lind, and this has since led to the education of
Helen Keller and other blind deaf-mutes. The New York Institution was
incorporated in 1831, and the Pennsylvania Institution was founded at
Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. The Ohio was founded at
Columbus in 1837, Virginia at Staunton in 1839, Kentucky at Louisville
in 1842, Tennessee at Nashville in 1844, and now every state in the
Union makes provision for the education of the blind.

STATISTICS

England and Wales.

In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as
afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per
million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The
following table shows that the proportion of blind persons to population
has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year
particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the
first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in
the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still
considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871
and 1891 was not maintained.--

+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Year.| Number of | Blind per Million | Persons Living to |
| | Blind. | of the Population | one Blind Person. |
+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
| 1851 | 18,306 | 1021 | 979 |
| 1861 | 19,352 | 964 | 1037 |
| 1871 | 21,590 | 951 | 1052 |
| 1881 | 22,832 | 879 | 1138 |
| 1891 | 23,467 | 809 | 1236 |
| 1901 | 25,317 | 778 | 1285 |
+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+

The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million
living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891-1901,
as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in
the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus
lends support to the contention, in the _General Report_ for 1891, that
the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more
efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies
which may result in blindness.

+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|