Progress  in  knowledge,  good  order,  happiness  and
contentment,  resulting  from  a  judicious  division  of  their
time  into  hours  of  study  and  practice,  labor  and  amuse-


1881.]  PUBLIC  DOCUMENT— No.  27.  38

ment,  exercise  and  rest,  is  noticeable  among  the  schol-
ars, and  may  be  considered  as  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the
well-matured  plans  and  earnest  endeavors  of  the  teach-
ers and  officers  of  the  institution.
Increased  experience  in  our  work  stimulates  our
energies  and  quickens  our  zeal  for  its  more  thorough
and  satisfactory  performance.  Full  well  we  know  that
we  are  far  from  having  reached  the  highest  attainable
point ;  and  yet  we  cannot  but  hope  that  the  amount  of
positive  good  gained,  and  of  evil  removed,  through  the
agency  of  the  school  from  year  to  year,  is  steadily
increasing.  A  mere  repetition,  however,  in  a  perfunc-
tory fashion,  of  what  has  hitherto  been  done,  or  the
performance  of  approximately  the  same  work  in  a  some-
what better  manner,  is  not  sufficient.  In  order  to
advance  the  cause  of  the  education  of  the  blind,  and
bring  it  within  the  limits  indicated  by  science  and  pre-
scribed by  the  nature  of  their  case,  we  must  strive  to
overcome  more  difficulties,  and  to  surmount  every  obsta-
cle that  can  be  reached  by  human  perseverance.
Number  of  Inmates.
The  total  number  of  blind  persons  connected  with
the  various  departments  of  the  institution  at  the  begin-
ning of  the  past  year,  as  teachers,  pupils,  employes,  and
work  men  and  women,  was  156.  There  have  since  been
admitted  27;  21  have  been  discharged,  making  the
present  total  number  162.  Of  these,  144  are  in  the
school  proper,  and  18  in  the  workshop  for  adults.
