V] 
 
 <^ 
 
 /a 
 
 J>W/A 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 ^M 
 
 /A 
 
 0^////y 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 12.8 
 
 ISO 
 
 1^ im 
 
 I.I 
 
 1^ 
 
 2.5 
 2.2 
 
 1.8 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 V 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^e- 
 
 
 r/u 
 
 (/. 
 
 
 1.25 1.4 
 
 1.6 
 
 
 ^k-~- 
 
 6" - 
 
 
 ' ► 
 
 S: 
 
 iP 
 
 rV 
 
 4 
 
 :\ 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 f.^ 
 
 
 ^:^ 
 
 
 6^ 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

 K'.o 
 
 €. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques 
 
 \\ 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 y 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 D 
 
 Couverture endommagee 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaurie et/ou pellicul^e 
 
 Cover title missing/ 
 
 □ Cove 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 L'Institut a microfilme le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a ate possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier 
 un« image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la m^thoda normale de filmaga 
 sont indiquds ci-dessous. 
 
 □ Coloured pages/ 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 □ Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommageos 
 
 n 
 
 E 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages restaurees et/ou pelliculies 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages ddcolorees, tachetdes ou piquees 
 
 T 
 t( 
 
 T 
 
 P 
 o 
 
 fl 
 
 C 
 
 b 
 
 tl 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 fl 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 n 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes g^ograpniques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noi 
 
 Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 ReliA avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 Lareliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou d9 la 
 distorsion le long de la marge interieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 h£ve been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pa^i 6ti film^es. 
 
 □Pages detached/ 
 Pages detachees 
 
 QShowthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 □ Quality of print varies/ 
 Quality indgale de I'impression 
 
 r~~1 Includes supplementary material/ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Comprend du materiel suppiementaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, 
 etc., cnt dt§ fiim^es d nouveau de facon a 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 T 
 T 
 
 d 
 
 ei 
 b 
 ri 
 n 
 a 
 
 D 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplementaires: 
 
 This item Is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu^ ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
I^PSsr 
 
 The copy filmed h«r« has b««n reproduced thenks 
 to the generosity of: 
 
 D. B. Weldon Library 
 University of Western Ontario 
 (Regional History Koom) 
 
 The imeges appeering here are the beet quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 L'axemplaire filmA fut reproduit grAce h la 
 QinArosit* de: 
 
 D. B. Weldon Library 
 University of Western Ontario 
 (Regional History Room) 
 
 Lm images suivantee ont 4tA reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la netteti de I'exemplaire filmi, st en 
 conformity avec les conditions du contrat de 
 fllmage. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 Lee exemplaires origlnaux dont la couverture en 
 pepier est imprimte sont filmis en commenpant 
 per le premier plat et en terminant soit par la 
 dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plet. selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont filmfo en commenpant par la 
 premiere page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par 
 la derniire page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 The last recorded frame on eech microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "EI'JD"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Un dee symbolee suivants apparaftra sur la 
 derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le 
 symbols y signifie "FIN". 
 
 Maps, platee. charts, etc.. may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many framee as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableeux, etc., peuvent dtre 
 fiimte d dee taux de /Muction diffirents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre 
 reproduit en un seul cliche, il est fiimi d partir 
 de I'angle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche h droite, 
 et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre 
 d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la m^thoda. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 i. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
m 
 
 .M^' 
 
 Mics/£7(/£^se;o C'aant\ 
 
 oa: ^--^ *• 
 
 # 
 
 *^ 
 
 School Hygiene, i 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVEKKD BY MR. J. DEARNESS, PUBLIC SCHOOL INSPECTOR, 
 
 AT A JOINT SESSION 
 
 -OF THE- 
 
 L 
 
 IT 
 
 ti 
 
 HELO UNDER THE AU8PICES OF THE 
 
 PROVINCIAL BOARD OF HEALTH 
 
 -AND THE- 
 
 East Middlesex Teachers' Association, 
 
 ^M': 
 
 — AT- 
 
 LONDON, ink NOVEMBER, 1883. 
 
 
 ■^ ■♦ »■ 
 
 Printed by Order of the 
 East Middlesex Teachers' Association. 
 
 .» «r-— 5 ) 
 
 ( g—^ » 
 
 T.ntnmnn X" .Tnnsm f.nnrlnn Riuit.. 
 
 n 
 
 // 
 
*:^^ 
 
 ...:'t 
 
 "^i 
 
 H 
 
 
 ,^.* 
 
 ■■5;-it5^'-*#; 
 
 -::\:' 
 
 • ■ / '■- .y^ -' - 
 
 # 
 
 ? -i _ 
 
 
 
 '-* '-^'^ 
 
 ^W. 
 
 : y A .„V' 
 
 "4 
 
 V- •?,•.>;>'-■ - ■:- '-k: 
 
 .A' ', ^.■' - 
 
 ■ '■ '■/■/-" 
 
 f 1 .^. 
 
 
 '.^■<. .< ■ ' afi i^'/;^'' ■'■- 
 
 '/. -^"-^ 
 
 *' 
 
 
 v^^i:»H^^|j 
 
 ij^A 
 
 if., . 
 
 
 
 
 '■" "* , ir 
 
 
■ff!^' ' 
 
 '■.,^' 
 
 'til-, 'iy" '■' " 
 
 Si' r 
 
 t»}>: 
 
 SANITARY CONDITION 
 
 -OF- 
 
 RURAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 Martial, the father of epigrammatists, cryKtallizod a large part of the human 
 experience of his day in the short sentence ; Non eat vivere, sed valere vita — " Life 
 is not living, but the enjoyment of health." After the experience of seventeen 
 centuries more, our own poet, Thomson, sung : " Health is the vital principle of 
 bliss." No doubt the paramount importance of health to happiness will be 
 acknowledged to the end of time. It is universally admitted to be easier to pre- 
 serve health than to recover it, that hea'th once lost is diihcult or impossible to 
 regain ; yet few seem to think about preserving it until they find that they are 
 losing or have lost it. To get and keep wealth a hundred times as much trouble 
 and anxiety seem to be exercised as to get and keep health ; but let disease lay 
 hold on the money-seeker, and you may see him eager to spend his last dollar, 
 could it but purchase that which he carelessly lost or deliberately threw away. 
 
