rm several other minor household duties. In 1837 Dr. S. W. Howe,
the Director of the Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, took Laura in
charge, and with her commenced the ordinary deaf-mute education. At
this time she was seven years and ten months old. Two years later she
had made such wonderful progress and shown such ability to learn that,
notwithstanding her infirmities, she surpassed any of the pupils of her
class. Her advancement was particularly noticed immediately after her
realization that an idea could be expressed by a succession of raised
letters. In fact, so rapid was her progress, that it was deemed
advisable by the authorities to hold her back. By her peculiar
sensibility to vibration she could distinguish the difference between a
whole and a half note in music, and she struck the notes on the piano
quite correctly. During the first years of her education she could not
smell at all, but later she could locate the kitchen by this sense.
Taste had developed to such an extent that at this time she could
distinguish the different degrees of acidity. The sense of touch,
however, was exceedingly delicate and acute. As to her moral habits,
cleanliness was the most marked. The slightest dirt or rent in her
clothes caused her much embarrassment and shame, and her sense of
order, neatness, and propriety was remarkable. She seemed quite at home
and enjoyed the society of her own sex, but was uncomfortable and
distant in the society of males. She quickly comprehended the
intellectual capacity of those with whom she was associated, and soon
showed an affiliation for the more intelligent of her friends. She was
quite jealous of any extra attention shown to her fellow scholars,
possibly arising from the fact that she had always been a favorite. She
cried only from grief, and partially ameliorated bodily pain by jumping
and by other excessive muscular movements. Like most mutes, she
articulated a number of noises,--50 or more, all monosyllabic; she
laughed heartily, and was quite noisy in her play. At this time it was
thought that she had been heard to utter the words doctor, pin, ship,
and others. She attached great importance to orientation, and seemed
quite ill at ease in finding her way about when not absolutely sure of
directions. She was always timid in the presence of animals, and by no
persuasion could she be induced to caress a domestic animal. In common
with most maidens, at sixteen she became more sedate, reserve