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34
child might have his or her own slate with pencil attached so as to
limit any infection, as children are very apt to put the pencils in their
mouths. The head master had taken the precaution to have the
slates washed with a disinfectant. Fortunately there was no need to
close any part of the school and after the Christmas holidays the
disease much diminished on the Island.
As there is a very strong opinion among certain authorities that
diphtheria and other contagious and infectious diseases are spread
through the attendance of children at schools, and that diphtheria
has been very prevalent in towns since the passing of the Education
Act of 1870, a very grave question to be considered is whether school
rooms are properly ventilated. The London School Board have given
in a general schoolroom 10 square feet of floor space per scholar and
the height was ordered to be 13 feet, making 130 cubic feet. With
200 cubic feet per head the air would require changing six times per
hour to keep the carbonic acid due to respiratory impurity down to
0.25 per 1000 volumes.
One hundred and thirty cubic feet per scholar are little enough
indeed when it is a fact that the amount of air required hourly in
cubic feet for human beings in repose is as follows:—
Adult males 3000.
Adult females 2000.
Children 1500.
Therefore for an adult an air space containing 1000 cubic feet per
head the air must be changed three times in an hour to provide the
necessary 3000 cubic feet, but, if the space is not more than 500
cubic feet, obviously six changes per hour are required to supply the
same quantity of fresh air. In a space of 130 cubic feet for each
child the atmosphere must be changed eleven times to supply 1500
cubic feet of air. In temperate climates and under ordinary circumstances
three changes per hour are all that can be borne; more