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The attention of a young physician of Zurich, Dr. Guggenbuhl, was attracted to these unfortunates in 1839; and, after two or three years of experiment had demonstrated the possibility of improving their condition, he resolved to devote himself to their instruction. He accordingly purchased from the eminent agriculturist, Kasthofer, a tract of land, which he had already put under cultivation. It was situated on the Abendberg, above Interlachen, about four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and commanded a view of one of the finest landscapes in Switzerland. To this elevated and healthful loca-tion he brought as many cretin children as he had the means of instructing; and, with a philanthropic zeal and patience which none but those who have witnessed his labors can fully appreciate, he has toiled on, (till impaired health compelled him, some three years since, to entrust his cares, for a time, to other hands,) developing intellect where few would have suspected its existence, and carrying joy to many a household which had mourned over the hopeless idiocy of their children. This institution has been the parent of several others for the treatment of cretins on the continent of Europe, particularly in Wurtemburg, Bavaria, Sardinia, Prussia and Saxony.

Dr. Kern, formerly of Eisenach, established, at Leipsic, in 1846, a private institution for the education of idiots or feeble-minded youth. In 1855, a building was erected for this institution in the village of Gohlis, near Leipsic. Children are received without distinction of birth-place, religion, or sex, their friends or charitable persons paying the necessary charges.

The translation and publication of some reports of the school on the Abendberg by Dr. Twining, and Dr. Conolly's account of the labors of Dr. Seguin and his coadjutors, led to the establishment of a school for idiots at Bath, England, in 1846. Others were organized soon after at Brighton and Lancaster. In the autumn of 1847, an effort was made to establish an institution on a large scale, capable of accommodating the increasing numbers who sought for instruction. In this movement, Rev. Dr. Andrew Reed (whose visit to this country will be remembered with pleasure by many,) was the leader, and to his labors and those of Dr. John Conolly, whose life-long devotion to the cause of the insane have made him known wherever the English tongue is spoken, the success of the enterprise is mainly due. While making preparations for the erection of a magnificent hospital for idi-ots, the patrons of this institution deemed it desirable to commence, at once, the work of instruction, and accordingly, a school was commenced at the Park House, Highgate, (formerly a nobleman's residence,) on the 27th of April, 1848. This becoming full in less than two years, the committee accepted the liberal offer of Sir S. M. Peto, to devote Essex Hall, Colchester, to their service. This, also, was soon filled and a third building obtained. Meantime, the friends of the idiot were indefatigable in their efforts to procure funds for the erec-tion of their new asylum. In June, 1853, the corner-stone of the new edifice, at Earlswood, near Reigate, Surrey, was laid by Prince Albert. It is intended to contain accommodations for 400 pupils, and is now nearly or quite completed. Its estimated cost is $175,000, aside from the price of the estate, which contains about one hundred acres. It is intended to elevate Essex Hall into an independent asy-lum, on the completion of the edifice at Earlswood. Measures have also been recently adopted for the establishment of an Asylum for idiots in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and at several other points in the United Kingdoms.

The movement in this country appears to have been contemporane-ous with that in England. On the 13th of January, 1846, Hon. F. F. Backus, of Rochester, New York, at that time a member of the Senate of that State, moved a reference of that portion of the State Census referring to idiots, to the committee on Medical Societies, of which he was chairman, and on the 15th of the same month read a report on the subject, prepared with great care, and embodying the results of inquiries made the previous Autumn, urging the necessity of an institution for idiots, in the State of New York, and narrating the success of similar institutions in Europe. On the 25th of March follow-ing, Dr. Backus reported a bill for the purchase of a site and the erection of suitable buildings, for an Asylum for Idiots. His bill passed the Senate, and was at first concurred in by the House, but subsequently rejected, on the ground that the party who were then in power had pledged themselves to retrenchment of the expenses of the State. A similar bill passed the Senate the succeeding year but was lost in the house.

On the 22nd of January, 1846, Hon. Horatio Byington, (in whose recent death Massachusetts has lost an eminent citizen, and humanity a benefactor,) offered a resolution in the Massachusetts House of Repre-sentatives, for the appointment of a commission to investigate the condition of idiots, in that State. Judge Byington's attention had been called to the subject, according to his own statement, by a letter from Dr. S. B. Woodward, the eminent philanthropist, with whom Dr. Backus had held correspondence previous to his own action, in the New York legislature.