 The life and health of the young occupy only a small proportion of the atten- 
 tion which they deserve. A funeral cortege passed along Talbot street the other 
 day. Some one inquired, "Whose funeral?" Reply was made, " It's only a 
 child's." The answer does not strike one as unfamiliar. The public mourns the 
 departure of a life whose work seems to us well-nigh accomplished ; but the loss of 
 the life of a child with all its unfolded possibilities is deplored only by the house- 
 hold. Indeed some good people talk as if they thought one of the chief uses of 
 children is to aiford tiie Father of all Good a means of visiting on families bless- 
 ing in affliction, btrange that God, while He v.'alked on earth, manifest in the 
 flesh should delight in daily moving among the people blessing the children, 
 raising the palsied, casting out devils, and healing all manner of diseases, as was 
 read in our hearing this morning, but, that God in heaven should look with com- 
 placency on the suffering of our little ones prostrated on beds of racking paia that 
 they cannot understand at all, for the sole benefit of us older sinners No ; the 
 truth taught us by statistics is that over one-fourth of all the lives God gives our 
 race are sacrificed in early youth to the devils of sin and ignorance and uncleanli- 
 ness (foul air).* 
 
 Much mischie' comes from the over-estimation of the strength and hardiness 
 of youth. On a chilly day in late September thirty children sat in an unwarmed 
 school-room, the little girls shivering, their cheeks and lips blue with cold. A 
 trustee of the school when told that " the stove should be put up at once or those 
 children 'vill get their death of cold," replied " Oh, they're young and strong ; when 
 
 I was like them T could stand anything." It is in youth that the seeds of invalidism 
 
 and weakness are often planted, and in no other period of life is greater precaution 
 
 necessary for the preservation of health. Begin to train a man when he is young 
 
 *Out of 22.208 deaths registered in the Province of Ontario in 1881, the latest year tor 
 which a report is publishedi 9 510 deaths, or 43 out of every 100, were of persons under 
 
 II years otiige- Fur the prccediiig five years the percentage of deaths under 11 years has 
 varied from 39 to 44 1 
 
to live long and wtll. Tlie fnllacy tlint the only cava prowin^ boys and ^rirls 
 require is to be dosod and nursed tlirouKli wli(K>nint,'-couKh and meaHloH nuiHt bo 
 eradicatod before the misHionof the Kanitarian in fulfilled. 
 
 I have read somewhere that infant mortality in old London haH decreaHed by 
 one half Hinee mortuary KtatiKtieK were first compiled. So much for the prof,'res8 
 and benefits of Banitary science. lint the hiuh rate of mortality among children 
 yet found even in the most favored districtH and countries is a disgrace 
 to our civilization. Nations and politicians should be keenly exercised over 
 the frightful facts revealed by these tables of mortality. It is difficult to esti- 
 mate the pecuniary value to the nation of an average lif(!. We know that before 
 the Amencan war the slave-dealer thought an able-bodied black worth from 
 1,500 to 2,000 dollars. Perhaps no one here would venture to estimate the 
 millions of dollars lost to our country by preventable mortality ; yet it would not 
 be a long sum in addition to tell how much the Government spends annually in 
 the only effective remedy, thediifusion of hj-gienic knowledge among the masses. 
 I am a politician who believes it is the duty of our country to spend more money 
 on preserving the lives we have and less on the importation of foreigners Herbert 
 Spencer trtily writes : " To the tens of thousands that are killed and tlic hundreds 
 of thousands that sumve with feeble constitutions, add the millions that grow up 
 with constitutions not so strong as they should bo and you will have some idea of 
 the curse inflicted on their offsi)ring by pare^nfs ignorant of the laws of life. Con- 
 sider but for a moment that the regimen to Avhich children are subject is hourly 
 telling ipon them to their life-long injury or benefit, and you will have some idea 
 of the enormous mischief that is almost everywhere inflicted by the thoughtless, 
 haphazard system in common use." It is too true that few in miiidle life are in 
 the enjoyment of continuous vigorous health, and could a thorougii investigation 
 be made it would most probably be found in respect to the majority of the others 
 
 that the seeds of their disease or weakness were sown in childhood. How often 
 
 I 
 do we see an apparent!}^ strong man succumb in the prime of life to some malady 
 
 or epidemic to which others are equally exposed yet escape. The immediate canst; 
 
 of his death is charged to the disease, but who can say that the cause of inability 
 
 to resist it does not date back as far as or further than his school-days. 
 
 Seeing, then, that such tremendous issues hang on the right preservation of 
 the health, and the proper development of the strength of youth, it is fitting that 
 this convention should give earnest consideration to the subject of school hygiene, 
 Avhich is second in importance to only one other subject that could occupy your 
 attention — the hygiene of the nursery. 
 
 I have endeavored to make this pajier supplementary to an able address on 
 School Hygiene delivered by Dr. Oldwright before the Provinci.-il Tefichers' Asso- 
 ciation, which I hope may be printed in the Annual Beport of the Board of Plealth, 
 where it would be read by many who may not see the printed proceedings of the 
 Teachers' Association. 
 
