TEACHING PHYSIOLOGY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 519 



of these subjects on duty has her teaching warped by her hobbies 

 in regard to food, air, or some other hygienic measure, that she 

 does not seem to be able to distinguish between essentials and 

 non-essentials, and is carried away, it may be, by the dress or 

 alcohol question. It has been found by experience that something 

 else than the ability to lecture is necessary in order to get children 

 to have correct ideas of the subjects taught. The daily drill, the 

 " line upon line and precept upon precept," the bringing of the 

 pupil up to the level of the teacher by the teacher's coming down 

 to the level of the pupil, are all necessary. It is probably because 

 these were deficient that we are able to record the answers to 

 questions in the earlier part of this article. It is not a question 

 of how much such and such a child ought to comprehend, but 

 how much does the child understand. 



All honor to the teachers who do make the subjects they teach 

 understood as well as interesting. 



3. What to teach. The teaching should be reliable, interest- 

 ing, practical, in order " to inculcate sound national views regard- 

 ing the necessity of obedience to laws of health, to secure willing 

 obedience to the enforcement of sanitary law, to correct social and 

 personal habits which are constantly operating as causes of dis- 

 ease." If the evils of alcoholic drinks are to be portrayed, as they 

 undoubtedly should be, let the teacher show the relation between 

 intemperance, crime, and immorality, and how intemperance 

 results from imitation, habit, disease, and poverty, rather than 

 spend her time in endeavoring to detail the dire effects of alcohol 

 upon every tissue of the body, and to picture upon the child's 

 mind what a drunkard's stomach looks like, or what a hob-nail 

 liver is. Let her not forget to teach about intemperance in eating, 

 exercise, bathing, study, etc., and to have an eye upon the evil effects 

 of opium and cocaine intemperance, which are not uncommon. 

 Let her encourage self-control, mental, emotional, sexual, physical. 

 Have her dwell on the advantages of "lend a hand" societies, 

 rather than on prohibition measures. The teacher can sho*w how 

 " health is wealth," what are the advantages of a healthy home 

 and surroundings, how disease tendencies can be overcome, what 

 " filth diseases " are and how they can be averted, how economical 

 and nutritious food can be obtained and how prepared for eating. 

 " In the personal habits of pupils, in the ventilating and heating 

 of school-buildings, in the location of wells, in the character of 

 the out-building, in the construction of school-houses and laying 

 out of the grounds, in a proper observance of the purity or im- 

 purity of the water-supply, in the enforcement of laws for pre- 

 venting the spread of contagious and infectious diseases, and in 

 many other things practical truths may be instilled into the mindS 

 of pupils, and impressions made that will never be effaced in after 



