Deaf-mutism / by Holger Mygind.

  • Mygind Holger, 1855-1928.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Deaf-mutism / by Holger Mygind. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    these, 300 were deaf-mutes, showing that every third or fourth child born in these marriages was deaf and dumb. The 208 acquired cases represent 205 marriages with 1,159 children, of whom only 216 were deaf-mutes, i.e., each fifth or sixth child. It may be observed, in connection with the above, that H. Schmaltz proved, that when two or more deaf-mutes are born in the same marriage, they generally suffer from congenital deafness [161, p. 138]. Although the above-mentioned circumstances con- cerning the appearance of deaf-mutism in individuals born of the same family prove, on closer investigation, to be principally the expression of certain peculiarities connected with congenital deafness, it must be ob- served, on the other hand, that acquired deafness may also attack two or more children belonging to the same family and cause deaf-mutism. For instance, H. Schmaltz found i5 marriages in Saxony, with two or more deaf and dumb children suffering from ac- quired deafness, i.e., 1-2 per cent, of all the marriages which produced deaf-mutes [161, p. 138]. In Den- mark, three of the above-mentioned 514 marriages were of this nature, which is about the same proportion as that found in Mecklenburg-Schwerin [210, p. 113]. The cause may naturally be supposed to be that epidemic diseases often attack several members of the same family. The following cases, taken from the reports mentioned (p. 45), seem to prove that this need not be purely accidental. Cases Nos. i and 2. Ludwig B. married Marie J. in 1877, their respective ages being 33 and 21. There are two deaf-mute relatives in the husband's family, also some cases of insanity. Up to 1887, the marriage had produced four boys and two girls. Four of the children were attacked with cerebro-spinal meningitis
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