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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36781-8.txt b/36781-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa52e3e --- /dev/null +++ b/36781-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8140 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Household Administration, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Household Administration + Its Place in the Higher Education of Women + +Author: Various + +Editor: Alice Ravenhill + Catherine J. Schiff + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36781] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + + + + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION + +ITS PLACE IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN + + +EDITED BY ALICE RAVENHILL AND CATHERINE J. SCHIFF + + + NEW YORK + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 1911 + + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + +PREFACE + + +The object of this book is threefold. (1) It endeavours to define +the importance and scope of household administration in the twentieth +century, which, when analysed into its component parts, is found +intimately to concern the right conduct and domestic care of individual +human lives, from their inception to their close. (2) It seeks to +demonstrate the necessity of an adequate preparation for all who assume +the responsibility of such administration; particularly for those who, +in consequence of their parental responsibilities, their wealth, their +social status, or their professional duties, exercise far-reaching +influence through their standard of life and example. (3) Finally, it +gives prominence to the fact that the domestic arts are no collection +of empirical conventions, to be acquired by imitation or exercised +by instinct. It is clearly demonstrated that the group of sciences +upon which they rest is more comprehensive than most people suspect, +and that their contribution to the solution of pressing domestic +problems has so far been but partially realised. It is, therefore, of +considerable interest to observe the remarkable consensus of opinion on +each of these points among the recognised experts in their subjects, +to whom were entrusted the preparation of the various sections of this +book. The writers of the papers, untrammelled by editorial restrictions, +each writing from the fulness of her knowledge, tested by ripe +experience, reached independently conclusions conspicuous for their +unanimity. It will be evident to the most casual reader that, in the +opinion of these thoughtful women, blind instinct must yield place to +trained intelligence, if home life is to be preserved and modern +conditions of existence adequately adjusted to human requirements. + +Progressive changes, social, commercial, industrial, and, last but not +least, educational, now require that this trained intelligence be +fostered by organised instruction outside the home, adapted to the +needs, present or prospective, of girls in every grade of society. Such +instruction, whether in the fundamental sciences or in the applied arts, +must be associated with individual practice in laboratory, studio, +workroom, and kitchen; the details to be varied as circumstances +dictate. + +If, however, consistent applications of such knowledge are to be made in +order that desirable saving in time, labour, money, health, or happiness +shall be effected, graduate women of high attainments are urgently +needed for the work. It is they only who can bring to bear upon the +problems of childhood and adolescence, of food, of clothing, of housing, +of domestic economics, of occupation, rest, and recreation, the patient +study and research in the interests of humanity, which men of similar +standing have lavished upon the advancement of commerce and industrial +processes. It is by their skilled labour in the almost untrodden field +of domestic science that the millions of homes will benefit which are +committed to the charge of women who possess neither time, opportunity, +nor ability to carry out these indispensable investigations, but who can +yet effectively fulfil their responsibilities, if they be supported by +systematic training and organised common sense, based on sound +knowledge. + +It is in the hope of forwarding these objects that this book has been +prepared. + + ALICE RAVENHILL. + CATHERINE SCHIFF. + + _Nov. 1910._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTION--A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE FAMILY 11 + + By CATHERINE SCHIFF, Officier d'Académie + + THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN 35 + + By WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (Dub.) + + SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD 71 + + By Mrs. W. N. SHAW, formerly Lecturer of Newnham + College, Cambridge. Author of "First Lessons in Observational + Geometry." + + THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD 121 + + By MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (Glasgow), Lecturer in + Economics, King's College for Women (University of + London), formerly Scott Scholar in the University + of Glasgow; Research Student at the London School of + Economics; and Fellow of Economics, Bryn Mawr + College, U.S.A. Author of "Local Government in Scotland." + + SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE + AND INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCY 207 + + By ALICE RAVENHILL, late Lecturer in Hygiene, + King's College for Women (University of London), &c. + Author of "Practical Hygiene," "Some Characteristics + and Requirements of Childhood," "Elements of Sanitary + Law," "Household Foes." + + MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS-- + + I. NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSMAKING 295 + + By Mrs. R. W. EDDISON, Gen. Hon. Sec. Yorkshire + Ladies' Council of Education, Added Member of Education + Committee of County Council of West Riding of + Yorkshire, &c. + + II. HOUSECRAFT 308 + + By MAUD R. TAYLOR, Examiner in Domestic Science. + + + + +A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE FAMILY + +BY CATHERINE SCHIFF + + +The home must always claim the first place in the large majority of +women's lives. It has done so in the past, it does so in the present, it +will continue to do so in the future. But woman's activities are no +longer to be merely confined to her own fireside, though that must +always hold a prominent place. The real problem of the day is the right +conduct of the home on scientific lines. + +In some ways the management of the home has never been more difficult. +The servant problem has never been more acute than to-day; the cost of +living and the standard of comfort is going up by leaps and bounds, and +the old recipe of "Feed the brute," as far as the husband is concerned, +is no less inefficient. It is essential to-day to know something about +food values, the arrangement of meals, which avoid monotony, and provide +that requisite variety in nourishment, on which the good health and +ultimately the good temper of the household depend. + +Again we are realising the great complexities of all questions dealing +with child-rearing and education. We have travelled far from the +self-complacency of the woman of thirty years ago, who based her claims +to a thorough knowledge of the up-bringing of children on the fact that +she had buried ten. This need for wider knowledge in all branches of +housekeeping is equally important to the unmarried woman, who is more +and more being called upon to act as a foster-mother, whether as a +teacher or in some other capacity, to the nation's children. + +The care of the children is considered by all shades of opinion to be +the _clou_ of a woman's life, and every day more and more responsibility +is cast upon her in this respect. How can she, then, fulfil these duties +as they should be fulfilled if she is utterly ignorant of the laws of +health and of child-life, and how both are affected by environment and +all the other grave and fundamental truths which lie at the root of the +successful up-bringing and development of the child? It is now a +hackneyed saying "that the child of to-day is the man or woman of +to-morrow," but a whole world of truth lies enshrined in those words; +the children are the assets of the nation, and if their up-bringing is +not of the best they can never attain to that full heritage of +development which is the right of every soul born into the world. + +Scientific training in Household Administration can alone save the +sorely taxed housewife of to-day from becoming more than a slave to her +domestic responsibilities. It is only by being a mistress of her craft, +"whether China fall or no," that she can make sufficient time to devote +herself to necessary self-culture and recreation as well as to those +ever-growing outside duties which the twentieth century is imposing upon +her in the shape of public and social work. If there is one thing which +is becoming increasingly obvious, it is that the help and advice of +scientifically trained women are absolutely necessary in the management +of hospitals, the administration of the Poor Law, and the general +solution of social problems. + +At no other epoch in the history of mankind has woman stood on the same +high plane as she does to-day, and at no other period has so much been +demanded of her, intellectually, morally, and physically. It is only +within recent years that Science has attempted to come to the aid of +woman in helping her firstly to obtain, and then to maintain, the +position for which she was originally designed, as the complement of man +and as the chief element of preservation in human society. + +If the history of mankind is traced back to primordial times, we find +that it was the female who possessed power over the emotional nature of +man, and it is becoming increasingly evident that the family owes +its origin as a social factor to the Mother, not to the Father. +Lippert is convinced "that the idea of an exclusively maternal kinship +at one time extended over the whole earth," and McLennan says, "We shall +endeavour to show that the most ancient system in which the idea of +blood-relationship was embodied was a system of kinship through the +females only." + +Occupation seems to have been the main factor in determining that the +mother rather than the father should be the founder of the family. +Agriculture originally appears to have been entirely the woman's +industry, while the men were engaged in hunting or looking after the +cattle, and wherever agriculture was the predominant feature of life we +find that relationship is traced through the mother; while on the other +hand those tribes who were chiefly pastoral had a paternal system of +relationship--that is to say, that descent was counted through the +males. + +Drummond, in his book on the "Ascent of Man," places the Evolution of +Motherhood long before that of Fatherhood. "An early result, partly of +her sex, partly of her passive strain, is the founding through the +instrumentality of the first savage Mother of a new and beautiful social +state--Domesticity--while Man, restless, eager, and hungry, is a +wanderer on the Earth, Woman makes a Home!" And according to the same +authority we find "that to Man has been assigned the fulfilment of the +first great function--the Struggle for Life--Woman, whose higher +contribution has not yet been named, is the chosen instrument for +carrying on the Life of Others." Nature took many æons to make a mother, +whose gift to the world was Love and Sympathy; the evolution of the +Father came still later. "It was when man's mind first became capable of +making its own provision against the weather and the crops that the +possibility of Fatherhood, Motherhood and the Family were realised." +"The Mother-age, with its mother-right customs, was a civilisation, as I +have indicated, largely built up by woman's activity and developed by +her skill; it was an age within the small social unit of which there was +more community of interest, far more fellowship in labour and +partnership in property and sex, than we find in the larger social unit +of to-day."[1] + +In connection with this theory of the "Mother-age" it is interesting to +note that the Etruscans traced their descent through the female line, +and it was from the Etruscans that the Romans derived nearly all their +institutions; thus many of the "initiative forces of civilisation" have +come down to us from women. + +It is believed that the patriarchal system--where the man was the head +of the family, as amongst the Jews--which succeeded the Mother-age, grew +out of the custom of capturing women belonging to other tribes, this +being succeeded later on by purchase, and "as soon as the woman ceased +to be protected by the force of ideas, as soon, that is to say, as she +lost her position as head of the family, her downward path was certain." +But even among primitive people we find that it was an almost universal +custom that a woman should be provided with an independent property, +"Mitgift," though as time went on and the patriarchal system became more +firmly established, it appears that this Mitgift became the husband's +property, and that every bride was expected to bring a dowry to her +husband, whose property she became, thus losing all independence. + +However, in Greece the position of woman, during the Heroic times was to +a certain extent an independent one, as is clear from the poems of Homer +and the treatment of Homeric and Heroic themes by the Athenian +dramatists. But one has only to compare the "Nausicäa" of Homer or the +"Electra" of the Tragedians with the women of the time of Pericles, to +see how much the status of the female sex had deteriorated. The Athenian +wife of that time was treated as a mere "Hausfrau," expected to spend +her whole time at home in the managing of the household, while the +husband satisfied his intellectual tastes by intercourse with the +"Stranger-women" attracted to Athens from other towns. "Thus arose a +most unnatural division of functions among the women of those days. The +citizen-women had to be mothers and housewives--nothing more; the +stranger-women had to discharge the duties of the companions, but remain +outside the pale of the privileged and marriageable class."[2] To this +artificial condition of domestic and social life may be partly +attributed the downfall of Athens, for it is impossible to divide the +functions of woman without serious risk to State and race. + +In ancient Rome the patriarchal system was the prevailing custom. Under +the Roman law the husband was the only member of the family possessing +legal rights. "The family (_familia_) in its original and proper meaning +is the aggregate of members of a household under a common head; this +head was the paterfamilias, the only member of the household who +possesses legal rights."[3] It is true that there were many honoured +women under the Roman Republic, such as Cornelia and Portia, the +daughter of Cato, but the lot of the majority was not an enviable one. +Gradually, however, the tutelage of women became less severe, and +Justinian in revising the whole Roman code placed married and family +life on an altogether new basis, "the husband lost his absolute control +over his wife's dower, and in case of separation he had to restore it +entire." + +Women had been for so long under such strict tutelage that they were +unfit to benefit by these new laws. Doubtless it will be remembered that +the corruption of the women of the period is practically unparalleled in +history, but it must be also borne in mind that the whole system of +Imperial government was so vicious that it was almost impossible for +women to escape from the widespread influence of vice and corruption. + +Christianity as a force began to make itself felt while woman was yet in +this low moral state, and it is not therefore surprising that to the +leaders of Christianity the freedom which women then enjoyed and the +easy method of divorce obtainable were in a large measure responsible +for the vitiated state of Roman life. In their eyes the only means of +producing a more salutary state of affairs was to put a check on what +they considered a menace to a Christian society. + +It is of interest to notice how the attitude of the Early Fathers +towards women differs from that of Our Lord as recorded in the Gospels. +There indeed are women highly honoured, and it is to a woman that Christ +often gives a message of the highest import. It was to Mary Magdalen +that the Risen Lord first appeared and bade her tell the others, and +again it was the woman of Samaria who became the instrument of salvation +to her people. But to the Early Fathers the ascetic ideal was the +predominant one, and in consequence thereof women were treated as the +chief source of temptation to man. "Woman was represented as the door of +Hell, as the mother of all human ills. She should be ashamed at the very +thought that she is a woman. She should live in continual penance on +account of the curses she has brought upon the world. She should be +ashamed of her dress, for it is the memorial of her fall. She should be +especially ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most potent instrument +of the demon."[4] In fact a decree of the Council of Auxerre (A.D. 578) +forbade women to receive the Eucharist in their naked hands owing to +their impurity. + +Unfortunately "the bigotry of the Early Christian teachers gave the +first check to the tendency to freer institutions, the next was given by +the fall of the Empire." + +With the influx of the Teutonic tribes we find a new code of ideas and +morals, but eventually a compromise was effected between the Germanic +and Roman laws. Thus from very early times we find that it was a German +custom to provide every bride with a dower, and this is remarked upon by +Tacitus. Afterwards the Church adopted this custom, which was strangely +enough both Roman and Teutonic in origin. + +From the time when the Empire went down in a cataclysm which shook the +foundations of the world, until the beginning of the Middle Ages, we +hear but little of woman. It was the Sturm and Drang period in the +world's history, in which woman had no real position. The women of the +upper classes were of necessity confined either to the castle or the +convent, and woman's sphere was therefore a small one; man demanded +nothing more than that they should minister to his physical wants in the +short periods of peace he then enjoyed. Hallam says, "I am not sure that +we could trace very minutely the condition of women for the period +between the subversion of the Roman Empire and the First Crusade ... +there seems however to have been more roughness in that social +intercourse between the sexes than we find at a later period."[5] + +With the end of this stormy period comes the dawn of the Age of +Chivalry, and from that time forward until the Reformation, woman +enjoyed a portion at least of her rightful position. It is said that +"Chivalry not only bestowed upon the woman perfect freedom in the +disposal of hand and heart, but required of the knight who should win +her, devoted and lengthened service"; this may be, however, a rather +idealised view of the situation; but there is no doubt that the Court +and the Cloister became the two centres of women's lives, and an +intimate connection was maintained between the two. Nearly all women of +gentle birth were educated in nunnery schools, and by the eighth century +we find that these schools had attained a high standard of learning, +which increased and developed in the succeeding centuries. The convent +afforded a shelter to the woman who did not marry and to whom the +marriage state did not appeal; there she was able to a certain extent to +follow the career she desired, at the same time her personal safety was +assured. "The scholar, the artist, the recluse, the farmer, each found a +career open to him; while men and women were prompted to undertake +duties within and without the religious settlement, which make their +activity comparable to that of the relieving officer, the poor law +guardian, and the district nurse of a later age."[6] It is perhaps of +interest to us to note that the first hospital for lepers in England was +founded by a woman, "good Queen Maud," in 1101 at S. Giles' on the +East. + +The rule of an abbey or a priory called for no mean business capacity on +the part of their heads, and as a rule the abbess and prioress were +women of great business and administrative ability. Before the Norman +Conquest nearly all the nunneries founded in England were abbacies, +subsequently priories were the most usual foundations, as according to +feudal law women were unable to hold property. + +The latter half of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are renowned +throughout history for their women, who, occupying foremost positions in +the government, were clever, cultured, and liberal-minded. One has but +to mention the names of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the "Lady +Margaret" of Oxford and Cambridge; of Leonore d'Este, the mother of +equally famous daughters, Isabella and Beatrice d'Este; Marguerite de +Valois, sister of Francis I., and Isabella of Castile, to conjure up +before one's eyes the whole procession of the proud and capable women of +these days. + +"One and all have been fruitful as successive stages of growth, yet they +can never recur, and only the fanatic or visionary could wish that they +should recur, for each is narrow and insufficient from the standpoint of +a later age." + +In England "the women who were the mothers of the men who created the +great Elizabethan epoch were almost without exception brought up in +nunnery schools"[7] and, alas, the destruction of the nunneries and the +rise of the Puritan spirit sounded the death-knell of women's education. +After the Reformation the position of woman was peculiarly degrading; in +the eyes of the law she possessed practically no status, and "the old +chivalrous feeling for woman seems to have faded out with the romance of +the Middle Ages--she now figured as the legal property of man, 'the +safeguard against sin,' the bearer of children _ad infinitum_." + +So woman was left once more to sink back into a slough of despond, until +with the end of the eighteenth century there arose the humanitarian +movement and the gradual awakening of woman to the sense of her +responsibility, with the inevitable corollary of her rightful position +as the social equal of man. + +If these ideals are to be realised, woman must recognise her +responsibilities and act accordingly. She has proved herself a more than +apt student in all the liberal studies, she has practically forced the +door of nearly all the professions, now she must realise that she must +apply her higher learning to what is probably the most difficult +profession of all, the management of the home, or in other words she +must see that the knowledge she has acquired be adapted and turned to +practical aims. + +Up to the present time the conduct of the home has been regulated purely +by rule of thumb methods; if however in the future it can only be +administered with the same method and scientific exactitude as prevail +in other great business enterprises, the drudgery of housekeeping will +diminish and woman will cease to be a slave to household duties. She +will have more time to devote to the cultivation of her own mind, and +thus, while becoming a more real companion to man, she will be free to +take a more enlightened interest in the education and development of her +children. + +"Incidentally this may go to prove that a sound knowledge of the +household sciences and arts may serve, not to tie a woman more to the +storeroom and kitchen, but to enable her to get better results with the +expenditure of less time and energy, by enabling her to apply to +everything simple and complex within the household the master-mind, +instead of the mind of the uncertain amateur." + +Her responsibilities are great not only as an individual but as a member +of the community to which she belongs; and if she is to fulfil these +responsibilities in respect to the home, she cannot do so without a +thorough scientific preparation. + +The home is the "cradle of life," it was the birthplace of those +industries which to-day form the great centres and constitute the means +of livelihood for millions. In some of these there is reason to believe +that woman took her share as originator. With the process of time, +these primitive practices have grown into the great industries and arts +of to-day, yet it is still to the woman that the call comes to cultivate +and use her taste in these matters, so that when it falls to her to be +responsible for the decoration and furnishing of a house, she may be +able to choose in all departments of life what is _the best_, to the +everlasting benefit of herself and her family, both physically and +morally. + +If man be the producer and distributer of wealth, woman is certainly the +director of consumption. On her rests the responsibility of expending +wisely and well the money entrusted to her for the nutrition and +clothing of her family, and how can this be adequately fulfilled if she +have no real knowledge of the subject beyond what she is able to pick up +as she goes along, a method detrimental to all concerned? Little would +be thought of any business house which entrusted its most delicate +operations to inexperienced buyers, or of any municipality which allowed +its affairs to be conducted by an amateur. Far less would be heard of +misery, poverty, and ill-health if the art of buying and preparing food, +for instance, were properly understood by those whom it most concerns. + +Again, the chief racial responsibility falls on woman; it is just in the +most precious years of childhood that her influence is so potent, and it +is the mother, who besides helping to sow all the ethical and spiritual +seeds, should safeguard the perfect physical condition of her children, +in order that an unimpaired vitality and constitution be handed on from +generation to generation. No proverb is truer than "Mens sana in corpore +sano"; the two go hand in hand together, and their accomplishment is the +proud privilege of the woman. + +From the family flows the life of the nation, and the power to guide it +aright lies largely in the hands of women, whether they be married or +single. With the married woman her own family comes first of all, and +then through it her duty as a citizen; the unmarried woman's duties as a +citizen are manifold, and each year they increase and expand. Nearly all +the activities of public life are open to her; for instance she may sit +on County Councils, Municipal Councils, District Councils, urban and +rural Parish Councils,[8] Boards of Guardians, &c.; in fact in the +growing field of social work, her services are being more and more +recognised as indispensable, and it is impossible in a few words to +enumerate all the possibilities of service which lie before her, both +professional and philanthropic. + +Consequently if a healthy nation is desired, the women of a country must +be educated both academically and scientifically. "If women are to be +fit wives and mothers they must have all, perhaps more, of the +opportunities for personal development that men have. All the activities +hitherto reserved to men must be open to them, and many of these +activities, certain functions of citizenship, for example, must be +expected of them. Moreover, whatever the lines may be along which the +fitness of woman to labour will be experimentally determined, the +underlying position must be established that, for the sake of the +individual and race character, she must be a producer as well as a +consumer of social values."[9] + +Now how is this most desirable end to be attained? The succeeding papers +will deal with the subject _in extenso_; here can only be briefly +indicated the scope and purpose of the majority. + +An eminent authority tells us that "the objects of nature may be +designated as the objective point of view. It is the standpoint of +biology and affords the natural conditions for the successful +investigation of the laws of life, not only of the lower organisms but +of the human race as well."[10] This immediately demonstrates the vital +necessity that women should know something of these fundamental laws of +life, which biology alone can teach, in order that she may apply these +to her ordinary daily life and recognise them as operating in all her +surroundings. + +The transition from this stage to the next is an easy one. Woman +having learnt the laws of life, will immediately view her economic +responsibilities with a clearer eye and fuller understanding. It is +true that throughout the ages woman has striven to acquit herself as +best she could, but until the present day it has mostly been a +groping in the dark, without the aid of any exterior agency. Now +light is beginning to be thrown on many points hitherto obscure. + +Household economics has been well said "to rest on two chief +cornerstones, the economy of wealth and the economy of health, and +encloses the groundwork of human happiness and human aspirations ... +even all departments of science must contribute to its development." + +But a mere knowledge of biology and economics is useless without bodily +efficiency, and true bodily efficiency is only possible where the +environment is favourable to growth and life. It cannot be expected that +full physical development can ever take place in ill-lighted, badly +ventilated, defectively drained or otherwise objectionable houses. And +it must never for a moment be forgotten that if the body be neglected, +then, as an inevitable consequence, the mind and spirit must also become +warped. It is not that we desire man to develop his physical nature at +the expense of his spiritual, but rather that we would see him placed in +such a condition that he is able to apply those great faculties, which +distinguish him from the brute creation, to their highest and best use. + +The ancients recognised in very early times the need of sanitary +precautions to protect themselves from the onslaught of disease and the +consequent decimation of their race. + +We find Mena, King of Egypt (5000 B.C.), mentioning in his Ordinances +that offences in diet were one of the things through which "the genius +of death becomes eager to destroy men." + +The Levitical Laws contain many enactments of a sanitary character, they +are one of the oldest known sanitary codes, and have many wise and +necessary provisions for the health of the people. + +Rules for the conduct of rural life were formulated so far back as +100-500 B.C. in Boeotia. Tarquinus Priscus began and Tarquinus Superbus +completed the great works for the drainage of Rome in the fourth and +fifth centuries B.C., of which the Cloaca Maxima was the most remarkable +feature; even to-day the ancient water-supply of Rome and her system of +baths are still a source of admiration to the modern world. And to +their credit be it said that the Romans carried this knowledge with them +to the countries which they conquered; we find aqueducts at Great +Chester and Lanchester, an arterial sewer at Lincoln, and the well-known +baths at Bath. + +From the destruction of Rome until well-nigh ten centuries later was a +period in which no advance in sanitation was made; on the contrary, +retrogression was the keynote of the time. Warfare, religious +segregation, and the spread of asceticism were the chief reasons for +this; the ideals of both Christian and Pagan were opposed to personal +and public hygiene. "The ascetic violated all laws of personal hygiene, +the monastery's ideal was inconsistent with public hygiene, and both +glorified God by teaching submission to pestilence,"[11] which from time +to time swept over the country, devastating it from end to end. + +But with the increase of trade it became necessary to adopt certain +measures for the preservation of human life, and in 1348 we hear of +the first street-cleaning and quarantine in those two great centres of +commerce, Venice and Cologne. It was in the same year that the most +terrible plague which the world has ever known attacked Britain and +practically depopulated it, finding its chief prey in the filthy +streets of the City. This led in 1379 to an Order in Common Council +for keeping the streets clean. But despite this, all through mediæval +times personal health was shamefully neglected and public health +practically unknown. The consequences are easy to trace; the country +was again and again swept by epidemics which were naturally followed +by severe famines, and thus on every side progress was checked. The Fire +of London at least cleansed London of its filth, and from that time +forward matters began to improve. All through the eighteenth century, +smallpox, typhus, scurvy, and ague were rampant, and it is not till +1834 that we find the beginning of sanitary legislation. In 1837 the +Act for the Registration of Births and Deaths was passed, which at +once provided the indispensable foundation for reliable statistics; +previous to that date all that there was to depend upon were the +Baptismal Registers and the more or less accurate Bills of Mortality. +This has been followed by a long series of Public Health enactments +concerned with practically every department of life. In fact during +the last fifty years the public conscience has been quickened to an +extraordinary degree. Much however has yet to be done which cannot +be touched by legislation, and it is to the woman, who has been trained +in the right conduct of life both private and public, that the world +looks for the preservation of healthy human life, much of which is now +needlessly sacrificed on the altar of ignorance. In many cases the +woman is the only person who can prevent this, therefore she must +equip herself for her high and noble duty with all that Science can +provide and Art can suggest, neither must she forget that her own +home must ever be the starting-point of every endeavour. For the +"Mrs. Jellabies" of this world are not those who help forward its +progress, rather are they the clogs on its wheels. + +Not only charity, but all other virtues begin at home. "So long as the +first concern of a nation is for its homes, it matters little what it +seeks second or third." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] Karl Pearson, "The Chances of Death," p. 3. + + [2] Donaldson, "Woman," p. 58. Longmans & Co. + + [3] Greenridge, "Roman Public Life," p. 18. Macmillan & Co. + + [4] Lecky, "History of European Morals," vol. ii. p. 358. + + [5] Hallam, "History of the Middle Ages." + + [6] Eckstenstein, "Woman under Monasticism," p. 106. + + [7] "The Mediæval Education of Women in England," _Journal of + Education_, June 1909. + + [8] It is interesting, however, to note the following Electoral + Disabilities for women in England and Wales, which, however, do + not exist in Scotland or Ireland:-- + + No married woman can vote in any Town Council election or in any + County Council election outside London. + + No woman owner has any right, in virtue of her ownership, to + vote in any local election. Until 1894 women owners, as such, + were entitled to vote in Poor Law Guardian elections, but the + Local Government Act of that year disfranchised them, while + enlarging the voting rights of men owners. + + No woman lodger can vote in any local election, although men + lodgers can vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian + elections, and in the election of the London County and London + Borough Councils. + + For women there is no service franchise--such as entitles men to + vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian elections, and + in the election of London Borough Councils--_i.e._ no occupation + of a dwelling as an official or servant (for example, as matron + or caretaker) entitles a woman to be placed on the Register. + + For neither men nor women is there any ownership franchise, + lodger franchise, or service franchise for Town Council + elections or for County Council elections outside London. + + [9] Parsons, "The Family," p. 346. + + [10] Lester Ward, "Dynamic Sociology," vol. ii, p. 120. D. Appleton and + Co., New York. + + [11] _Sanitary Record and Journal_, Nov. 24, 1904. + + + + +THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN + +BY WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (DUBLIN) + + +In considering what is the best mental equipment for women in civilised +countries it is as well not to contemplate only the great general facts +of life, such as wifehood, motherhood, and the woman's position in the +household. It is necessary to take into account also the special +characteristics and circumstances of our own times and civilisation; +for, unless a woman is prepared to meet these successfully, she cannot +be deemed adequately equipped, even if from other points of view her +education be ideal. In the beautiful old-fashioned education of Japanese +women we have an instance of such ideal excellence, which is yet proving +unable to cope with the requirements of actual life in modern Japan. + +The most striking, and also the most radical and pervasive, +characteristic of our time is, of course, the progress made in +scientific knowledge. Month by month enormous numbers of facts are, in +every department, added to the knowledge already acquired. To let one's +imagination range, even in a cursory way, over the work that is being +done in chemistry and physics merely as they concern biology--to +enumerate the subdivisions of these sciences, or to look down a list of +recent publications relating to research carried on in them, is enough +to make one's brain reel. + +This ceaseless widening of the borders of knowledge is, we must gladly +allow, most inspiriting; and yet, seen from another side, it may well +give rise to fears. For it is fairly obvious that the progress of human +happiness goes by no means _pari passu_ with this progress of knowledge; +and, on looking more closely, we may even observe miseries and +degradations which can be traced up directly to the practical +application of some of those scientific discoveries. + +To what must we ascribe this? It would seem to be the outcome of two +lines of tendency just now predominant. + +The first of these is that very strong bent towards mere accumulation of +fresh facts which may be noted in the most able and active workers all +over the world. Just as, in other times, the best minds have flung +themselves with enthusiasm upon art or literature or philosophy or +statesmanship or war, so now they fling themselves eagerly upon the +discovery of more and more recondite truths in science--leaving the +ordinary government of affairs, on the whole, to minds of the second +order. + +The next is the reckless way in which isolated scientific +discoveries--more especially in physics and chemistry--are brought to a +practical application and introduced into the scheme of everyday human +life. This is done without consideration of anything beyond ensuring +some obvious superficial convenience, and--what is a principal +determinant--the opening up of new financial enterprises. Advantages of +a sort no doubt are won--but often only at a fearfully disproportionate +cost. The game--if we would but look at it unconventionally, from the +standpoint of true biological science--is not worth the candle; for it +involves a sacrifice of life itself to what can hardly be considered +even as the means of life. + +Thus the chemicals used to preserve food impair its nutritive qualities; +while other chemicals, as well as a number of ingenious mechanical +processes, serve to facilitate adulteration. We all know how difficult +it is to obtain pure milk and butter, or pure bread from pure flour, or +jams made with sugar from fresh and good fruit. Bread may be made from +flour which has passed through no less than seven processes,--a sad +contrast this to the old home-made bread, the product of home-ground +meal, whole and sweet as nature made it. What is sold in enormous +quantities to the people as sugar, whether alone or as part of +preserves, turns out often to be glucose. Butter, so-called, is often +only skilfully-treated fats, the weight helped out by water. These three +articles of diet alone, when adulterated as they thus often are, mean +serious deterioration in the food--and therefore in the physique--of the +nation; and to them we have yet to add the effect of the chemicals used +for keeping fish and meat in place of the genuine, old-fashioned +pickling, salting, and smoking. + +Machinery, again, growing ever more and more complicated, has destroyed +an incalculable wealth of traditional activity: and therewith, +generation by generation, it tends to destroy the finest capacities of +individual men and women, whether producers or consumers of the finished +product. The consumers suffer through the lack of opportunity to acquire +and exercise manual dexterity and resourcefulness--as well as through a +great lack of experimental knowledge. The producers suffer through the +monotony and narrowness of their labour. + +We may take as other instances of recklessness our common use of +unprotected illuminants--electric light and incandescent +gas-mantles--which give off ultra-violet rays injurious to the eyes; the +use of portable electric lamps and switch lampholders, which is by no +means free from risk; and again the extreme recklessness of the +so-called "medical electrician," who will actually venture to give +electrical massage to a patient immediately after wet pack.[12] + +As a last example we may take the rage for speed, and in particular +the use of electrically driven motor-cars. The exact effects upon the +human frame of the rapid motion, of the vibrations, of the presence +of the electric current and escaping gas have never been adequately +investigated--though sundry ill consequences of motor-driving have +been noted without any diminution of the practice. + +A very cursory reflection may show us that, while the progress of +science is the great characteristic fact of modern life to which we all +have to adjust ourselves, we must be prepared not only to take advantage +of the good it offers, but also to discern and counteract the perils it +brings with it, when applied to human life in our present somewhat +random way. + +The random nature of our proceedings may be illustrated from yet another +side. There are a number of facts and principles, long since agreed upon +as truly ascertained, which have never, or only very partially, been +brought to bear upon custom and daily life. We all know that plenty of +fresh air is a first condition of health and vigour; and are so far +convinced of this verity that open-air treatment is generally accepted +as the proper mode of attacking and mastering consumption. Yet we crowd +together into cities: our houses are often very imperfectly ventilated, +and our public buildings--churches, theatres, halls, schools and +institutions, as well as our railway-carriages and tram-cars--provide +only for the very minimum of change of air. Similar neglect of +definitely ascertained facts may be seen in dress, in food and drink, in +furniture, in occupations. Noise is well known to be injurious to the +brain, and destructive to thought: more than that, it has been +discovered that it is harmful to the viscera. We insist, more or less, +upon quiet for the sick: but no trouble is taken about quiet for those +who are well. Our thoroughfares echo with noises of all kinds, from the +roar of traffic to the howling and whistling of errand-boys; and the +authorities would be much surprised if they were accounted specially +negligent for not making some effort to suppress them. Yet to any +biologically trained person this noise must appear not disagreeable +merely, but a real handicap to the health and energy of the community. +Wherever faithfulness to scientific principle involves trouble without +prospect of money-making, it is likely to be shirked, however great the +benefits known to come from it. + +This is not entirely due to laziness, nor yet to ignorance, it is due +quite as much to circumstance and to the pressure of our present social +institutions. It is closely bound up with the great social question of +the ownership of land, and with the husbandry and use of the resources +of the land, our rivers and our sea-shore. Wasting a great measure of +what these have to give us, polluting them in different ways by our +manufactures and by the refuse of our cities, we are constraining whole +masses of our population to look to the work and the products of other +countries for the first necessities of life. Whole masses of our +population are removed from direct contact with the soil, which is the +nursing-mother not only of the body, but also of the mind of man; the +people and the land being thus alike impoverished. Inquiring how so +dangerous an error can have arisen, we may find at least part of its +cause to lie in an ignorance of the fundamental principles of biology, +the science of life. + +What, it may now be asked, is to be done to counteract these +disadvantages and dangers? And, again, how does all this bear on the +equipment of women? + +Taking the latter question first: it is indisputable that an enormous +proportion of our commerce and manufactures is concerned with food and +with articles required for the home. But things for the home are made to +be dealt with and used by women. In so far as science comes in and +modifies this material it is imperative that women should be placed in a +position, not only to know what are the essentials for life, but also to +criticise and estimate accurately that which is offered to them as +scientific improvement. For we need, in this connection also, to +remember that science can only be fought by science--that is, by +knowledge belonging to the same plane. + +We have now in part answered our former question. What we need is a +central or basal science to which--for practical purposes and in regard +to its practical application--the work done in other sciences can be +brought to be accepted, or rejected, or modified. This central science +can, in the very nature of things, be none other than biology: the +science, that is, which gives an account of the functions and +inter-relations and structure of all living things, and deduces +therefrom those principles which, in a rather loose way, we speak of as +the laws of life. + +It would, we think, be a very happy turn of affairs if, not all, but +some of that genius, which is now spending itself in the research for +fresh facts, could be diverted to the work of correlating with one +another facts already known, and bringing all those that are appropriate +to be grouped as it were in order of service around biology. + +But perhaps not less important than this is what we may call the +practical synthetic work of women in their households. There are, +indeed, two circumstances which would give the ordinary woman of average +intelligence, if she were but adequately instructed, some advantage, so +far as the service of mankind goes, over even the most brilliant man of +genius. The first is the vantage-ground of her position in the home--at +the very point, that is, where so many sciences thrust themselves up +together to the surface of actual life--where in some way or other, +however roughly, they have to be correlated, compared, their different +claims adjusted. The second is the natural inclination of the womanly +mind towards synthesis rather than analysis, towards practice rather +than theory. + +We ought now to consider rather closely--exhaustively we cannot--what +is included under the term Biology. It stood for some time chiefly to +mean an account of the structures of animals and plants, structure +being pursued into ever further minuteness, down to the cell and the +constituents and parts of the cell. With this has gone insistent +inquiry into the process of reproduction and growth; and more lately, +in bio-chemistry and bio-physics, the conformity of living substance +to the order recognised in non-living matter has been, and is being, +most eagerly investigated. And now a school of biologists is arising +whose aim is the vindication of the claims of function as against +the too exclusive study of structure. Function, of course, involves +activity; and activity, in a complex, multicellular organism, involves +the interplay of parts. This interplay, again, cannot be studied +without reference to the environment, and to the relations between the +organism in question and others--whether of its own or of other species. +In this way it seems likely that biology--moving as it were in a +spiral--will by-and-by return, though at a much higher level, to the +standpoint of the older naturalists, whose interest in plants and +animals was focussed more upon their activities, habits of life and +special environment than upon their morphology--and even disdained +not to consider their possible uses for man. Also, more thoroughly and +extensively than before, the study of man himself is being caught up +into the great web of Biology. It is seen as an integral part of +Biology, and pursued in the biological spirit. Whether we look to +psychology on the one hand, or to anthropology and its associated +sciences on the other, the present is a most propitious moment for +drawing public attention to this vast science, as being the true +centre and foundation of that practical knowledge which is needed as +a guide, and also as a stimulus, for practical everyday life. + +It will, of course, be instantly objected that the subject is indeed +vast--much too vast. But not too vast, surely, if, by means of a very +simple principle, we select out what is of immediate definite use, and +necessary for everybody, from what may be, by the majority, safely left +on one side. We shall then get, on this side, the highly specialised +Biology of the laboratory with its minute researches and nicely +calculated experiments, and, on that, what we may, for our present +purpose, call Common-sense Biology. + +Just one word of explanation is perhaps needed at the outset. +Common-sense Biology does not mean anything like that slipshod dealing +with miscellaneous phenomena of nature which sometimes goes by the name +of Nature Study. It is a course of work systematic and strictly +scientific, conducted as truly as any other in the scientific spirit. It +presents, however, two points of contrast with special or analytical +Biology, in that, whereas, in analytical Biology, a beginning may be +made practically anywhere, with any series of facts one may prefer to +take first, in Common-sense Biology there is only one right mode of +starting, and that of the utmost importance; while, secondly, +Common-sense Biology combines some of the characteristics of an art with +the ordinary characteristics of a science. + + +COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY + +It is this latter form of the science--this science, which is also an +art--that we would advocate as essential for the equipment of women. +With this view let us examine it further. + +And first, what is its proper starting-point? Its proper starting-point +is accurate instruction concerning the living things with which the +student is, or can easily be, brought into immediate practical contact. +And, again, in the study of these living things--plants and animals +alike--attention is directed first towards the organism in its totality +and in its activities--towards function rather than towards structure; +and also towards mode of life, relations with environment, and, where +possible, towards its use or danger to mankind. Structure will, no +doubt, early have to be introduced, but only in its larger details as +explanatory of function, for the sake of a better knowledge of the +animal or plant as a whole. + +What are to be the types and examples of organisms studied? + +This is an important question, and the writer would most strongly urge +that the principle of selection should be that of locality; that the +student should start with those plants and animals--both wild and +domestic--which are to be found within a given radius of the place where +she is living and working. The first things to know about are habit, +activity, inter-relation and use to human beings. In respect to these, +the presence of one organism will react upon others, and therefore no +plant or animal within the area should be lightly overlooked. + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIOLOGY + +We must not, however, confine attention to the higher multicellular +animals and plants. One of the most important factors in the environment +is the existence of bacteria; and it is of great importance that an +outline of bacteriology should be included in our course of Common-sense +Biology. This outline should be kept close to the common necessities of +everyday life. For the sake of making clear and real to the mind the +manner in which bacteria multiply and the extreme rapidity of the +process, a certain amount of microscopical work ought to be done, the +examples being few, but carefully chosen. This kind of work, +nevertheless, should be kept subordinate. The effects wrought by +bacteria in water, earth and air, in stored foodstuffs, and in the +tissues of the living body are the important subjects for study; and +naturally, connected with these, the conditions which permit the access +of bacteria or which, in the case of noxious bacteria, will best ensure +protection. + +The rationale of toxins and anti-toxins, with the relations of these to +the blood-serum should also, in a general way, be known; and moreover +the student should be prepared to learn that many diseases, which are +at present very imperfectly understood--we may take, for instance, forms +of insanity--have their _vera causa_ in the action of toxins, and +require to be treated accordingly. + +Perhaps, for those who cannot take more than the shorter courses of our +Common-sense Biology, it will be sufficient to consider only those forms +of inimical bacteria which we have to combat in our own islands. But the +writer would strongly urge that, at least among women of the leisured +classes, this instruction should be extended to cover the bacterial and +other minute parasitic forms of disease most prevalent in our colonies +and in our foreign possessions. The wives of officers, civil servants +and missionaries ought to know, in a clear, scientific way, the causes, +modes of attack, and methods of prevention of the principal tropical +diseases, so far as these have at present been made out. + + +METHOD OF STUDY + +What should be the method of this study? + +The sketching out of a course would be far beyond the scope of this +paper. Here it may only be said that the work must, of necessity, fall +into two main parts. There must be, on the one hand, field-naturalist's +work, for the greater proportion of the animals and plants studied +ought--so far as is in any way practicable--to be observed in their +natural surroundings; and there must be, on the other hand, work allied +to that of the gardener and farmer, the rearing of selected plants and +animals for purposes of experiment and of closer examination. Nothing +worth mentioning can be done on either of these lines without some study +of the food and climatic conditions required by each creature; and this +will involve a study of soils, temperature, atmosphere, and so on--and +also a study of the nutrient properties of those organisms which furnish +forth the food of other organisms. From this knowledge, gained thus +through direct observation and experiment, would be deduced the general +principles which--so to express it--govern life; and upon it as +foundation would be reared the more specialised knowledge of all that +pertains strictly to the life of mankind. Throughout the aim should be +to use books mainly for reference. + +It is not necessary--as it might have been a few years ago--to show that +a training on these lines is better, as a preparation for life, than +that offered by the ordinary school and university curriculum; but it +may be worth while to show how far and why it is superior to a +well-planned course in the analytical biology of the laboratory. The +superiority is surely twofold: in that the kind of knowledge acquired is +of greater practical utility; and, again, in that the development which +it ensures, to the powers, bodily and mental of the student, is more +varied, thorough, and effective. + + +COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY AS AN ART + +As has been said, this Common-sense Biology partakes of the nature of an +art. Now it is characteristic of any art that, for its satisfactory +exercise, it demands not only knowledge, but also intuition;--not only +conscious volition, reflection, and endeavour, but also subconscious +nervous and muscular activity, and, together with that, a certain +emotional state--a trend, tendency, disposition of the whole being, +which likewise is chiefly subconscious. + +Without such a disposition to begin with you cannot have an artist. +Neither will you get an artist, if, on the other hand, this disposition +is never given an opportunity for displaying itself and developing its +capacities. You cannot play an instrument properly if you have no music +in you, and the music in you will never come forth if you have no +instrument to play upon. When disposition and opportunity are happily +met, and the true artist arises, it is in the subconscious that the +chief riches, gained by her work and experience, are stored, and from +the subconscious that she draws her skill; while in the subconscious, +again, lie the mysterious sources of original inspiration. We all know +well how over-consciousness spoils art, as it spoils most kinds of +action. The happiest effects, the loveliest deeds spring, as it were, +spontaneously. + +What is true of such arts as music and poetry is at least equally true +of the art of living. The rich and well-harmonised subconsciousness is +the proximate source whence all that is strongest and most beautiful in +human activity is derived. The domestic arts, conversation, power of +rapid judgment at a crisis, the care of the sick, the care of children, +tactful daily dealing with one's fellows, all these, and so much else, +we recognise to be dependent for perfection upon practice; and that is +only another way of saying that they depend on the efficiency and the +character of the subconscious. But the character and efficiency of each +person's subconscious being depend in their turn--not solely, yet +principally--first, upon the knowledge she has acquired, and secondly, +upon the actions she has habitually performed. Action and being, as we +all know full well, are for ever acting and reacting upon one another. + +Action is a more potent influence upon the subconscious even than +knowledge; and when to mere activity there is added emotion--such +emotion, for instance, as pleasure or love, or solicitude, or desire for +truth--we may feel assured we have brought into play the most powerful +of all the forces which, in an ordinary way, go to vivify and to form +human character. + +The subconscious is even more important for women than for men, because +women have more calls upon their emotions, and more need for intuition, +and also more need for general resourcefulness and skill. It is because +the Common-sense Biology whose claims we are urging involves so much +activity, such care, quickness of observation, patience and ready wit, +that it makes a better preparation for life than the more highly +specialized work in the Biology of the laboratory alone could be. + + +THE GAINS AND LOSSES OF CIVILISATION + +Is there, it may now be asked, anywhere any definite evidence to bear +out this contention. There is: and in abundance. For it, however, we +must look away from civilised communities, especially from the educated +portion of their populations. Civilisation, no doubt, gives much; but it +also takes much away. It has taken away much of the traditional lore of +women, and more and more of their traditional activities. This does not +merely mean that the practical ability and knowledge of civilised women +is greatly restricted; it means also that the peculiar intuitive wisdom +of women--the fruit of a richly-stored subconsciousness--is much +diminished. In capacity for pure thought the educated woman of civilised +communities no doubt excels all the rest: in most other respects the +barbarian or savage woman will--with some few exceptions--probably be +found her superior, whether judged merely by her mastery of the +conditions amid which she has to work, or, more broadly, by the amount +of her real knowledge and the range of her effective capacities. + +Take, as an example, the Eskimo woman, who is considered to represent +the woman of palæolithic times. As there is no Eskimo Board of +Education--no paraphernalia of Primary, Secondary, Technical, and other +Schools, with their red tape and officialism--she is free to carry on +the tradition of her ancestresses, and to rear, in the good old ways, +children who grow up to be sturdy men and women. The preparation she had +for her task was chiefly that of watching and imitating her own mother. +Thus, as a child, she followed all the processes of turning the dead +reindeer to account--learning thereby an economy and an unwillingness to +waste which were essentially scientific--learning, too, subconsciously. +She saw the flesh of the reindeer made into pemmican--cut into thin +slices, and dried in the sun or in the smoke of a slow fire, then +pounded between stones (the use of stones is worth noticing) and stored +under a cover of melted fat, poured over it in due proportion. She saw +the bones--after the marrow had been extracted from them--pounded down +and boiled to get out the residual fat; the horns set aside to make +fish-hooks, chisels, needles, and fishing-spears, work for the long +winter evenings; the skin carefully dressed with a split bone and cut +into shape to make clothing, and snow-shoes, thongs, bow-strings, +fishing-nets, and so on. The very tendons make threads for sewing: and +the garments thus fashioned are not only strong and serviceable, but +beautiful with that particular beauty, which may perhaps be called +barbaric, but which almost invariably denotes vigour and fulness of +subconscious life. The Eskimo women also make their own boats and their +own tools; they are good fishers and hunters. Their year's work +comprises an exercise of dexterity and quick wit of which the ordinary +Englishwoman can have no idea. + +We might take as another example the North American Indian woman, with +her varied forest-lore; but, since space is limited, let us pass for one +further illustration to the despised Australian aboriginal. She too +knows and does things worthy of our admiration and imitation. For +instance the English housewife's preparation of the household food is +nothing like so conscientious as the Australian's, whose proceedings +have the keen disinterested concentration proper to a bit of scientific +research. Thus, to take but one example of the processes connected with +the preparation of one form of food--a seed of a species of eucalyptus: +"With a hooked stick she pulls down the terminal branches of the tree +and spreads them out to dry on a piece of ground cleared for the +purpose. After allowing them to lie there for a period determined by +temperature, she collects the distal ends of the branches, damps them +and brushes the seeds off into water. For a period of two or more hours +these seeds are kept soaking, but the water is repeatedly changed, so as +to remove all traces of the 'gum.' After this they are dried and ground +on a stone. Again, she builds their rough, but wisely devised home most +carefully according to ancient tradition. She takes her little girl, +armed with a miniature digging-stick, out to track the honey-ant with +her, and to learn by the way what are the birds and beasts and plants, +friendly or inimical, which surround their home-camp." + +Alongside of this direct learning about nature goes the learning of the +legends and traditions of the tribe, together with the customary +dances, rituals, and religious practices. The activity of savage life is +everywhere such that no anomalies like our physical exercises are +needed,--for the physique of the young men and women is as graceful, +strong, and enduring as need be. + +If we turn to savage or barbarian peoples higher in the scale we shall +find their knowledge, abilities, and accomplishments higher and also +more varied. But, on the whole, until we come to the average modern +woman of a civilised community, we shall find that the women--through +their happily developed subconsciousness--are equal to the best the +community requires of them. They do not call their training Common-sense +Biology, but that is what it practically is. They know all about their +surroundings, and what to do therein. And grace and beauty wait upon +what they do. + +This ideal is not, however, quite without parallel among the more highly +civilised peoples. The Greeks conceived of Athene, the great goddess of +wisdom and of war, as also Athene Ergane, the Workwoman, the goddess of +handicrafts in the home. In our own country--to take examples near to us +and familiar--the names of Caroline Herschel, Jane Austen, the Brontës, +Mary Somerville, and George Eliot not only attest the fact that +exquisite skill in domestic arts is not, in a woman, incompatible with +learning and genius, but may also lead us to suspect that the exercise +of this skill actually aided and furthered their better-known +achievements. + +In our civilised communities--from the point of view of the +subconscious--women are in two ways at a disadvantage. First, excessive +division of labour, with our dependence upon machinery, has made the +life of the State far more complicated than in former days; and +secondly, the activity of the individual, from the same causes, is far +more monotonous, far less well-calculated to bring out all her powers +and train her being as a whole, than it used to be. Hence, as we said, +women have lost a good deal subconsciously--even though, in +consciousness, they may have gained. + +There is nothing in which the character of the subconscious is more +clearly seen than in a person's attitude towards the great mysteries of +life: towards birth and marriage and death on the one hand--towards +religion on the other. It is, of course, matter of common knowledge that +in regard to marriage the customs of some savage tribes are what we +should describe as licentious. A truer understanding of the savage mind +has, however, mitigated many of the judgments passed even upon the worst +of these practices--at least in so far as they were taken to indicate +gross inward depravity on the part of the women. And among many peoples +there are found laws and customs of real beauty and noble significance, +witnessing to reverence, fine intuition, and real care for the highest +good of the tribe. And in general of all savage races it may be said +that whatever their laws and customs are--though perhaps born of +ignorance and selfishness--they feel seriously about them as about +sacred things, and observe them scrupulously. + +The better side is exemplified chiefly by the women. When +anthropological work is more largely undertaken by women, and when, +through their sympathy, the jealously guarded secrets of the women's +tradition, now almost entirely unknown, are yielded up to us, it is +probable that our conceptions of savage life and thought will have to be +radically modified. However that may be, it is even now sufficiently +well known that the women do not leave the question of reproduction and +marriage to chance in the education of their girls. The girls are +definitely, carefully, and it would seem often tenderly, taught; and if, +among some peoples, they are made to undergo great sufferings, a closer +study usually reveals in these the effects of the long subjection of the +women to the cruelty and uncontrolled passions of the men. All this +should not blind us to the fact that the maternal instinct is here +actively grappling with the great realities of life: and we may contrast +this with the ways of the modern woman who, less developed in +subconsciousness, is not so forcibly impelled to make any such attempt, +and, for the most part, practically lets the whole thing slide. Here, as +in other directions, the fuller development of the subconscious would +compel and also enable us to correct a grave omission: while the +knowledge necessarily acquired concerning reproduction and birth in the +course of biological work would fill up that which has hitherto often +been wanting even in the best-inspired women who have dealt with this +question. + +It must by now have been made clear that our object in advocating this +Common-sense Biology is to recover what was excellent in the equipment +of the women of the past, and to unite it with what is most excellent, +and most germane to woman's life, in the methods and knowledge of the +present. Since modern household life is deficient in the requisite +opportunities we are obliged to have recourse to definite educational +schemes. But education of this sort will assuredly continue to be +necessary even after many improvements in the home have been brought to +pass; because it will always be necessary to keep the knowledge and +activities of women in correspondence with the advance of science. At +the same time it is worth while to remember that the earlier the child +begins to observe living things, to live with them, learn about them, +and take care of them, the better the final result will be; while the +ideally trained mother in the ideal home, herself practical and active, +will be able to do more for her children in this regard than most +people, perhaps, would now dream of. + + +THE INFLUENCE OF COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGICAL TRAINING ON SOCIAL WORK + +Biological training of the order we have been considering is, we +believe, desirable for all women in the interests, first, of the home +and of the rearing of children. But it is equally desirable for the +women who are not destined to be wives and mothers, and particularly so +as a foundation for any kind of university work, even for the different +literary or philosophical schools. + +Here it is, perhaps, worth while to urge upon women the claims of the +other great division of Biology, that of the laboratory. A considerable +number of women who go up to the universities have, indeed, intellectual +abilities deserving special cultivation, yet abilities which show no +very distinct inclination in any one direction. These have been very +commonly drafted into the study of history. It may be questioned whether +some branch of Biology would not be better for them, and more useful to +the community. Women working at Biology in the universities ought to +serve, and to aim at serving, as the channels by which each fresh +addition of scientific knowledge finds its way to, and its appropriate +place in, the schemes of Common-sense Biology generally obtaining. + +In another field--the field of public work--it is to be hoped that ere +long a knowledge of biology will come to be considered a _sine quâ non_ +for women. It would be superfluous to point out in how many kinds of +public work women are gradually coming to the fore--in those especially +which deal with education and with the care of the disabled. Already the +influence and the peculiar gifts of women have in some degree made +themselves felt; but these might operate much more powerfully if they +were more commonly associated with scientific knowledge--with a +knowledge of those branches of biology, more especially of bio-chemistry +and bio-physics, which bear most nearly upon humanity. + +It would take up too much space to give an account of the many ways in +which biology is here of service: two great lines of utility may just be +indicated as examples. + +First, biology would lead to certain modifications of +practice--particularly in our treatment of children, and of persons +deemed criminal or insane. The biologist, when anything was +amiss--before she pronounced any one to be mentally or morally unsound, +defective, or bad--would presume, to start with, that there was some +definite physical trouble to be set right, not necessarily anything +dangerous in itself or mysterious. In New York they now make it a rule +to examine for adenoids every young offender against the law, before +punishing him; and it is amazing how often adenoids are found, and when +removed carry the child's wickedness away with them. Adenoids and divers +glands are responsible for a great proportion of youthful wrongdoing; +and yet other physical troubles will account for a great proportion of +the rest. The writer herself once came across a young girl who was, in +intention and attempt, a murderess--yet was so only through the effect +of a common physical condition, easy enough to treat when once +ascertained. Until our general conception of a child--or indeed of a +human being--is a more truly biological one, framed more closely upon +the facts of its bodily life, we shall have but little effective +intuition into its state. And such a sound biological conception is not +to be had apart from some good measure of sound biological knowledge. + +When, however, the most careful observation reveals no local or +definite mischief to be dealt with in the person under consideration, +the biologist will still not hastily set him down as bad--or even as +unsound or defective. He will next suspect that he is one whose physical +organisation is not fitted for its environment: if he can be placed in +a better environment perhaps he will grow better. If this change is, +from whatever circumstances, impossible, the biologist in treating +him, however troublesome he may be, will still never regard him as +wholly responsible for what he is, will still try to ascertain the +exact ways in which the environment presses injuriously upon him, and +to help him in those definite particulars. If we desire the work of +our reformatories and prisons and the disciplinary work of our +schools really to be and not merely to appear effective, it is only by +such nicely-calculated methods that we shall attain our object. + +This brings us to our second point. Biology, when a knowledge of it is +more widely spread among us, will assuredly work a change in public +opinion. We have among us thousands of men and women whom we account +failures in life; whose existence constitutes our gravest social +problem. The drunkard, the wastrel, the thief, the prostitute--these are +characters whom society thrusts out. They have proved themselves +unfitted for their environment; they cannot act in it with any +regularity or seemliness: its laws are not their laws. And the +assumption most generally is that these are beings of a lower stamp than +the average, unhappily surviving in, or at war with, an environment +which postulates a nobler sort of men and women. Is it so? + +The finer and more delicately poised a mechanism--whether it be chemical +balance, galvanometer, electroscope or what not--the more sensitive is +it to its surroundings. Thus the instruments once at Kew Observatory +have had to be transferred to the wilds of Scotland to ensure their +perfect working--rendered impossible at Kew by the noise and vibrations +of encroaching London. Thus, again, the mind of Darwin required for its +proper functioning the quiet of a study at Down, in the heart of the +country. A ray of light will spoil a delicate experiment: the presence +in an observatory of one steel key will hinder the work of the +instruments. A boy commits suicide because of the noise of the factory +in which he is compelled to work. A girl drowns herself because the +worries of her home are intolerable. + +The point I would press is that these different examples belong +fundamentally to the same category. Whether it be the instrument devised +by man, or whether it be the human nervous system itself, that which we +are looking at is a mechanism too delicate for the cruel exigencies of +an unyielding gross environment. We have but to reflect on one organ +alone--on the exceeding fineness of structure, and nicety of adjustment, +and definiteness of sense-limit, of the eye--in order to realise that +the comparison between the human nervous system and the most delicate of +our delicate instruments is more than justifiable. + +How do we know, when dealing with any given drunkard, that we have not +before us a fine, fine nature, to which the harsh and low conditions of +our Western civilisation have simply proved intolerable? How do we know +that, instead of blaming him and trying to adjust him to the world, we +ought not rather to blame the world, and try to make it a fit place for +him to live in? + +This consideration--strictly scientific as it is--ought to have very +great weight in that new department of biological work which has been +named Eugenics. Before lightly saying of any stock that it is not good +to breed from, or that it is good to breed from, pains should surely be +taken to ascertain whether irregularities and disease evinced by members +of that stock do not in reality proceed from their superiority to their +environment and to the average men and women about them. Individually +they may be irreclaimable, yet, thrown out of gear, miserable and wasted +as they are, they may be the carriers of the finest hopes of humanity, +of a promise for the fulfilment of which we are not yet ready. Perhaps +there is a tendency to be a little over-hasty in our estimates of good +and bad stocks to breed from. Perhaps we have not yet fully learnt +either the significance of recessive characters or the importance of the +mere fact that the unit-characters of a human being are immensely +numerous, and their inter-relations therefore extremely intricate. And +yet, again, perhaps we are too intolerant of variety, too eager for +uniformity. + +Here in England we have a mixed population, sprung from many diverse +origins. The differences between individuals are many and great. Yet the +majority of the population is thrust into the grooves of one educational +system, and thereafter compelled to settle down to occupations and modes +of life which are the same for thousands together. Any attempt to leave +the common rut is looked at askance. What wonder that there are rebels, +and that the rebels are unhappy! A society constructed in conformity to +true biological principles, instead of suppressing variety would give it +welcome as one of the most precious of national characteristics, and +would purposely adjust itself and its systems with more accuracy so as +to give every sort and type of person the best possible chance for +developing his or her peculiar gifts. In a society so constituted, very +rare indeed would be the occurrence of insanity. + +These considerations should have weight in yet another direction: in +determining the counsel which ought to be given to girls as to the +choice of a mate. + +The importance of soundness of stock has here too been well brought into +prominence by the workers in Eugenics; and perhaps it may not be amiss +to make one or two suggestions with a view to obviating a too narrow +application of the principle of the sound stock. + +We must remember, first, that disease is not necessarily evidence of +unsoundness. Like some forms of moral obliquity, it may be merely +evidence of a quality in the stock which renders it unable to tolerate a +given environment. And this quality may be in itself an excellence of +the most precious kind. This would be the true account of many cases of +insanity, while others would be covered by the action of toxins on the +brain. Heredity, we are told in many instances of "insanity," is more +probably a heredity of "special liability to the production of toxins or +to the action of toxins on the brain," than heredity of insanity proper. +This view will naturally entail modifications in our methods of treating +the "insane," as well as a considerable change in public opinion with +regard to the significance of insanity. + +And, secondly, we must remember the importance of the environment, more +especially of the human part of it. A man of sound stock is very +commonly brought up as a sportsman, whose first idea is to kill; or as +an idler, whose chief occupations are eating, drinking, and smoking, +with travel and some amount of gambling thrown in by way of variety. Or +he may easily be above all things a money-maker and a lover of money. +His habits of this sort will determine to a very great extent the +early--and that is the critical--environment of his children. The +tendency in his family will be towards uniformity, towards one level, +and that not a high level, of thought, activity, and character. His +example and influence will go very far to counteract the advantages +presumably ensured by the soundness of his stock. + +On the other hand, a man whose ancestry is eugenically not flawless +may have such wide interests, so many and such fine powers, so much +skill in different activities, and so high and generous a personal +ideal, that the environment which his manner of life would make for his +children--the inspiration he would be to them--might well be expected +very largely, if not wholly, to counteract the disadvantages of defects +in the stock. + +No doubt this principle should be applied with all reasonableness and +care, but it is extremely important for the highest welfare, for the +development of the best possibilities of the people, that it should be +definitely recognised. + + +ANTHROPOLOGY A BRANCH OF BIOLOGY + +A word must here be said as to the importance--more especially to the +biological student who aims at social work--of some knowledge of +Anthropology. Biology is, in fact, incomplete without anthropology; for +in its absence there is a danger of applying biological principles too +summarily, and therefore unscientifically, to humanity. Anthropology, of +course, goes behind art and history and the literary ideas current among +civilised peoples. It gives life and meaning to customs, legends, +handicrafts, details of dress, ornament, and furniture which otherwise +go unheeded or misunderstood. It helps to interpret for us the ways of +contemporary peoples and classes which are on a level different from our +own. It gives a unity in infinite diversity to our whole conception of +humanity. When more widely studied, there can be little doubt that it +will cause us to reconstruct many of our judgments, both concerning the +history of the past and concerning the civilisations of the present +day. + +We cannot but believe that a time will come when it will be assumed of +all women that they know the broad truths of biology, just as it is now +assumed that they know the alphabet. It will be taken for granted that +they have mastered the essential domestic arts with their own hands, +just as we now take for granted they can write with their own hands. We +shall have reached then the beginning of a new era--an era which we may +hope will unite the excellences, moral, æsthetic, and hygienic, of +earlier times, with the excellences, more purely intellectual and +scientific, of our own day. + + +WOMAN'S SYNTHETIC POWERS AS AN INSTRUMENT TO EFFICIENCY + +The most effective instruments for bringing this about are the synthetic +powers of woman herself, combined with her practical skill and her ready +intuition. As we have tried to show, the best chance for the eliciting +and the disciplining of these powers of hers, so as best to fit them for +the struggle of modern life, is afforded by biology. + +It must be clear how many reforms--impossible to the nominally educated +women of the present day--would flow easily from this better training of +women; for those so trained could certainly not endure the futility of +some of our educational ideals, nor that haphazard disregard of the +nature and needs of the child, which still characterises so much of our +educational method. They could not support the continuance of many of +the common evils of modern life--the noise and dirt, the brutality of +manners, the scamping of work, the rush for pleasure. These, however +they may or may not affect the adult, are plainly impairing the best +promise of the children; and that fact will be enough for the truly +educated woman. + +Knowing, too, as she will, more accurately and scientifically than women +to-day generally know, how largely energy and depression, irritability +and calm strength are questions of right or wrong food, the educated +woman may be trusted to find a means to put an end to the crying +iniquity of adulteration. Directly or indirectly, by the pressure of her +determination that the race shall no longer be offered a sacrifice to +Mammon, she will assuredly find a way to put an end to all not +absolutely necessary dangerous trades. + +The opposition of such women to what is wrong in social custom, in +government, in education, will be a very different thing from the +opposition of well-meaning but imperfectly instructed women on the one +hand; or, on the other, that of a few thoroughly trained and informed +ones working more or less in isolation, scattered over the country. It +would mean a body of sound, enlightened, disinterested public opinion, +so vast, so far-reaching, yet so intimately cognisant of all the little +daily details of life in the home, that it is difficult to see what +other body of opinion could be found mighty enough to resist it. + +If, unhappily, this advance should not be made--if our present Western +civilisation be allowed to run unchecked down the groove into which it +has sunk--there seems nothing before it but destruction. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [12] "The Electrical Resistance of the Human Body." Gee and Brotherton, + Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 1910. + + + + +SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +BY MRS. W. N. SHAW + + +The slow development of the demand for the training of girls of the +middle and upper classes in the details of household management has been +to a great extent due to the common observation that persons of +imperfect education are frequently proficient in the domestic arts, and +to the assumption that good housekeeping consists entirely in the +efficient exercise of those arts. + +The fact that in the early Victorian period girls living much at home +learned, almost insensibly, from their mothers the routine of daily +duties in the house, has made elder women look askance on the lectures +dealing with domestic economy which appear to them so needless, and has +led them to foster the superstition that woman _qua_ woman should be +equal to any demand that may be made upon her as organiser of her own +household. + +That the housekeeping of to-day is more complex than that of half a +century ago is incredible to the older woman who remembers the baking +and brewing, and divers other matters, that demanded the attention of +the notable housewives of the forties and fifties of the nineteenth +century. That the horizon of women's lives has widened, and that other +interests than those appertaining to their immediate circle claim their +attention, is not acceptable to all; it is however the claims of these +outside interests that have awakened in the more thoughtful the desire +so to order their households that they may in some degree free +themselves from petty cares, and be able to help in the amelioration of +the lives of less fortunate persons; or to pursue other branches of +knowledge in which they have learned to take a keen intellectual +pleasure. + +It is a paradox that one of the difficulties with which the modern +mistress has to contend is the fact that her house is "replete with +every modern convenience." Every labour-saving contrivance, every +mechanical convenience, calls for vigilance to ensure its proper use, +and for knowledge as to the ways in which it may fail, and of the method +of readjustment if it should happen to do so. No apparatus which is not +thoroughly understood by the mistress will be well used by the servants, +and servants will rarely if ever exercise any knowledge they possess to +prevent the expense of calling in a workman. If the mistress of a house +can use such ordinary tools as a hammer, a screwdriver, a gluepot, and a +soldering-iron, a great deal of expense may be saved in small repairs; +on the other hand, ignorant meddling with scientific apparatus may be +worse than useless. There can be no doubt that a course of instruction +in natural philosophy, combined with work in a well-equipped laboratory +and workshop, should find a place in the curriculum of every girls' +school, whether elementary or secondary, as this training lays the +surest foundation for a superstructure of experimental domestic science. +The argument against including the application of the physical sciences +to domestic methods in the ordinary educational course of every girl, +namely, that she may not be called upon to keep a house of her own, +cannot be sustained; there are no circumstances in which knowledge of +the laws which govern the health and well-being of human beings can be +useless. We all live in houses, either our own or other people's, and we +are all liable to disease and discomfort caused by the faulty +construction of the house or the unhealthy practices of the inmates. + + +THE AIM AND METHODS OF MODERN EDUCATION + +The aim of education is to enable a person to act wisely in every +emergency of life whatever his particular calling may be, but it is +hardly possible to act wisely without some knowledge of the relation +between cause and effect. This is true whether we are engaged in the +practical affairs of life, in the pursuit of knowledge, or in the effort +to extend knowledge by research. It is sometimes argued that a woman of +trained intellect can easily acquire the art of housekeeping, and this +is no doubt the case if we limit the art to the choice and supervision +of competent domestics, but there can be no doubt that there are many +women of trained intellect who not only suffer themselves but entail +suffering on others from inability to discern good housekeeping, in our +sense of the word, from bad. It must be remembered that courses of +education should be framed for the training of unmethodical and +unpractical minds, which may and often do accompany the highest forms of +intellect, as well as for those of a naturally orderly and practical +bent. + +We all consciously or unconsciously make use of the facts of science: we +do not send eggs by parcel post merely placed in a box, we do not even +send one egg in a box that exactly fits it, we are careful to surround +each egg with soft paper or some other elastic material in sufficient +quantity to distribute the effects of the blows that we know the box +will be subjected to in the post, so that the eggs may not be broken; if +we place a tray of china on a table, we are careful that it should not +project beyond the table so as to fall when we let it go; we do not pour +hot water into cut-glass tumblers, and we do not mix effervescing drinks +in wine-glasses. We should call a person ignorant who was unaware of the +probable results of doing the things enumerated above; but if the +accidents following want of knowledge were always so simple, ignorance +would not be a matter of much importance, and we might be willing to let +our girls learn by experience. Unfortunately, the neglect of a +scientific law has led in the past, and may lead in the future, to much +more serious, even fatal results, and Solomon has applied a not very +complimentary epithet to those who have wisdom forced upon them by +involuntary experience. It is to the publication of statistics which +show the alarming spread of such diseases as consumption and the +terrible waste of infant life, that we owe the awakening of the public +mind to the need for systematic training in science and scientific +method. + + +THE VALUE OF A SCIENTIFIC TRAINING + +Scientific method seeks to establish relations between isolated facts or +phenomena, and the relation generally takes the form of cause and +effect; so that persons with a scientific training are accustomed to +examine the grounds for considering this relation of cause and effect in +circumstances which are selected with a view to exhibiting the reality +of the relation. From that training it becomes possible for them, when +confronted with circumstances presenting some difficulty, to form a +better opinion as to what is the cause of the difficulty than they could +if they were confronted with the same difficulty without the previous +training. Any attentive observer of human nature will be struck by the +fact that every person is accustomed to refer every event to some cause; +if it is an illness, the occasion for contracting the illness is +defined; if it is any unforeseen event in the domestic economy, a reason +is nearly always forthcoming; the question which the housewife is called +upon to decide is whether the reason offered is a real and sufficient +one. Meteorologists tell a familiar story of an Indian nabob who found +that there was a deposit of moisture on the outside of his tumbler of +brandy and water, and tasting it with his finger, remarked it was very +curious that the water came through the glass but the brandy did not. +Plenty of reasons offered for domestic incidents have no better ground +of fact than the nabob's opinion that the water came through the glass. + +A good deal of the comfort of a modern house turns upon a right judgment +as regards cause and effect, and therefore some preparation which will +fit the housewife to appreciate the rights and wrongs of domestic +reasoning is an indispensable qualification for success. It is not +always possible for the most profound student to offer offhand the true +explanation of various facts of domestic life, but it is possible to +approach the consideration of these questions with some hope of deciding +whether the explanation offered is a true or a fictitious one. The +ability for this is largely a question of habit of mind or training; and +for our purpose the training must include those departments of +knowledge, the laws of which find daily expression in the manifold +experiences of domestic life. The ultimate foundation for these laws is +to be found in the study of Physics, which deals with those changes in +the state of matter which stop short of the alteration of its +composition; of Chemistry, which deals with changes involving an +alteration of the composition of the substances under consideration; and +of Physiology, which is the identification of the processes which take +place in living animals and plants and their relation to the laws of +physics and chemistry. Without a knowledge of the fundamental principles +of these sciences and of the methods by which those principles are +established, it is not to be expected that any person can deal +adequately with the common experiences of life. + +It is true that experience, if it is sufficiently extensive and +prolonged, may lead to the formulation of a set of practical rules that +will carry a housewife through the ordinary household round without +discredit, but the question which we have to put to ourselves is +whether, by organising and directing the experience, success may not be +made certain and more instructive. In these days domestic life is more +complicated than it used to be; at the same time experience is in a +sense more restricted. Many of the instructive processes, practical +experience in which conveyed valuable if unconscious scientific +training, are now conducted on a large scale, and are outside the range +of domestic duties, and the housewife has to supply, by special training +in scientific principles, the judgment that in days gone by was acquired +as a matter of habit. + +It is impossible in the short space of a single article to set out the +details of a systematic course of training sufficient to fit the +housewife to use her judgment wisely in circumstances which require a +knowledge of the principles of the fundamental physical sciences. The +most that we can attempt is to give a few examples which illustrate the +application of the principles of physics and chemistry. Our purpose in +doing so is to suggest illustrations which appeal to every householder, +and may create a desire for fuller knowledge rather than to supply a +course of instruction. What we aim at is not to provide the equipment of +scientific training, but to show that the scientific habit of mind will +find opportunities for useful employment in many of the most ordinary +affairs of life. The problems that present themselves in the course of +experience are sometimes difficult and intricate; patience and careful +observation as well as knowledge are required for their solution. +Sometimes this solution is beyond the immediate resources of those +concerned, and it is a part of scientific training to recognise when +this is the case, so that effort and money may not be wasted in +endeavours which are foredoomed to failure. We may cite a case in point +where an extra bell was desired in a system of electric bells in a flat +at a time when electric installations in private houses were somewhat +rare, and workmen with any knowledge beyond that necessary for carrying +out instructions were not easily found. To the confusion of the tenant, +the introduction of this extra bell caused all the bells in the flat to +strike work. A mathematical lecturer living in the same building was +consulted, and opined that the battery of two somewhat small-looking +cells was insufficient, so he obtained and added a larger cell, but the +bells were obdurate and did not resume work. A lady with knowledge of +physics examined the installations and discovered that the wire +connections as altered were entirely wrong and did not connect the bells +to the battery. A plan of the correct connections was shown to the +workman, who a few days later reported that now all the bells rang at +once, and he had had to disconnect the battery! He produced a sketch of +the connections he had made, and on his error being pointed out he was +able to rectify it, and the bells answered to touch without the use of +the extra cell. Generally speaking, a failure on the part of electric +bells is corrected by filling up the cells which compose the battery +with water, an operation which any one may undertake. + +It is not safe, however, for an inexperienced person to interfere with +electric light fittings further than to remove a worn-out lamp and place +a new one in the socket, and even this operation may be attended with +disaster. A young friend of ours who was taking part in some private +theatricals obtained the loan of a row of electric footlights. It did +not occur to any one concerned to ask the voltage of the lamps or of the +current to which they were to be applied. When the footlights were +turned up they blazed for a brief period, and then every light in the +house went out! Electrical science for the housewife has been resolved +into a knowledge of electric terms and of a few practical rules useful +and interesting in themselves, but not immediately suitable for our +purpose of showing how scientific study may aid the housewife in her +daily routine. + + +PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +We may for this purpose examine some of the laws of common physical and +chemical phenomena, neglect of which has resulted in much needless +discomfort in daily life, and even more serious consequences. For +instance, the laws of expansion of gases and liquids with heat, and +their subsequent behaviour, are phenomena that are often imperfectly +realised. There is probably no person who is unacquainted with the law +of gravitation, but there are many persons who accept literally the +statements that smoke rises and that balloons ascend. A clear +understanding of what actually takes place when gases and material +masses appear to move in opposition to the law of gravitation is +essential to any scheme for warming and ventilating the house. + +A very simple experiment will serve to reconcile the apparent +contradiction of the universal law by the observed fact. Suppose we have +two fluids, oil and water, of which oil is, bulk for bulk, lighter than +water. If the oil be poured into a glass beaker, it will be seen to rest +at the bottom of the beaker; if water be now poured into the same +beaker the water will go to the bottom of the beaker and will displace +the oil and lift it up so that the oil will float on the water; the oil +may be lifted to any height we please if sufficient water be poured in +to lift it to that height. If a single drop of oil be introduced into +the water by means of a pipette and be liberated at the bottom of the +beaker the water will close in under it, and lift it up to the surface. +In both cases the oil "rises" through the water. Oil, however, has no +tendency to "rise" by itself, and in this case it lay motionless until +it was lifted by the heavier fluid. We may use colloquial language when +describing phenomena if we bear in mind what is really taking place. + +A balloon "rising" through the air is exactly analogous to the drop of +oil in the water. The balloon is, bulk for bulk, lighter than air; the +air therefore closes in under it and lifts it just as the water lifted +the bubble of oil. + + +EFFECTS OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE ON AIR + +Let us apply this to air. Air when warmed expands, and therefore warm +air is, bulk for bulk, lighter than cold air. Warm air behaves in the +presence of cold air as the balloon: it is displaced and lifted by the +cold air, the result being an ascending stream of warm air, which is +called a convection current. + +The movement of ascending smoke is essentially the same as that of the +warmed air. Smoke is warm air made visible by the particles of soot with +which it is laden. The particles of soot would fall to the ground except +that they are carried upwards in the stream of warm air. Dr. W. N. Shaw +has called attention to the importance of these phenomena in his book on +"Air Currents and the Laws of Ventilation," in the Cambridge Series of +Physical Text-books. He there says: "The dominant physical law in the +ventilated space is the law of convection. It is at once the condition +of success and the cause of most failures. Without convection, +ventilation would be impossible; in consequence of convection, nearly +all schemes of ventilation fail. + +"The law of convection is the law according to which warmed air rises +and cooled air sinks in the surrounding air. Its applications are truly +ubiquitous. Every surface, _e.g._ a warm wall, or a person warmer than +the air in the immediate neighbourhood, causes an upward current; every +surface colder than the air in contact with it causes a downward +current. + +"Ventilation would be much easier if warmed air or cooled air could be +carried along at any height required; but the law of convection is +inexorable: warmed air naturally finds the ceiling, cooled air the +floor." + +It is true that the ventilation of a house is generally considered to be +the business of the builder and architect, yet there are many unpleasant +phenomena that come under the observation of the housewife which are +due to this law of convection, and it will be useful to consider a few +of them. + +Let us take first the universal annoyance to housewives caused by the +sight of _dirt on the ceiling_. That all air is full of dust is seen +when a stream of sunlight crosses a room; the particles of dust are then +clearly perceived moving rapidly in all directions in the air. These +dust particles, when air is at rest, constantly fall to the ground under +the action of gravity, and are deposited on shelves and ledges, from +which they have to be removed daily by the housemaid. When air is warmed +and ascends it carries the dust particles with it, and these particles +striking against any cold surface with which they come into contact +stick to it. This is the cause of the necessity for the periodical +sweeping of chimneys. The walls of the chimney are colder than the smoke +that comes into contact with them, and the particles of soot in the +smoke striking against them are deposited on them. In the house the +effect of the bombardment of surfaces by dust-laden streams of air is +seen most conspicuously over burning gas-lights. Burning gas does not +itself produce all the dirt which is found on the ceiling above it, but +it causes upward streams of hot air, which carry up the dust and deposit +it on the ceiling. The practice of suspending a shade over the gas-light +does not lessen the amount of dust and smoke in the air, but the shade +serves to spread out the air over a larger surface, and thus to render +the dirt on the ceiling less apparent. That the shade itself remains +clean is due to the fact that it gets hot. A heated surface promotes the +activity of the motion of the air-particles in its neighbourhood, and by +this local activity the dust is repelled, so that a surface remains +clean or becomes coated according as it is more or less hot than the +invading current. The validity of this explanation may be tested by +holding a cold spoon over a lighted candle when it will be seen that the +spoon becomes blackened; if a hot spoon be substituted for the cold one +it will remain clean. + +In order that the hot, vitiated air of a room may escape easily, it has +been in many cases the custom to place an exit opening for it in the +chimney over the room fireplace. The wall in the neighbourhood of this +ventilator invariably becomes black; but as this wall is warm it is not +probable that dust is deposited on it by the outgoing air, the +explanation given by the housewife that the smoke from the chimney gets +through the ventilator into the room is probably correct, though these +ventilators are supplied with mica flaps which should swing open when +air from the room strikes against them, and close when the air from the +chimney does so. + +When a house is heated by hot-water pipes and radiators, the walls over +these pipes are another source of trouble (Fig. 1). A good deal of +scientific ingenuity is required if the walls are to be kept clean. