ts
and requirements. A great effort should be made to lift the blind from
pauperism. As soon as pupils enter a school, all semblance of pauper
origin should be removed. They must be inspired with a desire for
independence and a belief in its possibility. In the public mind
blindness has been so long and closely associated with dependence and
pauperism that schools for the blind, even the most progressive, have
been regarded hitherto as asylums rather than educational
establishments. A sad mistake in the training of the blind is the lack
of an earnest effort to improve their social condition. The fact that
their education has been left to charity has helped to keep them in the
ranks of dependents.

The question of day-classes versus boarding-schools has been much
discussed. It is claimed by some that a blind child gains more
independence if kept at home and educated in a school with the seeing.
This theory is not verified by practical experience. At home its
blindness makes the child an exception, and often it takes little or no
part in the active duties of everyday life. Again, in a class of seeing
children the blind member is treated as an exception. The memory is
cultivated at the expense of the other faculties, and the facility with
which it recites in certain subjects causes it to make a false estimate
of its attainments. The fundamental principles in different branches are
imperfectly understood, from the failure to follow the illustrations of
the teacher. In the playgrounds, a few irrepressibles join in active
games, but most of the blind children prefer a quiet corner.

For the sake of economy, schools for deaf-mutes and the blind are
sometimes united. As the requirements of the two classes are entirely
separate and distinct, the union is undesirable, whether for general
education or industrial training. The plan was tried in America, but has
been given up in most of the states. To meet the difficulty of proper
classification with small numbers, blind boys and girls are taught in
the same classes. The acquaintances then made lead to intimacy in later
years and foster intermarriage among the blind. Intermarriage among the
blind is a calamity, both for them and for their children; some who
might have been successful business men are to-day begging in the
streets in consequence of intermarriage.

In every school or class there will be a certain number of young blind
children who, from neglect, want of food, or ot