JULY 11th, 1906. 



The ino.ntlily niccl iiiK' <>r tlu- Ro.viil So- 

 ciety was liohi on .Inly II, Hi.- iOxcoIleiicy 

 1tie GwiMiioi- (wlio wnM ac( (nni)aiiic(l liy 

 Lady Edoliiu- StiickliMul ami Mr. (Iw 

 Browiio, Piivate S^creiUiry) in 1 lu' cliair. 



St'hool Hygiene. 

 1)7-. Elkingion, Chief llealtli (tfficer, 

 gave a most int-ei'esting and impoi'lant 

 Address on "School Hygiene," illustrated 

 with diagrams, the lantern-slides showing 

 tlie difFer<^nt Wiiys in which children sit 

 flt school, getting into bad habits, spoil- 

 ing their eyesight, curving their spines, 

 and doing themselves all sorts of injuries, 

 which were owing to })ad ventilation, 

 badly constructed schoolrooms, badly 

 placed windows, and wi'ongiy constructed 

 desks. All these could be obviated if 

 schools wea'o properly built, and modern 

 appliances us.ed, specimens of Avhich were 

 thrown on the screen. The greatest of 

 the faults committed in the name of 

 education in the past, said Dr. E'lking- 

 ton, had been the non-recognition of the 

 physical side of the child's environment, 

 whether as an all-controllitig factor m 

 the development of the spiritual side, or 

 as an all-important inlluence upon the 

 child's future. This was no't fair to the 

 child, since it interfered with his mental 

 equipment for the struggle of modern 

 competition, and frequently saddled him 

 with a lasting physical defect. It was 

 neither reascaiable nor fair to anybody 

 to continue attempting to force impres- 

 sions, through eyes which were prevented 

 from seeing and ears which could not 

 properly hear, to reach brains somnolent 

 and unresponsive from carbo'nic acid 

 poisoning. In London, great efforts yrere 

 being put forth to better the physical 

 and moral status of the County Council 

 school population, and the results amply 

 justified the cc'st. Throughout the British 

 Isles the work was going on apace. Ger- 

 many had for yenrs appi-cciated its value, 

 with the result that the proverbially be- 

 spoctacLed student of a generation" ago 

 was becoming rarer. Switzerland had a 

 widely organised system of examination 

 and inspection, practically dominated by 

 the school medical officer, "who was a soi-'t 

 of hygienic autocrat. Many of the Ameri- 

 can States placed the hygiene of their 

 schools directly under the State health 

 authority, and Japan had an exhaustive 

 system of medical inspection and super- 

 vision by some 8,424 specially appointed 

 doctors. So much does America value 

 hj'g:iene that it is the only compulsory 

 subject in the school curricuhrm in a 

 number of the States. It was well for the 

 teachers to become acquainted with the 

 main principles go.verning site, striic- 

 ture, circulation, planning, lighting, and 

 air supply; but from a practical point of 

 view these were of less importance than 



flic knoAvleilge oi' how lo ntiliso to (ho 

 Iw'sl advantage what was provided. l''or 

 (hose who could alVord lo erect a private 

 Rchool on correct lines, thei-e was a laFjje 

 availnljle literatui'e in .'voveral KuropeaTi 

 languages, and even in .Japanese. Who'll 

 money was to bo spent on school build- 

 ings, it was generally better to e.xpend it 

 on the inside than on the outside. Me- 

 chanical ventilation or adjustable desks 

 would ))e a more important innovation 

 than a bell tower. School hygiene did not 

 necessarily imply large expense, nor could 

 a system be lun on formal cut and 

 dried lines, suitable for all latitudes and 

 all classes of schools. Like Opie'.« coloui's, 

 it required to be mixed with brains. Its 

 resources were available for the smallest 

 of back-black schools in Canada or Aus- 

 tralia, and were essential for the largest 

 of the great establishments of London 

 or New York. School hygiene was not 

 intended solely for the child. The 

 teacher Avas the mainspring of the school, 

 and causes which operated adversely upon 

 his or her physical condition, tended la 

 interfere v.-ith educational result. School 

 hygiene v/as r.ot a question for State edu- 

 cational sy.-lems alc^ne. •its importance 

 was as great in private as in public 

 schools, and its economic results were 

 equally striking in both. As a rule, phj-si- 

 cal culture should be regulated by a 

 medical man, as serious damage might 

 be done to individual weakly children by 

 physical overstrain. In the absence of a 

 trained instructOT, it should never be 

 undertaken. Ordinary healthy children 

 derived more benefit from a noisy scam- 

 per round the playgi'ound than they 

 wOT^ld get from a half-hour's ordeal of 

 club-waving or toe-touching mechanically 

 directed by an uninterested and iinskilled 

 teacher. After dealing with the benefit 

 to be derived from the medical inspection 

 of schools. Dr. Elkington conchrded by 

 describing the different mechanical appli- 

 ances, such as windows, school desks, 

 warming apparatus, etc., used in modern 

 schools, which were thrown on the canvas 

 by Mr. Nat. Oldham. 



A discussion followed the paper, in the 

 course of which Mr. Smii^h. headmaster 

 of the Model School at Battery Point, 

 spoke of the splendid work done by Dr. 

 Elkington in improving the conditions of 

 the schools in Tasmania ; efforts which 

 were very much appreciated by the 

 teachers throughc-at the State. 



Bishop Mercer said if the Government 

 compelled children to go to school they 

 must make the schools healthy places for 

 the children to work in, no matter what 

 the cost. Many o.f the schools in the 

 country were old-fashioned to a degree. 

 The teachers sitffered even more than the 

 children by bad conditions. 



