diseases I have mentioned, and who manifested no
disposition to inform me of it. The number of children who may
be sick, from time to time, may be averaged at from twenty to
thirty-five, out of two hundred, we have never had less than twenty
absent on account of illness, and once or twice we had as many as
fifty.

Soon after I first took charge of the establishment, I found that
there were five or six children in the school who had the measles;
the consequence was, that it contaminated the whole school, and about
eight children died, one of my own being of that number. This induced
me to be very cautious in future, and I made a point of walking round
the school twice every day, in order to inspect the children; and
after the adoption of this plan, we did not have the measles in the
school.

The hooping-cough is known, of course, by the child hooping; but I
consider it the safest plan to send all children home that have any
kind of cough; this will cause the mother to come and inquire the
reason why the child is sent home; and it can be ascertained from her
whether the child has had the hooping-cough or not.

With respect to fever, I generally find the children appear chilly
and cold, and not unfrequently they are sick. I do not, however, feel
myself competent to describe the early symptoms of this disorder, but
the best way to prevent its gaining ground in the school is to send
all the children home who appear the least indisposed.

As to the ophthalmia, I can describe the symptoms of that disease,
having had it myself, together with the whole of my family. It
generally comes in the left eye first, and causes a sensation as if
something was in the eye, which pricks and shoots, and produces great
pain: the white of the eye will appear red, or what is usually called
blood-shot; this, if not speedily attended to, will cause blindness;
I have had several children that have been blind with it for several
days. In the morning, the patients are not able to unclose their
eyes for some time after they are awake. As soon as I observe
these appearances, I immediately send the child home; for I have
ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the disease is contagious, and if a
child be suffered to remain with it in the school, the infection will
speedily spread among the children.

As children are frequently apt to burn or scald themselves, I will
here insert a method for adoption in such cases. It is very simple,
yet infallible; at