the art of spelling or communicating ideas with the fingers; the most useful application of which is what has been called the Manual Alphabet for the instruction of the deaf and dumb. It has also been employed as the medium of communication between the deaf and dumb and the blind. The invention of the one-handed alphabet is attributed to Bonet, the Spanish instructor of the deaf and dumb. The first English work on this subject is the rare tract by Dalgaro, published in 1680, and reprinted by the Maitland Club; in which the vowels are represented by the extreme joints of the five fingers of the left hand, the consonants by the other joints, taken in horizontal ranges: T, V, W, and X, by the metacarpal bones of the fore, middle, and little fingers, and thumb; and Z by the space in a line with the metacarpus of the thumb. A very perfect system for arithmetical computation is that invented by Mr O. Stansbury, superintendent of the deaf and dumb institution of New York. It is now extensively employed, both in this country and America, in such establishments. The fingers of the left hand are raised in succession, so as to represent the units, and the closed fist represents 0. To represent tens, the position of the hand is changed from the vertical to the horizontal; hundreds by pointing the hand downwards; thousands by placing the left hand across the body towards the right shoulder; and millions by putting the same hand towards the left.