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.] + +That some ceilings appear striped with broad light and dark lines is +due to inequalities in the temperature of the ceiling. The light stripes +are under the joists, which prevent to some extent the escape of heat +from the ceiling, and the dark correspond to the unprotected parts of +the ceiling. The dust rising from the room is slightly repelled by the +currents from the warmer parts of the ceiling, and sticks more readily +to the colder parts. + +Let us take for our second example the apparently trivial matter of +_smells in the house_. Smells may be of various kinds from various +causes. The best judge of the kind, and therefore of the cause, is the +nose. Suppose the smell to be the common one in houses of all +classes--the smell of cookery! The smell of cookery in the house is +generally a winter phenomenon. The air in an inhabited house is always +in a state of motion, induced by the inequalities of temperature caused +by the inhabitants themselves, and to a greater extent by the fires, of +which there will certainly be one in the kitchen. We must remember that +cold air will get into the house through all available openings, to take +the place of the air which supplies the fires. The most obvious +available openings in an ordinary dwelling-house are the casual ones of +the open chimneys of unused grates, and the loosely fitting doors and +windows. In cold weather fires are lighted in the sitting-room grates; +these fires when lighted should warm the air in the chimneys above them +and cause an upward draught in the chimney. Sometimes however the +chimney will be found to be occupied by a current of air coming down to +feed fires in other rooms, and so long as this goes on the smoke from +the newly lighted fire comes into the room. The down-draught can be +stopped by opening a window to supply sufficient cold air to counteract +it, otherwise we have to adopt special devices to make the smoke go up +the chimney in the first instance. Sometimes a newspaper is burnt in the +grate to give the necessary amount of warm air, but this is a dangerous +practice by which the chimney may be set on fire. Sometimes air is +supplied by the bellows. A newspaper is often held in front of the grate +so as to close the opening above the fire and cause the cold air to pass +through the fire, thus promoting combustion and the supply of hot air in +the chimney. In any case, the warm air of the fire is carried up the +chimney by the cold air of the room, and this cold air is drawn from the +casual openings already referred to. It has been demonstrated by +laboratory experiments that the amount of draught in any chimney depends +on the height of the chimney and the fire in its grate. + +Smells are conveyed about a house by the flow of air to feed the fires, +and they nearly always find their way from all parts of the house to the +ground-floor sitting-rooms when the doors are left open and the fires +are burning. On their way they pass through passages and are therefore +nearly ubiquitous. The air of any room in the house is in communication +with that of every other room, and it is only by the nature of the smell +that we can tell its probable source. There are people who like when +they open the bedroom door in the morning to know that coffee and bacon +await them downstairs, or on coming into the house from a cold winter's +walk to meet a "delicious smell of Irish stew." To other people all +smell of cookery is abhorrent, and they feel a sense of irritation that +their guests should on entering the house be regaled with the odour of +the preparation of food. To many mistresses the only remedy that +suggests itself is a message to the cook, who is powerless in the matter +and returns an answer that she is sorry, but that she doesn't know why +there should be a smell of cooking upstairs as there is none in the +kitchen. A visit to the kitchen will generally confirm the cook's +statement as to that particular spot, but a considerable smell will be +encountered on the kitchen stairs. We may inquire into the cause of +this. The usual equipment of the kitchen includes a closed range, +supplemented in many cases by a gas stove. The kitchen fire draws a +plentiful supply of air from casual openings, and this air for the most +part passes with the smoke up such flues as are open. The oven is +provided with a ventilator, which carries off the odour of baked or +roasted meats. The odour in the hot air over the closed range has no +escape except into the kitchen--the cook says that ever so slight an +opening in the top of the range will prevent the oven from heating. This +odour-laden air therefore comes directly into the kitchen, and being hot +is directed to the ceiling, thus escaping the cook who is in the draught +of the fresh air supply. Travelling along the ceiling the hot air passes +through the opening at the top of the door and mingles with the fresh +air on its way upstairs. The same thing happens when the gas stove is +in use. The only remedy is to provide some exit for the hot air of the +kitchen which will be more easily accessible than that by way of the +door, for the hot air will travel by the easiest path. A considerable +knowledge of science is required to achieve this object. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.] + +Closely allied with the smell of cookery is _the smell of the gas +stove_. Many persons consider that the use of a gas stove either in the +kitchen or in a bedroom is inseparable from the peculiar odour of +partially consumed gas. It may therefore be useful to consider how the +gas supplied to stoves and incandescent lights differs from that of an +open gas fire or that of an ordinary burner. Gas stoves and incandescent +lights get their supply of gas through what are known as Bunsen burners, +so called after the German chemist whose invention they are. In an +ordinary burner the gas mixes with atmospheric air at the opening at +which it burns; the supply of air obtained in this way is insufficient +for complete combustion until the outer layers are reached; the interior +part of the flame is bright and smoky. In the Bunsen burner the gas +issues from the main through a nozzle which opens inside a bulb. The +bulb is perforated to allow of the ingress of atmospheric air; the gas +and air mix in the tube which is a prolongation of the bulb, and the +mixture is lighted at the top of the tube. Fig. 2 shows a representation +of the Bunsen burner as applied to a gas stove. In this the gas escapes +from the main at the nozzle _n_, into a bulb of which the tube A is a +prolongation, air is admitted to the bulb at the openings _a a_, and +the mixed gas and air is burnt at the openings in the tube A. The amount +of air supplied is regulated by the size of the openings _a a_ and the +holes where the gas is lighted. The gas thus supplied with air is +completely consumed where combustion begins, and a clear, blue, +non-luminous flame is the result. If the holes through which the mixture +of gas and air issues are partially closed by rust or by accretions from +the "boiling over" of saucepans it is evident that, the gas supply being +unchanged, less air can be drawn through them; consequently the gas will +not be entirely consumed, and acetylene (C2H2, one of the products of +partially consumed coal gas) will pass into the atmosphere and will give +rise to the peculiar odour associated with gas stoves. This product of +partially consumed gas is very poisonous, and all gas stoves should be +furnished with chimneys to carry off the fumes to the open air. The +phenomenon known as "burning back," that is, the ignition of the gas at +the nozzle in the bulb, is caused by the pressure of gas being too small +for the supply of air. The gas should at once be turned out and +relighted till it burns at the proper places. The simple remedy for +smell from a gas stove is the cleansing of its burners, unless indeed +the kettle is too close to the holes from which the gas issues for +complete combustion to be possible. + +There is another winter phenomenon which is very disagreeable--the +presence of _fog in the house_; and the perplexed housewife asks, Where +does the fog get in when all outside doors and windows are closed? We +have already pointed out that the sitting-room fires must have air, and +that that air will be drawn from casual openings. Among these openings +are the chimneys of fireless grates; the greater part of the fog in the +house comes down these chimneys. On a foggy day it is wise to close the +chimneys of fireless grates and provide some other opening for the +supply of air; but all air from the outside is full of fog. The problem +of how to let in air and keep out fog suggests the question, What is +fog? Fog consists of material particles (dust or smoke) on which vapour +has condensed; if these particles can be removed the air will be clear. +The problem for the housewife is how to free a sufficient quantity of +air from these particles. + +_A smell of gas_ in any part of the house may be very dangerous if no +one on the premises has any scientific knowledge, for it may be premised +that the escape of gas is not where the smell is first perceived. Gas +being lighter than air is carried upwards, and the smell is at first +above the place of escape; it may even be in a room over where the gas +is escaping. The only safe detector of the source of mischief is the +nose; the mixture of coal gas and atmospheric air is explosive, and no +light must be struck. The upper sash of the window should be pulled down +to allow the gas to escape, and if the accident is at night time must be +allowed before searching for the source of escape further than can be +done by feeling the taps in the dark or following the scent by the +nose. + +Further illustration of the effect of convection currents in the air of +a dwelling-house are needless, but the student may profitably spend time +and thought in considering how fresh air may be introduced into a room +without causing cold air to lie on the floor or hot, vitiated air to +cling to the ceiling. It is the old problem (with a difference) of +teaching a grandmother to suck an egg. He may also interest himself in +seeking answers to the questions (1) What action is expected to take +place when a poker is placed against the bars of a grate to make the +fire draw? and (2) Does the sun put the fire out, and if so how? In +connection with the expansion of air with heat he may consider the +popular fallacy that an inverted empty pot in a pie keeps in the juice. + + +EFFECT OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE ON WATER + +Accidents have occurred in houses owing to ignorance of the full effects +of heating or cooling water from its ordinary temperature. Water at any +ordinary temperature expands when subjected to the action of heat; it +contracts on cooling till it reaches a temperature seven degrees above +the freezing point; from this temperature it expands until it becomes a +solid mass of ice. At still lower temperatures ice contracts. + +Let us consider first the effect of heating water. If water at the +ordinary temperature be poured into a vessel which is placed on a fire +or other source of heat the water at the bottom of the vessel will be +warmed and will expand; it will therefore be lighter, bulk for bulk, +than the water nearer the top of the vessel. The cold water will +therefore descend, and the warm water will rise. All ordinary water +contains air; presently the air in the water will become visible as +small bubbles which rise to the surface of the water and escape +noiselessly into the atmosphere. As more heat is applied some of the +water in the bottom of the vessel will be formed into steam, and bubbles +of steam will expand and rise into the cooler water above and collapse +there with a rattling noise which is characteristic of the state known +as simmering. These bubbles of steam rising and bursting aid the +convection currents in stirring and mixing the water so that it +presently becomes of even temperature throughout. When this occurs the +bubbles of steam rise to the surface and burst explosively into the +atmosphere, throwing the water violently about; the water is then +boiling. It is an important point to remember in cookery that boiling +water will not become any hotter with the application of more heat, but +it will "boil away;" that is, it will be completely converted into +steam. The steam resulting from any volume of water occupies a space +1700 times that of the water from which it is produced, but what +concerns the housewife most seriously is that the change of water into +steam is accompanied with the evolution of tremendous mechanical force +that will burst any vessel in which the water is enclosed. It is the +fact of this tremendous exercise of mechanical force that has led to +serious accidents when hot-water bottles have been put into the oven to +keep warm. It has been assumed by some people that if the hot-water +bottle be not completely filled, that if what they consider to be +sufficient room is left for the expansion of the water, no harm can +result from putting the bottle into the oven, but no arrangement can +make such a course safe. + +The bursting of the kitchen boiler is an accident resulting from +disregard of the phenomena of heated water. It sometimes happens that +the hot-water supply of the various taps in the house fails. If the +boiler supplying the water is a hand-fed one some one whose duty it was +to fill it has neglected that duty. An empty boiler with a removable lid +will do no harm, but it is not advisable to leave it empty, as the heat +of the fire will destroy the iron of which it is made. No attempt, +however, should be made to fill the boiler while it is hot, as the +result of pouring cold water into it will be the sudden and violent +conversion of the water into steam, and the person pouring in the water +will assuredly be scalded. If the boiler be one that is filled +automatically, one of two things has probably occurred: either the pipes +are blocked by fur--that is to say by sediment from the boiled water--or +the supply-pipe is frozen. In neither case is it safe to light the fire. +If the pipes are blocked by fur steam will be formed in the boiler and +it will burst; if the supply-pipe is frozen the heat may thaw the ice, +and the inrush of cold water will at any rate crack the boiler. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.] + +When water expands with heating convection currents are formed in it, +and the hot water rises to any height we please if cold water be +available to take its place. This law of convection is applied to +maintain a circulation of hot water in pipes used for warming a house. +The general arrangement of such a system is shown in Fig. 3. The +furnace heats a boiler in the basement or on the lowest storey of the +house; HB and HL' are parallel vertical pipes connected with a +horizontal pipe H'H at the top of the house; C is a small cold-water +cistern which is furnished with a ball-tap to maintain the supply of +cold water to the pipe H'L if any water is drawn off at any part of the +circuit. The short pipe A acts as a valve for the escape of air from +the pipes. The pipes H'L, H'H, and HB are filled with water. When +the fire is lighted in the furnace, hot water is driven up the pipe +HB by cold water descending through H'L, and this circulation goes +on so long as a difference of temperature is maintained in the pipes; +that is, so long as the fire is burning. Any number of coils of pipes +may be introduced into the circuit between the boiler and the top of +the pipe HB. In filling the pipes with water allowance is made in these +coils for the expansion of the water with heat and for the air which we +have seen escapes from heated water, and a tap is fixed in each coil +for letting out any air that may have lodged in it. If free air +remains in the pipes the circulation of the water will be hindered and +the boiler may become dangerously overheated. It is therefore necessary +when the heating apparatus is in use to examine these taps and see that +water and not air escapes from them. + +The installation of a heating apparatus in middle-class houses is fairly +common, and where one is not found many persons use gas or oil stoves in +the passages in the winter, for it is now realised that it is not +possible to heat rooms by means of open fires without creating cold +draughts in them from the cold passages into which they open. And, +moreover, the constant change of temperature encountered in passing from +one warm room to another through cold passages is not only disagreeable, +but is not found to be conducive to health. + +Let us turn to the cooling of water. Water expands about one-eleventh of +its volume on becoming ice. This change of state, like that of change +into steam, is accompanied by the evolution of tremendous mechanical +force. If water freezes in pipes it bursts the pipes, and on a thaw +taking place the pipes are found to leak. The appropriate remedy for +this state of things is to protect the pipes from cold or to empty them +when a frost is apprehended. In all properly built houses there is a tap +by means of which the water supply can be cut off from the house, thus +allowing the pipes to be emptied on a frosty night. The custom of +leaving the taps dripping is effective, because the pipe is generally +liable to freeze at some particular point where it is in immediate +contact with the cold air, probably in the unclosed chink where the +pipe passes through the wall; keeping the water moving in the pipe +prevents any part of it getting cold enough to freeze, but the practice +should not be resorted to, as it wastes water. + + +RADIANT HEAT + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Section of a Convex lens.] + +It is pleasant on a dry, still day in winter, when the ground is covered +with crisp snow or glistens with hard frost, to feel the warmth of the +sun's rays, and it is becoming quite a fashion for people of leisure to +spend the winter months at the pleasure resorts amid the snow-laden +mountains of Switzerland. It is a matter of some interest to inquire how +it happens that the sun's rays are warm when the thermometer tells us +that the temperature of the air is below freezing-point. There is an old +and pretty experiment in which a burning glass is made of ice; it is not +a difficult thing to do. If the scale-pan of an ordinary balance be made +hot and be pressed against a slice of ice (the concave side of the +scale-pan towards the ice), first on one side of the slice and then on +the other, the ice can be formed into a convex lens (Fig. 4). If now +this lens be placed in the path of a sunbeam and the light be brought to +a focus, that is, to a bright spot on a piece of paper, the paper will +be heated and will take fire while the lens through which the heat +passes remains ice. From this we may surmise that the heat of the sun +does not affect the medium through which it passes. + +Clerk Maxwell suggested yet another experiment in illustration of this +law. By means of an ice lens he collected the sunlight to a focus in the +middle of a basin of clear water, and observed that no effect was +discernible in the water. He then directed the focus (the spot of light) +on to a mote in the water. The mote became hot, the water was agitated, +convection currents were formed, and the mote was carried up in them. +This showed that rays of light from the sun do not affect the substances +through which they can pass, and that they heat bodies through which +they do not pass. It has been demonstrated by laboratory experiments +that all hot bodies emit rays of heat, whether we see the rays or not. +When we see the rays the bodies are said to be red or white-hot. The +process by which heat passes from one body to another without warming +the intervening medium is called radiation. Radiation takes place only +through transparent bodies. Rays of heat, like rays of light, pass +through transparent bodies; whereas they are absorbed by, that is they +make hot, opaque bodies. Heat rays travel in straight lines and are +reflected from polished surfaces; their intensity varies inversely as +the square of the distance of the object on which they fall from their +source. The heat of an ordinary fire is radiant heat; when we sit round +the fire we act as opaque bodies and absorb the heat, and are what we +call scorched if the fire is very bright. If we move away from the fire, +still letting the same firelight shine on us, we are not scorched; this +is because the heating power of the rays varies inversely as the +distance from their source, therefore if we move away double the +distance we receive one quarter of the heat that we received before we +moved. If we draw our chairs to one side we are not scorched, because +the rays of heat do not travel round a corner. + + +CONDUCTION OF HEAT + +We have seen that the ice-lens was not affected by the passage of heat +through it. If we now take hold of the lens we shall experience a +feeling of cold, and the lens will begin to melt. Heat has passed from +our hand into the ice. The process by which heat passes from one body to +another in contact with it is called conduction. The fundamental law of +conduction is, that heat always passes from a warm body to a cold one. +Clerk Maxwell illustrated this law in a series of very simple +experiments. He placed a silver teaspoon in a cup of hot tea, and noted +that the handle became warm gradually from the hot tea; the heat passed +from the bowl of the spoon in the tea to successive parts of the handle +until the whole spoon was hot. His second experiment was to put two cold +spoons, one of silver and one of German silver, into the tea, when he +found that the same phenomenon took place, but that the silver spoon +became hot much more quickly than did the German silver one. He then put +three spoons into the tea, made respectively of silver, of German +silver, and of bone. In the result, he found that when the other two +were hot, the bone spoon hardly showed any sign of heat at the end of +its handle. + +The conclusion to be drawn from these experiments is that heat passes at +different rates through different substances. Substances through which +heat passes quickly are called good conductors of heat. The law of the +conductivity of heat is that in a homogeneous body the flow is +continuous, and is from the region of high temperature to the region of +low temperature, and that it continues until the body is of uniform +temperature throughout. The law is the same for bodies of different +materials when in contact one with another. + +The conduction of heat is in operation in every department of domestic +life. People live in houses and are clothed to protect them from the +vicissitudes of the weather, including the cold of winter and the heat +of summer; use is made of the phenomenon in warming the house and in the +preparation of food. + +In selecting materials for various purposes, account has to be taken of +their conductivities, for in some cases it is desirable that the +transfer of heat should take place slowly, and in others that it should +take place quickly. It might be thought that the conductivity of a +substance could be estimated by touch, but a little reflection will +show that this cannot be the case. The flow of heat between two bodies +depends upon the difference of temperature between them, and if there +should be no difference of temperature between them at the moment of +touch there will be no flow of heat, though both are bodies of greater +or less conductivity. Let us take, for example of the uncertainty of +estimation by touch, a well-known experiment. Suppose we have a basin of +hot water and a basin of cold water, and place a hand in each for a few +moments; suppose we withdraw the hands and plunge them into a basin of +tepid water, we shall find that the tepid water feels cold to the hand +that was in the hot water and warm to the hand that was in the cold +water. + +Luckily, it has been found possible in the laboratory to refer +substances to a common standard and to assign numerical values to them +in order of their conductivities, so that substances can be compared and +a selection made for any desired purpose. Pure silver has the highest +conductivity; other useful materials take the following order: copper, +zinc, lead, iron, steel, marble, glass, brick, slate, wood, fur, cotton, +flannel, water, air. Fur and wool no doubt owe much of their warmth to +the fact that they consist of fibres which enclose a good deal of air, +but as a matter of fact the warmth of loosely woven woollen and knitted +articles in general is often overrated; they are very warm as under +garments or in calm weather, but in windy weather the air in them is +rapidly changed and the cold seems to blow through them. If for any +purpose we select a material from its place in a table of comparative +conductivities, and use it without reference to the law of conduction of +heat, we shall probably be disappointed with the result. We know that +cotton burns easily; if we stretch a cotton handkerchief over the back +of a gold watch and place a red-hot cinder from the fire on the +handkerchief on the watch, the handkerchief will not be burnt. + +Many interesting problems present themselves when a house has to be +built or rented. There is often opportunity for some choice of material +in walls or roof, and some peculiarities to be considered. Are the top +rooms of a thatched cottage warmer or colder than the top rooms of a +house covered with slates? Is a wooden or an iron building warmer? What +difference does it make if the iron building is lined with wood? If the +iron walls were twice as thick, what would be the effect inside the +room? Would the walls of such a building be always dry inside? It +sometimes happens that the end wall of a row of houses is covered with +slates to preserve it from the effects of storms of wind and rain; will +that inside wall be always dry? + +But the housewife is probably more interested in those articles in +use in the house which it is her business to provide. Shall the +stoves be of slate or iron? In olden days warming-pans were made of +copper. What change in the manner of use justifies making them of +earthenware or India-rubber? The slow transmission of heat through thick +woollen materials has been applied to the construction of Norwegian +cooking-stoves (Fig. 5). These stoves consist of a wooden box, lined +with well-padded felt. The cooking vessels are of metal; the food when +at boiling point is placed in these vessels and the lids put on, a +thick padded felt is placed on the vessels and entirely fills the +wooden lid of the box which is then closed; the heat is preserved so +that the cooking is continued without further attention. Would it be +possible to use the Norwegian stove as a refrigerator? Would it keep +an ice pudding cold without any alteration? In connection with this +we may ask why freezing machines have the inner vessel in which the +freezing takes place of zinc, and the outer vessel which contains the +ice and salt of wood? What would be the effect of interchanging the +materials? + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.] + +It is possible that the excellence of some continental cookery is due to +the extensive use on the continent of earthenware cooking utensils +through which heat passes very slowly. The growing fashion of using +enamelled cooking vessels must have some effect on the food cooked in +them as heat certainly passes quickly through them. Reference has been +made to them simply to demonstrate the universality of the application +of physical laws, and we may now return to the house and its arrangement +for the comfort of the inmates. + + +METHODS OF DOMESTIC HEATING + +The two methods of warming a house are by radiation and conduction. We +may surmise that in any case both methods will be in use, but the one +will predominate; for instance, in heating by an open fire radiation +will predominate, and in heating by stoves and radiators conduction will +predominate. In planning a house a decision must be made between the +two. This decision being made there is the further consideration of +where the source of heat shall be placed. In the case of an open +fireplace shall it be in an end wall, in a corner, in an outside wall, +and so on, the object being to make the greatest possible use of the +heat that passes up the chimney and of that which radiates into the +room. The same consideration must be paid to the situation of the closed +stove; where will it pass heat by conduction to the greatest volume of +air, and where can its radiant heat be utilised? + +In a room heated by a stove there is frequently a vessel of water placed +by or on the top of the stove. If we ask what is the purpose of this +water we shall be told that the stove dries the air in the room. Now, it +is impossible that the heat of the stove should remove any moisture from +the air; we must therefore seek an answer to the question, What is dry +air? The sensation of the dryness or moisture of the air does not depend +only upon the amount of vapour in the air but upon the ratio of the +amount present to the amount that the air is able to hold at the given +temperature. The warmer the air is the more vapour it can hold, hence +when the air is warmed the percentage of water present to the possible +amount in it is lowered; that is its humidity, which is the percentage +amount, is lowered, and we feel it to be dry. The question may arise why +we should feel this when the room is heated by a stove and not when it +is heated by an open fire? It may be that in a room with an open fire we +are warmed by radiation and give out heat to the surrounding air which +is constantly changed by convection currents, so that the air we breathe +is colder than we ourselves; and that in a room warmed by a stove we +receive heat from the air and are constantly breathing air that is +warmer than we ourselves. But it is more than probable that the custom +of providing a source of moisture to the air persists from the +suggestion of a single person in seeking to relieve the disagreeable +feeling attending the breathing of air laden with the poisonous products +of half-consumed gas, and that it has no real scientific foundation. + +_How to estimate temperatures._--Whatever method is adopted for warming +a room, the housewife may be assured that the resulting temperature will +not be pleasing to every member of the family. One will find it too +warm, and another will at the same time find it too cold, and this not +from any wilful captiousness but from the cause that we have already +alluded to, that the feelings are a very uncertain test of temperature. +It is therefore advisable to keep the air of the room as far as possible +at a standard temperature. To do this it will be necessary to have a +thermometer in the room, and to know what its readings indicate. When +the thermometer registers 32° Fahr. or less, water will freeze in the +room, and the vessels in which it is kept will burst; it is therefore +wise, when it is anticipated that the temperature will fall below 32° +Fahr., to empty the ewers and bottles that may be in the room. From 32° +Fahr. to 40° Fahr. the room will be very cold, up to and including 58° +Fahr. it will be too cold to be pleasant; the standard temperature may +be taken as between 62° and 64° Fahr. + +It may appear a simple matter to hang up a thermometer and read it, but +a little thought will show that it is not so easy as it seems. If, for +instance, the thermometer is placed in front of the fire at a distance, +say of four feet from it, what will its reading indicate? Will it be the +temperature of the air of the room or the temperature of the fire, or if +neither, what will it be? Suppose we have two identical thermometers, +and hang them on adjacent walls, one of which is an outside wall, which +of the two readings shall we take as that of the temperature of the +room? It is not an easy matter to decide. In a sick-room, where one +person's comfort only has to be considered the doctor will order the +thermometer to be hung at the bed-head, but we cannot adopt this plan in +a general sitting-room. + + +CHEMICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +In our endeavour to establish the claims of the science of chemistry to +a prominent place in the educational equipment of women, all reference +to those most interesting and important chemical phenomena that +accompany the exercise of the physiological functions will be omitted; +as also those which are most immediately concerned with the preparation +of food. Attention will be confined to some of the common occurrences of +daily life, the methods of dealing with which are typical of the method +adopted in considering more important and abstruse problems. + +Perhaps one of the most disappointing experiences of the novice in +housekeeping is the rapidity with which everything assumes a shabby +aspect. Bright paint grows dull, dull paint wears away, curtains and +fabrics fade, and very soon mistress and maids alike feel that the +house no longer repays the trouble incurred in the spring-cleaning +that it must still undergo. This spring-cleaning, the primary object +of which is the preservation of the beauty and substance of the house +and its appointments, is in the result the cause of much of their +deterioration. + +Cleaning consists in removing dirt by means that are partly physical and +partly chemical; for instance, the removal of dust by sweeping, shaking, +or brushing is a physical operation, and the removal of dirt and grease +by dissolving them in soapy water involves their change by a chemical +process. If the surfaces or materials to be cleaned include a substance +on which the cleansing agent can operate the agent will not confine its +work to the removal of the dirt only; in washing coloured fabrics we +know how often the colour comes out with the dirt. Knowledge therefore, +not only of the composition and properties of cleansing agents, but also +of the surfaces and materials to which they are to be applied, is +essential, and we should find that it is not always the powder or paste +which makes the greatest show of cleanliness in the shortest time, with +least expenditure of labour, that is the most to be desired. + +_The use of alkalies._--The most common cleansing agents are hot water, +soap, and soda. Hot water is itself a detergent; that is, it has the +power of dissolving dirt. It does not, however, dissolve grease, and all +household dirt is more or less greasy, hence we cannot do our cleansing +with water only, and we are accustomed to add to it soap or soda. + +It is not easy or even possible to discuss the chemical properties of +substances without the use of chemical terms. Substances are +classified for chemical purposes in groups, every member of which +exhibits the same chemical property, and we shall require to distinguish +between the group called acids and the group called alkalies. It +will be sufficient for our purpose just now to know that acids have a +sour taste and that alkalies counteract acids. From this definition +lemon-juice will easily be recognised as an acid. If we add soda to +lemon-juice there will be a brisk effervescence and the lemon-juice +will no longer be sour, hence soda is an alkali. Alkalies have +another well-known chemical property--they dissolve grease and oil and +enable them to mix with water. If we have some hot water in a +tumbler and pour oil into it the oil will float on the water, and if +we stir the two together the oil will break into globules but will still +float on the water; we cannot mix them together. If we dissolve some +soda in hot water and pour in oil we shall find on stirring that the +mixture becomes milky or soapy in appearance and the oil and water are +no longer discernible as different fluids. Moreover, on standing the +oil will not again separate from the water; it has been emulsified. +Oils themselves have the chemical power of dissolving resins. Resins +are hard, bright vegetable gums which will come under our notice when +we consider the composition of varnishes. + +All hard soaps are made from soda, grease, and resin; the cheaper soaps +contain free soda, the dearer ones contain an excess of fat. Yellow +scrubbing soap contains about eight per cent. of free soda. Both soap +and soda can be dissolved in water, and are so dissolved for cleaning +purposes. Knowing the constituents of our cleansing agents, we can +consider their action on paint and varnish. Paint contains white-lead, +linseed-oil, and colouring matter. It is not very hard when dry and can +be easily scratched with the nail. Varnish is made from linseed-oil, +resin, and turpentine. When dry it should be very hard and bright. + +The whole of the painted woodwork of the house is subjected to +spring-cleaning whatever its appearance with regard to dirt may be. The +operator throws into a pailful of hot water a "handful" of soda, soaks a +scrubbing-brush in the mixture, rubs it well with soap, and uses it to +brush the somewhat soft paint or harder varnish. The soda and soap, +aided by the heat, soften the paint and the brush removes a quantity +equal to about a coat of paint. The effect is certainly pleasing for the +time being, but there will be no difficulty in understanding that the +process can only be repeated until the paint and varnish grow shabby or +disappear. + +It is not wise for the inexpert housewife to trust to unscientific +friends for advice as to the best materials to use when cleaning paint. +A foreman painter once gave, as a recipe for this purpose, an +instruction to add a tablespoonful of "salts of tartar" to +three-quarters of a pailful of water. The result was a very rapid and +complete removal of dirt from the paint, but the housewife, being +dissatisfied with the rather dull appearance of the white varnish, +stroked it with her finger and found that it was covered with a fine +white powder. The maid's assurance that this was all right and only +needed to be removed by dusting did not satisfy her, and she began to +wonder what chemical action was to be expected from "salts of tartar." A +first search for information revealed that salts of tartar was an old +name for "potassium carbonate," but the housewife knew no chemistry and +had never heard of potassium carbonate, so this information was useless +to her. She had, however, had some scientific training and was not +satisfied to rest in ignorance. A search in a book on elementary +chemistry disclosed the further truth that the commercial name for +"potassium carbonate" is pearlash! She then remembered that being +desirous at one time to remove the paint from some oak carving said to +be two hundred years' old, she had successfully used a solution of +pearlash painted on with a brush. The paint when dry from the +application had been scraped off in long, tough ribbons. Of course the +mixture had been very much stronger than that prescribed by the painter, +but the effect had been very much more apparent. + +Acids and alkalies are to some extent responsible for the fading of +fabrics in the wash when these fabrics owe their colour to vegetable +dyes. Acids turn vegetable blues red, alkalies turn vegetable blues +green and vegetable yellows brown. It is easy to illustrate this action +of acids and alkalies on vegetable colours. A blue liquid can be +obtained by boiling a red cabbage in water. If we take two portions of +this water and add any acid, say lemon-juice, to one portion we shall +obtain a red liquid; if we add any alkali, say soda, to the other +portion we shall obtain a green liquid. If we go a step further and add +lemon-juice to the green liquid and soda to the red liquid we may +approach very nearly to our original blue liquid. These experiments +suggest a remedy for the change of colour in fabrics on washing with +soda, but the dyes most commonly used are not vegetable dyes, and the +fading of the fabrics is due to chemical changes, into which we have no +space to enter. + +Strong acids and alkalies act as caustics; that is they destroy fabrics. +Continued washing in strong soda and water not only tends to destroy, +but also spoils the appearance of all kinds of wearing apparel and +household linen. White silk and wool at once become yellow on being +washed with soap that contains free soda, and linen is affected in the +same way though not to the same extent. + +The widely advertised pastes and liquids for cleaning metal-work, +particularly brass, often contain acids or alkalies that are injurious +to metals. If after cleaning there should be a green deposit on brass or +copper it will be wise to inquire into the composition of such deposit, +and to discontinue the use of that paste or liquid. When brass pans are +used for boiling fruit for jams, it is usual to rub them inside with a +slice of lemon before putting in the fruit. A careful housewife will +consider the reason for this custom. We remember once seeing a copper +pan, that had been provided for the preparation of oatmeal porridge, +with a band about an inch wide of green crystals on the inside. Inquiry +elicited that the cook had thought it a convenient pan in which to +prepare the fish (salt haddock) for breakfast. Ignorance of the chemical +action of salt and acids on metals may lead to very serious results. The +common name for the green deposit on brass and copper is verdigris, and +most people know that verdigris is a poisonous compound; the difficulty +is that, not knowing its chemical composition, they do not recognise +verdigris when they see it. The cook thought that the complaint made had +reference only to the misuse of the pan, and said that it was quite easy +to clean the green deposit off! + + +THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BODY + +It is to the science of chemistry that we owe our knowledge of the +composition of the various foodstuffs from which dietaries are selected, +as well as of the several parts of the human body which relies for its +sustenance on those dietaries. But the adjustment of dietaries to the +work they have to do is a more complex problem than those we have +hitherto considered. We learn from the science of physiology that the +human body is a laboratory in which certain juices are secreted for the +digestion of foods, and that in this laboratory foods must be reduced +to the consistency necessary for their passage through animal membranes; +for it is by passage through membranes that the nutritive parts of food +find their way into the general circulation of the blood which carries +them to all parts of the system. Very few foodstuffs are available for +use in their natural state, and the majority of them are prepared for +consumption in the first place by more or less elaborate processes +included in the art of cookery. When thus prepared they should be in a +fit state to undergo in the body the physical changes comprised in +mastication, and the chemical changes associated with the process of +digestion. + +It might be surmised by the thoughtful parent that as the child's body +lacks some of the external features of the adult body, such as hair and +teeth, so there might, and probably would, be corresponding lapses in +the internal economy, and that therefore the food prepared for the adult +would be, even in the smallest quantity, unsuited to the child. +Physiologists tell us that this is so, and in particular that the +secretions which in adult life are called saliva and pancreatic juice +and which have the function of preparing starch for digestion, are at +this time scanty in amount and deficient in chemical action. But these +secretions are essential for the digestion of starchy foods, and +chemists tell us that starch abounds in the vegetable kingdom from which +most of the food of children is derived. It is therefore a matter of +some importance that every person in charge of an infant should have +that amount of knowledge of chemical reactions which is requisite to +enable them to detect whether a food does or does not contain starch. A +child fed entirely on starchy foods suffers from malnutrition of so +serious a character that death may, and often does, ensue. Even if other +suitable food, such as modified milk, be given, the internal economy of +the child will be seriously disturbed. + +The names by which patent foods are advertised are very often misleading +to unscientific persons, and invalids have suffered much from the +mistaken idea that jellies and meat extracts are foods. Meat extracts +have their use, but any invalid fed on extract of beef only would die +sooner than one left with no food at all. The reason for this can be +learned from the knowledge of the constituents of beef extracts and the +part they play in the human organism. + + +CONCLUSION + +If we have seemed to lay stress on the value of a knowledge of the +sciences of physics and chemistry to the exclusion of the mention of +others, our justification of the fact is that space is limited, and that +we believe that physics and chemistry underlie all the other sciences +and are of paramount importance to students of all other subjects. In +the sciences of biology, physiology, botany, geology, &c., little +advance can be made without a knowledge of the fundamental laws of +nature. The physical laws control movement, and the chemical laws +control growth, whether of animate or inanimate nature. Physical and +chemical phenomena are concerned in the upheaval of rocks and mountains +which govern the contour of the continents of the world. These contours +influence climates and peoples; as the contours change the people +change. The dwellers in the mountain regions differ in character from +the dwellers in valleys and plains; the inhabitants of cold districts +differ from the inhabitants of warm districts; but it is people who make +history, and historians cannot afford to pass by natural environments +and natural laws. + +If a foundation of the fundamental sciences be laid at school the +student can subsequently build upon it the special science that is +suited to his career. It matters little what the calling in life of any +person may be; if he aim at success in that calling he must acquaint +himself with the laws by which he has his being, and by which he must +perforce be guided in all his actions as well as in his intercourse with +his fellow-men. + +The many avenues now open to women for public work entail on them the +responsibility of fitting themselves for that work. They as much as, if +not more than, the housewife need to study the sciences which treat of +the safeguarding of human life. As councillors dealing with sanitary and +building laws, as inspectors of workrooms, of institutions, and of the +conditions of child-life, they owe it to themselves and to the community +they serve not to undertake those duties without adequate knowledge. +Adequate knowledge must be taken to mean scientific knowledge of those +matters of which, by offering themselves for such appointments, they +assume an expert knowledge. It is an irony that scientific training +should be willingly and even eagerly acquired when it is a question of +qualifying for a salaried post for work among strangers, and that a +mother should be content to bring to bear on the well-being and lives of +her own circle unscientific and amateur experience. + +We have only been able to touch the skirt of a great subject, but our +end will have been achieved if we have succeeded in pointing the way for +a fuller realisation of the aims of earnest men and women for the saving +of child-life and the mitigation of disease, and if we have shown how +great that subject is--how much too great for anything but the most +superficial treatment in a single article. + + + + +THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD + +BY MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (GLASGOW) + + +I. INTRODUCTORY + +The household has been treated by economists with curious negligence. +The founder of political economy showed so little insight into the +real nature of the work carried on there as to class those whom he +described as menial servants with unproductive labourers.[13] The +later classical economists have followed his lead. Marshall, it is +true, shows throughout his books an appreciation of the position and +responsibilities of the housewife and the mother which is foreign to +most of his colleagues.[14] But he has never attempted to analyse the +economic functions of the household, or to show its varying relations to +the rest of the community; neither has he pointed out the peculiar +factors which differentiate the position and remuneration of the women +employed in domestic activities from those of all other workers. On +the other hand, the more modern school of economists, those who devote +themselves to the history of economic development in the past or to +the intensive study of special economic institutions in the present, +have equally failed to discuss with any adequacy the organisation of +the household. + +The economic historians describe with minuteness the rise and fall of +gilds and chartered companies, the workings of different methods of +education and of poor relief in successive epochs. They rarely indicate +how the various forms of industrial organisation translated themselves +into the domestic expenditure of the people. It would, for instance, be +very difficult to extract from the pages of the economic historians an +answer to the question, "What were the conditions determining the supply +of domestic servants at the close of the Middle Ages, in the eighteenth +century and in the nineteenth century respectively?" It is not easy to +answer definitely even simpler and more fundamental questions than +these. It is often stated, for example, that the household arrangements +of the serfs on the mediæval manors were rude and uncomfortable to the +last degree,[15] but it is certain that this is not so universally true +as has been thought. Some at all events of the more prosperous +inhabitants of the manors possessed household furniture and equipments +of a kind not inferior to the outfit of the casual labourer to-day. +Sheets, for example, are mentioned several times in extant inventories. +But much more investigation than has yet been possible would be +necessary before it could be determined whether these instances of a +higher standard of comfort are or are not exceptions to a general rule. + +To take other instances of unsettled problems: How was pottery made in +the Middle Ages--by travelling potters as in the East to-day, by gilds +of potters, or by the inhabitants of the manor directly for their own +use? Or again: When did the custom of building houses to let on rent +first become general in England? It is clear that the habit of living in +rented houses has and must have the most profound influence on family +life and national character. But so far, neither from economic histories +on the one hand nor from histories of architecture on the other, have I +been able to obtain any reliable information on this point. + +When one turns to even more important questions--such, for instance, as +the industrial position of women at different epochs--it is equally +difficult to obtain precise and detailed knowledge. Without a very +lengthy and elaborate investigation of the extant original materials, +many of them scattered in municipal chambers in distant parts of +England, it would be quite impossible to say on what terms women were +admitted as members of the gilds and fraternities which extended over +the whole area of industrial life in the Middle Ages. The character and +organisation of the household and the position of women in the Middle +Ages are subjects still practically untouched by the economic +historians.[16] + +When we turn to modern times, a little more material has been collected. +There is an investigation by the Board of Trade into the wages of +domestic servants, and a book on domestic service by Professor Lucy +Salmon of Vassar College. It deals of course mainly with American +conditions, but cannot be neglected by any English student of the +economic relations of the household. + +Humanitarianism has prompted studies more or less elaborate of the +dietaries and housing conditions of the working classes, especially in +towns,[17] but it would be idle to pretend that there has been yet more +than a beginning made of the task of determining how for each class of +the community its share of the national income as stated in money is +translated into the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, into +house-room, fuel, food, cleanliness, clothing, insurance, domestic +service, recreation, and culture. The generalisations available are of +the most meagre description. We can, for instance, say with tolerable +certainty that the agricultural labourer spends three-fourths of his +income on food, the town labourer two-thirds, the artisan a half, the +middle-class man from a third to a fourth; but there is practically no +reliable information with regard to very large incomes, or to sums spent +on clothing in _any_ section of the community. + +Moreover, there is one class--large, growing in importance, and an +essential element in modern civilisation--about whose domestic +expenditure we have no scientific knowledge at all. This is the class +which may be named "the routine brain-workers," the people who as +clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, typists, &c., are responsible for the +routine administration of modern commerce. They have been compared to +the nervous system, for like that system in the animal body they serve +for the communication and the mechanical record of the life of the +community on its industrial side. With them may be classed elementary +school-teachers, reporters, and the lower ranks of the Civil Service, +though I should not be prepared to say that some of these--especially +the teachers--ought to be regarded as performing only routine +brain-work. But all these workers can be conveniently studied together +in that their labour is carried on under somewhat similar conditions--it +is sedentary, highly regimented, exhausting to the brain and nervous +system, and is generally remunerated by a fixed salary, &c. They earn an +income larger than that of the manual labourer, but considerably less as +a general rule than that of the professional man. There is a total +absence of information as to the domestic expenditure of this class. It +is sometimes declared that its less well-paid members suffer as severely +from poverty as do sections of the working-class, and that the poor +clerk is really much more to be pitied than the well-to-do trade +unionist, the skilled manual worker. + +But no one has yet attempted to test the truth of this view by the only +scientific means, namely, by the collection of precise details as to +the domestic expenditure of the routine brain-working class, showing +what sums are spent on house-room, food, clothing, &c., and what kind +of accommodation is obtained for the money spent. In short, the +investigation of domestic expenditure has never yet been carried out +in a purely scientific spirit solely for the sake of the resultant +knowledge. It has always been undertaken with some special practical +problem in view, and is consequently always fragmentary and frequently +biassed. + +Yet if it is important to know how the wealth of the country is +produced, it is of equal importance to know how it is consumed, and that +whether the consumption takes the form of porridge and flannelette for +the child of a dock-labourer, of drink and admission to a football match +for the miner or cotton-operative, or of a gardener, and a holiday in +Switzerland for the hard-working doctor or stockbroker. Domestic +expenditure should be investigated as impartially by the economist as +are the variations of plants or animals by the biologist. His one aim +should be the discovery and statement of truth, as complete and as +unbiassed as he can make it. + +Hitherto, as I have said, this field of research has remained +comparatively untouched. In the first place, economists have generally +been men, and have naturally devoted their energies to the elucidation +of the problems of industry and business which concern men most closely. +Few women, on the other hand, have until recently received any training +in economics, and it has never occurred to them that the familiar and +wearisome problems of the rent, the butcher's bill, and the children's +clothes, together with the difficulty of finding a satisfactory cook, +may have a wider aspect than the narrow and personal one. But even as it +is, the few women who have distinguished themselves in the sphere of +economics have in a note or a casual remark pointed out distinctions +between household management and other branches of industry which cast a +flood of light on the whole subject. There is a paragraph in the second +volume of "Industrial Democracy"[18] which lays down the difference +between the underlying principles of business and of the administration +of the home in a few words which might serve as the text for a volume. +It is precisely this difference, first clearly indicated by Mrs. Webb, +which constitutes the second ground for the common neglect of this +branch of economics. A factory or a shop is run for profit; a household +simply to provide comfort and convenience for its members. To put it in +technical language, in the world of industry we are concerned with +exchange values, but in the home with use values alone. From this +distinction, overlooked by reason of its obviousness, there flow a large +number of consequences which will be discussed later. At present we are +only concerned to show that economists, with their eyes fixed on trade +and the mechanism of trade, very naturally neglected that section of +life in which values, material and immaterial, were being continually +created, but for use alone, not for commercial purposes. + +The wife who cooks her husband's dinner, or caters, organises, and keeps +accounts for him, is really engaged in work which in any rational +interpretation of the word has far more right to be called productive +than is much of the labour employed in manufacture or business. But the +work accomplished by the wife in the household has never yet received +its full acknowledgment from the economists. The truth is that, although +they constantly warn students to avoid the vulgar error of confusing +money wages with real wages, they themselves have been so biassed by the +commercial conception of profit-making that they have almost completely +overlooked even the purely economic value of much work, such as cooking, +cleaning, and clothes-making, which is carried on within the home, not +for profit-making or for a salary, but as part of the duties attaching +to the status of wife and mother. It is acknowledged by the economists +themselves[19] that although in theory they have set aside a section to +be devoted to the discussion of "consumption" as other sections deal +with "production" and "distribution" of wealth, yet in practice the +treatment of consumption has been meagre and ineffective. This, perhaps, +is inevitable--it is certainly regrettable--and women economists would +be performing a most useful work if they were to undertake a careful and +detailed investigation into the consumption of wealth at different +epochs and by different classes of the community, and one, moreover, for +which their connection with housekeeping, which is only the practical +application of the science of the consumption of wealth, would have +already partially prepared them. + +There is still another reason why a scientific treatment of the +consumption of wealth has been delayed. It could not be developed until +medicine and hygiene had provided us with satisfactory standards of the +needs of the human body. When food, for example, was still regarded +purely as a matter of individual likes and dislikes, it was impossible +to discuss at all adequately the sufficiency or insufficiency of the +food consumption of a given class. But now that we know that the varying +tastes simply express in different ways the need for so much proteid, +carbo-hydrates and fats, we have a firm basis on which to work. It is +true that it is not yet quite so firm as we could wish; the scientists +have not yet succeeded even for a single class in fixing a dietary +standard which would be accepted by all in particular, and recently the +investigations of Professor Chittenden have suggested that the amount of +proteid hitherto thought essential may be excessive. Moreover, little +attention has yet been paid to the need of different food for different +work. Yet it seems probable, to say the least, that the sedentary +worker, using his brain and not his muscles, may require lighter and +daintier food than the labourer in the fields or the docks, and may +really suffer as seriously if that better food be denied him as does the +latter if he fails to secure a sufficiency of coarser and cheaper +nutriment. This question would be of great importance in investigating +the expenditure of the clerk class. But although the scientists have +here failed to provide the students of domestic expenditure with all the +data required, yet there is sufficient knowledge of the general +principles of dietetics to enable us to base our study of food +consumption on a fairly sound basis. + +In the same way a standard of housing accommodation establishing the +minimum of space per head necessary for health is generally recognised; +and on these and similar calculations, correlated with the cost of +house-room and commodities, it will be possible to build up a science of +consumption which will be really a science and not a series of guesses +and vague generalities. + +It is true, again, that it is easier to deal with the grades of society +practising the roughest and least-skilled labour than with those +engaged in the higher forms of brain-work, but we can at all events set +ourselves to discover what _is_ the average distribution of the +expenditure of men earning £1000 a year, and can afterwards appeal to +the hygienists to decide for us what kind of food, house-room, and +recreation is essential for a man who makes his living by the higher +activities of the intellect. A very close connection between economics +and hygiene is essential if the division of our subject that deals with +consumption is to be adequately treated. + +So, then, a scientific study of the economics of the household would +fall into two divisions--(1) an endeavour to describe the industrial +development of each country as it affects family life, house-room, food, +and clothes; and (2) a descriptive account of the domestic circumstances +and the expenditure[20] of each class of the community at the present +time. Under each of these headings special sections should treat +domestic service, the work of woman beyond the household, and the +organisation of household work as compared with different branches +of industry and administration. Finally, a supplementary section +should set forth the practical applications of the conclusions arrived +at, and should endeavour to help the housewife or, it may be, the +superintendent of an industrial school, college, or boarding house +in the administration of the income at her disposal. + +But much more careful investigation into the question of how incomes +actually are spent is essential before we can deal satisfactorily with +the even more difficult problem of how they ought to be spent. And there +is, too, another factor which must be taken into consideration. +Economists in defining wealth commonly admit nowadays that it includes +collective and immaterial well-being of various kinds.[21] But having +made this admission, they straightway put it aside and proceed to +discuss wealth as though it consisted exclusively of material +exchangeable commodities. Yet clearly the real income of a family is +increased if the children have easy access to good free schools or to +ample open spaces. It will not be possible to estimate precisely the +money value of opportunities of this description. But we should at least +notice their presence or absence for each class and for each stage of +national development. It is clear that in the present paper no attempt +can be made to deal with the problems of the economics of expenditure +or of the household save in the merest outline, and therefore the +following pages are to be taken simply as a sketch to be filled in by +more extensive and more throughgoing investigation later on. + + +II. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POSITION OF THE HOUSEHOLD IN ENGLAND + +English industrial history has been divided into three main epochs with +intervening periods of transition. These are (1) the mediæval period, +(2) the period extending from Elizabeth's reign to the reign of George +III., and (3) the modern period. + +In the first, the typical economic institutions are the manor and the +gild; in the second, domestic manufacture and convertible husbandry +are predominant; and in the third the factory system and capitalist +farming take their places.[22] Trade, too, undergoes a similar +evolution. In the first period it is intermunicipal rather than +international. In the second period, within each nation trade is free +and unfettered, and a considerable amount of territorial division of +labour and regional specialisation results. But external trade is +regulated by governments on the principles of the mercantile system. In +the third period, with the increase and improvement of the means of +communication, international trade becomes more and more important, +markets are immensely widened, and the economic organisation of society +reaches the complexity possessed by it to-day, which reacts in many +half comprehended ways on the household and on family life. + +The main characteristics of these divisions of English industrial +history are, on the whole, clear and well-marked. But the transition +periods are more difficult to describe. It has often been pointed out +that the two industrial revolutions, as they have been named by some +writers, bear a certain resemblance to each other. Both involve a +reorganisation of industry which results in increased productivity on +the one hand, but in the demoralisation of certain classes of the +workers on the other hand. Both therefore require a revision of the +system of providing for the destitute. Both, too, produce the most +far-reaching effects on home-life and the economy of the household, and +influence profoundly the position of women. Both, too, are alike in that +it is not easy to fix dates to the periods within which the revolution +in industry takes place.[23] But roughly we may regard the late +fifteenth century and the early part of the sixteenth as a time of +stress and strain, due to the appearance of new methods both in +agriculture and in industry, especially in the wool trade; and in the +same way the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the +nineteenth was a period of sudden and violent economic transition. In +both cases alike the changes in agriculture preceded somewhat the +changes in industry, and the revolution made itself felt in different +ways and at different times in the various districts of the country. +There are still backward areas in the south of England and in the west +of Scotland where life has been very little affected, notwithstanding +trains and steam-engines, by the alterations in industry which have +produced the roaring mills and clattering shipyards of Lancashire and +the Clyde. + +The task before us, then, is to sketch as clearly as possible from the +scanty material available the main features of domestic life at each one +of these epochs, and to show how the changes in industry reflected +themselves in the life of the household. + + +(_a_) THE HOUSEHOLD IN THE MEDIÆVAL PERIOD + +(1) _The Serf--his Position and Domestic Arrangements_ + +In the mediæval period, outside the small and scattered towns, the +prevailing form of economic organisation was the manor. We have to +imagine the surface of England dotted over with stretches of cultivated +land, with areas of waste, moorland or woodland intervening. Each +stretch of arable land was cultivated more or less in common by groups +of serfs, who lived generally in one long village street, with the +church and the lord's hall near at hand. Usually, in addition to the +arable land worked on the complicated "three-field" system soon to be +described, there were also hay-meadows down by the river, sometimes +permanent pasture held in common, while the waste was available for +extra pasturage, and for cutting turf and wood for fuel. Each serf +possessed, besides, a small croft attached to his house, and sometimes +an orchard and rude garden. The arable land was divided into three large +fields, not shut in as are our fields by hedges, but lying open. Each +field, again, was partitioned into numbers of strips more or less +regular in shape, and each serf possessed a certain number of these, +not, however, all lying together, but intermixed "mingle-mangle" with +the holdings of his neighbours. He was not allowed to cultivate these, +or indeed any of the land save his own tiny croft, as he pleased, but +was compelled to follow the traditional method of farming according to +the customs of his manor. Usually the rotation was wheat or rye in the +first year, oats or barley in the second year, fallow in the third year, +while the other two fields followed the same course a year and two years +later; so that in each year one field was fallow, one grew wheat or rye, +and the other oats or barley. The animals belonging to the serfs and +their lord were pastured on the arable fields when the crops were taken +off, and on the fallow field. The lord of the manor also possessed +strips in the common fields, and was regarded as the owner of the common +and waste, subject to the pasturage and fuel rights of the tenants. He +did not receive rent quite as we understand it, but each serf owed him +dues calculated in labour, in kind, and occasionally in money. + +For instance, on the manor of Tidenham, in the time of Edward I., one +serf worked for the lord for five days in every alternate week for +thirty-five weeks in the year, two and a half days every week for six +weeks in the summer, and three days every week for eight weeks during +August and September (the three festival weeks of Easter, Christmas, and +Pentecost were holidays). Then, in addition to this regular weekly work, +he could also be required for extra work, commonly called boon-works or +precariæ. "He made one precaria called churched, and he ploughed and +harrowed a half acre for corn and sowed it with one bushel of corn from +his own seed, and in the time of harvest he had to reap and bind and +stack the produce, receiving one sheaf for himself on account of the +half acre." And he had to plough one acre for oats. In addition, there +were dues in kind--one hen at Christmas, five eggs at Easter, eight +gallons of beer at every brewing, and also small payments in money, +commuted, one would conjecture, for payments in kind, _i.e._ one penny +for every yearling pig, and one halfpenny for those only of the half +year.[24] + +In other cases the tenants paid dues of lambs, of fish, of honey, of +clews of net yarn, of straw, &c. One of the tenants of the great +monastic establishment at Glastonbury had to find thirty salmon, "each +as thick as a man's fist at the tail."[25] A curious form of labour due +is described in the Boldon Book. The tenants of certain manors in Durham +had to build each summer a hunting-lodge for the bishop and his retinue +when they came to take their pleasure in the moors in the west of +Durham. + +At different periods and in different districts the subdivisions of the +tenants vary greatly, and for complete details the reader must be +referred to the special works on the subject. But two classes can +usually be distinguished--(1) the villeins, who possessed oxen and +worked the larger holdings (often about thirty acres--called virgates or +yard lands); and (2) the cotters, who held about five acres, and whose +domestic animals consisted of pigs and poultry. In addition there were +often found socmen, who were personally free; and, at the other end of +the social scale, slaves, who, largely through the influence of the +Church, were manumitted before the end of the Middle Ages. + +The most striking feature about the manors is that each was almost +completely self-supporting. Each manor provided corn, meat, eggs, milk, +cheese, poultry, &c., for its own inhabitants. Fuel, and perhaps game +and rabbits, came from the waste. The furniture was of rude wood, and +the clothes would be sheep-skin and coarse cloth spun and woven from the +wool grown on the sheep that were fed on the manor lands. The ordinary +serf would very rarely either receive or spend coin of the realm. Salt +he would buy and the metal pots and pans used for cooking, and, as +Ashley suggests, tar.[26] But the greater amount of the goods required +for himself and his family would be produced under what the economists +call "natural economy," _i.e._ they were made by the people who intended +to use them, directly, without the intervention of money or any +mechanism of exchange. + +Together with this self-sufficiency would go a considerable amount of +co-operation. Economists are not yet agreed as to the precise extent to +which co-operation was used in the manorial village. But we know that +tenants frequently lent their oxen to one another to make up the +necessary team; that in some of the Durham manors there was a communal +smith, who received payment in the possession of a strip of land; and +that the tenants owned a common oven. It was customary, too, for one +shepherd or swineherd to guard the sheep or the pigs of the whole +community. The village mill, when first established, was also a common +boon to the whole body of serfs, but later on the obligation to grind +their corn at the lord's mill and to pay the dues came to be regarded as +an onerous burden. + +A curious and important person on the mediæval estate was the +bee-keeper. Particulars are given of his duties and rewards in one +Durham manor by the Boldon Book.[27] He does no regular weekly work, the +care of the bees apparently taking the place of this, but he must take +part with the other serfs in the boon-works necessary at harvest and +other times of pressure. As honey was almost the only source of +sweetness in early mediæval cooking, it can be understood why the +bee-keeper ranked only a little below the shepherd. The Boldon Book, +unfortunately, since its aim is to define the relations between the +villeins and their lord, does not tell us whether he superintended the +bees belonging to his fellow tenants. On the analogy of the shepherd and +swineherd, we should assume that he did. + +How, then, are we to describe the domestic life of the various +sections of rural society at this time? Unfortunately, very little +material exists on which to draw for the account of the household +arrangements of the serfs. They have naturally left no account-books; +they enter rarely into the literature of the period; there are no +remains of their houses or clothing, and it is, in fact, far from +easy to decide how they did live. But it seems probable that a rude and +dirty plenty, procured by long hours of toilsome open-air labour, was +the prevailing characteristic of the serf household. The house would +be of clay or wattles or wood, probably without windows--and those +certainly unglazed--and with a hole in the middle of the roof to let out +the smoke, the fire being placed in the centre of the floor. The +furniture must have been rough but solid, its most valuable items being +the brass or iron cooking-pots. On the other hand, I do not believe +that, in the more prosperous villein households at all events, the +level of domestic comfort was so low as has sometimes been represented. +Rough cloth was probably woven or sometimes bought. There is one case +on record where, in return for a small piece of land, one family +undertook to do the weaving for another, and Gasquet mentions[28] that +to the common Christmas feast on one of the Glastonbury manors some of +the tenants brought their own napkins, "if he wanted to eat off a +cloth." I see no reason to doubt that some at least of the villein +households were provided with coarse coverings for bed and table. On +the other hand, it seems doubtful whether any form of artificial +light was commonly used in the poorer households. The food, too, would +show what to us would seem strange contrasts of plenty and of +poverty. It would include neither tea nor coffee, neither sugar nor +spices, nor yet potatoes. On the other hand, there was probably, +save at times of famine, a sufficiency of bread,[29] and eggs and +dairy produce would be used in quantities now quite beyond the reach of +the ordinary working-man. The butter, it is true, was not of a high +standard, for it was usually liquid, but the children must have had +milk to drink and cheese and eggs to eat. Even the poorest serfs +apparently kept a few fowls, since their dues are so often payable in +eggs, and some of the eggs and the chickens would be available for +family consumption. But their meat must have been much poorer than +ours. Fresh mutton and beef were rarely eaten, except in the case of +animals who had died a natural death. The others were much too valuable +for draught purposes, for milk or for wool. Among the maxims of an +old agriculturist of the thirteenth century we find the following +remark: "If a sheep die suddenly, they put the flesh in water for so +many hours as are between midday and three o'clock, and then hang it +up, and when the water is drained off they salt it and then dry it. But +I do not wish you to do this."[31] In the autumn, animals which it +was impossible to keep during the winter, owing to the absence of +root-feeding, were killed and salted down. Occasionally, however, fresh +pork would be used, and no doubt every now and then a wild beast or +bird from the common or waste would find its way into the housewife's +iron pot. The food, then, would be rough and sometimes unwholesome, +but on the other hand it contained many most desirable forms of +nourishment which are absent from the labourer's diet to-day, and which +are, it might be observed, those specially suitable for children.[32] + +The fuel used was wood or peat, or in some cases dried cow-dung. + +On the whole, then, the household arrangements of the mediæval serf were +primitive, and in times of famine he and his family must have endured +great hardships. The winters, too, when the tracks were deep in mud and +artificial light was absent or scarce, must have been recurring times of +considerable suffering. But on the other hand, fresh air and easy access +to the land were benefits hardly valued until in later times they have +been lost to whole sections of the population. + + +(2) _The Lord of the Manor--his House and Household_ + +There is more material available for the description of the household of +the lord than of his serf. Account-books, directions for household +administration, and in the fifteenth century very curious rhymed rules +of behaviour and of precedence are available. Naturally, however, it is +of the king's household and of the households of the nobles and of the +great monasteries that we know most. Very little can now be discovered +of the details of the domestic arrangements of the master in possession +of one manor only, and it is not certain that we should be justified in +supposing that what we find to be true of the great household will +necessarily hold also for the smaller one. For example, in the families +of which we have records the great majority of the servants are men, +cooking in particular being in the Middle Ages a masculine vocation. But +is it safe to assume that the same would be the case in the household of +a simple knight? It must therefore be clearly understood that what +follows has reference mainly to royal and noble families. + +The domestic buildings of all manors were on a more or less uniform +plan. They were grouped round a quadrangle, one side of which consisted +of the great hall where dinner was served, business transacted, and +where servants and the humbler guests slept at night. The door was at +one end, usually protected by screens, behind which was another door +leading to the buttery, and above which the musicians' gallery was often +placed. Opposite the door was a raised daïs, where stood the table +reserved for the master, his family, and important guests. In the body +of the hall dinner was served to the rest of the household. A private +chamber called the solar or bower, reached by a staircase either inside +the hall or placed in the quadrangle outside, was kept for the special +use of the lord and his family. There occasionally they took meals, +though it was regarded as a sign of luxurious self-seeking to avoid the +formality and bustle of the meals in the great hall. In the solar, too, +beds were placed for important guests, and any particularly valuable +articles of furniture would be kept there. On the other sides of the +quadrangle were the chapel, granaries, storehouses, dairies and +bakehouses, and the kitchen. This was often placed at a little distance +to guard against fire. The cooking was usually carried on at an iron +grate placed in the middle of the floor, and pictures show us that +sometimes it was even done in the open air. Refuse was carried off by an +open drain running across the centre of the kitchen. + +As an illustration let me quote an account of a typical manor-house of +the twelfth century. "The manor-house of Ardleigh consisted of a hall +with bower annexed. Also a kitchen, a stable, a bakehouse, two stores +for corn (granges) and a servants' house. In the hall were two moveable +benches, a fixed table, and a buffet." [33] + +In course of time other rooms were added, and the furniture and +equipment became more elaborate. But until Elizabeth's reign the great +hall where master and servants dined together was the central feature in +the wealthy English home. + +The food was derived from the manor, and purchases were only made of +such things as could not be produced in England, notably red wine,[34] +spices, almonds and rice, all much used in mediæval cookery. Sugar, too, +would be bought, when it replaced honey for sweetening purposes. But the +corn, meat, milk, cheese, and eggs would be all home-grown, and as it +was easier in the state of transport at that time to bring the family to +the food than the food to the family, part of the duties of housekeeping +consisted in so arranging the sojourn of the household as to draw +food-supplies from each manor in the most convenient way. The great +Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grossetête, gives elaborate directions on this +head to a widowed friend of his, Margaret, Countess of Lincoln. + +"Every year at Michaelmas when you know the measure of all your corn, +then arrange your sojourn for the whole of that year and for how many +weeks in each place according to the seasons of the year and the +advantages of the country in flesh and in fish, and do not in any wise +burden by debt or long residence the places where you sojourn. + +"I advise that at two seasons of the year you make your principal +purchases, that is to say, your wines, your wax, and your +wardrobe."[35] + +And there follows a list of the fairs recommended by the pious bishop. + +The materials of mediæval food, then, would be similar to the diet of +the serfs already described, but would be used in greater plenty and +would be supplemented by luxuries imported from the East and bought at +the fairs. If we keep in mind these conditions, as well as the leisure +and the large supply of labour available, we shall understand why +mediæval cooking was so elaborate; for, contrary to ordinary opinion, it +was distinguished by a large number of complicated made dishes. Small +birds were commonly roasted, but other forms of meat were stewed or +minced. They would in this way both be more easily dealt with at the +open fire of the mediæval kitchen, and more easily served in the +mediæval dining-room, where knives and spoons were the only implements +in common use. Moreover, there was what seems to us an extraordinary +liking for violent and mixed flavourings and brilliant colouring. +Bucknade, for instance, was made of meat hewn in gobbets, pounded +almonds, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, onions, salt and +fried herbs, thickened with rice-flour and coloured yellow with saffron. +Here, again, is the recipe for mortrews, a dish mentioned in Chaucer's +"Canterbury Tales." + +"Take hennes and pork and seethe them together. Take the flesh of the +hennes and of the pork and hack it small and grind it all to dust. Take +bread y-grated, and add thereto and temper it with the self-broth[36] +and mix it with yolks of eggs, and cast thereon powder fort,[37] and +boil it and do thereto powder of ginger, saffron, and salt, and look +that it is standing,[38] and flour it all with powder of ginger." The +lavish use of eggs, pork, and chickens in this recipe could be +paralleled in many others, and is evidently to be connected with the +custom of receiving manorial dues in kind at stated intervals. Hundreds +of eggs would be sent in by the tenants at Easter, and the problem of +the housekeeper would not be how to lessen the consumption of eggs in +order to keep down the bills, but how to get through those in store +before they were hopelessly spoiled. + +For the earlier period menus are not available, but a curious rhymed +treatise on servants' duties dating from the middle of the fifteenth +century, entitled "John Russell's Boke of Nurture," has been reprinted +by the Early English Lent Society[39] in the volume entitled "Meals and +Manners of the Olden Time," and from it I extract the following:-- + + Furst set forth mustard and brawne of boore, the wild swine, + Suche pottage as the cooke hath made of herbis, spice, and wine, + Beef, mutton, stewed feysaund, swan with the chawdyn[40] + Capoun, pigge, venisoun bake, leche lombard,[41] fritter, viant fine, + And then a soteltie.[42] + Maydon Marie that holy Virgin + And Gabrielle greeting her with an ave. + +This is followed by two other courses rather lighter in character, +though still including venison, peacocks, quails, &c., and then comes +dessert: + + After this delicatis mo, + Blanderelle or pepins with caraway in confite, + Wayfurs to eat, hypocras[43] to drink with delite. + +The service in the wealthy mediæval manor was as elaborate as the +cooking, at all events in the later period. The Bishop of Lincoln finds +it necessary to warn the Countess of Lincoln not to permit slovenliness +among her retainers. She is not to allow "old tabards, and soiled +herigauts, and imitation short-hose." But even this widow lady is served +with considerable pomp. "Command that your panter[44] with the bread and +your butler[45] with the cup, come before you to the table foot by foot +before grace and that three valets be assigned by the marshal each day +to serve the high table and the two tables at the side with drink. And +at each course call the servers to go to the kitchen, and they +themselves to go always before your seneschal as far as you until the +dishes be set before you, and see that all servants with meats go +orderly and without noise to one part and another of the hall to those +who shall be assigned to divide the meats, so that nothing be placed or +served disorderly."[46] + +In the "Boke of Nurture," which refers of course to a much later +period, the service is even more elaborate, and we gather indeed that +the dinner was a social function at which all classes of the community +met together. Even the poorest were not forgotten, as there was a +special officer whose business it was to distribute alms of broken meats +to the beggars waiting at the door. The rules of precedence were most +elaborate, and the serving seems on special occasions to have risen +almost to the rank of a solemn ritual. In addition, dinner was +accompanied by music and sometimes enlivened at intervals by pageants +and shows. + +Domestic service in these great households was very different from what +it is to-day. There was, in the first place, no fixed line drawn as +there is now between the menial and the non-menial classes of the +community. The higher servants were often people of nearly the same +social rank as those whom they served. Sir William de Mortimer was the +head-steward of Bishop Swinfield, Sir Gilbert Brydges the steward of +Gloucester Abbey.[47] Young men who entered the service of a lord might +one day be called on to carve or serve wine, and the next day might sit +at meat in the same room.[48] + +Through the account-books and the household ordinances of the period, we +can trace four grades of household servants--squires or gentlemen, +valets or yeomen, grooms, and pages. The last grade had been recently +introduced into the royal household in Edward IV.'s time, and they did +not eat in hall. "A page etyth in his office or with his next fellow, +not in the halle at noe place, taking dayly one lofe, one messe of great +meate, half a gallon of ale; one reward quarterly in the counting-house, +twenty pence of clothing when the household hathe at every one of the +four feasts, one napron of one elle and part of the King's great rewards +given yearly amongst them in household."[49] + +The last quotation illustrates also the method of remuneration. The +money received was a very minor and unimportant factor. The servants +were paid mostly in kind, and the share of each in food, fuel, and +clothing is very fully and carefully stated. The chief porter of the +Abbey of Gloucester, for instance, had a chamber next to the abbey gate. +His weekly allowance was three white loaves, called myches, and two +called holyers, with seven loaves of squire bread; for ale every quarter +3s. 4d. On every flesh or fish day he had a mess of flesh or fish of the +first course, as much as was set before two monks. He had a gown every +year of the suit of the gentlemen of the Lord Abbot, and in addition +13s. 4d. per annum. These fixed rations of food clothing &c., are called +livery, a term now restricted to clothing alone. + +It is noticeable that these servants are almost all men. Washerwomen +(lotrices) are women, and there are occasionally notices of young girls +in attendance on the lady of the house. But so far as our information +goes, cooking and cleaning and serving are carried on by men, though +mention is made of women pastry-cooks who in monasteries, to avoid +scandal, had to be accommodated in a separate kitchen, called the +pudding-house.[50] But in the Middle Ages domestic service was not, as +it is now, regarded as a menial occupation to be left, save in some of +its higher branches, exclusively to women. + +I can find no trace at this period of any difficulty in obtaining +service. Bishop Grossetête assures the Countess of Lincoln that she can +easily obtain servers if she needs them, and the young men addressed in +the rhyming exhortations preserved in "Meals and Manners" evidently +regard it as promotion almost beyond their hopes to become members of a +lord's household. Whether this would be equally the case if we had +information about the smaller households, it is not easy to say. But +when we remember that the alternatives were laborious and monotonous +work at agriculture or the chance of finding a place in the gilds or +fraternities which monopolised the trade in towns at that period, we can +believe that the plentiful fare, the lively society, and the not too +strenuous[51] work required of a serving-groom or yeoman would be +regarded as a prize worth striving for and worth keeping. + +It would be interesting, had I more space at my disposal, to discuss +mediæval town life and the domestic arrangements of the monasteries, +which are very fully and interestingly described in Abbé Gasquet's book, +"English Monastic Life." But I must content myself solely with one or +two extracts illustrating the household furniture of the mediæval +town-dwellers. + +In 1303, a certain Alan de Bedeford, a baker of London, was sold up for +arrears of taxes, and the following were the goods seized by the +inexorable tax-gatherer: "One brass pot weighing 18 lbs., value 2s. 6d., +and another brass pot weighing 13 lbs., value 21d., and one kettle value +14d., the total whereof amounts to 5s 5d."[52] + +In 1337, an inventory was preserved of the goods of a felon. It was +probably exhaustive, and may therefore be taken as indicating with +tolerable precision the standard of household comfort of a London +burgess at that time. It is too long to quote in full (the list of +garments in particular is rather tedious), but it is interesting to note +that it includes a mattress, three feather-beds, five cushions, six +blankets, seven linen-sheets, four table-cloths, six whole brass pots of +varying value and one broken one, one candlestick and two plates of +metal, two basins and one washing-vessel, a spit, a frying-pan, and a +funnel.[53] + +Further study of wills and inventories would yield a fresh store of +information with regard to mediæval household equipment, and might not +improbably upset some preconceived ideas as to the ordinary standard of +life at that time. + + +(_b_) THE POSITION OF THE HOUSEHOLD FROM THE FIFTEENTH TO THE NINETEENTH +CENTURIES + + +(1) _The First Industrial Revolution and its Effects_ + +The fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century were +marked by great economic changes. The manorial system, modified before +this period by the gradual commutation of labour dues and especially by +the catastrophe of the Black Death, was replaced on the one hand by +enclosures for sheep-farming and on the other by convertible husbandry, +when the farmer possessed or rented his own separate holding and managed +it as he pleased, using the same land alternately for pasturage and as +arable.[54] At the same time, the gild organisation of industry was +replaced by the system commonly known as domestic manufacture. This +spread largely in the country districts, and profoundly influenced home +life and the position of women. At the same time both home and foreign +trade greatly increased, and "natural economy" was almost entirely +replaced by "money economy," the necessities of life being no longer +produced by the family for their own use; men worked instead for +payment, and then with the money so earned bought in the market the +goods they required.[55] These changes, like the corresponding changes +at the end of the eighteenth century, brought greater wealth and pomp to +some classes, increased comfort to the bulk of the people, but called +into existence a new class of landless labourers, whose needs and +importunities finally led to the establishment of the poor-law. + +It would require a volume to describe how these changes reflected +themselves in the daily life of the people, and at present I must +content myself with noting very briefly the main effects of this first +industrial revolution. + +In the country two classes appeared: the labourer, who, although he +might possess a small piece of land of his own[56] or at the least had +grazing rights over a neighbouring common, yet depended for his +livelihood on the wages paid by his master. So far I have not discovered +any reliable source of information with regard to the family expenditure +of this class.[57] + +Next there was the farmer either renting or owning a farm. Very often +farming would be combined with spinning or weaving wool. Agriculture +of this kind, partly for subsistence and partly for the market, +supplemented by the practice of domestic industries, remained the +dominant type in England until the introduction of capitalist farming +in the eighteenth century, and indeed can still be found in backward +districts. The part played in it by women can be illustrated by a +curious account of the duties of the wife of a husbandman given in +Fitzherbert's "Book of Husbandry" (1534). + +"First in a morning when thou art waked and purposiste to rise, lyfte up +thy hands and blesse thee.... And when thou art up and redy, then first +sweep thy house, dress up thy dysshe-board, and sette all things in good +order within thy house. Milk thy kye, suckle thy calves, sye up thy +mylke, take up thy children and array them, and provide for thy +husband's brekefaste, dinner, souper, and thy children and servants, and +take thy part with them. And to ordayne corn and malt to the myll, to +bake and brue withal whanne need is. And meete it to the mill and fro +the mill, and see that thou have thy measure again beside the toll or +else the miller dealeth not truly with the or els thy corn is not drye +as it should be. Thou must make butter or cheese whan thou maist, serve +thy swyne both morning and evening, and give thy poleyn[58] meat in the +morning, and when tyme of the year cometh, thou must take heed how thy +duckes henne and geese do lay and to gather up their eggs and when they +wax brodie to get them.... And in the beginning of March or a little +before is time for a wife to make her garden and to gette as many good +seedes and herbes as she can and specially such as be good for the potte +and to eat. [Then come lengthy and technical directions for sowing and +working up flax and hemp] and thereof may they make shetes, bordclothes, +towels, shirts, smocks and such other necessaries and therefore let thy +distaff be always ready for a pastime that thou be not idle.... It is +convenient for a husband to have shepe of his owne for many causes, and +then maye his wife have part of the woll to make her husband and herself +some clothes. And at the very least way she may have the locks of the +sheep either to make clothes or blankets or coverlets or both. And if +she have no wool of her own, she may take wool to spyn of cloth-makers +and by that means she may have a convenient living.... It is a wife's +occupation to wynowe all manner of corns, to make malt, to wasshe and +wrynge, to make haye, shere corn, and in tiyme of nede to help her +husband to fyll the muck-wain or dung-cart, drive the plough, to load +hay, corn or such other. And to go or ride to the market, to sell +butter, cheese, eggs, chekyns, capons, hennes, pigs, geese, and all +manner of corns, and also to bye all manner of necessary things +belonging to the household and to make a trewe reckoning and account to +her husband what she hath paid. And if the husband go to the market to +bye or sell, as they oft do, he then to show his wife in like manner." + +It is interesting to note in this extract the mixture of natural and +money economy, the appearance of domestic manufactures, and the +energetic co-operation of the wife in the work of the farm. The +sixteenth century would have had little sympathy with the +sentimentalists who hold that womanhood in itself is a burden so heavy +that all active occupations should be forbidden to the married woman. + +According to Harrison[59] the standard of comfort among the agricultural +classes rose markedly at this time. Chimneys became common, pewter +plates and silver or tin spoons are used in place of "tinn platters and +wooden spoons." A farmer thinks his gains very small "if he have not a +fair garnish of pewter on his cupboard, with so much more in odd vessels +going about the house, three or four feather-beds, so manie coverlids or +carpets of tapestry, a silver salt, a bowl for wine if not a whole nest, +and a dozen of spoons to furnish up the suit." + +Food, too, according to Harrison, was plentiful and varied. The increase +in pasture farming and the decrease in arable land had made meat (often, +it is true, salted) cheaper and corn-stuffs dearer, at least in +proportion. This tendency can be traced in the menus and accounts of the +period, and certainly appears in the following extract:[60] "The +artificers and husbandmen make greatest account of such food as they may +soonest come by and have it quickliest ready. Their food also consisteth +principallie in beef and such meat as the butcher selleth; that is to +saie, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, whereof he findeth great store in the +markets adjoining, besides souse,[61] brawn, bacon, fruit, pies of +fruit, fowles of sundrie sort, cheese, butter, eggs." A little lower +down he notes that venison and a cup of wine are luxuries reserved for +special occasions. + +It is not easy to estimate the worth of Harrison's testimony to the +social habits of a class which he did not probably know intimately. It +is certain, too, that he was not speaking here of the poorest class of +labourers,[62] those who later recruited the class eligible for poor-law +relief. But even making these admissions, his words seem to be evidence +of a standard of comfort higher in some respects than could be attained +by the corresponding classes to-day. Chicken, for instance, practically +never forms part of the dietary of even the well-to-do urban artisan of +the present time. + +In the organisation of the wealthy household, the economic changes of +the time produced important alterations. The increase in buying and +selling made the landlords more anxious to dispose of their surplus +produce in the markets, and on the other hand provided new luxuries on +which money could be spent. There resulted a tendency, which can be +traced in all the household books of the period, to limit the numbers of +servants and retainers. At the same time there was a growing desire for +privacy, and a widening gulf between the upper and the lower classes of +society. Hence the hall, the general assembly-place for the entire +household, lost its importance; dining-rooms and withdrawing-rooms for +the exclusive use of the family and guests, took its place, and the +servants were relegated to their own part of the house. Partly as cause +of this, partly as effect, domestic administration ceases to be a career +for men of better social rank, a tendency which would of course be +intensified by the fact that in commerce, in literature, in exploration, +&c., new opportunities were perpetually being opened up. Hence +Elizabeth's reign is a turning-point for the history both of domestic +service and of domestic architecture. It was probably about this time +that women superseded men as cooks and cleaners, and it is certain that +the increase in Elizabeth's reign of industries worked for profit must +have diminished the production for use in the household of many articles +of common domestic utility.[63] + + +(2) _Life in the Stuart Period_ + +For 150 years after the death of Elizabeth no startling changes occur in +the organisation of the household or in its economic relations. The +marked feature of this period is the existence of domestic manufactures, +engaging the head of the household and his family, one or two +apprentices, and sometimes a journeyman or two. It was common, indeed +all but universal, for the small master manufacturers to board and lodge +their employees, as it was common for farmers to board and lodge their +labourers. The larger households carried on at home many of the +operations--baking, brewing, washing, jam-making--which have now passed +to the factory. There was a steady growth of domestic luxury and of +convenience. The development of commerce made available new commodities, +such as tea, coffee, cocoa, and thereby influenced social life. +Furniture became more elegant, and perhaps at the same time more +stuffy. + +It would require much reading and research to elaborate the details of +this progress, and for our present purpose it is hardly necessary, as it +involved alteration in particulars but not in the general organisation +of household economy. The difficulties of finding domestic servants +begin, however, to make themselves felt, and are amusingly discussed by +such writers as Defoe and Swift. It is at some time during this period +that houses are first built in terraces and squares on an identical +plan for letting purposes. But there are no sweeping changes, such as +mark the eighty years before the accession of Victoria. + + +(3) _The Influence of the Second Industrial Revolution on the Home_ + +In the last half of the eighteenth century agriculture and industry +were once more revolutionised, the former by the introduction of +capitalist farming, the rotation of crops, and the further enclosure of +common fields, commons, and wastes, the latter by the introduction of +machinery and mechanical motor power. For a detailed account of the +enormous changes consequent on these new methods of production, I must +refer the reader to the special treatises on the subject,[64] but we +must spend some time in considering the ways in which the home, +family life, and the position of women have been modified by these +industrial developments. + +In the first place, the introduction of machinery meant the growth of +the factory system, and in consequence work left the home, which ceased +to be the institution where productive industry was carried on, and +became instead a centre solely of emotional and domestic life. At the +same time, the alteration in the land system made it impossible any +longer to combine home weaving, spinning, &c. with subsistence farming; +the worker becomes an employee in a business where the capital is owned +by his employer, and he depends absolutely on the skill of his own hands +for his livelihood. + +Nothing could be more curious than to contrast Defoe's celebrated +picture of the wool-weaving districts of Yorkshire[65] with those +districts in their present condition. Then the workers, +semi-independent, farming small enclosures of two to six or seven acres, +laboriously produced cloth by hand processes in their own houses. Now +they work in enormous factories, fitted up with machinery which can spin +and weave wool both easier and better than in earlier days. They return +to their homes for rest and leisure alone. Work for wages and the home +are now separated, and, unless the use of cheap electrical power brings +about a counter-revolution, are likely to remain so. At the same time, +since mobility is in modern economic conditions of prime importance, it +is becoming less and less common for the manual worker, or indeed for +the citizen of any class, to own his house, and therefore the new trade +of the speculative builder comes into existence, its place being taken +in some cases, specially in mining districts, by the "company" houses +provided by masters for their employees. + +These alterations in the framework of society inevitably influenced home +life, which was still further affected at a later period by an analogous +movement. Not merely the work done for wages left the home, but also +many of the commodities formerly produced for its own use by each +household came to be made by outside labour. + +A very interesting and quite untouched field of inquiry here awaits the +economist. Why, for instance, is it customary to bake bread at home in +some districts and to buy it from a shop in others? Probably the +explanation is to be found in the relative cheapness of fuel. Yorkshire +and the North of England are close to abundant coalfields, and in the +days before cheap and quick transit the difference in the price of coal +in the South and North of England must have been even greater. At a +time, too, before the improvement of ovens, owing to the introduction of +the iron range and kitchener, the amount of fuel used for baking bread +would be even larger than at present. Therefore in the south there grew +up a race of housekeepers and servants unskilled in the making of the +delicious, crusty home-baked loaf, while in the north, even though +conditions have changed, the tradition still remains, and the weekly or +bi-weekly baking day is a regular institution. But this theory does not +explain why bread is not baked at home in Scotland, even in Glasgow and +the districts near it, or in Fife, which are all situated right in the +coal-bearing areas. + +And at present there is little material for describing how brewing, jam +and cake-making, biscuit-making, the making and the washing of clothes, +the cleaning of furniture and carpets, &c., passed from the household to +the factory and laundry. It is a process which has evidently been much +quickened by the growth of town life, itself one of the most important +effects of the industrial revolution.