It is well known to physicians and others who have devoted attention to the subject, that many of the most disabling, painful and destructive maladies owe their origin or intensification to certain injurious influences of school life. Inasmuch as a good system of intellectual training should endeavor to avoid injury to bodily health, it becomes worth while to inquire what these injurious influences are, and whether they can be avoided, mitigated or removed.
Authorities in school hygiene assert that bad construction of school-houses, defective lighting and ventilation, inefficient removal of the bodily excretions or of the pernicious gases generated by their decomposition, improper school furniture and furnishings, such as seats, desks, blackboards, books, etc., deficient facilities for drying wet clothing, want of elementary knowledge of hygiene on the part of the teacher, over-study, carelessness on the part of parents or attending physicians, and many other causes needless to specify, are