ss. It is true that
with the majority of the deaf phonetic speech is not employed to any
large extent; but there is at the same time a fair number who can, and
do, use vocal language. This speech varies to a wide degree, in some
approximating normal speech, and in others being harsh and understood
with difficulty; and it depends in the main upon three conditions: 1.
the age at which deafness occurred, this being the most important
factor; 2. the extent to which the voice is cultivated; and 3. the
remaining power of the ear (which is found but seldom).[8]

Of the deaf persons enumerated in the census,[9] 21.5 per cent were
reported able to speak well; 15.8 per cent imperfectly; and 62.7 per
cent not at all. In other words, somewhat over a third of the deaf can
speak more or less, one-fifth being able to speak well, and one-sixth
imperfectly, while over three-fifths do not speak at all. The dependence
of the ability to speak upon the age of becoming deaf is clearly in
evidence here, the proportion of those not able to speak showing a
great decrease with the rise of this age. Thus, of those born deaf, 83.5
per cent cannot speak at all; of those becoming deaf after birth and
under five, 74.6 per cent; of those becoming deaf after five and under
twenty, 26.5 per cent; and of those becoming deaf after twenty, 3.4 per
cent.

Some of the deaf are able to read the lips of the speaker, or as it is
better expressed, to read speech, or to understand what is being said by
watching the motions of the mouth. This in reality is a distinct art
from the ability to speak, though popularly they are often thought to be
co-ordinate or complementary one to the other. Like the ability to
speak, it varies in wide degree, from the ability to understand simple
and easy expressions only, to the ability to follow protracted
discourse; and like the ability to speak, it is found in increasing
frequency with the rise of the age of becoming deaf. According to the
census,[10] 38.6 per cent of the deaf are able to read the lips. Of
those born deaf, 28.0 per cent have this ability; of those becoming deaf
after birth and under five, 37.1 per cent; of those becoming deaf after
five and under twenty, 64.3 per cent; and of those becoming deaf after
twenty, 43.6 per cent.[11]

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION EMPLOYED BY THE DEAF

If the larger number of the deaf do not use the speech which is used by
those who can hear, how is it that their communication is carri