greater if each class were arranged to consist of two consecutive grades; for then, without at all disturbing the general order and classification, the teacher might at any time promote deserving pupils from the lower to the higher division of the class." The This gentleman quotes, in further support of his proposition, a letter from the principal of the Vallejo (California) High School, as follows: "For three years past the grammar schools of Vallejo have been arranged with two grades in each room. teachers have all had experience of years with one grade in a room, and now three years' experience with two grades in each room, and all prefer having two grades in each room; not one would willingly change to the one-grade arrangement." The following method of division reported from Decatur, Ind., also finds supporters: "The four grades of the primary department and the first two grades of the grammar department are each divided into two classes. The work of the two classes is the same, the only difference being the thoroughness with which the work is done. Pupils are transferred by the teacher from one class to another at any time on merit. By this means no pupil is held back on account of a dull class, but is permitted to go on as soon as he is ready. While this is no detriment to the indolent, it is of great advantage to the industrious." RECESS OR NO RECESS. The recess question continues to be one concerning which men wise in school affairs disagree. The year has brought forth nothing new or important in the way of argument, for the main points in the discussion had been frequently elaborated in past years. It may be well, however, to add the results of another year's experience to the supply of testimony pro and con, that has accumulated. Mr. A. P. Marble, rejoicing that the schools under his supervision in Worcester, Mass., did not discard the recess plan, says: "We may congratulate ourselves that we were left behind in this instance by the so-called car of 'progress.' The progress is the wrong way." The Mankato, Minn., superintendent does not believe in "no recess," and in the schools of that city the recess time in inclement weather is profitably employed by the teachers in teaching the girls to knit and crochet. The Danvers, Mass., school committee explain that an intermission in the school work at noon is better suited to the habits of the majority of the people of that town, and is for that reason, preferable, even if no other were urged. In New York City there are 2 sessions of 3 hours each, daily. In behalf of "no-recess" is the following from Albany, N. Y.: "The fifth year of the no-recess system has corroborated the evidence of previous years, that, as promotive of healthfulness and moral and intellectual progress, it is a great step in advance over the old-fashioned mid-session recess." The esteem in which the system is held in Muscatine, Iowa, is shown by this utterance from the principal of one of the ward schools: "Another benefit from the no-recess plan is a fuller and more regular attendance in the higher grades. It gives more time for necessary 'chores' at home by shortening the school sessions, and hence more time to attend the regular school sessions." From Attleborough, Mass.: "For a year and a half the schools have followed the norecess plan. Last year and also this I made inquiries of teachers as to its results. The universal testimony is that it is satisfactory to the teachers, and also to the parents, as far as their opinion is known. The only thing approaching complaint in this connection has been concerning excuses to leave the room, and the co-operation of parents with teachers will easily remove this." TRUANCY. In the requirements for an efficient system of schools the importance of regular attendance on the part of the pupils comes next to the necessity of securing competent teachers. There must always be unavoidable reasons which necessitate the occasional absence of a child from school. The occurrence of such reasons is recognized as unfortunate but necessary, and does not, therefore, cause concern. Save in exceptional cases, as during the general prevalence of disease, the proportion of absences from such causes to the total membership is practically uniform in all cities. It is not this proportion, but the number of absences for which there is no legitimate excuse that school managers everywhere exert themselves to reduce. The aversion of some children to the schools, and the indifference of their parents, are supposed to be the most common causes for needless absences. In those States where attendance is required by law the employment of special officers to seek out absentees and bring them into the schools, has become quite common. That plan has usually yielded excellent results in the cities. Such an officer being brought in con tact with children who yield reluctant obedience to the law may be expected to discover facts which would not ordinarily be known to the teachers, and to recommend remedies that would not suggest themselves to those whose acquaintance with truants is limited to the intercourse of the school room. There can be little doubt that the following from the report of the truant officer at Haverhill, Mass., might be said of the majority of cities: "In almost every instance the boys who give me the most trouble are those who have the least care at home, both as regards their moral training and personal appearance. Some of the worst cases I have to contend with are those who are obliged to attend school with clothing so indecent as to make them ashamed to mingle with their well-clad associates. There are some parents who utterly refuse to send their children to school, not being able to clothe them respectably, and there are as many pupils out of school from that cause as from any other." The superintendent at Williamsport, Pa., is inclined to throw much of the blame for truancy upon the parents of the delinquent, and states that they are often "willing to cover the fault of the child by lying to shield him