 School Hygiene naturally admits of treatment under two classes of topics, 
 one referring to the character and conditions of the school house and its appurten- 
 ances, the other to the exercises specially designed and practised to promote the 
 health and develop the strength of the children. It is to the former class of topics 
 
chiefly and as rural scliools particularly aro nfferted, that 1 now invite your 
 attention ThoHO topics will be treated in the following order : 
 
 iHt. Site. 
 
 2nd. Ventilation and Warming. • 
 
 3rd. Water-supply. 
 
 4th. Sewerage. 
 
 5th. Furniture. 
 
 Cth. Cleanliness 
 
 7tli. School age. 
 
 SITE. 
 In rural sections where land is comparatively cheap and choice not 
 confined to one particular spot, there; is seldom excuse for locating the school 
 in an unwholesome or unsuitable situation. In my district about eight per cent, 
 only of the schools are located in unnecejssary proximity to swamps or stagnant 
 water, or on sites extremely difficult or impossible to drain properly. Very few 
 sites contiiin less than half an acre, still fewer more than one acre. A site of two 
 or three acres with ample room for wood shed, play shed, out houses, rows of trees, 
 flower plots and a teacher's residence exists only in the dominie's dreams. Not 
 very many of the sites are drained and very few have suitable provision for out- 
 door play and exercise in wet and stormy weather. Trustees seem in selecting a 
 site to bestow more attention cm its elevation than on its aspect. If it costs a few 
 dollars more to purchase a site affording a southern aspect for the school -house 
 than one that makes the school open totvards the north, they buy the cheaper. 
 On the roads running east and west in the district there are nearly as many 
 houses facing the north as the south. The former are, as a rule, colder and more 
 comfortless, with a larger consumption of fuel, and consequently greater expense 
 therefor ; and in such there are more trouble and more necessity to keep the outside 
 porches and storm-doors in good repair. They lack the genial and health-giving 
 influence of an open doorway tilled with sunlight on the bright spring days 5 
 the front yard lemnins damp and muddy much longer and the flower-beds, where 
 such are made, are not so attractive. 
 
 VENTILATION AND WARMING. 
 The problem of ventilation is at once the most im^^ ■.-^nt and 
 difficult with which school authorities have to deal. In a s ,hool fav- 
 orably situited and equipped from a sanitary point of view, the pupils— edu- 
 cated by the ideal teacher, intellectually, morally, iBsthetically and physically — 
 ought to grow wiser, better, happier and stronger every day. Ordinarily the most 
 of them do grow wiser ; but do they grow stronger and healthier ? In Dr. Old- 
 wrighfs papcir, already referred to, he answers the question by simply pointing to 
 the contrast between the appearance of the children at the close of the school- 
 term and at the re-opening after the vacation. The same answer is given by con- 
 trasting the school at the beginning and close of winter. By parity of reasoning 
 you would expect to find the appearance and condition of the children more favor- 
 able in March than in June, but anyone acquainted with rural schools at least, 
 knows that the contrary is the case. The open window suspends the rule. Why 
 is it that in the winter season when other people are gaining»weight and vigor, 
 school-children and teachers are losing energy and appetite. The trustees and 
 people are proud of their substantial, air-tight, comfortable brick school-house. 
 
Forty, fifty, even Hixty or serenty rhildren aHRcmble, school in cftUed, tlio day in 
 chilly or((»l<l, iind conHccinently the doorH iind windows are all cloHcd. How long 
 is the air in timt room lit for roHpirution? About ten minutes. What tlion? 
 Breathe it ov*jr and over again ; and so the process of devitalization and poisoning 
 goes on and on. " But they're yoiuig ; they can stand it " Uccess comcsand gives 
 temporary relief. Fortunately it is a ditHiult matter to keep doors shut at recesses 
 and noon-hours. 
 
 Analysis of ordinary out-tloor air shows that it always contains about 
 4 J parts of carbonic acid in 10,(»()(). The analyses of air made under the direction 
 of the "Health of Towns Commission," appointed by the British Oovernmcnt, 
 showed that the air in the streets of Manchester, perhaps the smokiest city in the 
 world, contained varying proportions from 8 to 15 parts in 10,000. Other analy- 
 ses furnished the following figures : a stable, 7 parts in 10,0(iO ; another stable, 14 • 
 a crowded railroad car, M ; a close bed-room in the morning, 48; a crowdea lecture- 
 room at the close of a lecture, (57; and, worst of all, a Mcfiool-room, 72 parti in 
 10,000. Dr A. Kndemann, an snulytical chemist of New York, at the direction of 
 the Board of Health made analyses of the air taken from several of the city schools. 
 He certified that an examination of the air in one of the class rooms, while one of 
 the windows was open, gave 17 parts of carbonic acid in 10,000 : the window was 
 closed ten minutes, another examination of air taken then yielded 32 parts and he 
 adds " if the accumulation had been allowed to continue we might have reached 
 within an hour the ratio of 110!" Dr Dalton, the physiologist, says air can no 
 longer sustain life when the proportion of carbonic acid reaches 200 parts in 10,000. 
 Hence it is no hyperbole to say that when the proportion of carbonic acid 
 reaches 100 parts in 10.000 ; i.e., I cubic foot in 100, as probably quite frequently 
 occurs, the children and teacher are hnl/ dead 
 
