lucent, a gust of wind or a bump from passing students may break it. Experience with such doors warrants advice against their use. A good many superintendents and principals, however, insist that it is helpful to have a simple pane of glass set high in the door so that they may in passing get a glimpse of classroom conditions without in any way disturbing the class and with the least possible loss of time. But, generally speaking, such observations are not of much use and at times may be misleading. Then, too, it is more than likely that passers-by will disturb the children unnecessarily and even unintentionally.

Transoms serve no purpose save that of offering some little aid in very hot weather by permitting a draft from the room into the hall. Transoms rarely fit closely and at the same time work with sufficient ease to make it possible to use them when needed. With the plenum system of ventilation they are troublesome, because of the leakage from the room. They are often neglected, and hence usually dirty. They furnish a ledge for the accumulation of dust and cobwebs, and thus often give a room an untidy appearance. It is better in general to dispense with all transoms, for they are more trouble than they are worth and waste much money in construction.

For the purposes of cross ventilation it is much better to insert breeze windows above the blackboards, as described elsewhere in this bulletin, than to depend on transoms over doors; for breeze windows when properly constructed are better placed and large enough to serve for effective ventilation.

5. WINDOWS AND SCREENS.

Of late years a great variety of window sashes has been devised in the attempt to give better illumination and easier methods of ventilation. In an investigation of the San Francisco school buildings, a dozen varieties at least were found in the newer types of buildings. Some were pivoted in the center both top and bottom, others at the sides, others were divided into sections and each section pivoted, and still others so constructed as to open outward or inward in various ways, all with the idea of opening a greater space for ventilation than could be done with the ordinary double hung window. But almost without exception it was discovered that these hinged or pivoted types were giving a good deal of trouble and many of them were so hard to handle that it was practically impossible for the teachers to manage them.

In cases of storms such sashes are likely to blow open, damage the building or occasionally injure a child. Experience shows that the best and safest type is the old-fashioned double hung window. Teachers know how to operate this kind of window and will gen

erally do so, and, while it at best only permits half of the window space to be open at one time, it gives far less trouble, frequently costs much less, and is more practical. With this type it is easy to screen windows, while with the hinged or pivoted type it is frequently impossible. Theoretically these newer windows are very promising, but experience has proven that they are many times quite troublesome and unsatisfactory.

Again, let me insist on rectangular-topped windows that may be opened easily and readily rather than those fancy arched types set transom fashion. The latter obstruct the light and are open to the same objection in part as the hinged windows above described. Here, as frequently occurs, the simplest thing is the best. Heavy strong sashes should be specified for windows, and the glazing should be with comparatively small sizes of glass. Heavy sashes are needed because of the size of the windows and also because they will give ample contacts for the putty. A great deal of trouble has arisen in recent years because of the falling off of the putty, thereby exposing the glass to breakage and the sashes to rapid weathering. It seems that a very poor quality of putty is being used or it has not been put on properly. While this may seem a matter of small moment, it is worth attention because of the many troubles that grow out of it. This is especially important in the hotter and dryer regions of the South and Southwest. In colder climates all classroom windows should be provided with air deflectors so that the lower sashes can be opened without a resulting draft of outside air upon the pupils. These deflectors should be so constructed as to interfere as little as possible with the admission of light.

PLATFORMS.

There is no need in an ordinary schoolroom for a teacher's platform or rostrum. To many this statement may seem to be nonsense. But stop to think a minute. They are always in the way, they are hard to keep clean, they are rarely in the right place, and even when not fastened to the floor, they are too heavy to move easily. They are remnants from medieval days, when schools were dominated by the church, when monks were teachers, and when the work of the school consisted in listening to lectures and copying verbatim what was said. To-day the teacher, with books and helps of all sorts, merely guides, directs, inspires, and amplifies. In the primary grades more direction and help are needed, but they are given usually at the desk of the pupil or at the blackboard. But the teacher to whom this will seem an invasion will object, saying: "But how can I see my pupils when I am seated on the same level with them?" The 93146°-25 4

best answer to this, and the only one that will convince, is this: "Try it and see." Another will remark, "It will take away the teacher's dignity." Well, if dignity is a matter of platform, then it is well to get rid of it. A teacher can not have too much true dignity, but this sort comes from within, and exhibits itself in wisdom, judgment, understanding, and genuine sympathetic help. Platforms and silken robes are for those who cling to customs belonging to previous centuries.

A good teacher has no need to spy on children, for the more they can work together the better the result. A neat table or desk and a simple chair is all the pulpit a regular classroom needs. Then almost the whole front of the room is free for workers and for such apparatus as the day's work will demand. Of course in science lecture rooms and in assembly rooms platforms and stages are needed. If you have never taught in a room without a platform, you will find much relief, especially in grammar-grade work. Your room will be neater and the space for moving about much less obstructed.

The foregoing was written more than 10 years ago, and while there has been a great lessening in these impedimenta, many new buildings are still being supplied with them.

