PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 583 



man of God, included perfume among the three greatest blessings of 

 human life. Young children ought to have a recess after every lesson, 

 and should not be required to sit rigidly quiet. The best writing- 

 stand for children is Schreber's " telescope-desk," a box-like contriv- 

 ance, with a movable top that can be lowered or raised to suit the 

 convenience of sitting or standing writers. In a latitude where the 

 weather so often precludes the possibility of out-door recreations, every 

 schoolhouse should have a recess-room, and every town school an in- 

 door gymnasium. 



Fireside comforts are almost inseparable from the idea of an open 

 fireplace, and from an hygienic standpoint, too, the old-fashioned chim- 

 ney, or an open grate, is far superior to a closed stove. But it should 

 not be forgotten that the operation of the chimney-draught alone is 

 insufficient to correct the vitiated air of a small room, it merely creates 

 an outward current. An open window completes the renovating pi-o- 

 cess ; in cold weather a few minutes are sufficient to revitalize the in- 

 door atmosphere for a couple of hours. Only the blindest prejudice 

 can deny the pleasant effect of such an influx of life-air ; it revives 

 the azotized lungs as a draught of cool water refreshes the parched 

 palate. Colds are never taken in that way. The very name is a mis- 

 leading misnomer infection or influenza would be the right word. 

 Long exposure to a freezing storm, in certain cases, induces a true 

 pleuritic fever, a very rare affection, and entirely different from the 

 only too familiar catarrh. What we call a cold {refroidissement, Er- 

 haltung) is caused by the. influence of impure air, or dust, on the sensi- 

 tive tissue of our respiratory organs ; subsequent exposure to the 

 open air merely initiates the crisis of the disorder, the discharge of the 

 accumulated mucus through the nose or throat. Fresh air is here only 

 the proximate cause, as in toothache, or in those paroxysms of retching 

 following upon the first respiration of a half -drowned person. If we 

 postpone the crisis by persistently avoiding the open air, the unrespir- 

 able matter, instead of being discharged, will be deposited in the tissue 

 of the lungs in the form of tubercles. 



In the chapter on Diet I have stated the physiological objections to 

 a late supper, and I will here mention an additional reason why the 

 afternoon meal should be the last : It would give an overworked mother 

 a chance to close the kitchen-door at six o'clock, and devote the rest of 

 the evening to her family. Domestic habits depend greatly upon the 

 employment of the long winter evenings that have to be passed in- 

 doors somewhere ; whether at home or elsewhere, depends upon home- 

 comforts rather than upon home-missions ; a treatise on the art of 

 making the chimney-corner attractive would be the most effective tem- 

 perance lecture. Fredrika Bremer recommends fairy stories ; in a 

 North American city Scheherezade would probably avail herself of the 

 circulating library, and a fascinating story-book is, indeed, an excel- 

 lent substitute for the old-fashioned remedies against gadding. Good 



