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# CHAPTER 4

# UNIFORMITY: FIRST ATTEMPTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BLIND ASSOCIATION
3. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
4. DECISIONS
5. SOURCES SHOWING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITERARY BRAILLE CODE IN BRITAIN
6. ADAPTATION OF THE BRAILLE CODE
7. APPARATUS USED FOR HAND WRITING AND PRINTING
8. THE FIRST INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND IN AMERICA
9. WHICH TYPE FOR THE NEW WORLD?
10. HOWE TYPE
11. FURTHER TYPE INVESTIGATIONS
12. NEW YORK POINT TYPE
13. COMPARISON OF ENGLISH BRAILLE AND NEW YORK POINT SYSTEMS

Space Saving

Legibility

Rapidity of Writing

Facility of Correction

Facility of Learning

Universality

14. CONCLUSION

## 1. INTRODUCTION

Thomas Rhodes Armitage (1824-1890) gave up a flourishing practice as a physician at the age of 36 because of increasing blindness, and worked for the rest of his life to improve the lot of the blind. He spent the next two years with the Indigent Blind Visiting Society, one of the nine charities mentioned by Johnson (1860), who were working on behalf of approximately 5,000 blind persons in and around London, "all more or less struggling against their dire affliction" (ibid., p.3). As a result of this experience he became convinced that occasional provision for immediate needs and scripture reading in their own homes was not sufficient for the more able. Many could benefit from training for work and the consequent self-respect that comes from playing an active part in the community. Education was needed, and the first step was to consider all known codes in order to select the best in terms of legibility and cost.

## 2. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BLIND ASSOCIATION

In 1868 Armitage inaugurated an association, first known as the British and Foreign Blind Association for Improving Embossed Literature for the Blind, but by March 1869 (BFBA, executive council minutes) the title was changed to include promotion of their employment. Such were the small beginnings of the present Royal National Institute for the Blind which is renouned world-wide for its help in education, employment, leisure pursuits and care of the blind of all ages.

## 3. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

It was thought that users would be the best able to make code decisions, so it was decided (ibid., October, 1868) that a member of the general council should be one "who is blind or suffers from such a defect of blindness as shall prevent his reading by sight". In addition, members of the executive council shall "have practical knowledge of at least three systems of raised characters" and "have no pecuniary interest in any system".

The first work was to consider the embossed codes already in existence, and to help gain as much knowledge as possible both here and abroad, the council employed several tactics. Corresponding members were enrolled who were expected to keep in close touch with all methods of reading and writing and the apparatus involved. Twenty-two "intelligent blind" were tested on the systems they could read and their views and reasons for their opinions were noted down. This "represented a sort of public opinion among those of the blind who had paid attention to the subject" (Armitage, 1886, p.39). Meanwhile council members were "constantly perfecting themselves in, and practising every system which either had obtained wide currency or appeared to possess special merit" ("First report of the British and Foreign Blind Association for promoting the education and employment of the blind for 1871", p.2). Clearly a high standard of efficiency was expected. In addition, five criteria were laid down for selecting a system of embossed characters:

1. the characters should be as clear to the touch as possible;
2. the size should be as small as is compatible with perfect and instantaneous recognition;
3. correct spelling shall not be interfered with;
4. if any means exist for shortening the process of reading they shall be adopted;
5. if possible, the written shall also be the printed character (Armitage, 1870, p.195).

These criteria have stood the test of time except for No. 4. There needs to be a fine balance between providing sufficient contractions to help overcome the slowness of the medium, yet not have so many that the learning load becomes too great for the majority of readers and the meanings become obscure. For example, the council did not imagine the hundreds of shortforms that were to be included in some European versions of the braille code such as those of France and Portugal.

## 4. DECISIONS

The first report of the council (BFBA, 1871, p.3) gives the results of the deliberations:

1. the Roman letter in all its forms was condemned by the almost unanimous consent of the educated blind in the civilized world;
2. the line systems of Lucas, Frere, and Moon were regarded as useful but imperfect;
3. "the only system which in the opinion of the Council meets the requirements of those who use it, as perfectly as their case admits of, is the dotted system of M. Braille".

As there was hardly any braille material in Britain, the Lucas, Frere, and Moon systems would continue to be used for a while, at least until braille production could be properly established.

