(Philadelphia-continued.

body, by means of cleanliness, clothing and breathing fresh air, gives occa-
sion for much useful talk, so that by the time Grade IV. is reached (the
children being from 9 to 10 years old), curiosity is aroused as to the general
structure of the body and the means by which it receives sensations. Dur-
ing the remaining four years the physiological and hygienic aspects of the
study are well balanced in treatment, as is evidenced by the written notes
of the more advanced grades. By the courtesy of Miss Wright, one of the
Board of Education Supervisors, I have been furnished with a large num-
ber of notes made by pupils in Grade VIII., executed without previous
notice in the ordinary course of work, and handed to me without revision
as they left the writers' hands. Of these, forty papers are on the nervous
system; they are clear, well expressed, and, as a whole, satisfactorily
accurate; the plentiful introduction of pen and ink drawings illustrate the
facility attained in this mode of expression by an American child. Each
paper contains a verbal sketch, illustrated, of the cerebro-spinal and
sympathetic nervous systems, and highly creditable drawings of the under
surface of the brain, showing the cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla
oblongata; each paper concludes with the hygienic applications to be
made of the knowledge gained, couched in evidently original language :--
"It is the worry in many cases that causes nervous sickness."
"To keep
our body in health also tends to keep the nervous system in health, as the
blood which nourishes the nervous system must be pure and good. The
nervous system can be easily abused, sitting up late at night, overtiring the
body, reading cheap novels and going to the theatre too much all tire the
brain." The following extract from one of the best papers illustrates the
danger, to which reference has been made as so liable to arise from well
meant efforts to simplify a complex, and, as yet, incompletely understood
subject; though the general tenour is excellent some of the daring asser-
tions on the part of the pupil are inaccurate and misleading. "The use of
narcotics, strong drink and opium all tend to weaken the nervous system.
The alcohol gets into the blood, takes away all the healthful parts of the
blood and it gets into the nerve tissue which is very watery, and the
alcohol dries up the water and takes its place, and when the alcohol is once
in the nerve tissue it is very hard to get out, so for this and other reasons,
alcohol should be avoided by every sensible person. Opium and all other
drugs should be equally avoided, the craving is very hard to get rid of and
will often be inherited by the victim's innocent children. The opium has
a deadening effect that is very dangerous, often resulting in death; all the
patent medicines and cough cures often have a form of opium in them, and
they should be avoided as a household remedy, as the effect on children
especially is very dangerous."

Even more striking is another set of papers from the
same school for the variety in verbal expression of identical.
facts and the really beautiful pen and ink drawings of the
structure of the ear, including separate illustrations of its parts.
The evident grasp of the theory of sound, in addition to the fitness
of the human ear for the transmission of sound waves, is most
apparent, and the remarks on the care of the ear are simple,
rational, common sense. A third set of papers deals with the eye
and also merits high praise. Sketches enter even more fully
into these notes, and are used with great effect to illustrate and
assist to shorten written descriptions. It is evident that the
hygienic applications have been well impressed, though a number
of the writers wisely omit any notes on the effects of alcohol and
tobacco on the eye, which are reported by others in words
similar in substance to the following extract from one paper :-
"Effect of Alcohol on the Eye.-It in a general way dulls or weakens
the nerve.
Alcohol is known to produce congestion of eyes. It irritates
the delicate linings of the eyelids and lessens the acuteness of vision.

"Effect of Tobacco on the Eye.- Tobacco smoke irritates the eyes. It causes sharp pain of the eyeball. Smokers often have confused and feeble vision due to partial paralysis of the optic nerve."

These papers are home-work on an assigned subject which had been previously studied in class, and rank as "Compositions;" the sketches are allowed to be copied from diagrams or objects. The execution of these careful drawings has various values, in addition to the inevitable mental impression received of relation of parts, of form and of structure; accurate observation, neatness, precision, manual dexterity, reliance upon means other than verbal for expression, the employment of facility gained in another branch of study, are all called into play. The method appears in general use. I have specimens of similar, though less advanced, notes collected in the course of a visit to some schools at Providence, Rhode Island, where pencil illustration rather than verbal description is relied upon. Bone structure, the mechanism of a joint, the shape and arrangement of the teeth, the position of the organs in the thorax and abdomen are drawn; and usually six or seven written lines are considered to supply the necessary letterpress.

