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Personal Introduction.—The danger of specific contamination will be minimised by greater
attention to personal cleanliness and the more extended use of baths. Although the removal of dirty
foot-gear is not practicable, more attention should be given to the removal of dirt from the shoes before
entering school. The habit of scraping and wiping the feet upon entry to a building is so important
that the habit should be inculcated in all children. In the Council's schools a sunk scraper is generally
provided at the entrance door. The use of mats is decidedly advantageous, both in conjunction
with the scraper at the door where the bulk of the dirt is removed, and also at the entry to the hall
after mounting the stairs.
Daily cleansing.—Damp saw-dust is used as far as possible. A sackful of saw-dust costs one
shilling, and in a medium-sized school lasts about three weeks. Occasionally a school is found where
dry sweeping is done, but this is unsatisfactory, as the effect upon the health of the cleaners is bad, and
a large proportion of the dust is distributed through the air and left to settle on the desks and tables.
It is uncommon to find sweeping being done with the windows closed, but in some schools, owing to
the difficulty in getting rooms warm, the windows are kept closed. The use of wet sawdust in sweeping
halls leaves nothing to be desired, and probably no better method could be adopted. It is, however,
impossible to sweep the portions of the class-rooms occupied by dual desks, as the time and labour
allowed is too small to allow for the sawdust being removed from between and beneath the feet of the
desks, and as the desks cannot be moved a certain amount of dry sweeping is practically universal.
The use of frequently damped brooms is probably the best solution and lightly spraying with a garden
syringe with a fine rose would be of great service; the provision of such apparatus in each school would
render routine disinfection of classrooms with formalin at times of infectious outbreaks an easy matter.
After sweeping with or without sawdust it is the general practice to close the windows and wipe all the
furniture with cloths damped with paraffin. This is excellent, though the practice of waiting until the
disturbed dust has settled is better. Much dust accumulates upon the tops of cupboards and ledges
out of reach, and the fermenting material left undisturbed in these situations contributes largely to the
unpleasant bouquet noticed when there is insufficient ventilation. It would be a great advantage if
the tops of cupboards were made smooth and polished and slightly sloped, as it is impossible to clean
them when left uneven. All ledges should be sloped outwards and downwards from the wall, and there
should be no horizontal surfaces out of reach. The picture mouldings are generally veritable dust traps
and extremely unhygienic. The older iron rail standing clear of the wall is greatly to be preferred.
School Dust and Disinfectants.—The specific function of disinfectants is asserted to be
in connection with infectious diseases, the zymotic fevers especially. All our enquiries here and most of
the teaching of recent years go to show that out-of-school conditions are far more powerful means of
disseminating these diseases, and that the school plays a comparatively secondary role. The infection
is from the children themselves, not from doors and cupboards, desks or floors ; these means are
trivial; it is the undetected or mild cases or carriers continuing to attend that accounts for school
spread of disease when it exists. It is little use disinfecting a school room if the clothes and
persons of the infective children cannot also be disinfected. The method of searching for the infective
focus and removing it must always be the chief line of resisting the spread of infective diseases.
With these facts in mind, the value of routine disinfection as applied to school rooms sinks to
insignificance compared with its value in such a focus as a sick room after the patient has been removed.
The cost of disinfection will always be very great, and as the cost of the disinfectant is probably ninetenths
of the whole, it is obvious that as a commercial interest routine disinfection in relation to educational
buildings is likely to be pushed as energetically as ventilating expedients were once urged on an
ignorant public; although the value seems to be in little doubt the actual results to be obtained by
routine disinfection might be worth a trial, using disinfection in one group of schools and omitting
it in a control group.
Dustless Oils.—Far more efficacious from the dust point of view would be the use of oils as floor
dressings. In many commercial houses and banks these oils are found very useful. They appear to have
been unsuccessful when tried in some elementary schools, but at the Stockwell Secondary School for the
past year the use of this method has been very satisfactory. The usual routine in the hall, for
instance, is 9 a.m. assembly, 9.30-12.10 drill, 12.40 dinner. After this it is swept. 1.30-2, on wet
days, dancing, 2 drill. The drill mistress formerly suffered much from irritable throats, due probably
to dust. This has disappeared since the floors were oiled. There is less dust now on the food and
during meals, and dancing has only been practicable during the past year. The decorations of the
room seem fresher than those of the adjoining school decorated at the same time. There are no complaints.
Dresses are not dirtied or discoloured, and there is a considerable economy in labour.
Considering the extensive use of these dust fixing oils (Staubbindende Oele) in German Schools it
would be well worth trying an experiment on a considerable scale.
SCHOOL NURSES.
There are thirty-two school nurses with a superintendent. With such a small number for the whole
of London there must be no vague generalities or filmy suggestions as to what the school nurse should do.
Her work is educational and designed to promote the efficiency of the school in certain definite ways.
She does not in any sense act instead of the parents, she does not bind up cut fingers, put ointment on
chilblains or attend to minor ailments and trivial accidents. Such work at present is mere shortsighted
waste of time. The nurse examines children regularly to detect conditions of uncleanliness
and disease, and also does what little is possible in the way of home visitation to stimulate the parents
to obtain relief for objectionable conditions The work to be done in schools of populous districts is