inaugurated in more than Maryland, as it is in line

friction. The reform, which has been thirty States, is one which will reach of educational progress, but may be delayed for a short time while there is going on a serious consideration of what sort of a compulsory educational law will best meet our conditions.

The question was discussed by John E. Edwards, who indorsed the ideas expressed by Mr. Wise. He thought a law should be adopted, mild in its scope. Mr. Kerr, of Dorchester county, spoke in favor of the law on the ground that the State has a right to expect something from its citizens in the way of becoming educated. Further remarks were made by E. R. Zimmerman, Walter Record, H. G. Weimer, George Biddle. Prof. Austin, of the Maryland State Normal School read an excellent paper on "Nature Study in the Public Schools, for What Purpose and to What Extent?" The paper was discussed by Institute Conductor of Farmers' Institute W. L. Amoss, Captain Sylvester, President Maryland Agricultural College, both of whom plead for more attention along the line of nature studies in the public schools, and felt gratified that the county institutes had asked for instructors on the subject from the Agricultural College. These requests had been complied with, and members of the Faculty have attended these county institutions. The paper was further discussed by Dr. Prettyman, F. C. Galbreath, Dr. Shreeve, George C. Pearson, Mr. Gould, Prof. Chaplain. The next feature of the program was an able paper by ProfAlexander Chaplain, Examiner of Talbot county, on "Kindergarten Methods and Manual Training." He regarded the subject as the leading question of the day in our new education, and the time had come when we must give Paidology and Psychology that place in our system of education, and that study in our agencies for the teachers' equipment which their importance requires. The paper was discussed by Dr. Dobson, and Mr. Smyth.

On motion it was decided to ask Prof. Chaplain to finish his paper to-morrow.

On motion it was decided to ask Prof. Chaplain to hand his paper to Secretary to Board of Education.

Adjourned to meet tomorrow at 9.30 o'clock.

M. B. STEPHENS, Secretary.

NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDING,

BALTIMORE CITY, December 9, 1899.

The Association met at ro o'clock, President Worthington in the chair. Minutes of previous session were read, corrected and ordered to be recorded. On motion, the Chairman appointed Prof. McCahan and George Biddle to examine the accounts of the treasurer, Mr. Pearson. Prof. Chaplain resumed the reading of his paper on kindergarten methods and manual training.

The paper was discussed by Mr. Wathen, of Anne Arundel, and Prof. Prettyman. Mr. Wathen made the motion that this association endorse the act of Assembly making appropiations for manual training schools, and ask, through our legislative committee, that the appropriation be continued. Motion carried.

"Hygiene in the construction of school-houses and in school management' was the subject of an exhaustive paper by Examiner D. L. Farrar, of Carroll county. A well-drained and well-located lot is the first consideration of a School Board in building a new school house. Light and ventilation are the next considerations; a thermometer ought to be provided. The ordinary method of heating, using the cheap stove, is a mistake, and a modern heating apparatus, by which heat is evenly distributed over the room, should be provided. Cleanliness should be taught as an essential of life, vaccine laws should be enforced, etc. The paper was discussed by Dr. A. E. Sudler of Queen Anne's county, Dr. W. D. Straughn of Worcester county, H. A. McComas of Washington county, Dr. Dobson, Mr. De Barril of Calvert county.

An opportunity was given to enroll members of the association.

Auditing committee, through Mr. Biddle, reported on account of Treasurer Pearson, which was found correct and proper vouchers for all items of expenditure. Prof. Edwin Hebden read an excellent paper on "The State Teachers' Association, its proper functions and its needs." The paper was discussed by M. B. Stephens, of Caroline county; E. L. Boblitz, of Frederick county; George M. Joy, of St. Mary's county; Mr. Eugene Wathen, of Annapolis; L. L. Beatty, of Queen Anne's county, and Dr. Prettyman. The chairman, announced the following legislative committee, to take in hand such legislation as this association may ask for our schools: M. B. Stephens, chairman, Caroline county; W. H. Shepard, Cumberland; Dewees, L. Farrar, Westminster; George M. Joy, of St. Mary's county; Dr. R. A. Dodson, of Talbot county.

Dr. Prettyman moved that the counties correspond with legislative committees instead of roll-call of counties. The association accepted invitation to attend Normal School exercises at 1.30 o'clock. The association adjourned sine die.

M. B. STEPHENS,
Secretary.

The following papers by Professors Farrar and Hebden are the only papers which have reached this office of those read at the session of the last Association of Commissioners and Examiners of Maryland and requested for publication in this report:

Hygiene in the Construction of School Houses and in School

Management.