5. SOURCES SHOWING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITERARY BRAILLE CODE IN BRITAIN

The hand-written minute book showing the council's deliberations is still in existence. It gives interesting facts about the work carried out but hardly any details about decisions taken regarding the code. For example, in July 1870, an entry states that, "a number of stereographic contractions of braille were agreed provisionally", but there is no mention of what they were, nor does a later entry give the decision made concerning them. In addition to the minute book there are the early reports of the council and Dr Armitage's books published in 1871 and 1886 respectively.

In 1871 the council published a "Key to the braille and music notation" (Thomas, 1957, p.71). Unfortunately, it has not been possible to trace this booklet, but there is an undated primer (BFBA) in which the heading on the first page is "Key to reading and writing", which might possibly be the literary section of the same work. Inside the cover there are hints for the learner, who is encouraged to buy "The Table of Contractions" (price 2d.), but it is not surprising that such a small leaflet could be easily lost and none seems to have survived. A pamphlet entitled "Instructions for writing the braille system" by Plumtre was published by the BFBA for use by transcribers. The 4th edition, revised and corrected in June, 1895, is still extant, and as it was "approved by the late T.R. Armitage, Es., M.D.", the first edition must have appeared some time before his death in 1890. The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS - not to be confused with BFBA) existed to provide religious reading material, and in 1879 the organisation started to make embossed versions of their books. To help in getting this venture started the BFBA lent some of their plates. Inside the front cover of the "Amos to Malachi" volume of the Bible, published by the BFBS in 1880, there is a list of transcription rules; and in 1895 the BFBA published a "Dictionary of braille contractions with notes".

It had been hoped that if a sufficient number of braille books published before 1880 could be discovered, an analysis of the braille content would reveal further information about the development of the code. However, such examples are extremely rare and so this has not been possible. Few books would have been published during the early months of the council's deliberations; publication was deliberately stopped for several months while the merits of a new code from America were being considered (BFBA, second report, 1875); and the sixth report, 1879, states that the sale of books was down because of capital investment in "best apparatus" for printing which was being installed.

## 6. ADAPTATION OF THE BRAILLE CODE

The undated primer seems the closest we can get to the earliest version of the adaptation of the French code for use in Britain. The council members considered that as many of the signs as possible should have the same meaning, so that translation could be simpler and books could be shared between nations. They adopted the same alphabet letters and numbers but the punctuation was different from Braille's 1837 version. Instead of the use of dashes together with dots, the signs of the first line were used but made in the lower position of the cell.

Since braille is a bulky medium the council decided in favour of the inclusion of contractions and a list of criteria (Armitage, 1886, p.10) was drawn up for their selection:

1. not to omit letters except in some words of very common occurrence, and where this omission cannot lead to incorrect spelling;
2. to abbreviate by allowing characters to stand for groups of letters;
3. not to let the same sign have two meanings;
4. to assist the memory by allowing the groups of letters to occur in alphabetical order;
5. not to use contractions except in words or groups of letters which occur very frequently;
6. to allow the initials of common words to represent them.

No. 4 refers to position on the braille chart.

Ideally, the most frequently occurring strings of letters should be the ones represented by contractions and it is likely that some sort of frequency count was carried out. We have no details, but information is given (BFBA, 1874, pp.13-15) of the materials used when a comparison was made between the space saving value of the braille and New York codes, and it might have been labour saving then to use material already treated. In 1895 the BFBA published a "Dictionary of Braille Contractions".

[The Appendix shows the contractions and rules rearranged into "families" so that they may be easily compared with later versions, and thus an historical account has been built up. The method of numbering of the dots within a cell has been updated to save confusion.]

## 7. APPARATUS USED FOR HAND WRITING AND PRINTING

The council were very particular that handframes and guides should be of good quality and easy to use (BFBA, Executive Council minutes, October, 1870, and May, 1873) and in January, 1872, the council minutes show that Armitage demonstrated a new method of printing on both sides of the paper using "new shifting writing frames". He persuaded some educated ladies in London to undertake transcription of simple books for children. It is of passing interest that the mother of Beatrix Potter used to help in this way. "Years and years ago ... my mother transcribed many volumes for a blind Association in London" (Lane, 1978, p.57). She was to see one of her own "Peter Rabbit" books published in braille, but it is perhaps not surprising that one who could write and illustrate her own books, who had a learned paper on "The germination of the spores of agaricinae" (fungi) presented to the prestigious Linnaean Society, and who was to become a founder member of the National Trust, should have refused her mother's invitation to help because she would have found transcription unimaginative and not a little tedious.

