It seems almost beyond belief that so many boards of directors should so disregard the laws of health, decency and civilization, as not to provide for each sex suitable out-buildings, separate from each other. Yet many county superintendents report the outbuildings as in wretched condition, and several of them report districts in which there is no such building on the school grounds. The personal influence of the county superintendent and the teachers, combined, has wrought a marked change in some counties. They should have the aid of the law by a special enactment compelling boards of directors to provide suitable out-buildings, to surround them with such fences or partitions as may assure privacy, and to see that they are furnished with locks, so as to be secure at night and when school is not in session. Then both county superintendent and directors should hold the teacher responsible for their condition. A gentleman who has had much experience in school matters, once said that he thought he could determine the moral tone of a school by inspecting the out-houses; and he was not far from right.

The public at large are not well informed concerning matters which affect the health of school children. In the buildings lately erected in our cities, great attention has been paid to sanitary arrangement, but in nearly every city there are in use, and in some cases crowded with pupils, buildings which are poorly lighted, vicious in the manner of heating, and entirely without suitable ventilating apparatus. It is seldom that the wardrobes are properly arranged. The outer garments of the children are hung in thick rows, or thrown together in the corner, where there is not the slightest ventilation and but little light-reeking sometimes with dampness and foul with the odors of cooking, the best possible conditions for the growth of disease germs, and the propagation and spread of contagion.

There is not the same need for providing artificial means of ventilation in the rural districts as in the cities. Yet no school building, however small its dimensions, should be considered fit to be used by human beings, which does not provide some means for a supply of pure air.

Physicians are accustomed to charge many of the diseases incident to childhood and youth to school life. In many cases their diagnosis is correct. But, if they would carefully inspect the environments of the school, they would often find the causes of weak eyes, of distorted spines, of unstrung nerves, of aching heads, of unnatural languor, of weakness and debility, in the

impure water the children drink; in the vitiated air which they breathe; in the forced and constrained positions necessitated by illfitting seats; in the steep stairs which they wearily climb three or four times a day; in the light, deficient in quantity, and admitted often in the faces of the pupils, or reflected from neighboring buildings; in the method of warming, which heats the head while the feet are freezing,-they would find in some or all of these the sources of ill-health, much oftener than in the amount of hard study required of the scholars.

If they would go still farther, and trace the connection between the school-house well and the water-closet which stands not far removed; if they would reflect that the floors of many schoolrooms are washed not oftener than once a year; that the desks, which may have been occupied by children coming from families in which some member is sick with a contagious disease, are seldom if ever cleansed; that the walls are never treated to a thorough coat of whitewash; if they would look at the heaps of rubbish and litter which accumulate under the stairs and in dark corners of the buildings; if they would place themselves in a position to catch some of the vile odors which come from cellars and basements, and in the country school from under the building, but which find their way up through crack and crevice to mingle with the air which the scholars and teacher breathe,-they would no longer wonder at the mysterious outbreaks of diphtheria and scarlet fever among the children of the neighborhood.

To a careful observer two conclusions seem evident: In the first place teachers should be held to a strict accountability. They should understand that it is not a matter of physiology and books, but of hygiene and common sense. The rules of the state board of health should be posted in every school-room, and boards of directors should require teachers and parents to observe them. It is better that a child coming from a family in which there is a possible case of contagious disease should be excluded for a day or so, even though it may prove to have been unnecessary, than to admit one carelessly from a family or neighborhood infected with such a disease, and thus to expose all his school-mates to the contagion. The second conclusion is this: Every building or room in which a school supported by public funds is maintained should be inspected, at least once a year, by some competent authority, in regard to its absolute cleanliness, to the manner of lighting, heating and ventilation, to the seats and desks, to the condition and convenience of out-buildings, and to all its surroundings. Every

building of more than one story should be so constructed as to avoid danger from fire, and to afford ample means of egress, in case of alarm. These requirements should be made mandatory upon school officers, and failure to comply with them should be punishable, not by withholding the public money-which would punish innocent parties, but by a heavy fine upon the officers who failed to do their duty.

I am aware that many of our teachers are careful, as far as in their power, to impress upon their pupils the duty and necessity of personal cleanliness, and to instruct them in the laws of health and moral purity. They beautify their rooms with pictures and flowers, and make them happy homes for the children under their care. But that does not in any degree relieve the State from the duty of providing every possible facility for promoting the physical welfare of the great army of youth in our schools. Neglect to do this during the most susceptible age of the child's life, is more censurable than to neglect his mental training.