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"Then the same article was put into the box, and the words ring in box given to her. This puzzled her for many minutes, and she made many mistakes: for instance, after she had learned to say correctly whether the ring was on or in a box, a drawer, a hat, a bucket, &c., if she were asked, where is house, or matron, she would say, in box. Cross-questioning, however, is seldom necessary to ascertain whether she really understands the force of the words she is learning: for when the true meaning dawns upon her mind, the light spreads to her countenance.

"In this case, the perception seemed instantaneous, and the natural sign by which she expressed it was peculiar and striking: she spelt o n, then laid one hand on the other; then she spelt i n t o, and enclosed one hand within the other.

"She easily acquired a knowledge and use of active verbs, especially those expressive of tangible action; as to walk, to run, to sew, to shake.

"At first, of course, no distinction could be made of mood and tense; she used the words in a general sense, and according to the order of her sense of ideas. Thus, in asking some one to give her bread, she would first use the word expressive of the leading idea, and say, Bread, give, Laura. If she wanted water, she would say, Water, drink, Laura.

"Soon, however, she learned the use of the auxiliary verbs, of the difference of past, present, and future tense. For instance, here is an early sentence: Keller is sick -- when will Keller well; the use of be she had not acquired.

"Having acquired the use of substantives, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, it was thought time to make the experiment of trying to teach her to write, and to show her that she might communicate her ideas to persons not in contact with her.

"It was amusing to witness the mute amazement with which she submitted to the process, the docility with which she imitated every motion, and the perseverance with which she moved her pencil over and over again in the same track, until she could form the letter. But when at last the idea dawned upon her, that by this mysterious process she could make other people understand what she thought, her joy was boundless.

"Never did a child apply more eagerly and joyfully to any task than she did to this; and in a few months she could make every letter distinctly, and separate words from each other;" and she actually wrote, unaided, a legible letter to her mother, in which she expressed the idea of her being well, and of her expectation of going home in a few weeks. It was indeed a very rude and imperfect letter, couched in the language which a prattling infant would use. Still it shadowed forth, and expressed to her mother, the ideas that were passing in her own mind.

"She is familiar with the processes of addition and subtraction in small numbers. Subtraction of one number from another puzzled her for a time; but by help of objects she accomplished it, She can count and conceive objects to about one hundred in number; to express an indefinitely great number, or more than she can count, she says, hundred. If she thought a friend was to be absent many years, she would say, will come hundred Sundays -- meaning weeks. She is pretty accurate in measuring time, and seems to have an intuitive tendency to do it. Unaided by the changes of night and day, by the light, or the sound of any timepiece, she nevertheless divides time pretty accurately.

"With the days of the week, and the week itself as a whole, she is perfectly familiar. For instance: if asked what day will it be in fifteen days more, she readily names the day of the week. The day she divides by the commencement and end of school, by the recesses, and by the arrival of meal-times.

"Those persons who hold that the capacity of perceiving and measuring the lapse of time is an innate and distinct faculty of the mind, may deem it an important fact, that Laura evidently can measure time so accurately, as to distinguish between a half and whole note of music.

"Seated at the pianoforte, she will strike the notes in a measure like the following, quite correctly.

"Now it will be perceived, that she must have clear perception of lapse of time, in order to strike the two eighths at the right instant; for in the first measure they occur at the second beat, in the second measure at the third beat.

"Her judgment of distances and of relations of place is very accurate. She will rise from her seat, go straight towards a door, put out her hand just at the right time, and grasp the handle with precision."

These extracts from former reports bring down the history of her instruction to the commencement of the year 1840, when she had been two years and two months under instruction.

She had attained, indeed, about the same command of language as common children of three years old. Of course, her power of expression is by no means equal to her power of conception; for she has no words to express many of the perceptions and sensations which her mind doubtless experiences.