rds, and then by
slow gradations coming to the full rights and responsibilities of
citizenship. In this final stage, where the state provides education for
the deaf only as it provides it for all others, and attempts little
beyond, the deaf find themselves on a level with citizens in general in
the state's regard.

In Part I, after we have ascertained who are meant by the "deaf," and
how many of them there are, we are to find ourselves confronted by a
question which is of the foremost concern to society; namely, whether
the deaf are to be considered a permanent part of the population, or
whether society may have means at hand to eliminate or prevent deafness.
After this, our discussion will revolve about the deaf from different
points of view, regarding them in the several aspects in which they
appear to society. We shall examine the treatment which the state in
general accords the deaf, how they are looked upon in the law, and what
changes have been brought about in its attitude towards them. This may
be said to be the view of the publicist or legalist. Next, we shall
attempt to see how far the deaf are really a class apart in the life of
the community. This will involve an examination, on the one hand, as to
whether their infirmity is a bar to their independent self-support, that
is, whether they are potentially economic factors in the world of
industry, how far their status is due to what they themselves have done,
and to what extent this result has modified the regard and treatment of
society; and, on the other, how far their want of hearing stands in the
way of their mingling in the social life of the community in which they
live, whether the effect of this will tend to force the deaf to
associate more with themselves than with the rest of the people, and
what forms their associations take. These will be the views respectively
of the economist and the sociologist. Then we shall consider the regard
in which the deaf are popularly held, the view of "the man in the
street," and whether this regard is the proper and just one. Lastly, we
shall note what movements have been undertaken in the interests of the
deaf by private organizations, and to what extent these have been
carried.

In Part II we shall consider the provision that has been made for the
instruction of deaf children. First we shall review the attempts at
instruction in the Old World, and then carefully follow the development
of instruction in America, con