"

It will, of course be understood that in this case I purposely misused
a word, and the children being taught to think, easily detected it.

6. WATCH AGAINST THE ENTRANCE OF DISEASE.

It may, probably, be considered presumption in me, to speak of the
diseases of children, as this more properly belongs to the faculty;
but let it be observed, that my pretension is not to cure the diseases
that children are subject to, but only to prevent those which are
infectious from spreading. I have found that children between the ages
of two and seven years, are subject to the measles, hooping
cough, fever, ophthalmia, ringworm, scald-head, and in very poor
neighbourhoods, the itch--and small-pox. This last is very rare, owing
to the great encouragement given to vaccination; and were it not for
the obstinacy of many of the poor, I believe it would be totally
extirpated. During the whole of the time I superintended a school, I
heard of only three children dying of it, and those had never been
vaccinated. I always made a point of inquiring, on the admission of
a child, whether this operation had been performed, and, if not, I
strongly recommended that it should be. If parents spoke the truth, I
had but few children in the school who had not been vaccinated: this
accounts, therefore, for having lost but three children through the
small-pox.

The measles, however, I consider a very dangerous disorder, and
we lost a great many children by it, besides two of my own. It is
preceded by a violent cough, the child's eyes appear watery, and it
will also be sick. As soon as these symptoms are perceived, I would
immediately send the child home, and desire the parents to keep it
there for a few days, in order to ascertain if it have the measles,
and if so, it must be prohibited from returning to school until well.
This caution is absolutely necessary; as some parents are so careless,
that they will send their children when the measles are thick out upon
them.

The same may be said with respect to other diseases, for unless the
persons who have charge of the school attend to these things, the
parents will be glad to get their children out of the way, and will
send them, though much afflicted, without considering the ill-effects
that may be produced in the school. Whether such conduct in the
parents proceeds from ignorance or not, I am not able to say, but this
I know, that I have had many parents offer children for admission,
with all the