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Doubtless, had she not come so early under instruction, she would have formed a number of natural signs; and probably these would have been an obstacle to her progress in learning arbitrary signs. Her little companion in misfortune, Oliver Caswell, was twelve years old when he came under instruction; he had begun to use natural signs; and it is pretty clear that the possession of them, by enabling him to express a few of his wants, lessens his eagerness to acquire the arbitrary signs by which Laura expresses so clearly her thoughts. He, however, begins to perceive the usefulness of the arbitrary signs, and is every day asking of Laura, and of others, the names of things.

I shall first give my account of what could be called her physical condition, and its attendant phenomena. She has had almost uninterrupted health, and has grown in stature and strength. She is now feet tall, well-proportioned, and very strong and active. The acuteness of her touch and of the sense of feeling generally, has increased sensibly during the last year. She can perceive when any one touches a piano in the same room with her; she says, "Sound comes through the floor to my feet, and up to my head." She recognizes her friends by the slightest touch of their hands, or of their dress. For instance, she never fails to notice when I have changed my coat, though it be for one of the same cut, color, and cloth; -- if it is only a little more or less worn than the usual one, she perceives it, and asks, "Why?" It would appear that in these perceptions she employs not only the sense of touch, but derives great assistance from what Brown would call a sixth sense, viz., the sense of muscular resistance. Aided by both of these, she has acquired surprising facility in ascertaining the situation and relation of things around her. Especially is it curious to see how accurate is her perception of the direction or bearing of objects from her; for by much practice and observation she has attained, to some extent, what the bee and some other insects have in such perfection by instinct, -- the power of going straight towards a given point, without any guide or landmark. For instance, when she is told to go from any part of the room to a particular door or window, she goes directly and confidently on, not groping, or feeling the walls, she stops at the right instant, raises her hand in the right direction, and places it upon the door-knob, or whatever point she may have aimed at. Of course, it is not supposed that she can exercise this power when she is in a new place, but that she has attained great facility in ascertaining her actual position in regard to external things.

I am inclined to think that this power is much more common than is usually supposed, and that man has the desire and the capacity of knowing all the relations of outness, (to use a word of Berkeley,) so strongly marked as almost to deserve the name of a primitive faculty. The first impulse on waking in the morning, is to ascertain where we are; and, although the effort to ascertain it may not be apparent in common cases, yet, let a person be turned round when he is asleep, and see how instantaneously on waking he looks about to ascertain his position; or, if he is lying awake in the dark, and his bed should be turned around, see how difficult it would be for him to go to sleep without stretching out his hand to feel the wall, or something by which the desire in question may be gratified. Swing a boy round till he is dizzy; look at a girl stopping giddy from the waltz; or a person who has been playing blind man's buff, and has just raised the handkerchief, and mark how, by holding the head, as if to steady it, and eagerly looking around, the first and voluntary effort of each one is to ascertain the relations of outness. If it has ever occurred to the reader to fall asleep lying on his back, with his arms crossed under his head, and to have them get asleep, or become benumbed, he will recollect his consternation on waking, at the thought that his arms were cut off; and his strange sensation, when by a violent effort he has raised himself, and the two limbs fall dead and lead-like upon his thighs; that sensation, then, confined to the arms, if extended all over the body, would be the one we should have if the nerves upon the surface of the body gave us no impression in regard to external things, even of the atmosphere. Who could be easy a moment if he had no notion of what he was sitting or standing upon, or any perception or idea of being supported and surrounded by material objects?

Laura, (or any blind child,) if taken up in a person's arms, carried into a strange room, and placed in a chair, could not resist the inclination to stretch out her hands, and ascertain, by feeling, the relations of space and objects about her. In walking in the street, she endeavors to learn all she can of the nature of the ground she is treading on; but she gives herself up generally to her leader, clinging very closely to her. I have sometimes, in play, or to note the effect, suddenly dropped her hand, when she was in a strange place, and started out of her reach, at which she manifested, not fear, but bewilderment and perplexity.