Dancing.Dancing is also a capital form of exercise, provided it is not pursued, as is sometimes the case, to the point of physical exhaustion. The art of fencing is also well worth acquiring. Also bicycle evolutions to music, and even roller skating.

Hours that may reasonably be spent in intellectual work.Having stated that three hours is enough for intellectual work for most girls up to the age of eleven or twelve, four hours up to fourteen, five up to sixteen, and that six is the utmost a girl of any age ought to attempt; having also said that an hour and a half in the day is enough for the organised games, it remains to fill up the rest of the day, which, excluding sleep and meals, and the necessary time spent in dressing, usually amounts to from two to three hours. The time-table of every girl in the school may be different; I append, as examples, the actual time-tables of twenty girls for a week, the total of forty-four hours being made up of five days of eight hours and one day of four hours.

SAMPLE TIME-TABLES.

Form.N
a
m
e.		Age.Remarks.Hours per week, including preparation.T
o
t
a
l,

h
e
a
d
w
o
r
k.		Extra Subjects.G
y
m
n
a
s
t
i
c
s.		P
a
r
t

S
i
n
g
i
n
g.		G
e
n
e
r
a
l

R
e
a
d
i
n
g.		N
e
e
d
l
e
w
o
r
k.		W
o
r
k
s
h
o
p.		G
a
r
d
e
n
i
n
g.		T
o
t
a
l,

o
c
c
u
p
a
t
i
o
n
s.		G
r
a
n
d

T
o
t
a
l.
E
n
g
l
i
s
h.		G
r
e
e
k.		L
a
t
i
n.		G
e
r
m
a
n.		F
r
e
n
c
h.		A
r
i
t
h
m
e
t
i
c.		G
e
o
m
e
t
r
y.		A
l
g
e
b
r
a.		T
r
i
g
o
n
o
m
e
t
r
y.		S
c
i
e
n
c
e.		H
a
r
m
o
n
y.		L
i
t
e
r
a
t
u
r
e.		S
c
r
i
p
t
u
r
e.		H
i
s
t
o
r
y.		P
i
a
n
o.		V
i
o
l
i
n.		S
i
n
g
i
n
g.		D
r
a
w
i
n
g.		D
a
n
c
i
n
g.
VI.a16·5 - Anomalous; as not more than two languages should be studied at one time.Have not been long enough in the school to work into the system....71⁄29 3 3 11⁄23 3 ............3 ...33...............1 3⁄43 11⁄231⁄411⁄21144
„b18·416...71⁄29 ...3 11⁄23 3 .........3 3 ...3351⁄4............1 3⁄4...1 2 1 1144
„c17·083...71⁄29 ...6 11⁄23 3 ............3 ...3351⁄4......21⁄2...1 3⁄4......11⁄2...1144
„d17·583...71⁄29 71⁄23 ...............3 ...3 ...33...51⁄4.........1 3⁄4...2 ...2 1144
„e18·333 - Does 1⁄2-hr. curative gymnastics per day....71⁄2......6 11⁄23 3 3 ......3 3 ...3051⁄433⁄4.........31⁄2 3⁄4... 3⁄4......1444
L. V.f17·166.........71⁄26 11⁄23 3 ......3 3 3 ...3051⁄4...33⁄4......1 3⁄4...1 21⁄4...1444
„g16·5 - Too many languages....71⁄29 ...6 11⁄23 3 ............3 ...33...............1 3⁄43 21⁄421⁄211⁄21144
„h16·75......9 71⁄26 11⁄23 3 ............3 ...3351⁄4.........11⁄21 3⁄4...11⁄2...1 1144
V.i17·083 .........6 6 3 3 3 ...3 ...11⁄23 41⁄23351⁄4............2 3⁄4.........3 1144
„j14·25......6 ...6 3 3 3 .........11⁄23 41⁄230...51⁄4...21⁄2...2 3⁄4...... 1⁄23 1444
„k14·5 - Have more extra subjects than is wise.......6 ...6 3 3 3 ...3 ...11⁄23 41⁄23351⁄4......21⁄211⁄21 3⁄4............1144
„l15·75.........6 6 3 3 3 .........11⁄23 41⁄23051⁄433⁄4...21⁄211⁄21 ...............1444
L. V.m16· ......5 ...51⁄221⁄221⁄221⁄2...21⁄2...11⁄421⁄233⁄42851⁄4............2 3⁄4...11⁄24 21⁄21644
„n13·583 - Has no engagement after 7 in the evening and goes early to bed.......5 ...51⁄221⁄221⁄221⁄2...21⁄2...11⁄421⁄233⁄428.........21⁄2...2 3⁄4...11⁄221⁄233⁄41341
„o15· ......5 ...51⁄221⁄221⁄221⁄2...21⁄2...11⁄421⁄233⁄42851⁄4......21⁄211⁄22 3⁄4...11⁄221⁄2...1644
„p16·166.........5 51⁄221⁄221⁄221⁄2......21⁄211⁄421⁄233⁄42851⁄433⁄4......11⁄22 3⁄4...11⁄211⁄4...1644
IV.q14·91611⁄4...5 ...51⁄233⁄421⁄2......21⁄2...21⁄221⁄221⁄22851⁄4......21⁄211⁄22 3⁄4...11⁄211⁄21 1644
„r14·7511⁄4...5 ...51⁄233⁄421⁄2......21⁄2...21⁄221⁄221⁄228.........21⁄211⁄22 3⁄4...31⁄44 2 1644
„s14· 11⁄4...5 ...51⁄233⁄421⁄2......21⁄2...21⁄221⁄221⁄22851⁄4......21⁄2...2 3⁄4...3 11⁄21 1644
„t13·833 Goes early to bed.11⁄4...5 ...51⁄233⁄421⁄2......21⁄2...21⁄221⁄221⁄22851⁄4.........11⁄22 3⁄4...11⁄2...2 1341

