Last year, a gentleman in Hartford, Conn., offered a handsome premium for the best form of a desk for schools. Several plans were submitted to the judges, selected to award the premium. They decided in favor of a desk, designed to accommodate two scholars, upon one seat. The desk was a tight box, without any lid, but having an oblong opening, at each end, large enough to admit books, slates, &c. In this way, whatever was put in or taken out of the desk would be exposed to the view of the teacher and scholars.

The edge of the desk and of the seat should be in the same perpendicular line. This will not allow the scholar to stand up in front of his seat; but if the seats and desks are single, he can stand on one side of the seat. If the seats and desks are de

signed for two scholars, then the corner of each scholar's seat may be cut off.

In regard to the height of the seats, it is common to give exact measurements. But inflexible rules will never fit varying circumstances. Some school rooms are for females; others for boys only. In factory villages, usually, a great proportion of the scholars are young; while, in one county in the State, great numbers of the males attending school, during the winter term, are more than sixteen years of age. To follow unvarying rules, therefore, would aggrieve as many as it would accommodate. But the principles to be observed are few, and capable of a definite exposition. A live child cannot be expected to sit still, unless he has a support to his back, and a firm restingplace for his feet. As a scholar sits upright in his seat, the knee joint forming a right angle, and the feet being planted horizontally on the floor, no pressure whatever should come upon the thigh bone where it crosses the edge of the seat. If obliged to sit upon too high a seat, a foot-board or block should always be provided for the feet to rest upon. Children sometimes go to school at an age when many of their bones are almost as limber as a green withe, when almost any one of the numerous joints in the body may be loosened or distorted. They go almost as early, as when the Chinese turn their children's feet into the shape of horses' hoofs; or when some tribes of Indians make their children's heads as square as a joiner's box. And, at this period of life, when portions of the bones are but little more than cartilage, and the muscles will stretch like sheep's leather, the question is, whether the seats shall be conformed to the children, or the children shall be deformed to the seats. I wish to fortify myself on this subject, by making a few extracts from a lecture on Physical Education, by that celebrated surgeon, Dr. John C. Warren. "When children are sent to school, care should be taken, that they are not confined too long. Children under fourteen should not be kept in school more than six or seven hours in a day; and this period should be shortened for females. It is expedient, that it should be broken into many parts, so as to avoid a long confinement at one time. Young persons, however well disposed, cannot support a restriction to one place and one posture. Nature lesists such restrictions; and if enforced, they are apt to created disgust with the means and the object. Thus children learn to hate studies, that might be rendered agreeable, and they take an aversion to instructors, who would otherwise be interesting to them. "The postures they assume, while seated at their studies, are not indifferent. They should be frequently warned against the practice of maintaining the head and neck long in a stooping position, and the disposition to it should be lessened by giving a proper elevation and slope to the desk, and the seat should have a support or back. "The influence of an upright form and open breast has been sufficiently explain ed; and what may be done to acquire these qualities, is shown by many remarkable facts, one of which I will mention. For a great number of years, it has been the custom in France to give to young females of the earliest age, the habit of holding back the shoulders, and thus expanding the chest. From the observation of anatomists, lately made, it appears that the clavicle or collar bone is actually longer in females of the French nation, than in those of the English. The French have succeeded in the development of a part, in a way that adds to health and beauty, and increases a characteristic, that distinguishes the human being from the brute.

"While all of us are desirous of possessing the excellent qualities of strength, hardiness, and beauty, how defective are our own systems of education in the means of acquiring them?

"In the course of my observations, I have been able to satisfy myself, that about half the young females, brought up as they are at present, undergo some visible and obvious change of structure; that a considerable number are the subjects of great and permanent deviations; and that not a few entirely lose their health from the manner in which they are reared.

"I feel warranted in the assertion, that, of the well-educated females, within my sphere of experience, about one-half are affected with some degree of distortion of spine.

"The lateral distortion of the spine is almost wholly confined to females, and is scarcely ever found existing in the other sex. The difference results from a difference of habits during the school education. The immediate cause of the lateral curve of the spine to the right, is the elevation and action of the right arm in drawing and writing."

