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It will be seen that only one of the above-named countries, Holland, shows itself more exempt from the disability of deaf-mutism than Massachusetts. It is possible that more recent enumerations may have changed the above exhibit in some of the countries, but it is scarcely probable that our condition in this State would be found by the latest statistics to be comparatively deplorable. Judging by past experience, we may confidently anticipate progressive improvement in respect to the number of the deaf and dumb. Increasing skill in treating the diseases which cause deaf-dumbness and in preventing them from spreading, and improved methods in teaching the pitiable subjects of the defect, will lessen this unhappy disability. (3)

The following table shows the distribution of the deaf and dumb in the several counties: --

Persons reported as Deaf and Dumb, their number in each County in 1875, and their proportion to the General Population.

A noteworthy feature of the foregoing table is the comparative excess of the deaf and dumb in the counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Plymouth. The very high ratio in Dukes is especially remarkable; it is accounted for by the fact that by intermarriage a single family appears to have propagated this condition to an extraordinary extent, twenty of the twenty-two deaf-mutes in Martha's Vineyard bearing the same surname. A similar state of things was ascertained by the enumeration of 1865, when the proportion was one deaf-mute to every 175 of the population.

The sexes share the infirmity of deaf-mutism unequally in Massachusetts, the ratio among the males being one deaf-mute to every 2,219, and that of the females one to every 2,897. The numbers were 358 males and 296 females. It is of interest and importance to learn the ages of the deaf-mutes in the State, so that we may know how many in the population are likely to become the proper subjects for an institution for the education of this class. The following is an exhibition of the ages of the deaf and dumb as reported: --

Without doubt the number of the deaf and dumb at ages tinder five years is understated; a defect, we may remark in passing, that is common to every census enumeration, in Europe or America. The deafness of a child is hardly suspected for several months at least after birth; and parents are usually unwilling to be convinced that their child is actually destined to be a deaf-mute, the hope being entertained that at the worst the ability to talk is delayed only. So, too, if a child, after learning to talk, becomes deaf and then dumb by reason of disease, the parents naturally postpone their conviction that full power of speech is irrevocable. Hence, many children are returned as deaf who are really deaf-mutes, and the small number of the deaf and dumb reported as under five years old indicates that this disability was unrecognized or concealed on the part of the friends of many children whose exact condition would be determined and find a place on census schedules at a later period of life.