And here it is important to note that a great deal of the training requisite to make a girl really useful, i.e., to make her industrious, prompt, intelligent, thoughtful, thorough and accurate, can quite as easily be given by means of work which is not intellectual, thereby saving the poor brain, which we have often strained to the uttermost in the past, from the weariness and fatigue consequent upon overwork, The true end of school life.and girls may be sent out from school not anæmic and weak-backed, hating the sight of a book, but healthy and vigorous, keenly alive to every opportunity that offers for self-improvement, earnest and self-restrained, with trained powers ready to devote themselves to the duties which offer. Occupations not purely intellectual.For the purposes of training then, I would suggest a variety of handicrafts,[32] such as bookbinding, needlework, the practising of various musical instruments, part singing, drawing and gardening. In some cases time also is given for general reading in the library—this may include English and other modern languages—and is often valuable in keeping up a modern language that has been acquired early, besides cultivating breadth of view and literary taste. The whole school ought also to be organised as a Fire Brigade and regularly drilled. It will be noticed at once that cooking, dressmaking, domestic economy, sick nursing, physiology and hygiene are omitted. These subjects are admirable at school age for girls who intend to make them their work in life, but for our own girls, though some of them suggest suitable holiday recreations, I believe that they are best acquired by devoting six months or a year specially to the purpose when school life is over. They do not seem to me to admit of a sufficient amount of training, in proportion to the amount of time they consume. The knowledge, so essential for the welfare of the individual, of phenomena, such as the properties of air and water and the laws of heat, is acquired and the practical applications are pointed out by every intelligent teacher during the study of physics and chemistry; and care of the health receives constant practical attention, so that it is unnecessary to emphasise it during school life by special lessons. Needlework is essential for every woman, and facility with the needle is more easily acquired early, say from ten to fourteen, when the fingers are really large enough to use such a delicate instrument as a needle; but, as with everything else, having acquired the elements thoroughly, it must be a matter of individual taste whether the worker proceeds to acquire the higher branches of the art. Handicrafts.The same may be said of piano, violin and drawing. Bookbinding, woodcarving and joinery give great scope for the development of neatness, accuracy and artistic talent. An immense deal of interest may also be excited by gardening, and much information of a practical and botanical kind, likely to be useful in later life, may be obtained. Every girl who wishes it, should have a small plot of garden to cultivate for herself.

[32] It is to the admirable curriculum arranged by Miss Gray, the headmistress of St. Katharine’s School, St. Andrews, that I am indebted for my views on the subject of handicrafts and short hours for intellectual work.

Swimming.Here it may be as well to mention that where facilities for bathing exist, provided great care is exercised in only allowing girls in perfect health to indulge in it, and then for not too long at a time, no finer exercise exists than swimming. The necessary position of the swimmer, with arms extended and head well thrown back, is an admirable corrective to any tendency to stoop that may be acquired by bookwork.

Importance of noting the weight and rate of growth.Before concluding this chapter on the cultivation of the body, it may be useful to append tables of the heights and weights of girls at different ages. These are compiled from careful measurements taken regularly three times every year at St. Leonard’s School, St. Andrews, during a period of nearly six years, an Avery’s weighing and measuring apparatus being used. The girls were always weighed in their gymnastic costume of the thickness worn in winter, and measured in their shoes. A certain small percentage were usually found to have lost weight, the proportion being larger in the summer time. We found, however, that such losses were unimportant, unless persisted in. If, for example, a growing girl did not increase in weight during a year, and was lighter than the average for her age and height, then it would be high time to send for the doctor and have her thoroughly overhauled. On the other hand, if a girl was found to be persistently idle and inattentive, though apparently in good health, on consulting the weight book it would usually be found that she was underweight for her age, and a cure was easily effected by cutting off some of her work, giving her extra nourishment and more time for exercise in the open air. It is indeed truly awful to reflect on the number of bad habits, that is, moral faults, that may be induced and fostered in those under our charge by neglect of suitable health conditions.

The tables are sound, so far as they go, but they do not go nearly far enough, the basis upon which they are founded being too narrow, and it is much to be wished that the Anthropometric Society could see its way to organising a series of observations over a much wider area.

I.—Table showing the average height and weight of British girls from the ages of nine to twenty, stating in each case the number of observations made. Also showing the average increase per annum deduced from the same observations taken three times in each year.