at home was restless
and unhappy.

Observation of the girl in class showed all that the young teacher had
said to be true. The girl took no voluntary part in the recitation and
when called upon her usual answer was "I don't know." I talked with her
and she said she liked the teacher, she liked the school and her
classmates. She did not care about them especially. She did not know
whether she would go to high school or not; she "didn't care either
way." She did not know what she wanted to do when she grew older. Her
excuse for falling so far behind her record of other years and her
unwillingness to recite was that she did not feel like studying and that
she could not seem to remember what she read. She said she felt well but
she was growing very rapidly and did not seem strong.

I called upon her mother and learned that she was greatly concerned
because of the changes in her daughter. I was surprised to find,
however, that she stated quite calmly that the girl's appetite was not
good and that she complained of being unable to sleep and of having
"dreadful dreams." The mother had not consulted a physician. She scolded
the girl for being lazy and indifferent; at school the teacher
reprimanded her constantly. I urged the mother by all the arguments I
knew to see a physician at once. She said her husband seriously objected
to one's "running to the doctor all the time," and that he thought the
girl would come out all right. If she did not "brace up pretty soon,"
she added, they might "take her out of school and put her to work."
During the winter the girl contracted a heavy cold and her indifference
and apparent laziness increased. The mother was finally enough impressed
by our concern for the girl to take her to a good physician. He found
her to be in a very run-down state, in bad condition nervously, and
really ill.

A year out of school, spent in a country town with her aunt, where she
had the best of food, fresh air and exercise, cured this indifferent
girl entirely.

Continual headache is often the cause of indifference, and eye strain or
improper food the cause of the headache. The first duty of those in
charge of the indifferent girl, before passing judgment upon her, is to
make sure that the physical condition is not at the bottom of the
trouble. Many a case of indifference and loss of spontaneous interest,
which cannot be cured by punishment, by persuasion, by prayers or
exhortation, _can_ be cured by a wise phy