bet which contain certain forms found in the Florentine plates of 1579. The idea of using it in this connection originated with a pious and learned monk, Pedro Ponce de Leon. (1520-1584.)
The Spanish alphabet, somewhat modified, was introduced into France by Pereire and his gifted deaf pupil, Saboureaux de Fontenay where it speedily supplanted the clumsy alphabets used by de l'Epee and others. An improved form of this alphabet was learned by Gallaudet while in France and with a few slight changes was adopted by him when he opened the first permanent school for the deaf in America at Hartford.
In making the letters it is recommended that the arm be held in an easy position near the body with the forearm as indicated in the plates. It is not necessary to move the arm, but a short leverage is conducive to ease and permissible, provided the hand delivers the letters within an imaginary ring, of, say, ten inches in diameter. In colloquial use the fingers need not be so closely held nor so firmly flexed as represented in the cuts; but sprawling should be avoided. Each letter should be mastered before leaving it.
Certain letters, as c, d, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, q, u, v, w, and z, resemble written or printed forms. J is simply traced in the air with the little finger and z is in like manner traced with the index finger. H, u, and n differ only in the position of the hand and t is formed as in "taking off baby's nose."
These ten words contain all the letters and should be practiced upon: adz, fan, map, low, box, jar, sky, hat, quill, glove.
The sign language is an ideographic and pantomimic language. Except in the case of a few arbitrary signs they all represent some distinctive suggestion of the action, shape, or characteristic of the object or idea they are intended to signify. Thus in the signs for "run" and "walk" the hands take the place of the feet in making the motion of the latter to convey the idea of these actions. In the signs for "bird," "horse," and "cow," the fingers form the bill, the arms represent the wings, fingers the ears, and the hands the horns of these animals respectively. So, with few exceptions, when signs are carefully analyzed or traced to their origin, we will find a reasonable connection between the pantomime and the object or idea.
Many signs, however, have been modified, until they appear more or less arbitrary and have lost their original connection
