works being usually produced from plates upon which detached pieces of wire are soldered, the oblique lines are seldom placed at the same angle, so that the exact inclination of two letters of the same name often differs considerably. The practice of reading alternately from left to right, and from right to left, as adopted in Moon's system, possesses the disadvantage of often presenting the same letter to the reader in two aspects, e. g., in proceeding from left to right and coming to the letter c, the finger first comes in contact with the round part of the letter, but in reading from right to left the finger first comes in contact with the points of the letter. In the case of the letter D, on proceeding from left to right, the reader first perceives the points; and on reading from right to left he first perceives the round part. In other words in reading from left to right, the front of the letter is first perceived; but on reading from right to left the back of the letter is perceived first. The great effect of this mode in preventing fluent reading must be self-evident, especially when it is stated that no fewer than twentyseven characters, out of the thirty-seven used for the alphabet and figures, present to the reader this double aspect.

The fluency desirable is that which enables a person to read so as to stop only at the points of punctuation. If it be necessary to print the lines alternately from left to right, and from right to left, the alphabet should be composed of such characters as only present one aspect to the reader, whether approached from one direction or the other, and the formation of such an alphabet is by no means difficult. The fewness of contractions, and the nature of the characters employed, cause books in this system to be more expensive and bulky than those printed in any other way; and the price of the volumes was further increased for a long time by the profits realized by Mr. Moon, who, unlike the promoters of other systems, appears not to have

sold his books at cost price. In the mode of reading from left to right, and from right to left, employed by Mr. Frere, many of the characters are entirely reversed, so that on feeling a character in one line, and finding that the opening is to the right, on examining a character of the same name in the next line, the opening will be found to the left. This is done to convey the impression of uniformity on the first contact with the finger; but after the first contact is passed, the illusion is dispelled, and on examining a given character, it is found to be quite of an opposite shape to its namesake in the previous line. This arrangement is attended with much inconvenience to those who do not spend the greater part of their time in reading. The use of sounds instead of letters often produces a hesitating and vitiated pronunciation, and the want of a regular method of punctuation is an evil of no little weight.

In the system of M. Braille, perhaps the greatest defect is that arising from all the characters being formed by the multiplication of one kind of dot, which fails to present the touch with the requisite amount of variety of surface; this greatly interferes with the utility of the system for reading, but for writing the method has many advantages. When at Paris and Brussels, the writer found that the most proficient pupils could read in Braille's system about as well as Moon's readers in England, but not by any means as quickly as those who employ Lucas's type.

The following table may give some idea of the comparative merits of the various systems, when viewed in connection with the definition of which we have been treating,-No. 1 indicating the highest quality, and so on:

Of course it cannot be supposed that the qualities here attempted to be indicated are in any way equal in value. For cheapness, for instance, cannot be considered of equal importance to certainty; and so again, if the books in any system cannot be read, any other qualities they may contain are of no use whatever. Still, it is felt that the above table possesses some interest, and as such it is inserted here.

THE BEST SYSTEM OF READING FOR THE BLIND.

In considering the question of what arrangements are desirable to enable the blind to read with the greatest amount of certainty, ease, and fluency, and to supply them with books of the cheapest and most portable description, it is necessary thoroughly to comprehend the peculiarities of the agent by which the reading must be performed, viz. the sense of feeling, or touch. Touch differs from sight in many respects, but chiefly in this,-that while sight can take in at one glance many objects included within a vast area, touch can only convey to the brain by one act of contact the impression of the first small point that arrests its progress. To illustrate this statement with respect to sight is needless, but with regard to touch, the following example may serve to elucidate our meaning.

Let a small horizontal line be made in relief on a piece of paper, the person who wishes to feel it proceeds from the left side of the paper, quite unconscious of what may meet his finger; he presently comes in contact with a point, which fact with more than lightningspeed is conveyed to the brain. He then immediately proceeds along the line, and, far quicker than we can describe it, he comes to the extremity. Thus the act of feeling the smallest horizontal line involves the necessity of conveying to the brain, through the tactual nerve, at least three impressions, viz. contact, continuation, and conclusion. Now it is obvious, that if it were possible to convey to the brain a distinct idea of one special letter or word every time the finger came in contact with a point, 'tangible reading' would, under such circumstances, reach perfection; and if this desideratum cannot be fully attained, it must be admitted that the nearer we approach to its realization, the more likely we shall be to fulfil the task we have in view. Under these circumstances, therefore, although we cannot do all that could be wished, yet, as the present modes of printing in relief are radically defective, it is our duty to embody the results of experience by the formation of a system of reading which may give to the blind greater advantages than they now possess. The first thing is to select the most tangible characters, viz. those whose properties can be perceived immediately that the finger comes in contact with them; and with regard to this point, after a careful examination of more than thirty systems, extending over many years, we are enabled to state that in our opinion the characters possessing the greatest tangible power are the following:

A dot at the top of the line, a dot at the bottom, two dots placed perpendicularly from the top of the line, two dots placed perpendicularly from the bottom, two dots placed perpendicularly, one at the top and the other at the bottom, three dots placed perpendi

cularly, a short perpendicular line from the top, a short perpendicular line from the bottom, and a long perpendicular line.

The characters possessing second-class tangible power are:-A short perpendicular line with a dot above, a short perpendicular line with a dot below, a horizontal line at the top, a horizontal line at the bottom, a small solid circle at the top, a small solid circle at the bottom, two small circles placed perpendicularly, a semicircle to the left, a semicircle to the right, an oblique line to the left, an oblique line to the right, a semicircle at the top, and a semicircle at the bottom. We thus obtain twenty-two characters, and the additional number required to complete the alphabet and the figures, etc. are easily obtained by the use of curves and lines united, etc. They, however, possess inferior tangible power, and may be denominated thirdclass characters. Next to the importance of selecting the best characters is the solution of the question, how they shall be employed? And here we have to deal with this fact, that a very great disparity exists between the frequency with which the various letters of the alphabet are used, e.g., in an ordinary book, the letter e is employed above sixty times more frequently than z, thirty times more than j, fifteen times more thank. The letters t, a, i, n, o, and s are used more than four times as often as b, f, g, and P, and more than twice as frequently as c, m, d, and l. Under these circumstances it is a matter of the highest importance to represent the letters which occur most frequently by characters possessing the greatest amount of tangible power, and which occupy the least space. Such an arrangement is presented in the foregoing description of characters, which we have employed for many years in making memoranda, and which we hope soon to offer to the blind generally, as the “Tactual System of Relief Print.”