+--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | The | The | The |
| Age-Period. | Blind. | Totally | Partially |
| | | Blind. | Blind. |
+--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
| Number-- | | | |
| All Ages | 64,763 | 35,645 | 29,118 |
| Under 10 years | 2,307 | 1,262 | 1,045 |
| 10-19 years | 6,001 | 2,861 | 3,140 |
| 20-29 " | 4,861 | 2,851 | 2,010 |
| 30-39 " | 5,024 | 3,077 | 1,947 |
| 40-49 " | 6,504 | 3,778 | 2,726 |
| 50-59 " | 8,530 | 4,791 | 3,739 |
| 60-69 " | 10,507 | 5,835 | 4,672 |
| 70-79 " | 11,421 | 6,132 | 5,289 |
| 80-89 " | 7,490 | 3,885 | 3,605 |
| 90-99 " | 1,596 | 851 | 745 |
| 100 years and over | 232 | 163 | 69 |
| Age unknown | 290 | 159 | 131 |
| Number per 1,000,000 | | | |
| population of same age--| | | |
| All ages | 852 | 469 | 383 |
| Under 10 years | 128 | 70 | 58 |
| 10-19 years | 384 | 183 | 201 |
| 20-29 " | 351 | 206 | 145 |
| 30-39 " | 478 | 293 | 185 |
| 40-49 " | 845 | 491 | 354 |
| 50-59 " | 1,655 | 930 | 725 |
| 60-69 " | 3,396 | 1,886 | 1,510 |
| 70-79 " | 8,136 | 4,368 | 3,768 |
| 80-89 " | 22,022 | 11,423 | 10,599 |
| 90-99 " | 52,746 | 28,125 | 24,621 |
| 100 years and over | 66,210 | 46,518 | 19,692 |
| Age unknown | 1,446 | 793 | 653 |
+--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
Germany.
The number of the blind in Germany was about 39,000, or 870 per
million in 1885. The number of institutions was 28, nearly all being
educational, with a total of 2139 pupils. All these institutions,
except two which are supported entirely by private munificence, are
largely assisted by the state, the communes or the provinces.
Seventeen of them derive their entire requirements from the state, so
that they are quite independent of private charity, while the
remainder are only supplemented from public funds so far as the
private contributions fall short of the expenses.
Saxony system.
The following extracts were made from an official communication from
Hofrath Buttner, director of the institution for the blind in Dresden,
to the royal commission, concerning the care and supervision
(_Fursorge_) of the blind after their discharge from the
institution:--
"When twenty years of age, the blind are usually discharged from the
institution. Long experience has taught us that the care and
supervision of the blind after their discharge from the institution
are quite as important as their education and training in the
institution. It would, in our opinion, be unjust to remove them from
their sad surroundings, educate and accustom them to higher wants, and
then allow them to sink backward into their former miserable way of
life. After much deliberation it was decided to remain in connexion
with the discharged blind, to visit them in their places of abode, to
learn their wants, to study the difficulties which they experienced in
supporting themselves independently, and, as far as possible, to
remove their grievances. Director Georgi began this work in 1843.
Director Reinhard continued it from 1867 to 1879, and the present
director has followed the same path. With the knowledge of these
difficulties the _Fursorge_ (care) for discharged blind steadily
advanced, and has won the confidence of the Saxon people. It was
decided that, on the discharge of the blind person, the director
should select a trustworthy person, residing in his future place of
abode, to give him advice and practical help, to protect him from
imposition, and to keep up communication with the director. If this
guardian is unable to advise or help, he then writes to the director,
who, if necessary, comes to the place, and this is all the easier as
he travels free on all railways in Saxony. The result of these visits,
as well as all communications from the guardian, the letters from the
blind person, and every document relating to him, are entered in a
register kept at the institution. These guardians are respectable,
benevolent, practical men, capable of procuring custom for their
wards. But there was no doubt that, in spite of these arrangements,
the discharged blind were unable to support themselves without the
assistance of capital, whether in money or outfit. The blind man can
do as good work as the man who can see; but as a rule he does not work
so quickly, and if the man who is not blind has to use every exertion
to support himself and his family, the blind man to do the same
requires some special help, without which he will either not be able
to compete, or will have to lead a life of great privation.
"The first difficulty when a blind pupil is starting in life is to
provide himself with the necessary tools and material. These the
institution supplies to him, and continues through life to afford him
moral and material help; and by this means the greater part of the
blind are enabled to save money for sickness and old age. Those who
cannot return to their relations cannot at once meet all their
expenses, and the weak and old need special help. A part of the money
for their board and lodging is paid for those who have to be settled
in other places on account of the death or untrustworthiness of their
relatives.
"The fund for the discharged blind is administered by the director of
the institution. The number of those assisted amounts at present to
about 400, who live respectably in all parts of Saxony, are almost
self-supporting, and feel themselves free men. For, just as a son does
not feel galled by a gift from his father, so they are not ashamed to
receive assistance from their second paternal home, the institution."
Holland.
