The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1881-07-16
PHYSIOLOGY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
DR.. Hammond Denounces the Present
System OF truction-Deioterious
Effects OF Imperfect Informa-
ton on Youthful Minds.
From tas New York "IIerald."

"Onc of the evils OF the present time
is the superficial knowledge OF things
that people pick up" said DIR. Ham,
mond yesterday, as he walked out Of
the University Medical College, to a
HfyaH reporter who was waiting to &C,
his views on certain points in popular
education, 'and not the least OF these
evils is teaching anatomy and physiology
to boys and girls as parts Of common
school education.
"Why, Doctor ?"
cit does a great deal Of harm and
scarcely any good"
"But, surely, Doctor, anatomy and
physiology are good things to know ?"
'Yes, for those who have to apply
them, but certainly not for infants, and,
above all, mot for girls"
"Well that is rather new idea, is il
not ?"
"By no means. 1t is one held by
many physicians and others who have
given attention TO the subject, and there
is scarcely a day that do not see in my
practice the deleterious results OF giving
a superficial insight into these sciences
TO young men and women.
"for instance?
''ln the first place, the books used
are necessarily mere outlines, and there
fcrc give every imperfect view of the
subjcc,sto which they relate. Anatomy
and physiology can only be properly
taugh, by dissection and experiments
under the direction of skilled teachers,
such a> We have in our medical colleges.
or course the pupils get no such instruc-
tion rs this. They are given some one
of the popular school books on these
sciences to study and then to rcci,c to
teachers aS ignorant As they are them
selves, for these teachers know nothing
more than what they have got out OF
the same works, probably the day before.
The consequence is that scarcely the
shadow of anything worth knowing falls
on the pupils mind. The good that is
done is nothing At ALL"
MORBID CURIOSITY THAT BRINGS NO
DISEASE.
"But besides this negative result there
is positive one Of more importance.
The boy or the girl learns just enough
to excite curiosity and apprehension
curiosity relative to matter Of which it
is better they should be instructed by
parents instead Of picking up knowledge
in regard to them from all sorts Of i'm
proper sources, and apprehension based
on insufficient information OF the exist
ence Of disease Of the various organs Of
their bodies. a young lady scarcely
fifteen years old informed me a short
time ago that she was sure her pancreas
was disease"
"My dear child,"l | exclaimed, "what
do you know about your 'pancrcas p"
"lt's the organ, doctor, that cmulsi-
iics the fat. am sure the fat eat is
not emulsified, and so have stopped
eating all kinds Of fat things"
"Was she very stout ?''
''Shc was rs thin as 4 rail and was
actually half starving herself from mis-
taken idea based on the little smattcring
of knowledge she had that her 'pancreas'
was diseased. She had no symptom
whatever of pancreatic diseases, and
her cmaciation was the result Of her
morbid fancy"
"Actual disease is, however, often in
duced by the imagination excited BY
imperfect knowledge. The stomach,
the liver, the heart are thus peculiarly
liable TO be affected. IL is even COM
mon with medical students when they
begin to study anatomy and physiology
to imagine they have diseases Of the or
gans Of which they read, and to which
their attention is directed, and it is only
after fuller information that they get rid
Of the abnormal nutions. Sometimes
actual disease is produced in them"
KEEP CHILDREN IN IGNORANCE.
"But, Doctor, you would not keep
boys and girls in entire ignorance OF the
anatomy and physiology Of their own
bodies ?"
"Yes, would, exccp, in regard to
one or two matters, which they don't
learn in school, and of which their iath-
ers and mothers should impress them.
As to telling them about the hearts and
lungs and livers and spleens and pam
creas and kidneys in the superficial way
in which they are told about them in
schools, would stop it altogether
Perhaps anatomy and physiology should
be thoroughly taught in colleges to
young men who have reached adult age,
but young women should be taught moth
ing Of the kind at any time. There are
much more suitable things for them to
learn. II does woman harm to know
where her liver is; for instance, | am
quite sure that the large increase in dis
eases OF the nervous system among wo-
men in recent years is to a great extent
due to the pernicious system Of calling
their attention in school to organs that
they had better know nothing about
! know that such attention deranges
their health, mentally and physically"
rsyr-An admiring father: There was
joy on the farm when Ben, the oldest
boy came back from college in his
sophomore year, and the village was
proud Of him. "Cheese it, Gully" he
said when he met an old friend, the son
Of neighbor who joined farms with his
father "cheese it, Gully shove us your
flipper clench daddles, pardy. How's
his nibs, and what's the new racket ?"
And his proud old father said alt was
jest worth more't twice't the money to
hear Ben rattle Off Greek just like a
livin' language. ."--.ShyefTpo,f (Ld.)
Times.
bsS-A preacher not far from Boston
found himself at one time in n sad di-
lemma. He stopped in his sermon and
easA agIf \ cnaak ofel,, elo.a az ,o,, ..,l, =.