Stereotyped plates similar to those used for Moon type were used, but instead of fusing strips of wire to the surface, it was necessary to raise points on the brass plate from the back with the help of a punch and hammer. At first the depressions on the underside of the dots were filled with cement so that the dots would not become pressed down and a sheet of paper glued to the back. A cheaper method was then found of preparing the plates for printing on both sides of the paper. A sheet of brass was folded on itself and the lines on the reverse side punched between the lines of the first side. Paper was interleaved between the two halves of the plate before being placed in the press. In November, 1870, the first works to be printed in braille in this country were produced, namely some advent hymns and Cowper's poem, "John Gilpin".

One of the resolutions passed at the meeting of the American Association of Instructors of the Blind, held in 1871, was to the effect "that the New York horizontal point alphabet, as arranged by Mr. Wait, should be taught in all institutions for the blind". Once more, the council felt that this must be investigated even though they had thought that the braille code was to be their preference. The special apparatus necessary was ordered, and when it was available members set about learning and practising its use so that a fair choice could be made. At this point the description of events in Britain will be broken off in order to outline the growth of literacy in America. The chapter will then conclude with a comparison of the two codes and the choice made by the council.

## 8. THE FIRST INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND IN AMERICA

In 1832, during the time when Louis Braille was perfecting the second edition of his code, and the Society of Arts was about to set up a competition in an attempt to find the best embossed code in Britain, three institutions for the blind opened in America. They were situated at Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.

Julius Reinhold Friedlander had attended the university of Leipzig and then taught blind pupils, but he longed for the freedom of the New World. He visited institutions in Europe before travelling to Philadelphia, where eventually he became director of the new institution ("The centenary Celebrations of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, 1933").

Dr Russ had witnessed the desperate conditions resulting from the Greek war of independence, and was distressed by the many cases of blindness in New York where there was an epidemic of eye disease. He rented rooms for his first six pupils in the country house of a leading merchant (van Cleeve, 1933, p.3) and this venture was the beginning of the New York institution for the blind.

Dr Howe of Boston had also been to Greece, and, like Byron, had fought in the cause of freedom against the Turks (Farrell, 1932, pp.8-9). On his return to Boston, his philanthropic attitude and determination were admired, and within weeks he was off to Europe on a tour of the institutions for the blind, before taking up his new work as director of the new institution. The "Address of the Trustees of the New England Institution for the Education for the Blind" (1833), includes descriptions of impressions gained during this tour. Although Howe had no training as a teacher, he quickly developed positive opinions. For example, "As children destined to a trade should not devote too much of their time to intellectual pursuits, so on the other hand, those educated for a higher occupation should not be left unacquainted with some manual occupations; they cannot have their mental powers always on the stretch" (ibid., p.14).

He regarded the institution at Edinburgh (ibid., p.10) as "on the whole, the best I saw in Europe ... it is not as showy as that in Paris ... nor has it printed books for their use, still, they receive a most excellent education and learn some most useful trades". Even so, he regarded reading from the gospel according to St. John using knotted string wound on a revolving spindle as, "the clumsiest and most uncouth system ever devised", and to those who considered reading unnecessary for the blind he wrote, "there is infinitely more pleasure and advantage to be derived from feeling out the letters themselves. They can stop and go back or read over a passage a dozen times, reflect upon it as long as they choose and refer to it in any occasion" (ibid., p.9). These words are echoed today whenever braille reading is encouraged. According to Sibley (1892, proceedings of the American Association of Instructors of the Blind, p.68), Howe "was especially impressed with the work of Mr. Gall".

## 9. WHICH TYPE FOR THE NEW WORLD?

The directors of the three institutions wished to avoid the problems caused by the multiplicity of embossed codes used in Europe. "There is reason for believing that there was an understanding to the effect that Dr Howe and Mr. Friedlander should inquire into the subject and that each having decided upon the style of tangible letter which he deemed most suitable, should submit it, with his reasons, to the other for criticism" (Wait, 1890, pp.5-6). If there was disagreement the head of the New York school was to have the casting vote. This plan seemed so simple, but matters went wrong from the start.