from merited punishment." At Hartford, Conn., the question of absence and excuses had grown to such importance that the board took decisive action upon the subject during the year in the form of a vote "that no excuse be granted by the acting school visitor, excusing any pupil from attendance at the whole or any part of the regular session of any school in this town, or from any of the regular exercises of such school, except upon the certificate of a reputable physician that such excuse is required by the state of such pupil's health.” PUNCTUALITY. Upon this Closely related to the question of school attendance is that of promptness. subject Mr. Henry N. Mertz, superintendent of the Steubenville, Ohio, schools, thus sensibly expresses his views: Now, "As regards tardiness there is a golden mean that the teacher should strive to maintain. The evil effects both on the school and in the formation of the habits of the child are recognized by all, and no reasonable effort should be spared to prevent all unnecessary tardiness; but the fact should be recognized also, that sometimes the child or his parent has to choose between tardiness and absence. There may arise some combination of circumstances which make it impossible for the child to be at school on time. tardiness may be made so odious by the teacher, and absence be so lightly passed over, that both parents and children prefer absence, and the child who might have been in school all the half-day except the first five minutes, stays away and misses the halfday's instruction rather than be numbered with the tardy troop. After considering the effect of the interruption caused by a pupil coming in late, the moral effect upon the school, and the influence in forming the character of the pupil himself, we believe there is still a balance in favor of having the pupil come to school as soon as he can. No teacher should make tardiness so much greater offence than absence that children will prefer the latter." Crawfordsville, Ind., a city of 7,473 inhabitants, with a school enrolment of 1,293 and an average attendance of 995, is the only city in the country that has secured entire immunity from tardiness during the year. The superintendent says: "The publication of the yearly catalogue with its faithful record of the attendance and punctuality of every pupil has had much to do toward putting our schools in the enviable position they occupy with respect to punctuality, as has also the kindness of the local newspapers in publishing our monthly roll of honor." Another city in the same State, Warsaw, reports only 85 cases of tardiness, but 13,252 half-day absences. The superintendent states that, "with the high sentiment against tardies, quite a number, when they find themselves tardy, return home and come in with a quarter or a half day's absence, thus increasing the evil." The plan of rewarding classes perfect in attendance with a partial holiday has been tried in several cities with excellent effect. Mr. M. L. Hawley, of Gloucester, Mass., reports: "This object is effected by our practice of allowing schools to be dismissed an hour earlier on Fridays for perfect class attendance during the week. This privilege, with the generally admirable work of the teachers, has produced excellent results. Our school attendance is now at high-water mark." At Chelsea, Mass., "the plan of dismissing one hour earlier at the close of each month all who have been neither absent nor tardy during said month, has undoubtedly had a salutary influence upon the attendance, and if one half-day were the reward instead, for such constancy, it is believed that the actual gain in scholarship and the formation of good character would more than balance the loss occasioned by the extra half-holiday." The superintendent at Chicopee, Mass., thus bears witness to the efficacy of the plan: "The per cent. of attendance for the year is 93.4, an increase of 2.8 over that of last year, which is largely due to the adoption of the plan of giving a half-holiday each month to pupils, in all grades below the high schools, who are neither absent nor tardy. This plan, although in operation less than a half year, has proved to be a wise one, giving us an increased percentage of attendance for each month, and consequently giving teachers opportunity to do more and better work in teaching; for it must be apparent to any one conversant with school attendance that more can be taught in thirty-nine half days with perfect attendance than in forty half days with broken and irregular attendance, which amounted previously in many cases to an absence of from one-eighth to one-half of the entire number of sessions for the month. I would most earnestly recommend the continuance of this plan." THE EFFECT OF COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATIONS. "Commodious, neat, convenient, well lighted and ventilated class-rooms play an important part in promoting the moral, intellectual, and physical usefulness of a school. The school at Locust Point demonstrates the truth of this statement. When the school, numbering about 100 pupils with 3 teachers, was kept in a dingy, cheerless old chapel, near its present location, it was small, difficult to manage, and although the teachers did everything possible to promote the efficiency of the school, yet the pupils were untidy, unpunctual, hard to discipline, and did not make satisfactory progress. After the school was transferred to the new building in which it is at present accommodated, great improvement was immediately apparent-the number of pupils increased from 100 to 333, and the number of teachers from 3 to 8. The neater appearance, better conduct and attendance, greater progress, and the increased efficiency of the school generally, is admitted by all." [From the report of Mr. Henry A. Wise, superintendent of Baltimore, Md., schools.] EFFECT OF SCHOOL WORK UPON THE EYE-SIGHT. This subject, in the general discussion of school hygiene, has received its share of attention. "In the old school-rooms, and we need not go