Care of the Eyes. - Investigations made by oculists in the schoolrooms have revealed a strong tendency to myopia, or nearsightedness, as a result of the pupils' study. This tendency is far less where the true principles of lighting are observed in building the schoolhouses. Where the rooms are properly lighted, and the pupils are instructed how to hold their books, there yet remains the further consideration of suitable type and paper for schoolbooks. Whatever the merits of a text-book for school use, if its type be such as to cause injury to the eyes, it should be condemned. The smaller pupils require larger type than those of the more advanced grades. The primers and first readers are prepared with this fact in view. Without being an expert in all forms of typography, the teacher should acquire a sufficient familiarity with the more important sizes of type generally employed in books, and should be competent to pass upon the merits of a text-book in respect to its typography. In books of higher mathematics, the exponential letters and figures are frequently so small as to prove very trying to the sight. Position at Desk, etc. In the matter of school desks and seating, there is room for the exercise of careful discrimination and judgment, for into this, important physiological considerations necessarily enter. With the best of school seats and desks, it is possible for children to do themselves harm by sitting in unnatural positions, resting upon their elbows, and in various ways warping their figure out of its proper shape. The pupils should learn to sit erect, with the shoulders even and thrown back, and with the soles of both feet resting naturally upon the floor. They should walk and stand erect. Their gait should be natural. They should not "toe in." With the shoulders thrown back, the arms will fall naturally in such a position that the thumbs will be inclined. outward. With the chest expanded and the head erect, there will be much less danger of diseases of the lungs. Food and Water. Even in the pupils' eating, the teacher's influence should be exerted to some extent. While he cannot meddle with the household economy of the parents, he can give force and effect to the lessons of the text-books in physiology, so that the pupil will have an enlightened understanding of the common foods, their uses and abuses. As to the water which the pupils drink at school, the school officers and teachers have a direct responsibility which should not be ignored. Water for drinking purposes must be clean and pure. Suitable water for drinking cannot be secured, generally, without much thought and care and some expense. The sources of its supply should be carefully investigated, and every precaution should be taken to prevent its contamination. The evil effects of drinking impure water, like those of breathing impure air, are often long concealed, or, at least, are not conspicuously noticeable. They often cause epidemics and deplorable loss of life in the end, while this might have been easily avoided by a little thought and care on the part of those having in charge the water supply. The responsibility of teachers and school officers for the health and comfort of the pupils is very great. It is no light charge to be accountable for the physical well-being of the scores or hundreds of children and youths in a school. The teacher owes it to the parents in whose place he stands, to the board by which he is employed, to the pupils especially, and to himself, as well, to take a deep interest in the hygienic conditions of his school, and to post himself thoroughly upon the subject by every means in his power; and the school officer, guided by his personal observation, by the teacher's knowledge of the hygienic necessities of the building and appliances, and by such other suggestions as come to him from reliable sources of information, should feel the responsibility resting upon him to provide all things within his power to supply for the health, comfort, order, and happiness of the children at school. CHAPTER VI ARBOR DAY CELEBRATIONS Origin and History of Arbor Day. - Nebraska has the honor of originating the celebration of Arbor Day. In 1874, at the request of the State Board of Agriculture, the Governor of the State appointed the second Wednesday of April as a day for the planting of trees by the citizens generally, and it is said that millions of trees were planted on that day. In Kansas the day was first observed in the city of Topeka, in accordance with a proclamation by the mayor of that city. Other States which were deficient in timber fell rapidly in line. Then still other States began to observe the day as a school holiday, which was devoted not merely to the planting of trees, but to the beautifying of school grounds as well. If Arbor Days are necessary in the prairie States, they are not less needed in States in which timber abounds. In almost every rural district there is need for improvement in the grounds about the schoolhouse. The day has, moreover, its social and moral benefits, which are not to be rated lightly. It affords an opportunity for neighborhood visiting and consultation. It brings together the teacher, the parents, and the pupils, and prevents estrangements between them. It gives to all a new interest in the school and its work. It affords an opportunity to present to the parties most interested the school needs of the hour. The time for Arbor Day is generally chosen in the latter part of April or the first of May. In New York the day is a |