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Education of the Blind and Deaf-Mute. 
109 
deaf and dumb, and the number of such gradually increased. In 
Prussia the first one was founded in Berlin, as a private institution, 
by Dr. Eschke, in 1788, and from it arose, in 1798, the Royal Institu- 
don for the Deaf and Dumb. 
At present there are in Prussia 45, in Bavaria 13, in Saxony 3, 
in Wiirttemberg 8, and in the whole Empire 90 institutions for the 
leaf and dumb. 
Of these institutions 25 are supported by the State, 42 by pro- 
vinces or districts, 4 by towns, and 19 by private societies, which, as 
a rule, are assisted by contributions from the public funds. Among 
the institutions 38 are boarding establishments, 44 day-schools, while 
11 have both boarders and day-scholars. The total number of inmates, 
in 682 classes, is 6703, of whom 3674 are boys and 3029 girls; 4056 
are Protestants, 2553 Roman Catholics, and 94 Jews. The number of 
male teachers is 651, that of the female teachers 104, total 755. 
The children are received, as a rule, in their seventh year. In 
the larger German States the education of the deaf and dumb is not 
compulsory, in Prussia it is so only in the province of Schleswig-Hol- 
stein. The course of instruction, in most of the institutions, extends 
over eight years. The oral system forms the central part of the in- 
struction, but the practice of understanding speakers by watching the 
movements of their lips is considered of equal importance. For the 
rest the teaching corresponds to that of the elementary schools.