far back for them, the light was often so insufficient, that much harm undoubtedly resulted to the eyes of the children. But in our newer buildings so much thoughtful attention has been given to this subject, that the evil no longer exists there. Pupils, too, have been allowed to study with too little regard to position, and with the object too near the eye; perhaps with the result of myopia in some cases, but by no means, in my judgment, to the extent often charged. "The oculist is too definite, and too certain in his knowledge. Why should the book or paper always be '15 inches from the eye?' Five feet seven may be the average height of a man, and 8 the right number for his boot; but is he to be considered deformed, or a monstrosity, who is 5 feet 6, or who wears a number 7, or 9? "Of over 80,000 children in our schools I have never seen one voluntarily take that distance, and have eminent professional opinion that such an enforced rule would work more harm than ever our neglect has done. Nothing will lie so unblushingly as figures. "Much attention has been given to this subject, and in many of our schools the result is all that good sense, or good science can demand." [From the report of Mr. George Howland, superintendent of Chicago schools.] The following, from the report of the board of education, describes the results of a recent examination of the eyes of the pupils of two of the leading public schools of Memphis, Tenn.: "The eyes of 681 pupils have been examined. Of these 588 had perfect sight, 60 had imperfect sight from general causes, and 30 had impaired vision from eye strain. It is interesting to trace the gradual increase of this form of impaired sight (near-sightedness) from the primary classes, where it is hardly noticeable, to the highest grade, where it reaches 15 per cent. In this particular my results are similar to those obtained by examiners in this and other countries. But a point which should not be overlooked is this-that my examinations were confined to pupils in two different school buildings, each of which may be taken as a sample of its class. The Market street building has been recently constructed and is well arranged, both as to illumination and ventilation, whereas the antiquated structure on Linden street is sadly deficient in both of these particulars. Now, compare the percentage of near-sighted children in corresponding classes (fourth, fifth, and sixth) in the two buildings, and you will find that while the Market street school has 2.8 per cent., the Linden street school has 5 per cent. These figures commend the new building as strongly as they condemn the old, and no stronger plea can be advanced for new buildings, so constructed as to furnish proper illumination and a plentiful supply of fresh air than is furnished by these figures, which show that nearly double the number of pupils with impaired sight come from a badly constructed building with poor light and bad air." In November, 1886, Dr. H. P. Allen, of Columbus, Ohio, was appointed by the board of education of that city to examine the eyes of the pupils of the public schools. In his report he says: "I examined between December 12, 1886, and June 6, 1887, the eyes of 4,700 pupils of the public schools, as follows: All of the high school classes, 12 in number; all of the grammar schools, 72 in number; all of the primary schools, 24 in number; and 12 of the B, C, and D primary schools, making a total of 120 schools out of the 200 of the city. This included all of the children above 10 years of age, with the exception of about 250, who were scattered through the various lower schools. I visited all of the school buildings and saw most of the school rooms. The examinations were made chiefly to determine the condition of vision of the children, and find, in cases where vision was defective, the correcting glasses. The work was done in the school room during school hours. Each child was examined separately, its name, age, sex, nationality, complexion, color of eyes, condition of sight, and required glass noted at the time. *My records indicate the kind of trouble and the condition of sight with sufficient accuracy for all practical purposes, and enable us to draw certain well-defined deductions. * The points to which I wish especially to call * your attention are as follows: * * * "First. The large number and percentage of pupils among the 4,700 with one or two defective eyes-1,175 cases, or 25 per cent. of all the children examined. * * "Second. Those with two defective eyes-936, or 20 per cent. of all the children examined. * * * "Third. The increase in prevalence of near-sightedness as we go up the scale from 0 per cent. in the D primary schools to 13 per cent. in the senior class of the high school, and 17 per cent. among the females of the senior class from 0 per cent. at the age of 6 years to 11.3 per cent. at the age of 17 years, showing the relation of this trouble to increasing age and increasing demands upon the eyes. "Fourth. The about equal percentage of each of the other defects in the low, intermediate, and high grades, showing their independence of increasing years and increasing demands upon the eyes. Fifth. The diminution in the percentage of good eyes as we ascend the scale, from 80 per cent. in the D primary to 66.6 per cent. in the senior class of the high school." A similar examination was made during the year of the eyes of pupils in the public schools of Kansas City and Nevada, Mo., and of the students of the State normal schools at Warrensburg and Kirksville, Mo., and the State universities of Missouri and Kansas, by Flavel B. Tiffany, M. D., of Kansas City, Mo. The results of this examination differ in at least one material respect from those reported from Memphis and Columbus. The most important facts developed, with other matters of interest mentioned by the examiner, are here shown: "That perfect vision, perfect eye-sight, be enjoyed by our progeny depends largely upon the recognition of any defect, slight though it may be, in early life, timely