 But were our children living in school-rooms and sleeping rooms, the atmos- 
 phere of which were vitiated by ten times its normal quantity of carbonic acid only 
 the case would not be so serious as it is. Dr. Carpenter writes that " the true 
 poisonous agent which produced such fatalities as the Black Hole of Calcutta and 
 others of a like kind is the organic matter which is always found in air rendered 
 foetid by the prolonged respinition and the cutaneous exhalations of a crowd of 
 human beings, and the deficiency of the oxygen and the consequent increase of 
 putrescent matter in the body." Through Mr. Alexander, of Gait, I quote from Dr. 
 Billings, Surgeon-General of the United States Army : " The really dangerous 
 and oppressive impurities are the organic matters thrown oft" in respiration, and as 
 these increase the carbonic acid increases in like proportion Now the testing for 
 these organic matters in a quantitative point of viow is a ver difficult and delicate 
 process, whereas the examination for carbonic acid is comparatively simple ; hence 
 the chemical test of the quality of the air is made by the analysis for carbonic acid, 
 which is taken as an index for the really harmful impurities existing." Prof. 
 Leeds says, " the young active, growing brain demands the purest and the best air 
 and is most sensitive to foul air." Another eminent authority writes : "In all 
 climates and under all conditions of life, the purity of the atmosphere habitually 
 respired, is esi^ential to the maintenance of that powerof resisting disease, which, 
 even more than the ordinary state of liealth, is a measure of the real vigor of the 
 system. For owing to the extraordinary capability, which the human body 
 possesses of accommodating itself to circumstances, it not unfrequently happens 
 
that individnalR continue for yearR to btoKthc an unwholflRonie atmoophere with- 
 out apparently Ruflering from it, and then when they at lant HUccumb to Home 
 epidemic diReane their death itt attributed Rolely to the latter, the previouH pre. 
 paration of their bodieR for the reception and development of the isymotic poiRon 
 being entirely overlooked.'' — Carpenter' a Physiology, page 32G. 
 
 « The poiHonoufl effluvia which porvadeR theatmoRphere ia not only re-breathed, 
 It adbereR to all the RurroundingH; it Rticks to the floor, walla and furniture, and 
 permeates the clothing. BeRides leRRening the vital force it prediRpoRea to blood 
 poiRoning and becomes a hot-bed for the reception and propagation of such 
 poiHons aH Rcarlet fever, meflRlefl, diphtheria and a source of scrofula and consump- 
 tion " — Dr. Bell in the New York Sanitarian. 
 
 But it \<^ useless to multiply authorities. The effects except in a few cAses are 
 so far removed in point of time and circumstance from the causes, that the public 
 cannot be alarmed. One view of the cane might be closely pressed as it is more 
 easily seen, and strikes home in ro many quarters, that is the influence of the 
 school atmosphere as a prolific source of consumption proved by its influence on 
 the health and life of teachers. I know of thirteen teachers who have died, as 
 the saying is, "in the harness ; " five by accident, and every one of the others by 
 consumption. 
 
 Dr. Workman has made a careful estimation from the tables of the Registrar- 
 General and arrives tit the conclusion that the average life of the teacher is 
 38 10-12 years,' and further, from the Hanie tables, shows that the proportion of 
 deaths among teachers from con(>uuption is greater than among Rempstresses 
 and, in fact, lower than in only one oi her occupation. If, then, life in the school- 
 room is so prejudicial to the health of the adult teacher, what must it be to the 
 tender undeveloped child? The cause is not far to Reek. Dr. McCormack of 
 Belfast, in his work on the relation of re-breatlied air to pulmonary consumption, 
 asserts that it (re-breathed air) is the sole and constant cause of this disease. Prof. 
 Leeds says "consumption is almost entirely the result of re-breathed air ; and 
 that it is 8R preventable by the excluRive use of pure air as mania apotu — drunk- 
 enness — is by the exclusive use of pOre water. 
 
 EXrEDIENTS FOR VENTILATION. 
 
 Medical and scientific authorities agree that school-rooms should be provided 
 with 1,000 cubic feet of air space p-e/ pupil, and also with the means of changing 
 that amount three times per hour. I do not know of any school house so well 
 provided. The average cubical capacity of the rural schools in this d vision is 
 267 cubic feet per pupil. Thirty-two per cent, have ventilators in the ceiling. 
 The chief purpose served by these is to make the school cold in the winter. 
 Nine per cent, are fitted with flues or ventilators in the walls or chimneys. I 
 have tried to get trustees to have the upper window sashes adjusted so that they 
 can be lowered and closed. Seventy-nine per cent, of the schools are now fitted 
 with movable upper window sashes, but only about fifty-five per cent, with win- 
 dow sashes hung by weights over pulleys, and I find in practice that it is only 
 the latter which are made really effective for the purposes of ventilation. Two 
 schools have stoves enclosed in jackets which are supplied with currents of fresh 
 air by ventiducts leading from the outside. Ventilation by the windows is the 
 most common method. Unfortunately some teachers exercise but little judgment 
 
6 
 
 In UKinK tliiH mennR. Occaslnnally on« fliuli n window oppntd on the windwnrd 
 »ido of till! Hiliool houH»', iiiid tlio lirtizn Mowing htioiiKly HKulnKt the liciidrt of 
 llio chlldrtai hittitiK lu-ar it. Tfacherd ttiionid ovor liear Dr. Anniu 8mitli'« 
 wiiriiiiiij riiiKiug in tliiir «;nrH : '•though foul air iH allow poiHoii, u ttlatit uf cuM 
 sir may Hlay like a sword" Tlio death of a dtilicato child attcndiiiK a Hchool 
 adjoining tho city roHiiltcd horn expoHuru to draft A ft!W wtuiknago I wa»t Informed 
 of tlui caMe of a Itoy wiio contracted congestion and intinnimation of the Inngn by 
 sitting near a drafty window in our city high Hchool. Tlie caHo wan Hoserioni* that 
 for several days the doctor and friends denpaired ofhin recovery. Windows 
 should alwayM be oiu-ned on the leeward wide of tlio Iiouho, unleSH they are provided 
 with applianceH that will give tliu draft Mhiirp upwanl tlection. The latter ol>joct i» 
 acconipliHhed by placing a strip the length of the window frame, the width of 
 the opening, and the tbicknesH of the frame under the lower sash. Tlie raining 
 of the under sash acconipliHhed in thirt way niakcH an entrance for the air between 
 the saHhcH. It is leHS trouble to li.i a strip of board under the top of the frame 
 at a sharp angle with the top barot the upper Hash, and then lower the sash. If 
 the wlmlow is on the windward side it may then safely be lowered an inch or 
 two, or if <m the leeward wide pulled down to make an opening of eight or twelve 
 inches. Ventilation, by heating air drawn by flues from the outside in a chamber 
 constructed round the stove, is an excellent method, but the chamber should 
 be fitted to the stove in such a way as to expose part of the metal so 
 that wet or cold feet can be dried or warm^l at it. Speaking of ventilating 
 Hues it may be safe to state as a rule they are practically useless in rural schools 
 unless they are warmed by the srooko flue's passing through them, or heated in 
 some other way. It is really surprising to find how many people think cold 
 air and pure air are identical. I have several times, ou complaining of the ven' 
 tilation of the room, heard the command given a pupil to "close the damper." 
 One seldom sees an evaporating pan on the stove or any other means adopted to 
 maintain the proper hygrometric condition of the air in the school-room. It is 
 not generally known that external air at freezing point brought into a room 
 heated to 65^ or 70® requires at least four times as much moisture as it con- 
 tained outside. 
 
