98 Heredity and Child Culture 



toes touch the floor and a strain is thus put on 

 the whole body. When the desk is too high, the 

 spinal column, which is very supple in the 

 young, is thrown into a condition of lateral 

 curvature. When many hours each day are 

 spent in unnatural or constricted positions, the 

 result cannot fail to be disastrous. The room, 

 as well as its appliances, should be conducive 

 to health, as such a large portion of every 

 child's life is spent in school. Ventilation and 

 light are of great importance. Cross venti- 

 lation from windows open at the top is usually 

 the most satisfactory. 



Each child should be allowed about twenty 

 square feet of floor space and at least two hun- 

 dred and fifty to three hundred cubic feet of air 

 space. Of course, even these allowances will 

 be insufficient unless there is a free supply of 

 pure air. The windows should be placed as 

 high as possible toward the ceiling for good 

 light as well as ventilation. A northern light is 

 preferable, but from whatever direction it 

 comes, it should strike the book of the pupil 

 from behind, and, if possible, from the left. 