my

Good papier-maché models and anatomical charts are provided Illustrative under some Boards of Education, but a majority of those teachers Methods. whose previous training or post-graduate courses enable them to approach the whole topic from its practical side, confirmed own opinion that one illustration from life or a familiar object, one demonstration on animal tissues, such as the leg of a rabbit or the eye of an ox, is worth more as a means to convey a true conception, to arouse active interest, or to stimulate subsequent observation than the free use of costly models. The extent to which this "better" way is followed depends upon the attitude of the Supervisors or school principal, and the capacity and enthusiasm of the teacher. The same spirit which has prompted the rapid introduction of the "laboratory method" into high schools and colleges is permeating the whole world of education, with a promise of good things to come for this as for other suitable subjects.

Special lessons upon the care of young children are not The Care of usual in the public schools, though exceptions to the rule exist Young in New York City, Washington, and very probably elsewhere. Children. In respect of sensible clothing, England can learn with advantage from the United States where babies, from birth, have necks, arms, and legs completely and continuously protected. The artificial feeding of infants is chiefly in the hands of physicians, who write individual prescriptions to be "made up" at milk laboratories instead of at chemists' shops; and this custom was, in my experience, a reason frequently advanced for not giving instruction on the subject of "bottle fed" babies in schools. At Buffalo the use of tube bottles is forbidden by law. I do not know whether such enactments have been made elsewhere, but in this city the result within a comparatively short time was to reduce the rate of infantile mortality by onehalf. At the New York cookery centres the girls learn how to

Curricula.

sterilise and pasteurise milk; how to modify cow's milk to meet the needs of infants at different age periods; how much food to give and how often to feed; what are and what are not the right shapes for feeding bottles. They also learn how to make barley water and foods suitable when the child begins to require other than milk diet. "What Baby must not have," needs to be well impressed in the poorest quarters of that city as well as in our own towns. Regular instruction is not given at Washington, but Mrs. I. G. Myers occasionally takes the elder girls alone, at one or other school, for personal instruction in nursery hygiene as well as in the wise care of their own health.

B.-HIGH SCHOOLS.

To confine the following remarks to the teaching of the Domestic Sciences and Arts, and Hygiene in the public high schools is to omit, for the present, reference to some excellent examples of secondary school courses supported by private endowment, eg. those at the Pratt and Lewis Institutes, which will be treated in Part II. Nevertheless, adherence to the division of educational institutions into the two groups of those maintained by State funds or from private resources will, it is hoped, enable those unfamiliar with the intricacies consequent upon this parallel dual system to assign to each its just relative proportion to the mass of good work accomplished by both.

Domestic Science is classified, almost without exception, as Manual Training under all Boards of Education into whose high schools it has been introduced. The reason for this is found substantially in the system of co-education. If the girls of a division devote so much time per week to a subject from which boys are excluded, their occupation during these" periods' must be of a character inapplicable to girls. Manual training is widely recognised as desirable for both sexes and is therefore conveniently, if not quite accurately, extended to cover cooking, sewing, laundry and table service, as well as its more legitimate subjects, work with clay, card, wood, or metal. It must always be borne in mind that a proportion of authorities maintain the "training" value of all these occupations to be equal. In large cities which support several high schools, one of these is usually set apart for the express purpose of offering special facilities in manual training to both sexes, and is so denominated; not that all Manual Training High Schools necessarily include domestic subjects in their curricula, but they do so in many cities, and, I believe, to an annually increasing extent. At Providence (Rhode Island), at Ann Arbor (Mich.), and in the early days at Philadelphia, cookery and even sewing, appeared in the tim tables of high schools before adoption into the grammar schools: but Brookline, (Mass.), offers an illustration of the more general tendency, viz., to include an introductory course in both subjects in the elementary schools, and to encourage further study and practice in the high schools.

As a rule, high schools provide a choice of courses for thei students, usually from five to eight in number; these

are described as General, Classical, Scientific, Latin-German, English preparatory, Commercial, Manual, etc. The base of most of them is very similar during the first two out of the four years of high school life, by which means differentiation or specialisation is postponed until about 16, and premature specialisation avoided at 14 years of age. Domestic Science may constitute a required subject in the General, Technical, or Manual Training courses, as it does, e.g., at Brookline (Mass.), or it may be an "elective," open to all girl students, as at Ann Arbor and Muskegon. When house sanitation plays a prominent part this section of the course is occasionally thrown open to boys, as is the case at the Toledo Polytechnic School.

