she could follow the actions of
others; but she was limited in her communication with others to the
narrower uses of touch--patting her head meant approval, rubbing her hand
disapproval, pushing one way meant to go, drawing another to come. Her
mother, preoccupied with house-work, had already ceased to be able to
control her, and her father's authority was due to fear of superior force,
not to reason. Dr Howe at once set himself to teach her the alphabet by
touch. It is impossible, for reasons of space, to describe his efforts in
detail. He taught words before the individual letters, and his first
experiment consisting in pasting upon several common articles such as keys,
spoons, knives, &c., little paper labels with the names of the articles
printed in raised letters, which he got her to feel and differentiate; then
he gave her the same labels by themselves, which she learnt to associate
with the articles they referred to, until, with the spoon or knife alone
before her she could find the right label for each from a mixed heap. The
next stage was to give her the component letters and teach her to combine
them in the words she knew, and gradually in this way she learnt all the
alphabet and the ten digits, &c. The whole process depended, of course, on
her having a human intelligence, which only required stimulation, and her
own interest in learning became keener as she progressed. On the 24th of
July 1839 she first wrote her own name legibly. Dr Howe devoted himself
with the utmost patience and assiduity to her education and was rewarded by
increasing success. On the 20th of June 1840 she had her first arithmetic
lesson, by the aid of a metallic case perforated with square holes, square
types being used; and in nineteen days she could add a column of figures
amounting to thirty. She was in good health and happy, and was treated by
Dr Howe as his daughter. Her case already began to interest the public, and
others were brought to Dr Howe [v.04 p.0559] for treatment. In 1841 Laura
began to keep a journal, in which she recorded her own day's work and
thoughts. In January 1842 Charles Dickens visited the Institution, and
afterwards wrote enthusiastically in _American Notes_ of Dr Howe's success
with Laura. In 1843 funds were obtained for devoting a special teacher to
her, and first Miss Swift, then Miss Wight, and then Miss Paddock, were
appointed; Laura by this time was learning geography and elementary
astronomy. By degrees s