695062 Throat movements used in the pronunciation of the Hebrew Alphabet, illustration from \'Alphabetum Natura (\'Alphabet of Nature\')\' by F.M. van Helmont, 1667 (engraving) by Dutch School, (17th century); Institut National des Jeunes Sourds, Paris, France; (add.info.: Treatise on the Hebrew Alphabet by the Flemish physician, mystic and Kabbalist, Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (1614-98); although this was an attempt to offer a practical method for teaching deaf people to speak, it is primarily a philosophical work that argues that Hebrew is the natural language of creation; Helmont was a syncretist, convinced that a union of the mystical teachings of the Jewish Kabbalah and Christianity offered a foundation for a universal religion that would embrace Catholics, Protestants, Moslems and Pagans;).