Stamering And Cognate Defects Of Speech Vol - Ii

184 SYSTEMS OF TREATING STAMMERING

Mrs. Leigh, an Englishwoman, was governess to the
daughter of Dr. Yates, of Albany, New York. The
doctor's daughter stammered, and Mrs. Leigh applied
her notorious "method" to combat the impediment.
One version has it that Dr. Yates invented the method,
and imparted it to Mrs. Leigh in the interests of Ms
daughter; and that he subsequently appointed the
governess as the head of a stammering-school. The
other version has it that Mrs. Leigh herself con-
tributed the method, and that Dr. Yates assumed
credit for its invention. According to the latter Aver-
sion, Dr. Yates had no connection with Mrs. Leigh's
institution.
The former version is upheld by Dr. Warren:

" The inventor of Mrs. Leigh's system, Dr. Christopher C.
Yates, of New York, a medical gentleman of high talents and
very strong natural powers, had a daughter afflicted with
stammering. After attentive observation and a long study of
her case, he succeeded in hitting upon a method which effected
a cure. This method he imparted to the young lady's m-
stnictress, Mrs. Leigh, an Englishwoman, in order that it might
be pursued during school-hours.

"The inventor soon determined to extend its benefits to
others. Finding Mrs. Leigh enter into the scheme with
zeal and ability, he placed her at the head of the institution;
and, fearful of the reproach of empiricism, he chose that it
should pass under her name."l

i "Remarks on Stammering," American Journal of Medical Science,
Boston, 1837. Quoted by The Voice, Vol. IV, p. 96.