the public water supply, I gets water from a pond, 5 do not state the source, and 29 have no supply whatever.

In connection with these same houses, the reports say that the condition of the privies belonging to 54 is "good," 30 are classed as "fair," 2 condition not stated, 70 "bad," and 13 have none.

VACCINATION.

Notwithstanding the law prohibits unvaccinated children attending public school, the teachers of 980 schools report that no attention is paid to the law.* There must, therefore, be many thousand unvaccinated pupils daily attending our schools. This, like the neglect of many laws, is due probably to the indifference of school officers in enforcing the laws, and not from any serious opposition to it. During the recent epidemic of small-pox in Montreal vaccination was ordered among the children in many of our schools and successfully carried out. The public believe in the efficacy of vaccination, and in order that the number of persons susceptible to small-pox may be kept at the minimum, the law should be enforced.

DOORS.

In 1875 the Legislature passed a law requiring schoolhouse doors to be swung outward.† Notwithstanding this, 110 schoolhouses out of 140 that have been constructed since 1875 have doors swinging inward, in direct violation of the law. The object of this law was to provide means of escape in case of a panic from fire or other cause.

NEAR-SIGHTED PUPILS.

Six hundred near-sighted pupils are reported. A large majority of the cases of near-sightedness are contracted in the school

*"No child, unless he has been duly vaccinated or has had the small-pox, is entitled to attend any public school; and the prudential committees of the several districts, and those who exercise the powers of such committees, shall not allow any such child to be admitted to or connected with any such school." General Laws, chap. 91.

↑ "The outer doors, and doors of all passages leading outwards, of all churches, schoolhouses, public halls, and buildings to be used for public purposes, except depots, hereafter constructed, shall open outwards." — General Laws, chap. 106.

room.

fact.

Statistics gathered in this and other countries prove this Prof. Cohn in the examination of 10,060 school children in Germany found the percentages of near-sighted pupils as follows: In suburban schools where the light was better than in town schools, 1.4; in city schools, elementary, 6.7; in upper girls' schools, 7.7; in middle schools, 10.3; in the high schools,

19.7.

These figures show that the condition is acquired and increases with the advancing period of school life. The most prolific cause of near-sightedness among school children is undoubtedly from the amount of light and the manner in which it is admitted to the rooms. There are other factors, however, like glossy blackboards, too small type, the position in which the book is held, etc., etc., which contribute to the same result.

The defects which exist in our schoolhouses, as shown by the sanitary survey, may be summarized as follows:

1. There are too many seats in a majority of the school

rooms.

2. Too small an amount of air-space per pupil.

3. Lack of ventilation.

4. Insufficient amount of light.

5. Improper location of windows.

6. Deficiency in blinds, curtains, and shades.

7. Water supply entirely wanting.

8. Water supply of questionable purity.

9. Privies or water-closets not provided for the schools.

10. Privies or water-closets not separate for the sexes.

II. Privies or water-closets so neglected as to be dangerous to

the health of the pupils.

12. Privies or water-closets so located as to constitute a nuisance.

13. Other nuisances in vicinity of schoolhouse.

14. Cellars in an unsanitary condition.

15. Buildings situated on low and undrained sites.

16. Doors hung to swing inward, in violation of the law. In addition to the above, other conditions detrimental to the health and comfort of the pupil are shown in the survey. Some teachers condemn in strong terms the construction of the

desks, and the manner of heating the rooms. Most of the rooms are heated by stoves; some are overheated, while others are insufficiently heated.

The object of this paper is to call attention to the more important defects which exist in our schoolrooms, in as brief a manner as possible. These facts having been presented, it is the duty of some authority to take such action as will not only remedy the defects, but provide for the construction of schoolhouses in the future upon hygienic principles. It is a matter of great importance, and the Legislature of New Hampshire should thoroughly consider the subject and enact such laws as will secure more healthful conditions in our schoolThere are two ways in which this may be brought about First, by providing that before any schoolhouse is constructed, a plan of the proposed building shall be submitted to and approved by some competent department, board, or commission, or that said department, board, or commission, shall furnish a suitable plan for the given district free of expense, upon application; second, the Legislature might authorize the compilation of a manual of schoolhouse architecture and hygiene, a copy to be furnished to each board of education in the State.

rooms.

The first proposition would make it obligatory upon school authorities to construct all schoolhouses upon hygienic principles; the second would simply instruct boards of education or building committees, in the most approved systems of schoolhouse architecture, but would not insure the following of its teachings. A combination of the two plans would undoubtedly secure the best immediate results, besides doing much to educate those having charge of our schools in the construction and sanitation of schoolhouses. The subject should receive the careful consideration of every one interested in our public school system.

SANITARY CONVENTION.*

PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS.

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

BY HON. JAMES A. WESTON.

Ladies and Gentlemen,- For the first time in the history of the State a meeting has been called for the sole purpose of discussing questions inseparably connected with the physical welfare of the people. A convention of this kind may almost be said to mark an era in the annals of our progress. A generation ago the simplest principles of sanitation were scarcely known among the people, and the prevention of disease was hardly recognized by the medical profession, much less taught in our public schools or fostered by legislation, except in the instance of small-pox, cholera, and yellow fever. Marvelous progress has been made in a very short time, and the results have saved to humanity and the country thousands of valuable lives, and vastly lessened human suffering. Seventeen years ago the first State Board of Health was organized in this country, and to-day over thirty States have such Boards, earnestly and ably supported by their respective commonwealths, besides hundreds of efficient local health organizations. Sanitary science is being taught in the colleges, physiology and hygiene in our common schools, and even sanitary journals are now being supported to an extent that renders their publication profitable. Education, observation, and investigations have nearly dispelled the huge incubus of superstition that for centuries

* Held at Manchester, January 25, 1887, under the auspices of the State Board of Health.

rested upon the bosom of mankind, teaching the doctrine of divine malediction and supernatural agencies as the cause of disease, and left instead the now recognized truth that all disease proceeds from natural causes. The cause of typhoid fever is now looked for in infected water or some other suitable media; diphtheria in a neglected vault, cesspool, sewer, sink-drain, or like dangerous environment. Other diseases come from causes suited to their development or propagation.

These general principles have been recognized and demonstrated, and we have met here to-day to discuss some of them, and thereby to enlighten, as far as may be, the public mind by pointing out some of the avoidable causes of disease. The work already done by our State Board of Health has been felt for good in all sections of the State, and this convention is one of the fruits of its efforts. The great object to be attained is the diffusion of sanitary knowledge as extensively as possible among the people, for by education the greatest reforms are secured.

Sanitary work should be fostered by the people because it throws a safeguard around our homes. No community can prosper without a certain degree of healthfulness, and its prosperity is enhanced in proportion as its death-rate is reduced. A family with one or more of its members continually sick cannot reach that degree of prosperity and happiness that obtains where health and vigor abound. The family is the unit of the community, and an unhealthy community is like a sick family. Not only has the death-rate of many places been reduced in a very marked degree by sanitary work, but there has been a corresponding reduction in the amount of sickness and its attendant suffering, anxiety, loss of time, and expense.

Deaths from typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera infantum, and a score of other diseases, might with propriety be classed as fatal accidents, the most of which might be prevented even with our present knowledge of causes. Sanitarians assert

this, and intelligent physicians corroborate it. It becomes, then, not only a religious duty to enlighten the people upon these subjects, but a still holier one that the head of every household should zealously protect the home against the insidious diseases that come through the avenues of sanitary neglect.