106 BEPORT— 186J;. 



country in which the sum paid with the pupils is manifestly inadequate to remu- 

 nerate the proprietors of the schools. Avery striking illustration of this occurred a 

 few months ago, where two ladies with their mother received childreu for board and 

 education at a sum which jdelded only about 4Jd. per day per head in the family 

 for all the expenses of rent, taxes, clothing, service, and food required by the 

 family. A public investigation of this case was made, and the following was 

 given in evidence on the dietaiy in the school in question :— 



" For breakfa-st milk thickened with flour and water, and a round of bread ; and 

 when they had not this, there was nettle- or onion-broth made -with oatmeal and 

 water. For dinner on Sunday there was meat and plenty of regetables and 

 pudding: on Monday pudding alone; on Tuesday cold meat and vegetables; on 

 Wednesday boiled rice and treacle, or treacle-pudding ; on Thursday meat ; on 

 Friday rice-pudding ; and on Satiu-day perhaps boiled bacon, or pig"s face with boiled 

 peas. There was also broth made fi-om sheep's pluck. For tea, a cup of tea and a 

 round of bread and lard, or more if they wanted it." 



This may perhaps be regarded as an extreme case ; and whilst not insisting too 

 much upon it, we may fear lest it should represent more or less con-ectly the state 

 of all the cheap schools throughout the coimtry. 



But to take a higher class of scholastic institution. I know an institution 

 receiving perhaps loO boys, of ages varying from teu to sixteen, and having all the 

 staif of a college, in which the following is the daily outline : — 



They rise at 6 a.m., and engage in studies until 8 a.m. without receiving any food. 

 At breakfast they have a mug of cold milk and half a roimd of bread placed before 

 them, and, after a time, the bread-basket, containing quarters of slices, is passed 

 round, from which tlie pupils may take a piece. After the morning's studies, the 

 dinner consists of ny:>at, of wliich a quantity is given which the boys whom I know 

 state is much less than they receive when at home, and to which none is usually 

 added. The quantity of potato is very small gener.ally, and bread is not given. 

 Pudding is sometimes adaed, and sometimes bread and cheese supplies its place. 

 Only one other meal is allowed in the day, and that is similar to the breakfast. 

 Thus there are only three meals a day allowed, two of which are cold; and the meat 

 is practically much limited in quantity. There are moreover more than two hours in 

 the morning during which no food is supplied, and during part of which the brain 

 must be at work : and there are fourteen hours between the meagre supper and the 

 following breakfast. Such a dietaiy must be an insufficient one in the total quan- 

 tity of nutriment, and particularly in the fat which is supplied ; and it cannot be a 

 matter of surprise that the boys which I saw were very spare, and ver^' tame and 

 quiet, both in body and mind. 



There is one source of importance which in this matter is common to all these 

 institutions and to workhouses, viz. that they have charge of children and youths 

 during the period of growth — a period which once passed over never recurs, and 

 each year of which has its own special duties, of which, if any remain imperformed 

 in one year, most rarely can the defect be compensated for in the following years. 

 Hence, if there be deficient food at this period, the body either falls rapidly into 

 disease, which terminates fatally before an adult age is attained, or both body and 

 mind gTOw up -w-ithout that force and ^agour which is characteristic of health, 

 and in which the futiu-e man is less fitted than otliers for the duties of life. An 

 emaciated fiame will probably be associated with a feeble and didl mind, and the 

 sufterer will rarely attain a position among others in life beyond that of low 

 mediocrity. 



■ At the period in question, whether we regard the boy physically or mentally, it 

 is of highest consequence that he be supplied with an abtmdant and well-arranged 

 dietary, and in nearly all cases the prime elements of diet should be given without 

 stint. The appetite is not, however, always a sufficient guide : for a boy having been 

 accustomed to take only a small quantity of food, the desire for a larger quantity is 

 either lost or was never obtained, and in such cases with plenty within his reach he 

 will remain underfed. Encouragement to eat is as important in many boys at 

 school as encoiu'agement to study. 



I am convinced that even yet the fuU importance of dietary during the period of 

 growth is most imperfectly tmderstood, and hence I have thought it right to bring 