[66] + +The aggregation of population in towns in the first place made the +space available for household operations much smaller than was the case +when the kitchen was supplemented by rows of outhouses, a green and a +garden. In modern conditions, washing at home results in the discomfort +of the whole family, whether that family lives in a single room or in a +decent middle-class house of ten or twelve rooms. In the second +place, the massing into a comparatively small area of a homogeneous +population makes it easy to arrange for other methods of cleansing +clothes, either in the working-class districts by the provision of +municipal washing-houses, or in the more well-to-do suburbs through +the appearance of steam laundries. In the same way, when each +household possessed a garden it was natural to pick the fruit and +make it into jam. It is a different thing to buy fruit specially for +the purpose. Many housewives find that when the cost of the fruit, +sugar, and extra fuel is calculated, taking into account also the +dislocation of the regular routine of the household caused by the extra +work, it pays them better to buy the jam ready-made. On the other hand, +the use of machinery, the existence of cheap methods of transit, and +the multiplication of grocers' shops makes it increasingly possible to +produce jam in large quantities actually cheaper than it can be made +at home, and to distribute it quickly to the consumer. + +The same cause, acting within and without the home in different ways, is +resulting in a steady transference of these domestic avocations from the +household. Moralists often lament this tendency, and attribute it +entirely to increased love of ease and leisure among women. But it is no +more possible to draw an indictment against a whole sex than against a +whole people, and an alteration in custom so widespread as this which we +are discussing must have deeper roots than a personal defect of laziness +in particular individuals. + +This removal of production for domestic use from the home operates, +however, in very different ways in different cases. Sometimes the +article is produced much more cheaply outside the home than within, +owing to the lower cost and greater efficiency of large-scale methods of +manufacture. But this is not invariably the case. Laundry-work, for +instance, is probably done more cheaply in the private household. The +few attempts hitherto made to provide hot cooked food from a central +kitchen at a reasonable price have not been successful. On the other +hand, no individual household could hope to rival Messrs. Huntley & +Palmer as producers of biscuits. The factors which prevent the full +economies of the large-scale method of production from being realised in +the making of certain commodities are twofold. (1) Some goods are of +such a kind that they must be consumed where they are produced. Jam or +even plum-puddings can be made in a factory in the North of England and +afterwards transferred to London. But roast beef, omelettes, and +rice-puddings must be eaten within at least a hundred yards of the place +where they are cooked. This obvious fact effectually retains the +supremacy of the home in the provision of hot cooked food, and disposes +once and for all of the cruder arguments for co-operative housekeeping. +(2) Certain commodities must be made for or returned to individual +owners. If, for instance, we did not trouble to receive our own sheets +and towels from the laundry, but simply made a contract that each week +we should be supplied with a certain number, then the washing and +sorting could be done wholesale at a much cheaper rate. If we sent our +own fruit to the factories to be made into jam, jam would be much more +expensive. + +Thus the household will compete successfully with outside agencies, in +the case of all commodities which must be consumed on the spot, and the +outside agencies will have only a small advantage--will do the washing +or dressmaking more conveniently, but not much cheaper--when wholesale +methods are forbidden by the personal interest of each consumer in one +special portion of the commodities dealt with.[67] + +Still, regarding the matter from the general economic standpoint, it +cannot be denied that the result of the industrial revolution has been +to transfer many branches of production both for profit and for use from +the home to the factory. + + +(4) _The Position of Women as Affected by the Industrial Revolution_ + +This in its turn affected the position of women, and is probably, if not +the sole, at least the most important reason for the discontent and +unrest to be traced among women of many different classes in the +nineteenth century. But the women belonging to the manual labouring +class and the women belonging to the upper classes were influenced in +different ways. + +The former had always been accustomed to work for their living, +indirectly if not directly. On the little farms they looked after the +cow, the hens, and the garden. They did the carding and the spinning of +flax and of wool. True, these industries were carried on at home, and +probably the decent "manufacturer," then literally a hand-worker, would +have regarded himself as disgraced had his wife or daughters needed to +go outside his home to find work.[68] But when the factory system came, +with the horrible sufferings caused by the transition from one system of +industry to another, the women and children always accustomed to toil at +home followed their work to the factory, and there, owing to the new +methods of competition and to the absence of any regulation of industry, +they suffered hardships of overwork and underpayment which seem to the +present generation nearly incredible. + +Home life for a time almost disappeared, and the suffering and +degeneration was only checked by the series of Factory Acts, imposing +ever fresh and fresh restrictions on the treatment of women and +children.[69] The policy underlying these acts was much criticised at +the time, and was indeed not fully comprehended until recently. But it +is now all but universally admitted that the Factory Acts have in the +main achieved their object, and have greatly improved the position of +women in the districts most affected by them; and reformers are +constantly urging their extension to fresh trades. + +This movement was not understood, and was in consequence opposed by +the women of the middle-classes, whose position was affected quite +differently by the industrial revolution. They too found their +occupations within the home to a large extent destroyed. And in +other ways their situation was altered. For some reason not yet +explained, there appeared in the middle-classes a surplus of women. +This is no doubt partly due to the colonial expansion of the period, +which sent young men out to Australia, Canada, and South Africa, +while their natural mates remained behind in England. It is not easy to +give precise statistics, as our statistical tables make no distinction +of classes, but common observation and the description of social life +in the novels of the nineteenth century afford evidence of this fact. +Some statistics bearing on the subject can be found in Miss Clara +Collet's[70] article, "Prospects of Marriage for Women," and also in +"Die Frauenfrage," by Lilie Braun, pp. 157 _ff._ Frau Braun, whose +book is marked throughout by characteristic German thoroughness, sums +up:[71] "Es hat sich gezeigt, dass die Zunahme der allein stehenden +Frauen, die Abnahme der Heiratsfrequenz und die wirtschaftliche Not +als Ursache der Frauenbewegung in aller Lände anzusehen sind." + +But it was not merely the decreased chance of marriage which made the +lives of middle-class women difficult in the last century. There was +also a change in the position of the fathers, which decreased their +opportunity for providing for their unmarried daughters. The +middle-class man is now less and less frequently at the head of a +business of his own, and is more and more frequently a salaried clerk, +manager, or engineer. + +Formerly the shop or farm when it passed to the eldest son was burdened +with the charge of the spinster sisters, who often would help in the +dairy or behind the counter. Now, when a middle-class man dies, his hold +on the industrial world, so to speak, passes away with him, unless he +has been at once able and willing to lay by savings out of his salary, a +duty too often neglected. Briefly, therefore, the unmarried woman of the +middle-classes is less likely to marry, has less to occupy her at home, +and cannot so easily be provided for by her father if she remains a +spinster. + +Is it then to be wondered at if women insist, in increasing numbers, +upon a thorough education as well as the right to enter a profession in +which they can be self-supporting?[72] But the first women who decided +that a way must be opened by which they could earn for themselves +honourable maintenance not unnaturally fell into what we cannot but +regard now as regrettable mistakes, however unavoidable these errors may +have been at the time. Their great difficulties were to win admission to +the universities and permission to practise what had hitherto been +regarded as men's professions. Therefore they dreaded all restrictions +liable to be laid upon the entrance of women to occupations, and were +led in consequence to oppose the Factory Acts, designed for the +protection of women of the working-classes. It is only to-day and only +partially that the woman teacher, doctor, or journalist has come to +understand that the position and problems of the factory-hand are very +different from her own, and that confusion is created if she insists on +judging them from her own standpoint. + +In the next place, they were almost forced to become masculine and +aggressive in their manners and outlook upon life. In particular, the +need of conformity to a system of education framed for men and not for +women led to an undervaluation of domestic pursuits. It was not realised +that in managing a household and in bringing up children there was scope +for the most developed character and the finest education. + +But with the twentieth century,[73] college-trained women themselves are +coming to see that their previous neglect of those principles of science +and economics which underlie household administration was unwise and +unwarranted. Of that change of attitude, the new courses in home science +at King's College are the firstfruits, and this book is a small +contribution to a movement which is destined, perhaps, to revolutionise +housekeeping, as a band of devoted women succeeded some few years since +in revolutionising the profession of nursing. + +The main lines on which the influence of the industrial revolution on +women's position has operated can be but briefly indicated in this very +summary sketch. Want of space prevents me from doing more than allude to +other aspects of the question, such as the employment of married women, +the status of women in government offices, women's trade unions, +homework and sweating, the prevention of infant mortality, the work of +women in the administration of charity and in local government, together +with many other developments of the one cause--the alteration between +the relations of the home and of society due to the changes in our +commercial and manufacturing system. + +I must turn now to a study of the economics of the household as it +actually exists to-day. + + +III. THE PRESENT ORGANISATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD + +To begin with, it is perhaps worth while to notice certain broad +distinctions which differentiate the household, considered merely as an +economic institution, from other agencies engaged in the production of +commodities and services. + +One main difference is, as was noticed earlier, that the household +produces use-values, and all other organisations (save some public +bodies) exchange-values. Or to put the same thing in another way, the +industrial world is run to make a profit; the household, on the +contrary, is kept up by the contributions of its members, and exists +to provide for them the necessaries and comforts of life. None the +less is the work of cooking, cleaning, and serving of real economic +value when carried on within the household, as people discover when +they have to pay for the organisation of the same services in hotels +or boarding-houses. + +The second great distinction is that while any other business may expand +to meet the demands of a growing market, and as a result of the +increasing competency of its organiser and work-people, the household is +definitely limited in scope by the numbers of the family included within +it. Biscuit-makers or jam-makers, to put the matter concretely, may +succeed by skilful management in enlarging their businesses until they +supply their goods to hundreds of thousands of people, and earn a large +profit by doing so. But the most efficient housekeeper continues all her +life to organise and cater for the same number of people, and her reward +for her good management does not consist in a raised salary or increased +profits. It is, in fact, not pecuniary at all, but is the increased +well-being of those whom she serves. + +Important consequences follow from these two distinctions, some of them +desirable, others the reverse. The household is preserved, as it were, +as a little oasis in the midst of the surrounding commercialism. There +at least exists no temptation to adulteration or sophistication, or to +shoddy work intended to sell but not to last. No housewife would be such +a fool as to put alum in the bread baked at home, to use decaying fruit +in the tarts, or questionable meat in her pies. She can have no object +save to provide the best she can for her family with the means at her +disposal. This is an enormous advantage, the value of which it is hardly +possible to overrate. + +But the absence of profit-making has certain disadvantages. It means +that while other economic organisations are being constantly spurred to +increasing efficiency by the stimulus of competition, the household +remains backward. A manufacturer knows to-day that he must use the most +up-to-date machinery and employ the most skilled management or be beaten +in the race for commercial supremacy. But housekeepers may continue (and +do continue) to use old-fashioned ranges or antiquated systems of +hot-water heating without any reference to the proceedings of their +neighbours. Without doubt it results that new inventions make their way +much more slowly in housekeeping than in profit-making industry. How +rare, for instance, it is to find properly constructed grates outside +very wealthy households. How badly the kitchen, larder, and scullery are +planned in relation to one another. In how few cases is any attempt made +to utilise electricity for cooking or removing dust, for both of which +purposes admirable machines are already on the market. + +But there are other factors which also contribute to the backwardness of +domestic engineering. The smallness of the household is one. It pays a +large hotel, for instance, to buy special machines for cleaning knives, +or to instal superheated steam, for washing plates and dishes. But +neither the initial expense nor the cost of running could be met out of +the funds at the disposal of the small household. Another reason exists +in the fact that the average housewife does not distinguish between +annual and capital outlay. Unaccustomed to finance, and keeping +accounts--if she keeps them at all--in a very amateurish fashion, she +fails to understand that capital expenditure, let us say, on one of the +little electric vacuum cleaners now on the market might pay for itself +in a short time by saving the wages of a charwoman. + + +(_a_) THE ORGANISATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD AS AFFECTED BY THE HOUSING +QUESTION + +Then, finally, few people own their houses, and are therefore +disinclined to make an outlay which would benefit their successors +rather than themselves. Landlords (who are frequently retired tradesmen +or elderly ladies depending on the rent of a row of houses for their +sole income) are in their turn unprogressive and unenlightened. It is +often hard to induce a landlord of the type indicated to consent to +structural changes even if carried out at the tenant's expense. The +builders of new houses, again, are not, to put it mildly, educated in +the best schools of household architecture and domestic engineering. It +is true that in some suburbs, largely under the influence of the more +competent architects employed by the garden city organisations, a marked +improvement in domestic building is noticeable. But only too often the +hot-water system is inefficient, the ventilation poor, the grates +wasteful, and so on. I have never yet heard of a speculative builder who +deliberately planned the laying out of the streets in the area which he +was developing in such a way that the living-rooms might have a maximum +and the larder and pantries a minimum of sunlight. The new roads are +usually all set at right angles to the main street, and the houses +rigidly planted square to the roads, regardless of the points of the +compass. + +All these factors, acting together, prevent that general improvement in +the construction of houses which is noticeable in other branches of +industry. Progress does, of course, take place. The pressure exercised +by the local health authorities leads to improved drainage and plumbing; +lighting, owing to the recent competition between gas and electricity, +has become both cheaper and better. But an intelligent application of +science and investment of capital when a house is under construction +could easily effect still further improvements. + +Since, however, the household is not influenced by the ordinary +processes of competition, advance will probably depend on some form of +co-operation among tenants. The principle of tenant co-partnership has +hitherto been applied only to the construction of working-class houses, +but there seems to be no reason why it should be not equally useful +among the middle classes. The advantages of the organisation are that it +secures to the tenant a well-built house, sometimes specially +constructed to meet his wishes, while his complete mobility is not +interfered with as it is by ownership of his dwelling. These apparently +opposed results are obtained by the formation of a company which is the +legal owner of the land and the houses; but no one is allowed to rent a +house until he invests a certain amount of money in the company. Thus +there are two classes of shareholders--tenant shareholders and ordinary +shareholders. If a man wishes to move from the neighbourhood, then he +ceases to be a tenant and becomes only an ordinary shareholder, and if +he needs the money he can always sell out. Rent is paid in the ordinary +way, and so too are dividends on the shares. Thus groups of people are +enabled to control the conditions under which they are housed, without +being hampered by the possession of a dwelling-house, which in an +emergency they may be forced to sell at a serious loss. Minor advantages +are greater cheapness of construction owing to wholesale buying of +materials, and the provision of a more liberal repair fund than is +contemplated by the ordinary landlord. It is possible, too, to provide +common tennis courts, children's playgrounds, pleasure gardens, &c., +which are kept up out of the general funds of the company.[74] The +"co-partnership tenants'" villages at Bournville, Hampstead, Ealing, +&c., are all doing well,[75] and we may venture to hope that if the +same principle were applied to the housing of the middle classes, the +worst horrors of the dreary and yet pretentious suburbs constructed by +the speculative builder would soon be checked. + + +(_b_) THE PROBLEMS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE + +The position of the domestic servant is the next subject which demands +consideration. It is a question which has aroused much acrimonious +controversy, mistresses accusing maids of ignorance and inefficiency, +maids objecting in their turn to the menial position and lack of freedom +involved in domestic service. Yet it is curious to notice that the +conditions of this branch of work have been little studied by the +economist. The number of domestic servants as enumerated in the census +of 1901 was 1,330,783, the largest single occupation in the country.[76] +But while dozens of books and blue-books could be named discussing the +position of the textile worker or the agricultural labourer, not more +than three or four investigators have concerned themselves with the +domestic servant, on whose efficiency our health and comfort absolutely +depend. + +Another curious anomaly is that domestic servants are becoming fewer in +proportion to the population, although the level of their wages is very +high in comparison with the usual payments for women's work. Between +1881 and 1901 female indoor servants increased from 1,230,406 to +1,330,783, an increase of 8.2 per cent., while the population increased +25.2 per cent. Actually, then, there was a smaller proportion of the +population engaged in domestic service in 1901 then in 1881.[77] What is +still more remarkable is that at the younger ages the number has +actually decreased. Between the ages 15-20, there is a decrease of 7.3 +per cent., while in the number of females living at those ages there is +an increase of 28.1 per cent. This suggests that the difficulty of +finding servants will intensify as time goes on, as is indeed borne out +by observation. Other women's industries are growing very rapidly. The +number of female clerks more than trebled between 1891 and 1901. In the +same period, female elementary school teachers increased by over 50 per +cent., and the women engaged in hospital and institution service and in +workhouses and workhouse infirmaries by 41 per cent. These facts +indicate that domestic service is becoming less and less popular and is +losing ground, while other women's industries are gaining. + +It is our duty then to consider the causes of this state of things, +which cannot be regarded with equanimity. Our steadily increasing wealth +ought to make it more and more possible and desirable for more women to +specialise in those basic industries of cooking and cleaning, which are +of the utmost importance for the right ordering of life. + +The question must be treated in reference to the general industrial +and social changes of our time. Many ladies, knowing nothing of +economics, discuss the matter as one of personal relations only, and +when they find themselves annoyed with one incompetent servant after +another, content themselves with blaming the servants as individuals +without inquiring whether the difficulty has any deeper root. Or they +take up a reactionary attitude, and declare that the lower classes are +over-educated and too well off, and are in consequence refusing to +perform their natural duties. But neither personal blame nor the +semi-feudal belief that the one and only rightful destiny of daughters +of bricklayers, coal miners, or small clerks is to become cooks or +housemaids in the service of their betters will avail to throw any +light on the difficulty of obtaining competent domestic workers. We +must study carefully and without bias the conditions of that industry as +compared with other industries, in order to solve the problem. + +In the first place, we may note the advantages of domestic service. It +is, as has been already observed, well paid. Some investigations carried +out by a group of my students last year led to the conclusion that the +ordinary cook, housemaid, or general servant in middle-class households +costs her employer in wages, food, house-room, heating, lighting, and +insurance about £50 a year.[78] I have been informed by a lady +accustomed to deal with servants in a wealthy household, that board +wages are usually 14s. 6d. for men servants, and 12s. 6d. and 10s. 6d. +for women servants. When we remember that in the ranks from which +servants are drawn,[79] a workman is comparatively well off if he is +earning 35s. a week for the support of himself and his family, and that +a woman who makes £1 a week is a rarity,[80] we should expect to find +domestic service one of the industries in which the supply outruns the +demand. Again, there is no period of apprenticeship or training +necessary. The servant earns from the first day she enters service, and +is often carefully trained by a mistress in cooking or waiting at table, +only to leave that mistress for a better situation the moment she +thoroughly understands her duties. Again, in many households the maids +share in the family holidays. They spend a month at the seaside or in +the country, having all their travelling expenses paid as a matter of +course. Their allowance of personal holidays may not be large, but at +all events their wages run on without interruption. These advantages +are the more remarkable, when it is considered that they have been +attained without the aid of any trade organisations at all. Trade unions +for domestic workers have been formed from time to time, but their life +has been ephemeral and their membership of the smallest. High wages, +practically continuous employment, food and lodging usually of a +standard much above that in the servant's own home--all these are to be +found in domestic work. Why, then, does it remain unpopular? + +In the first place, the hours are long and irregular. A domestic +servant, especially in a place where only one or two are kept, is "on +duty" for at least fifteen hours a day--from 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. Even +meal-hours are not free from interruption. The thoughtful mistress, it +is true, will not summon her maids at dinner-time or supper-time if she +can help it, but all mistresses are not thoughtful, and in any case +there is the doorbell to be answered. Much of the work is not hard; in a +well-managed household there should always be an hour or two of +comparative leisure in the afternoon and again in the evening. But the +average maid is never sufficiently free through the whole day to go out +without asking leave, or to lie down for an hour should her morning work +have been unusually heavy. Of some households a much blacker picture +could be painted. Not merely do the maids have no leisure, but they are +actually hard at work washing, cooking, ironing, serving meals, washing +up, carrying coals and hot water, &c., for even a larger period than +the fifteen hours which, as noted before, is the minimum of time "on +duty." These hours compare very unfavourably with the six or seven +hours' day of the elementary school-teacher, the eight hours' day of the +Civil servant, and the nine or ten hours worked in factories and in +offices. + +Next, there is the lack of personal freedom. This may seem a mere +sentimental objection not to be weighed in the balance for a moment by +sensible persons as against the solid advantages of domestic work. But +sentimental objections count more decisively with women than with men. +Miss B. L. Hutchins points out in a recent article that respectable +girls of the working class often accept quite low wages, provided only +their employment is light, clean, comfortable, and affords abundant +hours of leisure. And women enter on domestic service exactly at the age +at which freedom and some amount of leisure seem more valuable than high +wages. Doubtless in later years many sweated drudges have wished that +they had become servants instead of entering the jam-factory or the +steam-laundry. But at sixteen and seventeen, when the choice was made, +the situation appeared very different. I have very little doubt that one +of the greatest objections to domestic service is that it removes the +young woman from her own class just at the marriageable age, and +therefore decreases her chances of marriage, while in some ill-governed +households and in hotel and restaurant service she may be subjected to +severe temptation. The widening of the gulf between rich and poor and +their segregation into distinct districts increases this disadvantage. + +Again, there is the fact that domestic service is strangely enough +regarded as a peculiarly menial occupation, in itself a mark of a lower +social grade. This is indicated by the use of the Christian name, the +insistence on a uniform, and the commonness of contemptuous terms such +as "slavey." Refined people are careful to avoid the use even of the +word "servant," replacing it by "maid," so strong is this connotation of +inferiority. Here again we are on sentimental grounds. But it certainly +seems undesirable, in view of the spread of doctrines of social +equality, that this suggestion of a low social status should cling +around the person who undertakes such important duties as cooking and +washing. + +Another disadvantage is the loneliness of domestic servants. In other +occupations women have colleagues and companions. The general servant, +coming as she does from a lively even if poor working-class home, with +neighbours at hand for gossip in moments of relaxation, may find it very +hard to bear up against the restraint and unnatural quietude of her +first place,[81] and often ends by returning in haste to the factory +industry she had been persuaded to abandon, when she will find the +gaiety and lively society of girls and young men of her own age. Even +when two maids are kept, they may not be congenial to one another, and +one cannot deny that to share work, meals, and often bed with a woman +whom one has reason to dislike, is a fate we would all wish to avoid. + +Girls of higher status and more intelligence are often turned from +domestic service by the fact that it affords little or no opportunity +for self-improvement or recreation, or for promotion inside its own +ranks. Servants cannot go to lectures or evening classes. The servant's +piano or bicycle is a common theme for jesting in the comic papers. In a +large household or in a hotel promotion may be obtained, but the maid +who becomes a general servant or a single-handed cook reaches the limit +of her increase in income at an early age. + +Many of the disadvantages noted do not apply to large households. There +companionship is to be found, and promotion may be looked for. The hours +are more regular, meals less interrupted, and free time easier to +obtain. Hence I was not surprised when I questioned proprietors of +clubs, residential hotels, and the mistresses of wealthy households to +learn that most of them considered the servant difficulty to be greatly +exaggerated. The housekeeper of one suite of residential flats told me +she had no trouble at all in getting servants, and that she sent them +off at a week's notice if they proved unsatisfactory. "Even if I cannot +get a maid to live in at once," she added, "I can always supplement the +work of the others by an extra charwoman. There are any number of +outworkers to be had." In another residential hotel all the women +servants had two evenings a week free from 5 to 10.30. Here, too, there +was never much difficulty in obtaining workers. + +Another disadvantage of the small as opposed to the large household is +that the management is often inefficient, and the equipment poor. In +these residential flats, for instance, each suite had its own bathroom +and lavatory, and consequently the work of carrying water was reduced to +a minimum. I think, too, that the regularity of the discipline is often +liked by girls, who find it hard to keep to good ways when they work +alone. + +On the whole, then, I see no reason to believe that domestic service is +unpopular because cooking and cleaning are regarded as disagreeable +occupations in themselves. It is the conditions under which it is +carried on that are disliked, and if mistresses desire to have better +servants, those conditions must be altered. Some of them, it must be +admitted, are inherent in the present organisation of the household.[82] +Some form of co-operation might obviate certain of these defects; in +groups of associated homes, the domestic equipment could certainly be +improved, skilled supervision and proper discipline could be more easily +carried out, and the maids would have the advantages of shorter and more +regular hours and of companionship with their equals. Here again it may +be possible to apply the co-partnership tenants' organisation. Many +people, however, not unnaturally dread the lack of privacy and +independence which such a mode of life would, they think, entail, and +would prefer to endure the disadvantages of the present system rather +than lose control over their own kitchen and their own servants. It is +too soon yet to express an opinion. Fortunately, at Letchworth, at Brent +Lodge, Finchley, and elsewhere, experiments in the provision of +associated homes with a common kitchen and a common staff of servants +are shortly to be tried. If successful, they will no doubt prove a boon +to many people. + +In the meantime one can only suggest that mistresses must endeavour +individually to mitigate some of the disadvantages of domestic service. +It is not higher wages that are needed, but more leisure and more +society, and an absence of the foolish snobbery which regards it as an +amusing joke that a servant should wish to possess a bicycle or go to a +meeting or concert. + +The suggestion has sometimes been made that distressed gentlewomen might +find a refuge in domestic service. But "lady servants" or "mothers' +helps" only rarely prove a success. Their presence is inevitably a +hindrance to the full enjoyment of family privacy, and often enough +their gentility is an excuse for incompetence. But in special cases +lady servants turn out well, especially as children's nurses. The +most interesting attempt to introduce them into general domestic service +is that started by the Guild of the Dames of the Household at +Cheltenham. A short period of training is insisted upon, while on +the other hand certain privileges not usually conceded to maids must be +granted, in particular, a period of two hours each day free from +duty. In small and quiet households, specially in those composed of +ladies only, a "Dame" would be welcomed in place of the incompetent +general servant, or two Dames might take the place of the regulation +cook and house-parlour maid. But it would not be easy to have one Dame +demanding special privileges and imbued with different traditions in +a larger household.[83] + +Nor do I see any reason to expect that increased provision for domestic +training alone is likely to improve the lot of mistresses who want +maids. The training in the elementary schools is often given to children +too young to profit by it, and is besides designed rather to enable them +to be of use in their own homes than to qualify them to become cooks or +housemaids in middle or upper-class households. Again, the girls who +attend at the special domestic economy schools are not usually available +for ordinary domestic service; the greater number of the students are +being prepared either for teaching or for positions as housekeepers and +matrons. While untrained girls can find a place and wages without any +difficulty, working-class parents are not likely to spend money on +training for domestic service; and the numbers for whom scholarships +are provided must naturally be limited. + +Improvement is much more likely to result from alterations in the +condition of domestic service. If, as regards leisure and social status, +that occupation could be put more nearly on a level with other women's +trades, the outlook would be much brighter, and then training in +domestic economy in continuation schools or trade schools for girls from +fourteen to sixteen would be valuable. + +Failing these reforms, mistresses will probably continue to find +themselves obliged to put up with cooks who cannot cook, and housemaids +and laundresses who are both ignorant and incompetent. The irk and +irritation of living all day long at close quarters with an impertinent +and inefficient person, which often severely tries the nerves of the +women of the professional classes, will continue. These things are +inevitable so long as domestic servants do not choose their occupation +because they wish to follow it, but because they have been failures in +other directions. Therefore no improvement would be attained by shutting +other avenues of employment to women and forcing them back into this. +Such a line of action is, of course, quite impracticable, whatever be +the difficulties of mothers of families and mistresses of households; +factories, offices, shops, elementary schools and post-offices will +continue to offer employment to women. But even if it were practicable +it would fail of its aim. Work is only well done when it is chosen for +its own sake, not when it is unwillingly accepted because the worker is +fit for nothing else. And a genuine improvement in domestic service can +only come about by an alteration in its conditions. + +A systematic investigation into English domestic service similar to that +carried out in America by Professor Lucy Salmon of Vassar College would +be most useful at the present juncture, and may possibly be undertaken +by the household economics class at King's College. Professor Salmon +issued 5000 schedules to employers and 5000 to employees, and received +in all 1744 answers. On the answers received she based the conclusions +arrived at in her book, "Domestic Service," which are not dissimilar to +those set forth in the preceding paragraphs. Conditions in America are, +however, so unlike those in England that a separate investigation for +this country would be most valuable. + + +(_c_) A DISCUSSION OF DOMESTIC BUDGETS + + +(1) _Working-Class Budgets_ + +I have left myself very little space for dealing with another important +section of household economics, namely, domestic budgets. Unfortunately +the material for a satisfactory study of the actual and the advisable +division of household expenditure is only abundant in certain classes. +There are a considerable number of investigations into the cost of +living among the working-classes.[84] From these it is clear that we +must make a very marked line of distinction between the domestic +circumstances of labourers and of artisans. The former spend at least +from 75 to 80 per cent. of their income on food and lodging alone; yet +if the family is of ordinary size and none of the children are earning +anything, they are commonly under-nourished and badly lodged. The +remainder of the income is devoted to fuel, clothes, savings, insurance, +and recreation. + +Members of this class commonly wear second-hand clothes, and live in +tenement houses, originally built for a wealthier section of the +community. It is they who send their children to work at any employment +that turns up at the earliest moment allowed by the law. The burden laid +on the women of this class is peculiarly heavy. They must work for wages +if possible, for every extra shilling adds immensely to the family +comfort. Hence they go out charing; they undertake ill-paid home work; +and at the same time all the toil of keeping the house and children +clean and of doing the cooking and washing falls on the mother. Add to +this the fact that if the food supply runs short, then the children and +the husband have their share first and the mother takes what may be +left. It has been calculated[85] that this class amounts to about +one-third of the population, and is the source whence comes the greater +part of the pauperism with which the country is afflicted. + +The artisan class was found by Mr. Rowntree to comprise about one-half +of the working-class population. Its domestic circumstances differ in +several respects from those of the class already described. Food and +housing were adequate; and, save in the textile districts, the wife +commonly remains at home and the children stay longer at school. It is +this class that is the backbone of trade unionism and the co-operative +movement; it is in fact the true "middle-class" of Britain. + +Lady Bell in her book "At the Works" gives a very sympathetic sketch of +the home life of the ironworkers of Middlesborough, pointing out that +the monotony and narrowness of the lives led by the women and the +ugliness of the surroundings of the workers' houses are the main defects +from which they suffer. Roughly half their income goes on food, which is +plain but adequate. The proportion of rent varies very much from +district to district. In York it was 12.8, but in such crowded towns as +London and Glasgow it would be higher. There is, however, a surplus +sufficient for clothing, saving, holidays, and reasonable recreation. + +It is conjectured that the excessive expenditure on drink in the United +Kingdom[86] must be largely due to this class. But the evidence is +insufficient to show whether the labourer or the artisan is the more +guilty. + + +(2) _Lower Middle-Class Budgets_ + +The next class which should be examined is that made up by the clerks +and routine brain-workers. As already noted, there is little or no +material available for the study of the budgets of this class. The +Economic Club published a few years ago a collection of family budgets, +four of which might be taken as illustrating the home life of this +important section of the community. From these and from the rather +unreliable divisions of income given in some of the smaller women's +papers, I have come to the conclusion that food absorbs 30 to 40 per +cent. of the income, and rent 15 to 20 per cent. The expenditure on +clothing is much more liberal, and I am inclined to believe that the +poorer clerks are sometimes insufficiently fed. + +It should be noted that in this class the cost of education tends to be +borne by the parent and not by the State; no doubt there is here a +genuine grievance, one, however, which the provision of municipal +secondary schools is gradually removing. But a thorough and accurate +study of the circumstances of the lower middle-class would be of the +utmost value at the present time. It is certain that its needs and +demands are to some extent at all events overlooked through the +increasing power of organised labour on the one hand and the increasing +wealth of the upper classes on the other. + + +(3) _The Budget of the Well-to-do_ + +Probably it is in the budgets of these wealthier classes that the reader +of these pages will be most interested from a personal standpoint. Under +this head there is very little scientifically collected material; but on +the other hand the ladies' papers and the housekeeping handbooks afford +considerable information of somewhat varying value. + +It is in this class that service becomes an important item; it is in +this class that the artistic side of life, the enjoyment of physical and +intellectual luxury, first becomes possible. In a sense the study of +expenditure here is both more useful and more interesting. A fraction of +the income would suffice for the satisfaction of the mere physiological +needs, and there is a real choice possible in the disposition of the +surplus. + +Therefore, in the case of these larger incomes, I propose to discuss +rather the general principles of expenditure than the statistical facts. +The latter are not thoroughly reliable, and at the same time the +circumstances of the class in question are better known to my readers. + +The fundamental principle, as Marshall[87] states, is that the marginal +utility of each separate division of expenditure should be equal. He +means by this that our income should be so distributed that the last +sixpence we spend on clothes should yield us the same amount of pleasure +as the last sixpence expended on food or on books. And he rightly +remarks that to the housekeeper the value of keeping accounts lies +precisely in the fact that it makes the application of this principle +easy. + +If we know exactly how money has been spent, then it is possible to see +that expenditure has been wrongly balanced, that impulsive extravagance +on hats or on out-of-season delicacies has unduly curtailed the amount +spent on holidays, books, or concerts. It is for this reason that +itemised tables are more useful to the housekeeper than is the ordinary +creditor and debtor method of account-keeping. She should of course be +able to present an accurate statement of the money spent and received, +but she should not be content with this. She should further show for +each quarter the amount spent on rent, food, fuel, &c. + +QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE + + Columns: + A Food and Cleaning Materials. + B Household Washing. + C Service. + D Coals. + E Gas. + F Electricity. + G Rent. + H Rates. + I Garden. + J Miscellaneous. + K Total. + L Guests.[88] + M Remarks. + + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Weeks | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | + |Ending. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Jan. 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 30 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |Feb. 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 27 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |March 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 27 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |April 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |TOTAL. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Weekly | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |Average. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + +The table appended has been in actual use for some time, and has served +on more than one occasion to check expenditure which was unduly +increasing. It could easily be modified in various ways. Food could be +further subdivided, and headings for dress and other personal expenses +could be added. Probably, however, it will be found better to keep one +card for the quarterly household expenditure, and others for the +personal expenditure of the separate members of the household. The +amount of trouble involved is comparatively small, provided that the +different items are summed up and entered regularly each week when the +household books are examined. If the quarterly cards are then filed in +order, they afford a most valuable record of household management in a +small and easily handled form. + +When deciding on the amount of money to be allotted to the separate +items, the first thing to be kept in mind is the necessity of +preserving efficiency; and brain-workers ought to remember that +thorough mental alertness and competency can only be secured by +well-chosen, well-cooked, and daintily served food, by sufficiency of +sleep, by frequent intervals of rest and recreation, and by thoroughly +invigorating holidays. Extravagance should of course be avoided, but +the journalist or scientist who is niggardly of expenditure on these +items will probably later on be obliged to spend his savings on +doctor's bills or a rest cure. A high standard of comfort and efficient +work is the cheapest way of living in the long run. Whether, however, +all the conventional necessaries now included by custom in the upper +middle-class expenditure are really essential to the brain-worker's +standard of life is perhaps another question. + +The "simple life" which consists in doing without all the conveniences +of civilisation has been proved a failure by many experiments, but a +"simple life" which accepted the comforts of electric light, gas stoves, +and laid-on hot water, but abolished heavy curtains and carpets and that +multiplicity of ornaments and of dishes, which increases the complexity +of life without adding to its beauty, might turn out to be a success. In +many cases, however, conventional expenditure is essential for +professional advancement. The doctor, for instance, must live in a house +of a certain size and importance; the high school teacher or woman +journalist must be well dressed. Expenditure of this character is really +of the nature of advertisement, and it is foolish to endeavour to +curtail it. + +After the claims of efficiency have been met, saving and insurance come +next. Life insurance is of course almost universal among the salaried +classes, and is a duty imperatively laid on every man whose death would +leave his family without means. But it is curious that other forms of +insurance are not more practised. A small yearly payment for each child, +commencing at its birth, would provide a convenient sum for its +education, its start in life, or, in the case of a girl, for her +trousseau and dowry. Insurance against illness also is much rarer among +the upper middle class than among the working-classes. Possibly this is +due to the fact that, save in the case of prolonged disease, salaries +are paid during illness, while wages cease as soon as the worker is +compelled to stay at home; also partly no doubt to the fact that +provision for contingencies is made in other ways. + +Saving and insurance will be less necessary in the case of those whose +income is derived from land or from invested capital, but should be +considered absolutely essential by all those in receipt of a salary. In +addition a small sum saved and invested in some easily realisable +security will be most valuable to meet special emergencies. + +If after all these needs have been met, _i.e._ (1) full "efficiency" +and "conventional" expenditure (including, of course, such an education +for the children as will prepare them in their turn to earn an income +in the same rank of life as their father), and (2) saving and +insurance to provide against all contingencies that may reasonably +be anticipated--if, then, a surplus still remains, its disposition +must be a matter of individual choice, and it is impossible to lay +down general rules. + +In some cases it will be saved, in others it will be used to provide +more material and conventional luxuries, in others it will supply the +needs of what American writers rather unpleasingly call the "higher +life." Certainly the claims of generosity, charity, and culture should +first be met, and it is the right and wise disposition of this surplus +income which might well tax the highest powers of any human being. It is +commonly supposed to be a difficult thing to earn money, but a simple +matter to spend it. On the contrary, to spend with wisdom and discretion +is always hard, and is hardest when the income is so elastic that a +slight deviation from the best method is not immediately visited on the +head of the person who has offended. + +The artisan's wife has no easy task, it must be confessed, but the +results of any mistakes she may make fall at once upon herself or her +children. But if the mistress of a large household is careless or +incompetent, then she may cause untold waste, inefficiency and +degeneration among her servants and tradespeople, and may never even be +aware of it. + +A recent book by Mr. A. Ponsonby[89] gives some extraordinary instances +of unnecessary expenditure on food. Mr. Ponsonby is not, of course, to +be taken as an unprejudiced investigator; he is writing rather from the +standpoint of the preacher than from that of the unbiassed sociologist. +But his figures are not likely to be absolutely false, and it is safe to +say that if in a household containing four in family and fourteen +servants the food bills amounted in a week when there was little +entertaining to £60, 12s. 7d. (£3, 7s. 4d. per head),[90] either the +servants were being fed in a way that was quite absurdly lavish, or much +of the food was absolutely wasted, or there was dishonest collusion +between the housekeeper and chef and the tradespeople. In any case, the +ignorance and negligence of the mistress of the house were corrupting to +her staff. + + +(_d_) CONCLUSION + +In short, in place of regarding the household as standing in no special +relation to the rest of the community, it ought to be understood that +the function of the housewife is of the utmost importance, not only to +her own family, but to the whole nation. It is she who is finally +responsible for the education of the children; it is she who, in the +quiet and restful charm of the home, provides (or should provide) for +her husband and grown-up children the recreation and refreshment which +they need. If she employs many servants, then the example of her +household will influence for good or for evil the homes of many +working-class couples. It is the demand of the household that determines +whether the labour of this country shall be employed on debased articles +of sham luxury or on well made and artistic goods. + +The conscientious housewife could also to some extent discourage +sweating, if she refused to buy products which to her knowledge were +made under bad conditions. The responsibilities of the housewife place +her at every turn in economic relations to the rest of the community, +and therefore it is only right that coming housewives should be trained +not alone in the manual crafts of cooking and laundry-work, but also in +the general principles of economic science which underlie the +development and present organisation of the household. We may perhaps +hope too that the principles of household management may in turn react +on economic science, and may show to its professors that value in use, +though more difficult to detect and estimate than value in exchange, has +been unduly neglected both in theory and practice. + +If to the management of our towns--which are, after all, only our homes +on a larger scale--were applied the principles used by a good +housekeeper in ordering her home, then cleanliness, beauty, and +convenience would increase around us. A science of economics so modified +would recall to a scholar the original meaning of the word; for what, +after all, did the craft of oikonomikê, as first developed by Xenophon +and Aristotle, mean but just "the management of the home"? + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [13] Smith, "Wealth of Nations," edited by J. S. Nicholson, pp. 135 and + 280. It is of course true that Adam Smith meant by this merely + what is in a way true, that domestic servants earn no profit for + their employers. He does not deny (p. 136) that their labour + "has a certain value." But, like all the economists who followed + him, he is content to dismiss domestic workers with this cursory + treatment and to identify labourers with the workers hired for + profit-making purposes. + + [14] See "Principles of Economics" (4th ed.), pp. 192, 772. + + [15] Marshall, "Principles" (4th ed.), p. 764: "The working classes had + then no other beds than loose straw, reeking with vermin and + resting on damp floors." + + [16] Thorold Rogers is a partial exception. + + [17] _e.g._ Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life;" portions of + Booth's "Life and Labour of the People;" reports to the Board of + Trade on the cost of living. + + [18] Webb, S. and B., "Industrial Democracy" (cheap edition), p. 674. + + [19] Marshall, "Principles of Economics," vol. i. p. 159. + + [20] There is an assumption here which needs perhaps some discussion, + _i.e._ that expenditure or consumption of goods can be most + conveniently studied on the basis of family life. This is + obviously the case with house-room, food, fuel, cleanliness, + &c., less so with regard to clothes or recreation; it was truer + of the past than of the present, and is truer of the poor than + of the rich. In some classes, _e.g._ the professional class, + where marriage is commonly delayed and a considerable period may + intervene between the end of education and the establishment of + a fresh household, it may be necessary to supplement the study + of family expenditure by a consideration of the standard of + living of unmarried men and women. Attempts, too, must be made + to deal with the various forms of institutional life, varying + from prisons and workhouses on the one hand to expensive + boarding-schools and hotels on the other. But when all these + necessary deductions have been made, it remains true that in + order to study expenditure we must in the great majority of + cases take the family as our basis of investigation. Consumption + is organised on a family basis. + + [21] See Marshall, "Principles," book ii. chap. ii. + + [22] Ashley, "Economic History," vol. i. part ii. p. 262. + + [23] The economic historian must always be prepared to acquiesce in a + certain vagueness in the matter of dates. He is not dealing with + definite events, such as battles and the enactment of special + laws, but rather with social tendencies, each constituted by a + large number of small events; such as, for instance, the + replacement of hand labour by machinery, the appearance of + limited liability companies in the place of the single employer, + or the determination of middle-class girls to earn their own + living instead of remaining dependent on father or brothers. + Tendencies such as these appear at different times in different + industries and in different parts of the country, and only a + misleading precision can be gained by any mention of definite + dates. + + [24] Summarised from Seebohm, "Village Community," pp. 156-157. + + [25] Gasquet, "English Monastic Life," p. 197. + + [26] "Economic History," vol. i. + + [27] Surtees Society, Boldon Book, p. 28. + + [28] "English Monastic Life," p. 198. + + [29] The English were famed in the Middle Ages for their preference for + good bread. They would eat no bread + + "That beans in come, + But of cocket[30] or clerematyn[30] or else of clean wheat." + + --_Piers Plowman_, A. vii. 292. + + [30] Better kinds of bread, but not the best (wastel). + + [31] Walter of Henley, p. 29. + + [32] Apparently, it is only within the last hundred years that the cow + has ceased to be a normal possession of the agricultural + labourer. See Slater, "English Peasantry and Common Fields," pp. + 122-128. + + [33] Eddy, "English House," p. 133. + + [34] England at that time possessed her own vineyards, _e.g._ near + Gloucester, and produced white wine. + + [35] Rules of S. Robert as given in "Walter of Henley," p. 145. + + [36] Broth in which the meat had been boiled. + + [37] Pepper. + + [38] Stiff. + + [39] "Meals and Manners of the Olden Time," p. 164. + + [40] Kind of sauce. + + [41] Pork, eggs, cloves, currants, dates, sugar boiled in a bladder, + cut into strips and served with hot rich sauce. + + [42] A soteltie was an elaborate confection of pastry painted or + adorned with paper to represent a saint or a figure of spring, + summer, &c. + + [43] Spiced wine. + + [44] Panter and pantry, from pain. + + [45] Butler = bottler. + + [46] Rules of S. Robert in "Walter of Henley," pp. 138-140, _passim._ + + [47] Webb, "Essay on Gloucester Abbey," p. 13. + + [48] "Meals and Manners," p. 74. + + [49] _Libes Niges Domus_, p. 65. + + [50] Gasquet, "English Monastic Life," p. 211. + + [51] The maintenance of a large retinue was one of the easiest ways + available for indicating the possession of surplus wealth. This + fact, coupled with the almost absurd over-elaboration of the + details of serving, incline me to believe that in the mediæval + castle servants were numerous and not overworked. + + [52] Riley, "Memorials of London," p. 48. + + [53] Riley, "Memorials of London," p. 199. There is, unfortunately, no + indication of the social standing of this felon, Hugh le Bevere + by name. The list of clothes suggests that he was fairly + well-to-do, in which case his equipment of cooking and table + utensils is certainly meagre. It is curious that pottery is not + mentioned; it can hardly be urged that although in use it was + too unimportant for a place in the inventory, since room is + found for one small canvas bag, value 1d. + + [54] Hence the name convertible husbandry. + + [55] This is, of course, a very summary statement of changes which it + took centuries to bring about. On the one hand, money economy + existed in the mediæval town; on the other, subsistence farming + continued in England to some extent until within a hundred years + ago. Yet it is roughly true that in the fifteenth and sixteenth + centuries production for the market and not for use markedly and + suddenly increased. + + [56] By an Act of 1589, it was ordained that four acres of land should + be attached to every cottage. _Cf._ Hasbach. "English + Agricultural Labourer," p. 40. + + [57] See Cunningham, "English Industry and Commerce," vol. ii. p. 40 + (4th ed.). + + [58] Poultry. + + [59] "Description of England," p. 238 _ff._ + + [60] _Op. cit._, vol. i. p. 150. + + [61] Pickled pork. + + [62] This class is never described by him. + + [63] See Cunningham, ii. p. 78, "Issue of Patents for making Soap and + Vinegar." + + [64] _e.g._ Slater, "English Peasantry and the Enclosure of the Common + Fields." Hasbach, "History of the English Agricultural + Labourer." Toynbee, "The Industrial Revolution." Hobson, + "Evolution of Capitalism." + + [65] [Near Halifax]. "After we had mounted the third hill, we found the + country one continuous village ... hardly a House standing out + of speaking distance from another, and as the day wore on we + could see at every House a tenter, and on almost every tenter a + Piece of Cloth, Kersey or Shalloon, which are the three articles + of this country's labour.... Then as every clothier must + necessarily keep one horse at least to fetch home his wool and + his provisions from the market, to carry his yarn to the + spinners, his Manufacture to the fulling mill, and when finished + to the market to be sold and the like; so every one generally + keeps a cow or two for his Family.... Nor is the industry of the + people wanting.... Though we met few People without Doors, yet + within we saw the Houses full of lusty fellows, some at the + dye-vat, some at the loom, others dressing the cloths, the women + and children carding or spinning. All employed from the youngest + to the oldest. Scarce a thing above four years old, but its + hands were sufficient for its own support." Defoe, "Tour through + Great Britain" (1769), vol. iii. p. 146. + + [66] "The increase of urban areas can be gathered from the Census + Reports. In 1851 ... the population of such areas amounted + approximately to 9,000,000, or 50 per cent. of the total + population of England and Wales; by 1881 the population of urban + sanitary areas, as defined by the Public Health Acts, 1872 and + 1875, was 17,600,000, or 68 per cent. of the aggregate + population; by 1901 ... the population of boroughs and urban + districts amounted to 25,000,000, or 77 per cent. of the + aggregate population."--Blue Book on Public Health and Social + Conditions, p. 6 [Cd. 4671 of 1909]. + + [67] It should be noted, too, that the advantages of the large-scale + method of production are greatly diminished by the dangers of + adulteration. _Cf._ p. 177. + + [68] In the absence of an efficient system of police, it probably was + not safe for women to walk or travel alone. In the security + provided for us by paved and lighted streets, guarded by trained + constables, and in the complete safety of modern methods of + travelling, some of us are apt now to forget these elementary + considerations, once of supreme importance. + + [69] For the whole subject, see Hutchins and Harrison, "History of + Factory Legislation." + + [70] In "Educated Working Women," by Clara E. Collet, 1902. Miss Collet + says: "Were statistics available it might perhaps be shown that + the unmarried women are to a large extent the daughters of + clerks and professional men.... Emigration is probably more + frequent in the salaried class; and where the sons are obliged + to emigrate, it frequently happens that the daughters have to + work for their living. In this class I believe the inequality of + the sexes is greatest and the chances of marriage least" (pp. + 37-38). + + [71] P. 171. + + [72] I cannot refrain at this point from inserting the following + quotations from "Shirley" (chapter xxii.). Charlotte Brontë's + genius illumined the situation of many girls even in her time, + and of a larger number since. Caroline is speaking. "Old maids, + like the houseless and unemployed poor, should not ask for a + place and an occupation in the world; the demand disturbs the + happy and rich; it disturbs parents. Look at the numerous + families of girls in this neighbourhood. The brothers of these + girls are every one in business or in professions ... their + sisters have no earthly employment but household work and + sewing.... Men of England! look at your poor girls, many of them + fading around you, dropping off in consumption or decline; or, + what is worse, degenerating to sour old maids, envious, + backbiting, wretched, because life is a desert to them; or, what + is worst of all, reduced to strive, by scarce modest coquetry + and debasing artifice, to gain that position and consideration + by marriage which to celibacy is denied." + + [73] I am not suggesting here that the pioneers of women's higher + education were wrong in the attitude they adopted. To win for + women intellectual freedom was the most important duty for them, + and that could only be achieved by women submitting to the same + intellectual tests as men. But the problems which call for + solution by their successors of a later generation have assumed + a new form. + + [74] See Raymond Unwin, "Housing and Town-Planning." + + [75] In June 1908, the value of the property of the various tenants' + companies was only a little short of a quarter of a million + pounds, and their operations have since then been extended in + various directions. + + [76] For comparison:-- + + Number of + Occupation. Persons Employed. + + Agriculture 1,197,922 + Textile fabrics 1,155,397 + Professional occupations 606,260 + + [77] Owing to a change in the system of enumeration which alters the + basis of comparison, the year 1891 cannot be used in our + calculations. + + [78] The competent single-handed maid is meant here, not the little + "slavey" who assists her mistress in the rougher part only of + the work. + + [79] A further inquiry is needed into this matter. I am not at all + clear whether servants are derived from the class of the fairly + prosperous artisan or from the unskilled labouring class. + + [80] "There are unfortunately no reliable statistics as to the average + wages earned by women workers, but, speaking from a large + experience, I estimate that the average wage of the manual woman + worker, taking into account slackness, sickness, &c., is + certainly not more than 7s. 6d. all the year round."--"Trade + Unions," by Mary Macarthur, in "Women in Industry from Seven + Points of View," p. 66. + + [81] Stephen Reynolds in "A Poor Man's House" paints this situation + with great psychological insight. + + [82] Compare Salmon, "Domestic Service," pp. 145-6. + + [83] Compare "Englishwomen's Year-book for 1910," p. 69. + + [84] _e.g._ Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life"; Liverpool + Economic and Statistical Society, "How the Casual Labourer + Lives"; "Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in + Edinburgh" (published by Otto Schulze & Co., now out of print); + Recent Blue-books on the Cost of Living, &c. + + [85] Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life," pp. 117, 298 _ff._, as + to inadequacy of diet of labourer, pp. 235 and 303. Mr. + Rowntree's conclusions have been impugned by several critics, + and it may be that his dietary standard is too high. But even if + it turns out that only a quarter and not a third of the + population are in receipt of incomes insufficient for the + expenditure necessary to secure bodily efficiency, the fact is + serious enough. + + [86] Calculated by Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell to amount to 6s. 10d. + per family of the working-class population. "Temperance Problem + and Social Reform" (7th ed.), p. 20. + + [87] "Principles" (4th ed.), p. 194. + + [88] A special charge was made for guests in this household, and the + amount received was deducted from the weekly food bill. + + [89] "The Camel and the Needle's Eye." + + [90] "The Camel and the Needle's Eye," p. 153. + + + + +SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE AND INDIVIDUAL +EFFICIENCY + +BY ALICE RAVENHILL + + +Among the many notable characteristics by which the last half century +has been distinguished, there are two which bid fair permanently to +colour its records and materially to influence the future of our +country. I refer in the first place to the scientific study of man, his +nature, his needs, and his potentialities; and in the second to the +growing appreciation of the fact that the centre of ethical gravity must +be shifted from absorption in the sole concerns of self to an +intelligent interest in the affairs of others--that is to say, that +selfishness must yield to well organised and discriminating social +service. + + +I. MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE + +It is of course no new thing for questions upon the real nature of that +complex creature, man, to force themselves upon the attention of the +observant, and from time immemorial the philosophical have spent +themselves in efforts to solve this problem by theories designed to +detect, even if not to account for, the agencies active in the +formation of the human mind and body. The records of older civilisations +bear testimony to their labours, and are familiar to most students of +ancient literatures. But it was not till the resources of modern science +forged new tools for the inquirer that it became possible to chisel out +from the bedrock of fact the main features of man's physical and social +history. + +With admirable patience and infinite skill, the scientific craftsmen of +recent times have laboriously pieced together the scattered chips of +biological research, of human tradition, of tribal customs and of +world-wide folklore, until the dignity and power, the beauty and the +possibilities of human nature have emerged from the dust of ignorance +and the veil of superstition. The result is that it is no longer +permissible to deplore in pessimistic tones the inevitable degradation +of the race, nor to accept with supineness the threatened deterioration +of a population. The forces by which humanity is moulded are no longer +unknown; the principles which underlie social stability have been +identified; the means by which the arts may be developed, which make +life not only tolerable but healthful, are ready to our hands. + +The far-reaching significance of these facts in connection with human +health and progress become apparent when considered in more detail. +Observers throughout the ages have gradually noted, and subsequently +turned to practical account in garden, meadow, and farmyard, certain +characteristics common to all known forms of vegetable and animal life. +By due consideration of these it was found possible to improve breeds, +to strengthen and lengthen life, to avert disease, and generally to +enhance economic value. It may now appear simple enough, to extend and +apply these observations to the betterment of human life; but many +generations of human beings slipped away before the facts, dimly +discerned by Aristotle and Lucretius, by Buffon and Lamarck, were +clearly focussed by Darwin,[91] Wallace, Spencer, and Huxley, through +whose skill and labours the continuity of the web of life was first +displayed to the world at large. The design may here be almost +elementary in its delicate simplicity; there its subtle intricacies +well-nigh baffle description. The variety of pattern is marvellous +indeed, as Nature weaves with ceaseless industry the woof of progressive +development. But the warp of this wondrous web is nevertheless +continuous throughout its length, uniting the whole into one vast +fabric. + +This basic unity of all manifestations of life has been further +substantiated by another group of scientists--Schleiden, Schwann, +Kölliker, and Virchow, for instance--who gradually and conclusively +proved the identity, in their simplest form, of those living bricks +(_i.e._ microscopic particles of protoplasm) from which the whole vast +edifice of life is constructed. The capacity they possess for +differentiation in their functions and in modes of combination long +masked recognition of the fact that each commonwealth of cells, whether +plant or animal, is developed in the first instance in orderly +progression from a similar minute speck of protoplasm, acceptation of +which has sufficed to bring about a complete revolution in the +scientific world. To these discoveries were shortly added Pasteur's +conception of the nature and causation of infective diseases; a +knowledge which brought with it a great accession of power over hitherto +mysterious and uncontrollable conditions. And finally, man's eyes have +been opened to the comprehension of Nature's means of self-defence +against the micro-organisms of disease. Thus, while humanity is by these +means armed with most potent weapons against the inroads of infection, +decay, and death, the light thrown upon the mystery of the origin of +each individual life has shown man his true place in the kingdom of +nature. The application of these great discoveries, together with +increased opportunity for and accuracy in their utilisation, constitute +the basis of the modern methods of hygiene. + +It must be borne in mind that until less than a century ago it was man's +custom to dissociate himself wholly from the less highly developed +animals and plants which he employed so freely for his support and +convenience. He set himself on the highest pinnacle, as it were, of the +edifice of life, believing himself to be independent of the influences +by which the rest of the building was dominated. And thus through +countless ages he suffered, languished, and died, unconscious that the +forces he had learned more or less to control in husbandry and farmyard +were in their turn controlling him in the conduct of his life. Ignorant +alike of the influences of his own inherited nature or of those of his +environment, he paid no heed to the responsibilities of transmitting the +torch of life undimmed to succeeding generations, and gave no thought to +utilising to his own personal perfecting the resources of Nature, which +he habitually employed to increase his wealth or to improve his crops +and stock. + +It was indeed to the control of his _surroundings_ that man first gave +more or less careless heed. The fact that environment can either +stimulate or stunt both physical and mental powers, thrust itself too +persistently on his attention to be ignored; but the influence of a good +parentage or of sound ancestry was less obvious, and for generations +received little or no attention. Vague talk on "family temper," "family +habits," "family voices" was common enough, but no more than a passing +curiosity was aroused as to their hidden import, nor was their profound +significance suspected. + +Thus, though half a century has passed since Darwin placed man[92] "in +his proper position in the sequence of biological forms," during which +interim enormous strides have been made in applying to the betterment +of human existence the principles found to hold good in the case of +lowlier type of life, public sentiment has so far only supported +sanitary reforms directed to the promotion of improved environment. And +this in spite of Sir Francis Galton's[93] first appeal in the cause of +eugenics more than forty years ago. The distinguishing characteristics +of progressive races and the right of every unborn child to be the +offspring of healthy, self-respecting, virtuous parents have been +repeatedly pointed out; while attention is drawn to the accumulating +evidence in favour of the fact that of all influences upon the +individual his inherited nature is the most powerful. Yet the public ear +remains deaf to the cry that the present generation is largely +responsible for the weal or woe of their children's children. + +This is not the place in which to discuss Darwin's theory of heredity +nor its subsequent elaboration and amplification by his contemporaries +or successors.[94] But the time is come when emphasis _must_ be laid +upon the duty of gaining some general acquaintance with the subject and +its applications in the case of an Imperial people. + +It may be also well to point out that pessimism is not necessarily +associated with the fruits of the studies carried on by our students of +inherited qualities, such as Sir Francis Galton or Professors Thomson, +Bateson, Karl Pearson, and others; only their results give us reason to +pause, for they cannot lightly be disregarded. They tell us that we hold +in our hands to-day the mental vigour and bodily powers of an untold +number of descendants, therefore it behoves us to consider our ways and +be wise while there is yet time. For our encouragement also be it known, +that while the lamp of modern hygiene illuminates the errors of the +past, it sheds its bright rays over the paths of the present, and +penetrates to some extent the dim twilight of the future. + + +II. FACTORS ADVERSE TO HUMAN PROGRESS + +It is a matter for regret that the sympathetic consideration for the +sufferings of others, which found such grand exponents in John Howard, +in Elizabeth Fry, and in thousands more since modern methods of +philanthropy were initiated in the eighteenth century,[95] has tended +latterly to lose its virility. It is giving place to a maudlin +sentimentality, which seeks not only to preserve life at all costs, but +to permit, nay to encourage, the production of a quality of human life, +so defective, so devitalised, that it threatens to minimise the +multiplication of the fit, by taxing them to their detriment with the +care and support of the unfit. So to smooth the path of the weakly and +unsound as to put a premium on their fertility is false philanthropy and +faulty hygiene; for it is well to remember that reasonable exertion is +beneficial to health; that to overcome obstacles is stimulating to the +energetic; that some struggle for the means of livelihood calls forth +resourcefulness and adaptability in the intelligent. Success in the +battle of life comes to those made of stuff equal to the wear and tear +of daily existence, and possessed of the qualities which conduce to +progress. These are they who are competent to perpetuate the best +qualities of a good stock; these should be the chosen bulwarks of a +nation's progress; nor must their numbers be swamped by the ailing, the +crippled, the defective, and the insane. + +A proportion probably of some of the deeply seated, complicated, social +problems which have presented themselves, unperceived and almost +unconsciously, are the outcome of a one-sided study of hygiene: these, +combined with the slow growth of social science, and a sickly, +easy-going susceptibility, have been allowed to obscure the real issues +of many well-intentioned but unwise and ill-considered philanthropic +measures. The necessity, the _urgent_ necessity, has now, however, +arisen for the bold and scientific solution of these social problems. +The work of biologists, sociologists, and students of history during the +last ten years has illuminated the whole question of race progress and +public health with a light so powerful and clear that even he who runs +can read the signs of the times by its clear rays; while to the millions +of parents and guardians whose lives are spent in the care of children +and home, its brilliance throws into high relief the dignified +responsibility of their work, its far-reaching worth and enduring +influence, as well as the fact that for its adequate performance +something more is necessary than a bowing acquaintance with modern +sanitary science. + +For what is the message of scientific hygiene to the parent and +householder of the twentieth century? Dr. W. H. Burnham, of Clarke +University, U.S.A., a world-wide authority on the subject, has +formulated this message for us into three terse, but telling and +suggestive, commands. + +The first gives solemn warning to beware of fads and of the many popular +doctrines which are mediæval in their crudities and damaging by their +unconsidered acceptance. + +The second preaches the gospel of _work_ and self-control, which must be +practised in this as in every other connection where progress and good +results are desired. + +The third enforces the doctrine of cleanliness to a degree as +comprehensive as it is unusual--cleanliness in person, dwelling, and +food; in air, water, and decoration; in occupation, environment and +morals; the work of home hygiene being to secure for each family +conditions which will permit normal and unhampered functioning for all +the organs of each one of its members; elasticity and pliancy in the +functions being a primary characteristic of health. + +If once it be accepted that health, capacity, endurance, and energy are +more powerful weapons for a progressive people than are sword or gun, +obedience to these commands will be general and their results enduring. +The pages of history teach us that each nation in turn has exhibited +these qualities at its zenith of success, whether it were the relatively +highly civilised inhabitants of Greece and Rome, or the barbarian hordes +under Attila. They characterise equally each group of successful +pioneers, whether they be the Pilgrim Fathers of the sixteenth, the +Huguenots of the seventeenth, or the successful colonist of the +nineteenth century. When however their cultivation is neglected the +force of the life current of a people or community is lost; the mighty +river of a nation's prosperity dwindles to an insignificant streamlet of +mere existence, soon to be lost to view in the morass of oblivion. + +To what general causes may such deterioration be attributed? Among +the more prominent must be mentioned ignorance of man's physical +nature and of the nurture essential to his welfare; subtle forms of +self-indulgence; lowered standards of morality; enervating luxury, or, +in some cases, so severe a struggle for existence among the salt of +the population (the upper, middle, and professional classes, superior +mechanics and artisans), that even patriotism does not justify a +quiverful of children. But the persistence of these causes is a +national calamity. It is the science and art of hygiene which is +emphasising their disastrous consequences. No longer in its infancy, no +longer a mere collection of fads, questionable statistics, and +empirical doctrines, hygiene is prepared to inform us how to +promote human efficiency in every relation of life--domestic, +occupational, social, and imperial. Its tenets are firmly based upon a +goodly group of sciences, and their utilisation call into play a +whole range of arts. Its theories find confirmation in the social +problems of the day, and the experience gained from their tentative +and partial application affords sound evidence of their worth to the +world. The "expectation" of life, for instance, has been extended ten +years in half a century; in twenty years the death-rate has decreased +thirty per cent. Disease has been found in most instances to be +controllable, and has been controlled; unhealthy occupations have had +their dangers curbed if not entirely banished, and the lot of many has +been immeasurably brightened. _Yet_ the weak joints in the nation's +harness are gaping, and the vigour and virility of the masses appear +to be diminishing. Again we ask, Why? + + +III. STAGES IN THE GROWTH OF SANITARY SCIENCE + +The answer may be found by reference to the late Professor de Chaumont's +now classical outline of the stages to be identified in the hygienic +education of a race. He divided these into three periods, of which he +described the first as merely "Instinctive," for efforts after sanitary +practice were dictated solely by the personal discomfort associated with +their neglect. In those far-off prehistoric days, Professor Boyd +Dawkins tells us that primitive man, then in his nomadic stage, would +dig runnels to carry off the rain water from the near neighbourhood of +his shelters, or would move on to fresh pastures when his family and +herds had fouled the nearest stream, or change his camping ground when +the accumulated refuse of his food and his prowess as a hunter +interfered with convenient access to his dwelling; but he took no +precautions to prevent the recurrence of these discomforts, and his +efforts to remove their consequences were purely temporary. + +To this there succeeded what Professor de Chaumont designated the +"Supernatural" period,[96] which extended over many thousands of years, +during the dawn of which Eastern rulers often combined in their own +person the triple callings of priest, prophet, and physician. Whether it +be in China or in Persia, in Egypt or in India, among the Greeks, the +Arabs, or the Hebrews, the practice of physical morality and of personal +cleanliness, of restrictions of diet or protection from infection, were +closely woven into the religion of the people. Reasons of health and +sanitary advantages permeate the rules of more faiths than that of the +Jews--whose Lawgiver embodied in the Pentateuch health maxims now known +to have been derived from earlier civilisations. + +But, remarkable and interesting as are the ancient sanitary codes to a +generation which professes to believe in the necessity for hygienic +practice, their usage was tinctured from the first by a mass of +superstition. Tradition and fatalism hampered true consistency between +faith and works; the often sound regulations suffered from their +empirical foundations. Constant warfare, varied by alternations of +luxury with asceticism, combined to absorb men's minds and to pervert +their common sense, so that plague and famine, disease and penury, were +superstitiously regarded as discipline from the Deity, not to be averted +or avoided, but rather to be accepted as a chastisement prompted by +love. The creed that to save suffering to the vile body might risk the +salvation of the soul, cost Europe far dearer than is at all generally +recognised; for the noble, the pure, the high-minded, the intellectual, +segregated themselves for centuries in monastery and convent, in the +firm faith that by denying to themselves the joy of parenthood they +promoted the spiritual welfare of their country. Ignorant of their +racial responsibilities, they left as progenitors of the next generation +the less refined and ruder elements in the population. It is no cause +for surprise, therefore, that progress in sanitation moved slowly. +Domestic and urban conditions were permitted of a character well defined +by the facts that, in mediæval times, a man of forty-five or fifty was +considered long lived, and that first attempts to control disease were +based upon commercial convenience rather than upon the saving of life. + +To this long night of superstition succeeded the third and last period, +known as the "Rational," of which the first dawnings can be detected +even in Plantagenet days. In this period it is desirable further to +differentiate three stages of progress--(_a_) that of Development, when +uneasiness made itself felt, but from absence of knowledge efforts at +reform and control were crude, though often intelligent; (_b_) the stage +of Legislation, and (_c_) the stage of Freedom.[97] + +In the first of these, for instance, Henry III. effected an improvement +on any former practice by bringing water to the city of London in pipes, +made by boring or burning a channel through the trunks of large trees. +Half a century later, in 1297-8, laws were promulgated upon the subjects +of offensive trades, food adulteration, and wandering pigs; while +Richard II. imposed penalties upon those guilty of fouling rivers and +ditches. Out of sight out of mind, however, was the sanitary creed of +this and many succeeding generations, so that too often the apparent +gain of the moment sowed the noxious seed of intensified subsequent +ills. + +Sir John Simon has pointed out that it was not until the early part of +the eighteenth century that hygiene in its modern significance loomed on +the social horizon with clearer outline and more definite aims. A +gradual transformation took place in the next hundred and fifty years, +when the national records, as well as the reports of philanthropic +organisations, indicate the gradual growth of a public opinion which +presently sought its sanitary salvation in legislation. The nineteenth +century saw, as a consequence, the accumulation of a huge mass of public +health laws, designed to accomplish reforms where philanthropy or +self-interest had failed to influence habits. + +The suggested designation, namely, the Legislative, is therefore +peculiarly appropriate for this, the second stage of progress in the +third period of our country's hygienic education. To legislation men +pinned their faith as the most potent weapon of reform. From the first +most inadequate and ineffective Factory Act of 1802 until the enactments +of the last parliamentary session, each year has seen substantial +additions made to the growing mass of sanitary legislation, which has +become unwieldy in bulk and intensely complicated in machinery. + +Any attempt to enumerate even a few of the public health laws which +crowd our statute books would here be tedious and out of place, though +the community in general ought to be better acquainted than it is with +its powers and obligations. For, truth to tell, fifty years of public +health administration has proved that human beings are not yet consumed +with a sufficiently strong desire for health and efficiency to be +willing to change objectionable or unwholesome habits or to sacrifice +their conception of comfort at the _suggestion_ of officials. Indeed +the sterner measures of compulsory conformity were so necessary to the +education of the public in the elements of healthy living, that the year +1866 saw the commencement of a new era in Public Health Department of +the Government. "The grammar of common sanitary legislation,"[98] writes +the historian of our "English Sanitary Institutions," "then first +acquired the novel virtue of an imperative mood." "Must" was substituted +in some laws for "may," and though the permissive has not, even in fifty +years, entirely given place to the peremptory, the efforts to effect +individual reform by Act of Parliament have, since the formation of the +Local Government Board in 1872, assumed more importance and vigour. + +Since that date the reports of health committees all over the country +record the substantial results of persevering work in the interests of +hygiene, qualified by the fact that the experience of other nations has +been abundantly confirmed by our own, namely, that it is futile to +legislate in advance of public opinion. Until the populace has been +impregnated with a knowledge of what is right, right action, though +demanded by its legislators, will be perverted by ignorant intention or +by resentful indolence. Even those who have served the cause of +sanitation most loyally recognise that coercion is but a poor yeast with +which to leaven measures for the public weal; the product is liable to +become sour and worthless rather than wholesome and effective. One +higher grade must be passed by the nation under the tutelage of a +sanitary reform before its education can be called complete. + +The final stage in this last long period is described by Professor de +Chaumont as that of "Freedom," of which the attainment is not possible +until action is based on intelligent individual conviction. Then and +then alone there will be a general recognition that "rights" are +inevitably associated with responsibilities, and that true liberty is +followed not by license, but by self-control and respect for the rights +of others. + + +IV. WHY THE IDEALS OF MODERN HYGIENE ARE NOT ATTAINED + +And so it has come about that, with this ideal in view, the methods of +modern hygiene are directed to awaken the nation's sanitary conscience +and to stimulate the growth of true civic freedom. These methods may be +fairly defined as the working of common sense aided by the results of +scientific research, in their turn supported by very carefully tested +applications. Necessarily it is assumed that each individual will accord +to them intelligent, personal support and, where necessary, will be +willing to sink unreasonable likes and dislikes in the sea of social +service. + +Examples of the enormous benefit inseparable from well-considered +sanitary legislation could be multiplied; though, on the other hand, it +is also necessary to check optimism by many illustrations of the +grievous harm still being wrought by want of thought. Hindrance to +possible progress is also associated with the ignorance of those whose +development has not yet attained the level when freedom of action can be +permitted. It is some of the results of this ignorant indolence which +cause the minds of the thoughtful and far-sighted to be tense with +anxiety for the welfare of their country, and arouse a wish for further +and more stringent public health enactments. Nevertheless, again it must +be said that to legislate in advance of public opinion is futile. Only +after stupendous exertion, for instance, has the serious and continued +mortality among infants excited general attention; and the curious, +widespread indifference to the recommendations of recent Royal +Commissions on the Poor Law and the Care of the Feeble-minded indicates +that, were infant mortality controllable by legislation, such +legislation would still fail of its object unless it were also realised +that a child's hold on life is practically dependent upon parental care, +and is intimately associated with maternal nutrition before its birth. + +Or again; the law relating to the protection of the public food supply +is approaching a high pitch of excellence; the penalties on adulteration +or on the sale of diseased or otherwise unwholesome foodstuffs are +severe and quite frequently inflicted; _but_ these regulations are +powerless to influence the errors of nutrition constantly reflected in +the features of our population at each age period, neither can they stem +the tide of self-indulgence, emotionalism and luxury which enervate and +deteriorate thousands of our people. Vain indeed are their endeavours to +disguise by alcoholism and drugs the traces of their misfortunes. Stern +Nature is relentless; her laws are as those of the Medes and Persians; +the children's teeth _shall_ be set on edge by the fruits of the +reckless folly and intemperance of their ancestors. + +Is sanitary legislation therefore a failure, or by what means can light +from the sun of knowledge penetrate this dense mass of ignorance and +apathy? For what reason has it opposed such a resistant surface to the +manipulations of the reformer or to the coercions of the official? These +questions do not, unfortunately, admit of concise or conclusive +replies. + +Each political party in turn points the finger of reproach and derision +at its opponents for the modest success by which their legislative +efforts at social reforms are attended. Disease, malnutrition, +alcoholism and overwork continue to hamper their efforts, and will +continue so to do, until a sanitary conscience is awakened in each +breast, at an age when habits and ideals are still unformed. + +There is no royal road to the solution of these serious problems. They +call for infinite, patient and untiring tact, while they also demand the +employment of many and varied well-considered methods, based on a sound +foundation of sanitary and social science. The day for reform by theory +is over; the moment for practice by individual example and co-operative +effort has arrived. + + +V. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN'S PHYSICAL NATURE + +Before proceeding to suggest some means by which to increase the +stability of the national health through the agency of family life, it +will be advantageous to recall the advice given to students of any form +of life by Professor Arthur Thomson:--that they should, before +attempting to form conclusions as to its nature, submit its constitution +to analysis, with the assistance of what he described as the biological +prism. This, he says, will throw light on the inherited nature of the +creature--the capital, so to say, with which it is endowed at birth. It +will illuminate the functional nature of its parts, and will reveal what +it does in the course of its ceaseless activities--nervous, muscular and +organic. Further, the prismatic rays will render visible the results of +some of the influences dependent upon the environment with which it is +surrounded, which play upon it before and after birth. Unfortunately +these rays, when directed to human nature, cannot penetrate so deeply +nor divulge so clearly the secrets of this the highest and most complex +form of life, as they do when directed to its simpler manifestations. +All ordinary difficulties are enhanced by our human capacity for racial +admixture and the creation of an artificial environment. + +This much, however, is clearly revealed by a partial analysis. Human +beings, in common with all life, are distinguished by the power of +movement, and are sensitive to many forms of external stimulus:--heat, +cold, electricity, or pressure. They pass their lives in rhythmic +alternations of activity and repose; they breathe; they absorb food to +supply energy and to maintain unimpaired the substance of their bodies; +they excrete waste products. They share with plants and animals an +intrinsic tendency to continue their growth for a certain period and up +to a definite amount, while, at the close of the most pronounced period +of growth, ability to transmit life absorbs the energy hitherto utilised +for personal development, by which means the perpetuation of a species +is secured. Research shows, also without possibility of question, that +certain similar characteristics distinguish the mechanism of every type +of animal life; though the machinery be in some cases of the simplest, +in others highly complex. Thus have been revealed many secrets of man's +physical nature; as, for instance, the knowledge that, in the earliest +stages of their existence, higher forms of life recapitulate more or +less imperfectly certain far-off ancestral phases of development, of +which living specimens are still to be found on the lower branches of +humanity's huge genealogical tree. By means also of the close and +detailed observation of these lowlier organisms a clearer conception +has been formed of the intricacies of growth and the prolonged process +of development in mankind. Just how human beings have come to be what +they are, mentally and morally as well as physically, is a still +unsolved problem. There are, of course, many missing chapters in the +long story of life, though so far no contradictions have been detected +in its arguments. The sad side of this biological lore exists in the now +ascertained fact that the highest intellectual and moral powers, those +last to develop, are the first to suffer arrest or to die away when the +organism is subjected to premature exhaustion or to precocious +responsibility. Predisposing causes are found in disease, dissipation, +or defective nurture. + +Another of the more important lessons to be learnt from the pages of +this book of life's history is the conservative influence of the law of +inherited nature; a law which makes for the preservation of racial types +by suppressing wide deviations from the normal. A familiar illustration +of this may be found in the fact that the children of parents of great +height or of very short stature usually revert to the average of the +race. The significance of this genetic relation in maintaining an +efficient people was unrecognised until quite recent times, and though +valuable evidence is accumulating on the descent of hereditary character +in mankind, no definite conclusions have yet been reached on the +_intensity_ of the transmission of qualities. It is, of course, a +subject of intense complexity, the full discussion of which is here +impossible. In the interests of future generations it is, however, to +be wished that more thought were given to the conclusions it is +allowable to draw. "If," for instance, says a recent writer, "instead of +allowing the race to mate at random we selected both parents for some +one quality, we could raise the intensity of inheritance and establish +gradually, by continued selection, a strain in which the quality reached +a value much higher than the average in the original mixed race...."[99] +Thus could a race be strengthened for life's calls, or, on the contrary, +until and unless the people are awakened to the existence and bearing on +their national security of such fundamental hygienic influences, it can +be emasculated. No such selection is likely ever to dominate human +marriages, but an appreciation of these and similar facts is fundamental +to national progress; and in time the dissemination of such knowledge +will be considered a parental duty, the more urgent since the resources +of civilisation and ill-regulated sympathy have combined to brush aside +the sterner laws of nature, so that the deteriorated threaten to become +the chief progenitors of the next generation. + +During the process of studying the abundant evidence of life's progress +from the simple to the complex, it becomes also apparent that it is +affected by forces other than heredity. Recognition of the ever-present +influence of these potent but often disregarded forces makes for +harmonious living, whereas their neglect is associated with heavy +penalties. I refer to the capacity for individual variation from the +racial type; to the modification of each individual by his or her +surroundings; and to the personal predisposition, technically described +as diathesis, which influences the reaction made to every form of +stimulus. Of these three forces, the first is the result of an inborn +tendency to deviate from the ancestral type; an orderly process with a +definite intention, by no means a mere chance fluctuation. This +certainly makes for progress as well as for interest in life, though it +enhances the difficulties of education, because it demands the +adaptation of conditions to each individual's requirements. The second, +the law of modification, takes into account the influence of environment +upon inherited nature; the effects of climate, and food, for example, or +of forms of occupation. Predisposition is, of course, a personal +quality--a factor of primary importance in our susceptibility to or +power to resist disease or in our capacity to withstand adverse +conditions. This property is responsible for the greater or less degree +of adaptability to new conditions possessed by each of us, and is +concerned with our power to live in tune or at discord with our +surroundings. + +Another biological law, that of periodicity,[100] or of rhythmic +alternations of activity and rest, has hitherto often suffered among +human beings more in the breach than in the observance of its tenets; +though unquestionably conformity to its requirements makes for health +and stability. Throughout nature habits of rhythmic, organic activity +are too familiar to attract attention. Of these, the periodic return of +the seasons, for instance, or the daily tides, the flowering of plants +and the ripening of fruit, the migrations of birds and the hibernation +of certain insects and animals, are obvious examples. These rhythms have +been proved by experience to be advantageous in the world. They make for +efficiency and economise energy, and, from their high degree of +development in man's nature, it may be fairly assumed that to him their +observance is of great consequence. Many of them are beyond his control; +such, for example, as the diurnal variations of his body temperature, +the beating of the heart, the call of hunger, or the rhythm of growth. +Others he can observe or abuse according to his pleasure; sleep, for +instance, or the rhythm of work, or the daily discharge from his body of +its waste products.[101] It is the work of hygiene to demonstrate how to +combine obedience to all these laws with the demands of modern +existence, and it is the duty of man to conform reasonably to modes of +life based on these demonstrations. More especially does responsibility +for the establishment of certain rhythms, such as sleep, devolve upon +the organiser of a child's early life. + + +VI. THE ORIGIN OF FAMILY LIFE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SANITARY SCIENCE + +Further researches into the records of the past, and a closer study of +the underlying principles upon which humanity has formulated many +generally adopted customs, indicate how unexpectedly intimate is the +relation between the growth of a social organisation and the origin of +primitive efforts after the preservation of life and health. The world +at large is so accustomed to the widespread existence of family life +that curiosity is rarely aroused as to its origin, intention and worth; +consequently to ignorance of its significance must be attributed the +assertion that the custom is well-nigh obsolete and the proposal of some +would-be reformers to abolish the institution and to instal the State +_in loco parentis_. + +Professor McDougall[102] assures us that such is the social importance +of the family that all who have given serious attention to the question +are agreed that the stability of the family is the prime condition of a +healthy state. This opinion is supported by other writers,[103] who have +emphasised their conviction that the healthful development of the +individual--even the possibilities of racial progress--depend to a large +degree upon maintaining intact the integrity of family life. Their +conclusions are based upon recent researches into the sciences of +biology, sociology, and economics. + +The origin of this relation is apparently traceable to one of the many +forms of human association which have proved advantageous in the +struggle for existence, when the value to a man and his wife of so +protecting their offspring during childhood that there should be later +on an array of lusty sons and industrious daughters thrust itself on +their notice. The division of strenuous work, for instance, the pursuit +and preparation of food, the effective defence of their rude shelters +against the depredations of their foes, were substantial advantages to +be derived in primitive times from the possession of a large group of +children. Upon the youthful vigour and strength of their family the +parents could rely also when overtaken by the weakness of old age or by +accident or disease. + +These economic and sociological advantages were so early appreciated +and are so widely adopted that traces of family life are to be +detected in the history and customs of every tribe or community +hitherto investigated. The bond thus formed, even amongst the lowest +savages, first developed, then strengthened the ties of natural +affection between a mother and her children and prolonged its +emotional existence. In the case of the paternal parent, it is +probable that the motives which incited him to make the efforts +necessary for the protection of his helpless infants might more +probably be found in the desire to leave an avenger on individual +enemies and a feeling that funeral rites would be duly performed +after his death, as well as his tribe strengthened in war. + +The gradual development of the human home has been admirably described +by more than one writer, who has associated its evolution with the +gregarious instinct, recognised in many of the higher forms of animal +life.