Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/402

374 "Bringing in the Maize," and in 1875 three: "The American Circus in Paris," "Tete a Tete in Cairo," and "In the Pyrenees." The same year he was made an associate of the national academy. In 1876 he exhibited "A Moorish Interior" and "Chapel-Noon, Brittany," and sent to the centennial exhibition at Philadelphia " A Kybelian Woman," "Flower of the Harem," and "The Nubian Story-Teller." Many of his finest paintings are owned in this country. In 1880 Mr. Bridgman came to America and gave a collective exhibition of his works in New York. He was chosen a member of the National Academy of Design in 1881, and the same year returned to Paris, where he resides and has his studio. His latest paintings are "Caid's Escort at Rest"; "Family Bath at Cairo"; "My Last Price " (1884); and "Summer on the Bosphorus" (1885).

BRIDGMAN, Laura Dewey, blind deaf-mute, b. in Hanover, N. H., 21 Dec., 1829; d. in Boston, Mass., 24 May, 1889. When she was two years old a severe illness deprived her of sight and hearing. Her sense of smell was also destroyed, and that of taste impaired. At the age of eight she was placed in the Perkins institution for the blind, at Boston, Mass., where the superintendent, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, undertook the difficult task of instructing her. The first step was to teach her the names of objects, and this was done by putting into her hands some familiar article, together with its name in raised letters. When she had begun to realize that the words bore some relation to the objects, the former were given her alone, and it was found that she recognized them. The letters were then taken apart, and she was taught how to put them together to form the words. After she had learned many names in this way, type with raised letters were given her, with a board containing holes for their reception, and it afforded her great amusement to form with these materials the names of objects that were presented. She was also taught the manual alphabet and its connection with the raised letters, so that when the name of a new object was spelled on her teacher's hands she would compose the same with her type. All this was done in three months. Laura never grew tired of learning, and Dr. Howe, after continuing for two years to teach her the names of objects, next tried to instruct her in their qualities and relations. The difficulties connected with each step having been surmounted by patience and perseverance, she was next taught to write with a lead-pencil. After this her studies were various. She acquired a knowledge of arithmetic, of geography, which was taught by means of maps and globes in relief, and also learned to sew and to do household work. The statement that she learned to play on the piano is incorrect. She constantly thought, and asked questions about what she had learned. One day Dr. Howe, when asked who it was that had made land and sea, explained to her the character of God, and from this time her religious feelings became strongly developed. Miss Bridgman taught in the Perkins institution with great success, and made it her home during the school session, spending the summers with her mother at Hanover, N. H. The facts in her life have been referred to by theologians, philosophers, and medical men all over the world, and her physical and mental condition is still of great interest. It is probable that when she came to Dr. Howe she was not quite so completely in the state of one blind from birth as he supposed. The modesty of her demeanor, which surprised him so, and the facility with which she learned, were doubtless due to the influence of the twenty-six months when she had full possession of her senses, though she was totally unable to remember anything that happened in that period. She was so deaf that her hand was more sensitive to sonorous vibrations than her head, yet she was easily made dizzy by whirling, a fact that has been thought to contradict the hypothesis that the semicircular canal of the ear is the seat of giddiness. Her left eye was sensitive to a strong beam of light, which, however, only caused her pain. She was with difficulty able to form a mental picture involving space relations, and it required effort for her to tell, for instance, how many sides of an object were visible from one point. An interesting peculiarity was her Homeric use of epithets. Her bed was always &ldquo;easy&rdquo; or &ldquo;soft,&rdquo; her room &ldquo;cosey,&rdquo; and the fire &ldquo;nice&rdquo; or &ldquo;warm.&rdquo; She was very neat in her dress and in the arrangement of her room, and, while regarding the rights of others, was tenacious of her own. She was very fond of &ldquo;talking,&rdquo; and often soliloquized in finger-language. Dr. Howe wrote, in 1873: &ldquo;She enjoys life quite as much, probably more, than most persons do. She reads whatever book she finds in raised print, but especially the Bible. She makes much of her own clothing, and can run a sewing-machine. She seems happiest when she can find some person who knows the finger alphabet, and can sit and gossip with her about acquaintances, the news, and general matters. Her moral sense is well developed.&rdquo; See &ldquo;Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgman,&rdquo; by her instructor, Mary S. Lamson (Boston, 1878).

BRIGGS, Amos, manufacturer, b. in East Greenwich, R. I., in 1795; d. in Newport, R. I., 8 Aug., 1874. He removed to Schaghticoke, N. Y., in 1820, and was engaged in manufacturing there for more than fifty years. He held many local offices, was several times state senator, and did much by his energy and public spirit to increase the prosperity of the town. He was also prominent in religious matters.

BRIGGS, Caleb, geologist, b. in North Rochester, Mass., 24 May, 1812; d. there, 28 Sept., 1884. He was educated as a physician, but devoted himself to the study of geology and its allied sciences, and was engaged in the first survey of the coal and iron regions of Ohio. He entered upon the work in June, 1837, explored Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia, Athens, Jackson, Hocking, and afterward Wood. Crawford, and Tuscarawas cos., and, after the survey terminated in 1839, was employed in surveying the western counties of Virginia. He then settled at Ironton, Ohio, where he engaged in mining, and gave |25,000 to found a public library.

BRIGGS, Charles Augustus, clergyman, b. in New York city, 15 Jan., 1841. He studied in the university of Virginia from 1857 till 1860, in the union theological seminary. New York city, from 1861 till 1863, and in the university of Berlin from 1866 till 1869. Returning to this" country, he became pastor of the Presbyterian church at Roselle, N. J., and in 1874 was appointed to the chair of Hebrew in Union theological seminary. He is one of the editors of the "Presbyterian Review," and has published "Biblical Study" (New York, 1883); "American Presbyterianism" (1885): and "Messianic Prophecy" (1886).

BRIGGS, Charles Frederick, author, b. in Nantucket, Mass., in 1804; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 20 June, 1877. He removed to New York early in life, and was there connected with the press many years. He began the publication of the "Broadway Journal" in 1844, and in the following year Edgar A. Poe became his associate editor. Proff