Alexander Melville Bell, has made similar tests with myself at the Boston University. The following experiment was made at the anniversary of the normal class in visible speech in the writing of Japanese. A member of the audience dictated a sentence. Mr. Shuje Isawa, a Japanese student, translated and pronounced the same in Japanese. I wrote his pronunciation in visible speech symbols upon the blackboard. One of my pupils and Mr. Tanetaro Megata, the Japanese Commissioner of Education to the United States, who were in another room and out

of hearing when the sentence was pronounced, came in. My pupil articulated what was written upon the blackboard, and Mr. Megata understood it in Japanese, and translated it back to English, giving the original sentence dictated by the audience. Neither my pupil nor myself understand the meaning of a single word in the Japanese language. Mr. Bell then asked some deaf children, who had been taught the system of visible speech, to pronounce the Japanese written upon the board, which they did with remarkable accuracy.

THE UTILITY OF VISIBLE SPEECH.

ITS APPLICATION TO THE DEAF. One of the first practical applications of visible speech was the teaching of deaf-mutes to speak. Deaf-mutes are mute or dumb because they are deaf. They cannot hear their own voice and have no ear to guide them in the development and utterance of spoken language. They possess all the organs of speech in as perfect condition as hearing persons, and only require to be directed visibly in the use of these organs for the production of speech. They are first taught mechanically to vibrate the vocal chords for the production of sound. By their acute sense of feeling they at once recognize the vibrations in the larynx and the degree of vibrations. They are then taught to mould the same into elements and words by adjusting the organs in definite positions. Visible speech directs the eye to the definite positions of the mouth for any and all articulate sounds; and by adjusting the organs according to the symbolization of visible speech, they are enabled to produce definite articulation.

Visible speech was first applied to the teaching of

the deaf articulate speech in England in the year 1869. It was introduced into the Boston Day School for the Deaf, by Prof. Alexander Graham Bell, in April, 1871. Miss Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston Day School for the Deaf, was so much gratified with the experiments in her school by Prof. Bell, that she at once adopted the system as far as practical, and has since used it in all the classes and grades of the school. All the teachers in this institution have learned the system and instruct their pupils in articulation. The more advanced pupils now recite lessons in history, geography, etc., as hearing children recite them, by articulate speech. During the seven years of experiment in the United States alone, many hundreds of deaf children have been taught articulate speech by this system. It is now taught in more than twenty State institutions and private schools. It has been introduced into several State institutions during the past year. Any one visiting a deaf school where articulation is taught should not expect to hear perfect speech, but quite imperfect. It requires a long time to develop good articulation, and especially by those who are congenitally deaf.

Lip-reading (the understanding of speech by observing the positions and movements of the lips and tongue) will enable the deaf articulator to carry on conversation with hearing persons with little inconvenience to either party. I have conversed for a halfhour at a time with a deaf person without any inconvenience. Instances have come under my observation of deaf persons taught by this system to articulate so perfectly as to deceive a stranger as to the possibility of their being deaf. Deaf persons thus being brought

into constant communication with hearing people, are enabled continually to gain general knowledge and mental development of which they would otherwise be deprived.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES. -Visible speech is of great practical value in acquiring the exact pronunciation of foreign languages by learners in all countries. It has been thought that only children can learn to pronounce a foreign language with vernacular freedom and expression. Visible speech makes it possible for the student of twenty or thirty years to pronounce a foreign language with the facility of a child. A Japanese student, who had been in an American college for two years, called at our office; we enabled him in five minutes to pronounce some English words which two years of drill in the usual arbitrary method had not enabled him to pronounce. We had only to direct his attention to the definite positions of his own organs as symbolized by visible speech. I recently wrote the articulation of a Swede and reproduced the same with an accuracy of pronunciation which he said only the most cultured of his country could attain.

The college student learns the French language from an American teacher. He reads and writes French fluently, speaks French, it may be, in the college class. He goes to Paris and has difficulty in being understood. He seeks an interpreter to make known his simplest wants. This is not true of all, but we may safely say that the average American teacher of French and German cannot speak those languages so as to be easily understood by native French and German speaking people. The French and Germans experience the same difficulty in acquiring English pronunciation.