Dr.  Howe  watched  and  guided  the  development  of
this  little  shut-in  human  treasure  with  a  father  s  care
from  the  beginning.  She  was  never  absent  from  his
thoughts ;  and  to  her  training  he  devoted  the  best  and
freshest  powers  of  his  mind  and  life.  Laura,  as  the
jfirst-fruits  of  his  genius,  commanded  his  time,  his  ener-
gies and  his  attention  ;  but,  like  other  great  architects,

/  he  also  employed  the  assistance  of  skilled  workmen,  and
Laura  had,  on  the  whole^  good  and  efficient  teachers,
of  whom  the  one  distinguished  by  breadth  of  mind  and
capacity  for  carrying  out  the  work  so  wonderfully  begun
by  his  creative  mind  was  Miss  Wight,  afterward  the
wife  of  Mr.  George  Bond.
VIL — Establishment  of  other  Institutions  in  America.
Even  as  the  Paris  school  served  as  a  model  and  stimu-
lus for  the  establishment  of  similar  institutions  all  over
Europe,  so  did  that  of  Boston  in  America.  The  initi-
atory steps  taken  in  this  city  gave  an  impulse  to  the
active  philanthropy  of  Dr.  Samuel  Akerly  and  Mr.
Samuel  Wood,  and  through  their  influence  and  exer-
tions the  New  York  institution  for  the  blind  was  incor-
porated on  the  22d  of  April,  1831.  On  the  15th  of
March,  1832,  three  blind  boys  were  taken  from  the
almshouse  of  the  city  and  placed  under  the  direction
of  Dr.  John  D.  Russ,  who  was  invited  to  cooperate
with  the  managers  of  the  institution  from  the  begin-
ning, and  who  kindly  volunteered  his  services  to  give


1881.]  PUBLIC  DOCUMENT— No.  27.  109

instruction  to  the  pupils.  On  the  19th  of  May  of  the
same  year,  tlu*ee  other  children  were  added  to  their
number,  and  with  the  six  a  school  was  opened  at  No.
