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I shall now notice such of the phenomena that I have remarked in her case during the last year, as seem most striking and important.

I shall divide these into physical, intellectual, and moral.

Her health has been very good. She has not grown much in height, but her frame has filled out.

A perceptible change has taken place in the size and shape of her head; and although unfortunately the measurement taken two years ago has been mislaid, every one who has been well acquainted with her, notices a marked increase in the size of the forehead. She is now just eleven years old; and her height is four feet, four inches, and seven-tenths. Her head measures twenty inches and eight-tenths in circumference, in a line drawn around it, and passing over the prominences of the parietal and those of the frontal bones; above this line the head rises one inch and one-tenth, and is broad and full. The measurement is four inches from one orifice of the ear to the other; and from the occipital spine to the root of the nose, it is seven inches.

Nothing has occurred to indicate the slightest perception of light or sound, or any hope of it; and although some of those who are much with her, suppose that her smell is more acute than it was, even this seems very doubtful.

It is true that she sometimes applies things to her nose, but often it is merely in imitation of the blind children about her; and it is unaccompanied by that peculiar lighting up of the countenance, which is observable whenever she discovers any new quality in an object.

It was stated in the first report that she could perceive very pungent odours, such as that of cologne; but it seemed to be as much by the irritation they produced upon the nervous membrane of the nares, as by any impression upon the olfactory nerve.

It is clear that the sensation can not be pleasurable, nor even a source of information to her respecting physical qualities; for such is her eagerness to gain this information, that could smell serve her, she would exercise it incessantly.

Those who have seen Julia Brace, or any other deaf-blind person, could hardly fail to observe how quickly they apply every thing which they feel, to the nose; and how by this incessant exercise, the smell becomes almost incredibly acute. Now with Laura this is not the case; she seldom puts a new thing to her nose; and when she does, it is mechanically, as it were, and without any interest.

Her sense of touch has evidently improved in acuteness; for she now distinguishes more accurately the different undulations of the air, or the vibrations of the floor, than she did last year. She perceives very readily when a door is opened or shut, though she may be sitting at the opposite side of the room. She perceives also the tread of persons upon the floor.

Her mental perceptions, resulting from sensation, are much more rapid than they were, for she now perceives by the slightest touch, qualities and conditions of things, similar to those she had formerly to feel long and carefully for. So with persons, she recognises her acquaintances in an instant, by touching their hands or their dress; and there are probably fifty individuals, who if they should stand in a row, and hold out each a hand to her, would be recognized by that alone.

The memory of these sensations is very vivid, and she will readily recognize a person whom she has once thus touched. Many cases of this kind have been noticed; such as a person shaking hands with her, and making a peculiar pressure with one finger, and repeating this on his second visit after a lapse of many months, being instantly known by her. She has been known to recognize persons whom she had thus simply shaken hands with but once, after a lapse of six months.

This is not more wonderful indeed, than that one should be able to recall impressions made upon the mind through the organ of sight, as when we recognize a person of whom we had but one glimpse a year before; but it shows the exhaustless capacity of those organs of sense which the Creator has bestowed, as it were in reserve against accidents, and which we usually allow to lie unused and unvalued.

The progress which she has made in intellectual acquirements, can be fully appreciated by those only who have seen her frequently. The improvement however is made evident by her greater command of language; and by the conception which she now has of the force of parts of speech which last year she did not use, in her simple sentences; for instance, of pronouns, which she has begun to use within six months. Last spring, returning fatigued from her journey home, she complained of a pain in her side, and on being asked what caused it, she used these words, Laura did go to see mother, ride did make Laura side ache, horse was wrong, did not run softly. If she were now to express the same thing she would say, I did go to see mother, ride did make my side ache. This will be seen by an extract from one of her teacher's diary of last month, "Dec. 18th, to-day Laura asked me "what is voice?" I told her as well as I could, that it was an impression made upon another when people talk with their mouth. She then said, "I do not voice." I said, can you talk with your mouth? Ans. "No;" "why?" "Because I am very deaf and dumb." "Can you see?" "No, because I am blind, I did not talk with fingers when I came with my mother, Doctor did teach me on fork -- what was on fork?" I told her paper was fixed on forks, she then said, "I did learn to read much with types, Doctor did teach me in nursery. Drusilla was very sick all over."