CHAPTER X.

HOW THE MIND GETS KNOWLEDGE.

[Sidenote: Knowledge enters the mind by the senses.]

The mind, as you learned in the last chapter, has a sort of telegraphic communication with all parts of the body by means of the nerves, and it is all the time receiving messages from the fingers, the eyes, the nose, the ears, the mouth, and other parts. These are instruments which the mind uses to get a knowledge of what is around us. It gets different kinds of knowledge by the different instruments. For example, it learns whether a thing is hard or soft by the touch of the fingers, and it learns how it smells by the nose, how it tastes by the mouth, and how it looks by the eyes.

There is knowledge, then, going all the time to the mind by the nerves from these instruments. It can not get there in any other way. Suppose the mind was locked up in the brain, and had no nerves going out from it. It could not learn any thing about what is around it; there might be eyes, and fingers, and ears, and a nose, and a mouth, but these would be of no use to the mind if there were no nerves.

[Sidenote: How the mind learns about things.]

See how the child learns about the world of things all around him. When he is first born he does not know any thing. He does not know how any thing feels, or looks, or tastes, or smells. But with his little nerves his mind gets messages from the senses, and so he learns every day about the things that are around him. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and fingers are all the time telling his mind something through the nerves. They tell him first about those things that are in the room where he is, and then, after a while, when he is carried out, they tell him about things that are out of doors, and thus he knows more and more every day.

And then, too, the mind thinks about what the senses tell it. It lays up what comes to it by the nerves, and looks it over, as we may say, and in this way it learns a great deal. There is great difference in people in this thinking about what the mind knows by the senses. Some that see and hear a great many things do not know as much as some that see and hear few things. It is because they do not think much about what the senses tell the mind.

You see, then, that all that we learn in this world really comes into the mind by the way of the nerves from the senses--the sight, the hearing, the touch, the smell, and the taste. The senses are the _inlets_ or openings by which knowledge enters, and the nerves are the passages by which it gets to the mind in the brain; and after it gets there the mind thinks about it and uses it in various ways.

[Sidenote: The deaf and the blind.]

[Sidenote: Deaf and dumb.]

[Sidenote: How the blind read.]

Some persons, you know, do not have all these inlets for knowledge open. For example, some are deaf; in them no knowledge can get into the mind by the ears. Some are blind, and no knowledge can get into their minds by the eyes. More knowledge comes into the mind by the sight than by the hearing; it is therefore a greater misfortune to be blind than it is to be deaf.

It is astonishing to see how much the deaf and the blind can learn if they try. If the mind is wide awake and ready to learn, it can get a great deal of knowledge even when one of the openings for it is shut up. It can use the knowledge gained by the other senses in such a way as to make up very much for the loss. A lazy mind, with all the senses letting in knowledge, will not know as much as a busy mind will with one of the senses shut up. In the deaf and dumb the eyes have to answer for both eyes and ears in getting knowledge. They have to do double duty; and they do it very well if the mind is only wide awake and attentive to all that it can learn by the eyes. In the blind the ears have to do a great deal more than in those that can see. The fingers also of the blind are very busy, for they learn very much about what is around them by the sense of feeling. There are books now made for their use with raised letters. By passing their fingers over them, they read just as you do by looking at printed letters.

[Sidenote: Story of Laura Bridgman.]

And now I will tell you about a girl that has had to get all her knowledge with only one of the senses, the sense of feeling. Her name is Laura Bridgman. When she was in her second year she became very sick. Her sickness lasted a very long time. After she got well it was found that she was blind and deaf, and that she had no taste nor smell; only one of the five inlets for knowledge was open. All that could come into her mind was what could be learned by the touch alone. But she had an active mind, and so she went round feeling of every thing, to find out all she could about things.

The only way that she could know people was by feeling them. Her mother was very kind to her, and the little helpless girl liked to be with her all the time. She followed her about the house, and tried to do things just as her mother did them. She would feel of her mother’s arms and hands while she was doing things, that she might find out how she did them. In this way she learned to knit, which was a great comfort to her, for she did not like to be idle.

[Sidenote: Laura in the asylum.]

A kind physician, who had charge of an asylum for the blind in Boston, heard about Laura. He was much interested for the helpless child, and went to see her. He persuaded her mother to let her come to the asylum. Laura did not feel at home at first, but, as they were all kind to her in the asylum, she soon liked it very much.

