The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-01-15
OF TEACHING nrlE CHILDREN IN
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
ARE NOT CONDUCIVE TO LONGEVITY.
THE CAUSE OF NEuROTIC AILMENTS
IN YOUNG PUPILS.
INVESTIGATION BY The GOVERNMENT.
BRAINS OF YOUTHFUL STUDENTS
MAY BE OVERTANED.

ducing a ncurotic race? Are the brains
OF the youthful student OF today taxed
beyond the limit of endurance?
The interior departments bureau Of
education at Washington is touching up
on this question In the course of an in
vestigation Of mental fatigue of school
children, being made for the benefit Of
educators throughout the country. In
teresting data have been collected from
many experiments upon boys and girls,
us we'll as adults, made for the purpose
OF ascertaining exactly how much actu-
al labor the brain, at different ages, and
OF each sex, can perform, and how long
1t can work without fatigue, says the
New York World.
For several years the bureau OF etlu-
cation has been interested in the new
scincce of paridolegy, or child study.
Some experimental raidologists arc, of
the opinion that many nervous diseases
are being developed in our schools.
Since nervous disease is the vcstibulc
of insanity, some revolutions must he
made If these conditions are really SO.
The school child's brain may require
more frequent periods of rest between
the hours of recitation or study demand
ed in school.
Many interesting experimental mc,h-
ods of tiring the brain and of estimating,
the extent OF It's fatigue have been en-
ployed. Children were given yario,s
small mental tasks of equal difficulty.
such as counting the numbers of letters
on Il page, mGmorizng rows of num-
bers, syllables and words; continuous
adding Of simple numbers, solving
simple problems and similar work, all
to be done In certain time and drop
ped at Il given signal
In other tests four rows of simple
problems In arithmetic were
placed before number of school child
ren. All of them had solved the same
problems before. They were required to
work q certain number OF minutes and
rest a certain number, then work and
rest again, and SO on, the work for each
interval being compared with that of
the Others
Another simple test was to require the
subjects to draw straight lines two or
three inches long and afterward to d.
vide them into Il certain number of canal
parts free hand. This was done because
the tired brain is unable to discrimin-
ate distances nearly SO accurately as that
which is rested.
Devices, such as color wheels and t,,n-
ing forks, were used to produce colors OF
varying tints or shades and tones of
varying pitches 1t was noted whether
the subjects became less acute in their
discrimination between these coors and
tones as their brains continued to work.
Deafness appears to result from men
tai fatigue. 1t Is now thought to he
due to this fact that the children often
appear careless or inuttentivc as 10
what Is said to them after they have pcr-
formed mental labor for several hours.
Color blindness appears also to be in
creased by mental fatigue
Some OF the experiments indicated
that brain fatigue attacks students after
given period depending upon axe
when all other conditions are equal,
Averages show that the fatigue begins
to be felt at the end of an hour of
steady brain work by older students
and after a much shorter interval of ST.
milar application by younger ones.
The minds of children between II and
IL appear to become tired after about
thirty-five minutes work. Among still
younger children the limit is consider
ably less. The brains of boys under
IL tire of school work more readily
than those Of girls of the same age
This is thought to be due to the greater
impulsivcncss of boys. They are moro
passionately eager and impatient than
girls
1t Is interesting to know what studies
fatigue the brain more than others. One
series of experiments Indicated that
mathematics was the first to fail, in the
majority Of cases. If 80, Mathematics
ans are harder worked than any other
brain workers who cxpcnd the same
amount Of concentration. The fatigucd
brain also finds great difficulty in trans
lating foreign languages. This Is due
to lapse of memory, to a great extent.
Failing memory Is found to be an early
symptom Of brain fatigue.
Experiments made by modern psycho-
losists and Psychologists indicate that
fatigue CT the mind is the result Of a
chemical process. The cells of the hui