As we have elsewhere stated another elimination from classrooms ought to be urged in this connection, and that is the "carpet strip beneath the doors. If the floor from the hall is continuous through the door, and the door set to swing just clear of the floor, there is much relief from dirt, stumblings, and noise where nothing obstructs the entrance. It is good school hygiene to eliminate all that is useless both in building and in the program.

6. CLASSROOM FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT.

Strictly speaking no discussion of classroom equipment and furniture is necessary here, but because of its indirect effect upon the building, attention should be called to a new kind of school desk which has been devised since the former bulletin was written. I refer to an adjustable and movable chair-desk, which can be placed at any part of the room, or taken from room to room without trouble. Whenever it is possible boards of education and architect should consider together the question of school furniture. Boards of education should be guided by the advice of those who have technical knowledge of such problems.

A fixed case or cabinet is necessary for each classroom, where books and material may be kept safely and out of the dirt and dust. A comparatively small but neat table, with a comfortable chair, should be provided for the teacher in each room.

VI. LIGHTING.

It is safe to say that the demands made on the eyes of school children are greater now than at any previous time in the history of education, and therefore whatever can be done in the way of furnishing better light for our schoolrooms will serve to make school work less fatiguing and indirectly more interesting. And it must ever be held in mind that the problems of lighting, heating, and ventilating schoolrooms are far more complex and difficult than those connected with lighting, heating, and ventilating a living room at home. But it seems that this is a very difficult thing to learn, both for teachers and school officers. If children could be allowed the same freedom at school that they are allowed at home, and if they could have the same average amount of space at school that they have at home, then many of the suggestions offered here would be out of place. But at present, when a teacher must manage, direct, and teach from 40 to 50 children in a room so small as to afford in many cases less than 15 square feet of floor space per pupil, many difficulties are of necessity introduced. It requires persistent reiteration and striking objective illustrations of this difference between home and school conditions to bring teachers to act accordingly. The habits they have formed in their homes in these particulars must be overcome before they can be trusted to be careful of these things in their schoolrooms.

The problems connected with the proper lighting of schoolrooms vary to some degree in different parts of our country. California and all of the States of the Southwest enjoy more sunny days, and hence get more regular and continuous bright light than any of the Eastern or Northern States. Besides, in this same region the air is often freer from dust and smoke than it is farther north and east, and this renders both the direct and indirect light unusually strong. During several months of the year the landscape in the Southwest presents a wide expanse of browns somewhat dazzling to the eyes as it reflects the bright rays of the sun. To the north and northeast both the quality and quantity of the light is affected by the dazzling snows of winter or, in some places, the shades of summer. Taking all of these things into consideration, it is impossible to formulate rules which will apply equally well in all parts of our country. Most writers on this subject have, however, neglected to take into account these varying conditions, and have stated their rules and principles as if they could be universally applied, and school authorities who have tried to follow such directions without seeking advice concerning local conditions have, in many instances, made serious blunders.

In the northern part of our country where, during the winter season, twilight begins comparatively early in the afternoon, where

the shadows are long at noontime, and where cloudy, dark days are of frequent occurrence, it is often necessary to require for each classroom an amount of window surface equal to one-fourth of the area of the floor. In the Southwest it will be perfectly safe to limit the total area of the windows to one-sixth of the floor space. It must be understood, however, that these rules will hold good only in those cases where the windows are properly placed and where rooms are of the proper shape and proportion. Furthermore, it is necessary for architects and builders to remember that these figures do not represent the combined space inside the window frames, but the actual glass surface through which the light can enter unhindered. A schoolhouse should be so constructed and so placed on the lot as to admit into the classrooms the early morning sunshine or that of the later afternoon. In the latitude of our country, schoolrooms should never be lighted by windows facing to the south. If windows open into a classroom from the south, despite all that can be done with ordinary shades or blinds, bright rays of the sun will find their way into the room during the busiest part of the day and will inevitably dazzle and disturb the eyes of the children as well as those of the teacher. It will prove a mistake in nearly every instance to say that the teacher can so regulate the shades as to prevent all such troubles. If we were to grant that double shades can be regulated so as to shut out the direct rays of the sun, the fact still remains that very often busy teachers will neglect to regulate them properly, and consequently harm will result. During many years of observation on this point I have yet to see a single classroom properly lighted when depending on light from south windows.

While speaking on this point, though addressing his thought to the teachers of Germany, and, of course, to the conditions of German climate, Professor Foster, of Breslau, has said:

No curtains have yet been invented which will keep back the direct rays of the sun and at the same time let the diffused light of the clear sky pass through. Ground glass has been recommended, but it is too dazzling and blinding in the direct rays of the sun, and during cloudy days it intercepts too much of the light.

Since the words here quoted were written many attempts have been made to solve the difficulties mentioned by the invention and manufacture of many kinds of shades, but we have yet to see a shade, whether green or gray, buff or blue, which, if satisfactory when exposed to the midday rays of bright sunshine, did not prove unsuitable during the earlier and later periods of the school day. Some one may say, however, that the teacher must adjust the shades as the conditions change during the day. But teachers do not adjust and can not be trusted to adjust the shades so as to maintain a regular light when windows open to the south.