[104] Within reason, associated numbers represent power--power +to preserve the progeny, therefore to maintain the numbers, which +again in reason make for social support and independence. Power for +defence, power to secure an adequate supply of food and ability to +differentiate occupations, thus dividing labour, so that while the men +of a family group were engaged in war or the chase, their womenkind +devoted their attention to the creature comforts which promote +health and efficiency--these are all factors which make for progress. + + +VII. WOMAN'S VOCATION IN HOME AND FAMILY LIFE + +And so it came about that to some extent woman's special and privileged +vocation as a home-maker began even in prehistoric times. Upon her it +devolved to rear the children she bore; to cook, to mend, to make, to +spin and dye and weave; to prepare a welcome for the victor and to +minister to the sick or wounded. No sense of menial limitation in +their duties was apparent among the notable women of the past. They +were skilled workers, capable and respected managers, under whose +direction men as well as women carried out the details of daily work, +to whose care in later centuries castle and garrison were entrusted in +the absence of their lords, and who most evidently assumed this +responsibility with confidence and success. + +The changing conditions of the last three centuries, however, reacted in +many ways to the detriment of women's domestic energies and sapped their +pride in the vocation of housewife. Industrial developments took much +occupation out of their hands, and they were not apparently concerned to +undertake others more in consonance with modern life. As concentration +of the population in large centres undermined the last survival of +feudal conditions, the strong conservative instinct of women made it +hard for them to adapt themselves and their households to revised +methods:--to substitute "new lamps for old," so that gradually it seems +women became split up into two parties, somewhat out of sympathy one +with the other. Adherence to the traditions of the past and the +attractions of social life distinguished the one party; a restless +desire to give scope to their whole nature and to work out their own +salvation on unconventional lines possessed the other. In the one case +there was no desire for domestic reformation. What methods could be +better than their great-grandmother's! In the other, glimpses of what +seemed a far wider and more intellectual life than that of the ordinary +housewife diminished interest in the physical needs of human nature, +which it was thought made no claims on mental faculties, and of which +the daily care was constantly associated with irksome restrictions and a +position of financial dependence. + +It is not possible here even to outline the numerous social and +commercial innovations which have modified every side of daily life +for the last two hundred years; but, when inclined harshly to rebuke +women for some of their now almost inexplicable blindness to these +changes, it is well to remember that the flood of new discoveries, new +inventions, new modes of transit, new forms of occupation and +amusement, new means of money-making and fresh excitements imposed an +enormous strain upon nervous systems, still but slowly adapting +themselves to the stir and stress of the modern world. That eyes +should be temporarily dazzled by the brilliance of the "wonderful +century"; that the first results of freedom from a period of unnatural +restraint should be intoxication with liberty, is not surprising. Full +of encouragement is, however, the fact that an increasing number of +women of all ranks are engaged to-day in efforts to direct the light +of modern knowledge to the betterment of human life; the movement +speaks for the innate soundness of their womanhood and for their +realisation of their imperial responsibilities. Many of these efforts +are still unsystematised, many good intentions are held to be of +equal worth with organised practical knowledge; many women are alive +only to the needs of the least favoured of the community and are dead +to the urgent calls for intelligent reforms in their own domiciles. But +if the willing mind be there, the direction of the work into desirable +channels will slowly though surely follow. It is most certainly +unnecessary to pour every girl into the mould of a conventional +German hausfrau in order that she may perceive the inner meaning of +family life. God fulfils Himself in many ways, and diversity of training +and of interests is as beneficial as it is desirable. Neither can the +women of a country single-handed conserve this great institution of +family life. The loyalty of boys and the co-operation of men are +imperative to its preservation. They as well as their mothers, wives, +and sisters must realise its responsibilities and opportunities, and +must maintain the dignified position of those who preside over this +unit of community life; they also must respond to the crying need for +its adaptation to the requirements of modern civilisation. + + +VIII. THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN NATIONAL LIFE + +Mrs. Bosanquet[105] has told us that the most important economic +function of the family to-day is its direct control of the prosperity or +ruin of nations; for here alone are found in combination the forces +which determine the quantity of the population with the forces which +determine its quality. To control these forces offers, to say the least, +a life-work for countless men and women. Both parents must safeguard the +character of their children's inherited nature; both sexes are more or +less directly or remotely concerned in the provision of a suitable +environment for human lives, infant or adult. Under the circumstances it +may well be a matter for surprise that we have been so slow to perceive +that the right performance of these duties demands a preliminary study +of the art of preserving health and promoting progress, and we marvel at +the placid spirit of content which has sanctioned the conversion into a +stronghold of empiricism, the very place where a sound knowledge of +progressive sanitary science is of primary importance. + +In the book to which reference has been already made, Mrs. Bosanquet +also enumerates the causes which in her opinion militate most actively +against the continuance of family life at the present day. Among others +she mentions evasion of responsibility, self-indulgence (with which we +are very familiar), reliance upon external sources of maintenance, and +the unequal distribution among the members of a family of the burden of +support. Further, she refers to the unfortunate failure among parents to +realise that the old Roman customs of parental possession and filial +submission are out of date to-day, and calls upon the wise guardian to +substitute others which lead to loyalty and love. + +The new movement for a study of the characteristics of childhood and +adolescence should materially contribute to the realisation that this +parental attitude of dominant authority must be now associated with and +modified by a more balanced understanding of the phases of youthful +development and of the intricacies of individual temperament. +Convenience has hitherto encouraged the customary regulation of a group +of young lives as if they were one and the same individual, no allowance +being made for variation in character or in age, in propensities or in +health. Each nursery party or infant school serves to illustrate the +point. Individual tendencies to cold or to fatigue, to nerve storms or +to indolence; individual capacities in diet, occupation or exercise, +must be intelligently respected if potentialities are to become +actualities. + +In the well-conducted home, for example, a study of individual character +must in the future replace cast-iron discipline or easy-going, +child-spoiling indulgence. The fact that the early cultivation of good +habits makes for healthful happiness must be generally appreciated; and +the duty of the home to provide opportunity for the exercise of personal +tastes, the importance of training as a relief to nervous strain and as +the best means to develop resource and skill, must be perceived. It will +be by this constant understanding supervision in early years, and later +by the cultivation of an intimate sympathetic comradeship with his +children, that the modern parent will retain for his country the +cementing force of family life. + + +IX. THE MEANING OF INFANCY + +The great discovery of John Fiske as to the reasons for the long +continuance of childhood in man must not be overlooked in this +connection; it bears so directly on health and efficiency, and is +closely associated with the importance of the family to the individual +as well as to the nation. Why, it may be asked, is man's period of +helplessness so prolonged; why, when his brain development reaches so +high a standard, is he for years in a position of entire dependence, +whereas snakelet and chick are practically self-supporting from the hour +of hatching? When the lower forms of animal life are compared with +mankind, the non-existence in their case of any such stage as infancy is +at once apparent. They are brought into the world able to take care of +themselves and to live an independent individual existence. Young pigs +run almost as soon as they are born, young swallows fly directly they +are fledged. + +Now, if the structure of lower animals be examined, it will be found +that they have no central warehouse corresponding to the human brain for +the storage of new sensations or for an elaborate and original response +to them. Each such animal repeats the life of its parents; each responds +in exactly the same way to the contact of air, of earth, of food, or of +water. Their activities, it is true, are distinguished by accuracy and +despatch, but the offspring of a hen of the twentieth century has no +larger capacity for the variation of these activities than has the +chick which was hatched out six thousand years ago. The guinea-pig of +to-day, for example, remains mentally at the level of his thousandth +ancestor. Wherein then lies the difference between the pig and the +baby? + +As animals rise in the scale, as their brains become more subtle, more +elaborate in structure, their actions become correspondingly more +numerous and complicated, more varied, more individual. The nervous +systems of such animals are characterised by an increasing complexity of +development, and this provides the machinery necessary to the +performance of an increasing number of muscular and mental +co-ordinations; they can adapt themselves to unfamiliar surroundings and +possess much enhanced advantages in the struggle for existence. _But_, +associated with these advantages, is a much longer period of immaturity, +because, where the capacity for flexibility and progress is great, the +antenatal period is insufficient for the establishment of the necessary +nervous connections or even for the development of the brain cells +between which these connections will be formed. The chick will have its +full plumage in ten weeks, but mentally it is far below a dog or a +monkey, whose period of immaturity is much longer. Similarly, the dog +attains his maturity long before the monkey, who is infinitely his +superior in fertility of resource, power to learn through imitation, and +capacity for attention. The infant in its turn is far longer in a +dependent condition than the highest ape. + +Relatively large in bulk at birth, and reaching usually its full mass in +the first fourteen years of life, the human brain possesses throughout +childhood vast silent areas, big with future potentialities, areas in +which the cells are slowly ripening to function. Even after full growth +in size is reached, many more years must pass before capacity for the +higher mental functions or for the complete control of such functions +has developed. It must be borne in mind that, throughout this period of +immaturity, errors of nutrition or defective stimulation may interfere +with function. One of the most important duties of the home is to +provide the suited environment for its child occupants during these long +and anxious years. How long they are has been emphasised by Dr. +Clouston,[106] who has said that, of all the periods of brain growth, +the most important, as regards the development of our highest moral and +mental potentialities, is that between eighteen and twenty-five years of +age, when the capacity for self-control should be coming into function +in its highest relations, and when failure to ripen in due course is +fraught with most serious consequences for the future. + +There is no such thing, therefore, as infancy or parental care in the +lowest orders of animal life; of which, one result is a gigantic +mortality among their offspring. Enormous numbers of eggs are laid to +ensure the preservation of the species when left to fend for +themselves. The turbot, for instance, must deposit millions of minute +glassy ova or the species would become extinct. Even among frogs the +destruction of tadpoles is so great that provision must be made to allow +for this loss. The fostering care of birds for their young at once +permits a great reduction in the number of the offspring; but, though +birds give evidence of some capacity for parental care, infancy, as +such, is really confined to mammalian young. Even here it is curtailed +in a vast number of species; but wherever it exists it stands for power +to progress, and represents capacity for benefiting by, indeed depending +upon, education, if only in the simple form of learning by imitation--a +form familiar to readers of such books as Long's "Schools of the +Woods." + +Plasticity is the hall-mark of progress; educability indicates a brain +more or less competent to assimilate, to remember, to compare, to +discriminate. This door of progress has been merely set ajar for even +the higher apes; it is open to man only. The period of plasticity is +evidently prolonged in proportion to the degree in which conscious +intelligence has superseded mere brute force in promoting successful +survival--that is to say, the transmission of _mental ability_ rather +than of _physical strength_ postpones maturity. Man alone possesses in +full the powers of selection and adaptation, of reason and of emotion, +of memory and of mental originality, which are included in his rich +heritage of life. If he is to realise his full potentialities, he must +have protection for years after birth and an extended time for +development. The immature infant must be fed, sheltered, and stimulated, +if the inherent powers of adjustment to surroundings are to develop +normally. But so great is the instability associated with human +immaturity and future potentiality, that arrested development is too +often the heavy penalty paid by the child for the ignorance and +carelessness of his parents.[107] Faults of food and clothing, +insufficient warmth, cleanliness, or exercise, premature work or +precocious responsibility and independence, prolonged overstrain or +insufficient stimulation of mind and body, are the prevalent causes by +which a child's normal growth is warped and prejudiced. Where this +occurs he never enters into his birthright of power; it has too often +been thoughtlessly bartered by his natural guardians, literally for a +mere mess of pottage. + + +X. CAUSES WHICH MENACE HEALTHFUL INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD + +Perhaps one of the greatest inconsistencies of an inconsistent nation +lies in the fact that the extraordinary ignorance of the elementary +needs of a tender infant is not confined to one section of society; it +is found in Belgravia as well as in Bermondsey. Thus, though the chief +sources of the tuberculosis which is responsible for the presence of 45 +per cent. of the children in the London Invalid Schools are confined to +the homes of the poorer classes,[109] inquiries into the incidence of +rickets among children in Glasgow show a higher percentage of cases in +the families of mechanics than of labourers[110]--a clear illustration +that ignorance and not poverty is here the predisposing cause. Impure +air and stuffy, ill-ventilated rooms are concerned in the susceptibility +to both diseases, as is also malnutrition with its associated diminution +of the innate powers of self-protection. But, in the one case, inability +to provide suitable food is the general cause; while in the other, +inexcusable ignorance of the right forms in which food should be +supplied to young children is a certain source of the evil. + +The thought is pathetic, for the causes are wholly preventable. Pitiful +also, because less excusable, is the grievous injury to health +associated with a mouth full of rotten teeth, permitted as it is among +families possessed of sufficient means to meet the cost of cure, who +prefer to spend their money upon dress and amusement, or among the +members of which necessary endurance of a trifling shock has not been +cultivated. Were the foulness of the discharge from a carious tooth to +be externally visible, the æsthetic instinct among the refined would +clamour for prompt treatment; but, unfortunately for health, the results +of the disease are concealed, and consequently condoned. + +Again: light, sunshine and quiet are now known to be essential to +physical development and to the possession of a sound nervous system; +the statement amounts to a platitude, for is not every wealthy invalid +despatched to complete convalescence by the sea or in the country, and +is not the custom of a general annual holiday due largely to the +conscious benefits derived from an open-air life far from the bustle of +towns? Yet physical morality is so poorly developed that the atmosphere +of suburban as well as urban districts is permanently obscured by the +preventable and wasteful results of imperfect combustion, though the +detriment is incalculable to those whose lives see no change of air. +The ceaseless rumble of noisy traffic, allowed to disturb the rest of +thousands, or more probably of millions, of our population, is another +factor responsible for the prevalence of unstable nerves and of +ill-balanced brains. It assumes great gravity when it is realised that +among these sleepers are numbered the children whose hours of rest are +already most seriously curtailed. + +Another sin against childhood bears long enduring fruits. I refer to the +terrible results upon the lives of those infants who survive efforts to +prevent their birth. The fact ought to be, if it is not, common +knowledge; yet the sale of the infamous drugs, necessary to the crime, +by pennyworths, in every drug-store, is tacitly sanctioned by the +community. + +Professor Sadler's[111] determination to direct attention to the +requirements of our adolescents has aroused such response, that excuse +is now impossible for ignoring the detrimental effects upon young people +of unskilled, exhausting "blind alley" work, or of removing prematurely +the restraint of moral discipline and systematised training.[112] +Statistics show not only the economic disasters which result from the +unsatisfactory methods of past years; they bring home also the steady +increase in the percentage of the proportion of nervous instability as +well as of anæmia, which interfere with the form of brain growth so +rapid in adolescence (namely, increase in complexity of association, and +in power to inhibit, to reason, and to concentrate). Another result of +these investigations is to draw attention to the increase in organic +heart disease, which has been shown to occur in more than thirty per +cent. of the London errand boys who are engaged in prolonged work on +Saturdays, as well as in out-of-school hours during the week.[113] + +Should not parents inform themselves diligently on these matters? for +there are warnings and to spare from physician and educationalist upon +this reckless wreckage of the nation's most valuable asset. It was +pointed out ten years ago that the imposition of adult duties upon the +child, or even upon the young adolescent, is the most effective +machinery for the manufacture of the unemployed and the unemployable. +Only now, however, are bye-laws being sanctioned which impose at all +adequate restrictions upon child labour. For a longer period the steady +migration of the rural population from country to towns has been +bemoaned, as coupled with the risk lest the deterioration of the +individual decline into the degeneration of the race. Nevertheless, in +spite of the sustained efforts of the Rural Housing Association and of +private individuals, the housing problem still lies at the root of some +at least of this exodus. Miserable and inconvenient as are hundreds of +our cottages, their number is still insufficient in many places to meet +the demand; so perforce the young people of marriageable age must go, or +the elementary code of decency must be violated. + +The curse of alcohol,[114] too, lies heavy on our land; it shortens +life, incapacitates for work, impoverishes and degrades; visits in +innumerable forms the sins of the parents upon their innocent yet +grievously afflicted children; promotes crime and perverts judgment. +Each year brings more statistical and biological evidence of its +enduring and deteriorating effects upon humanity. It seems strange, +therefore, that the law to insist upon the provision of an adequate +water supply for every dwelling remains entirely insufficient to meet +the most urgent needs of many town streets as well as country villages. +Cleanliness is consequently impossible, and the public-house must be +perforce frequented, for it provides a beverage more palatable and +perhaps as wholesome as the cottager's nearest supply. + + +XI. THE SOURCE OF THESE CAUSES TO BE FOUND IN FAULTY ADMINISTRATION OF +THE HOME + +May not the causes of some considerable proportion of this apathy be +traced to a want of popular faith in the teachings of hygiene? Is not +one source of the prevalent unbelief in its tenets to be found in the +widespread ignorance of the right administration of human life in the +home, which turns out therefore a product of unhealthy, inharmonious +citizens, who are a source of weakness to their country and a menace to +civilisation? How could it be otherwise? If the cradle of life be +defective, and its occupants be debilitated, it is not the nurslings +alone upon whom the penalties will fall; whereas if home administration +be guided by intelligence, and the quality of the inmates be high, +individual and national prosperity are assured. The burden of +responsibility or the privilege of promoting progress (according to the +spirit in which obligations are assumed) rests with those who propose to +be or already are parents; they being influenced in their turn by the +educational and social conditions of their surroundings. Parental care +and intelligent home management are thus intimately concerned with the +physical evolution of the race, as well as with its moral development. +They must, therefore, assume an increasing rather than a diminishing +importance, if the full development of potentialities is to be insured +in the rising generation, and racial progress promoted. Any proclivity +to depreciate the dignity or to undermine the influence of these +institutions must be carefully examined and, if necessary, sternly +repressed. + +The fact that such tendencies show signs of sprouting is, it seems to +me, a serious reflection upon the parental and domestic methods of the +day. There is no smoke without fuel; faults are rarely all on one side; +the young are not necessarily always in the wrong; therefore, a course +of self-examination into their methods and motives may be a wholesome +and fruitful discipline for those who are responsible for the nature and +nurture of our children, and for the stability and efficiency of +adolescent and adult. The absence of elasticity and adaptation to modern +requirements among the elders of a family is often responsible for +miserable homes, and for much arrested development in their inmates. + + +XII. HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES IN HUMAN LIFE + +Such a condition of affairs is, however, no longer to be tolerated; +for the result of research carried out during the past and present +centuries has opened up a hitherto unsuspected vista of progress to +mankind, if and when he is intelligent enough to establish an +harmonious unison between himself and his environment. Once the +jarring discords of debility, disease, and deterioration have been +modulated into the major chords of health--moral and physical--the +latent potentialities of his higher life will be quickened into +productive activity. The misconception of humanity which has denied +to it the power to rise above the level of present attainments, which +has dwelt insistently upon the hopeless degradation of the body, has +brought about a condition of enervating and passive fatalism, based +upon the conviction that all reforming efforts must be directed +solely to the preparation of one part only of man's triune nature for +another and future sphere of existence. The duty and possibility of +building a fit temple for man's spiritual nature here and now is the +ideal of a minority to-day--in the future it will be that of an +overwhelming majority; for the proofs of human capacity for progress, of +man's power to control the forces of nature, are ever becoming more +firmly authenticated, and all that they imply will soon become far +better understood. + +Though our knowledge of the subject is still incomplete and often +tentative, much progress has been made, for instance, in a correct +conception of the means by which the physiological balance of human life +is adjusted, since Metchnikoff[115] drew attention to the interference +brought about in man's normal development by certain fundamental +disharmonies in his constitution, of which the end is premature death, +if not a pathological old age. It is quite evident that unjustifiable +encroachments upon the reserve powers of the human body have been +commonly permitted hitherto, and though each year brings fresh proof of +the extraordinary endowment which it possesses to respond to the +demands made upon it, yet each year also confirms the conviction that +this reserve fund must in future be husbanded and used with economy. +When these powers are constantly drawn upon the body is necessarily +reduced to a lower level of health. If the metaphor be employed of the +body as a building in course of erection, it becomes obvious that if one +of a group of converging thrusts be much weakened or withdrawn, a +skilful rearrangement of forces may meet the strain, but the total +strength of the structure is reduced. In how many cases has the temple +of a child's body been permanently damaged by such withdrawals, or how +many adolescents are launched into life with their capital of health +seriously diminished by premature calls upon its resources. + +The duty to maintain so far as possible a condition of physiological +equilibrium in ourselves and in our children amounts to an obligation; +for which reason health promotion during the plastic period of early +life assumes a new importance. Of course, a certain capacity for +vicarious activity is associated with the various organs of the body in +order to maintain their functions against temporary failure. Healthy +tissues are furnished with power to respond to increased call for +exertion. How often are they most sorely abused and unwisely taxed? Even +now, when made aware of these facts, we are slow to apply to the conduct +of life the lessons thus taught us, and continue to be filled with +self-commiseration for the results to our bodies of overtaxing their +capacity for accurate readjustment. + +It is not possible, much less desirable, that the whole population +should plunge into amateur studies of recent physiological advance, nor +even that it should dabble, as its units are too much disposed to do, in +pseudo-scientific pathological publications. But it is both possible and +desirable for all who assume the direction of their own lives or those +of children to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" some fruits of +the labours of others in the garden of health. + +Were there one fixed standard of health to which all could attain, the +practice of hygiene would be attended by a charming simplicity. +Unfortunately, modern science forces us to conclude that each individual +can only reach his own particular standard of well-being. The grades of +health are consequently infinite in number, and the task which devolves +on parents and guardians to secure that the standard possible to each +child under their care be attained is no light one. So general is the +blindness to these truths, that the degree of health enjoyed is in most +cases far below the possible standard; the results of ancestral vice, of +parental ignorance, or of defective environment having sapped +prematurely the springs of progressive potentiality.[116] The mental and +physical balance is thus rendered relatively less stable and the powers +of resistance to adverse conditions are diminished. + +Happily, by virtue of its inherent power, but strictly in proportion to +the vigour of this power, an organism is usually able to strike a new +balance; for the capacity to regain its equilibrium is exquisitely +delicate in human nature, _if_ the change be neither too sudden nor too +severe. Throughout life this process of self-adaptation to the presence +of morbid influences is constantly exercising its protective power. If, +however, the effort to overcome disadvantageous conditions be very great +or much prolonged, the life of the individual is never quite so vigorous +and symmetrical as it might and should have been. In a luminous address, +delivered at the University of Leeds some few months ago,[117] Lord +Justice Fletcher Moulton instituted a comparison between the human +organism, which invariably tends to swing back to the normal whenever +the balance of health is disturbed, and a ship which has safely +weathered a stormy voyage. The ship, he writes, "is not stable, if +stability means that she can defy the forces that bear on her to move +her from her normal upright position, for ... the slightest roll of the +sea ... will make her heel over. But she is stable, because when made to +lean over, there is thereby generated a system of forces tending to +return her to her place, which grows greater the greater is the +displacement, and thus ultimately becomes sufficient to overpower the +disturbing forces.... As the ship arrives safely, her construction must +be such that disturbances tend to right themselves when stability is +seriously endangered. Some corresponding righting force also tends to +bring back an organism to its normal state." + +The caution may not be amiss that the amplitude of the swing of a human +pendulum, as well as the accuracy of its final balance, depends not only +upon inherited nature and the amount of reserve force possessed, but +will be stable or feeble, durable or transient, according to the +influence of environment. + +In what way, it will be asked, can individual capacity for health be +gauged? to what degree can the power to progress or to resist +encroachments be strengthened? at what age is intelligent supervision +most important? + +No concise and conclusive answers can be given to these most natural +inquiries, but much light has been recently thrown upon the long +duration of immaturity and associated instability in mankind; upon the +power of self-protection inherent in the body;[118] upon the influence +thereon of its environment; upon the penetrating power of heredity; and +upon the urgent importance of the adolescent period. + +Further, it appears that the healthful body is equipped to withstand the +attack of the bacteria of most diseases, though the mechanism of +self-defence is of more kinds than one. Of the different pathological +bacteria identified up to the present, for instance, some appear to be +eminently sensible to one kind of action of normal blood fluids, while +they are in a much less measure sensible, or are, perhaps, entirely +insensible to others; a complication which enhances our respectful +admiration for the marvellous and intricate system which provides for +our bodily welfare. Obviously, human nature would be practically immune +from disease if this protective machinery were always in good working +order: unfortunately this is not invariably the case--hence disease. It +is the duty of hygiene to insure constant physical equilibrium, but the +intricate tactics of Nature are as yet so imperfectly understood that +man is not yet an ally of great worth in her operations. + +Nevertheless, the perception that the secret of individual health lies +in fostering the resistant or protective elements, which should be +present in normal blood, marks a great step in advance; for from it have +originated measures to curtail the course of an illness and to reduce +the risk of its recurrence. It is hardly Utopian to forecast, as Sir +Almroth Wright has done, that the physician of the future will take upon +himself a still higher rôle than he has hitherto assumed in this work of +the prevention of ill-health, for he will attempt, by means of +systematically strengthening individual capacity for resistance to +disease, to remove the necessity for curing those who have fallen +victims to its attacks. The gain in health, in happiness, in time and in +money would be incalculable. For instance, had the death-rate _all_ over +England during 1908 stood at 13.8 per thousand, instead of at favoured +places only, no less than 33,831 lives would have been saved. Of these +deaths, one-fifth were those of infants under twelve months old, the +majority of them wholly preventable. What a reckless waste of racial and +national capital; what an unnecessary cause of bitter sorrow and +disappointment; what a source of unprofitable expenditure! The +calculation has been made that for each death there are at least six +cases of more or less serious illness, involving confinement to bed for +a few days or a few weeks as the case may be. A simple multiplication +sum will enable the reader to estimate the amount of serious illness +represented by the total arrived at: the loss in time, health, happiness +and efficiency is incalculable. + +The bright prospects for human health in the future, therefore, rely +largely upon the use which will be made of this protective machinery, +and the prospective gain to humanity lies in the hope that when family +histories are kept systematically and the inherited tendencies of a +child are far more accurately known, the invading forces of disease will +never get a footing, because precautions to strengthen the body's own +defensive powers will be taken as a matter of routine practice. The +physiological balance being thus preserved from disturbance, the great +fund of energy now utilised to resist encroachments will be available +for productive purposes. + +So great a reformation cannot of course be brought about till shame is +felt for the scandalously low standard of health now common among all +classes, nor until a general determination is developed to remove the +minor miseries from which we all suffer more or less impatiently. + + +XIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HYGIENE IN FAMILY LIFE + +The result of a curious obtuseness to the economics of personal and +domestic hygiene is also responsible for another serious dereliction of +parental duty, by which health and progress have been grievously, though +quite unnecessarily and constantly, hampered. I refer to the general +failure to economise nervous energy or to take any interest in what is +rightly called mental hygiene. Yet Press and people alike deplore the +evident increase of mental abnormalities, and anticipate the future with +undisguised anxiety. It has been well said that though men carry more of +the wood, women carry not less of the worries of life. They _may_ in +some cases escape the physical toil which strengthens; they do _not_ +escape the mental toil which demoralises and kills spirit and energy if +not body and health. Now, though the brain tissues do not create mental +activities, nevertheless we all know that they are conditioned in some +inexplicable way by that organ. Derangement in any part of the brain +deranges or diminishes its functions; non-development in any part of the +brain can and does arrest mind growth. Chronic over-fatigue and +exhaustion, anæmia however produced, the circulation through the nervous +tissues of impure blood, alter the character of the mental processes. +The results of starvation may so distort them, that the horrors of the +French Revolution are attributed by some authorities to this particular +cause. That the imperfect lymph circulation associated with adenoid +vegetations accounts for much so-called stupidity is one of the first +fruits of the medical inspection of school children; that a severe shock +may destroy intelligence is a fact familiar to every expert in mental +hygiene. If it were generally known to parents that every impression +received by this, the most sensitive of all organs, is stored up from +early infancy, albeit subconsciously, and can at some future time rise +up into the field of consciousness, influencing both thought and action +for good or ill, a very different line of conduct would be taken towards +the persons or the places which make up a young child's surroundings and +most indelibly impress his brain cells. + +It is surely time, therefore, that some broad outline of the process of +normal development of the whole nervous system should be possessed by +all in charge of children. Every mother, for example, should know that +the movements of a new-born baby, such as the facial contortions +observed during sleep, or the stretching and bending of the limbs in +very young infants, involuntary and automatic in character, constitute +the simplest form of nervous activity. They are the necessary precursors +of that intellectual ability, to the development of which parental +ambitions aspire, and should merge into more advanced forms of nerve and +muscle co-ordination, which, rightly utilised, are invaluable agents in +infant education.[119] An intelligent nurse possessed of even this +outline could begin quite early that training in physiological +righteousness and in the strict voluntary control of the whole group of +emotional expressions, of which, as a little reflection will quickly +show, good manners largely consist. Presently, as the brain cells are +stimulated into function by nutrition and a quicker and more extensive +recognition of external sensations is acquired, a child will perform +instinctive movements, such as sitting, crawling, standing, walking, +jumping and throwing. Though considerable latitude must be allowed for +their wide individual variation, failure to display these evidences of +mental progress should call for careful investigation. Later on, skill +in a hundred different forms of muscular activity should be displayed; +but many years will elapse before full control of the body in all its +parts will be acquired, and more years still must roll by before +reasoned control of the mental and moral actions is developed. The last +years of this long period of development are, perhaps, the most critical +of the whole; though all depend for their favourable fruition upon an +infinity of loving care and suitable provision for their appropriate +activities. + +There would be a marked reduction in exhausting disciplinary +difficulties were every parent aware that, to the almost vegetative +character of the first few post-natal months (when sleep will or should +absorb at least twenty hours out of the twenty-four), will succeed a +period of extraordinary activity, which lasts till about eight or nine +years of age, when the mind is essentially an exploring organ; +imitative, impressionable, retentive. Every legitimate opportunity for +the liberal gratification of these characteristics should be provided, +as well as suitable surroundings for the eager, inquiring brain. +Elaborate toys are not necessary, nor is premature book-learning +permissible; but freedom to investigate, to experiment, to test, to +explore, is the child's urgent need, as well as suitable arrangements +for the intervening periods of profound sleep. Repressed activity is +often responsible for breaches of discipline; so is insufficient sleep, +following on over-excitement, accountable for "temper" and passions. + +The next phase of growth is still distinguished by this continued +capacity for and dependence upon muscular activity, but the mind +becomes more reflective, more productive. The power to initiate should +develop during this stage of development, as well as increased power to +control mental and bodily functions; and, throughout each of these +periods, there should be a steady, unintermittent formation of good +habits. At first, the nature of these will be chiefly physical; the +habitual performance of the bodily functions should be safeguarded, +until their neglect is attended by discomfort and their violation +becomes almost painful. Then, by degrees, the moral and mental nature +develops. + +Thus is the child prepared for the stress and turmoil of the long and +anxious years of adolescence; when, under the influence of new emotions, +of fresh temptations, of unfamiliar powers, the character built on the +sands of parental indulgence is undermined, if not swept clean away; +whereas when built on the firm rock of good habits it emerges unshaken +from the storm. + +That childhood is an honourable estate must be now evident; pregnant as +it is with possibilities, pathetic in the risks associated with its +plasticity and dependence. Should it therefore be necessary in the +twentieth century to point out that, when the fund of nervous energy is +constantly exhausted by deficient sleep and poor food; when a demand on +function in advance of what nature is prepared to comply with is +persistently made, as it has habitually been in our schools; when +exaggerated and pernicious stimuli are allowed to fatigue and to +paralyse our child population; when inadequate training in the right +conduct of life is provided, and no information given on the dawning +functions of potential parenthood; when premature responsibility is +imposed or precocious and unwholesome independence is permitted; worst +of all, when, through parental disease or alcoholism, the brain tissue +is of too poor a quality to resist the strain of modern life--it is no +matter for surprise that mental instability and insanity are on the +increase, nor that degenerates hamper by their helplessness and crime +the productive capacity of the normal. + +The importance of mental hygiene calls for no more emphasis on my part; +though, did space permit, further illustrations might be given of its +scope. It includes the methods in our nurseries, the curriculum of our +schools, the care of our adolescents, the increasing differentiation of +our industrial processes, the character of our often miscalled +recreations. It is concerned with the warding off of nervous breakdowns, +and, with Goethe, it would call the attention of all women to the fact +that the secret of rest is found not "in quitting a busy career, but +rather the fitting of self to one's sphere." It views with anxiety the +growing disregard of religious obligations and restraints, and +emphasises the grave antenatal responsibilities of parents for their +offspring; they who should be the most ardent advocates of a sound +heredity, as well as the promoters of a good home environment for their +children. + + +XIV. WOMAN'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HOME ADMINISTRATION + +Thus, though the human constitution is still imperfectly understood, +though its intricacies and the details of environmental influences are +still mainly undefined, the women of every nation must nevertheless see +to it that progress in the administration of the home keeps pace with +modern demands for revised methods and less conservative practice, in +order to give every chance of normal health to their occupants. + +It is a serious reflection upon many housekeepers that the hall-mark of +progressive civilisation, namely growth in power to organise, is +generally absent from their domestic methods. The time will come when it +will be to them a matter for the deepest searchings of heart that they +are directly and inexcusably responsible for a mass of the disharmonies +which disfigure the fugue of family life. The fact is too certain to be +denied. Homes have not developed in proportion to the opportunities +offered, and the chief opponents to progress have been their organisers. +The economic link they form between the physical economics of the +individual and the social economics of the nation has been unnoticed. +Reference to the hygienic significance of due economy of time, of +strength and of health, as well as of money, has hitherto been generally +met with incredulous smiles; and though home has been extolled as the +place for children, how scant has been the attention devoted to their +legitimate requirements, and how few demands for special training have +emanated from, or been attempted by, those who have undertaken the sole +charge of young lives during their most important and impressionable +years. + +The new movement, designed to foster the science and art of right +living, cannot gain strength and influence unless it receives the +whole-hearted support of the millions of women whose lives and energies +are absorbed in the care of man's physical needs. It behoves _them_ to +recognise that intuition and tireless industry are insufficient +qualifications for their imperial service, and they must themselves +promote the substitution of systematic training for rule-of-thumb +anomalies. + +This training must be varied and comprehensive. No other profession is +concerned with so many interests nor associated with more fateful +responsibilities. For those who can afford the time, it should include a +general acquaintance with the biological basis of life, and should +further direct attention to the vast mental and moral endowments which +give pre-eminence to our race. The products of literature and art and +the records of natural and moral science afford ever present evidence of +the extent of these endowments, and of the executive capacity associated +with their utilisation. + +Chemistry must play a prominent part in the training, were it only for +the insight it gives into the inviolable law of cause and effect! +besides which physiologists tell us that the chief commerce of our +bodies with their environment is chemical; therefore, this subject +becomes an indispensable element in any comprehensive course of domestic +training. Without a working acquaintance with the physics of water, of +heat, or of air, a housewife is at the mercy of her architect, if not of +her plumber and her servants. In the absence of an introduction to +bacteriology she lives in constant perplexity over the vagaries of her +larder; and is at a loss to understand the sources of fermentation or +the methods of infection by the majority of known diseases. Without an +insight into economics she is helpless in the hands of the advertiser or +the vendor of patent preparations, all of whose wares are warranted to +perform impossible feats with an infinitesimal expenditure of trouble. +At their best these preparations are expensive, and at their worst they +are injurious to health. + +Some personal practice of the domestic arts is also advisable even for +the wealthy; it is indeed essential to a right adjustment of the daily +duties in a home, though naturally the degree of skill acquired will +depend on the style of living. A study of hygiene in sufficient detail +is of course imperative, and while it will remove difficulties by +explaining common errors in diet, habits, and dress, it will be found +materially to lighten labour. Finally, hygiene will render extraordinary +assistance in the right rearing of children and in the general +arrangements of family life. + +The objections may here be advanced that the study of these scientific +subjects is uncongenial to those whose temperaments are artistic or +literary; upon these people sanitary science has surely meagre claims, +while life is not long enough for all to pursue such exhaustive studies. +The reply to the first objection must be in the negative. There can be +no health under modern conditions of existence unless those who assume +responsibility in the affairs of men possess a scientific acquaintance +with its right regulation. The subjects just enumerated are the very +pillars which support the temple of Hygeia. But, for the encouragement +of these complainants, be it added that the temple walls demand +decoration; the shelves must be filled with wholesome mental provender; +the gifts of both artist and author are therefore contributory to +harmonious living, and an unlimited scope is offered to their +utilisation. The building which shelters a healthy family, for instance, +should be characterised not only by advances on existing provisions for +convenience but by symmetry in its parts. The test of beauty (use, ease, +and economy) can certainly not be passed by a large proportion of modern +houses, neither do they provide the space which gives to each occupant +"a chance to utilise his own gifts or to pursue his own hobby." Space +needs in its turn regulation, for the saving of steps must be considered +and compactness is essential. Decorations and furniture should also be +suitable in form and colour to their purpose, not a mere heterogeneous +confusion of inappropriate colours and articles, out of tune one with +the other. + +The natural needs of normal children, too, must be more taken into +account in the future than in the past, and the conveniences offered by +scientific progress must be far more generally introduced into the most +modest homes. Here is a huge field for intelligent, artistic work; for +true beauty and real utility are near of kin. + +It has been said that as in the world of life the localisation of +function made the organ subsequently to become responsible for that +function, so may the differentiation of labour develop individual +talents, just as the exercise of our vital activities has led to the +differentiation of parts in a house. Thus, as satisfaction of hunger is +a first necessity, eating made the kitchen, where means for the +gratification of this instinct were localised. By degrees the growth of +men's social and intellectual demands led to the setting apart of a +chamber for conversation; that is, the parlour. Storage of bread called +the pantry into existence; increased refinement necessitated a scullery +for the washing of cups and platters. Centuries, however, elapsed before +the enlarging personality of the individual demanded privacy for the +toilet and the right to isolate himself periodically from the bustle and +publicity of group life. The general provision of separate bedchambers +for each unit of a household is not even yet habitual, though most +desirable in the interests of health. Reparation of the omission will +mark a further phase of social evolution, and will remove one +disintegrating force now continually at work in home life. Here again +the artist will most advantageously collaborate with landlord and with +health authorities to devise means for the suitable satisfaction of this +laudable demand. + +Further objections to the adoption of any comprehensive schemes for +training housewives of all ranks are found in the apparent want of time +available for the purpose and the prohibitive cost incurred if the +period of education be prolonged. The best answers to both objections +are found in the movement now active all over Europe and North America +to furnish more and fuller opportunities for this training, and to +extend, not curtail, its duration. More than this: this movement, which +generally originated in the desire to improve home life among the +poorest, has recently extended itself just as generally to institutions +for higher education, upon whose pupils and students its claims are now +recognised. There is no suggestion, for instance, in Germany or England, +Norway or the United States, of restricting the education of girls by +this movement or of prematurely enforcing upon them technical +instruction. The growth of public opinion is due rather to a belated +realisation that the end of all education is the betterment of life, and +that suggested applications to the practical concerns of daily life in +the course of a girl's general education make for the sounder +assimilation of theory by the pupil, and are thus contrived a "double +debt to pay." + +The progress of preventive medicine has also introduced another +incentive to the diffusion of this training; for it affords convincing +proofs that the foundation of the national health is laid in the home. +If, however, the foundation is permitted to be imperfect the edifice +must necessarily be unstable. + +Among other influences prejudicial to family life, the force of +which was for a long time unsuspected, mention must be made of modern +industrialism, the reopening of professional life to women, with its +associated financial independence and the increasing seductions of +society. For a century past the tendency has been to discredit +housekeeping as an unsystematised occupation, which has emphasised +the common and sometimes humiliating financial dependence of its +representatives. The first nation to perceive the importance of +stemming this dangerous tide was the United States, where conclusive +demonstrations are now offered of the fact that intelligent housekeeping +calls for a high degree of capacity, and that its problems demand the +resources of a university for their solution. By the recognition of +housecraft as a profession, American colleges accomplished even more +than at first they anticipated. A satisfactory proportion of their +students return to home life convinced of its scope and importance, and +satisfied to perform the duties which there present themselves, instead +of seeking outside occupations and divorcing themselves from family +interests. The King's College Course for graduate students in Home +Science and Household Economics bids fair to exercise an influence of +as satisfactory, though naturally of a slightly variant, character. + + +XV. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HOME + +If the functions of the home are briefly enumerated under three heads, +no hint of exaggeration will attach to the assertion that by _its_ +atmosphere children are modified in soul and body, and that upon _its_ +outlook depends the ideals and health of all its occupants. + +The first function of the home may be fitly defined as _Protective_. +If its evolution be traced it will be found that home life originated +in a craving for warmth, safety, and shelter; in the desire for a place +where the weary could rest and where security from ill was assured. +Physical comfort, sympathy and sanctuary are, or should be, primary +characteristics of every home. + +The second function of the home is _Educational_. It is largely +responsible for the systematic formation of good habits, which should +here be stimulated by example and precept, and every advantage taken of +the imitative instincts so powerful in early life. Within its precincts +care can be exercised to afford opportunity for the development of +individuality; it is also, _par excellence_, the place for early +training in the judicious expenditure of energy and in the acquirement +of self-control. Such training improves brain power, relieves nervous +tension, and obviates the tendency to mental and moral confusion and +disorderliness which is associated with its absence. In a good home the +child's sanitary education should be fairly complete, at least in its +main principles, before the infection of bad habits from without can +interfere with automatic practice or weaken faith in home standards and +conduct. Regular washing of the teeth, for instance, should be early +inculcated, and rigid conscientiousness in matters of personal +cleanliness:--external, by bathing, rubbing, and brushing; internal, by +strict daily attention to the bodily functions. Slow and thorough +mastication of food should be cultivated, as well as good habits of +posture, of enunciation, and of regular exercise. Last, but not least, +habits of prompt and cheerful obedience, of truthfulness, and in due +course of moral purity, must be wrought into the very fibre of a child's +being. The discipline of home ought to be above all things consistent; +gentle, though firm and well considered. The virtues of obedience, of +self-restraint, and of respect for others should become instinctive +almost from infancy; for they sow the seeds of physical morality in +later life. + +The third function of the home is _Social_. Before the present era of +"only" children, the exaggerated individualism was uncommon, of which +many of them are now unfortunately the victims. When large families +were the fashion, the give-and-take in nursery and schoolroom gave +early training in the duty of participation in the interests, the +pleasures, or the sorrows of others; it rubbed off the rough angles +of selfishness and gave invaluable lessons in consideration for those +whose circumstances varied from immediate individual experience. The +wider social sphere, for which much of the rough and tumble of +family life was an excellent preparation, was not familiar then to +young children as it is now, when the modern child's premature +introduction to its attractions is not only a constant source of +physical detriment and of mental exhaustion, but tends to disguise +its real character and to stimulate precociously the capacity to +respond to its demands. Occasional glimpses of this larger life are +a desirable part of home education; but constant familiarity with +its excitements is to be sternly deprecated in the causes of health +and of mental stability. + +Where and when, then, are "only" children to receive this necessary +social training, occupants as they are of solitary nurseries; or where +are these qualities to be developed in the millions of children reared +under circumstances of such acute overcrowding and poverty that the +amenities of life are obscured by its fierce and exhausting conditions? +Observation shows that the function of accomplishing this training is +steadily devolving upon the school. Unfortunately, though the school +_does_ offer necessary opportunities for social intercourse, this +intercourse is relatively of an advanced type, which presupposes some +previous training in the more elementary principles of community life, +most fitly acquired at home. This tendency to force the school to +_supplant_ instead of to _supplement_ home training must be resisted, as +it involves loss to parents as well as to the children themselves. + +The stress here laid upon the social function of the home may seem to +some exaggerated, and its association with the subject of this paper +may appear far-fetched; but to the writer its pressing importance calls +for this emphasis, for its connection with habits of sanitary practice +within and without the home is of the closest. The social spirit is the +very essence of sympathy; it exercises the imagination, it widens the +horizon, it quickens the sense of duty and of self-respect. If +graduation through the school of domestic, social training be omitted +in childhood, the realisation of personal responsibility is too often +indefinitely postponed. Consideration for others, care for their +welfare and personal sacrifice for their protection, must ever bulk +largely in importance throughout life, and must always be associated +with self-respect and self-control. When this sense of personal +responsibility is habitual, conduct which makes for limitations of +health in self, family, or neighbours will appear unjustifiable; and +neglect of either domestic or civic duties will become as unpardonable +as it is unpatriotic. + +But antecedent to the attainment of this ideal, fundamental even to its +entertainment, is the adjustment or readjustment of home influences +or methods, as the case may be, to a higher standard. A better +understanding of the constitution of those for whose welfare the home +is established must also be insisted upon as an integral part of +general education. + +It may be wise to point out that no proposal to sweep away in wholesale +fashion all the domestic traditions and family methods of this or any +other phase of civilisation is even suggested. Apart from the +impossibility of such a holocaust, treasures of great worth have been +handed on to us by our forebears, of which the majority only need some +slight readjustment to enrich many generations yet to come. + +To take a somewhat extreme example. The mention of such homely, +old-fashioned, domestic remedies as black-currant tea for a bad cough, +or soap and sugar plasters for a boil--genuine relics from our +grandmothers--now usually excite a smile of derision; nevertheless they +have been instanced by one of our most able living pathologists[120] for +their admirable adaptation to their purpose, and have been shown to rest +upon a hitherto unsuspected basis of physiological therapeutics. + +Another illustration may be drawn from the nursery tradition that bad +temper is often effectually cured by a dose of rhubarb.[121] Carefully +conducted observations upon children confirm the conventional +connection of peevishness with disordered digestion. It has been found +that gastric indigestion produces oversensitiveness, fretfulness, and +irritability, while chronic constipation results in erratic conduct, +stupidity, languor, headache, and moodiness. These effects may be so +far-reaching that, for no other reason than chronic constipation, +children may lose a large proportion of the advantages provided in +school life; they may even run the risk of being classed as "backward," +from the interference with mental progress of the food poisons +reabsorbed into their circulation. + +Modern methods of child training lay great emphasis upon the prevention +of these or kindred conditions by early formation of good habits; or, +when carelessness necessitates curative treatment, our old nurse's +panacea of drugs is the last resort; the first consists in attempts to +re-establish normal functions by the more natural means of suited food +and special exercise. + +It is time, too, that the so-called "hardening fallacies," responsible +for the maiming of countless lives, were finally exposed and exploded. +The idea, for example, dies hard that beneficial endurance is cultivated +by exposure to cold; therefore, bare necks, arms and legs are lauded as +means of developing a Spartan spirit in young children. Now no profound +study of hygiene is required to demonstrate the close interdependence of +warmth with growth and nutrition, or to show that the chilly and +underclothed, sedentary child is both stunted and starved; whereas the +suitably clothed and freely active child is able to carry on unhampered +the necessary processes of growth and development.[122] So important is +warmth to the infant, that _eighty per cent._ of the total energy +derived from its food is utilised for the maintenance of the body +temperature essential to growth and for the activities of the organic +and muscular systems. + +Children, in accordance with the law of the relation between mass and +surface in a cube, have, relatively to their mass, about thrice the body +surface possessed by an adult. The greatest loss of heat occurs by +radiation from the skin and by the evaporation of sweat, therefore undue +loss from this extensive area should be prevented by its suitable +covering; otherwise the child is placed at a far more serious +disadvantage than would be suffered by an adult similarly situated; for +in his case growth as well as equilibrium must be maintained. Few +parents realise the further fact that the power of heat regulation is +very imperfect at birth; indeed its slow development accounts for the +instability of a child's temperature for many years after. The fallacy +therefore of seeking to strengthen a young life by inadequate clothing, +by enforced and prolonged inactivity, or by abstinence from the source +of all energy--food--must be persistently exposed. Quite recently, also, +Dr. Eurich has advanced evidence to show that the quality of sleep is +adversely affected where the sleeper is insufficiently protected from +cold, thus emphasising the injury to health associated with going to bed +with cold feet. + +All parents are ambitious that their offspring shall be distinguished by +the energy, the stability, the endurance and the power which +characterise the cream of humanity. The lives of young people are +carefully planned with this object in view. The waking hours of most +girls and boys are distributed in ordered sequence between what is +intended to be concentrated work and vigorous more or less exciting +play. But the fact has been very commonly ignored that these young +people are built up of young cells, which cells are passing through +almost every conceivable phase of instability in the course of +development; consequently recurring periods of leisure and rest are as +important to nutrition and nervous stability, more especially in the +case of girls, as are the most elaborate arrangements for exercise. Thus +it comes about that many youths and maidens suffer from chronic though +unrecognised fatigue, while others are unable to employ pleasurably even +a short space of "time to themselves," finding no interest in +occupations from which excitement is absent. The habitual limitation of +the hours of sleep among the rising generation is equally serious. The +loss which would be unbearable,[123] says Dr. Acland, even among our +most favoured children, were it not for the indulgence permitted them +during their long holidays. Is it not a parental duty to insist upon the +necessary provision for rest being made in every school, and ought not +inviolable rules upon the subject be laid down in their home circles? +Sleep, be it remembered, is the property of animals possessed of brains +and endowed with consciousness; it affords mechanical rest, and is +accompanied by a respite from the chemical changes which are +particularly rapid during childhood and adolescence. The intense +activity of the child's waking hours must be counterbalanced by ample +periods of entire rest. Habits of prolonged profound sleep are said to +be the best investment against mental instability and insanity; yet +parents permit a constant loss of from two to four hours' sleep each +night throughout the long period of immaturity.[124] Our newspapers and +lunatic asylums bear evidence to the price paid for this now inexcusable +carelessness. + +Many more examples might be given of similar fallacies which apply to +later periods of life. How soon will a loving daughter allow herself to +learn that the consumption of large quantities of highly nutritious food +will not make for the prolongation of an aged parent's life? The fact +that abstemiousness and rigid conformity to the "simple life" are not +coincidents of longevity, but contributory to it, should be now common +knowledge. When will the day come that the fact will be accepted that +alcohol does not warm and protect the consumer, but actually lowers the +temperature, and by this means, in cold weather, renders him a more +ready prey to the effects of exposure. When will the value of good work +cease to be measured by the exhaustion it brings about or the breakdown +to which it conduces? Is it not, time that the housewife should be +abashed rather than self-commiserating when a bad cold runs through her +household, for observation of certain elementary principles of +disinfection would go far to avert such a catastrophe? When will the +fallacy be destroyed which gauges the strength of a disinfectant by the +pungency of its odour? The knowledge now available on these and many +other points only awaits assimilation by the housekeepers of the empire, +to serve as a powerful lever by which to raise the standard of health in +its every part. + + +XVI. HOME LIFE AN IMPORTANT SPHERE FOR SANITARY SCIENCE + +The urgent call for a more intimate acquaintance with these tenets of +domestic sanitary science calls for no further examples, though at the +risk of wearying the reader one or two more may be selected to +illustrate their claims upon every member of a household. + +It behoves the householder, in the first place, to choose his dwelling +with care; and, in the second, to maintain the health of its inmates by +his own conduct and by compliance with the requirements of public health +enactments. He must be generally acquainted, therefore, with the +essentials of a healthy home and with the obligations he must fulfil or +the demands he may legitimately make upon local authorities and +neighbours; otherwise he cannot insure that his own care is not +frustrated by derelictions of duty on the part of others. The selection +and purchase of the family's food will probably devolve upon his wife, +but it rests with him to insist that this food is produced, transported +or distributed, with due observance of cleanliness, and that reliable +protection from sophistication or adulteration is maintained. If +conformity to necessary standards as well as the good quality of their +products is to be safeguarded, the premises of dairy, bakehouse, +slaughter-house, laundry, market, and local purveyor of goods should +come under his intelligent inspection. The surroundings as well as the +conveniences of a house also call for careful consideration, especially +when some of its inmates are of tender years; and the reminder that to +the provision for light and air in its rooms must be assigned a greater +prominence than the mere prettiness of external elevation is still +necessary. It is the householder who for some time to come must from his +wider knowledge of economics personally safeguard his women-folk from +unnecessary exertion and chronic fatigue, by the provision of efficient +fittings and equipment, by a judicious expenditure upon labour-saving +devices, and by insistence upon adequate rest, recreation, and +remuneration. To the graduate in the school of personal experience the +duty of public service will next arise, in order that the advantages +enjoyed in his own home may be extended to those for whom cheap housing +must be provided. Civic claims must in the near future appear much more +prominently than hitherto in the balance-sheet of duty. + +The necessity for a study of child life and its requirements ought to be +realised by both parents before the bitter results of inexperience have +permanently shadowed their home. This should be pursued by the man as +well as the woman before marriage is consummated, if their offspring is +to be "well born" and well nurtured. + +Maternal care is of course the more conspicuous during the first ten +years of a child's life; but during the next fifteen, more especially in +the case of his sons, it is the father's example, sympathy, and +companionship which will steer them healthily through the stormy seas of +adolescence, which will safeguard them from pernicious habits and will +extend a helping hand in moments of temptation. + +To enumerate the opportunities for hygienic practice by the prime +organiser of domestic methods--the mother--is almost superfluous at this +point. It is the foundation upon which depends the welfare of each +member of a household; for it is the housekeeper who plans the food and +is responsible for its character and suitability to age, season, health, +and occupation. It is she who superintends, if she does not carry out, +the details of cleanliness, so arduous and discouraging in our great +cities. It is she who selects the clothing of her family; who directs +the order of their lives:--their work and play, their rest and exercise, +their sleep and their habits. It is her place to shake faith in popular +patent preparations, by good reasons and demonstrations of their +exaggerated claims on purse and person.[125] It is her example which +sets the tone in recreation, pursuit of hobby, or choice of literature. +It is her infinite, understanding patience which cements breaches in +family love; it is her skilful treatment which heals wounds, spiritual +as well as physical. It is her privilege to devise better methods for +daily doings and to appreciate the principles of sound economics. It +falls on her to discourage futile expenditure of health, time, or +temper; to be alive to possibilities of progress; to show by her deeds +how profound is her faith in the dignity of a home-maker and her +recognition of the extraordinary demands made by her profession on +intelligence, moral capacity, and mental attainments. + +It has been slowly dawning upon some minds for half a century at least +that kitchen methods in many of their details fail to meet the +requirements of sanitary science. The ordinary cook does not even +suspect what cleanliness means from the laboratory point of view; +neither, alas! does her mistress, in the case of 90 per cent. of +middle-class housekeepers. Both alike cheerfully ignore the relative +value as cleansing agents of boiling as compared with "scalding" water; +and refer to the broad shoulders of the weather or, quite frankly, to +bad luck, the waste of food directly attributable to ignorant and +uncleanly methods in market, purveyor's cart, or scullery. Yet no valid +excuse can now be offered for ignorance of the real causes of the +souring of milk, the tainting of meat, or the decay of vegetables; +neither is it permissible to entrust to the untrained the care of larder +and refrigerator, except under intelligent supervision. It is of course +a sign of progress that the modern housewife prides herself upon the +delivery of the daily milk supply in bottles. But a quite superficial +acquaintance with bacteriology would show the imperfect character of +such a protection. The milk may still be poured by the cook from the +unwashed mouth of a bottle, grasped, even if but momentarily, by the +hand of a milkman, which shortly before was caressing his horse or +serving him as a substitute for a pocket-handkerchief! When the numerous +uses of paper in the kitchen are considered, the advantage of a +scientific acquaintance with its constituents and absorbent properties +should hardly need emphasis. But the _laissez-faire_ attitude, common in +many households, permits newspaper or brown-paper bags of questionable +antecedents to be used indiscriminately for the lining of cake tins or +the draining of fried foods. Should this be tolerated any longer? + +A sounder knowledge of the risks to health associated with unwholesome +food would surely check the growing disposition to purchase provisions +over the telephone, instead of by personal inspection and careful +selection; for the risks associated with stale vegetables or with +"woolly" fish would be recognised, in the light of this fuller +knowledge, as too serious to be encountered by any one responsible for +the health of a household. Again, cold storage is so justly credited +with the numerous and unquestionable benefits which it confers upon the +housewife, that she is apt to forget the coincident dangers; only +through tardily acquired experience does she become aware that foods +which are thawed after freezing possess a singular faculty for rapid +deterioration, and undergo subtle and detrimental changes when so +preserved over a long period. No excuse for continued ignorance as to +the changes responsible for such deterioration is now permissible; +neither can it be condoned in connection with the "flora" of the +refrigerator, now known to be accountable for the unpleasant and +all-pervading flavours of the food stored in such a receptacle, and +itself the product of defective cleanliness. The idiosyncrasies of +different groceries, as regards temperature and receptacles, have +hitherto received no attention, though the art of preserving fruits, +fresh as well as dried, is better appreciated than was formerly the +case. + +It would be easy to show, too, did space permit, what ample scope there +is for the application of sanitary science in the storeroom, as well as +the true hygienic inwardness of frequent coats of limewash in larder and +scullery, not to mention the worth of impervious coverings to their wall +surfaces and shelves. This suggests the inquiry: How many women to-day +are versed in the external tests, simple as some of them are, which can +be applied to tins containing foodstuffs, with the object of gauging the +quality of their contents; or who among our ordinary housewives +understands the reasons for the employment of reliable, _domestic_ +methods of preserving the contents of the larder, such as sterilisation +by the use of heat, or why fat, sugar, salt, or vinegar are preferable +to the seductive yet questionable chemicals, so attractive to the +producer and purveyor of provisions? + +A better understanding of the relation of sanitary science to daily +life would also facilitate some of the painful steps which must +inevitably be taken, in order to bridge the gulf set between the feudal +methods of the past and the modern problems of domestic service. That +the isolation from her kind of a "general" servant predisposes to +anæmia is stated as a fact on good authority, but it is certainly +not generally known. That absence of opportunity for recreation or +social intercourse has led and may lead again to deception, if not to +worse, is recognised unwillingly, if at all. That human nature is +physiologically similar, however diverse its external appearance and +standards, is very hard to realise or to act upon; so the fact that +suitable provision for bathing and wholesome sleep by dependents is not +always made, is apt to be ignored on economic grounds; and the resultant +complications are assigned to any but their real cause. + +The solution of another of the acute problems of the day depends upon +the women also of this country. I refer to the character of the +influence, an influence of the most intimate, to which young children +are subjected during infancy. In addition to vulgarities of conduct or +enunciation, actual moral harm may be suffered from want of care in the +choice of a child's attendant. Bad habits, impossible to eradicate, are +to be traced to this source only. Their hygienic import calls for no +further stress. Their prevention rests entirely with the child's +parents. + +Another illustration of the need for a better acquaintance with +hygiene is found in the general custom of entrusting the preparation +and care of the daily diet to empirically prepared, ill-informed, +young women. Ascertained facts in connection with, for instance, +"typhoid carriers"[126] should have surely created almost a panic in +the households of England; but it is rare to learn that even one +mistress has inquired into the personal habits of her cook, or that she +has concerned herself personally in the cultivation of most careful +attention to necessary hand-washing by her household. A mere tyro in +sanitary science would take warning and be on her guard against this +and other disgusting and preventable sources of domestic infection. + +Finally, the protective function of the home must not be allowed to +obscure the educational and social. It is the right of all children to +be trained in habits of social, as well as of family, sanitary service. +Very early the love of ceaseless doing, by which these little people are +distinguished, can be taken hold of as an agent in this department of +education. Habits of neatness and order, of kindness and ready help, of +self-sacrifice and self-control, become lifelong in their persistence +and develop a physical as well as moral conscience which makes for +public health. But, without appropriate stimulus this interest in +others, this sense of civic obligation, remains in abeyance. Therefore +girls should be encouraged in the educational practice of the domestic +arts about the age of thirteen or fourteen; though instruction in the +care of children may be postponed for a year or two. Always it should +precede marriage and be adapted to the prospective social sphere of the +pupils. It would be advantageous to foster the interest of boys in +social sanitation by the introduction of some equivalent training into +their curriculum. + +Enough has been said to show that knowledge of household administration +must soon become an indispensable qualification for any woman who +undertakes the charge of human lives, whether it be as wife or guardian, +as official or philanthropist, as physician or educator, as head of an +institution (such as orphanage, asylum, hospital or prison), or as +almoner of public funds. To be practical and influential this +comprehensive subject must be systematically acquired and securely +based; it must be accorded the support of men, and it must receive the +recognition due to its imperial importance. Thus sustained and +fortified, acquaintance with all that is comprehended in the domestic +administration for good of human lives will lead our women to redeem +their many shortcomings in the past, and will stimulate them to assume +with courageous confidence their weighty responsibilities in the present +and future. + +Whether prepared or not for their discharge, these responsibilities +cannot be evaded. Upon their capable fulfilment depend human health and +happiness. "Health and good estate of body are above all gold," said +Ecclesiasticus, "and a strong body above infinite wealth." Seen in its +true light this great, beautiful, responsible work becomes the highest +form of consecrated service to the Source of all Life and to the Giver +of all those good things which humanity is intended richly to enjoy. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [91] "Darwinism and Human Life," by J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., &c. + (Andrew Melrose.) + + [92] "The Descent of Man," by Charles Darwin. (J. Murray.) + + [93] "Hereditary Genius," by Sir Francis Galton. + + [94] "Heredity," by Prof. A. Thomson. (J. Murray.) + + [95] "English Sanitary Institutions," chap. viii., "The Growth of + Humanity in British Politics." Sir J. Simon. (Cassell & Co.) + + [96] _Les Pouvoirs en Matière d'Hygiène_--Part i. _L'Hygiène dans les + Législations de l'Antiquité._ Alfred Filassier. (Paris: Jules + Rousset.) + + [97] "English Sanitary Institutions," part i. chap. i. Sir John Simon. + (Cassell & Co.) + + [98] "English Sanitary Institutions," part i. chaps. iii., iv., v., vi. + Sir John Simon. (Cassell & Co.) + + [99] "The Family and the Nation," chap. i. Whetham. (Longmans.) + + [100] "Selected Essays and Addresses by Sir James Paget, F.R.S."--"The + Chronometry of Life," Royal Society Croonian Lecture, May 1859. + Edited by Stephen Paget, F.R.C.S. (Longmans & Co.) + + [101] "The Diurnal Course of Efficiency." Howard D. Marsh. (The Science + Press, N.Y.) + + [102] "Social Psychology," section ii. chap. x. William McDougall. + (Methuen.) + + [103] "The Family," Lecture i. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.) + + [104] "The Family," Lecture ii. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.) + + [105] "The Family," part i. chap. ix. Helen Bosanquet. (Macmillan and + Co.) + + [106] "The Hygiene of Mind," chap. iv. T. S. Clouston. (Methuen.) + + [107] "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Employment of + School Children, appointed by H. M. Principal Secretary of State + for the Home Department," 1901. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training + (Scotland)," 1903, Neill & Co., Ltd., Bellevue, Edinburgh. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical + Deterioration," 1904. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Model Course + of Physical Exercises," 1904. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Medical + Inspection and Feeding of Children attending Public Elementary + Schools," 1905. + + "Report of Dr. W. Leslie Mackenzie and Captain A. Foster on a + Collection of Statistics as to the Physical Condition of + Children attending the Public Schools of the School Board for + Glasgow," 1907. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the + Feeble-minded," 1908. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the + Unemployed--Majority and Minority," 1909.[108] + + [108] In each case, unless otherwise mentioned, these Reports are + published by Wyman & Sons. + + [109] "The Hygiene School of Life," chap. viii. p. 129. Ralph H. + Crowley. (Methuen.) + + [110] _Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute_, April 1905--"Physical + Inspection of School Children in Relation to Public Health + Administration." A. K. Chalmers, M.D., M.O.H., Glasgow. + + [111] "Continuation Schools in England and Elsewhere." M. E. Sadler. + (Manchester University Press, 1907.) + + [112] Report of Departmental Committee on "Employment of Children Act, + 1903." (Wyman & Son, July 1910.) + + [113] "Report to the L.C.C. Education Committee of the Medical Officer + (Schools)," March 31, 1906. (P. J. King & Son.) + + [114] "The Drink Problem," edited by T. N. Kelynack, M.D. (Methuen.) + + [115] "The Nature of Man," parts i. ii. chap. vii.; part iii. chap. xii. + Metchnikoff. (Heinemann.) + + [116] "Principia Therapeutica," chaps. ii. iii. Harrington Sainsbury. + (Methuen.) + + [117] "Some Thoughts on Causation in Health and Disease." An address + delivered to the Faculty of Medicine, October 1909, by Lord + Fletcher Moulton. + + [118] "Studies on Immunisation." Sir Almroth Wright, F.R.S. (Constable.) + "Immunity in Infective Diseases." Metchnikoff. (Cambridge + University Press.) "Immunity and Specific Therapy." W. d'Este + Emery. (Lewis & Sons.) + + [119] "Infant Education." Eric Pritchard, M.D. (Kimpton). + + [120] "Studies on Immunisation," pp. 279, 462. Sir Almroth Wright, + F.R.S., M.D. (Constable.) + + [121] "Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association, + St. Louis, Mo.," 1904, pp. 952-962--"The Chicago Hospital School + for Nervous and Delicate Children," by Mary R. Campbell. + + [122] "Children in Health and Disease," p. 41. David Forsyth, M.D. + (Murray.) + + [123] "On the Hours of Sleep at Public Schools." A paper read before the + Medical Officer of Schools Association, May 11, 1905, by T. D. + Acland, M.A. + + [124] "Some Results of an Investigation into Hours of Sleep of School + Children."--_International Magazine of School Hygiene_, vol. v. + part i. Alice Ravenhill. + + [125] "Secret Remedies: What they Cost and What they Contain." British + Medical Association. "Popular Drugs: Their Use and Abuse." + Sidney Hellier, M.D. (Werner Laurie.) + + [126] "Human Carriers of Typhoid and other Zymotic Diseases."--_The + Sanitary Record_, Sept. 8, 1910, pp. 215-216. + + + + +MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS + +BY MRS. R. W. EDDISON + +MEMBER, EDUCATION COMMITTEE, WEST RIDING COUNTY COUNCIL, ETC. + +I. NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSMAKING + +INTRODUCTION + +Modern woman finds herself in the twentieth century heiress to an +accumulation of domestic experience handed down from her primitive +sisters, much of which originated in necessity, and survives from +custom. + +It is said that "of the billion and a half human beings on the earth, +about 700,000,000 are females, and what share their mothers and +grandmothers, back to the remotest generation, have had in originating +and developing culture is a question which concerns the whole race," +though allusion only can be made to it in this paper. + +If, from the study of anthropology, we find that man was the hunter, the +killer of food, it was woman who cared for it, prepared it for use, +tilled the ground, cleaned, dried, cut, and sewed skins for clothing and +shelter. It is believed by many authorities that it was woman who +invented and made many of the implements with which she worked, and who +spun, wove, and dyed fibres of all kinds into strong, useful, and +sometimes beautiful fabrics of varied and pleasing tints and colours, +from dyes of her own making, which she obtained from animal and +vegetable sources. The introduction of much plain and ornamental +stitchery, the forerunner of the needlework of the present day, followed +quickly upon the coming of textiles. + +Until the invention of machinery and the institution of the factory +system, the practice of a large number of arts was in the hands of women +as part of their lives and homes. Now, however, women are no longer +leather-dressers, potters, or weavers in the home--these arts have +become trades for men, carried on in factories; and even the more +intimate arts of cooking, cleaning, and needlework are threatened from +the outside. + +The cheapness and readiness with which the products of the factory can +be obtained, whether for the purposes of food or of clothing, has to a +large extent removed the desire to exercise these arts herself, +especially from the woman whose time can be otherwise employed to her +financial advantage in industrial pursuits. It would almost appear that +she has failed to perceive the intellectual and æsthetic enjoyment to be +derived from them, and has been content to permit the skill and +knowledge she originally acquired and exercised to rust from want of +practice as each generation succeeds its predecessor. On the other hand, +as the accumulated profits from the factory have made it possible for +well-off women to depute their own share of cooking, cleaning, sewing, +and the care of children by payments to their less financially +fortunate sisters, usually untrained women of narrow education, public +opinion has shown a tendency to regard these arts as menial, and to some +extent derogatory in practice to the educated and refined. Amongst this +class of women, consequently, knowledge of these arts has steadily +dwindled, until the home-made jams, jellies, cordials and pickles of our +grandmothers, the linen they spun, wove, and fashioned, are no longer +the glory of our storerooms and linen-presses; while the home has come +to be less and less regarded as the right and proper place for +instruction in the domestic arts. + +Deep down, however, in the modern woman's nature lies the old instinct +for order, for caring for things animate and inanimate. This instinct +has found expression since the early seventies among more fortunately +situated women in an endeavour to arrest the decay of what I have +called the more intimate household arts, to promote their revival +and to raise their status in education--an endeavour due, shall we +say, to "something in the air," a kind of "Zeit Geist"--beginning more +or less contemporaneously on the Continent of Europe, in Great Britain, +and in the United States and Canada; an endeavour not to benefit +themselves alone, but to help their poorer sisters. + +It was soon agreed that the cultivation of the household arts belonged +to education, and that they might and should be taught in schools; but +the questions--What was their link with general education, by what +methods they could be most appropriately taught, and in the curriculum +of what schools they should find a place--have been the basis of +prolonged experimental effort. It is now the opinion of a large section +of persons of authority in education, that these arts are neither +"sacred mysteries which can only be understood by patient life study," +nor, on the other hand, can any woman, whatever her intellectual +ability, master them without training. It has been well said, in effect, +that the former attitude leads to a contempt for the plain everyday +things of life, while the latter is responsible for the cultivation of a +girl's head at the expense of her hands. + +The arts of cooking and cleaning took the lead in order of experiment. +The results, as recorded, have proved their position to belong directly +to the region of applied science, and to be worthy of a place in a +specially arranged course of household science and economics for women, +of university standard. We may confidently expect that this result only +anticipates a corresponding triumph, awaiting in its turn similar +experimental work, which has been carried on for some years in respect +of the teaching also of the art of needlework. These experimental +efforts include the intelligent employment of the pencil, the scissors, +and the needle in the production of garments, draperies, napery, and so +forth. The lines along which at the present moment this development is +proceeding have regard indeed not only to the practical worth of +needlecraft, but to its intimate association with general education as +well as to decorative and applied art. + +When we inquire what have been the results of past methods of teaching +needlework in our elementary schools, and find that they are in no way +commensurate with the time, labour, and money spent upon them, it surely +is wise to call a halt and examine into our aims and methods. The +circular of "Suggestions for the Teaching of Needlework" issued by the +Board of Education in August 1909 is not the first authoritative +pronouncement of the Board on this matter, but is the outcome of "the +well-considered criticism" invited upon their "Suggestions" on the same +subject issued in 1905, which teachers and others were asked to consider +as a challenge to independent thought on the subjects of which it +treated. + + +THE "PRINCIPLES" OF NEEDLEWORK + +This challenge has resulted in the statement of certain important +"principles" in the new circular and of the proper attitude of the +teacher towards them, viz.:-- + + I. _The duplex aspect of needlework._ + + 1. As a separate branch of instruction, the aim of which is + proficiency. + + 2. As a means to an end, other than (but not excluding) a + certain proficiency, _i.e._ to develop the intelligence and even + to form the character of the child. + + II. _The subject must be made interesting_ if it is to be + educational. The making of specimens is not interesting, and should + be discouraged, excepting for the practice of new stitches before + they can be used on a complete garment or article, however small, + for the child herself or for others. + + III. _Correlation of needlework_ with drawing and arithmetic in the + higher classes. + + 1. To train the eye in form and proportion. + + 2. To illustrate principles of arithmetic, by measuring and + deciding upon quantities and by calculating cost, introducing + incidentally ideas of economy and thrift. + + IV. _Needlework lessons are ordinarily uninteresting_ and wearisome + to body and mind. This need not and should not be; if the subject is + taught with the why and wherefore of things, it should rather + stimulate intelligence and capacity. + + V. _Opportunity is afforded_ by the lesson for practically and + tactfully inculcating the charm of neatness, cleanliness, and + tidiness in person and in clothing, encouraging the child in + self-respect and to regard as a matter of shame that any girl should + reach woman's estate without a practical knowledge of the use she + can make of the needle. + +Certain suggestions follow as a basis for a more detailed scheme, +viz.:-- + + 1. Classification of scholars as to age and capacity. + + 2. Size of illustrations and use of blackboard. + + 3. Instruction of weakly children, and care of eyesight. + + 4. Exercises in knitting and various forms of constructive handwork + for very young children, in preparation for definite instruction in + needlework at a later age. + + 5. Condemnation of habit of counting threads. + + 6. Order of teaching "processes" in needlework, from simple to + complex. + + 7. Suitability of materials, needles, and threads to each other, and + of the style of sewing to the garments which the children should + wear. + + 8. Direction of attention to the fact that hands and eyes which have + been sensibly trained to execute "plain work" will acquire "fancy + work" quite readily later on if leisure can be found. + + 9. New methods and stitches to be learned on waste material. + + 10. Importance of practice in mending at school and at home. + + 11. Importance of cutting-out and pattern-making. + + 12. Garments made to be worn, not kept at school. + + 13. Elaborate making-up of paper garments to be discouraged. + + 14. Rough sketches to train the eye to recognise the value to each + other of different parts of a pattern. + + 15. Importance of recognition of difference between a well-cut and + an ill-cut garment. + + 16. Calculation of kind, quantity, and cost of material to be worked + out in an arithmetic lesson. + + 17. Note-books and records to be kept. + + 18. Fixing to be done by actual maker of garment--not a joint + production. + + 19. Use of sewing machine permitted for long seams and hems. + + 20. No time to be wasted while waiting for teacher's help. + Independent work to be encouraged. Knitting and other suitable work + to be at hand. + +This excellent and sensible paper of suggestions means an offer of +freedom on the part of the Board; it remains, therefore, but to accept +and adopt its conditions. A practical difficulty, however, at once +arises from the fact that, after a long period of bondage to many +"Regulations," it is difficult for the teaching profession in general to +realise that independent judgment is now expected of them, indeed is +required, though this is a phase temporary and evanescent, which will +quickly adjust itself. + +For lack of time and space we must here pass over the important question +of the relation of the domestic arts to the general school curriculum, +as well as the proportion of time to be allotted as between needlework +and the other domestic arts, and dwell for a moment on the relative +qualifications of our teachers in different sections of the whole +subject taken at its widest, for these qualifications reflect the +existing demands of the public. Taking England, for example--how do we +stand with other countries in this respect? Speaking generally, and as +one who, though not professionally a teacher, has for many years had a +hand in the training of teachers, and who has given much time and +thought to the comparative study, both theoretical and practical, of +needlework and dressmaking, it seems to me that, as to sewing, we are as +good, if not in some ways better than our neighbours, though we have +been apt to regard the perfection of our stitches as an end in itself, +which decidedly vitiates our conclusion. We also appear to have much to +learn, or at least to practise, in respect of suitability of materials, +needles, and threads to each other, and of the style of work to the +purpose required. As to "cut" and "the hang of the thing," and the root +difference between an "ill-cut" and a "well-cut" garment, I fear we make +a bad third with France and Austria; but with our newly acquired freedom +we can and we must change all that: the public begin to demand it. + +In the first place, we must clear our minds of the indefinite cloud of +detail in which they have been so long submerged; or, to change the +metaphor, whereas hitherto we have too often not been able to see the +wood for the trees, we must now learn clearly to distinguish between +"principles" and "methods," which in practice are over frequently +confused: then, quite easily and naturally, the teacher will derive +resulting details from the few definite principles which are the "basis +alike of the simplest garment and the most artistic handicraft," and +"the principles once understood, in one instance, the pupils will be +able to make wider applications for themselves." + +It is important here to emphasise that some elementary knowledge of +hygiene, physiology, and anatomy is necessary for the intelligent +appreciation of the requirements of the body as to clothing, and of its +alterations in shape when muscles are tense or relaxed. By a reliable +system of drafting from direct measurement, such as one of those in use +in the Ecoles Professionelles of Paris, a shaped bodice can be produced +fitting the arms and figure easily and gracefully, and from this pattern +can be deduced further patterns of other garments, whether tight, loose, +or semi-fitting, which hang from the shoulder or the waist. + +When the theory of drafting has been learned, and the shapes and +proportions of a pattern and its derivatives are understood, "moulage" +or modelling on the figure in muslin, should be attempted; though, be +it remembered, "moulage" should not be regarded as a substitute for +drafting, but as its necessary accompaniment, for it affords opportunity +for eye training, and for learning how and where at certain points the +material should be stretched or held easily on the figure. The pupil is +thus prepared to handle the pattern intelligently when cut out in +material. + +I have seen it objected that only awkward and wooden lines can be +obtained from drafting on paper because of its rigidity, and because the +pattern is built up upon a framework of straight lines at right angles +to each other. The objector cannot have understood that the rectangular +construction lines have no connection with the outlines of the pattern, +except as affording _points d'appui_, which are found by direct +measurement. These construction lines stand for the warp and woof, or +"thread" of the material to be used for the garment. Stress must be also +laid on the fact that the grace or angularity of the pattern outline +actually depend upon the eye training and perception of curves derived +from drawing lessons, which must, for this as well as other reasons, +form a part of the scheme of instruction. + + +CONCLUSION + +Limits of time and space have only allowed me to touch the fringe of a +fascinating and useful subject; but the frequent conferences of teachers +now being held in different centres, and the new suggestions of the +Board of Education are stimulating so much interest and discussion that +I feel that the educational teaching of needlework in its broad sense in +England has a cheerful future. There is already much excellent teaching +and work done in some of the trade schools in London as well as in a few +of its elementary schools, and others elsewhere, which leaves little to +be desired from many points of view. + +Apart from the modern educational treatment of needlecraft and +dressmaking, though arising directly from it, are the unquestioned +advantages which may result to any woman of whatever rank or social +position who is willing to devote, in the first instance, a little time +and intelligence to mastering a few elementary principles introductory +to their practical application, either by herself or by any one in her +employment, to the cutting and making of her own garments from direct +measurement, modified by measurements of individual carriage or +conformation. + +When these modifications are clearly understood, the proving of the flat +pattern on the table after drafting should produce a well-shaped and +correct lining, without the misery of standing for hours in the ordinary +way to be "fitted on." If finer touches are needed, they are of the +nature of "moulage," or modelling; the different parts of the pattern +retain their balance and relative proportions, and the length of the +operation is much shortened. + +The majority of women, especially when past youth, are not so happy as +to possess the theoretically perfectly balanced and well-proportioned +figure which has been so successfully adopted by the best business +houses as the basis for cutting high-class ready-made garments. Happy +indeed is the woman who can "walk straight into them" without the +offered "slight alteration" which so often spoils the cut and brings +bitter disappointment to the wearer. There are few women who have not +groaned under the waste of time and fatigue entailed by being "fitted +on" under the hands of the "little dressmaker," or for that matter under +hands of much greater pretension, with no idea of principles in cutting, +who pinch and drag and smooth down by rule-of-thumb, producing garments +without balance or ease, whose faults may be disguised by trimming or +drapery, but whose discomfort is always present to the wearer. + +Women have in fact so long submitted to this tyranny of rule-of-thumb in +dress-cutting, as inseparate from it, that, as is their nature, they +continue to endure what they think cannot be cured. Nevertheless, the +discomforts and uncertainties of this rule-of-thumb misery may be +entirely eliminated, and it is for the modern woman to demand and insist +upon its elimination. + +Let me especially recommend to ladies possessing the invaluable +qualities in this connection of taste and style in dress, who may be +thinking of taking up dressmaking as a profession, that as an important +preliminary step they should master the principles of a good method of +cutting. Let them make sure that the method can lay claim to this +description; that it is reliable and not altogether empirical. Thus they +will render themselves to some extent independent of the possible +vagaries and misfits of their cutters and workers. The excellent courses +of instruction now carried on in the trade schools already referred to +should ere long create a supply of well-trained young women who will do +their best work under an instructed head, and will be able to carry out +intelligently her ideas and directions. Under such conditions there +should be no room for failure in a business of this kind. As a result, +the arts of needlecraft and of dressmaking will be raised to the plane +of scientific certainty and success which is their due, instead of +remaining at the often low level of the unorganised, empirical and +inartistic occupations--a frequent source of financial disaster to their +exponents and of perennial vexation to the helpless victims of their +products. + + +II. HOUSECRAFT + +The position of modern woman towards matters domestic is somewhat +undefined, and at best can hardly be considered satisfactory. Her +attitude towards housekeeping is not one of enthusiasm. The Lancashire +mill-girl is proud to have a house of her own, but prefers her life at +the mill to one spent in ordering that house; the elementary school +teacher considers housekeeping of so little economic interest that she +is injured if she may not devote her married life to a profession +demanding the best of her energy; the university graduate pretends to a +mind superior to physical comfort and welfare unless it can be produced +by a creature less specialised than herself. + +In the field of paid occupations for women, educated and uneducated, +domestic work stands low; not necessarily low in scale of payment, but +uninviting as a sphere of work and lacking the dignity of skilled +employment. That good housewives may be found in every grade of society +is evident, but the general trend of our social evolution demands that +some organised effort shall be made to simplify actual work and to raise +the appreciation of that work. + +In history and philosophy, the moral advantages of a good home have been +acknowledged and extolled. The physical advantages are only now being +fully emphasised, and there is an ever-increasing demand that women +shall diligently apply their best efforts, first to the problems of the +individual household, and then beyond it to those forms of housekeeping +that fall to municipal and national control. We need a different +estimate, a better realisation, of the enormous responsibility that lies +in feeding, housing, and general hygienic conditions, and such a +realisation must work from the top downwards in our social and +intellectual strata. + +In the care of the sick we have seen a complete revolution. Even so +recently as the days of our grandparents "Sarah Gamp" was the +general refuge--now her name is a byword. The work of nursing and the +care of an invalid's room, be it home or hospital, has been raised +from mere manual labour. Intellect has established formulæ and dogma +on which workers can be trained, and the work itself has been proved +not alone a suitable means by which a woman can earn her living, but +also a profession demanding a dignified respect and admiration. The +researches of medical laboratories--the accumulated experience of the +great physicians and surgeons of the world--are constantly placing +valuable knowledge in the hands of nurses and those who train them. +Elaboration and fuss have gone in favour of a simplicity of service +based on scientific facts; the influence of the trained worker has to +some extent permeated the untrained service of home nursing. Great +may still be our ignorance and great the need for a more adequate +service, especially in the homes of the poor, but taken as a whole the +care of the sick has been raised to what we may, without ambiguity, +call a scientific art. Nursing may be popular from a love of such work +and from its financial return, but the real strength of the nursing +world lies in its organised provision of skilled women sent out to +their work with a knowledge of its detail and a training in routine, +paid for by service during years of apprenticeship. + +The changes that have been effected in regard to the care of the sick +may not form a perfect analogy of what can be done in other forms of +domestic work, but they at least constitute a lesson in cause and +effect, with many suggestions for the would-be reformer. Improvement +in nursing owes its first impetus to a realisation of the part a nurse +must of necessity play in curing or alleviating suffering, and any +real improvements in our general domestic work and conditions will +only be seriously considered when they are properly appreciated in +their relation to the health and efficiency of the nation. To bring +this home to individuals and classes must be the work of education. Let +us magnify the office of the housewife unduly rather than leave it +unrecognised. We must demand something more than mere manipulative +skill from the manual worker--a knowledge and interest from those who +direct her work; a place in laboratories and schools for the many +problems worthy of elucidation. To make lessons in housecraft a part +of the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools has its own good; +to make lessons in sick-nursing also a part might be good; but to leave +both there would be only to patch, not mend, a rent in our social +conditions. The matter must find its way into universities and +research schools for its physical and economic investigation--as in +other kinds of work we need an aristocracy of brains to guide the +democracy of hands to found an apprenticeship system that shall +provide efficient workers to bring the mighty forces of chemical, +physical, and biological science to bear directly on such matters as +selection of foods, methods of cooking, better apparatus for cleaning +purposes, and an evolution of house-planning and furnishing that shall +reduce the present elaboration of service and cleaning. It is not +possible that every woman who cooks a potato shall be intimately +acquainted with the structure of starch-cells or the effect of heat on +those cells, nor is it likely that we shall aim at a system that makes +the cooking of our food as exact as a laboratory experiment, but that +thermometer, microscope, and test-tube have their own part to play +is evident. The use of a disinfectant by a nurse is a scientific +operation, the scope of which has only been made possible by many +and careful investigations in which the specialised effort of the few +has resulted in a definite formula and a handy preparation only to be +used with intelligent appreciation of its purpose. She understands its +use and abuse, how to adapt it to circumstances, and probably how to +find a substitute for it if occasion requires. + +It is much on these lines that many of the problems of kitchen and +household interest must be attacked. + +We need a simple and reliable classification of foods that shall be +useful to the practical cook. A quantitative analysis of proteid or +carbo-hydrate qualities of wheat, lentils, or milk may form excellent +exercise for laboratory classes, but even there it is too often taught +without any relation to the assimilative properties of the average +digestion and their consequent effect on food values. For ordinary use +we want all this brought to a general outlook of the value, and +comparative value, of such ordinary food as bread, oatmeal, eggs, and +beef; not only as to suitable proportions in our diet and to methods of +cooking, but also as a help in providing suitable substitutes for a +particular commodity in time of scarcity. Beyond the inevitable victims +of the Irish potato famine, many suffered quite unnecessarily for want +of ability to replace the familiar potato by a possible substitute; and +to-day we are little more intelligent in our catering. Quantity and +quality of the potato crop must each year to some extent make itself +felt on small purses, and while not dependent on this one article of +diet we might often help a meagre table by a good substitute such as +rice, hominy, dumplings, and an increased supply of fresh vegetables. +Substitutes for butcher's meat too often suggest the purely vegetarian +dish that to most people is but a _pis aller_. To replace part or even +most of the meat in a dish with a food of approximate dietetic value +would generally be more acceptable. A dish of haricot beans cooked with +a little minced beef is, for example, a very different dish from the +vegetarian treatment of the same article. Pea-soup made with the +addition of a ham or beef bone will generally win approval over its less +"tasty" rival. The value of eggs and the many ways of using cheese--the +possibilities of oatmeal beyond mere porridge--are all matters worth +understanding; so also is the problem of our milk supply. + +The fact that legislation is active in securing the hygienic conditions +of the wholesale milk supply cannot excuse individual indifference to +either its actual value or suitable treatment. The inferiority of skim +or separated milk to "whole milk" has been so emphasised that in many +places a useful article is lying as a drug in the market. That skim milk +is as useful as many "stocks" and much better than water for making +porridge, maigre soups, sauces, for mixing bread and scones, has yet to +be appreciated, and will only be so when the true economic use of food +is removed from its present haphazard position among the instinctive +arts! + +The constructive consistency of meat, fish, and vegetables must be +clearly set out if we are to understand the effect upon them of heat. +The primary methods of cooking and the standard proportions of +ingredients may already be used with an intelligence that at least puts +aside the recipe book; but the research that can produce a satisfactory +system of catering and cooking has yet to invade the higher education of +men and women. A suggestion of the scientific treatment of domestic +matters too often presumes an elaboration of work rather than a +reduction of it, and yet we all realise the labour-saving and economic +return that has been the result of science applied to commercial +industries. There must be a definite aim to simplify housekeeping and +domestic work; the conditions of life have gone that made a women find +scope for _all_ her energy in administering the affairs of her house or +in employing others to that end. + +To the uninitiated the various culinary processes seem endless, and to +arrive at a proper accomplishment of these is generally considered a +matter of continuous practice. A better understanding of the matter +readily shows that while many processes can only be perfected by +repetition, there are even more that fall under science rather than art. +Take, for example, the principles underlying the cooking of meat by +stewing. This is surely a process where manipulation is _nil_. To make +pastry or bread we must have a certain practice in the manipulation to +give the deftness (on which final success depends) in addition to any +understanding of the principles involved; but with regard to stewing and +many similar processes it should be possible to have one lesson made so +explicit that the actual process was known for all time--the Irish stew +of an artisan's home or the dainty entrée of the "Ritz" being only an +adaptation of given principles to different foods. + +In order to reduce primary methods to such business-like proportions, it +is necessary to consider them in their effect on different foods, having +due regard to texture and to the effect of a moist or a dry heat. It +would be a matter of interest to know how the established methods of +cooking meat and fish all really conduce to one end, viz. to soften the +fibres by steam formed from their own juices. The rules for most methods +of cooking these foods lead to this assumption, though nominally based +only on a means of retaining these juices in order to save a valuable +part of the food. The actual part played by the liquid in which foods +are cooked is possibly very small, but not to be ignored; the presence +of salt in the water in which beef or potatoes is cooked makes an +appreciable difference in the flavour and probably in the food value. +The relation of the fat used in frying to the food fried in it is too +often quite misunderstood, and a dyspeptic patient consequently is +ordered "no fried food." + +To "fry in butter" sounds well, but it is practically impossible; to +_sauté_ in butter at a temperature allowing some of the butter to enter +the food, is quite a valuable method of cooking; but to raise the +temperature to a point at which frying can be done is to char the +butter. To fry properly, the food should be immersed in fat so hot that +the outside of meat is immediately "set." Then allow the heating of the +juices inside the meat to perform the necessary cooking. The immersion +of the cold food soon lowers the temperature of the fat and makes +continued immersion possible. The best kind of fat for this purpose and +the relative temperature at which different fats may be used needs more +investigation. At present for ordinary kitchen use we have no more +reliable test of temperature than to venture a bit of bread and judge by +result. One thing we may accept--frying is not a greasy or rich method +of cooking. The fat used is merely a means of excluding atmosphere and +cooking food at a high temperature; it bears no more relation to the +food itself than does the atmosphere of the oven in baking. + +This question of temperatures and their relation to the kind of food, as +also to the various cookery processes, needs careful handling; we want +not alone a definite dogma established on a scientific basis, but we +want the means to apply it brought within easy reach--reach of a limited +purse and a limited intellectual capacity, for we are not all scholars. +There is no reason why a thermometer should not become part of our +kitchen equipment just as readily as that old sand-glass which +regulated the boiling of an egg, but, before it is the case, many other +matters must fall into line. It is probable that a careful investigation +of the best means of frying, boiling, stewing, &c. would effect a +considerable revolution in our household pots and pans. Is it impossible +to produce a pan in which a given quantity of fat or oil should be +easily brought to, say, 400° Fahr., and yet be unable to exceed that +temperature? It would so safeguard expense from burning that the most +delightful frying medium, olive oil, would be readily used by many +people. + +The matter of watching, and waiting, and judging the exact minute for +certain operations takes far more time than is generally supposed, and +the gloom surrounding the average kitchen range increases the +difficulty. The cook who understands the use of double pans for oven and +range has done something to save both time and anxiety, but it is +evident that much more might be done to render many cookery processes +almost automatic. The science that controls the production of such +commercial products as biscuits, tinned foods, pickles, and jam, and +turns them out to a uniform standard, is at present remote from the +household kitchen. Such scientific knowledge has been produced at a +commercial value for commercial enterprise. We need _our_ problems +brought into universities and colleges; into the channels where research +is made public; into the laboratories of schools, where, if no wonderful +result may be proclaimed, we have at least established a scientific +method of approaching the work of kitchen, laundry, and storeroom. The +ordinary teaching of the domestic subjects too often tends to magnify +the difficulties in order to show how they may be overcome. The +simplification of methods by classification would do much, and the +evolution of possible devices for saving labour would do still more, to +establish a favourable view of housekeeping. What is worth doing is +worth doing well; but it is "doing" unnecessarily that spells drudgery. + +Our attitude in considering household problems turns almost +involuntarily to cooking, but the need for an intellectual grasp of +matters domestic is equally potent in methods of cleaning. If the word +"hygiene," which we use so glibly, were really understood and +appreciated, the modern house-builder and furnisher would quickly be +sent to swell the ranks of the unemployed, and we should demand +construction and fittings which would minimise the problems of dust and +tarnish, provide suitable storage for food, and allow cleaning to be +simple, straightforward, and efficient. The advent of the vacuum cleaner +is less valuable in itself than in the establishment of a new principle +for dealing with dust, and one that may eventually revolutionise our +house-cleaning. We need a simple appliance of equal scientific value to +reduce some at least of the labour entailed in "washing-up." Pots and +pans, plates and dishes may be economised in number by a careful +worker, but cleaned they must be, and the average "sink" of scullery or +pantry is little removed from the pristine incompleteness of its first +appearance. There is, in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, a sink, +evidently used by the monks of the sixteenth century, which is identical +with those found in sculleries of to-day, and yet chemistry and physics +have revolutionised our industries and produced all sorts of scientific +methods for cleaning, lighting, and heating on a large scale. Perhaps +when the same woman who takes a D.Sc. bestows some of her energy on the +washing of dishes we shall get to something less primitive than washing +each individual greasy plate with a mop or cloth. The only scientific +treatment of "washing-up" used at present seems open to criticism, and +is only suited to large establishments, but it should be possible to +construct every sink with some sort of douche and general fittings +suited to this work. + +The question of the position of modern woman towards laundry-work +seems to have resolved itself into one of income. If she can pay for +the services of a steam laundry she does so. In the United Kingdom it +is estimated that there are 30,000 public laundries, but we have yet +to find one that can produce a list of charges within reasonable +limits of a small income. In the homes that are run on incomes of +£100 to £400 a-year, and where the laundry-work is done at the +public laundry, the amount of "washing" must be small, or some other +side of the expenditure must be seriously curtailed. Laundrying +performed intelligently and under suitable conditions is neither +difficult nor unpleasant. To stand over a wash-tub rubbing each +article by hand; to strain every muscle emptying that tub; to dry +garments on a rail across a kitchen and iron them near a blazing fire is +_not_ intelligent, and can only be followed by women driven by +custom to wash clothes at all. Perhaps in no section of household work +are scientific methods within reach as in the laundry; the existence of +the public laundry and the rivalry of different firms has produced an +open market for appliances of all kinds, and the exhibition of +laundry utensils, machines, &c., has become an annual event. Though many +of the inventions are destined for the "power" and general scope of +the public laundry, there are always a number of home appliances to +be seen; many more would be adapted if there were more demand. Any +real scope for these must rest in the first place with architect and +house-builder. In the North of England it is usual to build a small +"wash-house" to nearly every house, but the general construction of +these wash-houses is such as to discourage any desire to use them. +Only cold water is provided; the boiler is arranged as a detached +unit; the possibility of a drying cupboard in connection with kitchen +stove or hot-water cylinder is never considered, and the economical +heating of irons is generally overlooked. The use of irons heated by +gas, charcoal, and methylated spirit would be more general if these +were more efficiently constructed and less expensive. The provision of +electricity at a cost within the reach of ordinary folk will simplify +many things in laundry-work as in cooking and cleaning. Instruction is, +to some extent, already available as to soaps, detergent solutions and +bleaching agents. We need more appreciation of the part that may be +played by the process of "steeping" and the minimum of handling with +which clothes may be efficiently washed and finished. The profit and +loss in the matter cannot be estimated only in labour, time, soap, and +firing; the wear and tear of fabric in public laundries compared with +home handling and the risk of infection involved must both be taken +into account. If we make laundrying easy we do much to make a frequent +change of garment possible to a section of the community inclined to +economise in this direction, and we should probably make fashionable +those household materials that may be consigned to a wash-tub, instead +of paying a reluctant visit to the dry-cleaner--chintz, cretonne, and +Bolton sheeting instead of serge, tapestry, and plush. We owe one debt +of gratitude to the public laundry--it has raised a section of household +work to the level of a skilled industry, though as yet there seems +no system of apprenticeship that turns out the "complete" laundress. + +For the limits of a short paper these matters have perhaps been treated +somewhat discursively, but the object has been attained if, by the few +illustrations selected, some attention has been drawn to the field of +inquiry which lies open, and the urgent need for a definite application +of scientific minds to problems which, amid all the advances of this +progressive age, seem to lag behind. The inclusion of housecraft as part +of the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools may do much to +rouse interest and overcome some difficulties of cooking, &c., but to +any one familiar with these classes it is evident that their scope is +very limited, if only for the reason that the teaching so often treats +the work of housekeeping as an imitative art, based, for want of +reliable scientific data, on rules and recipes that are practically +organised tradition no more. In secondary schools, the introduction of +laboratory work has opened up fresh possibilities of a more reasonable +treatment of housecraft, for it is certain that, when teachers are +properly equipped for their work, biology, physics, and chemistry +(organic and inorganic) can be successfully taught along lines that +bring within the scope of school science such matters as food and +feeding, cooking and washing, fuels, heating, ventilation, and hygiene. + +To teach chemistry and physics in the usual academic manner and then +tack on a course of cookery and laundry-work at the end of school life +cannot possibly be of the same value as the co-ordinated courses; we +want scientific method even more than "science" for these schools girls, +who shall so soon be the housekeepers and home-makers. We may say with +Stevenson, "A dogma learned is only a new error--the old was perhaps as +good; but a spirit communicated is a perpetual possession." For those +girls who pass on to a university or technical school we want an +intelligence alert to all that may lie in further investigation of those +problems suggested at school. + +A certain jealousy may be pardoned that the possible evolution of +housekeeping may be the work of women; the leaders of the "woman's +movement" have so often spoiled their work by following the lines of +men's activities and aiming at a goal essentially masculine. The things +that go to housekeeping seem so intimately connected with motherhood +and mothering that it must be hoped our most able women will bring +their intelligence, their education, and their sense of national +responsibility to the task of housekeeping--to the simplification of its +problems, the reduction of the labour involved, and the organisation +of the paid service. There is certainly scope for master-minds. + +We touched on the organisation of the nursing service. If it is +possible to duly care for the sick and at the same time train an +efficient nurse, it is surely possible to provide proper service in the +huge caravanseries of our modern life, and at the same time provide a +suitable apprenticeship for the domestic worker. Good instruction at +school, followed by one or two years of definite training in a hostel +or boarding-house, should produce a class of skilled women workers who +can be organised and employed on the same lines as those of the +nursing service. + +In many branches of labour the women are ousting the men; unless we can +make good the present breach in our home bulwark and train our army of +defence, we may find men ousting women in their own particular sphere. + +America and Canada, realising that their coveted nationality must be +founded on homes, have brought into their universities the "science of +home affairs." England, in spite of the warning note sounded by +inquiries into physical deterioration, infant mortality, and kindred +evils, has been content with a _tradition_ of good homes, and has so far +done little more than provide a smattering of cookery lessons for +elementary school girls. + +There is, however, a promise of better things. One university college +has made a venture into home science, and other universities would soon +be at work if the necessary money could be secured. Oh, for some +silver-tongued evangelist to cry in the ears of our philanthropic +millionaires all that might be done for this country by bringing its +_best_ brains to consider the material things that go to the making of a +good home! + + + THE END + + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + Edinburgh & London + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Household Administration, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + +***** This file should be named 36781-8.txt or 36781-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/8/36781/ + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Household Administration + Its Place in the Higher Education of Women + +Author: Various + +Editor: Alice Ravenhill + Catherine J. Schiff + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36781] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + + + + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class='center'> +<h1>HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION</h1> +<p class='larger'><b>ITS PLACE IN THE HIGHER +EDUCATION OF WOMEN</b></p> +<p class='larger padtop'><span class='smcaplc'>EDITED BY</span><br /> +ALICE RAVENHILL<br /> +<span class='smcaplc'>AND</span><br /> +CATHERINE J. SCHIFF<br /></p> +<p class='padtop center'>NEW YORK<br /> +HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY<br /> +1911</p> +<p class='smaller center'>Printed by <span class='smcap'>Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.</span><br /> +At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh</p> +</div> +<div class='chsp'> +<a name='PREFACE' id='PREFACE'></a> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +</div> +<p><i>The object of this book is threefold. (1) It endeavours +to define the importance and scope of household administration +in the twentieth century, which, when analysed +into its component parts, is found intimately to concern +the right conduct and domestic care of individual +human lives, from their inception to their close. +(2) It seeks to demonstrate the necessity of an adequate +preparation for all who assume the responsibility of +such administration; particularly for those who, in +consequence of their parental responsibilities, their wealth, +their social status, or their professional duties, exercise +far-reaching influence through their standard of life +and example. (3) Finally, it gives prominence to the +fact that the domestic arts are no collection of empirical +conventions, to be acquired by imitation or exercised by +instinct. It is clearly demonstrated that the group of +sciences upon which they rest is more comprehensive +than most people suspect, and that their contribution to +the solution of pressing domestic problems has so far +been but partially realised. It is, therefore, of considerable +interest to observe the remarkable consensus of +opinion on each of these points among the recognised +experts in their subjects, to whom were entrusted the +preparation of the various sections of this book. The +writers of the papers, untrammelled by editorial restrictions, +each writing from the fulness of her knowledge, +tested by ripe experience, reached independently +conclusions conspicuous for their unanimity. It will be +evident to the most casual reader that, in the opinion of +these thoughtful women, blind instinct must yield place +to trained intelligence, if home life is to be preserved +and modern conditions of existence adequately adjusted +to human requirements.</i></p> +<p><i>Progressive changes, social, commercial, industrial, +and, last but not least, educational, now require that this +trained intelligence be fostered by organised instruction +outside the home, adapted to the needs, present or prospective, +of girls in every grade of society. Such instruction, +whether in the fundamental sciences or in the +applied arts, must be associated with individual practice +in laboratory, studio, workroom, and kitchen; the details +to be varied as circumstances dictate.</i></p> +<p><i>If, however, consistent applications of such knowledge +are to be made in order that desirable saving in time, +labour, money, health, or happiness shall be effected, +graduate women of high attainments are urgently needed +for the work. It is they only who can bring to bear +upon the problems of childhood and adolescence, of food, +of clothing, of housing, of domestic economics, of occupation, +rest, and recreation, the patient study and research +in the interests of humanity, which men of similar +standing have lavished upon the advancement of commerce +and industrial processes. It is by their skilled +labour in the almost untrodden field of domestic science +that the millions of homes will benefit which are committed +to the charge of women who possess neither time, +opportunity, nor ability to carry out these indispensable +investigations, but who can yet effectively fulfil their +responsibilities, if they be supported by systematic training +and organised common sense, based on sound +knowledge.</i></p> +<p><i>It is in the hope of forwarding these objects that this +book has been prepared.</i></p> +<p class='sig1'>ALICE RAVENHILL.<br /> +CATHERINE SCHIFF.</p> +<p><i>Nov. 1910.</i></p> +<div class='chsp'> +<a name='CONTENTS' id='CONTENTS'></a> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +</div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col width="5%" /> +<col width="75%" /> +<tr><td /><td /><td align="right" class="smaller">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">INTRODUCTION—A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WOMAN’S POSITION IN THE FAMILY</td><td align="right"><a href='#A_BRIEF_HISTORICAL_SKETCH_OF_WOMANS_POSITION_IN_TH'>11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By CATHERINE SCHIFF, Officier d’Académie</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN</td><td align="right"><a href='#THE_PLACE_OF_BIOLOGY_IN_THE_EQUIPMENT_OF_WOMEN_BY_'>35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (Dub.)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD</td><td align="right"><a href='#SCIENCE_IN_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MRS_W_N_SHAW'>71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By Mrs. W. N. SHAW, formerly Lecturer of Newnham College, Cambridge. Author of "First Lessons in Observational Geometry."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD</td><td align="right"><a href='#THE_ECONOMIC_RELATIONS_OF_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MABEL_A'>121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (Glasgow), Lecturer in Economics, King’s College for Women (University of London), formerly Scott Scholar in the University of Glasgow; Research Student at the London School of Economics; and Fellow of Economics, Bryn Mawr College, U.S.A. Author of "Local Government in Scotland."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE AND INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCY</td><td align="right"><a href='#SOME_RELATIONS_OF_SANITARY_SCIENCE_TO_FAMILY_LIFE_'>207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By ALICE RAVENHILL, late Lecturer in Hygiene, King’s College for Women (University of London), &c. Author of "Practical Hygiene," "Some Characteristics and Requirements of Childhood," "Elements of Sanitary Law," "Household Foes."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><span class='smcap'>Needlework and Dressmaking</span></td><td align="right"><a href='#I_NEEDLEWORK_AND_DRESSMAKING'>295</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By Mrs. R. W. EDDISON, Gen. Hon. Sec. Yorkshire Ladies’ Council of Education, Added Member of Education Committee of County Council of West Riding of Yorkshire, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><span class='smcap'>Housecraft</span></td><td align="right"><a href='#II_HOUSECRAFT'>308</a></td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align="left">By MAUD R. TAYLOR, Examiner in Domestic Science.</td></tr> +</table> +<div class='chsp'> +<a name='A_BRIEF_HISTORICAL_SKETCH_OF_WOMANS_POSITION_IN_TH' id='A_BRIEF_HISTORICAL_SKETCH_OF_WOMANS_POSITION_IN_TH'></a> +<h2>A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WOMAN’S POSITION IN THE FAMILY +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By CATHERINE SCHIFF</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div> +<p>The home must always claim the first place in +the large majority of women’s lives. It has done +so in the past, it does so in the present, it will +continue to do so in the future. But woman’s +activities are no longer to be merely confined to +her own fireside, though that must always hold a +prominent place. The real problem of the day is +the right conduct of the home on scientific lines.</p> +<p>In some ways the management of the home has +never been more difficult. The servant problem +has never been more acute than to-day; the cost +of living and the standard of comfort is going up +by leaps and bounds, and the old recipe of “Feed +the brute,” as far as the husband is concerned, is +no less inefficient. It is essential to-day to know +something about food values, the arrangement of +meals, which avoid monotony, and provide that +requisite variety in nourishment, on which the good +health and ultimately the good temper of the +household depend.</p> +<p>Again we are realising the great complexities +of all questions dealing with child-rearing and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span> +education. We have travelled far from the self-complacency +of the woman of thirty years ago, +who based her claims to a thorough knowledge +of the up-bringing of children on the fact that she +had buried ten. This need for wider knowledge +in all branches of housekeeping is equally important +to the unmarried woman, who is more +and more being called upon to act as a foster-mother, +whether as a teacher or in some other +capacity, to the nation’s children.</p> +<p>The care of the children is considered by all +shades of opinion to be the <i>clou</i> of a woman’s +life, and every day more and more responsibility +is cast upon her in this respect. How can she, +then, fulfil these duties as they should be fulfilled +if she is utterly ignorant of the laws of health +and of child-life, and how both are affected by +environment and all the other grave and fundamental +truths which lie at the root of the successful +up-bringing and development of the child? It +is now a hackneyed saying “that the child of to-day +is the man or woman of to-morrow,” but a +whole world of truth lies enshrined in those words; +the children are the assets of the nation, and if +their up-bringing is not of the best they can +never attain to that full heritage of development +which is the right of every soul born into the +world.</p> +<p>Scientific training in Household Administration +can alone save the sorely taxed housewife +of to-day from becoming more than a slave to her +domestic responsibilities. It is only by being a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span> +mistress of her craft, “whether China fall or no,” +that she can make sufficient time to devote herself +to necessary self-culture and recreation as well as +to those ever-growing outside duties which the +twentieth century is imposing upon her in the +shape of public and social work. If there is one +thing which is becoming increasingly obvious, it is +that the help and advice of scientifically trained +women are absolutely necessary in the management +of hospitals, the administration of the Poor Law, +and the general solution of social problems.</p> +<p>At no other epoch in the history of mankind +has woman stood on the same high plane as she +does to-day, and at no other period has so much +been demanded of her, intellectually, morally, and +physically. It is only within recent years that +Science has attempted to come to the aid of +woman in helping her firstly to obtain, and then +to maintain, the position for which she was originally +designed, as the complement of man and +as the chief element of preservation in human +society.</p> +<p>If the history of mankind is traced back to +primordial times, we find that it was the female +who possessed power over the emotional nature of +man, and it is becoming increasingly evident that +the family owes its origin as a social factor to the +Mother, not to the Father. Lippert is convinced +“that the idea of an exclusively maternal kinship +at one time extended over the whole earth,” and +McLennan says, “We shall endeavour to show that +the most ancient system in which the idea of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +blood-relationship was embodied was a system of +kinship through the females only.”</p> +<p>Occupation seems to have been the main factor +in determining that the mother rather than the +father should be the founder of the family. Agriculture +originally appears to have been entirely +the woman’s industry, while the men were engaged +in hunting or looking after the cattle, and wherever +agriculture was the predominant feature of life we +find that relationship is traced through the mother; +while on the other hand those tribes who were +chiefly pastoral had a paternal system of relationship—that +is to say, that descent was counted +through the males.</p> +<p>Drummond, in his book on the “Ascent of Man,” +places the Evolution of Motherhood long before +that of Fatherhood. “An early result, partly of +her sex, partly of her passive strain, is the founding +through the instrumentality of the first savage +Mother of a new and beautiful social state—Domesticity—while +Man, restless, eager, and hungry, is a +wanderer on the Earth, Woman makes a Home!” +And according to the same authority we find “that +to Man has been assigned the fulfilment of the +first great function—the Struggle for Life—Woman, +whose higher contribution has not yet +been named, is the chosen instrument for carrying +on the Life of Others.” Nature took many æons +to make a mother, whose gift to the world was +Love and Sympathy; the evolution of the Father +came still later. “It was when man’s mind first +became capable of making its own provision against +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span> +the weather and the crops that the possibility of +Fatherhood, Motherhood and the Family were +<ins title='Added end quote'>realised.”</ins> “The Mother-age, with its mother-right +customs, was a civilisation, as I have indicated, +largely built up by woman’s activity and developed +by her skill; it was an age within the small social +unit of which there was more community of +interest, far more fellowship in labour and partnership +in property and sex, than we find in the +larger social unit of to-day.”<a name='FNanchor_0001' id='FNanchor_0001'></a><a href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[1]</a></p> +<p>In connection with this theory of the “Mother-age” +it is interesting to note that the Etruscans +traced their descent through the female line, and +it was from the Etruscans that the Romans derived +nearly all their institutions; thus many of the +“initiative forces of civilisation” have come down +to us from women.</p> +<p>It is believed that the patriarchal system—where +the man was the head of the family, as amongst +the Jews—which succeeded the Mother-age, grew +out of the custom of capturing women belonging +to other tribes, this being succeeded later on by +purchase, and “as soon as the woman ceased to +be protected by the force of ideas, as soon, that is +to say, as she lost her position as head of the +family, her downward path was certain.” But +even among primitive people we find that it was +an almost universal custom that a woman should +be provided with an independent property, “Mitgift,” +though as time went on and the patriarchal +system became more firmly established, it appears +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span> +that this Mitgift became the husband’s property, +and that every bride was expected to bring a +dowry to her husband, whose property she became, +thus losing all independence.</p> +<p>However, in Greece the position of woman, +during the Heroic times was to a certain extent +an independent one, as is clear from the poems +of Homer and the treatment of Homeric and +Heroic themes by the Athenian dramatists. But +one has only to compare the “Nausicäa” of +Homer or the “Electra” of the Tragedians with +the women of the time of Pericles, to see how +much the status of the female sex had deteriorated. +The Athenian wife of that time was treated +as a mere “Hausfrau,” expected to spend her +whole time at home in the managing of the household, +while the husband satisfied his intellectual +tastes by intercourse with the “Stranger-women” +attracted to Athens from other towns. “Thus +arose a most unnatural division of functions +among the women of those days. The citizen-women +had to be mothers and housewives—nothing +more; the stranger-women had to discharge +the duties of the companions, but remain +outside the pale of the privileged and marriageable +class.”<a name='FNanchor_0002' id='FNanchor_0002'></a><a href='#Footnote_0002' class='fnanchor'>[2]</a> To this artificial condition of +domestic and social life may be partly attributed +the downfall of Athens, for it is impossible to +divide the functions of woman without serious +risk to State and race.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span></div> +<p>In ancient Rome the patriarchal system was +the prevailing custom. Under the Roman law +the husband was the only member of the family +possessing legal rights. “The family (<i>familia</i>) in +its original and proper meaning is the aggregate +of members of a household under a common +head; this head was the paterfamilias, the only +member of the household who possesses legal +rights.”<a name='FNanchor_0003' id='FNanchor_0003'></a><a href='#Footnote_0003' class='fnanchor'>[3]</a> It is true that there were many honoured +women under the Roman Republic, such as +Cornelia and Portia, the daughter of Cato, but +the lot of the majority was not an enviable one. +Gradually, however, the tutelage of women became +less severe, and Justinian in revising the +whole Roman code placed married and family +life on an altogether new basis, “the husband +lost his absolute control over his wife’s dower, +and in case of separation he had to restore it +entire.”</p> +<p>Women had been for so long under such strict +tutelage that they were unfit to benefit by these +new laws. Doubtless it will be remembered that +the corruption of the women of the period is +practically unparalleled in history, but it must +be also borne in mind that the whole system of +Imperial government was so vicious that it was +almost impossible for women to escape from the +widespread influence of vice and corruption.</p> +<p>Christianity as a force began to make itself felt +while woman was yet in this low moral state, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span> +it is not therefore surprising that to the leaders of +Christianity the freedom which women then enjoyed +and the easy method of divorce obtainable +were in a large measure responsible for the vitiated +state of Roman life. In their eyes the only means +of producing a more salutary state of affairs was +to put a check on what they considered a menace +to a Christian society.</p> +<p>It is of interest to notice how the attitude of +the Early Fathers towards women differs from +that of Our Lord as recorded in the Gospels. +There indeed are women highly honoured, and it +is to a woman that Christ often gives a message +of the highest import. It was to Mary Magdalen +that the Risen Lord first appeared and bade her +tell the others, and again it was the woman of +Samaria who became the instrument of salvation +to her people. But to the Early Fathers the +ascetic ideal was the predominant one, and in +consequence thereof women were treated as the +chief source of temptation to man. “Woman +was represented as the door of Hell, as the +mother of all human ills. She should be +ashamed at the very thought that she is a woman. +She should live in continual penance on account +of the curses she has brought upon the world. +She should be ashamed of her dress, for it is the +memorial of her fall. She should be especially +ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most potent +instrument of the demon.”<a name='FNanchor_0004' id='FNanchor_0004'></a><a href='#Footnote_0004' class='fnanchor'>[4]</a> In fact a decree of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span> +the Council of Auxerre (<span class='smcaplc'>A.D.</span> 578) forbade women +to receive the Eucharist in their naked hands +owing to their impurity.</p> +<p>Unfortunately “the bigotry of the Early Christian +teachers gave the first check to the tendency +to freer institutions, the next was given by the +fall of the Empire.”</p> +<p>With the influx of the Teutonic tribes we find +a new code of ideas and morals, but eventually a +compromise was effected between the Germanic +and Roman laws. Thus from very early times +we find that it was a German custom to provide +every bride with a dower, and this is remarked +upon by Tacitus. Afterwards the Church adopted +this custom, which was strangely enough both +Roman and Teutonic in origin.</p> +<p>From the time when the Empire went down +in a cataclysm which shook the foundations of the +world, until the beginning of the Middle Ages, we +hear but little of woman. It was the Sturm and +Drang period in the world’s history, in which +woman had no real position. The women of the +upper classes were of necessity confined either +to the castle or the convent, and woman’s +sphere was therefore a small one; man demanded +nothing more than that they should minister to his +physical wants in the short periods of peace he +then enjoyed. Hallam says, “I am not sure that +we could trace very minutely the condition of +women for the period between the subversion of +the Roman Empire and the First Crusade ... +there seems however to have been more roughness +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +in that social intercourse between the sexes than +we find at a later period.”<a name='FNanchor_0005' id='FNanchor_0005'></a><a href='#Footnote_0005' class='fnanchor'>[5]</a></p> +<p>With the end of this stormy period comes the +dawn of the Age of Chivalry, and from that +time forward until the Reformation, woman enjoyed +a portion at least of her rightful position. +It is said that “Chivalry not only bestowed upon +the woman perfect freedom in the disposal of +hand and heart, but required of the knight who +should win her, devoted and lengthened service”; +this may be, however, a rather idealised view of +the situation; but there is no doubt that the +Court and the Cloister became the two centres of +women’s lives, and an intimate connection was +maintained between the two. Nearly all women +of gentle birth were educated in nunnery schools, +and by the eighth century we find that these +schools had attained a high standard of learning, +which increased and developed in the succeeding +centuries. The convent afforded a shelter to the +woman who did not marry and to whom the +marriage state did not appeal; there she was +able to a certain extent to follow the career she +desired, at the same time her personal safety was +assured. “The scholar, the artist, the recluse, +the farmer, each found a career open to him; +while men and women were prompted to undertake +duties within and without the religious settlement, +which make their activity comparable to +that of the relieving officer, the poor law guardian, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +and the district nurse of a later age.”<a name='FNanchor_0006' id='FNanchor_0006'></a><a href='#Footnote_0006' class='fnanchor'>[6]</a> It is +perhaps of interest to us to note that the first +hospital for lepers in England was founded by a +woman, “good Queen Maud,” in 1101 at S. +Giles’ on the East.</p> +<p>The rule of an abbey or a priory called for no +mean business capacity on the part of their heads, +and as a rule the abbess and prioress were women +of great business and administrative ability. Before +the Norman Conquest nearly all the nunneries +founded in England were abbacies, subsequently +priories were the most usual foundations, as +according to feudal law women were unable to +hold property.</p> +<p>The latter half of the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries are renowned throughout history for +their women, who, occupying foremost positions +in the government, were clever, cultured, and +liberal-minded. One has but to mention the +names of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the +“Lady Margaret” of Oxford and Cambridge; of +Leonore d’Este, the mother of equally famous +daughters, Isabella and Beatrice d’Este; Marguerite +de Valois, sister of Francis I., and Isabella +of Castile, to conjure up before one’s eyes the whole +procession of the proud and capable women of +these days.</p> +<p>“One and all have been fruitful as successive +stages of growth, yet they can never recur, and +only the fanatic or visionary could wish that they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span> +should recur, for each is narrow and insufficient +from the standpoint of a later age.”</p> +<p>In England “the women who were the mothers +of the men who created the great Elizabethan +epoch were almost without exception brought up in +nunnery schools”<a name='FNanchor_0007' id='FNanchor_0007'></a><a href='#Footnote_0007' class='fnanchor'>[7]</a> and, alas, the destruction of the +nunneries and the rise of the Puritan spirit sounded +the death-knell of women’s education. After the +Reformation the position of woman was peculiarly +degrading; in the eyes of the law she possessed +practically no status, and “the old chivalrous +feeling for woman seems to have faded out with +the romance of the Middle Ages—she now figured +as the legal property of man, ‘the safeguard +against sin,’ the bearer of children <i>ad infinitum</i>.”</p> +<p>So woman was left once more to sink back into +a slough of despond, until with the end of the +eighteenth century there arose the humanitarian +movement and the gradual awakening of woman +to the sense of her responsibility, with the inevitable +corollary of her rightful position as the social +equal of man.</p> +<p>If these ideals are to be realised, woman must +recognise her responsibilities and act accordingly. +She has proved herself a more than apt student +in all the liberal studies, she has practically forced +the door of nearly all the professions, now she +must realise that she must apply her higher learning +to what is probably the most difficult profession +of all, the management of the home, or in other +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span> +words she must see that the knowledge she has +acquired be adapted and turned to practical aims.</p> +<p>Up to the present time the conduct of the +home has been regulated purely by rule of thumb +methods; if however in the future it can only be +administered with the same method and scientific +exactitude as prevail in other great business enterprises, +the drudgery of housekeeping will diminish +and woman will cease to be a slave to household +duties. She will have more time to devote to the +cultivation of her own mind, and thus, while becoming +a more real companion to man, she will +be free to take a more enlightened interest in the +education and development of her children.</p> +<p>“Incidentally this may go to prove that a sound +knowledge of the household sciences and arts may +serve, not to tie a woman more to the storeroom +and kitchen, but to enable her to get better results +with the expenditure of less time and energy, by +enabling her to apply to everything simple and +complex within the household the master-mind, +instead of the mind of the uncertain amateur.”</p> +<p>Her responsibilities are great not only as an +individual but as a member of the community to +which she belongs; and if she is to fulfil these +responsibilities in respect to the home, she cannot +do so without a thorough scientific preparation.</p> +<p>The home is the “cradle of life,” it was the +birthplace of those industries which to-day form +the great centres and constitute the means of livelihood +for millions. In some of these there is +reason to believe that woman took her share as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +originator. With the process of time, these primitive +practices have grown into the great industries +and arts of to-day, yet it is still to the woman that +the call comes to cultivate and use her taste in +these matters, so that when it falls to her to be +responsible for the decoration and furnishing of a +house, she may be able to choose in all departments +of life what is <i>the best</i>, to the everlasting +benefit of herself and her family, both physically +and morally.</p> +<p>If man be the producer and distributer of wealth, +woman is certainly the director of consumption. +On her rests the responsibility of expending +wisely and well the money entrusted to her for +the nutrition and clothing of her family, and how +can this be adequately fulfilled if she have no real +knowledge of the subject beyond what she is able +to pick up as she goes along, a method detrimental +to all concerned? Little would be thought +of any business house which entrusted its most +delicate operations to inexperienced buyers, or of +any municipality which allowed its affairs to be +conducted by an amateur. Far less would be +heard of misery, poverty, and ill-health if the art of +buying and preparing food, for instance, were properly +understood by those whom it most concerns.</p> +<p>Again, the chief racial responsibility falls on +woman; it is just in the most precious years of +childhood that her influence is so potent, and +it is the mother, who besides helping to sow all +the ethical and spiritual seeds, should safeguard +the perfect physical condition of her children, in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +order that an unimpaired vitality and constitution +be handed on from generation to generation. No +proverb is truer than “Mens sana in corpore +sano”; the two go hand in hand together, and +their accomplishment is the proud privilege of the +woman.</p> +<p>From the family flows the life of the nation, +and the power to guide it aright lies largely in +the hands of women, whether they be married +or single. With the married woman her own +family comes first of all, and then through it her +duty as a citizen; the unmarried woman’s duties +as a citizen are manifold, and each year they +increase and expand. Nearly all the activities of +public life are open to her; for instance she may +sit on County Councils, Municipal Councils, District +Councils, urban and rural Parish Councils,<a name='FNanchor_0008' id='FNanchor_0008'></a><a href='#Footnote_0008' class='fnanchor'>[8]</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +Boards of Guardians, &c.; in fact in the growing +field of social work, her services are being more +and more recognised as indispensable, and it is +impossible in a few words to enumerate all the +possibilities of service which lie before her, both +professional and philanthropic.</p> +<p>Consequently if a healthy nation is desired, the +women of a country must be educated both +academically and scientifically. “If women are +to be fit wives and mothers they must have all, +perhaps more, of the opportunities for personal +development that men have. All the activities +hitherto reserved to men must be open to them, +and many of these activities, certain functions of +citizenship, for example, must be expected of them. +Moreover, whatever the lines may be along which +the fitness of woman to labour will be experimentally +determined, the underlying position must be +established that, for the sake of the individual and +race character, she must be a producer as well as +a consumer of social values.”<a name='FNanchor_0009' id='FNanchor_0009'></a><a href='#Footnote_0009' class='fnanchor'>[9]</a></p> +<p>Now how is this most desirable end to be +attained? The succeeding papers will deal with +the subject <i>in extenso</i>; here can only be +briefly indicated the scope and purpose of the +majority.</p> +<p>An eminent authority tells us that “the objects +of nature may be designated as the objective +point of view. It is the standpoint of biology +and affords the natural conditions for the successful +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span> +investigation of the laws of life, not only of +the lower organisms but of the human race as +well.”<a name='FNanchor_0010' id='FNanchor_0010'></a><a href='#Footnote_0010' class='fnanchor'>[10]</a> This immediately demonstrates the vital +necessity that women should know something of +these fundamental laws of life, which biology +alone can teach, in order that she may apply +these to her ordinary daily life and recognise them +as operating in all her surroundings.</p> +<p>The transition from this stage to the next is an +easy one. Woman having learnt the laws of life, +will immediately view her economic responsibilities +with a clearer eye and fuller understanding. It +is true that throughout the ages woman has +striven to acquit herself as best she could, but +until the present day it has mostly been a groping +in the dark, without the aid of any exterior +agency. Now light is beginning to be thrown on +many points hitherto obscure.</p> +<p>Household economics has been well said “to +rest on two chief cornerstones, the economy of +wealth and the economy of health, and encloses +the groundwork of human happiness and human +aspirations ... even all departments of science +must contribute to its development.”</p> +<p>But a mere knowledge of biology and economics +is useless without bodily efficiency, and true +bodily efficiency is only possible where the environment +is favourable to growth and life. It +cannot be expected that full physical development +can ever take place in ill-lighted, badly ventilated, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +defectively drained or otherwise objectionable +houses. And it must never for a moment be +forgotten that if the body be neglected, then, as +an inevitable consequence, the mind and spirit +must also become warped. It is not that we +desire man to develop his physical nature at the +expense of his spiritual, but rather that we would +see him placed in such a condition that he is +able to apply those great faculties, which distinguish +him from the brute creation, to their +highest and best use.</p> +<p>The ancients recognised in very early times the +need of sanitary precautions to protect themselves +from the onslaught of disease and the consequent +decimation of their race.</p> +<p>We find Mena, King of Egypt (5000 <span class='smcaplc'>B.C.</span>), mentioning +in his Ordinances that offences in diet +were one of the things through which “the genius +of death becomes eager to destroy men.”</p> +<p>The Levitical Laws contain many enactments of +a sanitary character, they are one of the oldest +known sanitary codes, and have many wise and +necessary provisions for the health of the people.</p> +<p>Rules for the conduct of rural life were formulated +so far back as 100-500 <span class='smcaplc'>B.C.</span> in Bœotia. +Tarquinus Priscus began and Tarquinus Superbus +completed the great works for the drainage of +Rome in the fourth and fifth centuries <span class='smcaplc'>B.C.</span>, of +which the Cloaca Maxima was the most remarkable +feature; even to-day the ancient water-supply +of Rome and her system of baths are still a +source of admiration to the modern world. And +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +to their credit be it said that the Romans carried +this knowledge with them to the countries which +they conquered; we find aqueducts at Great +Chester and Lanchester, an arterial sewer at Lincoln, +and the well-known baths at Bath.</p> +<p>From the destruction of Rome until well-nigh +ten centuries later was a period in which no +advance in sanitation was made; on the contrary, +retrogression was the keynote of the time. Warfare, +religious segregation, and the spread of +asceticism were the chief reasons for this; the +ideals of both Christian and Pagan were opposed +to personal and public hygiene. “The ascetic +violated all laws of personal hygiene, the monastery’s +ideal was inconsistent with public hygiene, +and both glorified God by teaching submission to +pestilence,”<a name='FNanchor_0011' id='FNanchor_0011'></a><a href='#Footnote_0011' class='fnanchor'>[11]</a> which from time to time swept over +the country, devastating it from end to end.</p> +<p>But with the increase of trade it became +necessary to adopt certain measures for the +preservation of human life, and in 1348 we +hear of the first street-cleaning and quarantine +in those two great centres of commerce, Venice +and Cologne. It was in the same year that the +most terrible plague which the world has ever +known attacked Britain and practically depopulated +it, finding its chief prey in the filthy streets +of the City. This led in 1379 to an Order in +Common Council for keeping the streets clean. +But despite this, all through mediæval times +personal health was shamefully neglected and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span> +public health practically unknown. The consequences +are easy to trace; the country was again +and again swept by epidemics which were naturally +followed by severe famines, and thus on +every side progress was checked. The Fire of +London at least cleansed London of its filth, and +from that time forward matters began to improve. +All through the eighteenth century, smallpox, +typhus, scurvy, and ague were rampant, and it +is not till 1834 that we find the beginning of +sanitary legislation. In 1837 the Act for the +Registration of Births and Deaths was passed, +which at once provided the indispensable foundation +for reliable statistics; previous to that date +all that there was to depend upon were the +Baptismal Registers and the more or less accurate +Bills of Mortality. This has been followed by +a long series of Public Health enactments concerned +with practically every department of life. +In fact during the last fifty years the public +conscience has been quickened to an extraordinary +degree. Much however has yet to be done +which cannot be touched by legislation, and it +is to the woman, who has been trained in the +right conduct of life both private and public, +that the world looks for the preservation of +healthy human life, much of which is now needlessly +sacrificed on the altar of ignorance. In +many cases the woman is the only person who +can prevent this, therefore she must equip herself +for her high and noble duty with all that Science +can provide and Art can suggest, neither must +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span> +she forget that her own home must ever be the +starting-point of every endeavour. For the “Mrs. +Jellabies” of this world are not those who help +forward its progress, rather are they the clogs +on its wheels.</p> +<p>Not only charity, but all other virtues begin +at home. “So long as the first concern of a +nation is for its homes, it matters little what it +seeks second or third.”</p> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0001' id='Footnote_0001'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0001'><span class='label'>[1]</span></a> +<p>Karl Pearson, “The Chances of Death,” p. 3.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0002' id='Footnote_0002'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0002'><span class='label'>[2]</span></a> +<p>Donaldson, “Woman,” p. 58. Longmans & Co.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0003' id='Footnote_0003'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0003'><span class='label'>[3]</span></a> +<p>Greenridge, “Roman Public Life,” p. 18. Macmillan & Co.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0004' id='Footnote_0004'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0004'><span class='label'>[4]</span></a> +<p>Lecky, “History of European Morals,” vol. ii. p. 358.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0005' id='Footnote_0005'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0005'><span class='label'>[5]</span></a> +<p>Hallam, “History of the Middle Ages.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0006' id='Footnote_0006'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0006'><span class='label'>[6]</span></a> +<p>Eckstenstein, “Woman under Monasticism,” p. 106.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0007' id='Footnote_0007'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0007'><span class='label'>[7]</span></a> +<p>“The Mediæval Education of Women in England,” <i>Journal +of Education</i>, June 1909.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0008' id='Footnote_0008'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0008'><span class='label'>[8]</span></a> +<p>It is interesting, however, to note the following Electoral Disabilities +for women in England and Wales, which, however, do not +exist in Scotland or Ireland:—</p> +<p>No married woman can vote in any Town Council election or in +any County Council election outside London.</p> +<p>No woman owner has any right, in virtue of her ownership, to vote +in any local election. Until 1894 women owners, as such, were +entitled to vote in Poor Law Guardian elections, but the Local Government +Act of that year disfranchised them, while enlarging the voting +rights of men owners.</p> +<p>No woman lodger can vote in any local election, although men +lodgers can vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian elections, +and in the election of the London County and London Borough +Councils.</p> +<p>For women there is no service franchise—such as entitles men to +vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian elections, and in the +election of London Borough Councils—<i>i.e.</i> no occupation of a dwelling +as an official or servant (for example, as matron or caretaker) +entitles a woman to be placed on the Register.</p> +<p>For neither men nor women is there any ownership franchise, lodger +franchise, or service franchise for Town Council elections or for County +Council elections outside London.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0009' id='Footnote_0009'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0009'><span class='label'>[9]</span></a> +<p>Parsons, “The Family,” p. 346.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0010' id='Footnote_0010'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0010'><span class='label'>[10]</span></a> +<p>Lester Ward, “Dynamic Sociology,” vol. ii, p. 120. D. Appleton +and Co., New York.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0011' id='Footnote_0011'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0011'><span class='label'>[11]</span></a> +<p><i>Sanitary Record and Journal</i>, Nov. 24, 1904.</p> +</div> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +<a name='THE_PLACE_OF_BIOLOGY_IN_THE_EQUIPMENT_OF_WOMEN_BY_' id='THE_PLACE_OF_BIOLOGY_IN_THE_EQUIPMENT_OF_WOMEN_BY_'></a> +<h2>THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (Dublin)</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span></div> +<p>In considering what is the best mental equipment +for women in civilised countries it is as well +not to contemplate only the great general facts +of life, such as wifehood, motherhood, and the +woman’s position in the household. It is necessary +to take into account also the special characteristics +and circumstances of our own times and +civilisation; for, unless a woman is prepared to +meet these successfully, she cannot be deemed +adequately equipped, even if from other points +of view her education be ideal. In the beautiful +old-fashioned education of Japanese women we +have an instance of such ideal excellence, which +is yet proving unable to cope with the requirements +of actual life in modern Japan.</p> +<p>The most striking, and also the most radical and +pervasive, characteristic of our time is, of course, +the progress made in scientific knowledge. Month +by month enormous numbers of facts are, in every +department, added to the knowledge already acquired. +To let one’s imagination range, even in a +cursory way, over the work that is being done in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span> +chemistry and physics merely as they concern +biology—to enumerate the subdivisions of these +sciences, or to look down a list of recent publications +relating to research carried on in them, +is enough to make one’s brain reel.</p> +<p>This ceaseless widening of the borders of knowledge +is, we must gladly allow, most inspiriting; +and yet, seen from another side, it may well give +rise to fears. For it is fairly obvious that the +progress of human happiness goes by no means +<i>pari passu</i> with this progress of knowledge; and, +on looking more closely, we may even observe +miseries and degradations which can be traced up +directly to the practical application of some of +those scientific discoveries.</p> +<p>To what must we ascribe this? It would seem +to be the outcome of two lines of tendency just +now predominant.</p> +<p>The first of these is that very strong bent towards +mere accumulation of fresh facts which +may be noted in the most able and active workers +all over the world. Just as, in other times, the +best minds have flung themselves with enthusiasm +upon art or literature or philosophy or statesmanship +or war, so now they fling themselves eagerly +upon the discovery of more and more recondite +truths in science—leaving the ordinary government +of affairs, on the whole, to minds of the second +order.</p> +<p>The next is the reckless way in which isolated +scientific discoveries—more especially in physics +and chemistry—are brought to a practical application +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +and introduced into the scheme of everyday +human life. This is done without consideration +of anything beyond ensuring some obvious +superficial convenience, and—what is a principal +determinant—the opening up of new financial +enterprises. Advantages of a sort no doubt are +won—but often only at a fearfully disproportionate +cost. The game—if we would but look +at it unconventionally, from the standpoint of true +biological science—is not worth the candle; for +it involves a sacrifice of life itself to what can +hardly be considered even as the means of life.</p> +<p>Thus the chemicals used to preserve food impair +its nutritive qualities; while other chemicals, +as well as a number of ingenious mechanical +processes, serve to facilitate adulteration. We all +know how difficult it is to obtain pure milk and +butter, or pure bread from pure flour, or jams +made with sugar from fresh and good fruit. +Bread may be made from flour which has passed +through no less than seven processes,—a sad +contrast this to the old home-made bread, the +product of home-ground meal, whole and sweet +as nature made it. What is sold in enormous +quantities to the people as sugar, whether alone +or as part of preserves, turns out often to be +glucose. Butter, so-called, is often only skilfully-treated +fats, the weight helped out by water. +These three articles of diet alone, when adulterated +as they thus often are, mean serious +deterioration in the food—and therefore in the +physique—of the nation; and to them we have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span> +yet to add the effect of the chemicals used for +keeping fish and meat in place of the genuine, +old-fashioned pickling, salting, and smoking.</p> +<p>Machinery, again, growing ever more and more +complicated, has destroyed an incalculable wealth +of traditional activity: and therewith, generation by +generation, it tends to destroy the finest capacities +of individual men and women, whether producers +or consumers of the finished product. The consumers +suffer through the lack of opportunity to +acquire and exercise manual dexterity and resourcefulness—as +well as through a great lack of experimental +knowledge. The producers suffer through +the monotony and narrowness of their labour.</p> +<p>We may take as other instances of recklessness +our common use of unprotected illuminants—electric +light and incandescent gas-mantles—which +give off ultra-violet rays injurious to the +eyes; the use of portable electric lamps and +switch lampholders, which is by no means free +from risk; and again the extreme recklessness +of the so-called “medical electrician,” who will +actually venture to give electrical massage to a +patient immediately after wet pack.<a name='FNanchor_0012' id='FNanchor_0012'></a><a href='#Footnote_0012' class='fnanchor'>[12]</a></p> +<p>As a last example we may take the rage for speed, +and in particular the use of electrically driven +motor-cars. The exact effects upon the human +frame of the rapid motion, of the vibrations, of the +presence of the electric current and escaping gas +have never been adequately investigated—though +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +sundry ill consequences of motor-driving have been +noted without any diminution of the practice.</p> +<p>A very cursory reflection may show us that, +while the progress of science is the great characteristic +fact of modern life to which we all +have to adjust ourselves, we must be prepared +not only to take advantage of the good it offers, +but also to discern and counteract the perils it +brings with it, when applied to human life in our +present somewhat random way.</p> +<p>The random nature of our proceedings may be +illustrated from yet another side. There are a +number of facts and principles, long since agreed +upon as truly ascertained, which have never, or +only very partially, been brought to bear upon +custom and daily life. We all know that plenty +of fresh air is a first condition of health and +vigour; and are so far convinced of this verity +that open-air treatment is generally accepted as +the proper mode of attacking and mastering consumption. +Yet we crowd together into cities: +our houses are often very imperfectly ventilated, +and our public buildings—churches, theatres, halls, +schools and institutions, as well as our railway-carriages +and tram-cars—provide only for the +very minimum of change of air. Similar neglect +of definitely ascertained facts may be seen in +dress, in food and drink, in furniture, in occupations. +Noise is well known to be injurious to +the brain, and destructive to thought: more than +that, it has been discovered that it is harmful to +the viscera. We insist, more or less, upon quiet +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span> +for the sick: but no trouble is taken about quiet +for those who are well. Our thoroughfares echo +with noises of all kinds, from the roar of traffic +to the howling and whistling of errand-boys; and +the authorities would be much surprised if they +were accounted specially negligent for not making +some effort to suppress them. Yet to any biologically +trained person this noise must appear not +disagreeable merely, but a real handicap to the +health and energy of the community. Wherever +faithfulness to scientific principle involves trouble +without prospect of money-making, it is likely to +be shirked, however great the benefits known to +come from it.</p> +<p>This is not entirely due to laziness, nor yet to +ignorance, it is due quite as much to circumstance +and to the pressure of our present social institutions. +It is closely bound up with the great social +question of the ownership of land, and with the +husbandry and use of the resources of the land, +our rivers and our sea-shore. Wasting a great +measure of what these have to give us, polluting +them in different ways by our manufactures and +by the refuse of our cities, we are constraining +whole masses of our population to look to the +work and the products of other countries for the +first necessities of life. Whole masses of our +population are removed from direct contact with +the soil, which is the nursing-mother not only +of the body, but also of the mind of man; the +people and the land being thus alike impoverished. +Inquiring how so dangerous an error can have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +arisen, we may find at least part of its cause to +lie in an ignorance of the fundamental principles +of biology, the science of life.</p> +<p>What, it may now be asked, is to be done to +counteract these disadvantages and dangers? And, +again, how does all this bear on the equipment of +women?</p> +<p>Taking the latter question first: it is indisputable +that an enormous proportion of our commerce +and manufactures is concerned with food and with +articles required for the home. But things for +the home are made to be dealt with and used +by women. In so far as science comes in and +modifies this material it is imperative that women +should be placed in a position, not only to +know what are the essentials for life, but also +to criticise and estimate accurately that which +is offered to them as scientific improvement. For +we need, in this connection also, to remember +that science can only be fought by science—that +is, by knowledge belonging to the same +plane.</p> +<p>We have now in part answered our former +question. What we need is a central or basal +science to which—for practical purposes and in +regard to its practical application—the work done +in other sciences can be brought to be accepted, +or rejected, or modified. This central science +can, in the very nature of things, be none other +than biology: the science, that is, which gives an +account of the functions and inter-relations and +structure of all living things, and deduces therefrom +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span> +those principles which, in a rather loose +way, we speak of as the laws of life.</p> +<p>It would, we think, be a very happy turn of +affairs if, not all, but some of that genius, which +is now spending itself in the research for fresh +facts, could be diverted to the work of correlating +with one another facts already known, and bringing +all those that are appropriate to be grouped +as it were in order of service around biology.</p> +<p>But perhaps not less important than this is what +we may call the practical synthetic work of women +in their households. There are, indeed, two circumstances +which would give the ordinary woman +of average intelligence, if she were but adequately +instructed, some advantage, so far as the service +of mankind goes, over even the most brilliant man +of genius. The first is the vantage-ground of her +position in the home—at the very point, that is, +where so many sciences thrust themselves up +together to the surface of actual life—where in +some way or other, however roughly, they have +to be correlated, compared, their different claims +adjusted. The second is the natural inclination +of the womanly mind towards synthesis rather +than analysis, towards practice rather than theory.</p> +<p>We ought now to consider rather closely—exhaustively +we cannot—what is included under +the term Biology. It <ins title='Was sood'>stood</ins> for some time chiefly +to mean an account of the structures of animals +and plants, structure being pursued into ever +further minuteness, down to the cell and the constituents +and parts of the cell. With this has +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +gone insistent inquiry into the process of reproduction +and growth; and more lately, in bio-chemistry +and bio-physics, the conformity of +living substance to the order recognised in non-living +matter has been, and is being, most eagerly +investigated. And now a school of biologists is +arising whose aim is the vindication of the claims +of function as against the too exclusive study of +structure. Function, of course, involves activity; +and activity, in a complex, multicellular organism, +involves the interplay of parts. This interplay, +again, cannot be studied without reference to the +environment, and to the relations between the +organism in question and others—whether of its +own or of other species. In this way it seems +likely that biology—moving as it were in a spiral—will +by-and-by return, though at a much higher +level, to the standpoint of the older naturalists, +whose interest in plants and animals was focussed +more upon their activities, habits of life and special +environment than upon their morphology—and +even disdained not to consider their possible uses +for man. Also, more thoroughly and extensively +than before, the study of man himself is being +caught up into the great web of Biology. It is seen +as an integral part of Biology, and pursued in the +biological spirit. Whether we look to psychology +on the one hand, or to anthropology and its associated +sciences on the other, the present is a most +propitious moment for drawing public attention to +this vast science, as being the true centre and +foundation of that practical knowledge which is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span> +needed as a guide, and also as a stimulus, for +practical everyday life.</p> +<p>It will, of course, be instantly objected that the +subject is indeed vast—much too vast. But not +too vast, surely, if, by means of a very simple +principle, we select out what is of immediate +definite use, and necessary for everybody, from +what may be, by the majority, safely left on one +side. We shall then get, on this side, the highly +specialised Biology of the laboratory with its +minute researches and nicely calculated experiments, +and, on that, what we may, for our present +purpose, call Common-sense Biology.</p> +<p>Just one word of explanation is perhaps needed +at the outset. Common-sense Biology does not +mean anything like that slipshod dealing with +miscellaneous phenomena of nature which sometimes +goes by the name of Nature Study. It is a +course of work systematic and strictly scientific, +conducted as truly as any other in the scientific +spirit. It presents, however, two points of contrast +with special or analytical Biology, in that, +whereas, in analytical Biology, a beginning may +be made practically anywhere, with any series +of facts one may prefer to take first, in Common-sense +Biology there is only one right mode of +starting, and that of the utmost importance; +while, secondly, Common-sense Biology combines +some of the characteristics of an art with the +ordinary characteristics of a science.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span></div> +<h3>COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY</h3> +<p>It is this latter form of the science—this science, +which is also an art—that we would advocate as +essential for the equipment of women. With this +view let us examine it further.</p> +<p>And first, what is its proper starting-point? +Its proper starting-point is accurate instruction +concerning the living things with which the +student is, or can easily be, brought into immediate +practical contact. And, again, in the study +of these living things—plants and animals alike—attention +is directed first towards the organism in +its totality and in its activities—towards function +rather than towards structure; and also towards +mode of life, relations with environment, and, where +possible, towards its use or danger to mankind. +Structure will, no doubt, early have to be introduced, +but only in its larger details as explanatory +of function, for the sake of a better knowledge of +the animal or plant as a whole.</p> +<p>What are to be the types and examples of +organisms studied?</p> +<p>This is an important question, and the writer +would most strongly urge that the principle of +selection should be that of locality; that the +student should start with those plants and animals—both +wild and domestic—which are to be found +within a given radius of the place where she is +living and working. The first things to know +about are habit, activity, inter-relation and use to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +human beings. In respect to these, the presence +of one organism will react upon others, and therefore +no plant or animal within the area should +be lightly overlooked.</p> +<h3>THE IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIOLOGY</h3> +<p>We must not, however, confine attention to the +higher multicellular animals and plants. One of +the most important factors in the environment is +the existence of bacteria; and it is of great importance +that an outline of bacteriology should be +included in our course of Common-sense Biology. +This outline should be kept close to the common +necessities of everyday life. For the sake of +making clear and real to the mind the manner in +which bacteria multiply and the extreme rapidity +of the process, a certain amount of microscopical +work ought to be done, the examples being few, +but carefully chosen. This kind of work, nevertheless, +should be kept subordinate. The effects +wrought by bacteria in water, earth and air, in +stored foodstuffs, and in the tissues of the living +body are the important subjects for study; and +naturally, connected with these, the conditions +which permit the access of bacteria or which, +in the case of noxious bacteria, will best ensure +protection.</p> +<p>The rationale of toxins and anti-toxins, with +the relations of these to the blood-serum should +also, in a general way, be known; and moreover +the student should be prepared to learn that many +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +diseases, which are at present very imperfectly +understood—we may take, for instance, forms of +insanity—have their <i>vera causa</i> in the action of +toxins, and require to be treated accordingly.</p> +<p>Perhaps, for those who cannot take more than +the shorter courses of our Common-sense Biology, +it will be sufficient to consider only those forms of +inimical bacteria which we have to combat in our +own islands. But the writer would strongly urge +that, at least among women of the leisured classes, +this instruction should be extended to cover the +bacterial and other minute parasitic forms of disease +most prevalent in our colonies and in our foreign +possessions. The wives of officers, civil servants +and missionaries ought to know, in a clear, scientific +way, the causes, modes of attack, and methods +of prevention of the principal tropical diseases, so +far as these have at present been made out.</p> +<h3>METHOD OF STUDY</h3> +<p>What should be the method of this study?</p> +<p>The sketching out of a course would be far +beyond the scope of this paper. Here it may +only be said that the work must, of necessity, +fall into two main parts. There must be, on the +one hand, field-naturalist’s work, for the greater +proportion of the animals and plants studied +ought—so far as is in any way practicable—to be +observed in their natural surroundings; and there +must be, on the other hand, work allied to that +of the gardener and farmer, the rearing of selected +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +plants and animals for purposes of experiment and +of closer examination. Nothing worth mentioning +can be done on either of these lines without some +study of the food and climatic conditions required +by each creature; and this will involve a study of +soils, temperature, atmosphere, and so on—and +also a study of the nutrient properties of those organisms +which furnish forth the food of other organisms. +From this knowledge, gained thus through direct +observation and experiment, would be deduced +the general principles which—so to express it—govern +life; and upon it as foundation would be reared +the more specialised knowledge of all that pertains +strictly to the life of mankind. Throughout the +aim should be to use books mainly for reference.</p> +<p>It is not necessary—as it might have been a +few years ago—to show that a training on these +lines is better, as a preparation for life, than that +offered by the ordinary school and university +curriculum; but it may be worth while to show +how far and why it is superior to a well-planned +course in the analytical biology of the laboratory. +The superiority is surely twofold: in that the +kind of knowledge acquired is of greater practical +utility; and, again, in that the development which +it ensures, to the powers, bodily and mental of the +student, is more varied, thorough, and effective.</p> +<h3>COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY AS AN ART</h3> +<p>As has been said, this Common-sense Biology +partakes of the nature of an art. Now it is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span> +characteristic of any art that, for its satisfactory +exercise, it demands not only knowledge, but +also intuition;—not only conscious volition, reflection, +and endeavour, but also subconscious +nervous and muscular activity, and, together with +that, a certain emotional state—a trend, tendency, +disposition of the whole being, which likewise +is chiefly subconscious.</p> +<p>Without such a disposition to begin with you +cannot have an artist. Neither will you get an +artist, if, on the other hand, this disposition is +never given an opportunity for displaying itself +and developing its capacities. You cannot play an +instrument properly if you have no music in you, +and the music in you will never come forth if +you have no instrument to play upon. When +disposition and opportunity are happily met, and +the true artist arises, it is in the subconscious +that the chief riches, gained by her work and experience, +are stored, and from the subconscious +that she draws her skill; while in the subconscious, +again, lie the mysterious sources of original inspiration. +We all know well how over-consciousness +spoils art, as it spoils most kinds of action. The +happiest effects, the loveliest deeds spring, as it +were, spontaneously.</p> +<p>What is true of such arts as music and poetry +is at least equally true of the art of living. The +rich and well-harmonised subconsciousness is the +proximate source whence all that is strongest and +most beautiful in human activity is derived. The +domestic arts, conversation, power of rapid judgment +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span> +at a crisis, the care of the sick, the care of +children, tactful daily dealing with one’s fellows, +all these, and so much else, we recognise to be +dependent for perfection upon practice; and that is +only another way of saying that they depend on the +efficiency and the character of the subconscious. +But the character and efficiency of each person’s +subconscious being depend in their turn—not +solely, yet principally—first, upon the knowledge +she has acquired, and secondly, upon the actions +she has habitually performed. Action and being, +as we all know full well, are for ever acting and +reacting upon one another.</p> +<p>Action is a more potent influence upon the +subconscious even than knowledge; and when +to mere activity there is added emotion—such +emotion, for instance, as pleasure or love, or solicitude, +or desire for truth—we may feel assured +we have brought into play the most powerful of +all the forces which, in an ordinary way, go to +vivify and to form human character.</p> +<p>The subconscious is even more important for +women than for men, because women have more +calls upon their emotions, and more need for +intuition, and also more need for general resourcefulness +and skill. It is because the Common-sense +Biology whose claims we are urging +involves so much activity, such care, quickness +of observation, patience and ready wit, that it +makes a better preparation for life than the more +highly specialized work in the Biology of the +laboratory alone could be.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></div> +<h3>THE GAINS AND LOSSES OF CIVILISATION</h3> +<p>Is there, it may now be asked, anywhere any +definite evidence to bear out this contention. +There is: and in abundance. For it, however, +we must look away from civilised communities, +especially from the educated portion of +their populations. Civilisation, no doubt, gives +much; but it also takes much away. It has +taken away much of the traditional lore of women, +and more and more of their traditional activities. +This does not merely mean that the practical +ability and knowledge of civilised women is greatly +restricted; it means also that the peculiar intuitive +wisdom of women—the fruit of a richly-stored +subconsciousness—is much diminished. +In capacity for pure thought the educated woman +of civilised communities no doubt excels all the +rest: in most other respects the barbarian or +savage woman will—with some few exceptions—probably +be found her superior, whether judged +merely by her mastery of the conditions amid +which she has to work, or, more broadly, by the +amount of her real knowledge and the range of +her effective capacities.</p> +<p>Take, as an example, the Eskimo woman, who is +considered to represent the woman of palæolithic +times. As there is no Eskimo Board of Education—no +paraphernalia of Primary, Secondary, +Technical, and other Schools, with their red tape +and officialism—she is free to carry on the tradition +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span> +of her ancestresses, and to rear, in the good +old ways, children who grow up to be sturdy men +and women. The preparation she had for her +task was chiefly that of watching and imitating her +own mother. Thus, as a child, she followed all the +processes of turning the dead reindeer to account—learning +thereby an economy and an unwillingness +to waste which were essentially scientific—learning, +too, subconsciously. She saw the flesh of +the reindeer made into pemmican—cut into thin +slices, and dried in the sun or in the smoke of a +slow fire, then pounded between stones (the use of +stones is worth noticing) and stored under a cover +of melted fat, poured over it in due proportion. +She saw the bones—after the marrow had been +extracted from them—pounded down and boiled +to get out the residual fat; the horns set aside to +make fish-hooks, chisels, needles, and fishing-spears, +work for the long winter evenings; the skin +carefully dressed with a split bone and cut into +shape to make clothing, and snow-shoes, thongs, +bow-strings, fishing-nets, and so on. The very +tendons make threads for sewing: and the garments +thus fashioned are not only strong and serviceable, +but beautiful with that particular beauty, +which may perhaps be called barbaric, but which +almost invariably denotes vigour and fulness of +subconscious life. The Eskimo women also make +their own boats and their own tools; they are good +fishers and hunters. Their year’s work comprises +an exercise of dexterity and quick wit of which +the ordinary Englishwoman can have no idea.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></div> +<p>We might take as another example the North +American Indian woman, with her varied forest-lore; +but, since space is limited, let us pass for +one further illustration to the despised Australian +aboriginal. She too knows and does things worthy +of our admiration and imitation. For instance the +English housewife’s preparation of the household +food is nothing like so conscientious as the Australian’s, +whose proceedings have the keen disinterested +concentration proper to a bit of scientific +research. Thus, to take but one example of the processes +connected with the preparation of one form +of food—a seed of a species of eucalyptus: “With a +hooked stick she pulls down the terminal branches +of the tree and spreads them out to dry on a +piece of ground cleared for the purpose. After +allowing them to lie there for a period determined +by temperature, she collects the distal ends of the +branches, damps them and brushes the seeds off +into water. For a period of two or more hours +these seeds are kept soaking, but the water is +repeatedly changed, so as to remove all traces of +the ‘gum.’ After this they are dried and ground +on a stone. Again, she builds their rough, but +wisely devised home most carefully according to +ancient tradition. She takes her little girl, armed +with a miniature digging-stick, out to track the +honey-ant with her, and to learn by the way +what are the birds and beasts and plants, friendly +or inimical, which surround their home-camp.”</p> +<p>Alongside of this direct learning about nature +goes the learning of the legends and traditions of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +the tribe, together with the customary dances, +rituals, and religious practices. The activity of +savage life is everywhere such that no anomalies +like our physical exercises are needed,—for +the physique of the young men and +women is as graceful, strong, and enduring as +need be.</p> +<p>If we turn to savage or barbarian peoples higher +in the scale we shall find their knowledge, abilities, +and accomplishments higher and also more varied. +But, on the whole, until we come to the average +modern woman of a civilised community, we shall +find that the women—through their happily +developed subconsciousness—are equal to the +best the community requires of them. They +do not call their training Common-sense Biology, +but that is what it practically is. They know +all about their surroundings, and what to do +therein. And grace and beauty wait upon what +they do.</p> +<p>This ideal is not, however, quite without parallel +among the more highly civilised peoples. The +Greeks conceived of Athene, the great goddess of +wisdom and of war, as also Athene Ergane, the +Workwoman, the goddess of handicrafts in the +home. In our own country—to take examples +near to us and familiar—the names of Caroline +Herschel, Jane Austen, the Brontës, Mary Somerville, +and George Eliot not only attest the fact that +exquisite skill in domestic arts is not, in a woman, +incompatible with learning and genius, but may +also lead us to suspect that the exercise of this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +skill actually aided and furthered their better-known +achievements.</p> +<p>In our civilised communities—from the point +of view of the subconscious—women are in two +ways at a disadvantage. First, excessive division +of labour, with our dependence upon machinery, +has made the life of the State far more complicated +than in former days; and secondly, the activity of +the individual, from the same causes, is far more +monotonous, far less well-calculated to bring out +all her powers and train her being as a whole, than +it used to be. Hence, as we said, women have +lost a good deal subconsciously—even though, in +consciousness, they may have gained.</p> +<p>There is nothing in which the character of the +subconscious is more clearly seen than in a +person’s attitude towards the great mysteries of +life: towards birth and marriage and death on the +one hand—towards religion on the other. It is, +of course, matter of common knowledge that in +regard to marriage the customs of some savage +tribes are what we should describe as licentious. +A truer understanding of the savage mind has, +however, mitigated many of the judgments passed +even upon the worst of these practices—at least +in so far as they were taken to indicate gross inward +depravity on the part of the women. And +among many peoples there are found laws and +customs of real beauty and noble significance, +witnessing to reverence, fine intuition, and real care +for the highest good of the tribe. And in general +of all savage races it may be said that whatever +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span> +their laws and customs are—though perhaps born +of ignorance and selfishness—they feel seriously +about them as about sacred things, and observe +them scrupulously.</p> +<p>The better side is exemplified chiefly by the +women. When anthropological work is more +largely undertaken by women, and when, through +their sympathy, the jealously guarded secrets of +the women’s tradition, now almost entirely unknown, +are yielded up to us, it is probable that +our conceptions of savage life and thought will +have to be radically modified. However that +may be, it is even now sufficiently well known +that the women do not leave the question of reproduction +and marriage to chance in the education +of their girls. The girls are definitely, carefully, +and it would seem often tenderly, taught; and if, +among some peoples, they are made to undergo +great sufferings, a closer study usually reveals +in these the effects of the long subjection of the +women to the cruelty and uncontrolled passions +of the men. All this should not blind us to the +fact that the maternal instinct is here actively +grappling with the great realities of life: and +we may contrast this with the ways of the +modern woman who, less developed in subconsciousness, +is not so forcibly impelled to make +any such attempt, and, for the most part, practically +lets the whole thing slide. Here, as in +other directions, the fuller development of the +subconscious would compel and also enable us +to correct a grave omission: while the knowledge +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +necessarily acquired concerning reproduction +and birth in the course of biological work +would fill up that which has hitherto often been +wanting even in the best-inspired women who +have dealt with this question.</p> +<p>It must by now have been made clear that our +object in advocating this Common-sense Biology +is to recover what was excellent in the equipment +of the women of the past, and to unite it with what +is most excellent, and most germane to woman’s +life, in the methods and knowledge of the present. +Since modern household life is deficient in the +requisite opportunities we are obliged to have +recourse to definite educational schemes. But +education of this sort will assuredly continue to +be necessary even after many improvements in +the home have been brought to pass; because it +will always be necessary to keep the knowledge +and activities of women in correspondence with +the advance of science. At the same time it is +worth while to remember that the earlier the +child begins to observe living things, to live with +them, learn about them, and take care of them, the +better the final result will be; while the ideally +trained mother in the ideal home, herself practical +and active, will be able to do more for her +children in this regard than most people, perhaps, +would now dream of.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span></div> +<h3>THE INFLUENCE OF COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGICAL +TRAINING ON SOCIAL WORK</h3> +<p>Biological training of the order we have been +considering is, we believe, desirable for all women +in the interests, first, of the home and of the rearing +of children. But it is equally desirable for +the women who are not destined to be wives and +mothers, and particularly so as a foundation for +any kind of university work, even for the different +literary or philosophical schools.</p> +<p>Here it is, perhaps, worth while to urge upon +women the claims of the other great division of +Biology, that of the laboratory. A considerable +number of women who go up to the universities +have, indeed, intellectual abilities deserving special +cultivation, yet abilities which show no very +distinct inclination in any one direction. These +have been very commonly drafted into the study +of history. It may be questioned whether some +branch of Biology would not be better for them, and +more useful to the community. Women working +at Biology in the universities ought to serve, and +to aim at serving, as the channels by which each +fresh addition of scientific knowledge finds its way +to, and its appropriate place in, the schemes of +Common-sense Biology generally obtaining.</p> +<p>In another field—the field of public work—it +is to be hoped that ere long a knowledge of +biology will come to be considered a <i>sine quâ non</i> +for women. It would be superfluous to point +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span> +out in how many kinds of public work women +are gradually coming to the fore—in those especially +which deal with education and with the +care of the disabled. Already the influence and +the peculiar gifts of women have in some degree +made themselves felt; but these might operate +much more powerfully if they were more commonly +associated with scientific knowledge—with +a knowledge of those branches of biology, more +especially of bio-chemistry and bio-physics, which +bear most nearly upon humanity.</p> +<p>It would take up too much space to give an +account of the many ways in which biology is +here of service: two great lines of utility may just +be indicated as examples.</p> +<p>First, biology would lead to certain modifications +of practice—particularly in our treatment of +children, and of persons deemed criminal or insane. +The biologist, when anything was amiss—before +she pronounced any one to be mentally or morally +unsound, defective, or bad—would presume, to +start with, that there was some definite physical +trouble to be set right, not necessarily anything +dangerous in itself or mysterious. In New York +they now make it a rule to examine for adenoids +every young offender against the law, before +punishing him; and it is amazing how often +adenoids are found, and when removed carry the +child’s wickedness away with them. Adenoids +and divers glands are responsible for a great +proportion of youthful wrongdoing; and yet +other physical troubles will account for a great +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +proportion of the rest. The writer herself once +came across a young girl who was, in intention and +attempt, a murderess—yet was so only through +the effect of a common physical condition, easy +enough to treat when once ascertained. Until +our general conception of a child—or indeed of +a human being—is a more truly biological one, +framed more closely upon the facts of its bodily +life, we shall have but little effective intuition into +its state. And such a sound biological conception +is not to be had apart from some good measure +of sound biological knowledge.</p> +<p>When, however, the most careful observation +reveals no local or definite mischief to be dealt +with in the person under consideration, the biologist +will still not hastily set him down as bad—or +even as unsound or defective. He will next +suspect that he is one whose physical organisation +is not fitted for its environment: if he can be +placed in a better environment perhaps he will +grow better. If this change is, from whatever +circumstances, impossible, the biologist in treating +him, however troublesome he may be, will still +never regard him as wholly responsible for what +he is, will still try to ascertain the exact ways in +which the environment presses injuriously upon +him, and to help him in those definite particulars. +If we desire the work of our reformatories and +prisons and the disciplinary work of our schools +really to be and not merely to appear effective, +it is only by such nicely-calculated methods that +we shall attain our object.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></div> +<p>This brings us to our second point. Biology, +when a knowledge of it is more widely spread +among us, will assuredly work a change in public +opinion. We have among us thousands of men +and women whom we account failures in life; +whose existence constitutes our gravest social +problem. The drunkard, the wastrel, the thief, +the prostitute—these are characters whom society +thrusts out. They have proved themselves unfitted +for their environment; they cannot act in +it with any regularity or seemliness: its laws are +not their laws. And the assumption most generally +is that these are beings of a lower stamp +than the average, unhappily surviving in, or at +war with, an environment which postulates a +nobler sort of men and women. Is it so?</p> +<p>The finer and more delicately poised a +mechanism—whether it be chemical balance, galvanometer, +electroscope or what not—the more +sensitive is it to its surroundings. Thus the +instruments once at Kew Observatory have had to +be transferred to the wilds of Scotland to ensure +their perfect working—rendered impossible at Kew +by the noise and vibrations of encroaching London. +Thus, again, the mind of Darwin required for its +proper functioning the quiet of a study at Down, +in the heart of the country. A ray of light will +spoil a delicate experiment: the presence in an +observatory of one steel key will hinder the work +of the instruments. A boy commits suicide +because of the noise of the factory in which +he is compelled to work. A girl drowns herself +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +because the worries of her home are intolerable.</p> +<p>The point I would press is that these different +examples belong fundamentally to the same category. +Whether it be the instrument devised by +man, or whether it be the human nervous system +itself, that which we are looking at is a mechanism +too delicate for the cruel exigencies of an unyielding +gross environment. We have but to reflect on +one organ alone—on the exceeding fineness of +structure, and nicety of adjustment, and definiteness +of sense-limit, of the eye—in order to realise +that the comparison between the human nervous +system and the most delicate of our delicate +instruments is more than justifiable.</p> +<p>How do we know, when dealing with any +given drunkard, that we have not before us a +fine, fine nature, to which the harsh and low +conditions of our Western civilisation have simply +proved intolerable? How do we know that, +instead of blaming him and trying to adjust him +to the world, we ought not rather to blame the +world, and try to make it a fit place for him to +live in?</p> +<p>This consideration—strictly scientific as it is—ought +to have very great weight in that new +department of biological work which has been +named Eugenics. Before lightly saying of any +stock that it is not good to breed from, or that +it is good to breed from, pains should surely be +taken to ascertain whether irregularities and disease +evinced by members of that stock do not in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +reality proceed from their superiority to their +environment and to the average men and women +about them. Individually they may be irreclaimable, +yet, thrown out of gear, miserable and +wasted as they are, they may be the carriers of +the finest hopes of humanity, of a promise for +the fulfilment of which we are not yet ready. +Perhaps there is a tendency to be a little over-hasty +in our estimates of good and bad stocks +to breed from. Perhaps we have not yet fully +learnt either the significance of recessive characters +or the importance of the mere fact that the +unit-characters of a human being are immensely +numerous, and their inter-relations therefore extremely +intricate. And yet, again, perhaps we +are too intolerant of variety, too eager for +uniformity.</p> +<p>Here in England we have a mixed population, +sprung from many diverse origins. The differences +between individuals are many and great. +Yet the majority of the population is thrust into +the grooves of one educational system, and +thereafter compelled to settle down to occupations +and modes of life which are the same for +thousands together. Any attempt to leave the +common rut is looked at askance. What wonder +that there are rebels, and that the rebels are unhappy! +A society constructed in conformity to +true biological principles, instead of suppressing +variety would give it welcome as one of the most +precious of national characteristics, and would +purposely adjust itself and its systems with more +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +accuracy so as to give every sort and type of person +the best possible chance for developing his or +her peculiar gifts. In a society so constituted, very +rare indeed would be the occurrence of insanity.</p> +<p>These considerations should have weight in yet +another direction: in determining the counsel +which ought to be given to girls as to the choice +of a mate.</p> +<p>The importance of soundness of stock has here +too been well brought into prominence by the +workers in Eugenics; and perhaps it may not be +amiss to make one or two suggestions with a view +to obviating a too narrow application of the principle +of the sound stock.