Of course, Dr. Ireland has something to say upon this point, and after a brief review of the literature of the subject, he says: "So many cases have been collected of microcephales with open sutures, that it is not likely that anyone will continue to hold that the small size of the brain is owing to the sutures closing in, and thus hindering their growth. Even in those cases where the sutures have closed in before birth, the question still remains whether the brain ceased to grow because the sutures are closed, or whether the sutures closed in because the brain ceased to grow; or, lastly, whether both the brain and its coverings ceased to grow under a common cause."[52] The benefits to be derived in apparently hopeless cases of idiocy, from the systematic and persevering use of all the modern adjuvants and appliances now available for treatment, are now so universally recognised, that it would be superfluous to dwell further on this point. Science has done much for the idiot, and she will do more, for her motto is "Excelsior," and her votaries are not content to linger with complacency on the heights already attained, but they look for the period when, by the powerful lever of an enlightened philanthropy, this benighted race shall be raised from the grovelling level of the brute, to the highest attainable pitch of bodily perfection. * * * * * I trust that I have said enough to justify an earnest appeal for sympathy with this unfortunate branch of the human family. I have endeavoured to show that a great social evil exists amongst us, and that duty and interest should alike concur to induce us to face this evil and to master it. I have endeavoured to point out how the care and training of the idiot has become one of the recognised obligations of a philanthropic public. At the Eastern Counties' Asylum, we are trying to mitigate as far as we can this great social calamity, and our efforts have hitherto been crowned with unlooked-for success. We are doing a grand and glorious work, and I ask you to come and help us; the Board of Directors, a noble band of philanthropists, who devote a considerable amount of time to the objects of this charity, ask you to come and help us; nay, more, from the cottage homes in East Anglia rendered miserable by the presence of these unhappy beings, a thousand voices cry to you with trumpet tongue, "Come and help us."