i8o Heredity and Child Culture 



The two main difiBculties of boarding out con- 

 sist, first in selecting a suitable home, and next 

 in exercising constant and proper supervision. 

 Where boarding out has fallen short, one or 

 both of these factors have not been sufficiently 

 emphasized. 



The Speedwell System 



After much thought on this subject, in 1902, 

 I developed what is known as the Speedwell 

 System, that represents a sustained effort so 

 to regulate and systematize boarding out as to 

 place its good effects at a maximum and its 

 possible bad effects at a minimum. This has 

 been accomplished by developing what may be 

 called a unit system of intensive boarding out. 

 A unit consists of a neighborhood selected 

 after a survey has been made to learn the 

 general conditions of healthfulness and the 

 number of good homes available in the locality. 

 There is then inaugurated a constant over- 

 sight, especially as to diet and hygiene, on the 

 part of a salaried physician and nurse who are 

 thoroughly familiar with this class of cases and 