</p> +<p>We must remember, first, that disease is not +necessarily evidence of unsoundness. Like some +forms of moral obliquity, it may be merely +evidence of a quality in the stock which renders it +unable to tolerate a given environment. And this +quality may be in itself an excellence of the most +precious kind. This would be the true account +of many cases of insanity, while others would be +covered by the action of toxins on the brain. +Heredity, we are told in many instances of +“insanity,” is more probably a heredity of +“special liability to the production of toxins or +to the action of toxins on the brain,” than heredity +of insanity proper. This view will naturally entail +modifications in our methods of treating the +“insane,” as well as a considerable change in +public opinion with regard to the significance of +insanity.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span></div> +<p>And, secondly, we must remember the importance +of the environment, more especially of the +human part of it. A man of sound stock is very +commonly brought up as a sportsman, whose first +idea is to kill; or as an idler, whose chief occupations +are eating, drinking, and smoking, with travel +and some amount of gambling thrown in by way +of variety. Or he may easily be above all things +a money-maker and a lover of money. His +habits of this sort will determine to a very great +extent the early—and that is the critical—environment +of his children. The tendency in his +family will be towards uniformity, towards one +level, and that not a high level, of thought, activity, +and character. His example and influence will +go very far to counteract the advantages presumably +ensured by the soundness of his stock.</p> +<p>On the other hand, a man whose ancestry is +eugenically not flawless may have such wide +interests, so many and such fine powers, so much +skill in different activities, and so high and +generous a personal ideal, that the environment +which his manner of life would make for his +children—the inspiration he would be to them—might +well be expected very largely, if not wholly, +to counteract the disadvantages of defects in the +stock.</p> +<p>No doubt this principle should be applied with +all reasonableness and care, but it is extremely +important for the highest welfare, for the development +of the best possibilities of the people, that +it should be definitely recognised.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></div> +<h3>ANTHROPOLOGY A BRANCH OF BIOLOGY</h3> +<p>A word must here be said as to the importance—more +especially to the biological student who +aims at social work—of some knowledge of +Anthropology. Biology is, in fact, incomplete +without anthropology; for in its absence there is a +danger of applying biological principles too summarily, +and therefore unscientifically, to humanity. +Anthropology, of course, goes behind art and +history and the literary ideas current among +civilised peoples. It gives life and meaning to +customs, legends, handicrafts, details of dress, +ornament, and furniture which otherwise go unheeded +or misunderstood. It helps to interpret +for us the ways of contemporary peoples and +classes which are on a level different from our +own. It gives a unity in infinite diversity to our +whole conception of humanity. When more +widely studied, there can be little doubt that it +will cause us to reconstruct many of our judgments, +both concerning the history of the past +and concerning the civilisations of the present +day.</p> +<p>We cannot but believe that a time will come +when it will be assumed of all women that they +know the broad truths of biology, just as it is +now assumed that they know the alphabet. It +will be taken for granted that they have mastered +the essential domestic arts with their own hands, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span> +just as we now take for granted they can write +with their own hands. We shall have reached +then the beginning of a new era—an era which +we may hope will unite the excellences, moral, +æsthetic, and hygienic, of earlier times, with the +excellences, more purely intellectual and scientific, +of our own day.</p> +<h3>WOMAN’S SYNTHETIC POWERS AS AN +INSTRUMENT TO EFFICIENCY</h3> +<p>The most effective instruments for bringing this +about are the synthetic powers of woman herself, +combined with her practical skill and her ready +intuition. As we have tried to show, the best +chance for the eliciting and the disciplining of +these powers of hers, so as best to fit them for +the struggle of modern life, is afforded by biology.</p> +<p>It must be clear how many reforms—impossible +to the nominally educated women of the present day—would +flow easily from this better training of +women; for those so trained could certainly not endure +the futility of some of our educational ideals, +nor that haphazard disregard of the nature and +needs of the child, which still characterises so much +of our educational method. They could not support +the continuance of many of the common evils of +modern life—the noise and dirt, the brutality of +manners, the scamping of work, the rush for +pleasure. These, however they may or may not +affect the adult, are plainly impairing the best +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span> +promise of the children; and that fact will be +enough for the truly educated woman.</p> +<p>Knowing, too, as she will, more accurately and +scientifically than women to-day generally know, +how largely energy and depression, irritability and +calm strength are questions of right or wrong +food, the educated woman may be trusted to find +a means to put an end to the crying iniquity of +adulteration. Directly or indirectly, by the pressure +of her determination that the race shall no +longer be offered a sacrifice to Mammon, she will +assuredly find a way to put an end to all not +absolutely necessary dangerous trades.</p> +<p>The opposition of such women to what is +wrong in social custom, in government, in education, +will be a very different thing from the +opposition of well-meaning but imperfectly instructed +women on the one hand; or, on the +other, that of a few thoroughly trained and informed +ones working more or less in isolation, scattered +over the country. It would mean a body of +sound, enlightened, disinterested public opinion, +so vast, so far-reaching, yet so intimately cognisant +of all the little daily details of life in the +home, that it is difficult to see what other body +of opinion could be found mighty enough to +resist it.</p> +<p>If, unhappily, this advance should not be made—if +our present Western civilisation be allowed +to run unchecked down the groove into which +it has sunk—there seems nothing before it but +destruction.</p> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0012' id='Footnote_0012'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0012'><span class='label'>[12]</span></a> +<p>“The Electrical Resistance of the Human Body.” Gee and +Brotherton, Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 1910.</p> +</div> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span> +<a name='SCIENCE_IN_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MRS_W_N_SHAW' id='SCIENCE_IN_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MRS_W_N_SHAW'></a> +<h2>SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By Mrs. W. N. SHAW</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div> +<p>The slow development of the demand for the +training of girls of the middle and upper classes +in the details of household management has been +to a great extent due to the common observation +that persons of imperfect education are frequently +proficient in the domestic arts, and to the assumption +that good housekeeping consists entirely in +the efficient exercise of those arts.</p> +<p>The fact that in the early Victorian period girls +living much at home learned, almost insensibly, +from their mothers the routine of daily duties in +the house, has made elder women look askance +on the lectures dealing with domestic economy +which appear to them so needless, and has led +them to foster the superstition that woman <i>qua</i> +woman should be equal to any demand that may +be made upon her as organiser of her own household.</p> +<p>That the housekeeping of to-day is more complex +than that of half a century ago is incredible +to the older woman who remembers the baking +and brewing, and divers other matters, that demanded +the attention of the notable housewives +of the forties and fifties of the nineteenth century. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span> +That the horizon of women’s lives has widened, +and that other interests than those appertaining to +their immediate circle claim their attention, is not +acceptable to all; it is however the claims of +these outside interests that have awakened in the +more thoughtful the desire so to order their +households that they may in some degree free +themselves from petty cares, and be able to help +in the amelioration of the lives of less fortunate +persons; or to pursue other branches of knowledge +in which they have learned to take a keen intellectual +pleasure.</p> +<p>It is a paradox that one of the difficulties with +which the modern mistress has to contend is the +fact that her house is “replete with every modern +convenience.” Every labour-saving contrivance, +every mechanical convenience, calls for vigilance +to ensure its proper use, and for knowledge as to +the ways in which it may fail, and of the method +of readjustment if it should happen to do so. No +apparatus which is not thoroughly understood by +the mistress will be well used by the servants, and +servants will rarely if ever exercise any knowledge +they possess to prevent the expense of calling in +a workman. If the mistress of a house can use +such ordinary tools as a hammer, a screwdriver, +a gluepot, and a soldering-iron, a great deal of +expense may be saved in small repairs; on the +other hand, ignorant meddling with scientific +apparatus may be worse than useless. There +can be no doubt that a course of instruction +in natural philosophy, combined with work in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span> +a well-equipped laboratory and workshop, should +find a place in the curriculum of every girls’ +school, whether elementary or secondary, as this +training lays the surest foundation for a superstructure +of experimental domestic science. The +argument against including the application of the +physical sciences to domestic methods in the +ordinary educational course of every girl, namely, +that she may not be called upon to keep a house +of her own, cannot be sustained; there are no +circumstances in which knowledge of the laws +which govern the health and well-being of human +beings can be useless. We all live in houses, +either our own or other people’s, and we are all +liable to disease and discomfort caused by the +faulty construction of the house or the unhealthy +practices of the inmates.</p> +<h3>THE AIM AND METHODS OF MODERN +EDUCATION</h3> +<p>The aim of education is to enable a person to +act wisely in every emergency of life whatever his +particular calling may be, but it is hardly possible to +act wisely without some knowledge of the relation +between cause and effect. This is true whether +we are engaged in the practical affairs of life, in +the pursuit of knowledge, or in the effort to extend +knowledge by research. It is sometimes argued +that a woman of trained intellect can easily acquire +the art of housekeeping, and this is no doubt +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span> +the case if we limit the art to the choice and +supervision of competent domestics, but there can +be no doubt that there are many women of trained +intellect who not only suffer themselves but entail +suffering on others from inability to discern +good housekeeping, in our sense of the word, from +bad. It must be remembered that courses of +education should be framed for the training of +unmethodical and unpractical minds, which may +and often do accompany the highest forms of intellect, +as well as for those of a naturally orderly and +practical bent.</p> +<p>We all consciously or unconsciously make use of +the facts of science: we do not send eggs by parcel +post merely placed in a box, we do not even send +one egg in a box that exactly fits it, we are careful +to surround each egg with soft paper or some +other elastic material in sufficient quantity to distribute +the effects of the blows that we know the +box will be subjected to in the post, so that the +eggs may not be broken; if we place a tray of +china on a table, we are careful that it should not +project beyond the table so as to fall when we let +it go; we do not pour hot water into cut-glass +tumblers, and we do not mix effervescing drinks +in wine-glasses. We should call a person ignorant +who was unaware of the probable results of doing +the things enumerated above; but if the accidents +following want of knowledge were always so simple, +ignorance would not be a matter of much importance, +and we might be willing to let our girls learn +by experience. Unfortunately, the neglect of a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +scientific law has led in the past, and may lead in +the future, to much more serious, even fatal results, +and Solomon has applied a not very complimentary +epithet to those who have wisdom forced +upon them by involuntary experience. It is to +the publication of statistics which show the alarming +spread of such diseases as consumption and +the terrible waste of infant life, that we owe the +awakening of the public mind to the need for +systematic training in science and scientific +method.</p> +<h3>THE VALUE OF A SCIENTIFIC TRAINING</h3> +<p>Scientific method seeks to establish relations +between isolated facts or phenomena, and the +relation generally takes the form of cause and +effect; so that persons with a scientific training +are accustomed to examine the grounds for considering +this relation of cause and effect in circumstances +which are selected with a view to +exhibiting the reality of the relation. From that +training it becomes possible for them, when confronted +with circumstances presenting some difficulty, +to form a better opinion as to what is the +cause of the difficulty than they could if they +were confronted with the same difficulty without +the previous training. Any attentive observer of +human nature will be struck by the fact that +every person is accustomed to refer every event +to some cause; if it is an illness, the occasion for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +contracting the illness is defined; if it is any unforeseen +event in the domestic economy, a reason +is nearly always forthcoming; the question which +the housewife is called upon to decide is whether +the reason offered is a real and sufficient one. +Meteorologists tell a familiar story of an Indian +nabob who found that there was a deposit of moisture +on the outside of his tumbler of brandy and +water, and tasting it with his finger, remarked it +was very curious that the water came through the +glass but the brandy did not. Plenty of reasons +offered for domestic incidents have no better +ground of fact than the nabob’s opinion that the +water came through the glass.</p> +<p>A good deal of the comfort of a modern house +turns upon a right judgment as regards cause and +effect, and therefore some preparation which will fit +the housewife to appreciate the rights and wrongs of +domestic reasoning is an indispensable qualification +for success. It is not always possible for the most +profound student to offer offhand the true explanation +of various facts of domestic life, but it is +possible to approach the consideration of these +questions with some hope of deciding whether the +explanation offered is a true or a fictitious one. +The ability for this is largely a question of habit +of mind or training; and for our purpose the +training must include those departments of knowledge, +the laws of which find daily expression in +the manifold experiences of domestic life. The +ultimate foundation for these laws is to be found +in the study of Physics, which deals with those +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +changes in the state of matter which stop short of +the alteration of its composition; of Chemistry, +which deals with changes involving an alteration +of the composition of the substances under consideration; +and of Physiology, which is the identification +of the processes which take place in living +animals and plants and their relation to the laws +of physics and chemistry. Without a knowledge +of the fundamental principles of these sciences +and of the methods by which those principles are +established, it is not to be expected that any person +can deal adequately with the common experiences +of life.</p> +<p>It is true that experience, if it is sufficiently +extensive and prolonged, may lead to the formulation +of a set of practical rules that will carry a +housewife through the ordinary household round +without discredit, but the question which we have +to put to ourselves is whether, by organising and +directing the experience, success may not be made +certain and more instructive. In these days +domestic life is more complicated than it used to +be; at the same time experience is in a sense more +restricted. Many of the instructive processes, +practical experience in which conveyed valuable +if unconscious scientific training, are now conducted +on a large scale, and are outside the range +of domestic duties, and the housewife has to supply, +by special training in scientific principles, the +judgment that in days gone by was acquired as a +matter of habit.</p> +<p>It is impossible in the short space of a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span> +single article to set out the details of a systematic +course of training sufficient to fit the housewife to +use her judgment wisely in circumstances which +require a knowledge of the principles of the +fundamental physical sciences. The most that we +can attempt is to give a few examples which illustrate +the application of the principles of physics +and chemistry. Our purpose in doing so is to +suggest illustrations which appeal to every householder, +and may create a desire for fuller knowledge +rather than to supply a course of instruction. +What we aim at is not to provide the equipment +of scientific training, but to show that the scientific +habit of mind will find opportunities for useful +employment in many of the most ordinary affairs +of life. The problems that present themselves +in the course of experience are sometimes difficult +and intricate; patience and careful observation +as well as knowledge are required for their +solution. Sometimes this solution is beyond the +immediate resources of those concerned, and it is +a part of scientific training to recognise when this +is the case, so that effort and money may not be +wasted in endeavours which are foredoomed to +failure. We may cite a case in point where an extra +bell was desired in a system of electric bells in a +flat at a time when electric installations in private +houses were somewhat rare, and workmen with +any knowledge beyond that necessary for carrying +out instructions were not easily found. To the +confusion of the tenant, the introduction of this +extra bell caused all the bells in the flat to strike +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span> +work. A mathematical lecturer living in the same +building was consulted, and opined that the battery +of two somewhat small-looking cells was insufficient, +so he obtained and added a larger cell, but +the bells were obdurate and did not resume work. +A lady with knowledge of physics examined the +installations and discovered that the wire connections +as altered were entirely wrong and did not +connect the bells to the battery. A plan of the +correct connections was shown to the workman, +who a few days later reported that now all the +bells rang at once, and he had had to disconnect +the battery! He produced a sketch of the connections +he had made, and on his error being +pointed out he was able to rectify it, and the bells +answered to touch without the use of the extra +cell. Generally speaking, a failure on the part of +electric bells is corrected by filling up the cells +which compose the battery with water, an operation +which any one may undertake.</p> +<p>It is not safe, however, for an inexperienced +person to interfere with electric light fittings +further than to remove a worn-out lamp and place +a new one in the socket, and even this operation +may be attended with disaster. A young friend +of ours who was taking part in some private +theatricals obtained the loan of a row of electric +footlights. It did not occur to any one concerned +to ask the voltage of the lamps or of the current +to which they were to be applied. When the +footlights were turned up they blazed for a brief +period, and then every light in the house went +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +out! Electrical science for the housewife has +been resolved into a knowledge of electric terms +and of a few practical rules useful and interesting +in themselves, but not immediately suitable for +our purpose of showing how scientific study may +aid the housewife in her daily routine.</p> +<h3>PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD</h3> +<p>We may for this purpose examine some of +the laws of common physical and chemical phenomena, +neglect of which has resulted in much +needless discomfort in daily life, and even more +serious consequences. For instance, the laws of +expansion of gases and liquids with heat, and their +subsequent behaviour, are phenomena that are +often imperfectly realised. There is probably no +person who is unacquainted with the law of gravitation, +but there are many persons who accept +literally the statements that smoke rises and that +balloons ascend. A clear understanding of what +actually takes place when gases and material +masses appear to move in opposition to the law +of gravitation is essential to any scheme for warming +and ventilating the house.</p> +<p>A very simple experiment will serve to reconcile +the apparent contradiction of the universal law by +the observed fact. Suppose we have two fluids, +oil and water, of which oil is, bulk for bulk, lighter +than water. If the oil be poured into a glass +beaker, it will be seen to rest at the bottom of the +beaker; if water be now poured into the same +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span> +beaker the water will go to the bottom of the +beaker and will displace the oil and lift it up so +that the oil will float on the water; the oil may +be lifted to any height we please if sufficient water +be poured in to lift it to that height. If a single +drop of oil be introduced into the water by means +of a pipette and be liberated at the bottom of the +beaker the water will close in under it, and lift +it up to the surface. In both cases the oil “rises” +through the water. Oil, however, has no tendency +to “rise” by itself, and in this case it lay motionless +until it was lifted by the heavier fluid. We +may use colloquial language when describing +phenomena if we bear in mind what is really +taking place.</p> +<p>A balloon “rising” through the air is exactly +analogous to the drop of oil in the water. The +balloon is, bulk for bulk, lighter than air; the air +therefore closes in under it and lifts it just as the +water lifted the bubble of oil.</p> +<h3>EFFECTS OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE +ON AIR</h3> +<p>Let us apply this to air. Air when warmed +expands, and therefore warm air is, bulk for bulk, +lighter than cold air. Warm air behaves in the +presence of cold air as the balloon: it is displaced +and lifted by the cold air, the result being an +ascending stream of warm air, which is called a +convection current.</p> +<p>The movement of ascending smoke is essentially +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span> +the same as that of the warmed air. Smoke +is warm air made visible by the particles of soot +with which it is laden. The particles of soot +would fall to the ground except that they are +carried upwards in the stream of warm air. +Dr. W. N. Shaw has called attention to the importance +of these phenomena in his book on “Air +Currents and the Laws of Ventilation,” in the +Cambridge Series of Physical Text-books. He +there says: “The dominant physical law in the +ventilated space is the law of convection. It is +at once the condition of success and the cause of +most failures. Without convection, ventilation +would be impossible; in consequence of convection, +nearly all schemes of ventilation fail.</p> +<p>“The law of convection is the law according to +which warmed air rises and cooled air sinks in +the surrounding air. Its applications are truly +ubiquitous. Every surface, <i>e.g.</i> a warm wall, or +a person warmer than the air in the immediate +neighbourhood, causes an upward current; every +surface colder than the air in contact with it +causes a downward current.</p> +<p>“Ventilation would be much easier if warmed air +or cooled air could be carried along at any height +required; but the law of convection is inexorable: +warmed air naturally finds the ceiling, cooled air +the floor.”</p> +<p>It is true that the ventilation of a house is +generally considered to be the business of the +builder and architect, yet there are many unpleasant +phenomena that come under the observation +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span> +of the housewife which are due to this law +of convection, and it will be useful to consider a +few of them.</p> +<p>Let us take first the universal annoyance to +housewives caused by the sight of <i>dirt on the ceiling</i>. +That all air is full of dust is seen when a stream +of sunlight crosses a room; the particles of dust +are then clearly perceived moving rapidly in all +directions in the air. These dust particles, when +air is at rest, constantly fall to the ground under +the action of gravity, and are deposited on shelves +and ledges, from which they have to be removed +daily by the housemaid. When air is warmed +and ascends it carries the dust particles with it, +and these particles striking against any cold surface +with which they come into contact stick to it. +This is the cause of the necessity for the periodical +sweeping of chimneys. The walls of the chimney +are colder than the smoke that comes into contact +with them, and the particles of soot in the smoke +striking against them are deposited on them. In +the house the effect of the bombardment of surfaces +by dust-laden streams of air is seen most conspicuously +over burning gas-lights. Burning gas +does not itself produce all the dirt which is found +on the ceiling above it, but it causes upward streams +of hot air, which carry up the dust and deposit it +on the ceiling. The practice of suspending a shade +over the gas-light does not lessen the amount of +dust and smoke in the air, but the shade serves to +spread out the air over a larger surface, and thus +to render the dirt on the ceiling less apparent. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +That the shade itself remains clean is due to the +fact that it gets hot. A heated surface promotes +the activity of the motion of the air-particles in its +neighbourhood, and by this local activity the dust +is repelled, so that a surface remains clean or +becomes coated according as it is more or less +hot than the invading current. The validity of +this explanation may be tested by holding a cold +spoon over a lighted candle when it will be seen +that the spoon becomes blackened; if a hot +spoon be substituted for the cold one it will +remain clean.</p> +<p>In order that the hot, vitiated air of a room +may escape easily, it has been in many cases the +custom to place an exit opening for it in the +chimney over the room fireplace. The wall in +the neighbourhood of this ventilator invariably +becomes black; but as this wall is warm it is not +probable that dust is deposited on it by the outgoing +air, the explanation given by the housewife +that the smoke from the chimney gets through +the ventilator into the room is probably correct, +though these ventilators are supplied with mica +flaps which should swing open when air from the +room strikes against them, and close when the +air from the chimney does so.</p> +<p>When a house is heated by hot-water pipes +and radiators, the walls over these pipes are another +source of trouble (Fig. 1). A good deal of +scientific ingenuity is required if the walls are +to be kept clean.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a> +</div> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +<img src='images/fig1.png' alt='' title='' width='366' height='500' /> +<br /> +<p class='caption'> +<span class='smcap'>Fig. 1.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> +<p>That some ceilings appear striped with broad +light and dark lines is due to inequalities in the +temperature of the ceiling. The light stripes are +under the joists, which prevent to some extent +the escape of heat from the ceiling, and the dark +correspond to the unprotected parts of the ceiling. +The dust rising from the room is slightly repelled +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +by the currents from the warmer parts of the +ceiling, and sticks more readily to the colder parts.</p> +<p>Let us take for our second example the apparently +trivial matter of <i>smells in the house</i>. +Smells may be of various kinds from various +causes. The best judge of the kind, and therefore +of the cause, is the nose. Suppose the smell to +be the common one in houses of all classes—the +smell of cookery! The smell of cookery in the +house is generally a winter phenomenon. The +air in an inhabited house is always in a state of +motion, induced by the inequalities of temperature +caused by the inhabitants themselves, and to a +greater extent by the fires, of which there will +certainly be one in the kitchen. We must remember +that cold air will get into the house +through all available openings, to take the place of +the air which supplies the fires. The most obvious +available openings in an ordinary dwelling-house +are the casual ones of the open chimneys of unused +grates, and the loosely fitting doors and +windows. In cold weather fires are lighted in +the sitting-room grates; these fires when lighted +should warm the air in the chimneys above them +and cause an upward draught in the chimney. +Sometimes however the chimney will be found +to be occupied by a current of air coming down +to feed fires in other rooms, and so long as this +goes on the smoke from the newly lighted fire +comes into the room. The down-draught can +be stopped by opening a window to supply +sufficient cold air to counteract it, otherwise we +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span> +have to adopt special devices to make the smoke +go up the chimney in the first instance. Sometimes +a newspaper is burnt in the grate to give +the necessary amount of warm air, but this is a +dangerous practice by which the chimney may be +set on fire. Sometimes air is supplied by the +bellows. A newspaper is often held in front of +the grate so as to close the opening above the +fire and cause the cold air to pass through the +fire, thus promoting combustion and the supply of +hot air in the chimney. In any case, the warm +air of the fire is carried up the chimney by the +cold air of the room, and this cold air is drawn +from the casual openings already referred to. It +has been demonstrated by laboratory experiments +that the amount of draught in any chimney depends +on the height of the chimney and the fire +in its grate.</p> +<p>Smells are conveyed about a house by the flow +of air to feed the fires, and they nearly always find +their way from all parts of the house to the ground-floor +sitting-rooms when the doors are left open +and the fires are burning. On their way they +pass through passages and are therefore nearly +ubiquitous. The air of any room in the house is in +communication with that of every other room, and +it is only by the nature of the smell that we can +tell its probable source. There are people who +like when they open the bedroom door in the +morning to know that coffee and bacon await +them downstairs, or on coming into the house +from a cold winter’s walk to meet a “delicious +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span> +smell of Irish stew.” To other people all smell of +cookery is abhorrent, and they feel a sense of +irritation that their guests should on entering the +house be regaled with the odour of the preparation +of food. To many mistresses the only remedy +that suggests itself is a message to the cook, who +is powerless in the matter and returns an answer +that she is sorry, but that she doesn’t know why +there should be a smell of cooking upstairs as +there is none in the kitchen. A visit to the kitchen +will generally confirm the cook’s statement as to +that particular spot, but a considerable smell will +be encountered on the kitchen stairs. We may +inquire into the cause of this. The usual equipment +of the kitchen includes a closed range, supplemented +in many cases by a gas stove. The kitchen +fire draws a plentiful supply of air from casual +openings, and this air for the most part passes +with the smoke up such flues as are open. The +oven is provided with a ventilator, which carries +off the odour of baked or roasted meats. The +odour in the hot air over the closed range has no +escape except into the kitchen—the cook says +that ever so slight an opening in the top of the +range will prevent the oven from heating. This +odour-laden air therefore comes directly into the +kitchen, and being hot is directed to the ceiling, +thus escaping the cook who is in the draught of +the fresh air supply. Travelling along the ceiling +the hot air passes through the opening at the top +of the door and mingles with the fresh air on its +way upstairs. The same thing happens when the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span> +gas stove is in use. The only remedy is to provide +some exit for the hot air of the kitchen which +will be more easily accessible than that by way of +the door, for the hot air will travel by the easiest +path. A considerable knowledge of science is +required to achieve this object.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a> +</div> +<img src='images/fig2.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='116' /> +<br /> +<p class='caption'> +<span class='smcap'>Fig. 2.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> +<p>Closely allied with the smell of cookery is <i>the +smell of the gas stove</i>. Many persons consider that +the use of a gas stove either in the kitchen or in +a bedroom is inseparable from the peculiar odour +of partially consumed gas. It may therefore be +useful to consider how the gas supplied to stoves +and incandescent lights differs from that of an +open gas fire or that of an ordinary burner. Gas +stoves and incandescent lights get their supply of +gas through what are known as Bunsen burners, +so called after the German chemist whose invention +they are. In an ordinary burner the gas +mixes with atmospheric air at the opening at which +it burns; the supply of air obtained in this way +is insufficient for complete combustion until the +outer layers are reached; the interior part of the +flame is bright and smoky. In the Bunsen burner +the gas issues from the main through a nozzle +which opens inside a bulb. The bulb is perforated +to allow of the ingress of atmospheric air; the gas +and air mix in the tube which is a prolongation +of the bulb, and the mixture is lighted at the top +of the tube. Fig. 2 shows a representation of the +Bunsen burner as applied to a gas stove. In this +the gas escapes from the main at the nozzle <i>n</i>, +into a bulb of which the tube A is a prolongation, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span> +air is admitted to the bulb at the openings +<i>a a</i>, and the mixed gas and air is burnt at the +openings in the tube A. The amount of air +supplied is regulated by the size of the openings +<i>a a</i> and the holes where the gas is lighted. The +gas thus supplied with air is completely consumed +where combustion begins, and a clear, blue, non-luminous +flame is the result. If the holes through +which the mixture of gas and air issues are partially +closed by rust or by accretions from the “boiling +over” of saucepans it is evident that, the gas +supply being unchanged, less air can be drawn +through them; consequently the gas will not be +entirely consumed, and acetylene +(C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>, +one of +the products of partially consumed coal gas) will +pass into the atmosphere and will give rise to the +peculiar odour associated with gas stoves. This +product of partially consumed gas is very poisonous, +and all gas stoves should be furnished with chimneys +to carry off the fumes to the open air. The +phenomenon known as “burning back,” that is, +the ignition of the gas at the nozzle in the bulb, +is caused by the pressure of gas being too small +for the supply of air. The gas should at once be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span> +turned out and relighted till it burns at the proper +places. The simple remedy for smell from a gas +stove is the cleansing of its burners, unless indeed +the kettle is too close to the holes from which the +gas issues for complete combustion to be possible.</p> +<p>There is another winter phenomenon which is +very disagreeable—the presence of <i>fog in the house</i>; +and the perplexed housewife asks, Where does the +fog get in when all outside doors and windows +are closed? We have already pointed out that +the sitting-room fires must have air, and that that +air will be drawn from casual openings. Among +these openings are the chimneys of fireless grates; +the greater part of the fog in the house comes +down these chimneys. On a foggy day it is wise +to close the chimneys of fireless grates and provide +some other opening for the supply of air; +but all air from the outside is full of fog. The +problem of how to let in air and keep out fog +suggests the question, What is fog? Fog consists +of material particles (dust or smoke) on which +vapour has condensed; if these particles can be +removed the air will be clear. The problem for +the housewife is how to free a sufficient quantity +of air from these particles.</p> +<p><i>A smell of gas</i> in any part of the house may be +very dangerous if no one on the premises has any +scientific knowledge, for it may be premised that +the escape of gas is not where the smell is first +perceived. Gas being lighter than air is carried +upwards, and the smell is at first above the place +of escape; it may even be in a room over where +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +the gas is escaping. The only safe detector of +the source of mischief is the nose; the mixture of +coal gas and atmospheric air is explosive, and no +light must be struck. The upper sash of the +window should be pulled down to allow the gas +to escape, and if the accident is at night time +must be allowed before searching for the source +of escape further than can be done by feeling the +taps in the dark or following the scent by the nose.</p> +<p>Further illustration of the effect of convection +currents in the air of a dwelling-house are needless, +but the student may profitably spend time +and thought in considering how fresh air may be +introduced into a room without causing cold air +to lie on the floor or hot, vitiated air to cling to +the ceiling. It is the old problem (with a difference) +of teaching a grandmother to suck an egg. +He may also interest himself in seeking answers +to the questions (1) What action is expected to +take place when a poker is placed against the bars +of a grate to make the fire draw? and (2) Does +the sun put the fire out, and if so how? In +connection with the expansion of air with heat he +may consider the popular fallacy that an inverted +empty pot in a pie keeps in the juice.</p> +<h3>EFFECT OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE +ON WATER</h3> +<p>Accidents have occurred in houses owing to +ignorance of the full effects of heating or cooling +water from its ordinary temperature. Water at +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +any ordinary temperature expands when subjected +to the action of heat; it contracts on cooling till +it reaches a temperature seven degrees above the +freezing point; from this temperature it expands +until it becomes a solid mass of ice. At still +lower temperatures ice contracts.</p> +<p>Let us consider first the effect of heating water. +If water at the ordinary temperature be poured +into a vessel which is placed on a fire or other +source of heat the water at the bottom of the +vessel will be warmed and will expand; it will +therefore be lighter, bulk for bulk, than the water +nearer the top of the vessel. The cold water will +therefore descend, and the warm water will +rise. All ordinary water contains air; presently +the air in the water will become visible as small +bubbles which rise to the surface of the water and +escape noiselessly into the atmosphere. As more +heat is applied some of the water in the bottom +of the vessel will be formed into steam, and +bubbles of steam will expand and rise into the +cooler water above and collapse there with a +rattling noise which is characteristic of the state +known as simmering. These bubbles of steam +rising and bursting aid the convection currents in +stirring and mixing the water so that it presently +becomes of even temperature throughout. When +this occurs the bubbles of steam rise to the +surface and burst explosively into the atmosphere, +throwing the water violently about; the water is +then boiling. It is an important point to remember +in cookery that boiling water will not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +become any hotter with the application of more +heat, but it will “boil away;” that is, it will be +completely converted into steam. The steam +resulting from any volume of water occupies a +space 1700 times that of the water from which +it is produced, but what concerns the housewife +most seriously is that the change of water into +steam is accompanied with the evolution of tremendous +mechanical force that will burst any vessel +in which the water is enclosed. It is the fact of +this tremendous exercise of mechanical force that +has led to serious accidents when hot-water +bottles have been put into the oven to keep warm. +It has been assumed by some people that if the +hot-water bottle be not completely filled, that if +what they consider to be sufficient room is left for +the expansion of the water, no harm can result +from putting the bottle into the oven, but no +arrangement can make such a course safe.</p> +<p>The bursting of the kitchen boiler is an accident +resulting from disregard of the phenomena +of heated water. It sometimes happens that the +hot-water supply of the various taps in the house +fails. If the boiler supplying the water is a hand-fed +one some one whose duty it was to fill it has +neglected that duty. An empty boiler with a +removable lid will do no harm, but it is not advisable +to leave it empty, as the heat of the fire will +destroy the iron of which it is made. No attempt, +however, should be made to fill the boiler while +it is hot, as the result of pouring cold water into +it will be the sudden and violent conversion of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +water into steam, and the person pouring in the +water will assuredly be scalded. If the boiler +be one that is filled automatically, one of two +things has probably occurred: either the pipes are +blocked by fur—that is to say by sediment from +the boiled water—or the supply-pipe is frozen. +In neither case is it safe to light the fire. If the +pipes are blocked by fur steam will be formed +in the boiler and it will burst; if the supply-pipe +is frozen the heat may thaw the ice, and the +inrush of cold water will at any rate crack the +boiler.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a> +</div> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +<img src='images/fig3.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='376' /> +<br /> +<p class='caption'> +<span class='smcap'>Fig. 3.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> +<p>When water expands with heating convection +currents are formed in it, and the hot water rises +to any height we please if cold water be available +to take its place. This law of convection is applied +to maintain a circulation of hot water in pipes +used for warming a house. The general arrangement +of such a system is shown in Fig. 3. The +furnace heats a boiler in the basement or on +the lowest storey of the house; HB and HL’ are +parallel vertical pipes connected with a horizontal +pipe H’H at the top of the house; C is a small +cold-water cistern which is furnished with a ball-tap +to maintain the supply of cold water to the +pipe H’L if any water is drawn off at any part of +the circuit. The short pipe A acts as a valve for +the escape of air from the pipes. The pipes H’L, +H’H, and HB are filled with water. When the +fire is lighted in the furnace, hot water is driven up +the pipe HB by cold water descending through +H’L, and this circulation goes on so long as a +difference of temperature is maintained in the +pipes; that is, so long as the fire is burning. Any +number of coils of pipes may be introduced into +the circuit between the boiler and the top of the +pipe HB. In filling the pipes with water allowance +is made in these coils for the expansion of +the water with heat and for the air which we have +seen escapes from heated water, and a tap is +fixed in each coil for letting out any air that may +have lodged in it. If free air remains in the pipes +the circulation of the water will be hindered and +the boiler may become dangerously overheated. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +It is therefore necessary when the heating apparatus +is in use to examine these taps and see +that water and not air escapes from them.</p> +<p>The installation of a heating apparatus in +middle-class houses is fairly common, and where +one is not found many persons use gas or oil +stoves in the passages in the winter, for it is now +realised that it is not possible to heat rooms by +means of open fires without creating cold draughts +in them from the cold passages into which they +open. And, moreover, the constant change of +temperature encountered in passing from one warm +room to another through cold passages is not +only disagreeable, but is not found to be conducive +to health.</p> +<p>Let us turn to the cooling of water. Water +expands about one-eleventh of its volume on +becoming ice. This change of state, like that of +change into steam, is accompanied by the evolution +of tremendous mechanical force. If water +freezes in pipes it bursts the pipes, and on a thaw +taking place the pipes are found to leak. The +appropriate remedy for this state of things is to +protect the pipes from cold or to empty them +when a frost is apprehended. In all properly +built houses there is a tap by means of which the +water supply can be cut off from the house, thus +allowing the pipes to be emptied on a frosty night. +The custom of leaving the taps dripping is effective, +because the pipe is generally liable to freeze +at some particular point where it is in immediate +contact with the cold air, probably in the unclosed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span> +chink where the pipe passes through the wall; +keeping the water moving in the pipe prevents any +part of it getting cold enough to freeze, but the +practice should not be resorted to, as it wastes +water.</p> +<h3>RADIANT HEAT</h3> +<div class='figright' style='width:66px'> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a> +</div> +<img src='images/fig4.png' alt='' title='' width='66' height='269' /> +<br /> +<p class='caption'> +<span class='smcap'>Fig. 4.</span>—Section of a Convex lens.<br /> +</p> +</div> +<p>It is pleasant on a dry, still day in winter, when +the ground is covered with crisp snow or glistens +with hard frost, to feel the warmth of the sun’s +rays, and it is becoming quite a fashion for people +of leisure to spend the winter months at the +pleasure resorts amid the snow-laden mountains +of Switzerland. It is a matter of some interest to +inquire how it happens that the sun’s rays are +warm when the thermometer tells us that the +temperature of the air is below freezing-point. +There is an old and pretty experiment in which a +burning glass is made of ice; it is not a difficult +thing to do. If the scale-pan of an ordinary +balance be made hot and be pressed +against a slice of ice (the concave +side of the scale-pan towards the +ice), first on one side of the slice +and then on the other, the ice can be +formed into a convex lens (Fig. 4). +If now this lens be placed in the +path of a sunbeam and the light +be brought to a focus, that is, to a +bright spot on a piece of paper, +the paper will be heated and will take fire while +the lens through which the heat passes remains +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span> +ice. From this we may surmise that the heat +of the sun does not affect the medium through +which it passes.</p> +<p>Clerk Maxwell suggested yet another experiment +in illustration of this law. By means of an ice +lens he collected the sunlight to a focus in the +middle of a basin of clear water, and observed +that no effect was discernible in the water. He +then directed the focus (the spot of light) on to +a mote in the water. The mote became hot, the +water was agitated, convection currents were +formed, and the mote was carried up in them. +This showed that rays of light from the sun do +not affect the substances through which they can +pass, and that they heat bodies through which +they do not pass. It has been demonstrated by +laboratory experiments that all hot bodies emit +rays of heat, whether we see the rays or not. +When we see the rays the bodies are said to be +red or white-hot. The process by which heat +passes from one body to another without warming +the intervening medium is called radiation. Radiation +takes place only through transparent bodies. +Rays of heat, like rays of light, pass through transparent +bodies; whereas they are absorbed by, that +is they make hot, opaque bodies. Heat rays travel +in straight lines and are reflected from polished +surfaces; their intensity varies inversely as the +square of the distance of the object on which they +fall from their source. The heat of an ordinary +fire is radiant heat; when we sit round the fire we +act as opaque bodies and absorb the heat, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +are what we call scorched if the fire is very bright. +If we move away from the fire, still letting the same +firelight shine on us, we are not scorched; this +is because the heating power of the rays varies +inversely as the distance from their source, therefore +if we move away double the distance we +receive one quarter of the heat that we received +before we moved. If we draw our chairs to one +side we are not scorched, because the rays of heat +do not travel round a corner.</p> +<h3>CONDUCTION OF HEAT</h3> +<p>We have seen that the ice-lens was not affected +by the passage of heat through it. If we now take +hold of the lens we shall experience a feeling of +cold, and the lens will begin to melt. Heat has +passed from our hand into the ice. The process +by which heat passes from one body to another in +contact with it is called conduction. The fundamental +law of conduction is, that heat always +passes from a warm body to a cold one. Clerk +Maxwell illustrated this law in a series of very +simple experiments. He placed a silver teaspoon +in a cup of hot tea, and noted that the handle +became warm gradually from the hot tea; the +heat passed from the bowl of the spoon in the +tea to successive parts of the handle until the +whole spoon was hot. His second experiment +was to put two cold spoons, one of silver and one +of German silver, into the tea, when he found that +the same phenomenon took place, but that the silver +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +spoon became hot much more quickly than did +the German silver one. He then put three spoons +into the tea, made respectively of silver, of German +silver, and of bone. In the result, he found that +when the other two were hot, the bone spoon +hardly showed any sign of heat at the end of its +handle.</p> +<p>The conclusion to be drawn from these experiments +is that heat passes at different rates through +different substances. Substances through which +heat passes quickly are called good conductors +of heat. The law of the conductivity of heat is +that in a homogeneous body the flow is continuous, +and is from the region of high temperature +to the region of low temperature, and that it +continues until the body is of uniform temperature +throughout. The law is the same for bodies +of different materials when in contact one with +another.</p> +<p>The conduction of heat is in operation in every +department of domestic life. People live in houses +and are clothed to protect them from the vicissitudes +of the weather, including the cold of winter +and the heat of summer; use is made of the +phenomenon in warming the house and in the +preparation of food.</p> +<p>In selecting materials for various purposes, +account has to be taken of their conductivities, +for in some cases it is desirable that the transfer +of heat should take place slowly, and in others +that it should take place quickly. It might be +thought that the conductivity of a substance could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span> +be estimated by touch, but a little reflection +will show that this cannot be the case. The flow +of heat between two bodies depends upon the +difference of temperature between them, and if +there should be no difference of temperature +between them at the moment of touch there will +be no flow of heat, though both are bodies of +greater or less conductivity. Let us take, for +example of the uncertainty of estimation by touch, +a well-known experiment. Suppose we have a +basin of hot water and a basin of cold water, and +place a hand in each for a few moments; suppose +we withdraw the hands and plunge them into a +basin of tepid water, we shall find that the tepid +water feels cold to the hand that was in the hot +water and warm to the hand that was in the cold +water.</p> +<p>Luckily, it has been found possible in the +laboratory to refer substances to a common +standard and to assign numerical values to them +in order of their conductivities, so that substances +can be compared and a selection made for any +desired purpose. Pure silver has the highest +conductivity; other useful materials take the following +order: copper, zinc, lead, iron, steel, marble, +glass, brick, slate, wood, fur, cotton, flannel, water, +air. Fur and wool no doubt owe much of their +warmth to the fact that they consist of fibres +which enclose a good deal of air, but as a matter +of fact the warmth of loosely woven woollen and +knitted articles in general is often overrated; they +are very warm as under garments or in calm +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +weather, but in windy weather the air in them +is rapidly changed and the cold seems to blow +through them. If for any purpose we select a +material from its place in a table of comparative +conductivities, and use it without reference to the +law of conduction of heat, we shall probably be +disappointed with the result. We know that +cotton burns easily; if we stretch a cotton handkerchief +over the back of a gold watch and place +a red-hot cinder from the fire on the handkerchief +on the watch, the handkerchief will not be burnt.</p> +<p>Many interesting problems present themselves +when a house has to be built or rented. There +is often opportunity for some choice of material +in walls or roof, and some peculiarities to be +considered. Are the top rooms of a thatched +cottage warmer or colder than the top rooms of a +house covered with slates? Is a wooden or an +iron building warmer? What difference does it +make if the iron building is lined with wood? If +the iron walls were twice as thick, what would be +the effect inside the room? Would the walls of +such a building be always dry inside? It sometimes +happens that the end wall of a row of houses +is covered with slates to preserve it from the +effects of storms of wind and rain; will that inside +wall be always dry?</p> +<p>But the housewife is probably more interested +in those articles in use in the house which it is +her business to provide. Shall the stoves be of +slate or iron? In olden days warming-pans were +made of copper. What change in the manner of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span> +use justifies making them of earthenware or India-rubber? +The slow transmission of heat through +thick woollen materials has been applied to the +construction of Norwegian cooking-stoves (Fig. 5). +These stoves consist of +a wooden box, lined +with well-padded felt. +The cooking vessels are +of metal; the food when +at boiling point is placed +in these vessels and +the lids put on, a thick +padded felt is placed +on the vessels and entirely +fills the wooden +lid of the box which is +then closed; the heat +is preserved so that the +cooking is continued +without further attention. +Would it be possible to use the Norwegian +stove as a refrigerator? Would it keep an ice +pudding cold without any alteration? In connection +with this we may ask why freezing machines +have the inner vessel in which the freezing takes +place of zinc, and the outer vessel which contains +the ice and salt of wood? What would be the +effect of interchanging the materials?</p> +<div class='figright' style='width:256px'> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a> +</div> +<img src='images/fig5.png' alt='' title='' width='256' height='340' /> +<br /> +<p class='caption'> +<span class='smcap'>Fig. 5.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> +<p>It is possible that the excellence of some continental +cookery is due to the extensive use on the +continent of earthenware cooking utensils through +which heat passes very slowly. The growing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +fashion of using enamelled cooking vessels must +have some effect on the food cooked in them as +heat certainly passes quickly through them. Reference +has been made to them simply to demonstrate +the universality of the application of physical +laws, and we may now return to the house and its +arrangement for the comfort of the inmates.</p> +<h3>METHODS OF DOMESTIC HEATING</h3> +<p>The two methods of warming a house are by +radiation and conduction. We may surmise that +in any case both methods will be in use, but the one +will predominate; for instance, in heating by an +open fire radiation will predominate, and in heating +by stoves and radiators conduction will +predominate. In planning a house a decision +must be made between the two. This decision +being made there is the further consideration of +where the source of heat shall be placed. In the +case of an open fireplace shall it be in an end +wall, in a corner, in an outside wall, and so on, +the object being to make the greatest possible use +of the heat that passes up the chimney and of +that which radiates into the room. The same +consideration must be paid to the situation of the +closed stove; where will it pass heat by conduction +to the greatest volume of air, and where can +its radiant heat be utilised?</p> +<p>In a room heated by a stove there is frequently +a vessel of water placed by or on the top of the +stove. If we ask what is the purpose of this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span> +water we shall be told that the stove dries the +air in the room. Now, it is impossible that the +heat of the stove should remove any moisture +from the air; we must therefore seek an answer to +the question, What is dry air? The sensation of +the dryness or moisture of the air does not +depend only upon the amount of vapour in the +air but upon the ratio of the amount present to +the amount that the air is able to hold at the +given temperature. The warmer the air is the +more vapour it can hold, hence when the air is +warmed the percentage of water present to the +possible amount in it is lowered; that is its +humidity, which is the percentage amount, is +lowered, and we feel it to be dry. The question +may arise why we should feel this when the room +is heated by a stove and not when it is heated by +an open fire? It may be that in a room with an +open fire we are warmed by radiation and give +out heat to the surrounding air which is constantly +changed by convection currents, so that the +air we breathe is colder than we ourselves; and +that in a room warmed by a stove we receive heat +from the air and are constantly breathing air that +is warmer than we ourselves. But it is more than +probable that the custom of providing a source of +moisture to the air persists from the suggestion of a +single person in seeking to relieve the disagreeable +feeling attending the breathing of air laden with +the poisonous products of half-consumed gas, +and that it has no real scientific foundation.</p> +<p><i>How to estimate temperatures.</i>—Whatever method +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span> +is adopted for warming a room, the housewife may +be assured that the resulting temperature will not be +pleasing to every member of the family. One will +find it too warm, and another will at the same +time find it too cold, and this not from any wilful +captiousness but from the cause that we have +already alluded to, that the feelings are a very +uncertain test of temperature. It is therefore +advisable to keep the air of the room as far as +possible at a standard temperature. To do this it +will be necessary to have a thermometer in the +room, and to know what its readings indicate. +When the thermometer registers 32° Fahr. or +less, water will freeze in the room, and the vessels +in which it is kept will burst; it is therefore wise, +when it is anticipated that the temperature will +fall below 32° Fahr., to empty the ewers and +bottles that may be in the room. From 32° Fahr. +to 40° Fahr. the room will be very cold, up to +and including 58° Fahr. it will be too cold to be +pleasant; the standard temperature may be taken +as between 62° and 64° Fahr.</p> +<p>It may appear a simple matter to hang up a +thermometer and read it, but a little thought will +show that it is not so easy as it seems. If, for +instance, the thermometer is placed in front of the +fire at a distance, say of four feet from it, what will +its reading indicate? Will it be the temperature +of the air of the room or the temperature of the +fire, or if neither, what will it be? Suppose we +have two identical thermometers, and hang them +on adjacent walls, one of which is an outside wall, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +which of the two readings shall we take as that of +the temperature of the room? It is not an easy +matter to decide. In a sick-room, where one +person’s comfort only has to be considered the +doctor will order the thermometer to be hung at +the bed-head, but we cannot adopt this plan in a +general sitting-room.</p> +<h3>CHEMICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD</h3> +<p>In our endeavour to establish the claims of +the science of chemistry to a prominent place +in the educational equipment of women, all reference +to those most interesting and important +chemical phenomena that accompany the exercise +of the physiological functions will be omitted; +as also those which are most immediately concerned +with the preparation of food. Attention +will be confined to some of the common occurrences +of daily life, the methods of dealing with +which are typical of the method adopted in considering +more important and abstruse problems.</p> +<p>Perhaps one of the most disappointing experiences +of the novice in housekeeping is the +rapidity with which everything assumes a shabby +aspect. Bright paint grows dull, dull paint wears +away, curtains and fabrics fade, and very soon +mistress and maids alike feel that the house no +longer repays the trouble incurred in the spring-cleaning +that it must still undergo. This spring-cleaning, +the primary object of which is the +preservation of the beauty and substance of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +house and its appointments, is in the result the +cause of much of their deterioration.</p> +<p>Cleaning consists in removing dirt by means +that are partly physical and partly chemical; for +instance, the removal of dust by sweeping, shaking, +or brushing is a physical operation, and the removal +of dirt and grease by dissolving them in +soapy water involves their change by a chemical +process. If the surfaces or materials to be +cleaned include a substance on which the cleansing +agent can operate the agent will not confine +its work to the removal of the dirt only; in washing +coloured fabrics we know how often the colour +comes out with the dirt. Knowledge therefore, +not only of the composition and properties of +cleansing agents, but also of the surfaces and +materials to which they are to be applied, is +essential, and we should find that it is not always +the powder or paste which makes the greatest +show of cleanliness in the shortest time, with least +expenditure of labour, that is the most to be +desired.</p> +<p><i>The use of alkalies.</i>—The most common cleansing +agents are hot water, soap, and soda. Hot +water is itself a detergent; that is, it has the power +of dissolving dirt. It does not, however, dissolve +grease, and all household dirt is more or less +greasy, hence we cannot do our cleansing with +water only, and we are accustomed to add to it +soap or soda.</p> +<p>It is not easy or even possible to discuss the +chemical properties of substances without the use +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span> +of chemical terms. Substances are classified for +chemical purposes in groups, every member of +which exhibits the same chemical property, and +we shall require to distinguish between the group +called acids and the group called alkalies. It +will be sufficient for our purpose just now to +know that acids have a sour taste and that alkalies +counteract acids. From this definition lemon-juice +will easily be recognised as an acid. If +we add soda to lemon-juice there will be a brisk +effervescence and the lemon-juice will no longer +be sour, hence soda is an alkali. Alkalies have +another well-known chemical property—they dissolve +grease and oil and enable them to mix with +water. If we have some hot water in a tumbler +and pour oil into it the oil will float on the water, +and if we stir the two together the oil will break +into globules but will still float on the water; we +cannot mix them together. If we dissolve some +soda in hot water and pour in oil we shall find +on stirring that the mixture becomes milky or +soapy in appearance and the oil and water are no +longer discernible as different fluids. Moreover, on +standing the oil will not again separate from the +water; it has been emulsified. Oils themselves +have the chemical power of dissolving resins. +Resins are hard, bright vegetable gums which will +come under our notice when we consider the +composition of varnishes.</p> +<p>All hard soaps are made from soda, grease, and +resin; the cheaper soaps contain free soda, the +dearer ones contain an excess of fat. Yellow +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span> +scrubbing soap contains about eight per cent. of +free soda. Both soap and soda can be dissolved +in water, and are so dissolved for cleaning +purposes. Knowing the constituents of our +cleansing agents, we can consider their action on +paint and varnish. Paint contains white-lead, +linseed-oil, and colouring matter. It is not very +hard when dry and can be easily scratched with +the nail. Varnish is made from linseed-oil, resin, +and turpentine. When dry it should be very hard +and bright.</p> +<p>The whole of the painted woodwork of the +house is subjected to spring-cleaning whatever its +appearance with regard to dirt may be. The +operator throws into a pailful of hot water a +“handful” of soda, soaks a scrubbing-brush in +the mixture, rubs it well with soap, and uses it to +brush the somewhat soft paint or harder varnish. +The soda and soap, aided by the heat, soften the +paint and the brush removes a quantity equal to +about a coat of paint. The effect is certainly pleasing +for the time being, but there will be no difficulty +in understanding that the process can only be +repeated until the paint and varnish grow shabby +or disappear.</p> +<p>It is not wise for the inexpert housewife to trust +to unscientific friends for advice as to the best +materials to use when cleaning paint. A foreman +painter once gave, as a recipe for this purpose, an +instruction to add a tablespoonful of “salts of +tartar” to three-quarters of a pailful of water. +The result was a very rapid and complete removal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +of dirt from the paint, but the housewife, being +dissatisfied with the rather dull appearance of the +white varnish, stroked it with her finger and found +that it was covered with a fine white powder. +The maid’s assurance that this was all right and +only needed to be removed by dusting did not +satisfy her, and she began to wonder what chemical +action was to be expected from “salts of tartar.” +A first search for information revealed that salts +of tartar was an old name for “potassium carbonate,” +but the housewife knew no chemistry and +had never heard of potassium carbonate, so this +information was useless to her. She had, however, +had some scientific training and was not +satisfied to rest in ignorance. A search in a book +on elementary chemistry disclosed the further +truth that the commercial name for “potassium +carbonate” is pearlash! She then remembered +that being desirous at one time to remove the +paint from some oak carving said to be two +hundred years’ old, she had successfully used a +solution of pearlash painted on with a brush. The +paint when dry from the application had been +scraped off in long, tough ribbons. Of course the +mixture had been very much stronger than that +prescribed by the painter, but the effect had been +very much more apparent.</p> +<p>Acids and alkalies are to some extent responsible +for the fading of fabrics in the wash when +these fabrics owe their colour to vegetable dyes. +Acids turn vegetable blues red, alkalies turn vegetable +blues green and vegetable yellows brown. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +It is easy to illustrate this action of acids and +alkalies on vegetable colours. A blue liquid can +be obtained by boiling a red cabbage in water. If +we take two portions of this water and add any +acid, say lemon-juice, to one portion we shall +obtain a red liquid; if we add any alkali, say +soda, to the other portion we shall obtain a green +liquid. If we go a step further and add lemon-juice +to the green liquid and soda to the red liquid +we may approach very nearly to our original blue +liquid. These experiments suggest a remedy for the +change of colour in fabrics on washing with soda, +but the dyes most commonly used are not vegetable +dyes, and the fading of the fabrics is due to chemical +changes, into which we have no space to enter.</p> +<p>Strong acids and alkalies act as caustics; that is +they destroy fabrics. Continued washing in strong +soda and water not only tends to destroy, but +also spoils the appearance of all kinds of wearing +apparel and household linen. White silk and wool +at once become yellow on being washed with soap +that contains free soda, and linen is affected in the +same way though not to the same extent.</p> +<p>The widely advertised pastes and liquids for +cleaning metal-work, particularly brass, often +contain acids or alkalies that are injurious to +metals. If after cleaning there should be a green +deposit on brass or copper it will be wise to inquire +into the composition of such deposit, and +to discontinue the use of that paste or liquid. +When brass pans are used for boiling fruit for +jams, it is usual to rub them inside with a slice of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +lemon before putting in the fruit. A careful housewife +will consider the reason for this custom. +We remember once seeing a copper pan, that had +been provided for the preparation of oatmeal +porridge, with a band about an inch wide of +green crystals on the inside. Inquiry elicited that +the cook had thought it a convenient pan in which +to prepare the fish (salt haddock) for breakfast. +Ignorance of the chemical action of salt and acids +on metals may lead to very serious results. The +common name for the green deposit on brass +and copper is verdigris, and most people know +that verdigris is a poisonous compound; the difficulty +is that, not knowing its chemical composition, +they do not recognise verdigris when they see it. +The cook thought that the complaint made had reference +only to the misuse of the pan, and said that +it was quite easy to clean the green deposit off!</p> +<h3>THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BODY</h3> +<p>It is to the science of chemistry that we owe +our knowledge of the composition of the various +foodstuffs from which dietaries are selected, as +well as of the several parts of the human body +which relies for its sustenance on those dietaries. +But the adjustment of dietaries to the work they +have to do is a more complex problem than those +we have hitherto considered. We learn from the +science of physiology that the human body is a +laboratory in which certain juices are secreted for +the digestion of foods, and that in this laboratory +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span> +foods must be reduced to the consistency necessary +for their passage through animal membranes; +for it is by passage through membranes that the +nutritive parts of food find their way into the +general circulation of the blood which carries +them to all parts of the system. Very few foodstuffs +are available for use in their natural state, +and the majority of them are prepared for consumption +in the first place by more or less +elaborate processes included in the art of cookery. +When thus prepared they should be in a fit state +to undergo in the body the physical changes +comprised in mastication, and the chemical changes +associated with the process of digestion.</p> +<p>It might be surmised by the thoughtful parent +that as the child’s body lacks some of the external +features of the adult body, such as hair and teeth, +so there might, and probably would, be corresponding +lapses in the internal economy, and that +therefore the food prepared for the adult would +be, even in the smallest quantity, unsuited to the +child. Physiologists tell us that this is so, and in +particular that the secretions which in adult life are +called saliva and pancreatic juice and which have +the function of preparing starch for digestion, are +at this time scanty in amount and deficient in +chemical action. But these secretions are essential +for the digestion of starchy foods, and +chemists tell us that starch abounds in the vegetable +kingdom from which most of the food of +children is derived. It is therefore a matter of +some importance that every person in charge of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +an infant should have that amount of knowledge +of chemical reactions which is requisite to enable +them to detect whether a food does or does not +contain starch. A child fed entirely on starchy +foods suffers from malnutrition of so serious a +character that death may, and often does, ensue. +Even if other suitable food, such as modified milk, +be given, the internal economy of the child will be +seriously disturbed.</p> +<p>The names by which patent foods are advertised +are very often misleading to unscientific +persons, and invalids have suffered much from +the mistaken idea that jellies and meat extracts +are foods. Meat extracts have their use, but any +invalid fed on extract of beef only would die +sooner than one left with no food at all. The +reason for this can be learned from the knowledge +of the constituents of beef extracts and the +part they play in the human organism.</p> +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> +<p>If we have seemed to lay stress on the value +of a knowledge of the sciences of physics +and chemistry to the exclusion of the mention +of others, our justification of the fact is that +space is limited, and that we believe that physics +and chemistry underlie all the other sciences +and are of paramount importance to students of +all other subjects. In the sciences of biology, +physiology, botany, geology, &c., little advance +can be made without a knowledge of the fundamental +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +laws of nature. The physical laws control +movement, and the chemical laws control growth, +whether of animate or inanimate nature. Physical +and chemical phenomena are concerned in the +upheaval of rocks and mountains which govern +the contour of the continents of the world. These +contours influence climates and peoples; as the +contours change the people change. The dwellers +in the mountain regions differ in character from +the dwellers in valleys and plains; the inhabitants +of cold districts differ from the inhabitants of +warm districts; but it is people who make history, +and historians cannot afford to pass by natural +environments and natural laws.</p> +<p>If a foundation of the fundamental sciences be +laid at school the student can subsequently build +upon it the special science that is suited to his +career. It matters little what the calling in life of +any person may be; if he aim at success in that +calling he must acquaint himself with the laws by +which he has his being, and by which he must +perforce be guided in all his actions as well as in +his intercourse with his fellow-men.</p> +<p>The many avenues now open to women for +public work entail on them the responsibility of +fitting themselves for that work. They as much +as, if not more than, the housewife need to study +the sciences which treat of the safeguarding of +human life. As councillors dealing with sanitary +and building laws, as inspectors of workrooms, of +institutions, and of the conditions of child-life, they +owe it to themselves and to the community they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span> +serve not to undertake those duties without adequate +knowledge. Adequate knowledge must be +taken to mean scientific knowledge of those +matters of which, by offering themselves for such +appointments, they assume an expert knowledge. +It is an irony that scientific training should be +willingly and even eagerly acquired when it is a +question of qualifying for a salaried post for +work among strangers, and that a mother should +be content to bring to bear on the well-being and +lives of her own circle unscientific and amateur +experience.</p> +<p>We have only been able to touch the skirt of a +great subject, but our end will have been achieved +if we have succeeded in pointing the way for +a fuller realisation of the aims of earnest men +and women for the saving of child-life and the +mitigation of disease, and if we have shown how +great that subject is—how much too great for +anything but the most superficial treatment in a +single article.</p> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +<a name='THE_ECONOMIC_RELATIONS_OF_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MABEL_A' id='THE_ECONOMIC_RELATIONS_OF_THE_HOUSEHOLD_BY_MABEL_A'></a> +<h2>THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (Glasgow)</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></div> +<h3>I. INTRODUCTORY</h3> +<p>The household has been treated by economists +with curious negligence. The founder of political +economy showed so little insight into the real +nature of the work carried on there as to class +those whom he described as menial servants with +unproductive labourers.<a name='FNanchor_0013' id='FNanchor_0013'></a><a href='#Footnote_0013' class='fnanchor'>[13]</a> The later classical +economists have followed his lead. Marshall, it +is true, shows throughout his books an appreciation +of the position and responsibilities of the +housewife and the mother which is foreign to +most of his colleagues.<a name='FNanchor_0014' id='FNanchor_0014'></a><a href='#Footnote_0014' class='fnanchor'>[14]</a> But he has never attempted +to analyse the economic functions of the household, +or to show its varying relations to the rest +of the community; neither has he pointed out +the peculiar factors which differentiate the position +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span> +and remuneration of the women employed in +domestic activities from those of all other workers. +On the other hand, the more modern school of +economists, those who devote themselves to the +history of economic development in the past or +to the intensive study of special economic institutions +in the present, have equally failed to discuss +with any adequacy the organisation of the +household.</p> +<p>The economic historians describe with minuteness +the rise and fall of gilds and chartered companies, +the workings of different methods of +education and of poor relief in successive epochs. +They rarely indicate how the various forms of +industrial organisation translated themselves into +the domestic expenditure of the people. It would, +for instance, be very difficult to extract from the +pages of the economic historians an answer to the +question, “What were the conditions determining +the supply of domestic servants at the close of +the Middle Ages, in the eighteenth century and in +the nineteenth century respectively?” It is not +easy to answer definitely even simpler and more +fundamental questions than these. It is often +stated, for example, that the household arrangements +of the serfs on the mediæval manors were +rude and uncomfortable to the last degree,<a name='FNanchor_0015' id='FNanchor_0015'></a><a href='#Footnote_0015' class='fnanchor'>[15]</a> but it +is certain that this is not so universally true as has +been thought. Some at all events of the more +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +prosperous inhabitants of the manors possessed +household furniture and equipments of a kind +not inferior to the outfit of the casual labourer +to-day. Sheets, for example, are mentioned several +times in extant inventories. But much more investigation +than has yet been possible would be +necessary before it could be determined whether +these instances of a higher standard of comfort +are or are not exceptions to a general rule.</p> +<p>To take other instances of unsettled problems: +How was pottery made in the Middle Ages—by +travelling potters as in the East to-day, by gilds +of potters, or by the inhabitants of the manor +directly for their own use? Or again: When did +the custom of building houses to let on rent +first become general in England? It is clear +that the habit of living in rented houses has and +must have the most profound influence on family +life and national character. But so far, neither +from economic histories on the one hand nor from +histories of architecture on the other, have I been +able to obtain any reliable information on this +point.</p> +<p>When one turns to even more important +questions—such, for instance, as the industrial +position of women at different epochs—it is equally +difficult to obtain precise and detailed knowledge. +Without a very lengthy and elaborate investigation +of the extant original materials, many of them +scattered in municipal chambers in distant parts +of England, it would be quite impossible to say on +what terms women were admitted as members of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +the gilds and fraternities which extended over the +whole area of industrial life in the Middle Ages. +The character and organisation of the household +and the position of women in the Middle Ages +are subjects still practically untouched by the +economic historians.<a name='FNanchor_0016' id='FNanchor_0016'></a><a href='#Footnote_0016' class='fnanchor'>[16]</a></p> +<p>When we turn to modern times, a little more +material has been collected. There is an investigation +by the Board of Trade into the wages of +domestic servants, and a book on domestic service +by Professor Lucy Salmon of Vassar College. It +deals of course mainly with American conditions, +but cannot be neglected by any English student +of the economic relations of the household.</p> +<p>Humanitarianism has prompted studies more or +less elaborate of the dietaries and housing conditions +of the working classes, especially in towns,<a name='FNanchor_0017' id='FNanchor_0017'></a><a href='#Footnote_0017' class='fnanchor'>[17]</a> +but it would be idle to pretend that there has +been yet more than a beginning made of the task +of determining how for each class of the community +its share of the national income as stated +in money is translated into the necessaries, comforts, +and luxuries of life, into house-room, fuel, +food, cleanliness, clothing, insurance, domestic +service, recreation, and culture. The generalisations +available are of the most meagre description. +We can, for instance, say with tolerable certainty +that the agricultural labourer spends three-fourths +of his income on food, the town labourer two-thirds, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +the artisan a half, the middle-class man +from a third to a fourth; but there is practically +no reliable information with regard to very large +incomes, or to sums spent on clothing in <i>any</i> +section of the community.</p> +<p>Moreover, there is one class—large, growing in +importance, and an essential element in modern +civilisation—about whose domestic expenditure we +have no scientific knowledge at all. This is the +class which may be named “the routine brain-workers,” +the people who as clerks, book-keepers, +salesmen, typists, &c., are responsible for the +routine administration of modern commerce. +They have been compared to the nervous system, +for like that system in the animal body they serve +for the communication and the mechanical record +of the life of the community on its industrial side. +With them may be classed elementary school-teachers, +reporters, and the lower ranks of the +Civil Service, though I should not be prepared +to say that some of these—especially the teachers—ought +to be regarded as performing only routine +brain-work. But all these workers can be conveniently +studied together in that their labour is +carried on under somewhat similar conditions—it +is sedentary, highly regimented, exhausting to +the brain and nervous system, and is generally +remunerated by a fixed salary, &c. They earn +an income larger than that of the manual labourer, +but considerably less as a general rule than that +of the professional man. There is a total absence +of information as to the domestic expenditure of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span> +this class. It is sometimes declared that its less +well-paid members suffer as severely from poverty +as do sections of the working-class, and that the +poor clerk is really much more to be pitied than +the well-to-do trade unionist, the skilled manual +worker.</p> +<p>But no one has yet attempted to test the truth +of this view by the only scientific means, namely, +by the collection of precise details as to the +domestic expenditure of the routine brain-working +class, showing what sums are spent on house-room, +food, clothing, &c., and what kind of +accommodation is obtained for the money spent. +In short, the investigation of domestic expenditure +has never yet been carried out in a purely +scientific spirit solely for the sake of the resultant +knowledge. It has always been undertaken with +some special practical problem in view, and is +consequently always fragmentary and frequently +biassed.</p> +<p>Yet if it is important to know how the wealth +of the country is produced, it is of equal importance +to know how it is consumed, and that +whether the consumption takes the form of +porridge and flannelette for the child of a dock-labourer, +of drink and admission to a football +match for the miner or cotton-operative, or of +a gardener, and a holiday in Switzerland for the +hard-working doctor or stockbroker. Domestic +expenditure should be investigated as impartially +by the economist as are the variations of plants +or animals by the biologist. His one aim should +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +be the discovery and statement of truth, as complete +and as unbiassed as he can make it.</p> +<p>Hitherto, as I have said, this field of research +has remained comparatively untouched. +In the first place, economists have generally been +men, and have naturally devoted their energies +to the elucidation of the problems of industry +and business which concern men most closely. +Few women, on the other hand, have until recently +received any training in economics, and it has +never occurred to them that the familiar and +wearisome problems of the rent, the butcher’s bill, +and the children’s clothes, together with the difficulty +of finding a satisfactory cook, may have a +wider aspect than the narrow and personal one. +But even as it is, the few women who have distinguished +themselves in the sphere of economics +have in a note or a casual remark pointed out +distinctions between household management and +other branches of industry which cast a flood of +light on the whole subject. There is a paragraph +in the second volume of “Industrial Democracy”<a name='FNanchor_0018' id='FNanchor_0018'></a><a href='#Footnote_0018' class='fnanchor'>[18]</a> +which lays down the difference between +the underlying principles of business and of the +administration of the home in a few words which +might serve as the text for a volume. It is precisely +this difference, first clearly indicated by Mrs. +Webb, which constitutes the second ground for the +common neglect of this branch of economics. A +factory or a shop is run for profit; a household +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +simply to provide comfort and convenience for +its members. To put it in technical language, +in the world of industry we are concerned with +exchange values, but in the home with use values +alone. From this distinction, overlooked by +reason of its obviousness, there flow a large +number of consequences which will be discussed +later. At present we are only concerned to show +that economists, with their eyes fixed on trade and +the mechanism of trade, very naturally neglected +that section of life in which values, material and +immaterial, were being continually created, but +for use alone, not for commercial purposes.</p> +<p>The wife who cooks her husband’s dinner, or +caters, organises, and keeps accounts for him, is +really engaged in work which in any rational +interpretation of the word has far more right to +be called productive than is much of the labour +employed in manufacture or business. But the +work accomplished by the wife in the household +has never yet received its full acknowledgment +from the economists. The truth is that, although +they constantly warn students to avoid the vulgar +error of confusing money wages with real wages, +they themselves have been so biassed by the +commercial conception of profit-making that they +have almost completely overlooked even the purely +economic value of much work, such as cooking, +cleaning, and clothes-making, which is carried on +within the home, not for profit-making or for a +salary, but as part of the duties attaching to the +status of wife and mother. It is acknowledged +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +by the economists themselves<a name='FNanchor_0019' id='FNanchor_0019'></a><a href='#Footnote_0019' class='fnanchor'>[19]</a> that although in +theory they have set aside a section to be devoted +to the discussion of “consumption” as other +sections deal with “production” and “distribution” +of wealth, yet in practice the treatment of +consumption has been meagre and ineffective. +This, perhaps, is inevitable—it is certainly regrettable—and +women economists would be performing +a most useful work if they were to undertake +a careful and detailed investigation into the +consumption of wealth at different epochs and by +different classes of the community, and one, moreover, +for which their connection with housekeeping, +which is only the practical application of the +science of the consumption of wealth, would have +already partially prepared them.</p> +<p>There is still another reason why a scientific +treatment of the consumption of wealth has been +delayed. It could not be developed until medicine +and hygiene had provided us with satisfactory +standards of the needs of the human body. When +food, for example, was still regarded purely as a +matter of individual likes and dislikes, it was +impossible to discuss at all adequately the sufficiency +or insufficiency of the food consumption +of a given class. But now that we know that +the varying tastes simply express in different ways +the need for so much proteid, carbo-hydrates and +fats, we have a firm basis on which to work. It +is true that it is not yet quite so firm as we could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +wish; the scientists have not yet succeeded even for +a single class in fixing a dietary standard which +would be accepted by all in particular, and recently +the investigations of Professor Chittenden have +suggested that the amount of proteid hitherto +thought essential may be excessive. Moreover, little +attention has yet been paid to the need of different +food for different work. Yet it seems probable, +to say the least, that the sedentary worker, using +his brain and not his muscles, may require lighter +and daintier food than the labourer in the fields or +the docks, and may really suffer as seriously if +that better food be denied him as does the latter +if he fails to secure a sufficiency of coarser and +cheaper nutriment. This question would be of +great importance in investigating the expenditure +of the clerk class. But although the scientists have +here failed to provide the students of domestic +expenditure with all the data required, yet there +is sufficient knowledge of the general principles +of dietetics to enable us to base our study of food +consumption on a fairly sound basis.</p> +<p>In the same way a standard of housing accommodation +establishing the minimum of space per +head necessary for health is generally recognised; +and on these and similar calculations, correlated +with the cost of house-room and commodities, +it will be possible to build up a science of consumption +which will be really a science and not +a series of guesses and vague generalities.</p> +<p>It is true, again, that it is easier to deal with +the grades of society practising the roughest and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +least-skilled labour than with those engaged in +the higher forms of brain-work, but we can at +all events set ourselves to discover what <i>is</i> the +average distribution of the expenditure of men +earning £1000 a year, and can afterwards appeal +to the hygienists to decide for us what kind of +food, house-room, and recreation is essential for +a man who makes his living by the higher activities +of the intellect. A very close connection +between economics and hygiene is essential if the +division of our subject that deals with consumption +is to be adequately treated.</p> +<p>So, then, a scientific study of the economics of +the household would fall into two divisions—(1) +an endeavour to describe the industrial development +of each country as it affects family life, +house-room, food, and clothes; and (2) a descriptive +account of the domestic circumstances and +the expenditure<a name='FNanchor_0020' id='FNanchor_0020'></a><a href='#Footnote_0020' class='fnanchor'>[20]</a> of each class of the community +at the present time. Under each of these headings +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span> +special sections should treat domestic service, +the work of woman beyond the household, and +the organisation of household work as compared +with different branches of industry and +administration. Finally, a supplementary section +should set forth the practical applications of the +conclusions arrived at, and should endeavour to +help the housewife or, it may be, the superintendent +of an industrial school, college, or boarding +house in the administration of the income at +her disposal.</p> +<p>But much more careful investigation into the +question of how incomes actually are spent is essential +before we can deal satisfactorily with the even +more difficult problem of how they ought to be +spent. And there is, too, another factor which +must be taken into consideration. Economists in +defining wealth commonly admit nowadays that +it includes collective and immaterial well-being of +various kinds.<a name='FNanchor_0021' id='FNanchor_0021'></a><a href='#Footnote_0021' class='fnanchor'>[21]</a> But having made this admission, +they straightway put it aside and proceed to +discuss wealth as though it consisted exclusively +of material exchangeable commodities. Yet clearly +the real income of a family is increased if the +children have easy access to good free schools or +to ample open spaces. It will not be possible to +estimate precisely the money value of opportunities +of this description. But we should at least notice +their presence or absence for each class and for +each stage of national development. It is clear +that in the present paper no attempt can be made +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span> +to deal with the problems of the economics of +expenditure or of the household save in the +merest outline, and therefore the following pages +are to be taken simply as a sketch to be filled +in by more extensive and more throughgoing +investigation later on.</p> +<h3>II. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POSITION +OF THE HOUSEHOLD IN ENGLAND</h3> +<p>English industrial history has been divided +into three main epochs with intervening periods +of transition. These are (1) the mediæval period, +(2) the period extending from Elizabeth’s reign +to the reign of George III., and (3) the modern +period.</p> +<p>In the first, the typical economic institutions +are the manor and the gild; in the second, +domestic manufacture and convertible husbandry +are predominant; and in the third the factory +system and capitalist farming take their places.<a name='FNanchor_0022' id='FNanchor_0022'></a><a href='#Footnote_0022' class='fnanchor'>[22]</a> +Trade, too, undergoes a similar evolution. In the +first period it is intermunicipal rather than international. +In the second period, within each +nation trade is free and unfettered, and a considerable +amount of territorial division of labour +and regional specialisation results. But external +trade is regulated by governments on the principles +of the mercantile system. In the third period, +with the increase and improvement of the means +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span> +of communication, international trade becomes +more and more important, markets are immensely +widened, and the economic organisation of society +reaches the complexity possessed by it to-day, +which reacts in many half comprehended ways +on the household and on family life.</p> +<p>The main characteristics of these divisions of +English industrial history are, on the whole, clear +and well-marked. But the transition periods are +more difficult to describe. It has often been +pointed out that the two industrial revolutions, as +they have been named by some writers, bear a +certain resemblance to each other. Both involve +a reorganisation of industry which results in +increased productivity on the one hand, but in the +demoralisation of certain classes of the workers +on the other hand. Both therefore require a +revision of the system of providing for the destitute. +Both, too, produce the most far-reaching +effects on home-life and the economy of the +household, and influence profoundly the position +of women. Both, too, are alike in that it is not +easy to fix dates to the periods within which the +revolution in industry takes place.<a name='FNanchor_0023' id='FNanchor_0023'></a><a href='#Footnote_0023' class='fnanchor'>[23]</a> But roughly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span> +we may regard the late fifteenth century and the +early part of the sixteenth as a time of stress and +strain, due to the appearance of new methods both +in agriculture and in industry, especially in the +wool trade; and in the same way the end of +the eighteenth century and the beginning of the +nineteenth was a period of sudden and violent +economic transition. In both cases alike the changes +in agriculture preceded somewhat the changes +in industry, and the revolution made itself felt in +different ways and at different times in the various +districts of the country. There are still backward +areas in the south of England and in the west +of Scotland where life has been very little affected, +notwithstanding trains and steam-engines, by the +alterations in industry which have produced the +roaring mills and clattering shipyards of Lancashire +and the Clyde.</p> +<p>The task before us, then, is to sketch as clearly +as possible from the scanty material available the +main features of domestic life at each one of these +epochs, and to show how the changes in industry +reflected themselves in the life of the household.</p> +<h4>(<i>a</i>) <span class='smcap'>The Household in the Mediæval Period</span></h4> +<h5>(1) <i>The Serf—his Position and Domestic Arrangements</i></h5> +<p>In the mediæval period, outside the small and +scattered towns, the prevailing form of economic +organisation was the manor. We have to imagine +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span> +the surface of England dotted over with stretches +of cultivated land, with areas of waste, moorland +or woodland intervening. Each stretch of arable +land was cultivated more or less in common by +groups of serfs, who lived generally in one long +village street, with the church and the lord’s hall +near at hand. Usually, in addition to the arable +land worked on the complicated “three-field” +system soon to be described, there were also hay-meadows +down by the river, sometimes permanent +pasture held in common, while the waste was +available for extra pasturage, and for cutting turf +and wood for fuel. Each serf possessed, besides, +a small croft attached to his house, and sometimes +an orchard and rude garden. The arable land was +divided into three large fields, not shut in as are +our fields by hedges, but lying open. Each field, +again, was partitioned into numbers of strips more +or less regular in shape, and each serf possessed +a certain number of these, not, however, all lying +together, but intermixed “mingle-mangle” with +the holdings of his neighbours. He was not +allowed to cultivate these, or indeed any of the +land save his own tiny croft, as he pleased, but +was compelled to follow the traditional method of +farming according to the customs of his manor. +Usually the rotation was wheat or rye in the first +year, oats or barley in the second year, fallow in +the third year, while the other two fields followed +the same course a year and two years later; so +that in each year one field was fallow, one grew +wheat or rye, and the other oats or barley. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span> +animals belonging to the serfs and their lord were +pastured on the arable fields when the crops were +taken off, and on the fallow field. The lord of +the manor also possessed strips in the common +fields, and was regarded as the owner of the +common and waste, subject to the pasturage and +fuel rights of the tenants. He did not receive +rent quite as we understand it, but each serf owed +him dues calculated in labour, in kind, and occasionally +in money.</p> +<p>For instance, on the manor of Tidenham, in +the time of Edward I., one serf worked for the +lord for five days in every alternate week for thirty-five +weeks in the year, two and a half days every +week for six weeks in the summer, and three days +every week for eight weeks during August and +September (the three festival weeks of Easter, +Christmas, and Pentecost were holidays). Then, +in addition to this regular weekly work, he could +also be required for extra work, commonly called +boon-works or precariæ. “He made one precaria +called churched, and he ploughed and harrowed +a half acre for corn and sowed it with one bushel +of corn from his own seed, and in the time of +harvest he had to reap and bind and stack the +produce, receiving one sheaf for himself on account +of the half acre.” And he had to plough one acre +for oats. In addition, there were dues in kind—one +hen at Christmas, five eggs at Easter, eight gallons +of beer at every brewing, and also small payments +in money, commuted, one would conjecture, +for payments in kind, <i>i.e.</i> one penny for every +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +yearling pig, and one halfpenny for those only of +the half year.<a name='FNanchor_0024' id='FNanchor_0024'></a><a href='#Footnote_0024' class='fnanchor'>[24]</a></p> +<p>In other cases the tenants paid dues of lambs, +of fish, of honey, of clews of net yarn, of straw, +&c. One of the tenants of the great monastic +establishment at Glastonbury had to find thirty +salmon, “each as thick as a man’s fist at the tail.”<a name='FNanchor_0025' id='FNanchor_0025'></a><a href='#Footnote_0025' class='fnanchor'>[25]</a> +A curious form of labour due is described in +the Boldon Book. The tenants of certain +manors in Durham had to build each summer +a hunting-lodge for the bishop and his retinue +when they came to take their pleasure in the +moors in the west of Durham.</p> +<p>At different periods and in different districts +the subdivisions of the tenants vary greatly, and +for complete details the reader must be referred +to the special works on the subject. But two +classes can usually be distinguished—(1) the +villeins, who possessed oxen and worked the +larger holdings (often about thirty acres—called +virgates or yard lands); and (2) the cotters, +who held about five acres, and whose domestic +animals consisted of pigs and poultry. In +addition there were often found socmen, who +were personally free; and, at the other end of +the social scale, slaves, who, largely through the +influence of the Church, were manumitted before +the end of the Middle Ages.</p> +<p>The most striking feature about the manors is +that each was almost completely self-supporting. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +Each manor provided corn, meat, eggs, milk, +cheese, poultry, &c., for its own inhabitants. +Fuel, and perhaps game and rabbits, came from +the waste. The furniture was of rude wood, and +the clothes would be sheep-skin and coarse cloth +spun and woven from the wool grown on the +sheep that were fed on the manor lands. The +ordinary serf would very rarely either receive +or spend coin of the realm. Salt he would buy +and the metal pots and pans used for cooking, +and, as Ashley suggests, tar.<a name='FNanchor_0026' id='FNanchor_0026'></a><a href='#Footnote_0026' class='fnanchor'>[26]</a> But the greater +amount of the goods required for himself and +his family would be produced under what the +economists call “natural economy,” <i>i.e.