THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND EDUCATION 531 



company it is allowed to keep, the books it is permitted to read, 

 should be the subject of 'the greatest care. John Stuart Blackie 

 once said that the most inspiring thing for a young man was to 

 be placed in the company of great and good men ; and next to 

 being in their company was to read their books and to read about 

 them. 



But while it is of the greatest importance that the experiences 

 to which the child is exposed are of the best possible character, it 

 is no less important that the nervous system and the sense organs 

 of the child be in a sound and normal condition. The state, 

 through the public-school system, is supplying buildings and 

 teachers at great expense. All this outlay is for the purpose of 

 imparting learning to the rising generation. Is it not right and 

 proper that the state should see that the children upon whom 

 this enormous sum of money is being spent are in a fit condition 

 to receive the education that is offered ? One would hardly think 

 of any government spending millions upon an army, and making 

 no selection of the men who were to form this army. Further, 

 when the authorities had selected the men for the army, they 

 would surely see that the benefits of training and drill would 

 not be destroyed by dissipation and irregular habits among the 

 soldiery. 



Thus I think it is clearly the duty of the state to exercise its 

 authority in the suppression of injurious books, papers, and adver- 

 tisements. It is high time that stringent steps were taken in this 

 direction. It does seem strange that large sums are paid annu- 

 ally to furnish children with good reason and morals, and at the 

 same time numerous presses are turning out tons of reading mat- 

 ter of the most degrading and perverting nature. There is still 

 another reform that could be well introduced. A proper medical 

 inspector should be appointed to examine schools and determine 

 their sanitary condition. All matters of drainage, heating, light- 

 ing, and ventilation would be subjects for his consideration. It 

 is hardly to be expected that the nervous system and special 

 senses of the pupils will be healthy if these children are pent up 

 for a good portion of the day in an unhealthy schoolroom. Fur- 

 ther, it ought to be the duty of this medical inspector to give the 

 pupils of each school under his control regular instruction on 

 hygiene, and especially on the hygiene of study and the care of 

 the sense organs. A teacher may be a very intelligent person, 

 yet the ordinary reading he may have bestowed upon these topics 

 would not enable him to do them the same justice that a well- 

 educated and experienced medical practitioner could. Cases of 

 melancholia, hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, defects of vision, and such 

 like, would be sent home by him for proper rest and treatment. 



Children learn best what they like best. Pleasure in their 