Science

The scope of the whole course is often very comprehensive, as Scope and the arts are included to an extent not usual in this country Value of (considerable time being devoted to the practice of design, clay Domestic modelling, drawing, and to some study of colour), while it would Courses. be hard to find one scheme which does not require, or include in itself, a study of general chemistry, elementary physics, and an introduction to the first principles of bacteriology; some suggestions on economic and sociological problems are also brought forward, with a view to widen the girls' horizons and to prepare them for their future positions and obligations. It is evident, therefore, that valuable opportunities await those who approach such courses in the attitude of mind anticipated by the experts responsible for their formulation. During her four years' study an intelligent girl devotes time to theoretical and experimental work in chemistry, physics and biology, usually with special reference to their practical household applications, which she at once proceeds to test in her cookery, laundry and cleaning practice. Her hands and eyes are trained in the studio, so that she may bring skilful manipulation, habitual accuracy, and an eye for form and colour to her classes in sewing, dressmaking and millinery. She is called upon to make personal observations on sanitary house construction, and then to reproduce, or to originate, the plans for a healthy dwelling; here she is required to have good reasons for all her details and to be as practical in her knowledge of plumbing possibilities and risks as she is in her scheme of colour decoration for the rooms. Calculation of cost must be carried out with care and the economics of family life studied. She is trained to realise that mere provision of food and clothing does not fulfil the housewife's duty; meals at reasonable cost must furnish requisite nutriment in wholesome, varied forms, with the details of which she should be familiar; clothing must fulfil many more requirements than mere surface show-how to ensure these constitutes a part of her study. She perceives how responsible is the woman for the expenditure of a household, and gets her first glimpse by this means into the sociological problems of to-day. Time has to be found for gaining an insight into the special care essential for infants and invalids: while, most wisely, the study of literature. and, if possible, of one or two modern languages, maintains. throughout, the necessary connection with the wide world of

Scope and
Value of
Domestic
Science
Courses-
continued.

experience, thought and culture, of which each home reflects a part.

Needless to say, the realisation by the pupils of all these ideals is not as yet contemplated in every high school; but, where the effort is made, there is already warranty of eventual attainment. At this age period, more than at that of any other, the mental attitude of teachers is quickly observed by scholars, who are impressionable in a high degree to standards of thought set up by those under whose influence they spend a third of their time. The fact that highly qualified professors of both sexes manifest an unfeigned interest in the right conduct of homes and give cordial attention to studies which bear on the scientific and artistic regulation of domestic life carries great weight with boys as well as girls in the high schools where these courses have reached their best development. It is believed that this fact impresses a wider circle than the students alone, and will bear good fruit among parents by its contribution to the dignity of home life; in any case its influence is active at the moment when the unrest of adolescence is prone to manifest itself in a contempt for familiar surroundings and in impatience with the claims of the family circle. Further, such a course serves the useful purpose of revealing their vocations to girls who are discouraged by their distaste or want of capacity for literary, artistic, or purely scientific studies, in which their companions already display a promise of future proficiency, or from their inability to reach an accepted standard in other lines of school work. The combination of scientific theory with its prompt application to familiar processes; the union of mental with manual activity; the school links constantly forged with home interests; the sense of power acquired in the performance of daily duties, hitherto complicated by the rule of thumb system, accompanied by its irritating and uncertain element of chance; all appeal with an often unsuspected force to the undeveloped Marthas of the school world, who find here an outlet for their latent capacities, and whose perpetuation-no longer "careful and troubled about many things "-through knowledge thus attained, will be of unmixed benefit to the human race.

Of

In contrast to such comprehensive courses (details of three o which are included), it is quite possible to find high schools where the term Domestic Science is confined to practice classes in cooking or sewing, and where no direct inter-relation between scientific principles and domestic methods is worked out. these, that at Ann Arbor (Mich.), is an average specimen. Or there may be a sort of compromise between the educational and the utilitarian methods, of which the courses at some of the private high schools afford illustrations. Significant of the awakening appreciation of the possibilities and claims of the subject is the following extract from the 21st Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools of the City of Boston, dated March, 1901; its tenour has aroused considerable hope among those in the city who have desired for some years past to see a course established in Household Economics, and who regret