There is an increasing desire on the part of the various Governments of
the world to give information likely to be useful to the instructors of
the deaf and dumb, but it has been proved beyond doubt that the Census
returns in many cases are not altogether reliable, the numbers being
considerably understated. The following Table by Hartman, compiled from
the various census returns, shows the per centage to the population:--
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
-----------------------+---------+------------+---------+-------------
| Date of | Total | No. of | Deaf Mutes
| Statis- | Population.| Deaf | among 10,000
| tics. | | Mutes. | Inhabitants.
-----------------------+---------+------------+---------+-------------
1 Germany | 1877 | 39,862,133 | 38,489 | 9.66
2 France | 1872 | 36,102,921 | 22,610 | 6.26
3 Great Britain | | | |
and Ireland | 1871 | 31,631,212 | 18,152 | 5.70
4 Italy | 1871 | 26,413,132 | 19,385 | 7.34
5 Austria | 1869 | 20,394,980 | 19,701 | 9.66
6 Hungary | 1870 | 15,417,327 | 20,699 | 13.43
7 Spain | 1860 | 15,658,531 | 10,905 | 6.96
8 Belgium | 1858 | 4,529,560 | 1,989 | 4.39
9 Netherlands | 1869 | 3,575,080 | 1,119 | 3.35
10 Sweden | 1870 | 4,168,525 | 4,266 | 10.23
11 Norway | 1865 | 1,701,756 | 1,569 | 9.22
12 Switzerland | 1870 | 2,669,147 | 6,544 | 24.52
13 Denmark | 1870 | 1,864,496 | 1,156 | 6.20
-----------------------+---------+------------+---------+-------------
NON EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
-----------------------+---------+------------+---------+-------------
1 United States of | | | |
America | 1870 | 38,558,371 | 16,205 | 4.20
2 Argentine Republic | 1870 | 1,743,199 | 6,626 | 38.07
3 British Colonies | | | |
in N. America | 1871 | 583,535 | 470 | 8.05
4 In the West Indies | 1871 | 905,730 | 690 | 7.62
5 In Africa | 1871 | 330,460 | 529 | 16.01
6 In Australia | 1871 | 305,730 | 56 | 1.83
-----------------------+---------+------------+---------+-------------
In Prussia (1875) the Census showed a population of 24,604,351, the
number of the deaf and dumb being 24,315, or 9.9 to 10,000 of the
population. In India there are, it is said, over 200,000 deaf mutes. The
total number in the world is supposed to be over 700,000.