6o2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE EELATION OF THE MANUAL AETS TO HEALTH 



By lewis m. terman 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OP EDUCATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA 



THE relation of the manual arts to health may be considered under 

 two aspects : as they affect the immediate well-being of the pupils 

 and teachers concerned, or in their ultimate influence upon the indi- 

 vidual and upon society. Under the former caption belong the hygienic- 

 rules pertaining to the performance of the manual occupations in the- 

 school, these mostly of negative and precautionary nature The latter- 

 relation has to do with the positive contribution which the manual arts 

 are capable of making toward the final attainment of mental and phys- 

 ical health. 



Eegarding the former, there is probably little to be said that would 

 be new to those who know the manual arts practises from within. The- 

 well-trained teachers of this work are aware that the manual arts, inas- 

 much as they frequently involve " near-work " and sedentary posture,, 

 share with other school subjects the" danger of injury to eyes, lungs,, 

 nervous control and symmetry of form. Teachers of the household arts,, 

 for example, appreciate the fact that sewing, in particular, makes de- 

 mands upon the eyes and the spine of hardly less hygienic import than- 

 the much-berated practises of reading and writing. The forward in- 

 clination of the head, however occasioned, produces spinal curvature,, 

 sub-normal vital capacity and myopia. It is hardly necessary to point- 

 out that these dangers are greatly intensified by the use of small models, 

 too fine stitches, dark colored goods, or any materials which, because of 

 a lack of color contrast, make visual discrimination difficult. Professor 

 Schuyten, of Antwerp, investigated the handwork of some four thou- 

 sand schoolgirls of Belgium and found that about one third testified 

 to visual difficulties in connection with their sewing. Austria has found 

 it necessary to limit by law the fineness of materials which may be used 

 in the manual work of children under ten years of age and to adopt- 

 other regulations pertaining to this line of school practise. The Ger- 

 man investigators have endeavored to elaborate norms to govern various 

 matters of manual occupations, including posture, delicacy of muscular 

 coordination, kind and amount of light, length of the period of instruc- 

 tion, and its location in the school day. 



Teachers of sloyd know that the use of the plane may throw the- 

 child into a more unfavorable position than the use of the pen, and! 



