372 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
CONSTRUCTION- OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. 
We once heard a distinguished traveling lecturer on 
education, assert that he could at once know a district 
school-house from any other building, by its being the 
worst-looking house in the neighborhood. Broken win¬ 
dows and broken walls, and a general air of desolation, 
have in many cases been the leading features. If 
children are to be taught the knowledge of order and 
comfort, these are miserable examples to set before 
them. In strong contrast with such pictures, is one 
described by Downing, a building erected for a free- 
school , by a private gentleman in Dutchess county, as 
an example for a district school. 11 It was a building 
simple enough, after all. A projecting roof, with 
slightly ornamented brackets, a pretty porch, neat chim¬ 
ney tops 5 its color a soft, neutral tint; these were its 
leading features. But a single glance at it, told in a 
moment, that the evil spirit had been cast out, and the 
good spirit had taken its place. The utmost neatness 
and cleanliness appeared in every part. Beautiful 
vines and creepers climbed upon the walls, and hung in 
festoons over the windows. Groups of trees and flow¬ 
ering shrubs, were thriving within its enclosure. A 
bit of neat lawn surrounded the building, and was evi¬ 
dently an object of care and respect with the pupils 
themselves.” Such an example before children could 
hardly fail to exert a controling influence, to continue 
through after life. 
The accompanying^engravings are from a work lately 
published on School Architecture, and the Improvement 
of School-Houses in the United 
States; by Henry Barnard, 
Commissioner of Schools in Rhode 
Island. They -were designed by 
Mr. Teft, an architect who ap¬ 
pears to comprehend the art of 
combining convenience with taste¬ 
fulness and beauty, in structures 
of this kind. The buildings here 
represented are erected, one at 
North Providence, the other at 
Westerly, R. I. 
We have not yet met with the 
volume above alluded to, and 
therefore take the following from 
a notice by the editor of the Hor¬ 
ticulturist. After speaking of the 
various plans for all sizes of school- 
houses, “ primary, district, gram¬ 
mar, intermediate, public, or high, 
and normal schools,” it is ob¬ 
served :— 
“But these plans, numerous as 
they are, constitute but a small 
part of the utility of the work. What gratifies us 
quite as much, or even more, is the pains taken by the 
author to point out and suggest remedies for some of 
the crying evils in almost all the common schools at 
present existing,—evils which exert a most injurious 
influence on the health and minds of pupils. 
“ We allude especially to im¬ 
proved modes of ventillation , 
warming , and seating the inmates 
of common school-houses. A want 
of proper attention to the tw r o 
first most important considerations 
is the cause of a great deal of 
bodily discomfort; and we have 
the opinion of some of the most 
skilful physicians of the country, 
for believing that a large number 
of the spinal distortions of late so 
prevalent, owe their origin to the 
cramped and unsuitable seats and 
writing desks, to which the tender 
frames of pupils are confined in 
schools. 
“ To assist in banishing these 
evils, Mr. Barnard has not only 
very lucidly explained the advan¬ 
tages of proper ventillation, but 
he gives diagrams and details, showing how the Boston 
mode of ventillation, (a most excellent one) is easily 
applied to all school-houses, so as effectually to prevent 
the possibility of the accumulation of deleterious or 
impure air. 
“ In speaking of the accommodations in primary 
schools, we find the following, among other valuable 
hints for the teacher’s own use 
1 Little children are made to suffer, and many of 
them permanently, from being forced to sit long in on© 
position, without any occupation for mind or muscles. 