Howe devised his code in 1832-4, and as he was "an ignoramus in mechanical matters and was obliged to depend on others for the execution of the work" (letter, 29th April, 1854), the new press was designed and set up by a very able foreman and printing started immediately. He sent an embossed copy of the Acts of the Apostles to Friedlander who had thought only samples of codes were required on which to base discussion. His own type consisted of capital letters similar to the work of Alston so the two directors went their separate ways, and it seems that Dr Russ, in New York, was never consulted. Already, by 1835, the Howe Press had published a "catalogue" mentioning several books in Howe type, some of which had been sent to Europe. The New Testament was published in Howe type in 1836 by the American Bible Society and the Old Testament appeared in 1843. "By introducing a new alphabet and various improvements in printing he ascertained that books might be printed at a quarter of the cost of those of Europe" (5th report, 1837, in Lane, 1811, p.22) and two years later (ibid., p.56) he published extracts from authors and "passages of elevating and cheerful nature".

## 10. HOWE TYPE

In the report of the Royal Commission on the Useful Arts (1852, Class XVII, p.416), Howe's type was commended above all others. The jury commented that, "His aim was to compress the letter into a comparatively compact and cheap form. This he accomplished by cutting off all the flourishes and points about the letters, and reducing them to the minimum size and elevation which could be distinguished by the generality of the blind ... A few of the circular letters were modified into angular shapes, yet preserving the original form sufficiently to be easily read by all." There is a remarkable resemblance to Gall's early characters, but Howe never used the triangular or fretted versions. Leigh Richmond's "Dairyman's Daughter" (1836), in the care of the University of Birmingham, shows that the lower case E is embossed in the shape of the Greek epsilon e so that as the reading finger meets the letter from the left it is not confused with the front curve of the letter C. None of the letters extend below the line, thus saving considerable space between lines.

It is difficult for a sighted person to appreciate fully the legibility of embossed print except by experiment concerning accuracy and comprehension. In earlier days, rate of reading does not seem to have been regarded as important. The Boston line type, even with its simpler shapes, seems rather small; that is, legibility was possibly sacrificed for the sake of cost. However, while at Boston in 1993, the writer asked to be introduced to a lady aged 82 who was reputed to be an excellent braillist. Surprisingly, she told the writer that she had been taught to read by the Howe method. Its use at Boston, therefore, had continued in spite of three other systems being regarded successively as official codes (proceedings: AAIB, 1871 and 1892, and American Association of Workers for the Blind (AWB), 1913) before braille came in to general use in America in 1921. To questions about legibility she replied, "Oh, we preferred the letters; we didn't like it when we were made to read those dots!". Her friends had been of the same opinion. How, therefore, was this to be reconciled up with previous views on legibility? Methods learned first are often preferred and perhaps there was an element of disinclination to learn a new code instead of continuing to use one that not only was familiar, but seemed satisfactory? However, it does seem that some readers have such good co-ordination of touch and cognition that they have little difficulty in reading more than one code. For such, the problem might be an occasional difficulty in remembering which shapes belong to which code, particularly in punctiform examples, and even so, readers may have their preferences for particular codes (Helen Keller, public hearing, March, 1909, p.40).

When the writer was visiting Perkins School for the Blind, near Boston, Massachusetts, she saw an example of Howe type which has an interesting history. During his stay in America in 1842, Charles Dickens visited the school, and was much impressed by the training given to the deaf and blind Laura Bridgman. She learned to read Howe type and could produce very neat handwriting with no kind of apparatus to keep the lines straight. Dickens gave an account of his observations in "American Notes" (1842). Years later Howe wrote to Dickens (18th February,1868) asking for permission to print one of his books for, "they want something to gladden their hearts" as a change from religious works and the text books used in school. The writer was shown the letter in which Dickens not only agreed for "The Old Curiosity Shop" to be treated in this way, but sent $1,700, enough for 250 books to be "distributed as a gift to the asylums for the blind". [A copy of The Old Curiosity Shop" in three three volumes in Howe type is on show at the school.] This event is also recorded in Johnson, 1977 (p.539).

Earlier in 1853, the first convention of the American Instructors of the Blind was held, primarily in order to make application to Congress for a permanent printing fund for the use of the blind. The resolutions ("The Blind", vol.1, p.5) included a recommendation "that the Boston letter, so called, in which the great bulk of books for the blind have been printed, be preferred as the standard type for all future books published for the blind", and that "a committee of three (including Dr Howe) be appointed". As far as is known, no committee was appointed and no other meeting took place until 1871.

