Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/64

 52 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

hour, and two hours. A great deal of attention is paid to the question of dust in the schoolroom. Worms exhibited its regula- tions for the daily cleaning of all class-rooms. Many experiments are being made with dust-proof oil for the floors, which holds the dust and prevents its rising into the air. 2 The choice of school desks and seats has its hygienic bearing in ministering to the com- fort of the child and permitting thorough cleaning of the floor. Seats of various sizes are provided for children of different growth in the same classes. The seats often have foot-boards to keep the teet out of the draft, to allow of a circulation of air and consequent drying of the shoes when damp, and to let the dust from the shoes fall to the floor where it remains undisturbed. The most modern desks can be tipped onto their sides to permit a thorough cleaning of the floor. The recognized effect of bad teeth upon digestion, and consequently upon the general health, has led the authorities in Darmstadt and Strassburg to introduce dental examination and treatment into the schools. It is said by those who have made the examinations that 95 per cent, of the children :n Strassburg have unsound teeth, and that 6,000 out of 6,500 school children in Darmstadt have caries. The examina- tion is free and compulsory. The children's teeth may be treated by the family dentist or at the school. Free treatment is offered to those who cannot afford to pay. The work begins with the entering class of six-year-old children; but, if opportunity be offered, it will be extended gradually to the higher classes. The children are also instructed in the care of the teeth, and in the advantages of such care.

The value of the morning luncheon and of the noon meal is coming to be recognized. Many of the very poor children enter the schoolroom absolutely hungry. The school must be held responsible for the health of the body as well as for the training of the mind. Simple luncheons of soup, or sometimes soup and meat, are provided by the school soup kitchen in Breslau, Mann- heim, Bielefeld and Miinchen in all their new school buildings, Augsburg, and Niirnberg. Shower baths exist in all the newer school buildings in Augsburg, Barmen, Bielefeld, Breslau, Coin,

1 The women teachers object, however, for it ruins their clothes.