 " I wisii I had time," said Prof. Leeds, in a lecture before the Franklin 
 Institute, " to explain the dreadful effects of this want of moisture in all our 
 artificially heated rooms. The air in winter is very dry, the moisture is squeezed 
 out as the water is squeeied out of this sponge. But as you heat it you enlarge 
 its volume again, and it sucks up the moisture just as tbi^i sponge does, and it 
 you do not supply this moisture in other ways it will suck the natural moisture 
 from your skin and your lungs, creating that dry, parched, feverish condition, bo 
 noticeable in our furnace and other stove-heated rooms. Few persons realize the 
 amount of water necessary to be evaporcited to produce the natural condition of 
 moisture, corresponding with the increased temperature given the air in many 
 of our rooms in winter. Air taken in at ten degrees and heated up to seventy, 
 the ordinary temperature of our rooms, requires about nine times the moisture 
 contained in the original external atmosphere, and if heated to a hundred degrees, 
 as most of our hot air furnaces heat the air it would require about twenty-three 
 times the amount in the external atmosphere." 
 
 

 In conrluiIInK my rnmnrkn on vutitlliitlnn, I ^Ivo tlin cninmnn nnd Hinip)e»t 
 tert for exceHN of carbonic acid. Fill hm H ok. vial with pure wat«tr (rain or ilix. 
 tillucl); empty out tlio water in the room the nir ot which you deHire to teHt. 
 Kmptyint; tho bottle of water iiIIowh it to liil with the air of the room. I'oiir Into 
 tlie bottle } <>/.. clear lime water and Hhake thoroughly. If there Ih no perceptiblu 
 milkincHH or turbidity the air iIoch not contain more than H partn carbonic acid 
 In 10,000. If a halfoz. of lime water Hhows turbidity in a •'> ox bottle, there Ir at 
 leaHt 1 1 piirtH in i(),0(iO ; if the Hamu in a 2 oz. bottia HhowA turbidity, it indicaieH 
 upwardH of 40 partH in 10,000. 
 
 WAIIMINO. 
 
 The UHual m«th<Hl of warming? rural whoolH in by a cast Iron box.Rtov« 
 placiid near tbo front door. In a very few caneH it Ih Hcreened to protect the 
 pupilfl whone HoatB are near the stove from the direct radiation of the heat; but 
 usually no such protection Ih provided ; neverthelei^R pupiln — salamanderR they 
 miffht be called — are foimd willinir to Hit all day in clone proximity to the 
 hot Htove. Home teacherH, pnpiln, and piirentH do not Hcem to have the leant idea 
 of the great danger of hitting for hours in a temperature of 100 degreeH, and then 
 running out into the cold, with little or no extra wrapping. If pupils have to 
 sit near tho stove trustecH should stfc that it be screened bv some means. The 
 Scientific American has highly recommended an open ventilating stove called the 
 «' Fire on the Hearth ; " and I have read strong recommendations by Prof. .lohon- 
 not, author of "School Architecture," and some Normal School Principals, of that 
 or a similar ventilatiui^ stove for use in schools. It is eviilent that a heater, 
 combining the advantages of a box-stove and an open fire-place, is a (feu'deratum 
 for the school-room. This is a point which I hope will bo discussod at this 
 meeting. * 
 
 Not many rural schools are supplied with a thermometer. Where It is 
 supplied it must usually be regardtd as more ornamental than useful. I knew 
 of one case, but only one, where the "stove-monitor" took his stoking ori'ers, 
 not from the teacher, but from the silent monitions of a thermometer. His in- 
 structions were to keep the mercury between M and 70 deu;r«u?s. Every school- 
 room should have one or two thermometers, not for show but for daily use. 
 Teachers should be particular that no child sit long in a part of the room that is 
 either much too hot or too cold. 
 
 A few old-fashiemed teacher.^ still retain a practice that was once quite com- 
 mon — that of writing, classifying and numbering the '• Rules of tho School," and 
 posting them up in the room. The practice is becoming ibsolete, because the 
 modern teacher is finding out that there Is more law and rule written in the 
 heart and conscience of a child than he can po.st on the back of the biggest door. 
 But I once saw a catalogue of " Rules, Offences, and Punishments," tliat had in it 
 a rule, not written in the conscience of the average school-boy, and which. I fear 
 does not often cross the mind of many a better teacher than the maktr of tho 
 rule. It was this : No scholar may ait in school with wet jeet. " How do you enforce 
 this rule? " " When I think ocotsion requires it, I say, after assembling : ' All 
 in the room with wet feet, stand up.' Those who stand have either to put their 
 stockings under the stove or go home to change them " If such a rule as this were 
 generally observed, children would become less careless about getting their feet 
 wet, and they wonld not have nearly so many colds and allied complaints. On 
 
8 
 
 days when mothers may know, from the condition of the weather, roads, or shoes, 
 that their children can hardly avoid getting their feet wet they ought to provide 
 them with an extra pair of stockings to be exchanged tor the wet ones on their 
 arrival at the school-house. Few causes will more certainly produce sickness 
 than sitting all day with wet feet resting on a cold floor. 
 
