INTRODUCTION. 



What are the reasons that entitle the subject of physiol- 

 ogy to a place in the common school curriculum? There 

 are now so many subjects, on the educational value of 

 which most educators are agreed, that unless physiology 

 can do for the student what these do, it ought to give way 

 to better fields of study. 



In many cases no doubt it is taught simply because it is 

 prescribed by law, and its injunctions are not questioned. 

 In other cases its study is considered desirable, or even 

 necessary, because physiology concerns itself so largely 

 with hygienic considerations, and so is believed to exert a 

 helpful influence on the general health. Possibly this is 

 the main purpose our legislators had in mind when, by 

 statute, physiology was made one of the common school 

 branches. No one will deny the value, in fact the neces- 

 sity, of having clear conceptions of hygienic rules and 

 thoroughly understanding the laws of sanitation. It is the 

 author's firm belief that if the knowledge of the nature of 

 contagious and infectious diseases and of the means of 

 their spreading, was more generally possessed, perfected 

 sanitation would be declared a necessity, and the public 

 health would be greatly improved. Such a result would 

 repay a thousand times the cost of teaching such practical 

 information. It is however a question whether it usually 

 pays to have the study of physiology degenerate into formal 

 rules of health, and recipes for disease. Such formal, 

 theoretical knowledge seldom becomes of practical benefit. 

 Most of us eat what our pocketbooks can afford and what 

 experience shows agrees with us. We regulate our exer- 

 cise by the amount of time available, and our inclination to 

 take it. The desirability of bathing arises from something 

 deeper than a mere intellectual perception of its value. 



(i) 



