their time for a long idle period. They grow weary of the activities which are repeated over and over again in urban communities. They would be much happier if they were in school two or three hours during the summer months, engaged in concrete work such as the vacation schools undertake.

We ought not to bring this chapter to a close without referring, at least, to the effect upon conPhysical defects and irritants as causes of dullness and disorder

duct and intellectual work of abnormal physical conditions.

Whatever else has resulted

from the modern study of children, there has at least been an awakening on the part of parents and teachers to the fact that mental defects and deficiencies often go back to remediable physical causes. Within the last decade, so many cases of intellectual and emotional perversion in the young have been shown to be due to imperfect vision and hearing, that some people are coming to think that all stupidity and viciousness are caused by malfunction of eyes and ears; and it is not necessary now probably to urge upon teachers the importance of examinations to detect defects in sight and hearing.

Hitherto few persons would have said that there was any relation between mental activity and the condition of the teeth, but we are likely to see a change of opinion in this respect. Recently some results

were gained from an examination of the school children of Andover, Massachusetts, which indicated that defective teeth had a very serious effect upon the mental processes of children; and these results are being corroborated by extensive examinations in foreign countries. In a recent issue of the Pedagogical Seminary, Superintendent Johnson, of Andover, presents us with this picture of the average school child of his city: "He has twenty-four teeth; eight of them are diseased; sixteen of them are discolored with unsightly accumulations of food deposits, or else he has some noticeable malformation, interfering with breathing or mastication or disfiguring his appearance; three of the four first permanent molars are seriously affected, or else one is already lost and decayed. He has either never put a tooth-brush to his teeth, and has had toothache more or less during the past year, or he is suffering excruciating pains, and has never been inside of a dentist's office. Furthermore, the chances, as will be shown later, are that he has suffered with malnutrition, that he is shorter and lighter than he should be, and that his school work has been impaired. And, what is sadder, his condition is growing continually worse."

But, serious as defective teeth may be in their influence upon the child's work, it is nevertheless

probable that attention needs to be directed now especially to the baneful influence of imperfect respiration upon the conduct and intellectual activity of children. In a general way, people doubtless appreciate the intimate relations existing between good breathing, and health of body and mind; but, after all, the majority of us who have to do with the young seem quite indifferent to this matter, mainly because conditions which interfere with proper respiration are not readily detected by the untrained eye. Occasionally a parent who sees that his child breathes through his mouth much of the time suspects that there must be some interference with respiration; but if he keeps his mouth closed, the parent passes him up as all right, and the teacher does the same, even though he may be dull and disorderly in the school, and without apparent cause. However, there are cases of defective respiration that are not manifested by mouth breathing, but they may act as a blight upon the child's life. Probably the most serious consequences of defective respiration occur during sleep, when the nervous system is partly relaxed, and ought to be completely so. It is well known that enlarged tonsils and adenoid tissue sometimes fill up the respiratory passages during sleep, but may be kept fairly well out of way during the day by reflex nervous control.

The writer has followed very carefully two children who were for a time the victims of defective respiration. Both had much trouble with breathing during sleep, and were usually quite restless, so that they rarely secured perfect rest at night. As a consequence, they were both in a fatigued and irritable condition most of the time. With one child the disastrous effect of this condition was manifested in general lethargy, a growing indifference to everything around, and a lessening of keenness and endurance in all intellectual operations. With the other child the over-tense condition of the nervous system resulted in lack of self-control. He was

unmanageable much of the time, flew into a passion on the slightest provocation, and was often in tears over slight annoyances. Nobody seemed to know what was the trouble with him. Parents and teachers alike tried to arouse the first child, through dermal stimulations as well as exhortation, but to no avail. The second child became a great problem because of his hostility a good part of the time to everybody and everything, and his peevish, petulant disposition. In both cases much attention was given to food and healthful habits of life, but no one thought to notice their breathing at night. Some comment was made upon their restlessness in their sleep, and this was thought to be due to their

nervousness, and not to their inability to breathe easily.

Upon examination finally, serious barriers to good respiration were discovered. An operation was performed upon both the children, enlarged tonsils being removed in one case, and adenoid tissue in the other. Immediately there was improvement. The lethargic, indifferent child came slowly but surely back to her original attitude of sprightliness and vivacity. Every day one could see her gaining in alertness, and now she is as responsive to the world as one could wish, and making excellent progress in all her school work. The second child has acquired much self-control, though his difficulty has not been relieved so completely as could be desired. But there can be no question whatever that the cause of the shortcoming in both children was improper oxygenation of the blood, and restlessness, during sleep. Of course, the organism suffers severely when it is difficult to obtain a sufficient supply of oxygen, but this is after all not so important as the nervous effect of inability to breathe.

The importance of this matter demands that investigations should be made in all public schools to determine if there are any obstructions in the respiratory passages of pupils. It needs no argument to show that if left to the initiative of parents, not