 LIGHTING. 
 
 A few years ago it was not uncommon to place windows in the end of the 
 room in front of the children. But the increase of hygienic knowledge and the 
 demand for more blackboard have almost removed this evil. In Germany, 
 by law, light must be admitted either from the ceiling or from one side only, 
 and the seats and desks must be placed so that when the pupils are reading or 
 writing the light will be supplied from their left. The height of the window-silla 
 from the floor should always be as great as possible. The nearer the approach 
 to lighting from the roof the better. Robson, the best English authority on 
 the subject, says the sills should never be less than five feet from the floor, and 
 may be even more with advantage both for lighting and ventilation. Dr. Linell, 
 of Norwich, Conn., who has studied the subject very carefully, says that windows 
 should always be on the aide of the room, and that there should be thirty square 
 inches of window space to every square foot of floor space. He has recently 
 examined the eyes of 700 school children varying from 7 to 18 years, and found 
 that only 61 per cent, of them had normal vision. In that number there were 87 
 cases of myopia, the ratio of myopia increasing with the ages of the scholars. 
 Much responsibility rests on the teacher in this matter. Diseases of vision from 
 causes peculiar to the school-room most frequently arise from improper postures 
 of the be ..y, and wrong habits of holding the book. The teacher must be 
 blamed if the children, during the writing exercises, crouch down over the desk 
 until their noses are within two or three inches of the blate or paper. 
 
 WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 In rural schools, even more than in urban, a plentiful supply of wholesome 
 water is necessary, because the children at the former do not go home for their 
 dinner, but at the noon honi'eat a dry luncheon, generally swallawed hurriedly, 
 as they are in haste to proceed with their play. I say generally, because a few 
 ^eachers require the children at the beginning of the noon recess to get their 
 dinners from their baskets, return to their seats, spread a napkin or piece of paper, 
 and, in an orderly manner, partake their repast before they go out to play. Sit- 
 ting in a dry, hot room produces thirst ; this, many of the children increase by 
 bolting a luncheon at intervals in the middle of exciting play, and that, during 
 the warmest hour of the day in the summer ; consequently they drink a compara- 
 tively large quantity of water. They are often not over fastidious as to the qual- 
 ity of the liquid with which they wash down their luncheons or quench their 
 thirst. If the pump is not in working order, or the pail be empty, they eat snow 
 or run to the nearest spring. I have heard of their dipping water out of the 
 road-side ditch. A good well in the school-yard is invaluable. It ought to be 
 carefully lined with stone or brick ; the upper part of the lining should be laid in 
 water-lime to make it impervious to soakage from the surface or the burrowing 
 
9 
 
 of rats, frogs, etc.; it should be supplied with a strong pump, having a " let<off '' 
 below the reach of the frost that cannot be closed summer or winter. It should 
 be covered with an absolutely close covering, laid on with sufficient slant to run 
 the waste water off. VTour thirst would be great if you could drink the water 
 after seeiug three or four children standing with dirty feet at the pump spout, 
 washing their sweaty hands and faces and all the washings audibly trickling 
 down into the well. Under no circumstances should be omitted the duty ot 
 pumping the well empty, if possible, two or three times a year, or at least just 
 after the spring thaw and again at the end of the summer vacation. 
 
 The plan of carrying water in a pail from a neighbor's is not to be com- 
 mended. The supply is apt to be irregular and insufScient, not to speak of the 
 annoyance and inconvenience often occasioned to the neighbor whose well is 
 thus appropriated bv the school section. The corner of the school-room where 
 the pail stands is often in a disgusting condition The leavings are thrown on 
 the floor, dust sticks, filth collects, at last mud has the monopoly. Then the 
 school-pail ; it is enough to say it is usually wooden and unacquainted with 
 hot water. The pail plan should be tolerated only when it is impossible to 
 get pure water on the school ground. The probability of getting good water should 
 invariably be considered in tbe selectiou ."1 a site. 
 
 In this division la»it spring I found that 45 per cent, of the schools were 
 supplied with wells and pumps in working order. Twenty-eight of these — more 
 than half — were considered pure and wholesome, eight of them doubtful, and the 
 rest were pronounced bad and unfit for drinking purposes. Thirty per cent, 
 depended entirely on the neighbors. In some of these cases the water is carried in 
 a pail, whether the snow is deep or the roads hot and dusty, for a quarter of a mile 
 or more. The temainder drew their supplies from springs, resorted to expedients 
 that came most convenient such as eating snow, or did without altogether. 
 Nothing about the average school seems to receive more severe letting alone 
 from those whose duty it is to keep them in order than the school well and 
 privies. Not one well in twenty is properly lined and covered, consequently it 
 it soon needs cleaning ; the cleaning is neglected ; it goes from bad to worse ; the 
 well gets a bad name, and it not uufrequently happens that it is allowed to cav9 
 in and gradually fill up. 
 
