[159] This was organized in 1897. Proceedings, p. 36. It is known as Department XVI, or the Department of Special Education. Both instructors of the deaf and of the blind are represented, those interested in the education of the feeble-minded having also been included up to 1902. In addition to the three general organizations of educators of the deaf, there have been several local conferences, as of the principals of schools in the Southern states and in New York, and of teachers in the state of Michigan and of the city of New York. [160] Its first publication was by the instructors of the Hartford School. Publication was omitted in 1849, and from 1861 to 1868. [161] For other publications that have appeared in the interest of the deaf, see "Periodicals Devoted to the Interests of the Deaf," by the Volta Bureau, 1913. PART II PROVISION FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE DEAF CHAPTER VIII THE EDUCATION OF THE DEAF PRIOR TO ITS INTRODUCTION INTO THE UNITED STATES Among the ancient peoples generally the deaf and dumb, especially those so by birth, were deemed as of deficient mentality, and were accounted, intellectually, as little better than children, or, indeed, as idiots. Though treated, it seems, for the most part humanely, they were regarded not without some aversion; and their affliction was not infrequently looked upon as a visitation of the gods, some of the hardy races even destroying their deaf offspring. For a long period there were scarcely any serious attempts to give instruction to the deaf. Allusions to the deaf and their state with respect to education are found in certain of the Greek and Latin writers, and occasionally in those of other languages. Herodotus speaks of the deaf son of Cr[oe]sus, and Hippocrates has reference to the deaf as a class. Plato and Aristotle also make mention of the deaf, the latter considering them incapable of education because of the absence of the sense of hearing. Among Latin authors we find an account by Pliny the Elder of a deaf man who had learned painting. It is only after the fifteenth century that we have more or less authenticated accounts of the instruction of the deaf, and many of these are hardly more than a passing reference here and there. It was, moreover, well after Europe had taken its present political appearance that the modern attitude towards the deaf and their instruction began. Before this their education as a class was not thought of, and while no doubt there have always been sporadic instances of the instruction of the deaf, it is only since the middle of the eighteenth century that the deaf have come generally into the birthright of their education.