correction of the same if possible, and care and proper use of the organ while in the school room. That many a boy or girl with some anomaly of refraction or accommodation has been allowed to suffer day after day in order to keep pace with his class, and eventually develop more serious conditions or even blindness, is too evident; whereas if the trouble had been recognized in time and proper steps taken much suffering as well as serious consequences could have been averted. The object of these investigations is to ascertain the condition of the eyes of the youth, the effect of use of the organ for near and small objects, and the final consequences; and finally, if possible, to correct the evils arising before irremediable damage has been done. "In our investigations not only myopia but hypermetropia, astigmatism, spasm of accommodation, and strabismus were looked for. Every eye that was not up to the standard of vision (that of twenty-twentieths) was not dubbed myopic. A careful examination was made with the trial glasses, or optometer, and a more accurate diagnosis made. Our results show a much larger per cent. of hypermetropia and astigmatism and spasm of accommodation than myopia, there being nearly four times as many hypermetropic pupils as myopic. Of the whole number examined, 2,040, in the different grades and schools, 99 or 4.8 per cent. had spasm of accommodation. Now, spasm of accommodation, or simple hypermetropia even, if not corrected by glasses or relieved by rest from near and small objects, is likely to develop into myopia or possibly intraocular disease; hence the importance of these examinations. "In our examinations the increase of anomaly of refraction as we ascend in the grades is not marked. In fact, in some schools it seems to diminish; but this would not be a definite proof one way or the other, since from one examination, as a different set of pupils are examined in each grade and in each school, there is no means of knowing but that those of the higher grades started with the same degree of anomaly in the primary departments as is found in the seventh year of the grammar school or the high school. "As to the lighting and ventilation of our school-rooms very little need be said, as so much attention has been given to this subject by our efficient board that the Kansas City school room is almost perfection in those particulars. In the Washington School, where we find the largest per cent. of defective eyes in the lower grades, I noticed first and second year pupils, for want of room, were crowded into a room calculated for older pupils, and hence the distance between the desk and the seat was too great, as well as that from the seat to the floor, compelling the little pupil to hang, as it were, upon the desk, his feet not touching the floor. This position of necessity brought his face too near his book or slate, and hence taxed the power of accommodation of the eyes to a great degree; and besides, this school from its location, on the north side of the hill, is not so well lighted and ventilated as others. In the Nevada school I found a less degree of anomaly among the same grade of students than in the Kansas City schools. This I attributed to the fact that the school is in a small country town, where the children have more freedom of the field, where they are not crowded so much as our city children are, and perhaps have better ventilated school-rooms. * * * * * * * "There were 2,040 pupils examined, embracing seven different nationalities, besides several of mixed nationality. "Of the 1,422 Americans, 300, or 21.1 per cent., have some anomaly of refraction. "Of the 129 Germans, 32, or 24.8 per cent., are affected; of the 26 French, 5, or 19.2 per cent.; of the 15 Scotch, 3, or 20 per cent.; of the 67 Irish, 20, or 27.8 per cent.; of the 47 English, 8, or 17 per cent.; of the 11 Swedish, 3, or 27.2 per cent.; of the 93 mixed, 22, or 23.6 per cent. "The Irish, Swedish, and Germans have the highest percentage of affections; the English, French, Scotch, and Americans the lowest percentage. Out of the whole number examined, 1,162 were girls and 878 boys; 458 had some ametropia (some anomaly of refraction). Of the 1,162 girls, 290, or 24.9 per cent., were ametropic. Of the 878 boys, 168, or 19.1 per cent., were ametropic, being a larger per cent. of affection among the girls than among the boys. * * * * "Out of the 2,040 pupils, 13, or 0.6 per cent., had strabismus; 94, or 4.6 per cent., were myopic; 202, or 9.9 per cent., were hypermetropic; 42, or 2.06 per cent., were astigmatic; 99, or 4.8 per cent., had spasm of accommodation, and 63, or 3.1 per cent., had latent hypermetropia. "We find that hypermetropia predominates; if we add latent hypermetropia and spasm of accommodation, saying nothing of astigmatism, of which the majority was hypermetropic, we have 364 hypermetropes to 94 myopes, or nearly four times as many hypermetropes as myopes, or over twice as many as all the other affections taken together. In the table, as seen, all the grades from the primary through the grammar school, high school, normal school, and university are represented, but in no instance, excepting the Kansas State University, is there anything like a gradual increase of myopia or any of the anomalies simply or collectively. In nearly all of the schools there seems to be a higher per cent. of affection in the first years; then, a little later in the course, a marked diminution, and then again an increase. Probably many of those having some trouble after remaining in school for a short time drop out, which would account for the diminution, and then, spasm of accommodation and latent hypermetropia becoming manifest later on, or perhaps developing into myopia, would account for the increase in this affection. "School life, however, as stated above, so far as I can gather by these examinations, has little or nothing to do in the development of these anomalies. That they exist, however, in a much greater degree than is generally supposed is very evident, and that |