The blind are those who want, or are deficient in, the sense of sight. Blindness may vary in degree from the slightest impairment of vision to total loss of sight; it may also be temporary or permanent. It is caused by defect, disease, or injury to the eye, to the optic nerve, or to that part of the brain connected with it. Old age is sometimes accompanied with blindness, occasioned by the drying up of the humours of the eye, or by the opacity of the cornea, the crystalline lens, etc. The blind are often distinguished for a remarkable mental activity, and a wonderful development of the intellectual powers. Their touch and hearing, particularly, become very acute.
As early as 1260 an asylum for the blind (L'hospice des Quinze-Vingts) was founded in Paris by St Louis for the relief of the Crusaders who lost their sight in Egypt and Syria; but the first institution for the instruction of the blind was the idea of Valentin Hauy, brother of the celebrated mineralogist. In 1784 he opened an institution in which the blind were instructed not only in appropriate mechanical employments, as spinning, knitting, making ropes or fringes, and working in paste-board, but also in music, in reading, writing, ciphering, geography, and the sciences. For instruction in reading he procured raised letters of metal; for writing he used particular writing-cases, in which a frame, with wires to separate the lines, could be fastened upon the paper; for ciphering there were movable figures of metal, and ciphering-boards in which the figures could be fixed; for teaching geographymaps were prepared upon which mountains, rivers, cities, and the boundaries of countries were indicated to the sense of touch in various ways, etc.
Similar institutions were soon afterwards founded in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dresden, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Vienna, and in many towns of the United States. By 1900 there were comparatively few large cities that did not possess a school or institution of some kind for the blind.
At the start of the 20th century the attitude towards the blind was rather patronising, and one source may be quoted as saying 'the occupations in which the blind are found capable of engaging are such as the making of baskets and other kinds of wicker-work, brushmaking, rope and twine making, the making of mats and matting, knitting, netting, fancy work of various kinds, cutting fire-wood, the sewing of sacks and bags; the carving of articles in wood, etc'. However, it was also recognised that more skilled tasks could also be performed by blind persons, and the same source notes that 'Piano-tuning is also successfully carried on by some, and the cleaning of clocks and watches has even been occasionally practised by them'.
Around 1900 an impetus was given, in Britain, to the higher education of the blind by the formation of the British and Foreign Blind Association, the establishment of a college for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen at Worcester, and the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind, Upper Norwood.
Various systems were devised for the purpose of teaching the blind to read, some of which consisted in the use of the ordinary Roman alphabet, with more or less modification, and some of which employ types quite arbitrary in form. In all systems the characters rise above the surface of the paper so as to be felt by the fingers. The type adopted by Hauy was the script or italic form of the Roman letter. This was introduced into England by Sir C. Lowther, who printed the Gospel of St. Matthew in 1832 with type obtained from Paris. Before this Gall of Edinburgh made use of an embossed alphabet based on the ordinary Roman small letters, in which all curves were replaced by angular lines, and in 1834 he published the Gospel of St John in this character. Subsequently he introduced various improvements, and in particular the letters were produced with serrated surfaces, thus giving greater distinctness. Alston of Glasgow, Howe of Boston, and others also used the Roman form; but the former (who was the first to print the whole Bible, in 1840) adopted the Roman capitals, while the latter adopted the small letters, printing in this type the Bible and many other books. Of alphabets deviating entirely or nearly so from the Roman letter, one consists of a stenographic shorthand invented by Lucas of Bristol; another was a phonetic shorthand devised by Frere of London. In Dr. Moon's alphabet some of the characters are Roman, others are based on or suggested by the Roman characters. The Braille system, widely adopted by the laye 20th century, is one in which the letters are formed by a combination of dots. Dr. Moon's system from its simplicity and the size of its characters is in very general use in books for the blind. There are also systems by which the blind are enabled to write, and the writing may be either in relief so as to be read by the blind, or in characters that may be read by those who see. Research Blind
Copenhagen was the Duke of Wellington's horse which he rode at the Battle of Waterloo. Copenhagen was born in 1808 and died in 1835. It was a rich chestnut colour and stood fifteen hands high. Upon its death, following retirement at Strathfieldsaye near Basingstoke, Copenhagen was buried with military honours. Research Copenhagen
Verner's Law is a linguistic law formulated in 1875 by Karl Verner of Copenhagen by which certain apparent failures of Grimm's Law are explained. Research Verner's Law
Absalom was the third and favourite son of David. He was killed leading a rebellion against his father.