</i> they were +made by the people who intended to use them, +directly, without the intervention of money or +any mechanism of exchange.</p> +<p>Together with this self-sufficiency would go +a considerable amount of co-operation. Economists +are not yet agreed as to the precise extent +to which co-operation was used in the manorial +village. But we know that tenants frequently +lent their oxen to one another to make up the +necessary team; that in some of the Durham +manors there was a communal smith, who received +payment in the possession of a strip of +land; and that the tenants owned a common +oven. It was customary, too, for one shepherd +or swineherd to guard the sheep or the pigs +of the whole community. The village mill, when +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span> +first established, was also a common boon to the +whole body of serfs, but later on the obligation +to grind their corn at the lord’s mill and to +pay the dues came to be regarded as an onerous +burden.</p> +<p>A curious and important person on the mediæval +estate was the bee-keeper. Particulars are +given of his duties and rewards in one Durham +manor by the Boldon Book.<a name='FNanchor_0027' id='FNanchor_0027'></a><a href='#Footnote_0027' class='fnanchor'>[27]</a> He does no +regular weekly work, the care of the bees +apparently taking the place of this, but he must +take part with the other serfs in the boon-works +necessary at harvest and other times of pressure. +As honey was almost the only source of sweetness +in early mediæval cooking, it can be understood +why the bee-keeper ranked only a little below +the shepherd. The Boldon Book, unfortunately, +since its aim is to define the relations between the +villeins and their lord, does not tell us whether +he superintended the bees belonging to his fellow +tenants. On the analogy of the shepherd and +swineherd, we should assume that he did.</p> +<p>How, then, are we to describe the domestic life +of the various sections of rural society at this +time? Unfortunately, very little material exists +on which to draw for the account of the household +arrangements of the serfs. They have naturally +left no account-books; they enter rarely +into the literature of the period; there are no +remains of their houses or clothing, and it is, in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +fact, far from easy to decide how they did live. +But it seems probable that a rude and dirty +plenty, procured by long hours of toilsome open-air +labour, was the prevailing characteristic of the +serf household. The house would be of clay or +wattles or wood, probably without windows—and +those certainly unglazed—and with a hole in the +middle of the roof to let out the smoke, the fire +being placed in the centre of the floor. The +furniture must have been rough but solid, its +most valuable items being the brass or iron +cooking-pots. On the other hand, I do not +believe that, in the more prosperous villein households +at all events, the level of domestic comfort +was so low as has sometimes been represented. +Rough cloth was probably woven or sometimes +bought. There is one case on record where, in +return for a small piece of land, one family undertook +to do the weaving for another, and Gasquet +mentions<a name='FNanchor_0028' id='FNanchor_0028'></a><a href='#Footnote_0028' class='fnanchor'>[28]</a> that to the common Christmas feast on +one of the Glastonbury manors some of the +tenants brought their own napkins, “if he wanted +to eat off a cloth.” I see no reason to doubt that +some at least of the villein households were provided +with coarse coverings for bed and table. +On the other hand, it seems doubtful whether any +form of artificial light was commonly used in the +poorer households. The food, too, would show +what to us would seem strange contrasts of plenty +and of poverty. It would include neither tea nor +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +coffee, neither sugar nor spices, nor yet potatoes. +On the other hand, there was probably, save at +times of famine, a sufficiency of bread,<a name='FNanchor_0029' id='FNanchor_0029'></a><a href='#Footnote_0029' class='fnanchor'>[29]</a> and eggs +and dairy produce would be used in quantities +now quite beyond the reach of the ordinary +working-man. The butter, it is true, was not of +a high standard, for it was usually liquid, but the +children must have had milk to drink and cheese +and eggs to eat. Even the poorest serfs apparently +kept a few fowls, since their dues are so +often payable in eggs, and some of the eggs and +the chickens would be available for family consumption. +But their meat must have been much +poorer than ours. Fresh mutton and beef were +rarely eaten, except in the case of animals who +had died a natural death. The others were much +too valuable for draught purposes, for milk or +for wool. Among the maxims of an old agriculturist +of the thirteenth century we find the +following remark: “If a sheep die suddenly, they +put the flesh in water for so many hours as are +between midday and three o’clock, and then hang +it up, and when the water is drained off they salt +it and then dry it. But I do not wish you to do +this.”<a name='FNanchor_0031' id='FNanchor_0031'></a><a href='#Footnote_0031' class='fnanchor'>[31]</a> In the autumn, animals which it was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span> +impossible to keep during the winter, owing to the +absence of root-feeding, were killed and salted down. +Occasionally, however, fresh pork would be used, +and no doubt every now and then a wild beast or +bird from the common or waste would find its +way into the housewife’s iron pot. The food, then, +would be rough and sometimes unwholesome, but +on the other hand it contained many most desirable +forms of nourishment which are absent from the +labourer’s diet to-day, and which are, it might be +observed, those specially suitable for children.<a name='FNanchor_0032' id='FNanchor_0032'></a><a href='#Footnote_0032' class='fnanchor'>[32]</a></p> +<p>The fuel used was wood or peat, or in some +cases dried cow-dung.</p> +<p>On the whole, then, the household arrangements +of the mediæval serf were primitive, and in times +of famine he and his family must have endured +great hardships. The winters, too, when the +tracks were deep in mud and artificial light was +absent or scarce, must have been recurring times +of considerable suffering. But on the other hand, +fresh air and easy access to the land were benefits +hardly valued until in later times they have been +lost to whole sections of the population.</p> +<h5>(2) <i>The Lord of the Manor—his House and +Household</i></h5> +<p>There is more material available for the description +of the household of the lord than of his serf. +Account-books, directions for household administration, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span> +and in the fifteenth century very curious +rhymed rules of behaviour and of precedence are +available. Naturally, however, it is of the king’s +household and of the households of the nobles +and of the great monasteries that we know most. +Very little can now be discovered of the details of +the domestic arrangements of the master in possession +of one manor only, and it is not certain that +we should be justified in supposing that what we +find to be true of the great household will necessarily +hold also for the smaller one. For example, +in the families of which we have records the great +majority of the servants are men, cooking in particular +being in the Middle Ages a masculine vocation. +But is it safe to assume that the same would +be the case in the household of a simple knight? +It must therefore be clearly understood that what +follows has reference mainly to royal and noble +families.</p> +<p>The domestic buildings of all manors were on +a more or less uniform plan. They were grouped +round a quadrangle, one side of which consisted +of the great hall where dinner was served, business +transacted, and where servants and the humbler +guests slept at night. The door was at one end, +usually protected by screens, behind which was +another door leading to the buttery, and above +which the musicians’ gallery was often placed. +Opposite the door was a raised daïs, where stood +the table reserved for the master, his family, and +important guests. In the body of the hall dinner +was served to the rest of the household. A private +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span> +chamber called the solar or bower, reached by a +staircase either inside the hall or placed in the +quadrangle outside, was kept for the special use of +the lord and his family. There occasionally they +took meals, though it was regarded as a sign of +luxurious self-seeking to avoid the formality and +bustle of the meals in the great hall. In the solar, +too, beds were placed for important guests, and +any particularly valuable articles of furniture +would be kept there. On the other sides of +the quadrangle were the chapel, granaries, storehouses, +dairies and bakehouses, and the kitchen. +This was often placed at a little distance to guard +against fire. The cooking was usually carried on +at an iron grate placed in the middle of the floor, +and pictures show us that sometimes it was even +done in the open air. Refuse was carried off by +an open drain running across the centre of the +kitchen.</p> +<p>As an illustration let me quote an account of a +typical manor-house of the twelfth century. “The +manor-house of Ardleigh consisted of a hall with +bower annexed. Also a kitchen, a stable, a bakehouse, +two stores for corn (granges) and a servants’ +house. In the hall were two moveable benches, +a fixed table, and a buffet.” <a name='FNanchor_0033' id='FNanchor_0033'></a><a href='#Footnote_0033' class='fnanchor'>[33]</a></p> +<p>In course of time other rooms were added, and +the furniture and equipment became more elaborate. +But until Elizabeth’s reign the great hall +where master and servants dined together was the +central feature in the wealthy English home.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span></div> +<p>The food was derived from the manor, and +purchases were only made of such things as could +not be produced in England, notably red wine,<a name='FNanchor_0034' id='FNanchor_0034'></a><a href='#Footnote_0034' class='fnanchor'>[34]</a> +spices, almonds and rice, all much used in mediæval +cookery. Sugar, too, would be bought, when it +replaced honey for sweetening purposes. But the +corn, meat, milk, cheese, and eggs would be all +home-grown, and as it was easier in the state of +transport at that time to bring the family to the +food than the food to the family, part of the duties +of housekeeping consisted in so arranging the +sojourn of the household as to draw food-supplies +from each manor in the most convenient way. +The great Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grossetête, +gives elaborate directions on this head to a widowed +friend of his, Margaret, Countess of Lincoln.</p> +<p>“Every year at Michaelmas when you know the +measure of all your corn, then arrange your sojourn +for the whole of that year and for how many +weeks in each place according to the seasons of the +year and the advantages of the country in flesh +and in fish, and do not in any wise burden by debt +or long residence the places where you sojourn.</p> +<p>“I advise that at two seasons of the year you +make your principal purchases, that is to say, your +wines, your wax, and your wardrobe.”<a name='FNanchor_0035' id='FNanchor_0035'></a><a href='#Footnote_0035' class='fnanchor'>[35]</a></p> +<p>And there follows a list of the fairs recommended +by the pious bishop.</p> +<p>The materials of mediæval food, then, would be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span> +similar to the diet of the serfs already described, +but would be used in greater plenty and would be +supplemented by luxuries imported from the East +and bought at the fairs. If we keep in mind these +conditions, as well as the leisure and the large +supply of labour available, we shall understand +why mediæval cooking was so elaborate; for, contrary +to ordinary opinion, it was distinguished by +a large number of complicated made dishes. +Small birds were commonly roasted, but other +forms of meat were stewed or minced. They +would in this way both be more easily dealt with +at the open fire of the mediæval kitchen, and more +easily served in the mediæval dining-room, where +knives and spoons were the only implements in +common use. Moreover, there was what seems to +us an extraordinary liking for violent and mixed +flavourings and brilliant colouring. Bucknade, +for instance, was made of meat hewn in gobbets, +pounded almonds, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, +ginger, onions, salt and fried herbs, thickened +with rice-flour and coloured yellow with saffron. +Here, again, is the recipe for mortrews, a dish +mentioned in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.”</p> +<p>“Take hennes and pork and seethe them together. +Take the flesh of the hennes and of the +pork and hack it small and grind it all to dust. +Take bread y-grated, and add thereto and temper +it with the self-broth<a name='FNanchor_0036' id='FNanchor_0036'></a><a href='#Footnote_0036' class='fnanchor'>[36]</a> and mix it with yolks of +eggs, and cast thereon powder fort,<a name='FNanchor_0037' id='FNanchor_0037'></a><a href='#Footnote_0037' class='fnanchor'>[37]</a> and boil it +and do thereto powder of ginger, saffron, and salt, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span> +and look that it is standing,<a name='FNanchor_0038' id='FNanchor_0038'></a><a href='#Footnote_0038' class='fnanchor'>[38]</a> and flour it all with +powder of ginger.” The lavish use of eggs, pork, +and chickens in this recipe could be paralleled in +many others, and is evidently to be connected with +the custom of receiving manorial dues in kind at +stated intervals. Hundreds of eggs would be sent +in by the tenants at Easter, and the problem of +the housekeeper would not be how to lessen +the consumption of eggs in order to keep down +the bills, but how to get through those in store +before they were hopelessly spoiled.</p> +<p>For the earlier period menus are not available, +but a curious rhymed treatise on servants’ duties +dating from the middle of the fifteenth century, +entitled “John Russell’s Boke of Nurture,” has been +reprinted by the Early English Lent Society<a name='FNanchor_0039' id='FNanchor_0039'></a><a href='#Footnote_0039' class='fnanchor'>[39]</a> in the +volume entitled “Meals and Manners of the Olden +Time,” and from it I extract the following:—</p> +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<p>Furst set forth mustard and brawne of boore, the wild swine,</p> +<p>Suche pottage as the cooke hath made of herbis, spice, and wine,</p> +<p>Beef, mutton, stewed feysaund, swan with the chawdyn<a name='FNanchor_0040' id='FNanchor_0040'></a><a href='#Footnote_0040' class='fnanchor'>[40]</a></p> +<p>Capoun, pigge, venisoun bake, leche lombard,<a name='FNanchor_0041' id='FNanchor_0041'></a><a href='#Footnote_0041' class='fnanchor'>[41]</a> fritter, viant fine,</p> +<p>And then a soteltie.<a name='FNanchor_0042' id='FNanchor_0042'></a><a href='#Footnote_0042' class='fnanchor'>[42]</a></p> +<p>Maydon Marie that holy Virgin</p> +<p>And Gabrielle greeting her with an ave.</p> +</div></div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div> +<p>This is followed by two other courses rather +lighter in character, though still including venison, +peacocks, quails, &c., and then comes dessert:</p> +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<p class='indent2'>After this delicatis mo,</p> +<p>Blanderelle or pepins with caraway in confite,</p> +<p>Wayfurs to eat, hypocras<a name='FNanchor_0043' id='FNanchor_0043'></a><a href='#Footnote_0043' class='fnanchor'>[43]</a> to drink with delite.</p> +</div></div> +<p>The service in the wealthy mediæval manor was +as elaborate as the cooking, at all events in the +later period. The Bishop of Lincoln finds it necessary +to warn the Countess of Lincoln not to permit +slovenliness among her retainers. She is not to +allow “old tabards, and soiled herigauts, and imitation +short-hose.” But even this widow lady is +served with considerable pomp. “Command that +your panter<a name='FNanchor_0044' id='FNanchor_0044'></a><a href='#Footnote_0044' class='fnanchor'>[44]</a> with the bread and your butler<a name='FNanchor_0045' id='FNanchor_0045'></a><a href='#Footnote_0045' class='fnanchor'>[45]</a> with +the cup, come before you to the table foot by foot +before grace and that three valets be assigned by +the marshal each day to serve the high table and +the two tables at the side with drink. And at +each course call the servers to go to the kitchen, +and they themselves to go always before your +seneschal as far as you until the dishes be set +before you, and see that all servants with meats go +orderly and without noise to one part and another +of the hall to those who shall be assigned to +divide the meats, so that nothing be placed or +served disorderly.”<a name='FNanchor_0046' id='FNanchor_0046'></a><a href='#Footnote_0046' class='fnanchor'>[46]</a></p> +<p>In the “Boke of Nurture,” which refers of course +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +to a much later period, the service is even more +elaborate, and we gather indeed that the dinner +was a social function at which all classes of the +community met together. Even the poorest were +not forgotten, as there was a special officer whose +business it was to distribute alms of broken +meats to the beggars waiting at the door. The +rules of precedence were most elaborate, and the +serving seems on special occasions to have risen +almost to the rank of a solemn ritual. In addition, +dinner was accompanied by music and sometimes +enlivened at intervals by pageants and shows.</p> +<p>Domestic service in these great households was +very different from what it is to-day. There was, +in the first place, no fixed line drawn as there +is now between the menial and the non-menial +classes of the community. The higher servants +were often people of nearly the same social rank +as those whom they served. Sir William de +Mortimer was the head-steward of Bishop Swinfield, +Sir Gilbert Brydges the steward of Gloucester +Abbey.<a name='FNanchor_0047' id='FNanchor_0047'></a><a href='#Footnote_0047' class='fnanchor'>[47]</a> Young men who entered the service of +a lord might one day be called on to carve or +serve wine, and the next day might sit at meat +in the same room.<a name='FNanchor_0048' id='FNanchor_0048'></a><a href='#Footnote_0048' class='fnanchor'>[48]</a></p> +<p>Through the account-books and the household +ordinances of the period, we can trace four grades +of household servants—squires or gentlemen, valets +or yeomen, grooms, and pages. The last grade +had been recently introduced into the royal household +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span> +in Edward IV.’s time, and they did not eat +in hall. “A page etyth in his office or with his +next fellow, not in the halle at noe place, taking +dayly one lofe, one messe of great meate, half a +gallon of ale; one reward quarterly in the counting-house, +twenty pence of clothing when the +household hathe at every one of the four feasts, +one napron of one elle and part of the King’s +great rewards given yearly amongst them in +household.”<a name='FNanchor_0049' id='FNanchor_0049'></a><a href='#Footnote_0049' class='fnanchor'>[49]</a></p> +<p>The last quotation illustrates also the method +of remuneration. The money received was a +very minor and unimportant factor. The servants +were paid mostly in kind, and the share +of each in food, fuel, and clothing is very fully +and carefully stated. The chief porter of the +Abbey of Gloucester, for instance, had a chamber +next to the abbey gate. His weekly allowance +was three white loaves, called myches, and two +called holyers, with seven loaves of squire bread; +for ale every quarter 3s. 4d. On every flesh or +fish day he had a mess of flesh or fish of the +first course, as much as was set before two monks. +He had a gown every year of the suit of the +gentlemen of the Lord Abbot, and in addition +13s. 4d. per annum. These fixed rations of food +clothing &c., are called livery, a term now restricted +to clothing alone.</p> +<p>It is noticeable that these servants are almost +all men. Washerwomen (lotrices) are women, +and there are occasionally notices of young girls +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +in attendance on the lady of the house. But so +far as our information goes, cooking and cleaning +and serving are carried on by men, though mention +is made of women pastry-cooks who in +monasteries, to avoid scandal, had to be accommodated +in a separate kitchen, called the pudding-house.<a name='FNanchor_0050' id='FNanchor_0050'></a><a href='#Footnote_0050' class='fnanchor'>[50]</a> +But in the Middle Ages domestic service +was not, as it is now, regarded as a menial occupation +to be left, save in some of its higher branches, +exclusively to women.</p> +<p>I can find no trace at this period of any difficulty +in obtaining service. Bishop Grossetête +assures the Countess of Lincoln that she can +easily obtain servers if she needs them, and the +young men addressed in the rhyming exhortations +preserved in “Meals and Manners” evidently +regard it as promotion almost beyond their hopes +to become members of a lord’s household. +Whether this would be equally the case if we had +information about the smaller households, it is +not easy to say. But when we remember that +the alternatives were laborious and monotonous +work at agriculture or the chance of finding a +place in the gilds or fraternities which monopolised +the trade in towns at that period, we can believe +that the plentiful fare, the lively society, and the +not too strenuous<a name='FNanchor_0051' id='FNanchor_0051'></a><a href='#Footnote_0051' class='fnanchor'>[51]</a> work required of a serving-groom +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +or yeoman would be regarded as a prize +worth striving for and worth keeping.</p> +<p>It would be interesting, had I more space at +my disposal, to discuss mediæval town life and +the domestic arrangements of the monasteries, +which are very fully and interestingly described in +Abbé Gasquet’s book, “English Monastic Life.” +But I must content myself solely with one or two +extracts illustrating the household furniture of the +mediæval town-dwellers.</p> +<p>In 1303, a certain Alan de Bedeford, a +baker of London, was sold up for arrears of +taxes, and the following were the goods seized +by the inexorable tax-gatherer: “One brass +pot weighing 18 lbs., value 2s. 6d., and another +brass pot weighing 13 lbs., value 21d., and one +kettle value 14d., the total whereof amounts to +5s 5d.”<a name='FNanchor_0052' id='FNanchor_0052'></a><a href='#Footnote_0052' class='fnanchor'>[52]</a></p> +<p>In 1337, an inventory was preserved of the +goods of a felon. It was probably exhaustive, +and may therefore be taken as indicating with +tolerable precision the standard of household +comfort of a London burgess at that time. It +is too long to quote in full (the list of garments +in particular is rather tedious), but it is interesting +to note that it includes a mattress, three feather-beds, +five cushions, six blankets, seven linen-sheets, +four table-cloths, six whole brass pots of +varying value and one broken one, one candlestick +and two plates of metal, two basins and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span> +one washing-vessel, a spit, a frying-pan, and a +funnel.<a name='FNanchor_0053' id='FNanchor_0053'></a><a href='#Footnote_0053' class='fnanchor'>[53]</a></p> +<p>Further study of wills and inventories would +yield a fresh store of information with regard to +mediæval household equipment, and might not +improbably upset some preconceived ideas as to +the ordinary standard of life at that time.</p> +<h4>(<i>b</i>) <span class='smcap'>The Position of the Household from the +Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries</span></h4> +<h5>(1) <i>The First Industrial Revolution and its Effects</i></h5> +<p>The fifteenth century and the beginning of the +sixteenth century were marked by great economic +changes. The manorial system, modified before +this period by the gradual commutation of labour +dues and especially by the catastrophe of the +Black Death, was replaced on the one hand by +enclosures for sheep-farming and on the other by +convertible husbandry, when the farmer possessed +or rented his own separate holding and managed +it as he pleased, using the same land alternately +for pasturage and as arable.<a name='FNanchor_0054' id='FNanchor_0054'></a><a href='#Footnote_0054' class='fnanchor'>[54]</a> At the same time, +the gild organisation of industry was replaced +by the system commonly known as domestic +manufacture. This spread largely in the country +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span> +districts, and profoundly influenced home life and +the position of women. At the same time both +home and foreign trade greatly increased, and +“natural economy” was almost entirely replaced +by “money economy,” the necessities of life being +no longer produced by the family for their own +use; men worked instead for payment, and then +with the money so earned bought in the market +the goods they required.<a name='FNanchor_0055' id='FNanchor_0055'></a><a href='#Footnote_0055' class='fnanchor'>[55]</a> These changes, like +the corresponding changes at the end of the +eighteenth century, brought greater wealth and +pomp to some classes, increased comfort to the +bulk of the people, but called into existence a +new class of landless labourers, whose needs and +importunities finally led to the establishment of +the poor-law.</p> +<p>It would require a volume to describe how +these changes reflected themselves in the daily +life of the people, and at present I must content +myself with noting very briefly the main effects +of this first industrial revolution.</p> +<p>In the country two classes appeared: the +labourer, who, although he might possess a small +piece of land of his own<a name='FNanchor_0056' id='FNanchor_0056'></a><a href='#Footnote_0056' class='fnanchor'>[56]</a> or at the least had +grazing rights over a neighbouring common, yet +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span> +depended for his livelihood on the wages paid +by his master. So far I have not discovered +any reliable source of information with regard +to the family expenditure of this class.<a name='FNanchor_0057' id='FNanchor_0057'></a><a href='#Footnote_0057' class='fnanchor'>[57]</a></p> +<p>Next there was the farmer either renting or +owning a farm. Very often farming would be +combined with spinning or weaving wool. Agriculture +of this kind, partly for subsistence and +partly for the market, supplemented by the practice +of domestic industries, remained the dominant +type in England until the introduction of +capitalist farming in the eighteenth century, and +indeed can still be found in backward districts. +The part played in it by women can be illustrated +by a curious account of the duties of the +wife of a husbandman given in Fitzherbert’s “Book +of Husbandry” (1534).</p> +<p>“First in a morning when thou art waked and +purposiste to rise, lyfte up thy hands and blesse +thee.... And when thou art up and redy, then +first sweep thy house, dress up thy dysshe-board, +and sette all things in good order within thy +house. Milk thy kye, suckle thy calves, sye up +thy mylke, take up thy children and array them, +and provide for thy husband’s brekefaste, dinner, +souper, and thy children and servants, and take +thy part with them. And to ordayne corn and +malt to the myll, to bake and brue withal whanne +need is. And meete it to the mill and fro the +mill, and see that thou have thy measure again +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +beside the toll or else the miller dealeth not truly +with the or els thy corn is not drye as it should +be. Thou must make butter or cheese whan thou +maist, serve thy swyne both morning and evening, +and give thy poleyn<a name='FNanchor_0058' id='FNanchor_0058'></a><a href='#Footnote_0058' class='fnanchor'>[58]</a> meat in the morning, and +when tyme of the year cometh, thou must take +heed how thy duckes henne and geese do lay and +to gather up their eggs and when they wax +brodie to get them.... And in the beginning of +March or a little before is time for a wife to make +her garden and to gette as many good seedes and +herbes as she can and specially such as be good +for the potte and to eat. [Then come lengthy +and technical directions for sowing and working +up flax and hemp] and thereof may they make +shetes, bordclothes, towels, shirts, smocks and +such other necessaries and therefore let thy distaff +be always ready for a pastime that thou be not +idle.... It is convenient for a husband to have +shepe of his owne for many causes, and then maye +his wife have part of the woll to make her husband +and herself some clothes. And at the very +least way she may have the locks of the sheep +either to make clothes or blankets or coverlets or +both. And if she have no wool of her own, she +may take wool to spyn of cloth-makers and by +that means she may have a convenient living.... +It is a wife’s occupation to wynowe all manner +of corns, to make malt, to wasshe and wrynge, to +make haye, shere corn, and in tiyme of nede to +help her husband to fyll the muck-wain or dung-cart, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +drive the plough, to load hay, corn or such +other. And to go or ride to the market, to sell +butter, cheese, eggs, chekyns, capons, hennes, pigs, +geese, and all manner of corns, and also to bye +all manner of necessary things belonging to the +household and to make a trewe reckoning and +account to her husband what she hath paid. And +if the husband go to the market to bye or sell, as +they oft do, he then to show his wife in like +manner.”</p> +<p>It is interesting to note in this extract the +mixture of natural and money economy, the +appearance of domestic manufactures, and the +energetic co-operation of the wife in the work +of the farm. The sixteenth century would have +had little sympathy with the sentimentalists who +hold that womanhood in itself is a burden so heavy +that all active occupations should be forbidden to +the married woman.</p> +<p>According to Harrison<a name='FNanchor_0059' id='FNanchor_0059'></a><a href='#Footnote_0059' class='fnanchor'>[59]</a> the standard of comfort +among the agricultural classes rose markedly at +this time. Chimneys became common, pewter +plates and silver or tin spoons are used in place +of “tinn platters and wooden spoons.” A farmer +thinks his gains very small “if he have not a fair +garnish of pewter on his cupboard, with so much +more in odd vessels going about the house, three +or four feather-beds, so manie coverlids or carpets +of tapestry, a silver salt, a bowl for wine if not +a whole nest, and a dozen of spoons to furnish up +the suit.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span></div> +<p>Food, too, according to Harrison, was plentiful +and varied. The increase in pasture farming and +the decrease in arable land had made meat (often, +it is true, salted) cheaper and corn-stuffs dearer, at +least in proportion. This tendency can be traced +in the menus and accounts of the period, and +certainly appears in the following extract:<a name='FNanchor_0060' id='FNanchor_0060'></a><a href='#Footnote_0060' class='fnanchor'>[60]</a> “The +artificers and husbandmen make greatest account +of such food as they may soonest come by and +have it quickliest ready. Their food also consisteth +principallie in beef and such meat as the butcher +selleth; that is to saie, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, +whereof he findeth great store in the markets +adjoining, besides souse,<a name='FNanchor_0061' id='FNanchor_0061'></a><a href='#Footnote_0061' class='fnanchor'>[61]</a> brawn, bacon, fruit, pies +of fruit, fowles of sundrie sort, cheese, butter, eggs.” +A little lower down he notes that venison and a cup +of wine are luxuries reserved for special occasions.</p> +<p>It is not easy to estimate the worth of Harrison’s +testimony to the social habits of a class which he +did not probably know intimately. It is certain, +too, that he was not speaking here of the poorest +class of labourers,<a name='FNanchor_0062' id='FNanchor_0062'></a><a href='#Footnote_0062' class='fnanchor'>[62]</a> those who later recruited the +class eligible for poor-law relief. But even making +these admissions, his words seem to be evidence +of a standard of comfort higher in some respects +than could be attained by the corresponding +classes to-day. Chicken, for instance, practically +never forms part of the dietary of even the well-to-do +urban artisan of the present time.</p> +<p>In the organisation of the wealthy household, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span> +the economic changes of the time produced important +alterations. The increase in buying and +selling made the landlords more anxious to dispose +of their surplus produce in the markets, and +on the other hand provided new luxuries on which +money could be spent. There resulted a tendency, +which can be traced in all the household books of +the period, to limit the numbers of servants and +retainers. At the same time there was a growing +desire for privacy, and a widening gulf between +the upper and the lower classes of society. Hence +the hall, the general assembly-place for the entire +household, lost its importance; dining-rooms and +withdrawing-rooms for the exclusive use of the +family and guests, took its place, and the servants +were relegated to their own part of the house. +Partly as cause of this, partly as effect, domestic +administration ceases to be a career for men of +better social rank, a tendency which would of +course be intensified by the fact that in commerce, +in literature, in exploration, &c., new opportunities +were perpetually being opened up. Hence Elizabeth’s +reign is a turning-point for the history both +of domestic service and of domestic architecture. +It was probably about this time that women superseded +men as cooks and cleaners, and it is certain +that the increase in Elizabeth’s reign of industries +worked for profit must have diminished the production +for use in the household of many articles +of common domestic utility.<a name='FNanchor_0063' id='FNanchor_0063'></a><a href='#Footnote_0063' class='fnanchor'>[63]</a></p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></div> +<h5>(2) <i>Life in the Stuart Period</i></h5> +<p>For 150 years after the death of Elizabeth no +startling changes occur in the organisation of the +household or in its economic relations. The +marked feature of this period is the existence of +domestic manufactures, engaging the head of the +household and his family, one or two apprentices, +and sometimes a journeyman or two. It was +common, indeed all but universal, for the small +master manufacturers to board and lodge their +employees, as it was common for farmers to board +and lodge their labourers. The larger households +carried on at home many of the operations—baking, +brewing, washing, jam-making—which have +now passed to the factory. There was a steady +growth of domestic luxury and of convenience. +The development of commerce made available new +commodities, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, and thereby +influenced social life. Furniture became more +elegant, and perhaps at the same time more stuffy.</p> +<p>It would require much reading and research +to elaborate the details of this progress, and for +our present purpose it is hardly necessary, as it +involved alteration in particulars but not in the +general organisation of household economy. The +difficulties of finding domestic servants begin, +however, to make themselves felt, and are amusingly +discussed by such writers as Defoe and +Swift. It is at some time during this period that +houses are first built in terraces and squares on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span> +an identical plan for letting purposes. But there +are no sweeping changes, such as mark the eighty +years before the accession of Victoria.</p> +<h5>(3) <i>The Influence of the Second Industrial Revolution +on the Home</i></h5> +<p>In the last half of the eighteenth century agriculture +and industry were once more revolutionised, +the former by the introduction of capitalist +farming, the rotation of crops, and the further +enclosure of common fields, commons, and wastes, +the latter by the introduction of machinery and +mechanical motor power. For a detailed account +of the enormous changes consequent on +these new methods of production, I must refer +the reader to the special treatises on the subject,<a name='FNanchor_0064' id='FNanchor_0064'></a><a href='#Footnote_0064' class='fnanchor'>[64]</a> +but we must spend some time in considering the +ways in which the home, family life, and the position +of women have been modified by these industrial +developments.</p> +<p>In the first place, the introduction of machinery +meant the growth of the factory system, and in +consequence work left the home, which ceased to +be the institution where productive industry was +carried on, and became instead a centre solely of +emotional and domestic life. At the same time, +the alteration in the land system made it impossible +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span> +any longer to combine home weaving, spinning, +&c. with subsistence farming; the worker becomes +an employee in a business where the capital is +owned by his employer, and he depends absolutely +on the skill of his own hands for his livelihood.</p> +<p>Nothing could be more curious than to +contrast Defoe’s celebrated picture of the wool-weaving +districts of Yorkshire<a name='FNanchor_0065' id='FNanchor_0065'></a><a href='#Footnote_0065' class='fnanchor'>[65]</a> with those districts +in their present condition. Then the workers, +semi-independent, farming small enclosures of two +to six or seven acres, laboriously produced cloth +by hand processes in their own houses. Now +they work in enormous factories, fitted up with +machinery which can spin and weave wool both +easier and better than in earlier days. They +return to their homes for rest and leisure alone. +Work for wages and the home are now separated, +and, unless the use of cheap electrical power brings +about a counter-revolution, are likely to remain so. +At the same time, since mobility is in modern +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +economic conditions of prime importance, it is +becoming less and less common for the manual +worker, or indeed for the citizen of any class, to +own his house, and therefore the new trade of the +speculative builder comes into existence, its place +being taken in some cases, specially in mining +districts, by the “company” houses provided by +masters for their employees.</p> +<p>These alterations in the framework of society +inevitably influenced home life, which was still +further affected at a later period by an analogous +movement. Not merely the work done for wages +left the home, but also many of the commodities +formerly produced for its own use by each household +came to be made by outside labour.</p> +<p>A very interesting and quite untouched field of +inquiry here awaits the economist. Why, for instance, +is it customary to bake bread at home in +some districts and to buy it from a shop in others? +Probably the explanation is to be found in the +relative cheapness of fuel. Yorkshire and the +North of England are close to abundant coalfields, +and in the days before cheap and quick transit the +difference in the price of coal in the South and +North of England must have been even greater. +At a time, too, before the improvement of ovens, +owing to the introduction of the iron range and +kitchener, the amount of fuel used for baking +bread would be even larger than at present. +Therefore in the south there grew up a race of +housekeepers and servants unskilled in the making +of the delicious, crusty home-baked loaf, while in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span> +the north, even though conditions have changed, +the tradition still remains, and the weekly or bi-weekly +baking day is a regular institution. But +this theory does not explain why bread is not +baked at home in Scotland, even in Glasgow and +the districts near it, or in Fife, which are all +situated right in the coal-bearing areas.</p> +<p>And at present there is little material for describing +how brewing, jam and cake-making, biscuit-making, +the making and the washing of clothes, +the cleaning of furniture and carpets, &c., passed +from the household to the factory and laundry. +It is a process which has evidently been much +quickened by the growth of town life, itself one +of the most important effects of the industrial +revolution.<a name='FNanchor_0066' id='FNanchor_0066'></a><a href='#Footnote_0066' class='fnanchor'>[66]</a></p> +<p>The aggregation of population in towns in the +first place made the space available for household +operations much smaller than was the case when +the kitchen was supplemented by rows of outhouses, +a green and a garden. In modern conditions, +washing at home results in the discomfort +of the whole family, whether that family lives in +a single room or in a decent middle-class house +of ten or twelve rooms. In the second place, the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +massing into a comparatively small area of a +homogeneous population makes it easy to arrange +for other methods of cleansing clothes, either in +the working-class districts by the provision of +municipal washing-houses, or in the more well-to-do +suburbs through the appearance of steam +laundries. In the same way, when each household +possessed a garden it was natural to pick the +fruit and make it into jam. It is a different thing +to buy fruit specially for the purpose. Many +housewives find that when the cost of the fruit, +sugar, and extra fuel is calculated, taking into +account also the dislocation of the regular routine +of the household caused by the extra work, it pays +them better to buy the jam ready-made. On the +other hand, the use of machinery, the existence of +cheap methods of transit, and the multiplication of +grocers’ shops makes it increasingly possible to +produce jam in large quantities actually cheaper +than it can be made at home, and to distribute it +quickly to the consumer.</p> +<p>The same cause, acting within and without the +home in different ways, is resulting in a steady +transference of these domestic avocations from the +household. Moralists often lament this tendency, +and attribute it entirely to increased love of ease +and leisure among women. But it is no more +possible to draw an indictment against a whole sex +than against a whole people, and an alteration in +custom so widespread as this which we are discussing +must have deeper roots than a personal +defect of laziness in particular individuals.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span></div> +<p>This removal of production for domestic use +from the home operates, however, in very different +ways in different cases. Sometimes the article is +produced much more cheaply outside the home +than within, owing to the lower cost and greater +efficiency of large-scale methods of manufacture. +But this is not invariably the case. Laundry-work, +for instance, is probably done more cheaply +in the private household. The few attempts +hitherto made to provide hot cooked food from +a central kitchen at a reasonable price have not +been successful. On the other hand, no individual +household could hope to rival Messrs. +Huntley & Palmer as producers of biscuits. The +factors which prevent the full economies of the +large-scale method of production from being +realised in the making of certain commodities are +twofold. (1) Some goods are of such a kind +that they must be consumed where they are produced. +Jam or even plum-puddings can be made +in a factory in the North of England and afterwards +transferred to London. But roast beef, +omelettes, and rice-puddings must be eaten within +at least a hundred yards of the place where they +are cooked. This obvious fact effectually retains +the supremacy of the home in the provision of hot +cooked food, and disposes once and for all of the +cruder arguments for co-operative housekeeping. +(2) Certain commodities must be made for or +returned to individual owners. If, for instance, +we did not trouble to receive our own sheets and +towels from the laundry, but simply made a contract +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +that each week we should be supplied with +a certain number, then the washing and sorting +could be done wholesale at a much cheaper rate. +If we sent our own fruit to the factories to be +made into jam, jam would be much more expensive.</p> +<p>Thus the household will compete successfully +with outside agencies, in the case of all commodities +which must be consumed on the spot, +and the outside agencies will have only a small +advantage—will do the washing or dressmaking +more conveniently, but not much cheaper—when +wholesale methods are forbidden by the personal +interest of each consumer in one special portion +of the commodities dealt with.<a name='FNanchor_0067' id='FNanchor_0067'></a><a href='#Footnote_0067' class='fnanchor'>[67]</a></p> +<p>Still, regarding the matter from the general +economic standpoint, it cannot be denied that +the result of the industrial revolution has been +to transfer many branches of production both for +profit and for use from the home to the factory.</p> +<h5>(4) <i>The Position of Women as Affected by the +Industrial Revolution</i></h5> +<p>This in its turn affected the position of women, +and is probably, if not the sole, at least the most +important reason for the discontent and unrest to +be traced among women of many different classes +in the nineteenth century. But the women belonging +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span> +to the manual labouring class and the +women belonging to the upper classes were +influenced in different ways.</p> +<p>The former had always been accustomed to +work for their living, indirectly if not directly. +On the little farms they looked after the cow, the +hens, and the garden. They did the carding and +the spinning of flax and of wool. True, these +industries were carried on at home, and probably +the decent “manufacturer,” then literally a hand-worker, +would have regarded himself as disgraced +had his wife or daughters needed to +go outside his home to find work.<a name='FNanchor_0068' id='FNanchor_0068'></a><a href='#Footnote_0068' class='fnanchor'>[68]</a> But when +the factory system came, with the horrible +sufferings caused by the transition from one +system of industry to another, the women and +children always accustomed to toil at home +followed their work to the factory, and there, +owing to the new methods of competition and +to the absence of any regulation of industry, +they suffered hardships of overwork and underpayment +which seem to the present generation +nearly incredible.</p> +<p>Home life for a time almost disappeared, and +the suffering and degeneration was only checked +by the series of Factory Acts, imposing ever fresh +and fresh restrictions on the treatment of women +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span> +and children.<a name='FNanchor_0069' id='FNanchor_0069'></a><a href='#Footnote_0069' class='fnanchor'>[69]</a> The policy underlying these acts +was much criticised at the time, and was indeed +not fully comprehended until recently. But it is +now all but universally admitted that the Factory +Acts have in the main achieved their object, and +have greatly improved the position of women in the +districts most affected by them; and reformers are +constantly urging their extension to fresh trades.</p> +<p>This movement was not understood, and was in +consequence opposed by the women of the middle-classes, +whose position was affected quite differently +by the industrial revolution. They too +found their occupations within the home to a +large extent destroyed. And in other ways their +situation was altered. For some reason not yet +explained, there appeared in the middle-classes a +surplus of women. This is no doubt partly due +to the colonial expansion of the period, which +sent young men out to Australia, Canada, and +South Africa, while their natural mates remained +behind in England. It is not easy to give precise +statistics, as our statistical tables make no distinction +of classes, but common observation and the description +of social life in the novels of the nineteenth +century afford evidence of this fact. Some +statistics bearing on the subject can be found in +Miss Clara Collet’s<a name='FNanchor_0070' id='FNanchor_0070'></a><a href='#Footnote_0070' class='fnanchor'>[70]</a> article, “Prospects of Marriage +for Women,” and also in “Die Frauenfrage,” by +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span> +Lilie Braun, pp. 157 <i>ff.</i> Frau Braun, whose book +is marked throughout by characteristic German +thoroughness, sums up:<a name='FNanchor_0071' id='FNanchor_0071'></a><a href='#Footnote_0071' class='fnanchor'>[71]</a> “Es hat sich gezeigt, +dass die Zunahme der allein stehenden Frauen, die +Abnahme der Heiratsfrequenz und die wirtschaftliche +Not als Ursache der Frauenbewegung in +aller Lände anzusehen sind.”</p> +<p>But it was not merely the decreased chance of +marriage which made the lives of middle-class +women difficult in the last century. There was +also a change in the position of the fathers, which +decreased their opportunity for providing for their +unmarried daughters. The middle-class man is +now less and less frequently at the head of a +business of his own, and is more and more frequently +a salaried clerk, manager, or engineer.</p> +<p>Formerly the shop or farm when it passed to +the eldest son was burdened with the charge +of the spinster sisters, who often would help +in the dairy or behind the counter. Now, when +a middle-class man dies, his hold on the industrial +world, so to speak, passes away with him, +unless he has been at once able and willing to +lay by savings out of his salary, a duty too +often neglected. Briefly, therefore, the unmarried +woman of the middle-classes is less likely to +marry, has less to occupy her at home, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span> +cannot so easily be provided for by her father if +she remains a spinster.</p> +<p>Is it then to be wondered at if women insist, in +increasing numbers, upon a thorough education +as well as the right to enter a profession in which +they can be self-supporting?<a name='FNanchor_0072' id='FNanchor_0072'></a><a href='#Footnote_0072' class='fnanchor'>[72]</a> But the first women +who decided that a way must be opened by which +they could earn for themselves honourable maintenance +not unnaturally fell into what we cannot +but regard now as regrettable mistakes, however +unavoidable these errors may have been at the +time. Their great difficulties were to win admission +to the universities and permission to practise +what had hitherto been regarded as men’s professions. +Therefore they dreaded all restrictions +liable to be laid upon the entrance of women to +occupations, and were led in consequence to +oppose the Factory Acts, designed for the protection +of women of the working-classes. It is only +to-day and only partially that the woman teacher, +doctor, or journalist has come to understand +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span> +that the position and problems of the factory-hand +are very different from her own, and that +confusion is created if she insists on judging +them from her own standpoint.</p> +<p>In the next place, they were almost forced to +become masculine and aggressive in their manners +and outlook upon life. In particular, the need of +conformity to a system of education framed for +men and not for women led to an undervaluation +of domestic pursuits. It was not realised that +in managing a household and in bringing up +children there was scope for the most developed +character and the finest education.</p> +<p>But with the twentieth century,<a name='FNanchor_0073' id='FNanchor_0073'></a><a href='#Footnote_0073' class='fnanchor'>[73]</a> college-trained +women themselves are coming to see that their +previous neglect of those principles of science and +economics which underlie household administration +was unwise and unwarranted. Of that change +of attitude, the new courses in home science at +King’s College are the <ins title='stet'>firstfruits</ins>, and this book +is a small contribution to a movement which is destined, +perhaps, to revolutionise housekeeping, as a +band of devoted women succeeded some few years +since in revolutionising the profession of nursing.</p> +<p>The main lines on which the influence of the +industrial revolution on women’s position has +operated can be but briefly indicated in this very +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +summary sketch. Want of space prevents me from +doing more than allude to other aspects of the question, +such as the employment of married women, +the status of women in government offices, women’s +trade unions, homework and sweating, the prevention +of infant mortality, the work of women in the +administration of charity and in local government, +together with many other developments of the one +cause—the alteration between the relations of the +home and of society due to the changes in our +commercial and manufacturing system.</p> +<p>I must turn now to a study of the economics +of the household as it actually exists to-day.</p> +<h3>III. THE PRESENT ORGANISATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD</h3> +<p>To begin with, it is perhaps worth while to notice +certain broad distinctions which differentiate the +household, considered merely as an economic +institution, from other agencies engaged in the +production of commodities and services.</p> +<p>One main difference is, as was noticed earlier, +that the household produces use-values, and all +other organisations (save some public bodies) +exchange-values. Or to put the same thing in +another way, the industrial world is run to make +a profit; the household, on the contrary, is kept +up by the contributions of its members, and exists +to provide for them the necessaries and comforts +of life. None the less is the work of cooking, +cleaning, and serving of real economic value +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span> +when carried on within the household, as people +discover when they have to pay for the organisation +of the same services in hotels or boarding-houses.</p> +<p>The second great distinction is that while any +other business may expand to meet the demands +of a growing market, and as a result of the increasing +competency of its organiser and work-people, +the household is definitely limited in scope +by the numbers of the family included within it. +Biscuit-makers or jam-makers, to put the matter +concretely, may succeed by skilful management +in enlarging their businesses until they supply +their goods to hundreds of thousands of people, +and earn a large profit by doing so. But the +most efficient housekeeper continues all her life +to organise and cater for the same number of +people, and her reward for her good management +does not consist in a raised salary or increased +profits. It is, in fact, not pecuniary at all, but +is the increased well-being of those whom she +serves.</p> +<p>Important consequences follow from these two +distinctions, some of them desirable, others the +reverse. The household is preserved, as it were, as +a little oasis in the midst of the surrounding commercialism. +There at least exists no temptation +to adulteration or sophistication, or to shoddy +work intended to sell but not to last. No housewife +would be such a fool as to put alum in the +bread baked at home, to use decaying fruit in the +tarts, or questionable meat in her pies. She can +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +have no object save to provide the best she can +for her family with the means at her disposal. +This is an enormous advantage, the value of +which it is hardly possible to overrate.</p> +<p>But the absence of profit-making has certain disadvantages. +It means that while other economic +organisations are being constantly spurred to increasing +efficiency by the stimulus of competition, +the household remains backward. A manufacturer +knows to-day that he must use the most +up-to-date machinery and employ the most skilled +management or be beaten in the race for commercial +supremacy. But housekeepers may continue +(and do continue) to use old-fashioned +ranges or antiquated systems of hot-water heating +without any reference to the proceedings of their +neighbours. Without doubt it results that new +inventions make their way much more slowly +in housekeeping than in profit-making industry. +How rare, for instance, it is to find properly constructed +grates outside very wealthy households. +How badly the kitchen, larder, and scullery are +planned in relation to one another. In how few +cases is any attempt made to utilise electricity for +cooking or removing dust, for both of which +purposes admirable machines are already on the +market.</p> +<p>But there are other factors which also contribute +to the backwardness of domestic engineering. +The smallness of the household is one. It pays a +large hotel, for instance, to buy special machines +for cleaning knives, or to instal superheated steam, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span> +for washing plates and dishes. But neither the +initial expense nor the cost of running could be +met out of the funds at the disposal of the small +household. Another reason exists in the fact that +the average housewife does not distinguish between +annual and capital outlay. Unaccustomed to +finance, and keeping accounts—if she keeps them +at all—in a very amateurish fashion, she fails to +understand that capital expenditure, let us say, on +one of the little electric vacuum cleaners now on +the market might pay for itself in a short time by +saving the wages of a charwoman.</p> +<h4>(<i>a</i>) <span class='smcap'>The Organisation of the Household as +Affected by the Housing Question</span></h4> +<p>Then, finally, few people own their houses, and +are therefore disinclined to make an outlay which +would benefit their successors rather than themselves. +Landlords (who are frequently retired +tradesmen or elderly ladies depending on the rent of +a row of houses for their sole income) are in their +turn unprogressive and unenlightened. It is often +hard to induce a landlord of the type indicated to +consent to structural changes even if carried out at +the tenant’s expense. The builders of new houses, +again, are not, to put it mildly, educated in the +best schools of household architecture and +domestic engineering. It is true that in some +suburbs, largely under the influence of the more +competent architects employed by the garden city +organisations, a marked improvement in domestic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +building is noticeable. But only too often the +hot-water system is inefficient, the ventilation +poor, the grates wasteful, and so on. I have never +yet heard of a speculative builder who deliberately +planned the laying out of the streets in the area +which he was developing in such a way that the +living-rooms might have a maximum and the +larder and pantries a minimum of sunlight. The +new roads are usually all set at right angles to the +main street, and the houses rigidly planted square to +the roads, regardless of the points of the compass.</p> +<p>All these factors, acting together, prevent that +general improvement in the construction of houses +which is noticeable in other branches of industry. +Progress does, of course, take place. The pressure +exercised by the local health authorities leads to improved +drainage and plumbing; lighting, owing to +the recent competition between gas and electricity, +has become both cheaper and better. But an +intelligent application of science and investment +of capital when a house is under construction +could easily effect still further improvements.</p> +<p>Since, however, the household is not influenced +by the ordinary processes of competition, advance +will probably depend on some form of co-operation +among tenants. The principle of tenant co-partnership +has hitherto been applied only to the +construction of working-class houses, but there +seems to be no reason why it should be not +equally useful among the middle classes. The +advantages of the organisation are that it secures +to the tenant a well-built house, sometimes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span> +specially constructed to meet his wishes, while his +complete mobility is not interfered with as it is +by ownership of his dwelling. These apparently +opposed results are obtained by the formation of +a company which is the legal owner of the land +and the houses; but no one is allowed to rent a +house until he invests a certain amount of money +in the company. Thus there are two classes of +shareholders—tenant shareholders and ordinary +shareholders. If a man wishes to move from the +neighbourhood, then he ceases to be a tenant and +becomes only an ordinary shareholder, and if he +needs the money he can always sell out. Rent is +paid in the ordinary way, and so too are dividends +on the shares. Thus groups of people are enabled +to control the conditions under which they are +housed, without being hampered by the possession +of a dwelling-house, which in an emergency they +may be forced to sell at a serious loss. Minor +advantages are greater cheapness of construction +owing to wholesale buying of materials, and the +provision of a more liberal repair fund than is +contemplated by the ordinary landlord. It is +possible, too, to provide common tennis courts, +children’s playgrounds, pleasure gardens, &c., +which are kept up out of the general funds of the +company.<a name='FNanchor_0074' id='FNanchor_0074'></a><a href='#Footnote_0074' class='fnanchor'>[74]</a> The “co-partnership tenants’” villages +at Bournville, Hampstead, Ealing, &c., are all +doing well,<a name='FNanchor_0075' id='FNanchor_0075'></a><a href='#Footnote_0075' class='fnanchor'>[75]</a> and we may venture to hope that if +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span> +the same principle were applied to the housing of +the middle classes, the worst horrors of the dreary +and yet pretentious suburbs constructed by the +speculative builder would soon be checked.</p> +<h4>(<i>b</i>) <span class='smcap'>The Problems of Domestic Service</span></h4> +<p>The position of the domestic servant is the next +subject which demands consideration. It is a +question which has aroused much acrimonious +controversy, mistresses accusing maids of ignorance +and inefficiency, maids objecting in their turn to +the menial position and lack of freedom involved +in domestic service. Yet it is curious to notice +that the conditions of this branch of work have +been little studied by the economist. The number +of domestic servants as enumerated in the census +of 1901 was 1,330,783, the largest single occupation +in the country.<a name='FNanchor_0076' id='FNanchor_0076'></a><a href='#Footnote_0076' class='fnanchor'>[76]</a> But while dozens of books +and blue-books could be named discussing the +position of the textile worker or the agricultural +labourer, not more than three or four investigators +have concerned themselves with the domestic +servant, on whose efficiency our health and comfort +absolutely depend.</p> +<p>Another curious anomaly is that domestic servants +are becoming fewer in proportion to the population, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +although the level of their wages is very high +in comparison with the usual payments for women’s +work. Between 1881 and 1901 female indoor +servants increased from 1,230,406 to 1,330,783, +an increase of 8.2 per cent., while the population +increased 25.2 per cent. Actually, then, there was +a smaller proportion of the population engaged in +domestic service in 1901 then in 1881.<a name='FNanchor_0077' id='FNanchor_0077'></a><a href='#Footnote_0077' class='fnanchor'>[77]</a> What +is still more remarkable is that at the younger +ages the number has actually decreased. Between +the ages 15-20, there is a decrease of 7.3 per cent., +while in the number of females living at those +ages there is an increase of 28.1 per cent. This +suggests that the difficulty of finding servants will +intensify as time goes on, as is indeed borne out +by observation. Other women’s industries are +growing very rapidly. The number of female +clerks more than trebled between 1891 and 1901. +In the same period, female elementary school +teachers increased by over 50 per cent., and the +women engaged in hospital and institution service +and in workhouses and workhouse infirmaries by +41 per cent. These facts indicate that domestic +service is becoming less and less popular and is +losing ground, while other women’s industries +are gaining.</p> +<p>It is our duty then to consider the causes of +this state of things, which cannot be regarded +with equanimity. Our steadily increasing wealth +ought to make it more and more possible and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +desirable for more women to specialise in those +basic industries of cooking and cleaning, which are +of the utmost importance for the right ordering +of life.</p> +<p>The question must be treated in reference to +the general industrial and social changes of our +time. Many ladies, knowing nothing of economics, +discuss the matter as one of personal relations +only, and when they find themselves annoyed with +one incompetent servant after another, content +themselves with blaming the servants as individuals +without inquiring whether the difficulty has any +deeper root. Or they take up a reactionary +attitude, and declare that the lower classes are over-educated +and too well off, and are in consequence +refusing to perform their natural duties. But +neither personal blame nor the semi-feudal belief +that the one and only rightful destiny of daughters +of bricklayers, coal miners, or small clerks is to +become cooks or housemaids in the service of +their betters will avail to throw any light on the +difficulty of obtaining competent domestic workers. +We must study carefully and without bias the +conditions of that industry as compared with +other industries, in order to solve the problem.</p> +<p>In the first place, we may note the advantages +of domestic service. It is, as has been already +observed, well paid. Some investigations carried +out by a group of my students last year led to +the conclusion that the ordinary cook, housemaid, +or general servant in middle-class households costs +her employer in wages, food, house-room, heating, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +lighting, and insurance about £50 a year.<a name='FNanchor_0078' id='FNanchor_0078'></a><a href='#Footnote_0078' class='fnanchor'>[78]</a> I have +been informed by a lady accustomed to deal with +servants in a wealthy household, that board wages +are usually 14s. 6d. for men servants, and 12s. 6d. +and 10s. 6d. for women servants. When we remember +that in the ranks from which servants +are drawn,<a name='FNanchor_0079' id='FNanchor_0079'></a><a href='#Footnote_0079' class='fnanchor'>[79]</a> a workman is comparatively well off +if he is earning 35s. a week for the support of +himself and his family, and that a woman who +makes £1 a week is a rarity,<a name='FNanchor_0080' id='FNanchor_0080'></a><a href='#Footnote_0080' class='fnanchor'>[80]</a> we should expect to +find domestic service one of the industries in +which the supply outruns the demand. Again, +there is no period of apprenticeship or training +necessary. The servant earns from the first day +she enters service, and is often carefully trained +by a mistress in cooking or waiting at table, only +to leave that mistress for a better situation the +moment she thoroughly understands her duties. +Again, in many households the maids share +in the family holidays. They spend a month at +the seaside or in the country, having all their +travelling expenses paid as a matter of course. +Their allowance of personal holidays may not be +large, but at all events their wages run on without +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +interruption. These advantages are the more remarkable, +when it is considered that they have +been attained without the aid of any trade organisations +at all. Trade unions for domestic workers +have been formed from time to time, but their life +has been ephemeral and their membership of +the smallest. High wages, practically continuous +employment, food and lodging usually of a standard +much above that in the servant’s own home—all +these are to be found in domestic work. Why, +then, does it remain unpopular?</p> +<p>In the first place, the hours are long and +irregular. A domestic servant, especially in a place +where only one or two are kept, is “on duty” +for at least fifteen hours a day—from 7 <span class='smcaplc'>A.M.</span> to +10 <span class='smcaplc'>P.M</span>. Even meal-hours are not free from interruption. +The thoughtful mistress, it is true, will +not summon her maids at dinner-time or supper-time +if she can help it, but all mistresses are not +thoughtful, and in any case there is the doorbell +to be answered. Much of the work is not +hard; in a well-managed household there should +always be an hour or two of comparative leisure +in the afternoon and again in the evening. But +the average maid is never sufficiently free through +the whole day to go out without asking leave, +or to lie down for an hour should her morning +work have been unusually heavy. Of some +households a much blacker picture could be +painted. Not merely do the maids have no leisure, +but they are actually hard at work washing, cooking, +ironing, serving meals, washing up, carrying +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +coals and hot water, &c., for even a larger period +than the fifteen hours which, as noted before, is +the minimum of time “on duty.” These hours +compare very unfavourably with the six or seven +hours’ day of the elementary school-teacher, the +eight hours’ day of the Civil servant, and the nine +or ten hours worked in factories and in offices.</p> +<p>Next, there is the lack of personal freedom. +This may seem a mere sentimental objection +not to be weighed in the balance for a moment +by sensible persons as against the solid advantages +of domestic work. But sentimental objections +count more decisively with women than with +men. Miss B. L. Hutchins points out in a recent +article that respectable girls of the working class +often accept quite low wages, provided only their +employment is light, clean, comfortable, and affords +abundant hours of leisure. And women enter on +domestic service exactly at the age at which freedom +and some amount of leisure seem more valuable +than high wages. Doubtless in later years many +sweated drudges have wished that they had become +servants instead of entering the jam-factory or the +steam-laundry. But at sixteen and seventeen, +when the choice was made, the situation appeared +very different. I have very little doubt that one +of the greatest objections to domestic service is +that it removes the young woman from her own +class just at the marriageable age, and therefore +decreases her chances of marriage, while in some +ill-governed households and in hotel and restaurant +service she may be subjected to severe +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +temptation. The widening of the gulf between +rich and poor and their segregation into distinct +districts increases this disadvantage.</p> +<p>Again, there is the fact that domestic service +is strangely enough regarded as a peculiarly +menial occupation, in itself a mark of a lower +social grade. This is indicated by the use of the +Christian name, the insistence on a uniform, and +the commonness of contemptuous terms such as +“slavey.” Refined people are careful to avoid +the use even of the word “servant,” replacing it +by “maid,” so strong is this connotation of inferiority. +Here again we are on sentimental grounds. +But it certainly seems undesirable, in view of the +spread of doctrines of social equality, that this +suggestion of a low social status should cling +around the person who undertakes such important +duties as cooking and washing.</p> +<p>Another disadvantage is the loneliness of domestic +servants. In other occupations women have colleagues +and companions. The general servant, +coming as she does from a lively even if poor +working-class home, with neighbours at hand for +gossip in moments of relaxation, may find it very +hard to bear up against the restraint and unnatural +quietude of her first place,<a name='FNanchor_0081' id='FNanchor_0081'></a><a href='#Footnote_0081' class='fnanchor'>[81]</a> and often ends +by returning in haste to the factory industry she +had been persuaded to abandon, when she will +find the gaiety and lively society of girls and young +men of her own age. Even when two maids are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span> +kept, they may not be congenial to one another, +and one cannot deny that to share work, meals, +and often bed with a woman whom one has reason +to dislike, is a fate we would all wish to avoid.</p> +<p>Girls of higher status and more intelligence are +often turned from domestic service by the fact +that it affords little or no opportunity for self-improvement +or recreation, or for promotion inside +its own ranks. Servants cannot go to lectures or +evening classes. The servant’s piano or bicycle +is a common theme for jesting in the comic papers. +In a large household or in a hotel promotion may +be obtained, but the maid who becomes a general +servant or a single-handed cook reaches the limit +of her increase in income at an early age.</p> +<p>Many of the disadvantages noted do not apply +to large households. There companionship is to +be found, and promotion may be looked for. +The hours are more regular, meals less interrupted, +and free time easier to obtain. Hence I was not +surprised when I questioned proprietors of clubs, +residential hotels, and the mistresses of wealthy +households to learn that most of them considered +the servant difficulty to be greatly exaggerated. +The housekeeper of one suite of residential flats +told me she had no trouble at all in getting +servants, and that she sent them off at a week’s +notice if they proved unsatisfactory. “Even if I +cannot get a maid to live in at once,” she added, +“I can always supplement the work of the others +by an extra charwoman. There are any number +of outworkers to be had.” In another residential +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +hotel all the women servants had two evenings a +week free from 5 to 10.30. Here, too, there was +never much difficulty in obtaining workers.</p> +<p>Another disadvantage of the small as opposed +to the large household is that the management +is often inefficient, and the equipment poor. In +these residential flats, for instance, each suite had +its own bathroom and lavatory, and consequently +the work of carrying water was reduced to a +minimum. I think, too, that the regularity of the +discipline is often liked by girls, who find it hard +to keep to good ways when they work alone.</p> +<p>On the whole, then, I see no reason to believe +that domestic service is unpopular because cooking +and cleaning are regarded as disagreeable occupations +in themselves. It is the conditions under +which it is carried on that are disliked, and if +mistresses desire to have better servants, those conditions +must be altered. Some of them, it must be +admitted, are inherent in the present organisation +of the household.<a name='FNanchor_0082' id='FNanchor_0082'></a><a href='#Footnote_0082' class='fnanchor'>[82]</a> Some form of co-operation +might obviate certain of these defects; in groups +of associated homes, the domestic equipment +could certainly be improved, skilled supervision +and proper discipline could be more easily carried +out, and the maids would have the advantages +of shorter and more regular hours and of companionship +with their equals. Here again it may +be possible to apply the co-partnership tenants’ +organisation. Many people, however, not unnaturally +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +dread the lack of privacy and independence +which such a mode of life would, they +think, entail, and would prefer to endure the disadvantages +of the present system rather than lose +control over their own kitchen and their own +servants. It is too soon yet to express an opinion. +Fortunately, at Letchworth, at Brent Lodge, +Finchley, and elsewhere, experiments in the provision +of associated homes with a common kitchen +and a common staff of servants are shortly to be +tried. If successful, they will no doubt prove a +boon to many people.</p> +<p>In the meantime one can only suggest that +mistresses must endeavour individually to mitigate +some of the disadvantages of domestic service. +It is not higher wages that are needed, but more +leisure and more society, and an absence of the +foolish snobbery which regards it as an amusing +joke that a servant should wish to possess a bicycle +or go to a meeting or concert.</p> +<p>The suggestion has sometimes been made that +distressed gentlewomen might find a refuge in +domestic service. But “lady servants” or +“mothers’ helps” only rarely prove a success. +Their presence is inevitably a hindrance to the +full enjoyment of family privacy, and often +enough their gentility is an excuse for incompetence. +But in special cases lady servants turn +out well, especially as children’s nurses. The +most interesting attempt to introduce them into +general domestic service is that started by the +Guild of the Dames of the Household at Cheltenham. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +A short period of training is insisted upon, +while on the other hand certain privileges not +usually conceded to maids must be granted, in +particular, a period of two hours each day free +from duty. In small and quiet households, +specially in those composed of ladies only, a +“Dame” would be welcomed in place of the incompetent +general servant, or two Dames might +take the place of the regulation cook and house-parlour +maid. But it would not be easy to have +one Dame demanding special privileges and imbued +with different traditions in a larger household.<a name='FNanchor_0083' id='FNanchor_0083'></a><a href='#Footnote_0083' class='fnanchor'>[83]</a></p> +<p>Nor do I see any reason to expect that increased +provision for domestic training alone is likely to +improve the lot of mistresses who want maids. +The training in the elementary schools is often +given to children too young to profit by it, and is +besides designed rather to enable them to be of +use in their own homes than to qualify them to +become cooks or housemaids in middle or upper-class +households. Again, the girls who attend at +the special domestic economy schools are not +usually available for ordinary domestic service; +the greater number of the students are being prepared +either for teaching or for positions as housekeepers +and matrons. While untrained girls can +find a place and wages without any difficulty, +working-class parents are not likely to spend +money on training for domestic service; and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +numbers for whom scholarships are provided must +naturally be limited.</p> +<p>Improvement is much more likely to result +from alterations in the condition of domestic +service. If, as regards leisure and social status, +that occupation could be put more nearly on a +level with other women’s trades, the outlook would +be much brighter, and then training in domestic +economy in continuation schools or trade schools +for girls from fourteen to sixteen would be valuable.</p> +<p>Failing these reforms, mistresses will probably +continue to find themselves obliged to put up with +cooks who cannot cook, and housemaids and +laundresses who are both ignorant and incompetent. +The irk and irritation of living all day +long at close quarters with an impertinent and +inefficient person, which often severely tries the +nerves of the women of the professional classes, +will continue. These things are inevitable so long +as domestic servants do not choose their occupation +because they wish to follow it, but because +they have been failures in other directions. Therefore +no improvement would be attained by shutting +other avenues of employment to women and forcing +them back into this. Such a line of action is, of +course, quite impracticable, whatever be the difficulties +of mothers of families and mistresses of +households; factories, offices, shops, elementary +schools and post-offices will continue to offer +employment to women. But even if it were +practicable it would fail of its aim. Work is only +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span> +well done when it is chosen for its own sake, +not when it is unwillingly accepted because the +worker is fit for nothing else. And a genuine improvement +in domestic service can only come +about by an alteration in its conditions.</p> +<p>A systematic investigation into English domestic +service similar to that carried out in America by +Professor Lucy Salmon of Vassar College would +be most useful at the present juncture, and may +possibly be undertaken by the household economics +class at King’s College. Professor Salmon +issued 5000 schedules to employers and 5000 to +employees, and received in all 1744 answers. On +the answers received she based the conclusions +arrived at in her book, “Domestic Service,” which +are not dissimilar to those set forth in the preceding +paragraphs. Conditions in America are, +however, so unlike those in England that a +separate investigation for this country would be +most valuable.</p> +<h4>(<i>c</i>) <span class='smcap'>A Discussion of Domestic Budgets</span></h4> +<h5>(1) <i>Working-Class Budgets</i></h5> +<p>I have left myself very little space for dealing +with another important section of household +economics, namely, domestic budgets. Unfortunately +the material for a satisfactory study of the +actual and the advisable division of household +expenditure is only abundant in certain classes. +There are a considerable number of investigations +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +into the cost of living among the working-classes.<a name='FNanchor_0084' id='FNanchor_0084'></a><a href='#Footnote_0084' class='fnanchor'>[84]</a> +From these it is clear that we must +make a very marked line of distinction between +the domestic circumstances of labourers and +of artisans. The former spend at least from 75 +to 80 per cent. of their income on food and +lodging alone; yet if the family is of ordinary +size and none of the children are earning anything, +they are commonly under-nourished and +badly lodged. The remainder of the income is +devoted to fuel, clothes, savings, insurance, and +recreation.</p> +<p>Members of this class commonly wear second-hand +clothes, and live in tenement houses, originally +built for a wealthier section of the community. +It is they who send their children to work at any +employment that turns up at the earliest moment +allowed by the law. The burden laid on the +women of this class is peculiarly heavy. They +must work for wages if possible, for every extra +shilling adds immensely to the family comfort. +Hence they go out charing; they undertake ill-paid +home work; and at the same time all the +toil of keeping the house and children clean and +of doing the cooking and washing falls on the +mother. Add to this the fact that if the food +supply runs short, then the children and the +husband have their share first and the mother +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span> +takes what may be left. It has been calculated<a name='FNanchor_0085' id='FNanchor_0085'></a><a href='#Footnote_0085' class='fnanchor'>[85]</a> +that this class amounts to about one-third of the +population, and is the source whence comes the +greater part of the pauperism with which the +country is afflicted.</p> +<p>The artisan class was found by Mr. Rowntree +to comprise about one-half of the working-class +population. Its domestic circumstances differ in +several respects from those of the class already +described. Food and housing were adequate; +and, save in the textile districts, the wife commonly +remains at home and the children stay longer at +school. It is this class that is the backbone of +trade unionism and the co-operative movement; +it is in fact the true “middle-class” of Britain.</p> +<p>Lady Bell in her book “At the Works” gives +a very sympathetic sketch of the home life of the +ironworkers of Middlesborough, pointing out that +the monotony and narrowness of the lives led by +the women and the ugliness of the surroundings +of the workers’ houses are the main defects from +which they suffer. Roughly half their income +goes on food, which is plain but adequate. The +proportion of rent varies very much from district +to district. In York it was 12.8, but in such +crowded towns as London and Glasgow it would +be higher. There is, however, a surplus sufficient +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +for clothing, saving, holidays, and reasonable +recreation.</p> +<p>It is conjectured that the excessive expenditure +on drink in the United Kingdom<a name='FNanchor_0086' id='FNanchor_0086'></a><a href='#Footnote_0086' class='fnanchor'>[86]</a> must be largely +due to this class. But the evidence is insufficient +to show whether the labourer or the artisan is the +more guilty.</p> +<h5>(2) <i>Lower Middle-Class Budgets</i></h5> +<p>The next class which should be examined is +that made up by the clerks and routine brain-workers. +As already noted, there is little or no +material available for the study of the budgets of +this class. The Economic Club published a few +years ago a collection of family budgets, four +of which might be taken as illustrating the home +life of this important section of the community. +From these and from the rather unreliable divisions +of income given in some of the smaller +women’s papers, I have come to the conclusion +that food absorbs 30 to 40 per cent. of the income, +and rent 15 to 20 per cent. The expenditure on +clothing is much more liberal, and I am inclined +to believe that the poorer clerks are sometimes +insufficiently fed.</p> +<p>It should be noted that in this class the cost +of education tends to be borne by the parent +and not by the State; no doubt there is here a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span> +genuine grievance, one, however, which the provision +of municipal secondary schools is gradually +removing. But a thorough and accurate study +of the circumstances of the lower middle-class +would be of the utmost value at the present time. +It is certain that its needs and demands are to +some extent at all events overlooked through the +increasing power of organised labour on the one +hand and the increasing wealth of the upper +classes on the other.</p> +<h5>(3) <i>The Budget of the Well-to-do</i></h5> +<p>Probably it is in the budgets of these wealthier +classes that the reader of these pages will be most +interested from a personal standpoint. Under +this head there is very little scientifically collected +material; but on the other hand the ladies’ papers +and the housekeeping handbooks afford considerable +information of somewhat varying value.</p> +<p>It is in this class that service becomes an +important item; it is in this class that the artistic +side of life, the enjoyment of physical and intellectual +luxury, first becomes possible. In a sense +the study of expenditure here is both more useful +and more interesting. A fraction of the income +would suffice for the satisfaction of the mere +physiological needs, and there is a real choice +possible in the disposition of the surplus.</p> +<p>Therefore, in the case of these larger incomes, +I propose to discuss rather the general principles +of expenditure than the statistical facts. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span> +latter are not thoroughly reliable, and at the same +time the circumstances of the class in question +are better known to my readers.</p> +<p>The fundamental principle, as Marshall<a name='FNanchor_0087' id='FNanchor_0087'></a><a href='#Footnote_0087' class='fnanchor'>[87]</a> states, +is that the marginal utility of each separate division +of expenditure should be equal. He means by +this that our income should be so distributed that +the last sixpence we spend on clothes should +yield us the same amount of pleasure as the last +sixpence expended on food or on books. And he +rightly remarks that to the housekeeper the value +of keeping accounts lies precisely in the fact that +it makes the application of this principle easy.</p> +<p>If we know exactly how money has been spent, +then it is possible to see that expenditure has +been wrongly balanced, that impulsive extravagance +on hats or on out-of-season delicacies has +unduly curtailed the amount spent on holidays, +books, or concerts. It is for this reason that +itemised tables are more useful to the housekeeper +than is the ordinary creditor and debtor method +of account-keeping. She should of course be +able to present an accurate statement of the +money spent and received, but she should not be +content with this. She should further show for +each quarter the amount spent on rent, food, +fuel, &c.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></div> +<h6>QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE</h6> +<table border="none" summary="Household Expenses Worksheet (blank)"> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<col class="col_border" /> +<tr class='total_border'><td align="center">Weeks<br />Ending</td><td align="center">Food and<br />Cleaning<br />Materials</td><td align="center">Household Washing</td><td align="center">Service</td><td align="center">Coals</td><td align="center">Gas</td><td align="center">Electricity</td><td align="center">Rent</td><td align="center">Rates</td><td align="center">Garden</td><td align="center">Misc</td><td align="center">Total</td><td align="center">Guests<br /><a name='FNanchor_0088' id='FNanchor_0088'></a><a href='#Footnote_0088' class='fnanchor'>[88]</a></td><td align="center">Remarks</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Jan. 9</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 16</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 23</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 30</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Feb. 6</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 13</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 20</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 27</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">March 6</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 13</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 20</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> " 27</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">April 3</td></tr> +<tr class='total_border'><td align="center" class='smcap'>Total.</td></tr> +<tr class='total_border'><td align="left">Weekly<br />Average</td></tr> +</table> +<p>The table appended has been in actual use for +some time, and has served on more than one +occasion to check expenditure which was unduly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +increasing. It could easily be modified in various +ways. Food could be further subdivided, and +headings for dress and other personal expenses +could be added. Probably, however, it will be +found better to keep one card for the quarterly +household expenditure, and others for the personal +expenditure of the separate members of the household. +The amount of trouble involved is comparatively +small, provided that the different items +are summed up and entered regularly each week +when the household books are examined. If the +quarterly cards are then filed in order, they afford +a most valuable record of household management +in a small and easily handled form.</p> +<p>When deciding on the amount of money to be +allotted to the separate items, the first thing to +be kept in mind is the necessity of preserving +efficiency; and brain-workers ought to remember +that thorough mental alertness and competency +can only be secured by well-chosen, well-cooked, +and daintily served food, by sufficiency of sleep, by +frequent intervals of rest and recreation, and by +thoroughly invigorating holidays. Extravagance +should of course be avoided, but the journalist +or scientist who is niggardly of expenditure on +these items will probably later on be obliged to +spend his savings on doctor’s bills or a rest cure. +A high standard of comfort and efficient work is +the cheapest way of living in the long run. +Whether, however, all the conventional necessaries +now included by custom in the upper middle-class +expenditure are really essential to the brain-worker’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span> +standard of life is perhaps another +question.</p> +<p>The “simple life” which consists in doing +without all the conveniences of civilisation has +been proved a failure by many experiments, but +a “simple life” which accepted the comforts of +electric light, gas stoves, and laid-on hot water, +but abolished heavy curtains and carpets and +that multiplicity of ornaments and of dishes, which +increases the complexity of life without adding to +its beauty, might turn out to be a success. In +many cases, however, conventional expenditure is +essential for professional advancement. The +doctor, for instance, must live in a house of a +certain size and importance; the high school +teacher or woman journalist must be well dressed. +Expenditure of this character is really of the nature +of advertisement, and it is foolish to endeavour to +curtail it.</p> +<p>After the claims of efficiency have been met, +saving and insurance come next. Life insurance +is of course almost universal among the salaried +classes, and is a duty imperatively laid on every +man whose death would leave his family without +means. But it is curious that other forms of +insurance are not more practised. A small yearly +payment for each child, commencing at its birth, +would provide a convenient sum for its education, +its start in life, or, in the case of a girl, for her +trousseau and dowry. Insurance against illness +also is much rarer among the upper middle class +than among the working-classes. Possibly this is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +due to the fact that, save in the case of prolonged +disease, salaries are paid during illness, while +wages cease as soon as the worker is compelled +to stay at home; also partly no doubt to the +fact that provision for contingencies is made in +other ways.</p> +<p>Saving and insurance will be less necessary in +the case of those whose income is derived from +land or from invested capital, but should be considered +absolutely essential by all those in receipt +of a salary. In addition a small sum saved and +invested in some easily realisable security will +be most valuable to meet special emergencies.</p> +<p>If after all these needs have been met, <i>i.e.</i> (1) +full “efficiency” and “conventional” expenditure +(including, of course, such an education for the +children as will prepare them in their turn to earn +an income in the same rank of life as their father), +and (2) saving and insurance to provide against all +contingencies that may reasonably be anticipated—if, +then, a surplus still remains, its disposition +must be a matter of individual choice, and it is +impossible to lay down general rules.</p> +<p>In some cases it will be saved, in others it will +be used to provide more material and conventional +luxuries, in others it will supply the needs +of what American writers rather unpleasingly call +the “higher life.” Certainly the claims of generosity, +charity, and culture should first be met, +and it is the right and wise disposition of this +surplus income which might well tax the highest +powers of any human being. It is commonly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span> +supposed to be a difficult thing to earn money, +but a simple matter to spend it. On the contrary, +to spend with wisdom and discretion is always +hard, and is hardest when the income is so elastic +that a slight deviation from the best method is +not immediately visited on the head of the person +who has offended.</p> +<p>The artisan’s wife has no easy task, it must be +confessed, but the results of any mistakes she +may make fall at once upon herself or her children. +But if the mistress of a large household is careless +or incompetent, then she may cause untold waste, +inefficiency and degeneration among her servants +and tradespeople, and may never even be aware +of it.</p> +<p>A recent book by Mr. A. Ponsonby<a name='FNanchor_0089' id='FNanchor_0089'></a><a href='#Footnote_0089' class='fnanchor'>[89]</a> gives some +extraordinary instances of unnecessary expenditure +on food. Mr. Ponsonby is not, of course, +to be taken as an unprejudiced investigator; he +is writing rather from the standpoint of the +preacher than from that of the unbiassed sociologist. +But his figures are not likely to be absolutely +false, and it is safe to say that if in a household +containing four in family and fourteen servants +the food bills amounted in a week when there was +little entertaining to £60, 12s. 7d. (£3, 7s. 4d. per +head),<a name='FNanchor_0090' id='FNanchor_0090'></a><a href='#Footnote_0090' class='fnanchor'>[90]</a> either the servants were being fed in a +way that was quite absurdly lavish, or much of the +food was absolutely wasted, or there was dishonest +collusion between the housekeeper and chef and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +the tradespeople. In any case, the ignorance and +negligence of the mistress of the house were +corrupting to her staff.</p> +<h4>(<i>d</i>) <span class='smcap'>Conclusion</span></h4> +<p>In short, in place of regarding the household +as standing in no special relation to the rest of +the community, it ought to be understood that the +function of the housewife is of the utmost importance, +not only to her own family, but to the whole +nation. It is she who is finally responsible for +the education of the children; it is she who, in the +quiet and restful charm of the home, provides (or +should provide) for her husband and grown-up +children the recreation and refreshment which +they need. If she employs many servants, then +the example of her household will influence for +good or for evil the homes of many working-class +couples. It is the demand of the household that +determines whether the labour of this country +shall be employed on debased articles of sham +luxury or on well made and artistic goods.</p> +<p>The conscientious housewife could also to some +extent discourage sweating, if she refused to buy +products which to her knowledge were made +under bad conditions. The responsibilities of +the housewife place her at every turn in economic +relations to the rest of the community, +and therefore it is only right that coming housewives +should be trained not alone in the manual +crafts of cooking and laundry-work, but also in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +the general principles of economic science which +underlie the development and present organisation +of the household. We may perhaps hope +too that the principles of household management +may in turn react on economic science, and +may show to its professors that value in use, +though more difficult to detect and estimate +than value in exchange, has been unduly neglected +both in theory and practice.</p> +<p>If to the management of our towns—which +are, after all, only our homes on a larger scale—were +applied the principles used by a good +housekeeper in ordering her home, then cleanliness, +beauty, and convenience would increase +around us. A science of economics so modified +would recall to a scholar the original meaning +of the word; for what, after all, did the craft of +<span lang="el" title="oikonomikê">οικονομικη</span>, +as first developed by Xenophon and +Aristotle, mean but just “the management of the +home”?</p> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0013' id='Footnote_0013'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0013'><span class='label'>[13]</span></a> +<p>Smith, “Wealth of Nations,” edited by J. S. Nicholson, pp. 135 +and 280. It is of course true that Adam Smith meant by this merely +what is in a way true, that domestic servants earn no profit for their +employers. He does not deny (p. 136) that their labour “has a +certain value.” But, like all the economists who followed him, he is +content to dismiss domestic workers with this cursory treatment and to +identify labourers with the workers hired for profit-making purposes.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0014' id='Footnote_0014'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0014'><span class='label'>[14]</span></a> +<p>See “Principles of Economics” (4th ed.), pp. 192, 772.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0015' id='Footnote_0015'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0015'><span class='label'>[15]</span></a> +<p>Marshall, “Principles” (4th ed.), p. 764: “The working classes +had then no other beds than loose straw, reeking with vermin and +resting on damp floors.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0016' id='Footnote_0016'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0016'><span class='label'>[16]</span></a> +<p>Thorold Rogers is a partial exception.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0017' id='Footnote_0017'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0017'><span class='label'>[17]</span></a> +<p><i>e.g.</i> Rowntree, “Poverty: a Study of Town Life;” portions of +Booth’s “Life and Labour of the People;” reports to the Board of +Trade on the cost of living.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0018' id='Footnote_0018'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0018'><span class='label'>[18]</span></a> +<p>Webb, S. and B., “Industrial Democracy” (cheap edition), p. 674.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0019' id='Footnote_0019'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0019'><span class='label'>[19]</span></a> +<p>Marshall, “Principles of Economics,” vol. i. p. 159.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0020' id='Footnote_0020'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0020'><span class='label'>[20]</span></a> +<p>There is an assumption here which needs perhaps some discussion, +<i>i.e.</i> that expenditure or consumption of goods can be most conveniently +studied on the basis of family life. This is obviously the case with +house-room, food, fuel, cleanliness, &c., less so with regard to clothes +or recreation; it was truer of the past than of the present, and is +truer of the poor than of the rich. In some classes, <i>e.g.</i> the professional +class, where marriage is commonly delayed and a considerable +period may intervene between the end of education and the +establishment of a fresh household, it may be necessary to supplement +the study of family expenditure by a consideration of the standard of +living of unmarried men and women. Attempts, too, must be made to +deal with the various forms of institutional life, varying from prisons +and workhouses on the one hand to expensive boarding-schools and +hotels on the other. But when all these necessary deductions have +been made, it remains true that in order to study expenditure we +must in the great majority of cases take the family as our basis of +investigation. Consumption is organised on a family basis.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0021' id='Footnote_0021'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0021'><span class='label'>[21]</span></a> +<p>See Marshall, “Principles,” book ii. chap. ii.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0022' id='Footnote_0022'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0022'><span class='label'>[22]</span></a> +<p>Ashley, “Economic History,” vol. i. part ii. p. 262.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0023' id='Footnote_0023'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0023'><span class='label'>[23]</span></a> +<p>The economic historian must always be prepared to acquiesce in +a certain vagueness in the matter of dates. He is not dealing with +definite events, such as battles and the enactment of special laws, but +rather with social tendencies, each constituted by a large number of +small events; such as, for instance, the replacement of hand labour by +machinery, the appearance of limited liability companies in the place +of the single employer, or the determination of middle-class girls to +earn their own living instead of remaining dependent on father or +brothers. Tendencies such as these appear at different times in +different industries and in different parts of the country, and only a +misleading precision can be gained by any mention of definite dates.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0024' id='Footnote_0024'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0024'><span class='label'>[24]</span></a> +<p>Summarised from Seebohm, “Village Community,” pp. 156-157.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0025' id='Footnote_0025'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0025'><span class='label'>[25]</span></a> +<p>Gasquet, “English Monastic Life,” p. 197.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0026' id='Footnote_0026'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0026'><span class='label'>[26]</span></a> +<p>“Economic History,” vol. i.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0027' id='Footnote_0027'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0027'><span class='label'>[27]</span></a> +<p>Surtees Society, Boldon Book, p. 28.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0028' id='Footnote_0028'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0028'><span class='label'>[28]</span></a> +<p>“English Monastic Life,” p. 198.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0029' id='Footnote_0029'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0029'><span class='label'>[29]</span></a> +<p>The English were famed in the Middle Ages for their preference +for good bread. They would eat no bread</p> +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<p class='indent8'>“That beans in come,</p> +<p>But of cocket<a name='FNanchor_0030' id='FNanchor_0030'></a><a href='#Footnote_0030' class='fnanchor'>[30]</a> or clerematyn<a href='#Footnote_0030' class='fnanchor'>[30]</a> or else of clean wheat.”</p> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<p class='ralign'>—<i>Piers Plowman</i>, A. vii. 292.</p> +</div></div> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0030' id='Footnote_0030'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0030'><span class='label'>[30]</span></a> +<p>Better kinds of bread, but not the best (wastel).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0031' id='Footnote_0031'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0031'><span class='label'>[31]</span></a> +<p>Walter of Henley, p. 29.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0032' id='Footnote_0032'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0032'><span class='label'>[32]</span></a> +<p>Apparently, it is only within the last hundred years that the cow +has ceased to be a normal possession of the agricultural labourer. See +Slater, “English Peasantry and Common Fields,” pp. 122-128.