GREAT FEATS OF THE BLIND

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 22

GREAT FEATS OF THE BLIND

One could-fill a volume were one to write even a short account of those blind persons whose names have been passed down to us in history, writes F. O'Rahilly in "Chamber's Journal." And what a remarkable volume it would be! Without going back to Biblical names we may mention Homer, the most famous of all epic poets. To skip on to the fifteenth century we read of Nicaise de Malines, who, blind from the age of three, succeeded by dint of character and energy, in becoming one of the most learned men of his time..

The Italian astronomer, Galileo, lost his sight through overstrain and work-' ing in underground dungeons. Yet this loss did not prevent him continuing his scientific investigation's. No need to speak about the great poet, Milton, who wrote his most famous work, "Paradise Lost," after his sight had failed. It was assuredly as if his inward light had become stronger, his talents more pronounced.

About the same period there resided at. Hanau a famous doctor—G. E. Eumphius—who, becoming totally blind after an accident, gave himself wholeheartedly to the study of botany. His

cleverness was such that, by mere touch or taste, he could distinguish every variety of plant.

The American doctor, Newell »Perry, although deprived of sight in his youth, mastered several languages by travelling (nearly always alone) through' Europe. Eventually, he became Professor of Mathematics at Chicago University. When people sympathised with him on his infirmity he used to say that his blindness had been his talisman, to which he owed everything. "Without that," he said, "I should have been just an ordinary and probably a useless man. It is my blindnes which gave me taste for study and made me ambitious."

Another sightless American, Campbell, director of the Royal Norman College, had the courage to make the ascent of Mont Blanc. Perhaps only to be able to say he had done it; still, the fact remains. Before we leave America, that extraordinary woman, Laura Bridgman must be noted. She lived in the middle of last century—--1829-1889, and was a deaf-mute in addition to being blind. The extent of her learning and the nobility of her character won world-wide recognition, as has Helen Keller's triumph over blindness . and deafness in the twentieth century.

Two well-known sculptors were blind. The Italian, Jean Gonelli, blinded by an accident, continued his art—and, strange to relate, those busts modelled during his blind period were more lifelike and artistic than his earlier work.