that it is pleasant to her. It frequently happens that the
perfume of a flower or the flavour of a fruit recalls to her mind
some happy event in home life, or a delightful birthday party.

Her sense of touch has sensibly increased during the year, and
has gained in acuteness and delicacy. Indeed, her whole body is
so finely organized that she seems to use it as a medium for
bringing herself into closer relations with her fellow creatures.
She is able not only to distinguish with great accuracy the
different undulations of the air and the vibrations of the floor
made by various sounds and motions, and to recognize her friends
and acquaintances the instant she touches their hands or
clothing, but she also perceives the state of mind of those
around her. It is impossible for any one with whom Helen is
conversing to be particularly happy or sad, and withhold the
knowledge of this fact from her.

She observes the slightest emphasis placed upon a word in
conversation, and she discovers meaning in every change of
position, and in the varied play of the muscles of the hand. She
responds quickly to the gentle pressure of affection, the pat of
approval, the jerk of impatience, the firm motion of command, and
to the many other variations of the almost infinite language of
the feelings; and she has become so expert in interpreting this
unconscious language of the emotions that she is often able to
divine our very thoughts.

In my account of Helen last year, I mentioned several instances
where she seemed to have called into use an inexplicable mental
faculty; but it now seems to me, after carefully considering the