## 11. FURTHER TYPE INVESTIGATIONS

It has not been possible to gain access to the early reports of the directors of the New York institution, but Kerney (1952), in commemoration of the centenary of the death of Louis Braille, wrote a concise but detailed paper entitled, "First tidings of literary braille in North America". It covers two schools in Canada, and New York, Pennsylvania and Missouri institution in the USA, with only passing references to Boston because of Howe's rigid adherence to his line type.

In 1835 (ibid., p.113) the treasurer of the New York institution received a report from a former professor of the school for the deaf and dumb in New York, who was visiting the Paris school. He recommended a literary code, mentioning Barbier and referring to Braille as "one of the blind tutors". The advice seems to have been ignored. John Adams, one of the managers of the New York institution, visited the Paris school several times during 1853-4 (ibid. p.113) and his report appeared on pp.35-44 of the nineteenth annual report of the managers of the New York Institution for the Blind, published in 1858 (ibid., pp.113 and 116). He brought back specimens of the braille alphabet and a frame with a guide and style, and specially mentioned the "system of raised points (sic) invented by M. Braille". The twentieth annual report, published in 1856 (ibid., pp.113 and 117) reported on pages 11-30 the use of braille at the Institution in 1855 though, it was a "modification" of the original "brought into use by an inmate".

An "imperfect" sample of the modified code was described by Russ, a director of the Institute in his third "Number" published in 1862 (ibid., pp.113-114, 118). The signs were a curious mixture including a contraction for ING and "only two letters, A and L, can be called identical with those of Louis Braille's original system on the limited basis afforded by Russ" (ibid., p.114). At the ninth meeting of the AAIB in 1886 a teacher, named Babcock, described how a frame had been found but no-one knew how to use it. A blind teacher had recognised that 63 characters were possible and decided for himself which ones should represent alphabet letters. This was the form of braille used by some of the pupils when Wait became director in 1863.

Wait (1890, p.10) found that many of the pupils could not read and immediately determined to remedy the situation. He admitted (1890, p.10) that he "assumed that the pupils could learn to read the books in line letter with uniform facility, according to their grade". He arranged for the entire school to be put into graded classes. New alphabet cards and reading books in the Boston line type were procured. The classes all read at the same time, five times a week, and extra time was given to the slower pupils. From week to week the grades were rearranged so that no pupil should be out of grade and this practice continued for two years. The care and labour are commendable; unfortunately, Wait had started with a faulty hypothesis, namely, that all children, whatever their ability, could eventually reach the same standard given the necessary time and good teaching with suitable materials. At the end of two years (Wait, 1890, p.10) the results must have been disappointing:

- could read with facility 20%
- could read moderately well 48%
- non readers 32%

Wait then collected statistics from six of the largest schools where pupils had had no special training. The percentages on the three classes of attainment varied somewhat, which could be expected, but the range of children who could not read was between 14% and 58% (ibid., p.10). It is not indicated whether the children were specifically tested or whether the figures represented the subjective estimates of the teachers.

Wait had set 100 words per minute for oral reading as a target for average readers, using a range from easy to difficult compositions, but found that only five children reached this limit. Because of the variety of methods of reading used in the institutions, it is obvious that the requirements of modern research methodology could not be applied; for example, the books were "generally" in Boston type, so not even the basic materials were the same for each pupil. Books were still few in number; those used for testing were well worn and it is probable that some testees knew the contents by heart. Testing by measuring the number of words read per minute was an unfamiliar method, though it is not clear if any of the schools used this instruction from Wait. Two of his conclusions (ibid., p.11) are of particular interest for future researchers:

1. The group of non-readers included some of the brightest pupils.
2. The capacity for touch reading was no test of mental ability.

As a result of these findings, he concluded that the Roman letter could no longer be regarded as the most effective for educational use.

The St. Louis school at Missouri had closed for six months sometime between 1860-1861 so "a mystery surrounds the actual year when braille became a tool of instruction". Kerney (1952) suggests 1859, 1860, or 1861 as possible dates. There Wait found that 65% could read with facility and 35% moderately well. This result seems questionable for in any general representative sample there are likely to be some pupils who will never manage to read the code. Meanwhile, Wait had received a translation of Braille's "Procédé" of 1837 and considered that although the code could be written it was wasteful of space. Even so, his 31st annual report noted, "the braille system is an excellent one, and inasmuch as there are already too many systems of print in use, which difficulty would be magnified by the introduction of another, ... I would especially urge upon all persons or institutions ... the importance of printing books in the points system of the braille code" (Wait, 1890, pp.13-14).

