Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 16.djvu/545

 forty degrees on either side of the north and south line, as the disposition of the ground may require. An inclination toward the north-northeast is preferable to one toward the north-northwest for general hygienic reasons, for with it the room may receive the sun for the longer time in the forenoon. The teacher should face the south, so that the pupils facing the north may receive the stronger light from behind. In the northern part of the country a window might be allowed at the top of the southern wall, to be covered during sunshine and used during dark weather.

We have still to consider the possibility of the schoolroom being shadowed by neighboring buildings. This must be prevented by acquiring enough ground to keep the buildings away. Even after we have properly proportioned the height of the windows to the size of the room, if there is a neighboring building the height of which is precisely half the distance between its base and the middle of the schoolroom, the worst situated scholars will receive the light from only the upper half of the windows, and not enough of it. We have, then, to establish the rule that a free space must be reserved on either side of the schoolroom, the width of which, measuring from the middle of the room, shall not be less than twice the height of the largest building that is likely to be put up near it. The inconvenience arising from the shade of trees is modified by the absence of leaves in the winter and their welcome presence in summer, and does not call for general rules.—Revue Scientifique.

 

MONG the large and increasing flocks of patients who crowd the outdoor departments of our metropolitan hospitals, there is a class of persons who of late years have rendered themselves conspicuous by demanding medical assistance. These are women who have to gain their livelihood by the exertion of their intellectual faculties, and who follow callings which require the constant exercise of their mental powers. An example of this is the so-called pupil-teacher, whose career we shall endeavor briefly to sketch. A young school-girl of about thirteen years of age is remarked to be unusually intelligent. It is suggested to her parents that she should become a teacher. They consenting, the child is at once placed under training. According to information derived from these pupils, the routine of life for the next six or seven years is as follows: They have—1. To continue their education, by receiving from others several hours of