Much more might be quoted, apposite to this important subject. It seems only necessary to add, that nothing so essentially tends to aggravate these evils, as the want of a proper resting-place for the feet. Let any man try the experiment, and see how long he can sit in an upright posture, on a narrow bench or seat, without being able to reach the floor with his feet, and consequently with the whole weight of his feet, boots, and the lower parts of the limbs, acting with the power of a lever across the middle of the thigh bones. Yet, to this position, hundreds of children in this State, are regularly confined, month after month; and while condemned to this unnatural posture, Nature inflicts her punishments of insupportable uneasiness and distress on every joint and muscle, if they do sit still, and the teacher inflicts his punishments, if they do not. A gentleman, extensively known to the citizens of this State, for the benevolence of his character, and the candor of his statements, who, for the last twenty years, has probably visited more of our common schools, than any other person in the State, writes to me as follows: "I have no hesitation in repeating what I have often publicly declared, that, from the bad construction of our sehoolhouses, there is more physical suffering endured by our children in them, than by prisoners in our jails and prisons."* The following is an extract of a letter, addressed to a Common School Convention,' held at Northampton, in February, 1837, by Dr. Joseph H. Flint, of that place: "For want of attention to the subject," (the construction of schoolhouses,) "I have the means of knowing, that there has been annually loss of life, destruction of health, and in numberless instances, anatomical deformities, that render life hardly worth having. In the construction of schoolhouses, there are many considerations, involving the comfort, and health, and life, of the young," &s.

I am informed by surgeons and physicians, that a pupil, when writing, should face the writing-desk squarely. This position avoids all unequal lateral pressure upon the spinal column, and of course all unequal tension of the muscles on either side of it. It also interferes least with the free play of the thoracic viscera, which is a point of great importance. The edge of the desk should then be an inch or two above the bend of the elbow, as the arm hangs nearly by the side. Any slight want of exact adjustment can be corrected, by extending the elbow further from, or bringing it nearer to the body.

The height of the seats and desks should of course be graduated, to fit the different sizes of the scholars; the smallest scholars sitting nearest the teacher's desk.

The arrangement of seats without desks, tor small scholars, when needed, is too obvious to require any explanation. Their proper position will depend upon the other arrangements of the school-room. Long benches, having separate chair-shaped seats, but with a continuous back, are sometimes used.

The place for hanging hats, bonnets, and so forth, will also depend upon the general construction of the house. It should be such as to encourage habits of neatness and order.

The instructor's desk should be upon a platform, raised so high as to give him a view of the persons of the pupils above their desks. When the school is not large, it should be at the end of the room. It should overlook the play-ground. Cases for the deposit and preservation of the apparatus and library, should be near the desk, except where a separate apartment is provided. A teacher without apparatus,-however numerous may be his books,-is like a mechanic with but half a set of tools.

The average number of scholars in the schools in Massachusetts, is about fifty. When the school is large, there should be a separation of the older from the younger children, and the latter, at least, placed under the care of a female teacher. The opinion is almost universal, in this State, that female teaching for young children is in every respect superior to male. If the number of the older scholars be large, there should be a separate recitation room, and a door and an entry for the entrance and accommodation of each sex.

In very large schools, it may be thought expedient to have desks, sufficiently long to accommodate six or more scholars, with chairs, fastened to the floor, for seats, and a space between the chairs and the next tier of desks, for passing in and out. In such cases, the desks may be placed longitudinally, and the teacher's platform for himself and assistants, extend the whole length of the room, in front of them.

*The Rev. Gardiner B. Perry, of Bradford.