No response came from Philadelphia or Boston. In 1868 Wait published a paper indicating "some of the principles to be followed in the construction of a more legible and cheaper system" (Wait, 1890, p.14). Later, in a paper read before the World's Congress of Educators of the Blind, Chicago, 1893 (p.6), he claimed that "the thirty-two per cent, of the pupils in the New York school who had failed to read the line letters in common with the others, learned the New York system in eleven lessons of one hour each". He was so anxious for a single code that he was even prepared to sacrifice his new improved one if the other institutions would accept braille. When this proposal, too, was not accepted, he felt free to publish his New York literary code in his report of 1869. This was the code that Armitage and his council felt must be studied and practised before their own final choice could be made.

## 12. NEW YORK POINT TYPE

Farrell (1956, p.111) wrote "There is still some controversy as to whether this system was actually developed by Mr. Wait, for there is considerable evidence that Dr Russ, the first principal of the New York Institute, had devised it, but certainly Mr. Wait promoted it with all his energy". Armitage (1886, p.13) had correspondence with Russ which helps to clarify the matter. Russ had at first considered a phonetic shorthand similar to that of Frere, but eventually his characters were "applied by him to ordinary writing, and the main question was whether his or the original Braillé (sic) system possessed on the whole the greatest advantages". Though braille and New York point codes are punctiform, comparisons immediately reveal that they differ fundamentally in construction. Whereas braille is based on a matrix of 3 x 2 points, the signs of New York point are never more than two points high. The width is variable, taking from 1 to 4 points. It is therefore clear that the two codes are in no way interchangeable, and guides for writing must be based on different design.

Capital Letters

| l l l l A | l l l l l B | l l l l C | l l l l l D | l l l l E | l l l l F |

Lower Case Letters

| l l a | l l l l b | l l l c | l l l d | l e | l l l f |

New York Point type.

For braille each letter occupies a separate cell, and each space equals one cell plus the width of the bars of the guide on each side that separate it from adjoining cells. As the New York system has a variable base a continuous line of points must be possible. The New York guide, therefore, has openings in which a possible four points may be made, that is 2 x 2. The bar between each opening is the same width as the distance between the possible horizontal points within the cell. A single horizontal space is left between words, i.e. the same as half the width of the cell, or the bar between the last and first positions of adjacent cells. Two or three points width are left between words.

Another difference between the codes lies in the characters designated for each letter. Being only two points high more lines could be accommodated on a page, thus saving space in one dimension. It was important that this should not be negated by the width of the letters. Wait, therefore, used a new principle for allotting signs to letters by giving signs with the fewest points to the letters of the highest frequency. To make this choice he counted their occurrence in a varied selection of printed material, resulting in the following order:

- 1 point E T
- 2 points A I N O S
- 3 points C D F L M P R U V W Y
- 4 points B G J K Q
- 5 points H X Z

At first glance G and H seem surprisingly far down the list. This is explained by the fact that there were 10 contractions at that time. G would occur many times in ING and H would be well represented in CH, SH, TH, THAT, and THE. Subjectively, it would seem that B and V could have exchanged position.

## 13. COMPARISON OF ENGLISH BRAILLE AND NEW YORK POINT SYSTEMS

When the BFBA executive council had acquired sufficient knowledge and practice in using the new code, Armitage carried out an examination of Wait's conclusions and, finding errors, made his own calculations. These, together with the council's opinions on legibility, rapidity of writing, facility of correction, facility of learning, and universality, were published in 1874 under the title, "The Braille and New York systems compared" (Executive Council of the BFBA, July, 1874).

### Space Saving

It might have been expected by a council of blind persons that legibility would have been considered first. However, space saving was regarded of importance because book production was very expensive. Wait's estimate of space saving as against braille seemed too high because of incorrect methodology. "It appeared to the Council (ibid., p.3) that the best way of testing the correctness of Mr. Wait's calculation would be to write out the same matter on the same scale in the two systems and measure the space occupied"; they included only the 10 corresponding contractions which appeared in the New York code, even though the British code had several more.

