Spons' Household Manual / A treasury of domestic receipts and a guide for home management

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The distance between the edge of the desk and the front edge of his seat must be 0, or they must even somewhat overlap each other; the difference in height between the bench and the desk must be as great as the distance of the elbow from the bench when the arm is hanging freely down 1 or 2¼ in.; every school bench must have a proper back, which must not be the back of the desk behind. There is much difference of opinion amongst high authorities as to the best form of back, some preferring a high back, others a T-back of moderate height, and others again a low back. The high back supports the lower part of the dorsal region of the spine, and thus relieves the lumbar (or loins) region of part of the superincumbent weight. The moderately high T-back supports the sacrum or the lower lumbar vertebræ, fixes the pelvis, and renders the sitting position one of rest. The low back fits into the curvature of the loins, and fulfils the purposes of both the other forms partially. It is the form which is generally regarded as being the best. It is on the whole best that each seat should have its own back, since with continuous backs, overcrowding, which should be religiously avoided, may occur. The back should be curved to suit the form of the body, and be firmly and solidly constructed.

156. Varrentrapp’s School Desk.

The bench on which the scholar sits should be hollowed out continuously with the back, and be either flat or a little raised in front. Its breadth should be, in accordance with the size of the child, 9-13¼ in. The height of the bench should be such that the knee is bent at right angles to the well-supported and resting thigh, and that the soles of the feet may be planted flat on the ground or on a foot-board. The table-top must be broad enough to support books and papers, and to allow them to be pushed forward so far that they do not interfere with writing: 12½-15½ in. are the right dimensions. The desk-top must, moreover, form an inclined plane; nothing conduces so much to stooping as a flat desk. The limit is that the ink should not flow back in the pen; but this is much too great, since books and papers would slide off unless prevented by a raised edge at the bottom of the desk, and such edges are objectionable, since they hurt the arm in writing. An inclination of 2 in. in 12 is about right. For reading, the desk inclination may be as steep as possible, but this is not easy to manage in school desks. The height of the desk is from a medical point of view secondarily determined as soon as the height of the bench and the difference between the bench and the desk is determined. If the feet are to rest on the ground, the height of the desk will have to be different, according to the size of the child, which may be inconvenient to the teacher. The difficulty may be overcome by having a movable latticework for the feet to rest on. The desk lastly should be sufficiently broad (19½-23½ in.) for each child. Arrangements require to be made to allow of standing as well as sitting. A typical form (Varrentrapp’s) of school desk and seat is shown in Fig. 156. The dotted lines of the seat give the position and dimensions suitable for older scholars. The distances a b (14 in.) and c b (2¾ in.) remain the same for all children; the difference b d is slightly increased with the age.

Type of Books.—Much attention has lately been directed to various points in printing, shown to exert an influence on the vision. First, in regard to the letters themselves. No one can compare the Gothic with the modern Roman letters without being struck with the superior legibility of the Roman type. The flourishes of some of the letters, the close similarity to one another of others, as of the “h” and “k,” the “f” and “s,” the “u” and the “n,” all render a closer examination of the print requisite in the one case than in the other. Javal, to whom we are indebted for much interesting observation on this subject, says that the increased number of myopes (shortsighted persons) noticed in Elsass since the annexation consequent on the war of 1870 is due to the introduction of German type and writing into that province. Weber considers that the absence of fine upstrokes in the Roman form of type is a distinct advantage, and, further, that the arched, instead of the pointed, shape of the letters in the Roman type renders them more easy to read, and therefore require less earnest fixation. Weber maintains that a child 8 years of age who has read and worked with Latin or Roman type for 3 months is in advance of a child who has read the Gothic type for 2 years. The size of the short letters, such as “m” or “n,” should not be less than 1·5 mm. and the interspaces between two words should be somewhat greater, 2 mm. or 2·5 mm. It is considered that letters smaller than this are injurious. The leader of the Times has a height of short letters of this size, and that is a very legible print to the ordinary eye at a distance of 12-15 in., while much smaller type can be seen.

Other conditions deserve attention, and amongst them may be mentioned quality of paper, character of type, excellence of impression. Now and again the fount of type of one of our daily newspapers gets worn out, and every one is aware of the unpleasant effects that are produced by impressions of letters which are partly imperfect—when, for example, c cannot be distinguished from o or from e, when t and l become confused, and the rounds of a, b, d, g, and p become filled with ink. Such imperfections are greatly increased by roughnesses and inequalities of the paper, and it is only requisite to read a page or two of one of the cheap editions of a popular author and then a page or two of an edition de luxe to appreciate the influence of paper and printing. The introduction of pictures is of decided advantage, since they both excite the attention and relieve the eye.

Brudenell Carter advises, in the case of every child whose vision is subnormal, to ascertain the cause and nature of the defect, and to regulate not only the studies, but also, as far as possible, the future career, in accordance with it. He would urge that the vision of every new pupil should be tested, and that the tasks required should be controlled in accordance with its capabilities; that all lesson books for very young children be printed in large type, and that the children be compelled to keep such books at a distance (the type in which we often see texts of Scripture printed to be hung up in railway waiting-rooms would be a good size for the purpose); that many of the school-books now in use should be abandoned, and that new editions should be prepared, in type of at least twice the size, and twice the legibility (the latter depending much upon the shape and design of the letters) of that now in use. It would be useful, especially in cases where there is hereditary tendency to shortsightedness, to teach by means of long slips or wall texts with a picture at the head, sold by most stationers. The child should be placed with his back to the light, and at a distance of 4-6 ft. from the slip, the separate letters of which, as well as the details of the picture, may be indicated by the teacher with a light wand.

Writing.—Writing has a powerful influence in inducing shortsightedness. Cohn has made the sensible suggestion that stenography (shorthand) should be introduced into schools a little above the lowest classes. The size of the type or symbols is, it is acknowledged, smaller than that of ordinary writing, but not smaller than the Greek. The acquirement of the art is easy, and the saving of time is very great.

The question of the advisability of using slates for instruction in writing has been considered, and developed some difference of opinion. With the same amount of light and an equal degree of sharpness of vision, letters of the same size written with ink and with slate pencil are seen, the former at a distance of 4 ft., the latter at only 3 ft., even when the unpleasant reflex from the slate is avoided. Weber thinks that many of the difficulties and troubles occasioned by writing are the same, whether slate-pencil, lead-pencil, or pen and ink be used; but still thinks it desirable that after the first half-year pen and ink should be preferred. Cohn agrees with Horner, but suggests the employment of white artificial tablets, made by Emanuel Thieben, of Pilsen, which can be written upon with lead-pencil, and which he has found to be so far superior to slate that writing which can be read at 6 yd. on the white slab can only be read at 5 yd. on slate.

Writing is done with the least strain when the copy-book is tilted towards the left; when the child is compelled to write with the book parallel to the edge of the desk, he brings the base line perpendicular to the down-strokes by turning his head towards the right and twisting his spine. This contortion brings the eyes nearer to the page, and the left eye nearer to it than the right. In a discussion on this subject at the meeting of the Ophthalmic Society, at Heidelberg, Laqueur and Manz favoured the slanting system of writing with an oblique position of the book, on the ground that it throws the work more on the flexor muscles of the forearm, which are naturally stronger than the extensors, and Berlin dwelt upon the fact that this system admits of greater rapidity of execution.