I now come to a subject, which I think of primary importance. It is the almost universal practice of teachers to call their classes out upon the floor for reading and recitation. If there were no other reason, the change of position it gives them, is a sufficient one. The seats in school-rooms, are, almost without exception, so arranged, that these proceedings take place in full view of all the scholars; and they are often so, that when the teacher turns his face towards the class, he must turn his back upon the school. The idle and disorderly seize upon such occasions to violate the rules of the school. This, they can generally do, with perfect impunity. They can screen themselves from observation, by moving the head so that an intermediate scholar shall intercept the teacher's view; or by holding up a book, slate, or atlas before themselves, and under such shield can whisper, eat, or grimace. But the effect upon the attentive is worse, than upon the idle; and its tendency is to turn the former into the latter. The eye is the quickest of all the senses, and the minds of children always yield instant obedience to it, and follow wherever it leads. Every one must have observed, that when a class is reciting in presence of a school, if anything unusual or incongruous transpires, such as the falling of a book or slate, or the ludicrous pronunciation of a word, the attention of every scholar is broken off from his study. The blunder or stammering of a four years' old child, learning letters, will strike every hand in the school off its woak. While the senses, and especially the eye, are bringing vivid images to the mind, it is almost impossible for men, and quite so for children, to deny them access. Much of what the world admires as talent, is only a power of fixing attention upon an object, and of looking steadily at it until the whole of it is seen. The power of concentration is one of the most valuable of intellectual attainments, because it is the principal means of achieving any other; and the pupil, with but little positive knowledge, in whom this has become a habit of mind, has a far higher chance of success in any walk of life, than one with a thousand times the knowledge, but without the habit. This power is an acquired one as much as any other; and as susceptible as any other of improvement. But overtasking destroys it, just as overloading the limbs crushes, instead of strengthening them. Reference must be had, therefore, to the ordinary powers of children's minds, or we shall have distraction instead of abstraction. Much fixedness of thought, ought not to be expected from the giddiness and volatility of children. In rooms of the common construction, I do not believe that more than one-half of the time is available for study. Not only, therefore, ought the desire of strengthening this power to be inspired, but the arrangement of the room and the tactics of the school should be made to contribute, unconsciously to the children, to the same effect. Although the habits of the mind are the main thing to be regarded in education, yet it cannot be denied that one hour of concentrated attention on any subject is worth more than a week's listless hovering and floating around it. Hence, where there is no separate recitation-room, (which, however, every large school ought to have,) the area for that purpose, should be behind the scholars who remain in their seats. The teacher can then take such a position at the end of the room, opposite his desk, as to command at once, a view of the reciting class and the rest of the school. He will then see, without being seen. The scholars can interpose nothing between themselves and him. Every scholar would be convinced, by strict vigilance on the part of the teacher, during the first week of the school, that he had no power of violating rules without detection. They would, therefore, yield to the necessity of the The temptation would die with the opportunity to gratify it. The ear only of the scholars would be solicited to notice the voices behind them, while the stronger attraction of visible objects, the book, the slate, the map, would rivet eye and mind upon the subjects of study. This slight interruption in the rear, while the mind enjoyed such advantages for overcoming it, would increase its power of continuous attention, and enable it, in after life, to carry on processes of thought in the midst of conversation or other disturbing occurrences. Still, it is thought, that the teacher's desk should always face those of the scholars; so that when a class recites in the seats, when the whole school joins in any exercise, or when they are to be addressed, each party should be able to see the other face to face. The social principle will never, otherwise, flow freely.

case.

LOCATION OF SCHOOLHOUSES.

All philosophers agree that external objects affect temper and character. If their influences are imperceptible, the results will be so much the surer, because imperceptible influences are never resisted. Because children cannot analyze and state in propositions the feelings, which outward circumstances breathe into their susceptible minds, it is no proof, that they are not undergoing insensible changes. Every body recognizes the silent influences of external nature, if exerted only for a few days, in

the case of those religious sects, who use the forest for a temple. Fatal contagions enter through the skin or lungs, without sending forward any herald. Subtile influences upon such delicate tissues as the nerves and brain are not seen in the process, but only in the result. But experience and reason enable us to foresee such consequences, and, foreseeing, to control them. Adults alone can perform such a duty. If they neglect it, the children must suffer.

It has been often objected to the people of our State, that they insist upon having the schoolhouse in the geographical centre of the district. And, other things being equal, surely it ought to be in the centre. But the house is erected for the children, and not for the acres; and the inconvenience of going fifty or even eighty rods further is not to be compared with the benefit of spending a whole day in a healthful, comfortable, pleasing spot,-one full of salutary influences upon the feelings and temper. Place a schoolhouse in a bleak and unsheltered situation, and the difficulty of attaining and preserving a proper degree of warmth is much increased; put it upon a sandy plain, without shade or shelter from the sun, and the whole school is subjected to the evils of heat and dust; plant it in low marshy grounds, and it exposes to colds or to more permanent diseases of the lungs, and impairs habits of cleanliness both in dress and person; make one side of it the boundary of a public road, and the persons of the children are endangered by the travel, when out, and their attention, when in, called off the lesson by every passer by; place it on a little remnant or delta of land, where roads encircle it on all sides, without any place of seclusion from the public gaze, and the modesty of nature will be overlaid with habits of indecorum; and a want of decency, enforced upon boys and girls, will become physical and moral turpitude in men and women. But build it, where some sheltering hill or wood mitigates the inclemency of winter; where a neighboring grove tempers the summer heat, furnishing cool and shady walks; remove it a little from the public highway, and from buildings where noisy and clattering trades are carried on; and, above all, rescue it from sound or sight of all resorts for license and dissipation, and a sensibility to beauty, a purity of mind, a sentiment of decency and propriety will be developed and fostered, and the chances of elevated feelings and correct conduct in afterlife, will be increased manifold. Habits of mental order and propriety are best cherished amidst external order and propriety. It is a most beautiful trait in the character of children, that they take the keenest delight in the simplest pleasures. Their desires do not tax commerce for its luxuries, nor exhaust wealth for its embellishments. Such pleasures as are imparted by the cheerful light and the quickening air, by the wayside flowers, the running stream, or the music of birds, are sufficient for the more gentle and pensive; and the impetuous and exuberant of spirit only want a place to let off the redundant activity of their arms and legs. And how cheaply can these, sources of gratification be purchased! Sometimes a litle of the spirit of compromise; sometimes a little for. getfulness of strifes among the parents, engendered on other subjects, would secure to the children the double boon of utility and enjoyment. Yet how often are the unoffending children ground between the collisions of their parents!

