12 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



moving more and more quickly, until some 

 one of the dancers, being unable to keep up, 

 slips and falls ; then the chain is broken, and 

 all with loud shouts, often dripping with 

 perspiration, return to their seats. The 

 last part of this dance resembles a play 

 among boys known as "snap the whip." 

 This dance is performed at weddings and 

 other festive occasions, and is said to derive 

 its name from the sinuous course of the 

 dancers. In the trade dance the partici- 

 pants, one or more in number, go to the 

 wigwam of another person, and when near 

 the entrance sing a song. The leader then 

 enters, and, dancing about, sings a continu- 

 ation of the song he sang at the door of the 

 hut. He then points out some object in the 

 room which he wants to buy, and offers a 

 price for it. The owner is obliged to sell 

 the object pointed out, or to barter some- 

 thing of equal value. Passamaquoddy In- 

 dians are believers in a power by which a 

 song sung in one place can be heard in 

 another many miles away. This power is 

 thought to be due to ni'louUn, or magic, 

 which plays an important part in their be- 

 lief. The folk stories of the Passama- 

 quoddies are but little known to the boys 

 and girls of the tribe. It is mostly from 

 the old and middle-aged persons that these 

 stories can be obtained. The author was told 

 by one of these story-tellers that it was cus- 

 tomary, when he was a boy, to reward them 

 for collecting wood, or for performing other 

 duties, with stories. 



What constitutes a Filth Disease? 



Summing up, in the Sanitarian, his observa- 

 tions in answer to the question, " What con- 

 stitutes a filth disease ? " Dr. S. W. Abbott 

 concludes that a filth disease is one in rela- 

 tion to which filth in some form or other, 

 either wet or dry, plays the part of an im- 

 portant factor only in its causation, but is 

 not itself the direct cause ; that it acts 

 either as a favorable soil for the propaga- 

 tion of disease germs (other favorable condi- 

 tions also existing), or as a suitable medium 

 or vehicle for the transmission of the par- 

 ticular contagium from the sick to the well. 

 The filth which promotes the spread of in- 

 fectious diseases is specific filth, and the im- 

 portance of removing all filth lies in the 

 fact that thereby we are sure to remove the 



specific filth, or that which contains the 

 germs of infectious disease. The point to 

 be emphasized is, that when filth is removed 

 it should be done with the principle in view 

 that filth is a condition rather than a cause, 

 that it is the soil for the culture and trans- 

 mission of infection, and not the infection 

 itself ; and that, just so far as the principle 

 of infection is deprived of its proper soil, so 

 far is one of the most important conditions 

 of its growth and' propagation removed. In 

 sanitation, careful watching and provision 

 against the introduction of infectious dis- 

 ease, isolation of the sick, disinfection of 

 houses, clothing, and other associated ma- 

 terial are as essential as the removal of 

 dirt. 



The Special Talent to be cultivated. 



The Workingman's School of the United Re- 

 lief Works of the Society for Ethical Culture 

 was founded in 1878, to be a free Kinder- 

 garten for the children of the poorer classes 

 in the tenement-house district of the city. 

 It has now between three hundred and four 

 hundred pupils, with three grammar, three 

 primary, and three Kindergarten classes, and 

 owns a substantial five-story building for its 

 class-rooms and shops. Besides the ordina- 

 ry branches, its course of study embraces 

 manual and art work, elementary natural 

 science, gymnastics, and music, etc., and a 

 Kindergarten normal department. After 

 two years it was decided to attempt the 

 development of the Kindergarten principle, 

 " learning by doing," in such a way that it 

 might become the basis for a complete 

 course of study in a regular school covering 

 the ages from the sixth to the fourteenth 

 year. The school is not a trade school, nor 

 is it adapted only to the needs of a particular 

 class. It aims to give its pupils, be they 

 rich or poor, an education calculated to 

 bring all their faculties into harmonious 

 play. The chief merit of the manual work 

 is its educational value. Trades are not 

 taught, but shopwork, modeling, needlework, 

 etc., have been introduced as so many aid3 

 to cultivation and development of every 

 kind. And thus, says the report, " we be- 

 lieve that one of the worst evils of conven- 

 tional ' schooling ' has been done away with. 

 For our experience has clearly shown, that 

 the standard of education, heretofore uni- 



