DEAFNESS CURED.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 330, 15 June 1878, Page 2

DEAFNESS CURED.

The following remarkable case is recorded by the Luncclm Age ;— “ Deat and dumb peojsle have generally been regarded beyond the roach of medical and surgical treatment. A singular instance of the partial restoration of the hearing has just, however, come under our notice. Mr James Dow, farmer,, of Lower Harbour, lias a son ten years of age, w’ho has bean deaf and dumb from infancy. Hearing of Professor Stanidi, he consulted him in Dunedin a few weeks ago, and the boy has since been under that gentleman’s treatment. The result is that the hoy’s sense of hearing has partly returned, and the sudden restoration of a faculty which he never knew before, makes every sound absolutely painful to him. When placed under treatment, a bell rung at the back ot his head failed to attract the slightest attention. Now the slightest tap alongside of his ear not only startles him, but causes him to place his hands to his ears, as if the sound was disagreeable. Mr Stanich declares that the boy’s sense of bearing is now partly restored, and that in the course of a few months the boy will be able to commence conversation. People, he urges, are dumb simply because they arc deaf, and the restoration of the sense of hearing is accompanied with the power of utterance. The boy, in the present instance, before he can acquire the power of expressing his thoughts, must be taught articulation in the same manner as a lisping infant, and it is anticipated that it will take some time before lie will be able to .make himself intelligible and to understand what is said to him. Altogether the case is. one of a most singular and interesting character.”