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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1011 



dents; or there is unfavorable eonunent when 

 some promising young student breaks down 

 in course or shortly after graduation as a 

 result of overwork or bad hygienic habits. 



Many eases even more deserving of unfavor- 

 able criticism in which the student suffers 

 avoidable physical damage and loss of time 

 and money never come to light. These may be 

 due to physical tendencies and handicaps that 

 should have been discovered and warned 

 against on examination, or to sicknesses that 

 could have been avoided by better sanitation 

 and control of living conditions. Four years 

 of life in a college or university should mean 

 for the average boy or girl a distinct gain in 

 physical efficiency and in habits of sane, hy- 

 gienic living instead of the opposite of these 

 things, as is too often the case. 



It is of course true that to-day nearly every 

 institution of college rank is trying to make, 

 or intends to make, some provision for pro- 

 tecting and promoting the health of its stu- 

 dents. There has been a very marked change 

 for the better in this respect during the past 

 few years, and a wider recognition of the prac- 

 tical importance of measures that tend to 

 keep the student in good health. Too often, 

 however, the provision made consists merely 

 of a gymnasium and facilities for competitive 

 athletics, the use of which as well as the time 

 and energy of the teachers are mainly limited 

 to that small percentage of the student body 

 who are candidates for the teams; and in con- 

 nection with which there is no well-considered 

 plan for bringing these and other agencies in 

 the institution into a harmonious relationship 

 for effective work in promoting health and 

 efficiency. 



It is not probable that any system of health 

 supervision, however carefully devised and ad- 

 ministered, can entirely prevent the occurrence 

 of sickness or accident among the students. 

 There can be no question, however, that much 

 more should be done than is being done or 

 even considered, in the majority of colleges 

 and universities in the country, to limit the 

 amount of preventable sickness and to increase 

 the working efficiency of the students; nor can 

 there be any question of the real and perma- 



nent value of such preventive and educational 

 work for both the individual and the commu- 

 nity of which he becomes a part. The formu- 

 lation of an adequate plan for health super- 

 vision must be based upon a consideration of 

 the factors affecting student health in the 

 college community. Such a study will sug- 

 gest the division of these factors into two 

 groups. In the first group will fall those 

 factors that may be classed as " environ- 

 mental," e. g., 



1. General sanitary condition of the neigh- 

 borhood such as drainage, sewage disposal, 

 breeding places for flies and mosquitoes. 



2. Food and water supply in commons and 

 boarding houses. 



3. Sanitary conditions of rooms in dormi- 

 tories and lodging houses as regards baths, 

 toilets, janitor service and general surround- 

 ings. 



4. Provision for advice and treatment in 

 dispensary or infirmary in case of sickness. 



5. Opportunities for exercise and recreation. 

 The second group will include the " indi- 

 vidual factors," such as: 



1. Physical characteristics and tendencies 

 to weakness. 



2. Knowledge and practise of the essentials 

 of personal hygiene. 



3. Habits of exercise and recreation. 



This grouping serves at Princeton Univer- 

 sity as a logical basis for the division of 

 responsibility for the supervision of student 

 health between two closely allied bodies : The 

 sanitary committee and the department of 

 hygiene and physical education. 



The sanitary committee is composed of six 

 men appointed from the board of trustees and 

 the university faculty, one of whom is a mem- 

 ber of the department of hygiene and physical 

 education. It has the responsibility for the 

 administration of those factors which I have 

 called " environmental." It maiatains a close 

 supervision over the administration of the 

 commons and the infirmary; it employs the 

 university physician, and has periodical ia- 

 spections made of those lodging and boarding 

 houses used by students for whom — about 15 

 per cent. — there is at present no provision on 