It seems not unconnected with this subject to inquire, whether, in many places out of our cities, a plan may not be adopted to give greater efficiency to the means, now devoted to common-school education. The population of many towns is so situated as conveniently to allow a gradation of the schools. For children under the age of eight or ten years, about a mile seems a proper limit, beyond which they should not be required to travel to school. On this supposition, one house, as centrally situated as circumstances will permit, would accommodate the population upon a territory of four square miles, or, which is the same thing, two miles square. But a child above that age can go two miles to school, or even rather more, without serious inconvenience. There are many persons, whose experience attests, that they never enjoyed better health, or made greater progress, than when they went two miles and a half or three miles, daily, to school. Supposing, however, the most remote scholars to live only at about the distance of two miles from the school, one house will then accommodate all the older children upon a territory of about sixteen square miles, or four miles square. Under such an arrangement, while there were four schools in a territory of four miles square, i. e. sixteen square miles, for the younger children, there would be one central school for the older. Suppose there is $600 to be divided amongst the inhabitants of this territory of sixteen square miles, or $150 for each of the four districts. Suppose further, that the average wages for male teachers is $25, and for female $12.50, per month. If, according to the present system, four male teachers are employed for the winter term, and four female for the summer, each of the summer and winter schools may be kept four months. The money would then be exhausted; i. e. four months summer, at $12.50 $50, and four months winter, at $25-$100;-both $150. But according to the plan suggested, the same money would pay for six months, summer

school, instead of four, in each of the four districts, and for a male teacher's school eight months, at $35 a month, instead of four months, at $25 a month, and would then leave $20 in the treasury.

By this plan, the great superiority of female over male training, for child ren under eight, ten, or twelve years of age, would be secured; the larger scholars would be separated from the smaller, and thus the great diversity of studies and of classes in the same school, which now crumbles the teacher's time into dust, would be avoided; the female schools would be lengthened one half; the length of the male schools would be doubled, and for the increased compensation, a teacher of fourfold qualifications could be employed. Undoubtedly, in many towns, upon the Cape or among the mountains, the course of the roads and the face of the territory would present insuperable obstacles to the full reduction of this scheme to practice. But it is as unquestionable, that in many others no physical impediments exist to its immediate adoption; especially, if we consider the legal power of different towns to unite portions of their territory for the joint maintenance of schools. We have not yet brought the power of united action to bear with half its force upon the end or the means of education, I think it will yet be found more emphatically true in this department of human action, than in any other, that adding individual means multiplies social power. If four districts cannot be united, three may. If the central point of the territory happen to be populous, a schoolhouse may be built, consisting of two rooms; one for the large, the other for the small scholars; both upon the same floor, or one above the other. It ought to be remarked, that where there are two schoolrooms under the same roof, care should be taken to have the walls well deafened, so that neither should ever be incommoded by any noises in the other.

The above enumeration of requisites in a schoolhouse is considered absolutely essential and indispensable. Just so far as they are disregarded, that nursery for the rearing of vigorous, intelligent, and upright men, must fail of its object. If the children's lungs are fed only with noxious and corrupted air, which has once performed its office, and is, therefore, incapable of performing it again, without renovation, it may generate positive and incurable disease, and impair the energies both of body and mind for the residue of life. "In looking back upon the languor of fifty years of labor as a teacher," said the venerable Mr. Woodbridge, "reiterated with many a weary day, I attribute a great proportion of it to mephitic air; nor can I doubt that it has compelled many worthy and promising teachers to quit the employment. Neither can I doubt that it has been the great cause of their subsequent sickly habits and untimely decease." People, who shudder at a flesh-wound and a trickle of blood, will confine their children like convicts, and compel them, month after month, to breathe quantities of poison. It would less impair the mental and physical constitutions of our children, gradually to draw an ounce of blood from their veins, during the same length of time, than to send them to breathe, for six hours in a day, the lifeless and poisoned air of some of our schoolrooms. Let any man, who votes for confining children in small rooms and keeping them on stagnant air, try the experiment of breathing his own breath only four times over; and, if medical aid be not at hand, the children will never be endangered by his vote afterwards. Such darkening and benumbing of the mind accustoms it, in its first beginnings, to look at objects, as it were, through a haze, and to seize them