 Before the summer holidays I mailed a circular to every school section, 
 from which the following is an extract: " When decaying earth worms, frogs, 
 snakes, rats, sewerage or rotten wood is in the well the water becomes unwhole- 
 some, and the well should be cleaned out. Perhaps tbe best test for such organic 
 impurities, in inexpert hands, is to put one or two drops, or enough to give a pink 
 color, of a solution of permanganate of potash in an ounce vial of the suspected 
 water. The solution should be of the strength of eight grains of permanganate 
 to an ounce of pure water — distilled water or filtered rain water caught in the 
 open, or the London waterworks water will do nearly as well, if more convenient 
 than the others. If the water be unfit for drinking, the color will be discharged 
 or bleached in about twelve hours, and usually the impurity may be seen precip- 
 itated at the bottom of the vial. The teat is more satisfactory if a similar bottle 
 of pure water be treated the same as the suspected sample and placed alongside 
 it for comparison." In some cases where this simple test was applied it resulted 
 
10 
 
 in the well's receiving a thorough cleaning. The average distance oi the nearest 
 privy from the school well in this district is :^9 yirds. I have not heard many 
 compliiints of the pollution of the water from this cause. In one school section, 
 No. 20 London, where diphtheria violently hroke out, the head of a family that 
 lost live members told me that he attributed the disease to the proximity of the 
 school well to the site of an old tilled up privy vault. This brings me to the sub- 
 ject of 
 
 SEWERAGE. 
 
 The description of the out premises oi country schools given by Prot. 
 Church, of Greenville, at the Sanitary Convention held there last year, is so 
 graphic and generally applicable that I cannot help repeating it here. He said: 
 " On many school premises one may see a mean, dilapidated building, bearing 
 all possible marks ot di.srespect and execration, remote from the school-house, 
 difScult of approach to sensitive pupils at all seasons of the year on account of 
 its publicity. In the winter the snowsifis in at numerous crevices; the northern 
 blasts make it a veiitable cave of the winds ; in winter it is as comfortless as an 
 iceberg; in summer as malodorous as Tophet." One ol the particulars he enum- 
 erates is not so generally applicable as the otliors, that is the remoteness. I 
 know several cases where more remoteness would be very desirable. Most 
 people have a lively fearol drinking water contaminated by sucli sewage, but few 
 fear disease from air thus polluted. An illustration of dealt and di.sease trom the 
 latter cause occurred at Pittsfield, Mass. Partly becau.se' of its boasted salubrity a 
 ladies' seminary was established there and well p;itrouized. But through ignor- 
 ance or carelessness foul gas from the vaults and cessjxx)! at times pervaded the 
 building, and ai; a consequence, fifty-one out of the scvcnty-seven youug ladies in 
 the institution were altatked with typhoid fevv'r, ot whom thirteeti died. Thor- 
 ough investigations, conducted by Doctors Piilmer, Ford and Earle, proved that 
 the polluted a'r was the cau.se of tlie epidemic. In most ca-es the rural sciiool 
 closet consists of a vault over which is constructed a small frame building. 
 These usually last for mony years without being emptied or disinfected. I am 
 sure they are a source of much harm and danger to the health of the children. 
 The system ought to be radically changed. Tlie old-fashion<d vault is falling 
 into disrepute with sanitarians everywhere. No cla.ss would hail a practi- 
 cable reform of this t vil more heartily than school-trustees. I believe they would 
 readily adopt an inexpensive dry-earth closet if its working could be clearly 
 explained, and its advantages show". 
 
 The official regulations on school accommodation require that there be sep- 
 arate olficeslor the sexes, and tiiat the entrances be scieentd from view. In this 
 district there are three schools out of the hundred with only one clo.^et ; only at)out 
 35 or 40 are .properly screened from the general play ground and school windows. 
 Four have urinals attached to the boys' closet. These are useful in keeping the 
 seats clean. Nine are reported to be regularly disinfected, the disinfectants being 
 lime, chloride of lime, road-du.st, or ashes.* 
 
 •Disi.NFECTANTs.— Chloride of lime,— sprinkle around dry ; coppern,« (puhihnte of iron),— 
 dissolve in the proportion of one pound in n pnlinn of water, luid wiifIi or ,«i>ririkle with the 
 solution : whitewii.-hiiip with lime. — put some 0()p|iCT!t.« solution in the whitewiisii. The 
 chhiride of lime is put up in close hiilt-puund boxes at 5 cents each ; copperas is about 5 cents 
 a pound. 
 
11 
 
 FURNITURE. 
 
 Reference will be maii ■■ oeats and desks only. In this particular, I believe 
 East Middlesex is the m »«». favored county in the province. The seat and 
 desk best combining convenience, comfort, elejrance and cheapness, that I have 
 ever seen, is a pattern manufactured by Bennett Bros , London East. It is adopted 
 in about one-third of the schools of this district. The seats in nine of our schools 
 are very ill-constructed, they slope downwards to the front ; in twenty-one 
 schools the seats are so high that many of the smaller children cannot while 
 sitting back on the seat, rest their feet on the floor ; in ten schools the desks are 
 so low, and the seats so high, that their occupants cannot maintain while writing 
 or ciphering, a properly erect position. None except those of the pattern referred 
 to, are constructed with proper curvature ot the seat and back suited to 
 preserve the natural shape of the body. 
 