The number of the blind in Holland, according to the census of the 1st
of December 1869, was 1593, or one in every 2247 of the general
population. The Protestants and Roman Catholics were about equally
balanced. No cognizance was taken of the blind in the census of 1879.
There is only one blind institution, that of Amsterdam, with 60
pupils, with a preparatory school at Benuchem (with 20 pupils) and an
asylum for adults with 52 inmates (unmarried). Besides these, there
are workshops at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Utrecht and
Middelburg.
Denmark.
According to the census of 1870, there were in Denmark 1249 blind (577
males and 672 females), or one blind for every 1428 persons. One
institution has been established by government, i.e. the Royal
Institution for the Blind, at Copenhagen; 100 children, aged 10 and
upwards, are here educated. There is a preparatory school for blind
children under 10 years of age, and an asylum for blind females, most
of whom are former pupils of the royal school. An association for
promoting the self-dependence of the blind assists not only former
pupils of the school but every blind man or woman willing and able to
work.
TABLE IV.--_The Blind, by Consanguinity of Parents, Degree of
Blindness, and Blind Relatives of Other Classes._
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
| | | | |No Blind | |
| | | |Collateral|Relatives| |
| Consanguinity | | Blind |Relatives |or Rela- | Not |
| of Parents. | Total. | Brothers,| or De- |tives by |Stated.|
| | |Sisters or|scendants |Marriage | |
| | |Ancestors.| alone, | alone, | |
| | | | Blind. | Blind. | |
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
|All Classes-- | | | | | |
| The blind | 64,763 | 8629 | 2338 | 46,759 | 7037 |
| Totally blind | 35,645 | 4378 | 1215 | 25,349 | 3703 |
| Partially blind | 29,118 | 4251 | 1123 | 20,410 | 3334 |
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
|Parents cousins-- | | | | | |
| The blind | 2,527 | 844 | 149 | 1,456 | 78 |
| Totally blind | 1,291 | 435 | 78 | 739 | 39 |
| Partially blind | 1,236 | 409 | 71 | 717 | 39 |
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
|Parents not cousins--| | | | | |
| The blind | 53,980 | 7395 | 2095 | 43,368 | 1122 |
| Totally blind | 29,892 | 3720 | 1090 | 24,541 | 541 |
| Partially blind | 24,088 | 3675 | 1005 | 18,827 | 581 |
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
|Consanguinity of par-| | | | | |
| ents not stated-- | | | | | |
| The blind | 8,256 | 390 | 94 | 1,935 | 5837 |
| Totally blind | 4,462 | 223 | 47 | 1,069 | 3123 |
| Partially blind | 3,794 | 167 | 47 | 866 | 2714 |
+---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
Sweden.
The number of blind persons in Sweden, according to the census of
December 1880, was 3723, being at the rate of one blind person for
every 1226 of the general population. At the beginning of the year
1879, the instruction of the blind in Sweden was completely separated
from that of the deaf and dumb, on the grounds that it hindered the
intellectual development of the blind--a conclusion which experience
shows to be tolerably correct. Since July 1888 the Royal Institution
of the Blind has obtained a new building at Tomteboda, near Stockholm.
Norway.
The law of the 8th of July 1881, concerning the instruction of
abnormal children, has imposed on the state the duty of establishing a
sufficient number of schools for the blind in Norway as well as for
the other abnormal children. All the blind of the country, from 9
years of age until the age of 21, are compelled to be educated, with a
maximum of 8 years of instruction for each pupil.
Finland.
The census of 1873 showed that in Finland there were 7959 blind in a
total population of about 2,000,000 inhabitants, the proportion
reaching the very high figure of one for every 251 of the total
population. Nevertheless there were only 160 of school age. For these
there are two institutions, one at Helsingfors where the instruction
is given in the Swedish language, and where there are about 12 pupils,
and another at Kuopio, where the instruction is given in the Finnish
language, and where the pupils number about 30.
Austria.
According to information received from the I.R. Central Commission for
Statistics, the number of blind in the provinces represented in the
Austrian Reichsrath amounted to 15,582 in the year 1884. Of these,
2345 were children up to 15 years of age, namely 433 below 5, 779 from
5 to 10, and 1113 from 10 to 15 years. The total number of
institutions for blind children in Austria amounts to 8. The blind
children of school age who are not placed in special institutions are
compulsorily taught in the public general free schools, as far as
practicable. The number of blind in the whole dominion of the crown of
St Stephen was 208,391.
Italy.
The number of blind persons in Italy was 21,718, according to the
census of 1881, and those of school age were estimated to form 25% of
the whole, or about 5429 in number. But no special cognizance of the
blind is taken in the government census. There are 20 institutions,
schools and workshops for the blind.
Russia.
Statistics with regard to the number and condition of the blind in the
Russian empire are of a very limited character, and it is only of late
years that any attempt has been made to draw up any accurate returns
with regard to them. The total number of the blind throughout the
empire is generally reckoned at from 160,000 to 200,000, thus making
1600 to 2000 per million inhabitants. In Russia there are 21
institutions for the support of the blind.