Selections from Gibbon, Macaulay, Judges and Acts of the Apostles from the Bible, and Mills' "Subjection of Women" were used (ibid., pp.13-15); from studying these five extracts he found that they gave space saving in favour of New York point of 20.6%, 18.8%, 22.0%, 22.5%, and 20.5% respectively, averaging 20.48%. This was 12.52% less than claimed by Wait, but enough for a close study of the other factors involved to be necessary.

### Legibility

The council agreed (ibid., p.6) that a character only two points high "comes more fully under the finger, and therefore is pleasanter to read than a deep character like the Braille", but New York point was criticised for leaving too small a space between the letters. A space of one point was not considered sufficient, and two points gave better legibility but more loss of space. Armitage noticed that the New York cell had been slightly increased vertically, causing the lines of type to be closer at the expense of easy reading. He believed that this had been done to clarify the difference between the points in the upper and lower positions, but this change led to a greater distance between points that were diagonal to each other. It was, therefore, not always easy to determine "whether they form part of one letter or of two different letters" (ibid., p.7). These observations by Armitage demonstrate how much reading is affected by the different positions of the points, the spaces between them, and also line space. Though not commented on in this instance, the size and shape of dots are also important. These aspects were not addressed in detail until some 80 years later (see Chapter 8).

### Rapidity of Writing

Not unexpectedly, Armitage found that the new signs, being only two points in depth and the fewest points being assigned to the most frequently occurring letters, led to a slight advantage in writing of New York point over braille.

### Facility of Correction

Correction is a very practical aspect not covered by other early code makers. Because each letter has its own cell in braille it is an easy matter to add or delete dots, even though in practice the rubbing out of a dot is always noticeable by a touch reader. As new York letters vary in length, some corrections might affect the rest of the line.

### Facility of Learning

Armitage claimed that braille had the advantage because the remainder of the signs are derived from the original 10 characters. This advantage is of limited value because a capable braillist soon learns to recognise shapes without reference to other characters, and in fact many do not learn in this way. Reference to characters already learned may give confidence to adult readers who have already learned to read by the inkprint method. All New York characters have to be learned separately.

### Universality

Several countries on mainland Europe were already using braille, so the same letters and numbers could be used, but because of their construction, New York point letters were not compatible with braille. The council expressed their regret that Mr. Wait, "while retaining the 10 letters used in braille to denote numerals, has so changed their significance that if both systems are ultimately adopted the greatest confusion must arise in the interchange of books where numbers are used, as in numbering of pages, numbers placed on maps, &." (ibid.,p.11). It is difficult to understand the reasoning behind Wait's choice for his signs, for numbers 7, 8, and 9 have fewer dots yet it would seem that they occur less frequently than 1 and 3-6. 1 is one of the most frequently occurring numbers yet has been allotted the most dots.

Music is not within the scope of this project, but it seems important to mention that the braille music code was being used in Europe and was beginning to be used in some American institutions even where they still used a line type for reading and writing, another advantage in favour of the choice of braille for general use. Wait devised his own music code (1890, p.18) but it was clumsy and was never much favoured.

## 14. CONCLUSION

The BFBA executive council had examined several line systems in terms of shape of the configurations and ease of reading, and had also taken the trouble to test other users and ask for their opinions. In March, 1870, the minutes show that the merits of New York point and braille were being compared and the special frames necessary were ordered ready for further trials. In April, correspondence was received from the St. Louis school in Missouri concerning their use of braille, so already the council knew that the braille code had reached America. However, there the W was placed after V instead of at the end of Braille's fourth line involving a change in the shapes of W, X, Y, and Z. During all this time and for many months more there was ongoing discussion about which new contractions should be included in the developing English literary code.

The contents of the New York point code together with the opinions of Armitage and the BFBA council have been included in some detail in this chapter for two main reasons. First because they demonstrate the great care with which the council's work was carried out. Secondly, in 1871 the New York point system was accepted by the AAIB for use in schools. Its use in America for some forty years, together with other codes, was to result in much discord and delay so some acquaintance with its design was necessary before the events in the next chapter are described.

The BFBA council remained firm in their decision to keep to the exclusive use of the braille literary code. It seems ironic that Russ, Friedlander, and Howe had intended right from the inauguration of their institutions that America should not suffer from a diversity of codes as had happened in Britain. In spite of their praiseworthy intentions, by 1871 there were already a lingering use of line types, braille somewhat similar to the French version, and New York point and, before long, yet another code. A clash of personalities as much as the diversity of the types was to be the cause of dissension.