258 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Engelsperger and Ziegler (4) measured about 500 children, five to 

 six years of age on entering school and again two months later, and 

 found that 20 per cent, had lost weight. This appears significant in 

 view of the fact that the early fall is normally the season of most rapid 

 growth in weight. The retarding effect was most marked in the young- 

 est pupils, those under six years of age. The authors conclude that 

 entrance before the age of six years should not be permitted and that 

 in many cases it ought to be postponed until seven or eight. 



Quirsfeld (14) followed the growth of 1,014 children through the 

 first four years of school life and found that 46 per cent, failed to gain 

 weight during the entire first school year, while 21 per cent, showed an 

 actual loss. The number failing to gain during the second year was only 

 10 per cent., the third year 8 per cent, and the fourth year about 6 

 per cent. 



The Effects of Prolonged Mental Strain upon the Nutritional 

 Processes and the Composition of the Blood 



One of the evils most often blamed for school overpressure is the 

 formal examination. In 1896, Serafani found that examinations 

 caused a marked reduction in the amount of nourishment taken by uni- 

 versity students, and a corresponding decrease of weight. His conclu- 

 sion was to the effect that prolonged examinations tend to bring about 

 a condition of the nervous system resembling that characteristic of per- 

 sons who are chronically neurasthenic. 



Ignatieff (8) made a study of the physical effects of examinations 

 on 242 pupils, ten to sixteen years of age, in a Moscow military school. 

 The pupils were weighed just before they began preparation for the 

 examinations, again at the close of the examinations, and finally after 

 the close of the ensuing 3£ months of vacation. Comparing the second 

 weighing with the first, Ignatieff found that 79 per cent, had lost 

 weight, that about 11 per cent, had not changed and that only 10 per 

 cent, had made any gain. Since the examination and the preparation 

 for it extended over a period from one to two months, and since the 

 pupils were at an age when growth from month to month is normally 

 very rapid, all ought to have shown a gain. As it was, those of the 

 lowest grade lost on an average 2 per cent, of their weight and those 

 of the highest classes over 3 per cent. Quite different is the result 

 when we compare the weight records before vacation with those after 

 vacation, for here we find loss of weight with only 4.6 per cent, and 

 gain with 90 per cent. For 13 pupils, however, the extended vacation 

 was not sufficient to make up the loss of weight suffered during the 

 strenuous pre-vacation period. Ignatieff concludes that in its physical 

 effects the examination is comparable to a severe illness, and that a 

 mental strain severe enough to cause such profound alterations in metab- 