She now began to learn many things, and I will tell you a little how the teacher managed with her. He put into her hands different things--spoons, keys, books, etc. Each article had a label on it. The letters on the labels were raised letters, such as are used in teaching the blind. She would feel them all over with the tips of her little fingers, her busy mind all the time thinking about how they felt. Then the labels and the things were put before her, but separated from each other. After a little trying, she learned to put the labels on the things right.

All this time she did not know that these labels had the names of the articles on them. If she were blind only, she would have known this at once, for she could have been told of it; but after a while she in some way got this idea into her mind. She was delighted, for she had now found a new way of learning things, and of telling about things to others.

[Sidenote: How Laura learned to read and to converse.]

And now Laura went on fast with her learning. The letters were separated, and she would put them together so as to spell spoon, key, etc. This was a great amusement to her. Sometimes, when she carelessly placed the letters wrong, she would playfully strike her right hand with her left one, and then, when the letters were placed right, she would pat her head, as the teacher was apt to do when he was pleased with any thing that she had done.

After a while the teacher taught Laura to use her fingers in talking, as you, perhaps, have seen the deaf and dumb do. She soon learned to make all the letters in this finger-alphabet, which you can see on page 98; and now she could talk with people quite easily, if they happened to know this alphabet. When she had any thing to say, she would make the letters with the fingers, while the person to whom she was talking would look at her. But how do you think that she managed when this person said any thing to her with his fingers? She could not see his fingers, but she could feel them, and this was the way in which she knew what was said to her; she would carefully, but rapidly, pass her fingers over his as fast as he made the letters. It was surprising to see how quickly the touch of her nimble fingers would tell her mind what letter was made, and how fast she could converse with persons in this way.

[Sidenote: Laura’s industry.]

Laura learned much more at the asylum than we should suppose she could with only her one sense of touch. Some persons with the whole five senses do not know as much as she does. She even learned to write; and writing and knitting were very pleasant employments to her. By writing she could put the thoughts of her busy mind on paper, so that others might read them; and while she was sitting alone thinking, she liked to make her nimble fingers useful in knitting. It was a great satisfaction to her that, though she had but one sense, she could do something useful. What a pity it is that many children, and many adults too, do not have more of this feeling than they seem to have! The example of Laura teaches a good lesson to all idlers.

[Sidenote: Her fun.]

Though Laura could never see beautiful things, nor hear pleasant sounds, as you do all the time, she was very cheerful, and sometimes she was very funny. She liked to play with her doll; and as the blind children in the asylum had ribbons tied over their sightless eyes, she tied one over her doll’s eyes. One day she was in her play taking care of her doll as one would of a sick child. She made believe give it medicine, and put a hot bottle to its feet; and when some one proposed to her to put a blister on its back, she was so much amused that she laughed and clapped her hands.

[Sidenote: A visit from her mother.]

[Sidenote: How Laura knew her mother.]

After Laura had been some time at the asylum her mother came to see her. She did not know her mother at first, but thought that she was some stranger. She held back and would not come near. Her mother handed her a string of beads which she used to wear when at home. She took them, and as soon as she felt them she knew what beads they were. She put them on her neck, and, showing great joy, said with her finger-language that she knew these came from home. Something else from home was given her. She now drew near, and her mother kissed her. The moment that her mother’s lips touched her she knew who it was, for that kiss was just like the many kisses her loving mother used to give her. She remembered how those lips used to feel, and they had the same feeling now; and now she clung to her mother, and put her head into her bosom. They were both very happy. When her mother left her Laura felt sad indeed. She wanted to go with her, but she knew that it was best for her to stay in the asylum, where she could learn so much.

_Questions._--What are the instruments by which the mind gets its knowledge? How does the knowledge get to the mind? What good would the instruments do if there were no nerves? Tell how the child, when first born, learns about things around him. What is said about thinking of what is learned by the senses? Why may the senses be called the inlets of knowledge? Tell about the deaf and the blind. Why is it worse to be blind than it is to be deaf? What is said about the amount of knowledge that the blind and the deaf can obtain? What is said about the sense of sight in the deaf and dumb? What senses do the blind chiefly use in getting knowledge? How do they read? How many of the senses did Laura Bridgman lose? How did she learn about things before she went to the asylum? Tell how she learned after she went there. How did she talk with people? Tell about her industry. What is said of her cheerfulness? What of her fun? Tell About her mother’s visit.