BY PROF. D. L. FARRAR, OF WESTMINSTER, MD.

In the consideration of the dual subject assigned me, I have endeavored to discover some of those hygienic principles of school architecture which should be observed in the construction of county school houses, and furnishing them, and also those essential healthful matters in school management within the province of the teacher to control.

LOCATION.

The first matter to be considered is the location. Is it not true that school houses have been located in low, marshy, miry places where the pupils and teachers are obliged to walk through deep mud and mire six months in the year simply because someone gave this good for nothing bog for a school site, when a good, well drained site might have been purchased for a trifle? Is it not true that some school sites in rural towns are located in alleys in close proximity to stables, hog pens and the like, and at a considerable distance from a pure water supply? Is it not true that some school sites are mere patches of ground, so small in fact, that the outbuildings must be located within a few feet of the school house, and that children are obliged to play in the road? Under these conditions is it possible to rear healthy boys and girls? Is not the surrounding atmosphere impregnated with disease germs which may sooner or later effect the health of those who breathe it? I know that some may plead excuse for such sites on the ground of economy. I grant that it may be economy of a monetary nature, or possibly political economy, but it is not hygienic economy. Healthful conditions call for a well drained lot of at least a half acre, where the children may exercise and play games out of school hours and where the surroundings cannot polute the air. The child's natural activities require room for their development, physically as well as mentally. The importance of a healthful, roomy site cannot be overestimated.

CONSTRUCTION.

Many of our school houses seem to have been erected with the sole idea of shelter, with never a thought for the hygienic welfare of pupil or teacher. In the construction of a school house, ventilating, seating of pupils, arrangement of windows, provisions for water pail, wash basin, etc., must be carefully considered to secure healthful conditions.

HEATING AND VENTILATING.

Scientists tell us that a child requires at least 200 cubic feet of pure air, and this must be continually changing, so that the child may constantly and continuously have a supply of fresh air aggregating from 650 to 700 cubic feet per hour. This pure air should be supplied at a temperature of from 68 to 70 degrees, so that the pupil and teacher may be comfortable. Hence, a thermometer is absolutely a school-room necessity. The question as to how this supply of pure air can be made continuous and automatic has been the study and experiment of school men for many years, resulting in very satisfactory systems; yet I would hesitate to say that perfection has yet been reached, even in the construction of our modern urban school palaces where the wealth of rich municipalities has been placed at the disposal of the architects. It seems to me that any efficient system for furnishing this supply should heat the cold air just before, or as it enters the school room, and that the ordinary plan of heating with stoves in the room is erroneous as applied to crowded school rooms. I admit the latter to be the least expensive, but getting something for nothing is not the recognized code of either God or man. The recent English regulations for warming a school room say, "A common stove can under no circumstances be allowed. Stoves are improved only,

(1) when provided with proper chimneys, as in the case of open fires; (2) when of such a pattern that they cannot become red-hot or otherwise contaminate the air; (3) when supplied with fresh air direct from the outside by a flue of not less than 72 inches superficial, and (4) when not of such a size or shape as to interfere with the floor space for teaching purposes." These conditions applied to our county schools would place most of the stoves out of doors. If all school houses were provided with cellars in which fuel, broken furniture, etc., could be placed, would it not be economy in the end, and admit of much better heating and ventilating, besides avoiding the necessity of having the middle aisle of the room obstructed by the stove, which usually roasts the pupils sitting next to it, while those in the distant parts of the room are freezing? In many narrow houses the desks of the outer rows are placed against the walls in order to get the center rows far enough from the stove to avoid the roasting process, thus necessitating the sitting of at least one-fourth the pupils immediately against the walls, usually somewhat damp, which conditions I conceive to be highly unhygienic. I will suggest a plain and compartively inexpensive plan. The heater is placed in the cellar and is furnished with a constant supply of fresh air from the outside by a cold air flue. This heated fresh air should pass to the room above through vertical registers placed in the wall, near the floor line at the rear of the teachers' desk at some distance apart. The floor register is objected to on account of the accumulation of dirt and dust which naturally falls through the openings when sweeping and when walked over, and also on account of the tendency of children to stand directly over them. The ventilating register should be placed in the wall near the floor line. The ventilating flue could be built up in the same stack with the smoke flue. A small hot-air pipe should be connected with the lower end of ventilating flue to create a more-rapid circulation. A second ventilator placed in the wall near the ceiling, which could be opened and shut occasionally, if required, would probably be an advantage. What we need is to get an abundance of fresh air charged with oxygen and to get rid of foul, stagnant air impregnated with carbolic acid gas. The ways and means form food for much discussion.

