REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL.

To the Board of Directors of the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb:

Gentlemen.-Agreeably to the requirements of the by-laws, it is my pleasure to submit for your consideration the eighty-first annual report of this institution, for the year ending September 30, 1899.

In the rapid sequence of events of interest, it is a difficult matter, without trespassing at too great length upon your time, to make a full record. A community numbering upwards of 600, within twelve months, affords opportunity for the writing of an extended history, hence, the difficulty in the preparation of an annual report consists solely in the character of the elimination.

HEALTH.

It therefore seems fitting that health should be the first subject to which your attention should be directed, for, without a good measure thereof, the objects for which the institution was established could not be attained. During the period under review but a single death has occurred within the institution.

On December 13th, at the age of 17, from cerebro-spinal-meningitis, died James Belch, sergeant-major of the cadet battalion, who has left the pleasing memory which belongs to a character that exhibited, not only patient effort and obedient service, but also a high regard for all the requirements of life.

When the physical status of the pupils of this institution is considered, a condition more frequently caused by severe sicknesses, which have reduced vitality to a low degree, the record of the past year is in itself a sufficient proof of the care that is given to matters hygienic and sanitary.

ATTENDANCE.

The attendance during the year has been as follows: 466 pupils, of whom 301 were males and 165 females, supported as shown in

Of the foregoing pupils, 168 were born deaf, 106 became deaf under the age of two years, 140 became deaf after the age of two and before the age of five years, 51 became deaf between the age of five and twelve years, and 1 after attaining the age of twelve.

The causes of deafness were given by the parents as follows: Scarlet fever, 53; cerebro-spinal-meningitis, 44; brain trouble, 47; falls, 42; measles, 23; typhoid fever, 17; convulsions, 15; fevers (various) 12; catarrh, 11; diphtheria, 9; scrofula, 7; pneumonia, 7; croup and colds, 4; whooping cough, 8; cramps, 8; mumps, 3; fright, 3; and from causes unknown, 153.

SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION.

To provide for the satisfactory education of pupils whose mental condition presents so great variety of form, would seem to require a broadly eclectic system of instruction, which should at the same time be sufficiently flexible to enable each individual to receive training along the lines that would the soonest reach his perceptive powers and tend to lead out and strengthen whatever mentality he might possess. This is the premise from which the present methods used in this institution have been evolved, and hence every known plan, device or artifice is employed.

No single system has been here employed because it was the system. Any system, however far from the popular it may be, that is found to produce practical results has been used. The proper test of the value of the work of a school is not in the magnificent percentages shown by a single examination along a single line of study, nor how well the English language may be used or understood at the demand of the teacher, but the practical test is obtained ten years after graduation by the respect with which the deaf-mute is regarded in the community in which he dwells and the success he has attained in providing maintenance and support. Hence, when out of a total of 3,790 of those who have been educated here, less than 100 have been found to be unable to successfully care for themselves after graduation, it would seem to warrant the assertion that an eclectic, rather than a single, confined, system is desirable.

To instruct the 466 pupils in attendance during the year, 44 teachers, including the principal, have been employed, 30 being engaged in classrooms and 14 in the trade schools. The advanced school department had 34 classes, divided into two divisions, and the kindergarten 10 classes. By this plan, the advanced pupils