SCHOOL DIETARIES. 593 



thought to require such aid. If proof were needed that boys may 

 grow up in the perfection of health and strength without any stimu- 

 lants whatever, provided they are liberally fed, I might point to the 

 splendid physique of the little inmates of this particular school, and 

 invite any one to see how they work and how they play. Where the 

 food is amply sufficient and varied, a boy does not want beer, nay, is 

 better without it ; where the food is not so, beer or wine will but im- 

 perfectly supplement its shortcomings. "With delicate or sickly boys, 

 of course the case is different ; they have sj^ecial needs in respect of 

 stimulants which it would be foolish to ignore. 



Another noteworthy point in the arrangements of this school is the 

 veto on all "hampers from home," and the absence of any " shop" for 

 the sale of sweets, etc. These are far from harmless institutions; they 

 are time-honored abominations which cannot be too strongly con- 

 demned. The evil tendencies, at any rate of the latter, are so glaring 

 that its authorized existence is, in my opinion, a blot upon any school. 

 Setting aside the trash eaten, the sickness caused, the morbid appetite 

 and habit of selfish gluttony acquired, and the facilities afforded for 

 the introduction of contraband goods the money boys often spend at 

 these places is grievous to think of. I can vouch for many a boy, 

 whose parents were weak enough to supply him with almost unlimited 

 pocket-money, having often spent at his school " shop " a weekly sum 

 quite sufficient to feed a poor family. Now, where school-meals are 

 abundant enough, varied enough (especially in respect of sugar, starch, 

 and vegetable juices), and frequent enough, there the inmates will 

 have no further craving for cakes, sweets, fruits, etc. But if there be 

 a shortcoming in one or other of these respects, then instinct drives 

 the boys to seek elsewhere those elements of food in which their regu- 

 lar diet is deficient. An authorized " tuck-shop," therefore, in con- 

 nection with a school, is prima-facie evidence to an outsider, and not 

 uncommonly a tacit admission on the pai*t of the school-proprietor, 

 that the diet of the inmates by no means satisfies all their legitimate 

 cravings. 



That a scale of diet such as I have here advocated is just about 

 what boys ought to have if they are to develop into strong, healthy 

 men I am satisfied from personal experience and observation. That 

 it is at all likely to meet with the acceptance of school-masters gener- 

 ally, I am not simple enough to suppose. It is too violent an inno- 

 vation on old routine. Nay, even paterfamilias himself will probably 

 pooh-pooh such new-fangled notions of feeding boys like grown men 

 (especially when he finds they cost more money), forgetting that boys 

 need more and more varied food than men. So-and-so was good 

 enough for his (pater's) boyhood, why won't it do for his son's ? But 

 paterfamilias should speak only for himself. The diet of his school- 

 days sufficed for him, thanks probably to his sound constitution, but 

 was it enough for many of his less robust schoolmates ? Did any of 

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