Absalom, or Axel, was a Danish prelate, statesman, and warrior. He was born in 1128 and died in either 1201 or 1202. He became the intimate friend and counsellor of his sovereignWaldemar I, who appointed him Archbishop of Lund. He cleared the sea of the Slavonic pirates who had long infested it, secured the independence of the kingdom by defeating a powerful fleet of the Emperor Barbarossa, and built the castle of Axelborg, the nucleus of Copenhagen. Turning his thoughts to literature he caused the History of Denmark to be drawn up by Saxo Grammaticus and Sueno Aagesen. Research Absalom
Absalon or Axel was a Danish prelate and statesman. He was born in 1129 and died in 1201. The foster-brother of Valdemar I, whom he helped to the throne in 1157, he was appointed Bishop of Roskilde in 1158 and elected Archbishop of Lund in 1177. As Chief Minister to Valdemar I, he led an army against the Wends in 1169 and extended Danish territories in the Baltic by capturing Rugen. In 1169 he built a fortress at Havn, around which subsequently developed the city of Copenhagen. In 1184, as Chief Minister to Knut VI he led an expedition that captured Mecklenburg and Pomerania. While Archbishop of Lund, he organised the systematization of Danish ecclesiastical law. Research Absalon
Andrew Aagesen was a Danish jurist. He was born in 1826 and died in 1879. He studied law at Kristianshavn and Copenhagen, and interrupted his studies in 1848 to take part in the first Schleswig war, in which he served as the leader of a reserve battalion. In 1855 he became professor of jurisprudence at the university of Copenhagen and in 1870 was appointed a member of the commission for drawing up a maritime and commercial code, and the navigation law of 1882 is mainly his work. In 1879 he was elected a member of the Landsthing; but it is as a teacher at the university that he won his reputation. He also wrote numerous papers and conducted ground breaking research into Roman Law. Research Andrew Aagesen
Bertel Thorwaldsen was a Danishsculptor. He was born in 1770 at Copenhagen and died in 1844. His father had been a carver of ships' figure heads, and Bertel Thorwaldsen started studying art when he was eleven years old at the free classes of the Copenhagen Acacdemy. In 1793 he gained the gold medal and the scholarship enabling him to spend three years abroad. In 1796 he went to Rome, where in 1809 he produced a figure of Jason which won him reputation. He remained in Italy until 1819 when he returned to Copenhagen for three years before returning to Rome. Research Bertel Thorwaldsen
Bjornstjerne Bjornson was a Norwegian novelist, poet, and dramatist. He was born in 1832 and died after 1905. He entered the University of Christiania in 1852, and he speedily became known as a contributor of articles and stories to newspapers and as a dramatic critic. From 1857 to 1859 he was manager of the Bergen theatre, producing during that time his novel Arne, and his tragedy of Halte Hulda.
He was at Christiania part-editor of the Aftenblad in 1860, then lived several years abroad, and in 1866 became editor of the Norsk Folkeblad. From 1869 until 1872 he was co-director of a Copenhagen periodical, and much of his later life was passed abroad. The democratic tendencies to be found in his novels have found a practical outcome in the active part taken by him in political questions bearing upon the Norwegian peasantry and popular representation. Among his tales and novels, a number of which may be had in English, are: Synnoeve Solbakken; Arne; The Fishermaiden; A Happy Boy; Railways and Churchyards. Among his dramatic pieces are: The Newly-married Couple; Mary Stuart in Scotland; A Bankruptcy, etc. He also wrote poems and songs. Research Bjornstjerne Bjornson
Sir David Baird was a British soldier. He was born in 1757 at Edinburghshire and died in 1829. He entered the army in 1772. Having been promoted to a lieutenancy in 1778 he
sailed for India, distinguished himself as a, captain in the war against Hyder Ali, was wounded and taken prisoner, and confined in the fortress of Seringapatam for nearly four years. He and his fellow-prisoners were treated with great barbarity, and many of them died or were put to death, but at last (in 1784) all that survived were set at liberty. After his release he received, in 1787, his majority, and in 1791 joined the army under Cornwallis as lieutenant-colonel, and was appointed to the command of a brigade in the war against Tippoo. After much hard service he received a colonelcy in 1795, went in 1797 to the Cape of Good Hope as brigadier-general, and in 1798, on his appointment as major-general, returned to India. In 1799 he commanded the storming party at the assault of Seringapatam, and, in requital, was presented with the state sword of Tippoo Saib. Being appointed in 1800 to command an expedition to Egypt, he landed at Kosseir in June, 1801, crossed the desert, and, embarking on the Nile, descended to Cairo, and thence to Alexandria, which he reached a few days before it surrendered to General Hutchinson. Next -year he returned to India, but being soon after superseded by Sir Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington), he sailed for Britain, where he was knighted and made K.C.B. With the rank of lieutenant-general he commanded an expedition in 1805 to the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1806, after defeating the Dutch, he received the surrender of the colony. He commanded a division at the siege of Copenhagen, and after a short period of service in Ireland sailed with 10,000 men for Corunna, where he formed a junction with Sir John Moore. He commanded the first division of Moore's army, and in the battle of Corunna lost his left arm. By the death of Sir John Moore Sir David succeeded to the chief command, receiving for the fourth time the thanks of Parliament, and a baronetcy. In 1814 he was made a general. Research David Baird
Fritz Thaulow was a Norwegian painter. He was born in 1848 at Christiana and died in 1906. he studied at the Copenhagen Academy, under Gude in Germany and in Paris. Returning to Norway, he led the opposition to the stereotypical principles of German academic art which then prevailed in Norway. He painted a great deal of Norwegian scenery, particularly of the effects of snow which he worked in oils and pastels. A series of pictures of the Seine helped to secure his international reputation. Research Fritz Thaulow
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Blind
