Respectfully Dedicated, BY PERMISSION, то MISS GILBERT, DAUGHTER OF THE LATE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF CHICHESTER. PREFACE. THE author having in the course of his experience acquired a certain amount of information, and arrived at some conclusions, which are considered likely to be of use to the Blind and their friends, has felt it desirable to embody the same in the volume now offered to the public. For the last twenty-five years it has been his constant practice to make embossed notes of whatever appeared worthy of preservation, his motto being that a thought unrecorded was a thought lost; and seeing that during the whole of that period he has been engaged in matters connected with the Blind, and also that he has been himself without sight from early infancy, it can easily be imagined that a large portion of such memoranda would be on subjects relating to loss of vision. It was the original design to defer the publication of this work until comparative absence of profes sional claims might leave a larger amount of time at the writer's disposal, but of late it has seemed desirable not to delay its appearance any longer, and the result has been the issuing of the book now in the hands of the reader. In preparing these sheets for the press, it has been found that varied engagements are not necessarily inimical to literary pursuits, and that pressure of business possesses benefits as well as disadvantages even for the lover of books. There are, however, many subjects on which the author could have desired to dwell more fully, but which for want of time must be reserved for another volume, should circumstances permit the accomplishment of such a task. MEADOW HOUSE, AVENUE ROAD, ACTON, LONDON, W., November, 1871. |