DESKS.

Each pupil should have a single adjustable desk, which should be his alone during the school year. Go into most any schoolroom in the country which has the old double-desk seating and you will see some children sitting day in and day out with no support for the feet, the desks being too high. You will see others who don't seem to have any place for their feet, the desks being too low. You will see pupils sitting together, the one a coarse, dirty boy, who possibly shows signs of skin or blood disease; the other a clean, healthy boy, well cared for, to whom the danger of close contact with his seat-mate is unknown. Independent seating is much preferable, not merely from the hygienic view, but from the view of school government, as there is not that tendency to get into mischief. The desk top should have a slant of say twenty degrees, if rigid, as this is an average of different slants needed by the various kinds of work the pupil has to perform. This will give the pupil's arm a much easier position when writing than a flat or nearly flat desk, and enable the pupil to sit in a more natural position. If this top could also be made adjustable so as to get a greater or less angle of elevation, according to the needs of the pupil, it would be more healthful.

LIGHTING.

I think the light should enter the room from both sides and not from the back, but not from the front. A massing of the windows in the center of each side will give extra room on the walls for maps, charts or blackboards. If blackboards occupy the rear wall light can be admitted from above them. In no case should a glare of light be allowed to fall upon the desk at which a pupil is studying. Shades should roll from the bottom

upward in order to shut out the lower light first if necessary. If the direct rays of the sun enter at a given point, a white muslin curtain should be used merely to soften the rays. Walls painted with pearl or brown shades are much preferable to whitewashed walls, and green chalk-boards preferable to black, as these neutral colors relieve the strain on the optic nerves, occasioned by too decided contrasts in colors.

IMPROVING OLD HOUSES.

What can be done to better ventilate the little red brick house which was only built for shelter, with the stove in the middle of the room? Ventilation can be secured for such a schoolroom by lowering the sash from the top if the windows happen to be hung with cord and weights. However great, care should be exercised with open window ventilation, as a blast of cold air is often more injurious than imperfect ventilation, by producing colds, catarrh, pneumonia, earache, neuralgia, etc. A better plan is to take a board, which is three or four inches wide and as long as the sash is wide, and place it under the lower sash, which will admit the fresh air between the sashes without a draft on the pupils, and thus keep up a certain amount of the necessary circulation. To help in this matter, a trap door can be cut in the ceiling, to be opened and shut by a cord as needed. Every house should be provided with a sink for the water pail, wash basin and soap, with a waste pipe emptying outside. This will save much slop and filth. Shoe scrapers should be placed at the door and used, so as to keep all dirt possible outside.

CLEANLINESS OF CHILDREN.

Cleanliness of the children has much to do with the purity of schoolroom air; hence the teacher should insist that his pupils keep clean. Scientists have made some very interesting experiments to ascertain the facts as to the number of micro-organisms in the air of schoolrooms of various degrees of cleanliness. It has been found that in a schoolroom occupied by clean children, as compared with one occupied by dirty children, the micro-organisms were in the proportion of 63 to 159. If on entering a schoolroom there is a perceptible "closeness" or a bad odor the air is foul, and the room should be flushed or flooded with pure air by opening the door or windows, while the pupils stand and perform light Calisthenics. This will relieve both pupil and teacher of that weariness, dullness, drowsiness and nervousness so noticeable and impart new life to schoolwork, besides rendering discipline much easier. This "closenesss" is not due entirely to bad ventilation, but is often due to gaseous filth, to filthy, unwashed children, to dirty clothing, and to dust and dirt on the schoolroom floor. The teacher should not tolerate dirty hands, faces and heads. Of course dirty clothing and bodies cannot be wholly controlled by the teacher, but cleanliness can be, and should be taugh; as one of the essentials in life.

OTHER PRACTICAL HYGIENIC MATTERS.

Nor would I have other practical hygienic matters of school life neglected. I would not allow pupils to run out into the cold without putting on hats and wraps. I would not allow the pupil to bolt his dinner that he might get a few more minutes for play. I would have practical hygiene taught not only from the text-book, but by taking for lessons the headings often seen in the daily papers, such as "Killed by Trichina," "Died of Copper Poison," etc., and by correcting the pupils natural tendency to do unhygienic things. The vaccination laws should be enforced. Teachers should be careful that the water which the school uses is pure and wholesome. If there is any doubt a sample should be sent for analysis. The best time for recess would seem to be when the session is about two-thirds over, as the pupil can endure more restraint before than after recess. I would dismiss the first and second grades at 2.30 or 3.00 P. M., and would not hold them in school for more than one hour without a short recess.