 The importance of correct seating can hardly be overestimated. " To the 
 badly constructed seats and desks," says Dr. J. C. V. Smith " we can trace in 
 some measure the cause of so many distortions of the bones, spinal diseases, and 
 chronic affections now so prevalent throughout the country." Another authority 
 Dr. Woodward, blames defective school seating as the cause of numerous instances 
 of deformity of the ?pine, especially with delicate female children. In rural 
 schools there are always pupils ot widely varying size and age, and consequently 
 there should be three or four sizes of seats and desks in all such school rooms. 
 The seat should be placed so close to the desk that the inside edge of th« 
 latter should slightly lap over the front of the former. i 
 
 CLEANLINESS. 
 On a little reflection one would natn-ally conclude that few houses require 
 to be more frequently and thoroughly swept, dusted, scrubbed, and whitewashed, 
 than a school-house. But I am asiiarocd to confess that few inhabited houses 
 are more netrlectcd in some of these respects than the average school. One of 
 my schools is swept twice a week, six three times, two four times, and the rest 
 daily. In nearly half the schools, the trustees leave the sweeping to be done by 
 the children and teacher. In such cases it is generally done at noon, and often 
 children may be dimly seen eating their luncheons in a cloud ot dust. Not 
 more than a third of the teachers report provision for dusting, after the o'l.st has 
 had time to settle ; hence in most cases, t'le proportion of it that is not inhaled by 
 the children, or settles on the floor, is wiped up by the children's clothes when 
 they use their seats and desks. One teacher reports that his school has been 
 scrubbed only once in five years, another twice In five years, and a third that 
 neither he nor the pupils know when it was last scrubbed, in fact that there is 
 no record that it has ever been scrubbed. The average number of times th« 
 school houses in this district have been scrubbed is four times in three years- 
 I have no statistics on whitewashing, but I do not think the schools are white- 
 washed on an average more than once infouryears. Two of my schools have been 
 finished in rough plaster which is marked ott to represent stone. On their rough 
 walls the dust and effluvia of the last ten years at least, have found an easy and 
 undisturbed resting place. My reports and recommendations in favor of white- 
 washing are usually made in vain. It is not that trustees are afraid of having their 
 school-houses too wholesome, bright, and cheerful, but that they have great 
 difficulty in getting men to do the work for what they are willing to pay. 
 
12 
 
 Some of OTiT rural schools are clean, sweet, bright, and attractive, tastefnlly 
 adorned with motto, picture, and flower, but the number of such is too few. The 
 description I have given portrays as correctly as I am able, the average surround* 
 ings from a sanitary point of view of the schools in this the best county of the 
 Piovince. 
 
 In view of these facts, you will agree v/ith me that the Provincial Board 
 of Healtn has ample opportunity to efiect much good by disseminating a know- 
 ledge of sanitary science applicable to our public schools. 
 
 SCHOOL AGE. 
 
 J n conclusion, I ask a discussion on the question of the best age for the 
 commencement of systematic education. My more limited experience corrobor- 
 ates that of Superintendent Harris of St. Louis, who says that children entering 
 school at the age oi eight years, are generally further advanced at thirteen than 
 those entering at five. I have read that while the gray matter of the brain is 
 but partially developed, no exercise of the reflective faculties or mental efl'orts 
 involving exercise in abstract ideas should be allowed, — that all formal labor of 
 the mind required before the seventh year, being in opposition to the laws of 
 nature will prove injurious to the mind. Further that such ossification of the 
 lower vertebrae of the spine as will permit much resting of the body in a sitting 
 posture, without injury does not take place until the seventh year. If these 
 statements be facts, the conclusion is inevitable that the minimum school age 
 should be increased from five years as at present, to seven years at least. I am 
 convinced by reasons other than the above, that a child but five years old is too 
 young to commence school. It we increase the minimum age to six years,we shall 
 be in company with fifteen of the United States in this matter, and •till a year 
 below the minimum age prescribed in France. 
 
 The belief is gaining that intellectual contraction, and even moral obliquity 
 can be traced directly to bad digestion. Let us spread the belief. If parent! 
 were as anxious to rear their children good vigorous animals as they seem to have 
 them intellectual prodigies oi prim fashionable young misses, it would be vastly 
 better for the race. Even the school-master might rtjoice, for his work of edu- 
 cating would be thereby rendered far more easy and successful. Were our boyn 
 and girls to live amidst favorable, physical, mental, and moral surroundings, 
 until they are fourteen or fifteen years of age, then — even were all props and 
 guards torn away — they would in all likelihood continue to grow straight and 
 ■trong. To accomplish this end, may you put forth every effort, and not weary 
 until finally you or those who wear your mantle will be rewarded with complete 
 success. Speed the time when dyspepsia and hypochondria will give way on 
 every hand to vigorous digestion, the bounding pulse and their accompany- 
 ing high spirits ; when the m$na sana in corpore $ano will be the rule and not the 
 exception ; when instead of that formidable list of two hundred and forty-nine 
 diseases classified in your first annual report, the number may in your last be 
 reduced to euthanasia in old age, and perhaps thanatiei. 
 

 i. ■ 
 
 
 , >• 
 
 
 
 
 4y 
 
 I < 
 
 
 ^ > 
 
 * * A 
 
 
 .4' 
 
 >li-*-, t 
 
 t'i 
 
 ■^ 'K^C *' 
 
 
 .?% 
 
 '-. A-''*.' 
 
 
 1%; 
 
 .1 ^,- 
 
 v/ .>H 
 
 '»^i>' 
 
 
Teachers' Headquarters 
 
 IN LONDON. 
 
 DEPOT FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES. 
 
 JaS. I. AiNDERSON & CO. 
 
 Are in a position to supply all School Eequisite« 
 at the lowest possible prices. 
 
 The following are a few of the leading lines : 
 
 SCHOOL BOOKS, 
 
 MAPS and TABLET READING LESSONS, 
 GLOBES, NUMERAL FRAMES, 
 
 SLATING FOR BLACKBOARDS, 
 CHALK CRAYONS, 
 
 BLACKBOARD BRUSHES, 
 
 PRIZE BOOKS, BIBLES, Etc. 
 
 Agents for Stafford's School Ink, 40c. per^Iart. 
 
 -PUBLISH8RS OK- 
 
 ROW'S GRADED EXERCISES IN ARITHMETIC, 
 
 PRICE 15 CEJVTS. 
 
 Orders by mail promptly attended to. 
 
 ADDRESS : 
 
 175 Dundas St.^ LONDON^ Ont.