7 o THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE W b . 2 _ FEBK , ARV . I9o6 



cate the general lines along which advances in the teaching of 

 " physiology " in the elementary school must ultimately come. 



With regard to the recommendation above that "physiology' 

 should be limited to fewer years in order to avoid wearisome and useless 

 repetitions and to gain in intensity, I am of the opinion that aside 

 from some general rules of hygiene, the principles of " physiology' 1 

 (including anatomy, physiology, and hygiene) should not be attempt- 

 ed before the last year of grammar school. 1 At that grade an inten- 

 sive course of sixty to one hundred lessons of carefully selected material 

 would be vastly more valuable than the whole work now extended over 

 from three to six years in the elementary school with from thirty to 

 eighty lessons each year. 



It was the opinion of the scientific advisers of the Committee of 

 Ten of the National Educational Association (Proceedings N. E. A., 

 1893, p. 159), "that instruction in anatomy, and physiology proper 

 is likely to lead, in some instances at least, to morbid if not prurient 

 curiosity that is productive of far more evil than the instruction is 

 likely to counterbalance for good." In addition to this possible objec- 

 tion, a stronger argument is that there seems to be no reason why 

 children in the first six or seven years should be instructed concern- 

 ing internal organs. They are too young to appreciate the knowledge 

 they acquire, and are likely to get very erroneous ideas which will 

 be even worse than no knowledge at all. Moreover, the facts of 

 internal structure and " physiology " which are now presented in the 

 intermediate grades are certainly of no practical value to the 

 child. For these reasons it is better to defer the teaching of these 

 topics until the last year of the grammar school; I should even name 

 the first year of the high school, were it not for the fact that so many 

 pupils do not go beyond the grammar schools, and therefore would 

 never have the benefit of instruction concerning the human bodv. 

 For this reason human "physiology" should be taught in the last 

 year of the grammar school, in which grade the age and advance- 

 ment of the pupils make it possible to present for the first time, 

 the essentials of anatomy, physiology, and hygiene which are of prac- 

 tical value in the every-day life of the average citizen. 



With regard to the study of the human body below the last year of 



'Possibly local conditions may sometimes make it desirable that "physiology"' 

 should be taught in the seventh instead of the eighth grade. This may be accepted 

 as a temporary compromise, but the discussion which follows will indicate the 

 desirability of placing the subject as late as possible in the elementary school. 