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0033' id='Footnote_0033'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0033'><span class='label'>[33]</span></a> +<p>Eddy, “English House,” p. 133.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0034' id='Footnote_0034'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0034'><span class='label'>[34]</span></a> +<p>England at that time possessed her own vineyards, <i>e.g.</i> near +Gloucester, and produced white wine.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0035' id='Footnote_0035'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0035'><span class='label'>[35]</span></a> +<p>Rules of S. Robert as given in “Walter of Henley,” p. 145.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0036' id='Footnote_0036'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0036'><span class='label'>[36]</span></a> +<p>Broth in which the meat had been boiled.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0037' id='Footnote_0037'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0037'><span class='label'>[37]</span></a> +<p>Pepper.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0038' id='Footnote_0038'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0038'><span class='label'>[38]</span></a> +<p>Stiff.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0039' id='Footnote_0039'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0039'><span class='label'>[39]</span></a> +<p>“Meals and Manners of the Olden Time,” p. 164.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0040' id='Footnote_0040'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0040'><span class='label'>[40]</span></a> +<p>Kind of sauce.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0041' id='Footnote_0041'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0041'><span class='label'>[41]</span></a> +<p>Pork, eggs, cloves, currants, dates, sugar boiled in a bladder, cut +into strips and served with hot rich sauce.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0042' id='Footnote_0042'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0042'><span class='label'>[42]</span></a> +<p>A soteltie was an elaborate confection of pastry painted or +adorned with paper to represent a saint or a figure of spring, +summer, &c.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0043' id='Footnote_0043'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0043'><span class='label'>[43]</span></a> +<p>Spiced wine.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0044' id='Footnote_0044'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0044'><span class='label'>[44]</span></a> +<p>Panter and pantry, from pain.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0045' id='Footnote_0045'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0045'><span class='label'>[45]</span></a> +<p>Butler = bottler.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0046' id='Footnote_0046'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0046'><span class='label'>[46]</span></a> +<p>Rules of S. Robert in “Walter of Henley,” pp. 138-140, <i>passim.</i></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0047' id='Footnote_0047'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0047'><span class='label'>[47]</span></a> +<p>Webb, “Essay on Gloucester Abbey,” p. 13.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0048' id='Footnote_0048'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0048'><span class='label'>[48]</span></a> +<p>“Meals and Manners,” p. 74.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0049' id='Footnote_0049'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0049'><span class='label'>[49]</span></a> +<p><i>Libes Niges Domus</i>, p. 65.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0050' id='Footnote_0050'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0050'><span class='label'>[50]</span></a> +<p>Gasquet, “English Monastic Life,” p. 211.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0051' id='Footnote_0051'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0051'><span class='label'>[51]</span></a> +<p>The maintenance of a large retinue was one of the easiest ways +available for indicating the possession of surplus wealth. This fact, +coupled with the almost absurd over-elaboration of the details of +serving, incline me to believe that in the mediæval castle servants +were numerous and not overworked.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0052' id='Footnote_0052'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0052'><span class='label'>[52]</span></a> +<p>Riley, “Memorials of London,” p. 48.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0053' id='Footnote_0053'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0053'><span class='label'>[53]</span></a> +<p>Riley, “Memorials of London,” p. 199. There is, unfortunately, +no indication of the social standing of this felon, Hugh le Bevere by +name. The list of clothes suggests that he was fairly well-to-do, in +which case his equipment of cooking and table utensils is certainly +meagre. It is curious that pottery is not mentioned; it can hardly be +urged that although in use it was too unimportant for a place in the +inventory, since room is found for one small canvas bag, value 1d.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0054' id='Footnote_0054'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0054'><span class='label'>[54]</span></a> +<p>Hence the name convertible husbandry.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0055' id='Footnote_0055'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0055'><span class='label'>[55]</span></a> +<p>This is, of course, a very summary statement of changes which it +took centuries to bring about. On the one hand, money economy +existed in the mediæval town; on the other, subsistence farming continued +in England to some extent until within a hundred years ago. +Yet it is roughly true that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries +production for the market and not for use markedly and suddenly +increased.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0056' id='Footnote_0056'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0056'><span class='label'>[56]</span></a> +<p>By an Act of 1589, it was ordained that four acres of land should +be attached to every cottage. <i>Cf.</i> Hasbach. “English Agricultural +Labourer,” p. 40.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0057' id='Footnote_0057'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0057'><span class='label'>[57]</span></a> +<p>See Cunningham, “English Industry and Commerce,” vol. ii. +p. 40 (4th ed.).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0058' id='Footnote_0058'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0058'><span class='label'>[58]</span></a> +<p>Poultry.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0059' id='Footnote_0059'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0059'><span class='label'>[59]</span></a> +<p>“Description of England,” p. 238 <i>ff.</i></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0060' id='Footnote_0060'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0060'><span class='label'>[60]</span></a> +<p><i>Op. cit.</i>, vol. i. p. 150.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0061' id='Footnote_0061'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0061'><span class='label'>[61]</span></a> +<p>Pickled pork.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0062' id='Footnote_0062'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0062'><span class='label'>[62]</span></a> +<p>This class is never described by him.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0063' id='Footnote_0063'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0063'><span class='label'>[63]</span></a> +<p>See Cunningham, ii. p. 78, “Issue of Patents for making Soap +and Vinegar.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0064' id='Footnote_0064'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0064'><span class='label'>[64]</span></a> +<p><i>e.g.</i> Slater, “English Peasantry and the Enclosure of the Common +Fields.” Hasbach, “History of the English Agricultural Labourer.” +Toynbee, “The Industrial Revolution.” Hobson, “Evolution of +Capitalism.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0065' id='Footnote_0065'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0065'><span class='label'>[65]</span></a> +<p>[Near Halifax]. “After we had mounted the third hill, we found +the country one continuous village ... hardly a House standing out +of speaking distance from another, and as the day wore on we could +see at every House a tenter, and on almost every tenter a Piece of +Cloth, Kersey or Shalloon, which are the three articles of this country’s +labour.... Then as every clothier must necessarily keep one horse +at least to fetch home his wool and his provisions from the market, +to carry his yarn to the spinners, his Manufacture to the fulling mill, +and when finished to the market to be sold and the like; so every one +generally keeps a cow or two for his Family.... Nor is the industry +of the people wanting.... Though we met few People without Doors, +yet within we saw the Houses full of lusty fellows, some at the dye-vat, +some at the loom, others dressing the cloths, the women and +children carding or spinning. All employed from the youngest to the +oldest. Scarce a thing above four years old, but its hands were +sufficient for its own support.” Defoe, “Tour through Great Britain” +(1769), vol. iii. p. 146.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0066' id='Footnote_0066'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0066'><span class='label'>[66]</span></a> +<p>“The increase of urban areas can be gathered from the Census +Reports. In 1851 ... the population of such areas amounted approximately +to 9,000,000, or 50 per cent. of the total population of England +and Wales; by 1881 the population of urban sanitary areas, as defined +by the Public Health Acts, 1872 and 1875, was 17,600,000, or 68 per +cent. of the aggregate population; by 1901 ... the population of +boroughs and urban districts amounted to 25,000,000, or 77 per cent. +of the aggregate population.”—Blue Book on Public Health and Social +Conditions, p. 6 [Cd. 4671 of 1909].</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0067' id='Footnote_0067'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0067'><span class='label'>[67]</span></a> +<p>It should be noted, too, that the advantages of the large-scale +method of production are greatly diminished by the dangers of adulteration. +<i>Cf.</i> p. 177.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0068' id='Footnote_0068'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0068'><span class='label'>[68]</span></a> +<p>In the absence of an efficient system of police, it probably was not +safe for women to walk or travel alone. In the security provided for +us by paved and lighted streets, guarded by trained constables, and in +the complete safety of modern methods of travelling, some of us are +apt now to forget these elementary considerations, once of supreme +importance.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0069' id='Footnote_0069'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0069'><span class='label'>[69]</span></a> +<p>For the whole subject, see Hutchins and Harrison, “History of +Factory Legislation.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0070' id='Footnote_0070'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0070'><span class='label'>[70]</span></a> +<p>In “Educated Working Women,” by Clara E. Collet, 1902. Miss +Collet says: “Were statistics available it might perhaps be shown that +the unmarried women are to a large extent the daughters of clerks and +professional men.... Emigration is probably more frequent in the +salaried class; and where the sons are obliged to emigrate, it frequently +happens that the daughters have to work for their living. In this +class I believe the inequality of the sexes is greatest and the chances of +marriage least” (pp. 37-38).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0071' id='Footnote_0071'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0071'><span class='label'>[71]</span></a> +<p>P. 171.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0072' id='Footnote_0072'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0072'><span class='label'>[72]</span></a> +<p>I cannot refrain at this point from inserting the following quotations +from “Shirley” (chapter xxii.). Charlotte Brontë’s genius illumined +the situation of many girls even in her time, and of a larger number +since. Caroline is speaking. “Old maids, like the houseless and unemployed +poor, should not ask for a place and an occupation in the world; +the demand disturbs the happy and rich; it disturbs parents. Look at +the numerous families of girls in this neighbourhood. The brothers of +these girls are every one in business or in professions ... their +sisters have no earthly employment but household work and sewing.... +Men of England! look at your poor girls, many of them fading +around you, dropping off in consumption or decline; or, what is worse, +degenerating to sour old maids, envious, backbiting, wretched, because +life is a desert to them; or, what is worst of all, reduced to strive, by +scarce modest coquetry and debasing artifice, to gain that position and +consideration by marriage which to celibacy is denied.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0073' id='Footnote_0073'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0073'><span class='label'>[73]</span></a> +<p>I am not suggesting here that the pioneers of women’s higher education +were wrong in the attitude they adopted. To win for women +intellectual freedom was the most important duty for them, and that +could only be achieved by women submitting to the same intellectual +tests as men. But the problems which call for solution by their successors +of a later generation have assumed a new form.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0074' id='Footnote_0074'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0074'><span class='label'>[74]</span></a> +<p>See Raymond Unwin, “Housing and Town-Planning.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0075' id='Footnote_0075'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0075'><span class='label'>[75]</span></a> +<p>In June 1908, the value of the property of the various tenants’ +companies was only a little short of a quarter of a million pounds, and +their operations have since then been extended in various directions.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0076' id='Footnote_0076'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0076'><span class='label'>[76]</span></a> +<p>For comparison:—</p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Tenant Company Operations"> +<tr><td align="center"><b>Occupation.</b></td><td align="center"><b>Number of<br />Persons Employed.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Agriculture</td><td align="right">1,197,922</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Textile fabrics</td><td align="right">1,155,397</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Professional occupations</td><td align="right">606,260</td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0077' id='Footnote_0077'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0077'><span class='label'>[77]</span></a> +<p>Owing to a change in the system of enumeration which alters the +basis of comparison, the year 1891 cannot be used in our calculations.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0078' id='Footnote_0078'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0078'><span class='label'>[78]</span></a> +<p>The competent single-handed maid is meant here, not the little +“slavey” who assists her mistress in the rougher part only of the work.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0079' id='Footnote_0079'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0079'><span class='label'>[79]</span></a> +<p>A further inquiry is needed into this matter. I am not at all clear +whether servants are derived from the class of the fairly prosperous +artisan or from the unskilled labouring class.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0080' id='Footnote_0080'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0080'><span class='label'>[80]</span></a> +<p>“There are unfortunately no reliable statistics as to the average +wages earned by women workers, but, speaking from a large experience, +I estimate that the average wage of the manual woman worker, +taking into account slackness, sickness, &c., is certainly not more than +7s. 6d. all the year round.”—“Trade Unions,” by Mary Macarthur, in +“Women in Industry from Seven Points of View,” p. 66.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0081' id='Footnote_0081'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0081'><span class='label'>[81]</span></a> +<p>Stephen Reynolds in “A Poor Man’s House” paints this situation +with great psychological insight.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0082' id='Footnote_0082'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0082'><span class='label'>[82]</span></a> +<p>Compare Salmon, “Domestic Service,” pp. 145-6.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0083' id='Footnote_0083'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0083'><span class='label'>[83]</span></a> +<p>Compare “Englishwomen’s Year-book for 1910,” p. 69.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0084' id='Footnote_0084'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0084'><span class='label'>[84]</span></a> +<p><i>e.g.</i> Rowntree, “Poverty: a Study of Town Life”; Liverpool +Economic and Statistical Society, “How the Casual Labourer Lives”; +“Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” (published +by Otto Schulze & Co., now out of print); Recent Blue-books on the +Cost of Living, &c.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0085' id='Footnote_0085'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0085'><span class='label'>[85]</span></a> +<p>Rowntree, “Poverty: a Study of Town Life,” pp. 117, 298 <i>ff.</i>, as to +inadequacy of diet of labourer, pp. 235 and 303. Mr. Rowntree’s conclusions +have been impugned by several critics, and it may be that +his dietary standard is too high. But even if it turns out that only +a quarter and not a third of the population are in receipt of incomes +insufficient for the expenditure necessary to secure bodily efficiency, +the fact is serious enough.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0086' id='Footnote_0086'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0086'><span class='label'>[86]</span></a> +<p>Calculated by Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell to amount to +6s. 10d. per family of the working-class population. “Temperance +Problem and Social Reform” (7th ed.), p. 20.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0087' id='Footnote_0087'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0087'><span class='label'>[87]</span></a> +<p>“Principles” (4th ed.), p. 194.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0088' id='Footnote_0088'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0088'><span class='label'>[88]</span></a> +<p>A special charge was made for guests in this household, and the amount received was deducted +from the weekly food bill.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0089' id='Footnote_0089'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0089'><span class='label'>[89]</span></a> +<p>“The Camel and the Needle’s Eye.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0090' id='Footnote_0090'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0090'><span class='label'>[90]</span></a> +<p>“The Camel and the Needle’s Eye,” p. 153.</p> +</div> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span> +<a name='SOME_RELATIONS_OF_SANITARY_SCIENCE_TO_FAMILY_LIFE_' id='SOME_RELATIONS_OF_SANITARY_SCIENCE_TO_FAMILY_LIFE_'></a> +<h2>SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE AND INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCY +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By ALICE RAVENHILL</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span></div> +<p>Among the many notable characteristics by which +the last half century has been distinguished, +there are two which bid fair permanently to +colour its records and materially to influence +the future of our country. I refer in the first +place to the scientific study of man, his nature, +his needs, and his potentialities; and in the +second to the growing appreciation of the fact +that the centre of ethical gravity must be shifted +from absorption in the sole concerns of self to +an intelligent interest in the affairs of others—that +is to say, that selfishness must yield to well +organised and discriminating social service.</p> +<h3>I. MAN’S PLACE IN NATURE</h3> +<p>It is of course no new thing for questions +upon the real nature of that complex creature, +man, to force themselves upon the attention of +the observant, and from time immemorial the +philosophical have spent themselves in efforts to +solve this problem by theories designed to detect, +even if not to account for, the agencies +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +active in the formation of the human mind and +body. The records of older civilisations bear +testimony to their labours, and are familiar to +most students of ancient literatures. But it was +not till the resources of modern science forged +new tools for the inquirer that it became possible +to chisel out from the bedrock of fact the main +features of man’s physical and social history.</p> +<p>With admirable patience and infinite skill, the +scientific craftsmen of recent times have laboriously +pieced together the scattered chips of +biological research, of human tradition, of tribal +customs and of world-wide folklore, until the +dignity and power, the beauty and the possibilities +of human nature have emerged from the +dust of ignorance and the veil of superstition. +The result is that it is no longer permissible to +deplore in pessimistic tones the inevitable degradation +of the race, nor to accept with +supineness the threatened deterioration of a +population. The forces by which humanity is +moulded are no longer unknown; the principles +which underlie social stability have been identified; +the means by which the arts may be developed, +which make life not only tolerable but healthful, +are ready to our hands.</p> +<p>The far-reaching significance of these facts +in connection with human health and progress +become apparent when considered in more detail. +Observers throughout the ages have gradually +noted, and subsequently turned to practical +account in garden, meadow, and farmyard, certain +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +characteristics common to all known forms of +vegetable and animal life. By due consideration +of these it was found possible to improve breeds, +to strengthen and lengthen life, to avert disease, +and generally to enhance economic value. It +may now appear simple enough, to extend and +apply these observations to the betterment of +human life; but many generations of human beings +slipped away before the facts, dimly discerned by +Aristotle and Lucretius, by Buffon and Lamarck, +were clearly focussed by Darwin,<a name='FNanchor_0091' id='FNanchor_0091'></a><a href='#Footnote_0091' class='fnanchor'>[91]</a> Wallace, +Spencer, and Huxley, through whose skill and +labours the continuity of the web of life was +first displayed to the world at large. The +design may here be almost elementary in its +delicate simplicity; there its subtle intricacies well-nigh +baffle description. The variety of pattern +is marvellous indeed, as Nature weaves with +ceaseless industry the woof of progressive development. +But the warp of this wondrous web +is nevertheless continuous throughout its length, +uniting the whole into one vast fabric.</p> +<p>This basic unity of all manifestations of life +has been further substantiated by another group +of scientists—Schleiden, Schwann, Kölliker, and +Virchow, for instance—who gradually and conclusively +proved the identity, in their simplest form, +of those living bricks (<i>i.e.</i> microscopic particles +of protoplasm) from which the whole vast +edifice of life is constructed. The capacity they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span> +possess for differentiation in their functions and +in modes of combination long masked recognition +of the fact that each commonwealth of cells, +whether plant or animal, is developed in the +first instance in orderly progression from a similar +minute speck of protoplasm, acceptation of which +has sufficed to bring about a complete revolution +in the scientific world. To these discoveries were +shortly added Pasteur’s conception of the nature +and causation of infective diseases; a knowledge +which brought with it a great accession of power +over hitherto mysterious and uncontrollable conditions. +And finally, man’s eyes have been +opened to the comprehension of Nature’s means +of self-defence against the micro-organisms of +disease. Thus, while humanity is by these +means armed with most potent weapons against +the inroads of infection, decay, and death, the +light thrown upon the mystery of the origin +of each individual life has shown man his true +place in the kingdom of nature. The application +of these great discoveries, together with +increased opportunity for and accuracy in their +utilisation, constitute the basis of the modern +methods of hygiene.</p> +<p>It must be borne in mind that until less than +a century ago it was man’s custom to dissociate +himself wholly from the less highly developed +animals and plants which he employed so freely +for his support and convenience. He set himself +on the highest pinnacle, as it were, of the edifice +of life, believing himself to be independent of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +the influences by which the rest of the building +was dominated. And thus through countless ages +he suffered, languished, and died, unconscious +that the forces he had learned more or less to +control in husbandry and farmyard were in +their turn controlling him in the conduct of his +life. Ignorant alike of the influences of his own +inherited nature or of those of his environment, +he paid no heed to the responsibilities of transmitting +the torch of life undimmed to succeeding +generations, and gave no thought to utilising +to his own personal perfecting the resources of +Nature, which he habitually employed to increase +his wealth or to improve his crops and stock.</p> +<p>It was indeed to the control of his <i>surroundings</i> +that man first gave more or less careless +heed. The fact that environment can either +stimulate or stunt both physical and mental +powers, thrust itself too persistently on his attention +to be ignored; but the influence of a good +parentage or of sound ancestry was less obvious, +and for generations received little or no attention. +Vague talk on “family temper,” “family habits,” +“family voices” was common enough, but no +more than a passing curiosity was aroused as to +their hidden import, nor was their profound significance +suspected.</p> +<p>Thus, though half a century has passed since +Darwin placed man<a name='FNanchor_0092' id='FNanchor_0092'></a><a href='#Footnote_0092' class='fnanchor'>[92]</a> “in his proper position in +the sequence of biological forms,” during which +interim enormous strides have been made in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +applying to the betterment of human existence +the principles found to hold good in the case of +lowlier type of life, public sentiment has so far +only supported sanitary reforms directed to the +promotion of improved environment. And this in +spite of Sir Francis Galton’s<a name='FNanchor_0093' id='FNanchor_0093'></a><a href='#Footnote_0093' class='fnanchor'>[93]</a> first appeal in the +cause of eugenics more than forty years ago. The +distinguishing characteristics of progressive races +and the right of every unborn child to be the offspring +of healthy, self-respecting, virtuous parents +have been repeatedly pointed out; while attention +is drawn to the accumulating evidence in favour +of the fact that of all influences upon the individual +his inherited nature is the most powerful. Yet +the public ear remains deaf to the cry that the +present generation is largely responsible for the +weal or woe of their children’s children.</p> +<p>This is not the place in which to discuss +Darwin’s theory of heredity nor its subsequent +elaboration and amplification by his contemporaries +or successors.<a name='FNanchor_0094' id='FNanchor_0094'></a><a href='#Footnote_0094' class='fnanchor'>[94]</a> But the time is come when +emphasis <i>must</i> be laid upon the duty of gaining +some general acquaintance with the subject +and its applications in the case of an Imperial +people.</p> +<p>It may be also well to point out that pessimism +is not necessarily associated with the fruits of the +studies carried on by our students of inherited +qualities, such as Sir Francis Galton or Professors +Thomson, Bateson, Karl Pearson, and others; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span> +only their results give us reason to pause, for +they cannot lightly be disregarded. They tell +us that we hold in our hands to-day the mental +vigour and bodily powers of an untold number +of descendants, therefore it behoves us to consider +our ways and be wise while there is yet +time. For our encouragement also be it known, +that while the lamp of modern hygiene illuminates +the errors of the past, it sheds its bright rays +over the paths of the present, and penetrates to +some extent the dim twilight of the future.</p> +<h3>II. FACTORS ADVERSE TO HUMAN PROGRESS</h3> +<p>It is a matter for regret that the sympathetic +consideration for the sufferings of others, which +found such grand exponents in John Howard, in +Elizabeth Fry, and in thousands more since modern +methods of philanthropy were initiated in the +eighteenth century,<a name='FNanchor_0095' id='FNanchor_0095'></a><a href='#Footnote_0095' class='fnanchor'>[95]</a> has tended latterly to lose +its virility. It is giving place to a maudlin sentimentality, +which seeks not only to preserve life at +all costs, but to permit, nay to encourage, the +production of a quality of human life, so defective, +so devitalised, that it threatens to minimise the +multiplication of the fit, by taxing them to their +detriment with the care and support of the unfit. +So to smooth the path of the weakly and unsound +as to put a premium on their fertility is false +philanthropy and faulty hygiene; for it is well to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span> +remember that reasonable exertion is beneficial to +health; that to overcome obstacles is stimulating +to the energetic; that some struggle for the means +of livelihood calls forth resourcefulness and adaptability +in the intelligent. Success in the battle +of life comes to those made of stuff equal to the +wear and tear of daily existence, and possessed of +the qualities which conduce to progress. These +are they who are competent to perpetuate the best +qualities of a good stock; these should be the +chosen bulwarks of a nation’s progress; nor must +their numbers be swamped by the ailing, the +crippled, the defective, and the insane.</p> +<p>A proportion probably of some of the deeply +seated, complicated, social problems which have +presented themselves, unperceived and almost unconsciously, +are the outcome of a one-sided study +of hygiene: these, combined with the slow growth +of social science, and a sickly, easy-going susceptibility, +have been allowed to obscure the +real issues of many well-intentioned but unwise +and ill-considered philanthropic measures. The +necessity, the <i>urgent</i> necessity, has now, however, +arisen for the bold and scientific solution of +these social problems. The work of biologists, +sociologists, and students of history during the last +ten years has illuminated the whole question of +race progress and public health with a light so +powerful and clear that even he who runs can +read the signs of the times by its clear rays; while +to the millions of parents and guardians whose +lives are spent in the care of children and home, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span> +its brilliance throws into high relief the dignified +responsibility of their work, its far-reaching worth +and enduring influence, as well as the fact that +for its adequate performance something more is +necessary than a bowing acquaintance with modern +sanitary science.</p> +<p>For what is the message of scientific hygiene +to the parent and householder of the twentieth +century? Dr. W. H. Burnham, of Clarke University, +U.S.A., a world-wide authority on the +subject, has formulated this message for us into +three terse, but telling and suggestive, commands.</p> +<p>The first gives solemn warning to beware of fads +and of the many popular doctrines which are +mediæval in their crudities and damaging by their +unconsidered acceptance.</p> +<p>The second preaches the gospel of <i>work</i> and +self-control, which must be practised in this as in +every other connection where progress and good +results are desired.</p> +<p>The third enforces the doctrine of cleanliness +to a degree as comprehensive as it is unusual—cleanliness +in person, dwelling, and food; in air, +water, and decoration; in occupation, environment +and morals; the work of home hygiene being +to secure for each family conditions which will +permit normal and unhampered functioning for +all the organs of each one of its members; +elasticity and pliancy in the functions being a +primary characteristic of health.</p> +<p>If once it be accepted that health, capacity, endurance, +and energy are more powerful weapons +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span> +for a progressive people than are sword or gun, +obedience to these commands will be general +and their results enduring. The pages of history +teach us that each nation in turn has exhibited +these qualities at its zenith of success, whether it +were the relatively highly civilised inhabitants of +Greece and Rome, or the barbarian hordes under +Attila. They characterise equally each group of +successful pioneers, whether they be the Pilgrim +Fathers of the sixteenth, the Huguenots of the +seventeenth, or the successful colonist of the nineteenth +century. When however their cultivation is +neglected the force of the life current of a people +or community is lost; the mighty river of a nation’s +prosperity dwindles to an insignificant streamlet of +mere existence, soon to be lost to view in the +morass of oblivion.</p> +<p>To what general causes may such deterioration +be attributed? Among the more prominent must be +mentioned ignorance of man’s physical nature and +of the nurture essential to his welfare; subtle forms +of self-indulgence; lowered standards of morality; +enervating luxury, or, in some cases, so severe a +struggle for existence among the salt of the population +(the upper, middle, and professional classes, +superior mechanics and artisans), that even patriotism +does not justify a quiverful of children. But +the persistence of these causes is a national calamity. +It is the science and art of hygiene which is emphasising +their disastrous consequences. No longer +in its infancy, no longer a mere collection of fads, +questionable statistics, and empirical doctrines, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +hygiene is prepared to inform us how to promote +human efficiency in every relation of life—domestic, +occupational, social, and imperial. Its tenets are +firmly based upon a goodly group of sciences, and +their utilisation call into play a whole range of +arts. Its theories find confirmation in the social +problems of the day, and the experience gained +from their tentative and partial application affords +sound evidence of their worth to the world. The +“expectation” of life, for instance, has been extended +ten years in half a century; in twenty +years the death-rate has decreased thirty per cent. +Disease has been found in most instances to be +controllable, and has been controlled; unhealthy +occupations have had their dangers curbed if not +entirely banished, and the lot of many has been +immeasurably brightened. <i>Yet</i> the weak joints +in the nation’s harness are gaping, and the vigour +and virility of the masses appear to be diminishing. +Again we ask, Why?</p> +<h3>III. STAGES IN THE GROWTH OF SANITARY +SCIENCE</h3> +<p>The answer may be found by reference to the +late Professor de Chaumont’s now classical outline +of the stages to be identified in the hygienic education +of a race. He divided these into three +periods, of which he described the first as merely +“Instinctive,” for efforts after sanitary practice +were dictated solely by the personal discomfort +associated with their neglect. In those far-off +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span> +prehistoric days, Professor Boyd Dawkins tells us +that primitive man, then in his nomadic stage, +would dig runnels to carry off the rain water from +the near neighbourhood of his shelters, or would +move on to fresh pastures when his family and +herds had fouled the nearest stream, or change +his camping ground when the accumulated refuse +of his food and his prowess as a hunter interfered +with convenient access to his dwelling; but he +took no precautions to prevent the recurrence of +these discomforts, and his efforts to remove their +consequences were purely temporary.</p> +<p>To this there succeeded what Professor de +Chaumont designated the “Supernatural” period,<a name='FNanchor_0096' id='FNanchor_0096'></a><a href='#Footnote_0096' class='fnanchor'>[96]</a> +which extended over many thousands of years, +during the dawn of which Eastern rulers often +combined in their own person the triple callings +of priest, prophet, and physician. Whether it be +in China or in Persia, in Egypt or in India, +among the Greeks, the Arabs, or the Hebrews, +the practice of physical morality and of personal +cleanliness, of restrictions of diet or protection +from infection, were closely woven into the religion +of the people. Reasons of health and sanitary +advantages permeate the rules of more faiths +than that of the Jews—whose Lawgiver embodied +in the Pentateuch health maxims now known to +have been derived from earlier civilisations.</p> +<p>But, remarkable and interesting as are the +ancient sanitary codes to a generation which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span> +professes to believe in the necessity for hygienic +practice, their usage was tinctured from the first +by a mass of superstition. Tradition and fatalism +hampered true consistency between faith and +works; the often sound regulations suffered from +their empirical foundations. Constant warfare, +varied by alternations of luxury with asceticism, +combined to absorb men’s minds and to pervert +their common sense, so that plague and famine, +disease and penury, were superstitiously regarded +as discipline from the Deity, not to be averted or +avoided, but rather to be accepted as a chastisement +prompted by love. The creed that to save +suffering to the vile body might risk the salvation +of the soul, cost Europe far dearer than is at all +generally recognised; for the noble, the pure, +the high-minded, the intellectual, segregated themselves +for centuries in monastery and convent, +in the firm faith that by denying to themselves +the joy of parenthood they promoted the spiritual +welfare of their country. Ignorant of their racial +responsibilities, they left as progenitors of the next +generation the less refined and ruder elements +in the population. It is no cause for surprise, +therefore, that progress in sanitation moved +slowly. Domestic and urban conditions were +permitted of a character well defined by the +facts that, in mediæval times, a man of forty-five +or fifty was considered long lived, and that first +attempts to control disease were based upon commercial +convenience rather than upon the saving +of life.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span></div> +<p>To this long night of superstition succeeded the +third and last period, known as the “Rational,” +of which the first dawnings can be detected even +in Plantagenet days. In this period it is desirable +further to differentiate three stages of progress—(<i>a</i>) +that of Development, when uneasiness +made itself felt, but from absence of knowledge +efforts at reform and control were crude, though +often intelligent; (<i>b</i>) the stage of Legislation, and +(<i>c</i>) the stage of Freedom.<a name='FNanchor_0097' id='FNanchor_0097'></a><a href='#Footnote_0097' class='fnanchor'>[97]</a></p> +<p>In the first of these, for instance, Henry III. +effected an improvement on any former practice +by bringing water to the city of London in pipes, +made by boring or burning a channel through +the trunks of large trees. Half a century later, +in 1297-8, laws were promulgated upon the +subjects of offensive trades, food adulteration, +and wandering pigs; while Richard II. imposed +penalties upon those guilty of fouling rivers and +ditches. Out of sight out of mind, however, was +the sanitary creed of this and many succeeding +generations, so that too often the apparent gain +of the moment sowed the noxious seed of intensified +subsequent ills.</p> +<p>Sir John Simon has pointed out that it was not +until the early part of the eighteenth century that +hygiene in its modern significance loomed on the +social horizon with clearer outline and more +definite aims. A gradual transformation took +place in the next hundred and fifty years, when +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span> +the national records, as well as the reports of +philanthropic organisations, indicate the gradual +growth of a public opinion which presently sought +its sanitary salvation in legislation. The nineteenth +century saw, as a consequence, the accumulation +of a huge mass of public health +laws, designed to accomplish reforms where +philanthropy or self-interest had failed to influence +habits.</p> +<p>The suggested designation, namely, the Legislative, +is therefore peculiarly appropriate for this, +the second stage of progress in the third period of +our country’s hygienic education. To legislation +men pinned their faith as the most potent weapon +of reform. From the first most inadequate and +ineffective Factory Act of 1802 until the enactments +of the last parliamentary session, each year +has seen substantial additions made to the growing +mass of sanitary legislation, which has become +unwieldy in bulk and intensely complicated in +machinery.</p> +<p>Any attempt to enumerate even a few of the +public health laws which crowd our statute books +would here be tedious and out of place, though +the community in general ought to be better +acquainted than it is with its powers and obligations. +For, truth to tell, fifty years of public +health administration has proved that human beings +are not yet consumed with a sufficiently strong +desire for health and efficiency to be willing to +change objectionable or unwholesome habits or +to sacrifice their conception of comfort at the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span> +<i>suggestion</i> of officials. Indeed the sterner measures +of compulsory conformity were so necessary to the +education of the public in the elements of healthy +living, that the year 1866 saw the commencement +of a new era in Public Health Department +of the Government. “The grammar of common +sanitary legislation,”<a name='FNanchor_0098' id='FNanchor_0098'></a><a href='#Footnote_0098' class='fnanchor'>[98]</a> writes the historian of our +“English Sanitary Institutions,” “then first acquired +the novel virtue of an imperative mood.” +“Must” was substituted in some laws for “may,” +and though the permissive has not, even in fifty +years, entirely given place to the peremptory, the +efforts to effect individual reform by Act of +Parliament have, since the formation of the +Local Government Board in 1872, assumed more +importance and vigour.</p> +<p>Since that date the reports of health committees +all over the country record the substantial results +of persevering work in the interests of hygiene, +qualified by the fact that the experience of other +nations has been abundantly confirmed by our +own, namely, that it is futile to legislate in +advance of public opinion. Until the populace +has been impregnated with a knowledge of what +is right, right action, though demanded by its +legislators, will be perverted by ignorant intention +or by resentful indolence. Even those who +have served the cause of sanitation most loyally +recognise that coercion is but a poor yeast with +which to leaven measures for the public weal; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span> +the product is liable to become sour and worthless +rather than wholesome and effective. One +higher grade must be passed by the nation under +the tutelage of a sanitary reform before its +education can be called complete.</p> +<p>The final stage in this last long period is +described by Professor de Chaumont as that of +“Freedom,” of which the attainment is not possible +until action is based on intelligent individual conviction. +Then and then alone there will be a +general recognition that “rights” are inevitably +associated with responsibilities, and that true +liberty is followed not by license, but by self-control +and respect for the rights of others.</p> +<h3>IV. WHY THE IDEALS OF MODERN HYGIENE +ARE NOT ATTAINED</h3> +<p>And so it has come about that, with this ideal +in view, the methods of modern hygiene are +directed to awaken the nation’s sanitary conscience +and to stimulate the growth of true civic +freedom. These methods may be fairly defined +as the working of common sense aided by the +results of scientific research, in their turn supported +by very carefully tested applications. +Necessarily it is assumed that each individual will +accord to them intelligent, personal support and, +where necessary, will be willing to sink unreasonable +likes and dislikes in the sea of social service.</p> +<p>Examples of the enormous benefit inseparable +from well-considered sanitary legislation could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span> +be multiplied; though, on the other hand, it +is also necessary to check optimism by many +illustrations of the grievous harm still being +wrought by want of thought. Hindrance to +possible progress is also associated with the +ignorance of those whose development has not +yet attained the level when freedom of action +can be permitted. It is some of the results of +this ignorant indolence which cause the minds +of the thoughtful and far-sighted to be tense with +anxiety for the welfare of their country, and +arouse a wish for further and more stringent +public health enactments. Nevertheless, again it +must be said that to legislate in advance of public +opinion is futile. Only after stupendous exertion, +for instance, has the serious and continued mortality +among infants excited general attention; +and the curious, widespread indifference to the +recommendations of recent Royal Commissions +on the Poor Law and the Care of the Feeble-minded +indicates that, were infant mortality controllable +by legislation, such legislation would still +fail of its object unless it were also realised that a +child’s hold on life is practically dependent upon +parental care, and is intimately associated with +maternal nutrition before its birth.</p> +<p>Or again; the law relating to the protection of the +public food supply is approaching a high pitch of +excellence; the penalties on adulteration or on the +sale of diseased or otherwise unwholesome foodstuffs +are severe and quite frequently inflicted; <i>but</i> +these regulations are powerless to influence the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span> +errors of nutrition constantly reflected in the +features of our population at each age period, +neither can they stem the tide of self-indulgence, +emotionalism and luxury which enervate and +deteriorate thousands of our people. Vain indeed +are their endeavours to disguise by alcoholism +and drugs the traces of their misfortunes. Stern +Nature is relentless; her laws are as those of the +Medes and Persians; the children’s teeth <i>shall</i> +be set on edge by the fruits of the reckless folly +and intemperance of their ancestors.</p> +<p>Is sanitary legislation therefore a failure, or by +what means can light from the sun of knowledge +penetrate this dense mass of ignorance and apathy? +For what reason has it opposed such a resistant +surface to the manipulations of the reformer or to +the coercions of the official? These questions do +not, unfortunately, admit of concise or conclusive +replies.</p> +<p>Each political party in turn points the finger +of reproach and derision at its opponents for the +modest success by which their legislative efforts +at social reforms are attended. Disease, malnutrition, +alcoholism and overwork continue to +hamper their efforts, and will continue so to do, +until a sanitary conscience is awakened in each +breast, at an age when habits and ideals are still +unformed.</p> +<p>There is no royal road to the solution of these +serious problems. They call for infinite, patient +and untiring tact, while they also demand the +employment of many and varied well-considered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span> +methods, based on a sound foundation of sanitary +and social science. The day for reform by theory +is over; the moment for practice by individual +example and co-operative effort has arrived.</p> +<h3>V. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN’S +PHYSICAL NATURE</h3> +<p>Before proceeding to suggest some means by +which to increase the stability of the national +health through the agency of family life, it will +be advantageous to recall the advice given to +students of any form of life by Professor Arthur +Thomson:—that they should, before attempting +to form conclusions as to its nature, submit its +constitution to analysis, with the assistance of +what he described as the biological prism. This, +he says, will throw light on the inherited nature +of the creature—the capital, so to say, with which +it is endowed at birth. It will illuminate the +functional nature of its parts, and will reveal what +it does in the course of its ceaseless activities—nervous, +muscular and organic. Further, the +prismatic rays will render visible the results of +some of the influences dependent upon the environment +with which it is surrounded, which play +upon it before and after birth. Unfortunately +these rays, when directed to human nature, cannot +penetrate so deeply nor divulge so clearly the +secrets of this the highest and most complex form +of life, as they do when directed to its simpler manifestations. +All ordinary difficulties are enhanced +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span> +by our human capacity for racial admixture and +the creation of an artificial environment.</p> +<p>This much, however, is clearly revealed by a +partial analysis. Human beings, in common with +all life, are distinguished by the power of movement, +and are sensitive to many forms of external +stimulus:—heat, cold, electricity, or pressure. +They pass their lives in rhythmic alternations of +activity and repose; they breathe; they absorb +food to supply energy and to maintain unimpaired +the substance of their bodies; they excrete waste +products. They share with plants and animals +an intrinsic tendency to continue their growth +for a certain period and up to a definite amount, +while, at the close of the most pronounced period +of growth, ability to transmit life absorbs the +energy hitherto utilised for personal development, +by which means the perpetuation of a species is +secured. Research shows, also without possibility +of question, that certain similar characteristics +distinguish the mechanism of every type of animal +life; though the machinery be in some cases of +the simplest, in others highly complex. Thus +have been revealed many secrets of man’s physical +nature; as, for instance, the knowledge that, in the +earliest stages of their existence, higher forms of +life recapitulate more or less imperfectly certain +far-off ancestral phases of development, of which +living specimens are still to be found on the +lower branches of humanity’s huge genealogical +tree. By means also of the close and detailed +observation of these lowlier organisms a clearer +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span> +conception has been formed of the intricacies of +growth and the prolonged process of development +in mankind. Just how human beings have come +to be what they are, mentally and morally as +well as physically, is a still unsolved problem. +There are, of course, many missing chapters in +the long story of life, though so far no contradictions +have been detected in its arguments. The +sad side of this biological lore exists in the now +ascertained fact that the highest intellectual and +moral powers, those last to develop, are the first +to suffer arrest or to die away when the organism +is subjected to premature exhaustion or to precocious +responsibility. Predisposing causes are +found in disease, dissipation, or defective nurture.</p> +<p>Another of the more important lessons to be +learnt from the pages of this book of life’s +history is the conservative influence of the law of +inherited nature; a law which makes for the preservation +of racial types by suppressing wide deviations +from the normal. A familiar illustration of +this may be found in the fact that the children of +parents of great height or of very short stature +usually revert to the average of the race. The significance +of this genetic relation in maintaining an +efficient people was unrecognised until quite recent +times, and though valuable evidence is accumulating +on the descent of hereditary character in mankind, +no definite conclusions have yet been reached on +the <i>intensity</i> of the transmission of qualities. It +is, of course, a subject of intense complexity, the +full discussion of which is here impossible. In the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span> +interests of future generations it is, however, to be +wished that more thought were given to the conclusions +it is allowable to draw. “If,” for instance, +says a recent writer, “instead of allowing the race +to mate at random we selected both parents for +some one quality, we could raise the intensity of +inheritance and establish gradually, by continued +selection, a strain in which the quality reached +a value much higher than the average in the +original mixed race....”<a name='FNanchor_0099' id='FNanchor_0099'></a><a href='#Footnote_0099' class='fnanchor'>[99]</a> Thus could a race be +strengthened for life’s calls, or, on the contrary, +until and unless the people are awakened to the +existence and bearing on their national security of +such fundamental hygienic influences, it can be +emasculated. No such selection is likely ever to +dominate human marriages, but an appreciation +of these and similar facts is fundamental to national +progress; and in time the dissemination of such +knowledge will be considered a parental duty, the +more urgent since the resources of civilisation and +ill-regulated sympathy have combined to brush +aside the sterner laws of nature, so that the +deteriorated threaten to become the chief progenitors +of the next generation.</p> +<p>During the process of studying the abundant +evidence of life’s progress from the simple to the +complex, it becomes also apparent that it is +affected by forces other than heredity. Recognition +of the ever-present influence of these potent but +often disregarded forces makes for harmonious +living, whereas their neglect is associated with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span> +heavy penalties. I refer to the capacity for individual +variation from the racial type; to the +modification of each individual by his or her +surroundings; and to the personal predisposition, +technically described as diathesis, which influences +the reaction made to every form of stimulus. Of +these three forces, the first is the result of an +inborn tendency to deviate from the ancestral +type; an orderly process with a definite intention, +by no means a mere chance fluctuation. This +certainly makes for progress as well as for interest +in life, though it enhances the difficulties +of education, because it demands the adaptation +of conditions to each individual’s requirements. +The second, the law of modification, takes into +account the influence of environment upon inherited +nature; the effects of climate, and food, +for example, or of forms of occupation. Predisposition +is, of course, a personal quality—a +factor of primary importance in our susceptibility +to or power to resist disease or in our capacity +to withstand adverse conditions. This property +is responsible for the greater or less degree of +adaptability to new conditions possessed by each +of us, and is concerned with our power to live +in tune or at discord with our surroundings.</p> +<p>Another biological law, that of periodicity,<a name='FNanchor_0100' id='FNanchor_0100'></a><a href='#Footnote_0100' class='fnanchor'>[100]</a> +or of rhythmic alternations of activity and rest, +has hitherto often suffered among human beings +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span> +more in the breach than in the observance of +its tenets; though unquestionably conformity to +its requirements makes for health and stability. +Throughout nature habits of rhythmic, organic +activity are too familiar to attract attention. Of +these, the periodic return of the seasons, for instance, +or the daily tides, the flowering of plants +and the ripening of fruit, the migrations of birds +and the hibernation of certain insects and animals, +are obvious examples. These rhythms have been +proved by experience to be advantageous in the +world. They make for efficiency and economise +energy, and, from their high degree of development +in man’s nature, it may be fairly assumed that +to him their observance is of great consequence. +Many of them are beyond his control; such, for +example, as the diurnal variations of his body temperature, +the beating of the heart, the call of hunger, +or the rhythm of growth. Others he can observe or +abuse according to his pleasure; sleep, for instance, +or the rhythm of work, or the daily discharge from +his body of its waste products.<a name='FNanchor_0101' id='FNanchor_0101'></a><a href='#Footnote_0101' class='fnanchor'>[101]</a> It is the work of +hygiene to demonstrate how to combine obedience +to all these laws with the demands of modern existence, +and it is the duty of man to conform reasonably +to modes of life based on these demonstrations. +More especially does responsibility for the establishment +of certain rhythms, such as sleep, devolve +upon the organiser of a child’s early life.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span></div> +<h3>VI. THE ORIGIN OF FAMILY LIFE AND ITS +RELATIONSHIP TO SANITARY SCIENCE</h3> +<p>Further researches into the records of the past, +and a closer study of the underlying principles +upon which humanity has formulated many generally +adopted customs, indicate how unexpectedly +intimate is the relation between the growth of +a social organisation and the origin of primitive +efforts after the preservation of life and health. +The world at large is so accustomed to the widespread +existence of family life that curiosity is +rarely aroused as to its origin, intention and worth; +consequently to ignorance of its significance must +be attributed the assertion that the custom is well-nigh +obsolete and the proposal of some would-be +reformers to abolish the institution and to instal +the State <i>in loco parentis</i>.</p> +<p>Professor McDougall<a name='FNanchor_0102' id='FNanchor_0102'></a><a href='#Footnote_0102' class='fnanchor'>[102]</a> assures us that such is +the social importance of the family that all who +have given serious attention to the question are +agreed that the stability of the family is the +prime condition of a healthy state. This opinion +is supported by other writers,<a name='FNanchor_0103' id='FNanchor_0103'></a><a href='#Footnote_0103' class='fnanchor'>[103]</a> who have emphasised +their conviction that the healthful development +of the individual—even the possibilities +of racial progress—depend to a large degree upon +maintaining intact the integrity of family life. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span> +Their conclusions are based upon recent researches +into the sciences of biology, sociology, +and economics.</p> +<p>The origin of this relation is apparently traceable +to one of the many forms of human association +which have proved advantageous in the +struggle for existence, when the value to a man +and his wife of so protecting their offspring during +childhood that there should be later on an array +of lusty sons and industrious daughters thrust +itself on their notice. The division of strenuous +work, for instance, the pursuit and preparation +of food, the effective defence of their rude shelters +against the depredations of their foes, were substantial +advantages to be derived in primitive times +from the possession of a large group of children. +Upon the youthful vigour and strength of their +family the parents could rely also when overtaken +by the weakness of old age or by accident +or disease.</p> +<p>These economic and sociological advantages +were so early appreciated and are so widely adopted +that traces of family life are to be detected in the +history and customs of every tribe or community +hitherto investigated. The bond thus formed, +even amongst the lowest savages, first developed, +then strengthened the ties of natural affection +between a mother and her children and prolonged +its emotional existence. In the case of the paternal +parent, it is probable that the motives which +incited him to make the efforts necessary for the +protection of his helpless infants might more +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span> +probably be found in the desire to leave an avenger +on individual enemies and a feeling that funeral +rites would be duly performed after his death, as +well as his tribe strengthened in war.</p> +<p>The gradual development of the human home +has been admirably described by more than one +writer, who has associated its evolution with the +gregarious instinct, recognised in many of the +higher forms of animal life.<a name='FNanchor_0104' id='FNanchor_0104'></a><a href='#Footnote_0104' class='fnanchor'>[104]</a> Within reason, +associated numbers represent power—power to +preserve the progeny, therefore to maintain the +numbers, which again in reason make for social +support and independence. Power for defence, +power to secure an adequate supply of food and +ability to differentiate occupations, thus dividing +labour, so that while the men of a family group +were engaged in war or the chase, their womenkind +devoted their attention to the creature comforts +which promote health and efficiency—these +are all factors which make for progress.</p> +<h3>VII. WOMAN’S VOCATION IN HOME AND +FAMILY LIFE</h3> +<p>And so it came about that to some extent woman’s +special and privileged vocation as a home-maker +began even in prehistoric times. Upon her it +devolved to rear the children she bore; to cook, +to mend, to make, to spin and dye and weave; to +prepare a welcome for the victor and to minister +to the sick or wounded. No sense of menial +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span> +limitation in their duties was apparent among the +notable women of the past. They were skilled +workers, capable and respected managers, under +whose direction men as well as women carried +out the details of daily work, to whose care in +later centuries castle and garrison were entrusted +in the absence of their lords, and who most +evidently assumed this responsibility with confidence +and success.</p> +<p>The changing conditions of the last three +centuries, however, reacted in many ways to the +detriment of women’s domestic energies and +sapped their pride in the vocation of housewife. +Industrial developments took much occupation +out of their hands, and they were not apparently +concerned to undertake others more in consonance +with modern life. As concentration of the +population in large centres undermined the last +survival of feudal conditions, the strong conservative +instinct of women made it hard for them +to adapt themselves and their households to revised +methods:—to substitute “new lamps for +old,” so that gradually it seems women became +split up into two parties, somewhat out of sympathy +one with the other. Adherence to the +traditions of the past and the attractions of social +life distinguished the one party; a restless desire +to give scope to their whole nature and to work +out their own salvation on unconventional lines +possessed the other. In the one case there was +no desire for domestic reformation. What methods +could be better than their great-grandmother’s! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span> +In the other, glimpses of what seemed a far wider +and more intellectual life than that of the ordinary +housewife diminished interest in the physical needs +of human nature, which it was thought made no +claims on mental faculties, and of which the daily +care was constantly associated with irksome restrictions +and a position of financial dependence.</p> +<p>It is not possible here even to outline the +numerous social and commercial innovations which +have modified every side of daily life for the last +two hundred years; but, when inclined harshly to +rebuke women for some of their now almost inexplicable +blindness to these changes, it is well +to remember that the flood of new discoveries, +new inventions, new modes of transit, new forms +of occupation and amusement, new means of +money-making and fresh excitements imposed +an enormous strain upon nervous systems, still +but slowly adapting themselves to the stir and +stress of the modern world. That eyes should +be temporarily dazzled by the brilliance of the +“wonderful century”; that the first results of +freedom from a period of unnatural restraint should +be intoxication with liberty, is not surprising. +Full of encouragement is, however, the fact that +an increasing number of women of all ranks are +engaged to-day in efforts to direct the light of +modern knowledge to the betterment of human +life; the movement speaks for the innate soundness +of their womanhood and for their realisation +of their imperial responsibilities. Many of these +efforts are still unsystematised, many good intentions +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span> +are held to be of equal worth with organised +practical knowledge; many women are alive only +to the needs of the least favoured of the community +and are dead to the urgent calls for intelligent +reforms in their own domiciles. But if the +willing mind be there, the direction of the work +into desirable channels will slowly though surely +follow. It is most certainly unnecessary to pour +every girl into the mould of a conventional +German hausfrau in order that she may perceive +the inner meaning of family life. God fulfils +Himself in many ways, and diversity of training +and of interests is as beneficial as it is desirable. +Neither can the women of a country single-handed +conserve this great institution of family life. The +loyalty of boys and the co-operation of men are +imperative to its preservation. They as well as +their mothers, wives, and sisters must realise its +responsibilities and opportunities, and must maintain +the dignified position of those who preside +over this unit of community life; they also must +respond to the crying need for its adaptation to +the requirements of modern civilisation.</p> +<h3>VIII. THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN +NATIONAL LIFE</h3> +<p>Mrs. Bosanquet<a name='FNanchor_0105' id='FNanchor_0105'></a><a href='#Footnote_0105' class='fnanchor'>[105]</a> has told us that the most +important economic function of the family to-day +is its direct control of the prosperity or ruin of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span> +nations; for here alone are found in combination +the forces which determine the quantity of the +population with the forces which determine its +quality. To control these forces offers, to say the +least, a life-work for countless men and women. +Both parents must safeguard the character of their +children’s inherited nature; both sexes are more or +less directly or remotely concerned in the provision +of a suitable environment for human lives, infant +or adult. Under the circumstances it may well be +a matter for surprise that we have been so slow to +perceive that the right performance of these duties +demands a preliminary study of the art of preserving +health and promoting progress, and we marvel at +the placid spirit of content which has sanctioned +the conversion into a stronghold of empiricism, +the very place where a sound knowledge of progressive +sanitary science is of primary importance.</p> +<p>In the book to which reference has been +already made, Mrs. Bosanquet also enumerates the +causes which in her opinion militate most actively +against the continuance of family life at the present +day. Among others she mentions evasion of responsibility, +self-indulgence (with which we are +very familiar), reliance upon external sources of +maintenance, and the unequal distribution among +the members of a family of the burden of support. +Further, she refers to the unfortunate failure among +parents to realise that the old Roman customs of +parental possession and filial submission are out of +date to-day, and calls upon the wise guardian to +substitute others which lead to loyalty and love.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span></div> +<p>The new movement for a study of the characteristics +of childhood and adolescence should materially +contribute to the realisation that this parental +attitude of dominant authority must be now associated +with and modified by a more balanced +understanding of the phases of youthful development +and of the intricacies of individual temperament. +Convenience has hitherto encouraged the +customary regulation of a group of young lives +as if they were one and the same individual, no +allowance being made for variation in character or +in age, in propensities or in health. Each nursery +party or infant school serves to illustrate the point. +Individual tendencies to cold or to fatigue, to nerve +storms or to indolence; individual capacities in +diet, occupation or exercise, must be intelligently +respected if potentialities are to become actualities.</p> +<p>In the well-conducted home, for example, a +study of individual character must in the future +replace cast-iron discipline or easy-going, child-spoiling +indulgence. The fact that the early +cultivation of good habits makes for healthful +happiness must be generally appreciated; and the +duty of the home to provide opportunity for the +exercise of personal tastes, the importance of training +as a relief to nervous strain and as the best means +to develop resource and skill, must be perceived. +It will be by this constant understanding supervision +in early years, and later by the cultivation +of an intimate sympathetic comradeship with his +children, that the modern parent will retain for +his country the cementing force of family life.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span></div> +<h3>IX. THE MEANING OF INFANCY</h3> +<p>The great discovery of John Fiske as to the +reasons for the long continuance of childhood in +man must not be overlooked in this connection; +it bears so directly on health and efficiency, and +is closely associated with the importance of the +family to the individual as well as to the nation. +Why, it may be asked, is man’s period of helplessness +so prolonged; why, when his brain development +reaches so high a standard, is he for years +in a position of entire dependence, whereas snakelet +and chick are practically self-supporting from the +hour of hatching? When the lower forms of +animal life are compared with mankind, the non-existence +in their case of any such stage as infancy +is at once apparent. They are brought into the +world able to take care of themselves and to +live an independent individual existence. Young +pigs run almost as soon as they are born, young +swallows fly directly they are fledged.</p> +<p>Now, if the structure of lower animals be examined, +it will be found that they have no central +warehouse corresponding to the human brain for +the storage of new sensations or for an elaborate +and original response to them. Each such animal +repeats the life of its parents; each responds in +exactly the same way to the contact of air, of +earth, of food, or of water. Their activities, it is +true, are distinguished by accuracy and despatch, +but the offspring of a hen of the twentieth century +has no larger capacity for the variation of these +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span> +activities than has the chick which was hatched +out six thousand years ago. The guinea-pig of +to-day, for example, remains mentally at the level +of his thousandth ancestor. Wherein then lies the +difference between the pig and the baby?</p> +<p>As animals rise in the scale, as their brains +become more subtle, more elaborate in structure, +their actions become correspondingly more +numerous and complicated, more varied, more +individual. The nervous systems of such animals +are characterised by an increasing complexity +of development, and this provides the machinery +necessary to the performance of an increasing +number of muscular and mental co-ordinations; +they can adapt themselves to unfamiliar surroundings +and possess much enhanced advantages +in the struggle for existence. <i>But</i>, associated +with these advantages, is a much longer period +of immaturity, because, where the capacity for +flexibility and progress is great, the antenatal +period is insufficient for the establishment of the +necessary nervous connections or even for the +development of the brain cells between which +these connections will be formed. The chick will +have its full plumage in ten weeks, but mentally +it is far below a dog or a monkey, whose period +of immaturity is much longer. Similarly, the dog +attains his maturity long before the monkey, who +is infinitely his superior in fertility of resource, +power to learn through imitation, and capacity for +attention. The infant in its turn is far longer in +a dependent condition than the highest ape.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span></div> +<p>Relatively large in bulk at birth, and reaching +usually its full mass in the first fourteen years of +life, the human brain possesses throughout childhood +vast silent areas, big with future potentialities, +areas in which the cells are slowly ripening +to function. Even after full growth in size +is reached, many more years must pass before +capacity for the higher mental functions or for the +complete control of such functions has developed. +It must be borne in mind that, throughout this +period of immaturity, errors of nutrition or defective +stimulation may interfere with function. One +of the most important duties of the home is +to provide the suited environment for its child +occupants during these long and anxious years. +How long they are has been emphasised by +Dr. Clouston,<a name='FNanchor_0106' id='FNanchor_0106'></a><a href='#Footnote_0106' class='fnanchor'>[106]</a> who has said that, of all the periods +of brain growth, the most important, as regards +the development of our highest moral and mental +potentialities, is that between eighteen and twenty-five +years of age, when the capacity for self-control +should be coming into function in its +highest relations, and when failure to ripen in due +course is fraught with most serious consequences +for the future.</p> +<p>There is no such thing, therefore, as infancy +or parental care in the lowest orders of animal +life; of which, one result is a gigantic mortality +among their offspring. Enormous numbers of +eggs are laid to ensure the preservation of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span> +the species when left to fend for themselves. +The turbot, for instance, must deposit millions +of minute glassy ova or the species would become +extinct. Even among frogs the destruction of +tadpoles is so great that provision must be +made to allow for this loss. The fostering care +of birds for their young at once permits a great +reduction in the number of the offspring; but, +though birds give evidence of some capacity +for parental care, infancy, as such, is really +confined to mammalian young. Even here it +is curtailed in a vast number of species; but +wherever it exists it stands for power to progress, +and represents capacity for benefiting by, indeed +depending upon, education, if only in the simple +form of learning by imitation—a form familiar to +readers of such books as Long’s “Schools of the +Woods.”</p> +<p>Plasticity is the hall-mark of progress; educability +indicates a brain more or less competent +to assimilate, to remember, to compare, to discriminate. +This door of progress has been merely +set ajar for even the higher apes; it is open to +man only. The period of plasticity is evidently +prolonged in proportion to the degree in which +conscious intelligence has superseded mere brute +force in promoting successful survival—that is to +say, the transmission of <i>mental ability</i> rather than +of <i>physical strength</i> postpones maturity. Man +alone possesses in full the powers of selection +and adaptation, of reason and of emotion, of +memory and of mental originality, which are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span> +included in his rich heritage of life. If he is +to realise his full potentialities, he must have +protection for years after birth and an extended +time for development. The immature infant +must be fed, sheltered, and stimulated, if the +inherent powers of adjustment to surroundings +are to develop normally. But so great is the +instability associated with human immaturity and +future potentiality, that arrested development is +too often the heavy penalty paid by the child +for the ignorance and carelessness of his parents.<a name='FNanchor_0107' id='FNanchor_0107'></a><a href='#Footnote_0107' class='fnanchor'>[107]</a> +Faults of food and clothing, insufficient warmth, +cleanliness, or exercise, premature work or precocious +responsibility and independence, prolonged +overstrain or insufficient stimulation of mind +and body, are the prevalent causes by which a +child’s normal growth is warped and prejudiced. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span> +Where this occurs he never enters into his birthright +of power; it has too often been thoughtlessly +bartered by his natural guardians, literally for a +mere mess of pottage.</p> +<h3>X. CAUSES WHICH MENACE HEALTHFUL +INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD</h3> +<p>Perhaps one of the greatest inconsistencies of +an inconsistent nation lies in the fact that the +extraordinary ignorance of the elementary needs +of a tender infant is not confined to one section +of society; it is found in Belgravia as well as in +Bermondsey. Thus, though the chief sources of +the tuberculosis which is responsible for the +presence of 45 per cent. of the children in the +London Invalid Schools are confined to the homes +of the poorer classes,<a name='FNanchor_0109' id='FNanchor_0109'></a><a href='#Footnote_0109' class='fnanchor'>[109]</a> inquiries into the incidence +of rickets among children in Glasgow show a +higher percentage of cases in the families of +mechanics than of labourers<a name='FNanchor_0110' id='FNanchor_0110'></a><a href='#Footnote_0110' class='fnanchor'>[110]</a>—a clear illustration +that ignorance and not poverty is here the predisposing +cause. Impure air and stuffy, ill-ventilated +rooms are concerned in the susceptibility to both +diseases, as is also malnutrition with its associated +diminution of the innate powers of self-protection. +But, in the one case, inability to provide suitable +food is the general cause; while in the other, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span> +inexcusable ignorance of the right forms in which +food should be supplied to young children is a +certain source of the evil.</p> +<p>The thought is pathetic, for the causes are +wholly preventable. Pitiful also, because less +excusable, is the grievous injury to health associated +with a mouth full of rotten teeth, permitted +as it is among families possessed of sufficient +means to meet the cost of cure, who prefer to +spend their money upon dress and amusement, +or among the members of which necessary endurance +of a trifling shock has not been cultivated. +Were the foulness of the discharge from a carious +tooth to be externally visible, the æsthetic instinct +among the refined would clamour for prompt +treatment; but, unfortunately for health, the results +of the disease are concealed, and consequently +condoned.</p> +<p>Again: light, sunshine and quiet are now known +to be essential to physical development and to the +possession of a sound nervous system; the statement +amounts to a platitude, for is not every +wealthy invalid despatched to complete convalescence +by the sea or in the country, and is not +the custom of a general annual holiday due largely +to the conscious benefits derived from an open-air +life far from the bustle of towns? Yet physical +morality is so poorly developed that the atmosphere +of suburban as well as urban districts is permanently +obscured by the preventable and wasteful +results of imperfect combustion, though the +detriment is incalculable to those whose lives see +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span> +no change of air. The ceaseless rumble of noisy +traffic, allowed to disturb the rest of thousands, or +more probably of millions, of our population, is +another factor responsible for the prevalence of +unstable nerves and of ill-balanced brains. It +assumes great gravity when it is realised that +among these sleepers are numbered the children +whose hours of rest are already most seriously +curtailed.</p> +<p>Another sin against childhood bears long enduring +fruits. I refer to the terrible results upon +the lives of those infants who survive efforts to +prevent their birth. The fact ought to be, if it +is not, common knowledge; yet the sale of the +infamous drugs, necessary to the crime, by pennyworths, +in every drug-store, is tacitly sanctioned +by the community.</p> +<p>Professor Sadler’s<a name='FNanchor_0111' id='FNanchor_0111'></a><a href='#Footnote_0111' class='fnanchor'>[111]</a> determination to direct +attention to the requirements of our adolescents +has aroused such response, that excuse is now +impossible for ignoring the detrimental effects upon +young people of unskilled, exhausting “blind alley” +work, or of removing prematurely the restraint +of moral discipline and systematised training.<a name='FNanchor_0112' id='FNanchor_0112'></a><a href='#Footnote_0112' class='fnanchor'>[112]</a> +Statistics show not only the economic disasters +which result from the unsatisfactory methods of +past years; they bring home also the steady increase +in the percentage of the proportion of +nervous instability as well as of anæmia, which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span> +interfere with the form of brain growth so rapid +in adolescence (namely, increase in complexity of +association, and in power to inhibit, to reason, and +to concentrate). Another result of these investigations +is to draw attention to the increase in +organic heart disease, which has been shown to +occur in more than thirty per cent. of the London +errand boys who are engaged in prolonged work +on Saturdays, as well as in out-of-school hours +during the week.<a name='FNanchor_0113' id='FNanchor_0113'></a><a href='#Footnote_0113' class='fnanchor'>[113]</a></p> +<p>Should not parents inform themselves diligently +on these matters? for there are warnings and to +spare from physician and educationalist upon this +reckless wreckage of the nation’s most valuable +asset. It was pointed out ten years ago that +the imposition of adult duties upon the child, +or even upon the young adolescent, is the +most effective machinery for the manufacture of +the unemployed and the unemployable. Only +now, however, are bye-laws being sanctioned +which impose at all adequate restrictions upon +child labour. For a longer period the steady +migration of the rural population from country to +towns has been bemoaned, as coupled with the +risk lest the deterioration of the individual decline +into the degeneration of the race. Nevertheless, +in spite of the sustained efforts of the Rural Housing +Association and of private individuals, the housing +problem still lies at the root of some at least of +this exodus. Miserable and inconvenient as are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span> +hundreds of our cottages, their number is still +insufficient in many places to meet the demand; +so perforce the young people of marriageable age +must go, or the elementary code of decency must +be violated.</p> +<p>The curse of alcohol,<a name='FNanchor_0114' id='FNanchor_0114'></a><a href='#Footnote_0114' class='fnanchor'>[114]</a> too, lies heavy on our +land; it shortens life, incapacitates for work, impoverishes +and degrades; visits in innumerable +forms the sins of the parents upon their innocent +yet grievously afflicted children; promotes crime +and perverts judgment. Each year brings more +statistical and biological evidence of its enduring +and deteriorating effects upon humanity. It seems +strange, therefore, that the law to insist upon the +provision of an adequate water supply for every +dwelling remains entirely insufficient to meet the +most urgent needs of many town streets as well +as country villages. Cleanliness is consequently +impossible, and the public-house must be perforce +frequented, for it provides a beverage more +palatable and perhaps as wholesome as the +cottager’s nearest supply.</p> +<h3>XI. THE SOURCE OF THESE CAUSES TO BE +FOUND IN FAULTY ADMINISTRATION OF +THE HOME</h3> +<p>May not the causes of some considerable proportion +of this apathy be traced to a want of +popular faith in the teachings of hygiene? Is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +not one source of the prevalent unbelief in its +tenets to be found in the widespread ignorance +of the right administration of human life in the +home, which turns out therefore a product of unhealthy, +inharmonious citizens, who are a source +of weakness to their country and a menace to +civilisation? How could it be otherwise? If the +cradle of life be defective, and its occupants be +debilitated, it is not the nurslings alone upon +whom the penalties will fall; whereas if home +administration be guided by intelligence, and +the quality of the inmates be high, individual +and national prosperity are assured. The burden +of responsibility or the privilege of promoting +progress (according to the spirit in which obligations +are assumed) rests with those who propose +to be or already are parents; they being influenced +in their turn by the educational and +social conditions of their surroundings. Parental +care and intelligent home management are thus +intimately concerned with the physical evolution +of the race, as well as with its moral development. +They must, therefore, assume an increasing +rather than a diminishing importance, if the full +development of potentialities is to be insured +in the rising generation, and racial progress promoted. +Any proclivity to depreciate the dignity +or to undermine the influence of these institutions +must be carefully examined and, if necessary, +sternly repressed.</p> +<p>The fact that such tendencies show signs of +sprouting is, it seems to me, a serious reflection +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span> +upon the parental and domestic methods of the +day. There is no smoke without fuel; faults +are rarely all on one side; the young are not +necessarily always in the wrong; therefore, a +course of self-examination into their methods +and motives may be a wholesome and fruitful +discipline for those who are responsible for the +nature and nurture of our children, and for the +stability and efficiency of adolescent and adult. +The absence of elasticity and adaptation to +modern requirements among the elders of a +family is often responsible for miserable homes, +and for much arrested development in their +inmates.</p> +<h3>XII. HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES IN +HUMAN LIFE</h3> +<p>Such a condition of affairs is, however, no +longer to be tolerated; for the result of research +carried out during the past and present centuries +has opened up a hitherto unsuspected vista of +progress to mankind, if and when he is intelligent +enough to establish an harmonious unison between +himself and his environment. Once the +jarring discords of debility, disease, and deterioration +have been modulated into the major chords +of health—moral and physical—the latent potentialities +of his higher life will be quickened +into productive activity. The misconception of +humanity which has denied to it the power to +rise above the level of present attainments, which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span> +has dwelt insistently upon the hopeless degradation +of the body, has brought about a condition +of enervating and passive fatalism, based +upon the conviction that all reforming efforts +must be directed solely to the preparation of +one part only of man’s triune nature for another +and future sphere of existence. The duty and +possibility of building a fit temple for man’s +spiritual nature here and now is the ideal +of a minority to-day—in the future it will +be that of an overwhelming majority; for the +proofs of human capacity for progress, of man’s +power to control the forces of nature, are ever +becoming more firmly authenticated, and all +that they imply will soon become far better +understood.</p> +<p>Though our knowledge of the subject is still +incomplete and often tentative, much progress +has been made, for instance, in a correct conception +of the means by which the physiological +balance of human life is adjusted, since Metchnikoff<a name='FNanchor_0115' id='FNanchor_0115'></a><a href='#Footnote_0115' class='fnanchor'>[115]</a> +drew attention to the interference brought +about in man’s normal development by certain +fundamental disharmonies in his constitution, of +which the end is premature death, if not a +pathological old age. It is quite evident that +unjustifiable encroachments upon the reserve +powers of the human body have been commonly +permitted hitherto, and though each year brings +fresh proof of the extraordinary endowment +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span> +which it possesses to respond to the demands +made upon it, yet each year also confirms +the conviction that this reserve fund must in +future be husbanded and used with economy. +When these powers are constantly drawn upon +the body is necessarily reduced to a lower level +of health. If the metaphor be employed of +the body as a building in course of erection, it +becomes obvious that if one of a group of converging +thrusts be much weakened or withdrawn, +a skilful rearrangement of forces may meet the +strain, but the total strength of the structure is +reduced. In how many cases has the temple of +a child’s body been permanently damaged by +such withdrawals, or how many adolescents are +launched into life with their capital of health +seriously diminished by premature calls upon its +resources.</p> +<p>The duty to maintain so far as possible a condition +of physiological equilibrium in ourselves +and in our children amounts to an obligation; +for which reason health promotion during the +plastic period of early life assumes a new importance. +Of course, a certain capacity for vicarious +activity is associated with the various organs +of the body in order to maintain their functions +against temporary failure. Healthy tissues are +furnished with power to respond to increased call +for exertion. How often are they most sorely +abused and unwisely taxed? Even now, when +made aware of these facts, we are slow to apply +to the conduct of life the lessons thus taught +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span> +us, and continue to be filled with self-commiseration +for the results to our bodies of overtaxing +their capacity for accurate readjustment.</p> +<p>It is not possible, much less desirable, that +the whole population should plunge into amateur +studies of recent physiological advance, nor even +that it should dabble, as its units are too much +disposed to do, in pseudo-scientific pathological +publications. But it is both possible and desirable +for all who assume the direction of their own +lives or those of children to “read, mark, learn, +and inwardly digest” some fruits of the labours +of others in the garden of health.</p> +<p>Were there one fixed standard of health to +which all could attain, the practice of hygiene +would be attended by a charming simplicity. +Unfortunately, modern science forces us to conclude +that each individual can only reach his +own particular standard of well-being. The +grades of health are consequently infinite in +number, and the task which devolves on parents +and guardians to secure that the standard possible +to each child under their care be attained +is no light one. So general is the blindness to +these truths, that the degree of health enjoyed is +in most cases far below the possible standard; +the results of ancestral vice, of parental ignorance, +or of defective environment having sapped prematurely +the springs of progressive potentiality.<a name='FNanchor_0116' id='FNanchor_0116'></a><a href='#Footnote_0116' class='fnanchor'>[116]</a> +The mental and physical balance is thus rendered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span> +relatively less stable and the powers of resistance +to adverse conditions are diminished.</p> +<p>Happily, by virtue of its inherent power, but +strictly in proportion to the vigour of this power, +an organism is usually able to strike a new balance; +for the capacity to regain its equilibrium +is exquisitely delicate in human nature, <i>if</i> the +change be neither too sudden nor too severe. +Throughout life this process of self-adaptation to +the presence of morbid influences is constantly +exercising its protective power. If, however, the +effort to overcome disadvantageous conditions be +very great or much prolonged, the life of the individual +is never quite so vigorous and symmetrical +as it might and should have been. In a luminous +address, delivered at the University of Leeds some +few months ago,<a name='FNanchor_0117' id='FNanchor_0117'></a><a href='#Footnote_0117' class='fnanchor'>[117]</a> Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton +instituted a comparison between the human +organism, which invariably tends to swing back +to the normal whenever the balance of health is +disturbed, and a ship which has safely weathered +a stormy voyage. The ship, he writes, “is not +stable, if stability means that she can defy the +forces that bear on her to move her from her +normal upright position, for ... the slightest +roll of the sea ... will make her heel over. +But she is stable, because when made to lean +over, there is thereby generated a system of forces +tending to return her to her place, which grows +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span> +greater the greater is the displacement, and thus +ultimately becomes sufficient to overpower the +disturbing forces.... As the ship arrives safely, +her construction must be such that disturbances +tend to right themselves when stability is seriously +endangered. Some corresponding righting force +also tends to bring back an organism to its +normal state.”</p> +<p>The caution may not be amiss that the amplitude +of the swing of a human pendulum, as +well as the accuracy of its final balance, depends +not only upon inherited nature and the amount +of reserve force possessed, but will be stable or +feeble, durable or transient, according to the influence +of environment.</p> +<p>In what way, it will be asked, can individual +capacity for health be gauged? to what degree +can the power to progress or to resist encroachments +be strengthened? at what age is intelligent +supervision most important?</p> +<p>No concise and conclusive answers can be +given to these most natural inquiries, but much +light has been recently thrown upon the long +duration of immaturity and associated instability +in mankind; upon the power of self-protection +inherent in the body;<a name='FNanchor_0118' id='FNanchor_0118'></a><a href='#Footnote_0118' class='fnanchor'>[118]</a> upon the influence thereon +of its environment; upon the penetrating power +of heredity; and upon the urgent importance of +the adolescent period.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span></div> +<p>Further, it appears that the healthful body is +equipped to withstand the attack of the bacteria +of most diseases, though the mechanism of self-defence +is of more kinds than one. Of the different +pathological bacteria identified up to the +present, for instance, some appear to be eminently +sensible to one kind of action of normal blood +fluids, while they are in a much less measure sensible, +or are, perhaps, entirely insensible to others; +a complication which enhances our respectful admiration +for the marvellous and intricate system +which provides for our bodily welfare. Obviously, +human nature would be practically immune from +disease if this protective machinery were always +in good working order: unfortunately this is not +invariably the case—hence disease. It is the duty +of hygiene to insure constant physical equilibrium, +but the intricate tactics of Nature are as yet so +imperfectly understood that man is not yet an +ally of great worth in her operations.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, the perception that the secret of +individual health lies in fostering the resistant or +protective elements, which should be present in +normal blood, marks a great step in advance; +for from it have originated measures to curtail +the course of an illness and to reduce the risk +of its recurrence. It is hardly Utopian to forecast, +as Sir Almroth Wright has done, that the +physician of the future will take upon himself a +still higher rôle than he has hitherto assumed +in this work of the prevention of ill-health, +for he will attempt, by means of systematically +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span> +strengthening individual capacity for resistance to +disease, to remove the necessity for curing those +who have fallen victims to its attacks. The gain +in health, in happiness, in time and in money +would be incalculable. For instance, had the +death-rate <i>all</i> over England during 1908 stood +at 13.8 per thousand, instead of at favoured +places only, no less than 33,831 lives would have +been saved. Of these deaths, one-fifth were those +of infants under twelve months old, the majority +of them wholly preventable. What a reckless +waste of racial and national capital; what an +unnecessary cause of bitter sorrow and disappointment; +what a source of unprofitable +expenditure! The calculation has been made +that for each death there are at least six cases of +more or less serious illness, involving confinement +to bed for a few days or a few weeks as the case +may be. A simple multiplication sum will enable +the reader to estimate the amount of serious +illness represented by the total arrived at: the +loss in time, health, happiness and efficiency is +incalculable.</p> +<p>The bright prospects for human health in the +future, therefore, rely largely upon the use which +will be made of this protective machinery, and the +prospective gain to humanity lies in the hope that +when family histories are kept systematically and +the inherited tendencies of a child are far more +accurately known, the invading forces of disease +will never get a footing, because precautions to +strengthen the body’s own defensive powers will +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span> +be taken as a matter of routine practice. The +physiological balance being thus preserved from +disturbance, the great fund of energy now utilised +to resist encroachments will be available for productive +purposes.</p> +<p>So great a reformation cannot of course be +brought about till shame is felt for the scandalously +low standard of health now common among all +classes, nor until a general determination is developed +to remove the minor miseries from which +we all suffer more or less impatiently.</p> +<h3>XIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL +HYGIENE IN FAMILY LIFE</h3> +<p>The result of a curious obtuseness to the +economics of personal and domestic hygiene is +also responsible for another serious dereliction of +parental duty, by which health and progress have +been grievously, though quite unnecessarily and +constantly, hampered. I refer to the general failure +to economise nervous energy or to take any interest +in what is rightly called mental hygiene. Yet Press +and people alike deplore the evident increase of +mental abnormalities, and anticipate the future with +undisguised anxiety. It has been well said that +though men carry more of the wood, women carry +not less of the worries of life. They <i>may</i> in some +cases escape the physical toil which strengthens; +they do <i>not</i> escape the mental toil which demoralises +and kills spirit and energy if not body and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span> +health. Now, though the brain tissues do not +create mental activities, nevertheless we all know +that they are conditioned in some inexplicable way +by that organ. Derangement in any part of the +brain deranges or diminishes its functions; non-development +in any part of the brain can and does +arrest mind growth. Chronic over-fatigue and +exhaustion, anæmia however produced, the circulation +through the nervous tissues of impure +blood, alter the character of the mental processes. +The results of starvation may so distort +them, that the horrors of the French Revolution +are attributed by some authorities to this particular +cause. That the imperfect lymph circulation associated +with adenoid vegetations accounts for much +so-called stupidity is one of the first fruits of the +medical inspection of school children; that a +severe shock may destroy intelligence is a fact +familiar to every expert in mental hygiene. If it +were generally known to parents that every impression +received by this, the most sensitive of all +organs, is stored up from early infancy, albeit +subconsciously, and can at some future time rise +up into the field of consciousness, influencing both +thought and action for good or ill, a very different +line of conduct would be taken towards the persons +or the places which make up a young child’s surroundings +and most indelibly impress his brain +cells.</p> +<p>It is surely time, therefore, that some broad +outline of the process of normal development of +the whole nervous system should be possessed by +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span> +all in charge of children. Every mother, for +example, should know that the movements of +a new-born baby, such as the facial contortions +observed during sleep, or the stretching and bending +of the limbs in very young infants, involuntary +and automatic in character, constitute the simplest +form of nervous activity. They are the necessary +precursors of that intellectual ability, to the development +of which parental ambitions aspire, +and should merge into more advanced forms of +nerve and muscle co-ordination, which, rightly +utilised, are invaluable agents in infant education.<a name='FNanchor_0119' id='FNanchor_0119'></a><a href='#Footnote_0119' class='fnanchor'>[119]</a> +An intelligent nurse possessed of even this outline +could begin quite early that training in physiological +righteousness and in the strict voluntary +control of the whole group of emotional expressions, +of which, as a little reflection will +quickly show, good manners largely consist. +Presently, as the brain cells are stimulated into +function by nutrition and a quicker and more +extensive recognition of external sensations is +acquired, a child will perform instinctive movements, +such as sitting, crawling, standing, walking, +jumping and throwing. Though considerable +latitude must be allowed for their wide individual +variation, failure to display these evidences of +mental progress should call for careful investigation. +Later on, skill in a hundred different forms +of muscular activity should be displayed; but +many years will elapse before full control of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span> +body in all its parts will be acquired, and more +years still must roll by before reasoned control +of the mental and moral actions is developed. +The last years of this long period of development +are, perhaps, the most critical of the whole; though +all depend for their favourable fruition upon an +infinity of loving care and suitable provision for +their appropriate activities.</p> +<p>There would be a marked reduction in exhausting +disciplinary difficulties were every parent +aware that, to the almost vegetative character of +the first few post-natal months (when sleep will +or should absorb at least twenty hours out of the +twenty-four), will succeed a period of extraordinary +activity, which lasts till about eight or nine years +of age, when the mind is essentially an exploring +organ; imitative, impressionable, retentive. Every +legitimate opportunity for the liberal gratification +of these characteristics should be provided, as well +as suitable surroundings for the eager, inquiring +brain. Elaborate toys are not necessary, nor is +premature book-learning permissible; but freedom +to investigate, to experiment, to test, to explore, +is the child’s urgent need, as well as suitable +arrangements for the intervening periods of profound +sleep. Repressed activity is often responsible +for breaches of discipline; so is insufficient +sleep, following on over-excitement, accountable +for “temper” and passions.</p> +<p>The next phase of growth is still distinguished +by this continued capacity for and dependence +upon muscular activity, but the mind becomes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span> +more reflective, more productive. The power to +initiate should develop during this stage of development, +as well as increased power to control +mental and bodily functions; and, throughout +each of these periods, there should be a steady, +unintermittent formation of good habits. At first, +the nature of these will be chiefly physical; the +habitual performance of the bodily functions should +be safeguarded, until their neglect is attended by +discomfort and their violation becomes almost +painful. Then, by degrees, the moral and mental +nature develops.</p> +<p>Thus is the child prepared for the stress and +turmoil of the long and anxious years of adolescence; +when, under the influence of new emotions, +of fresh temptations, of unfamiliar powers, the +character built on the sands of parental indulgence +is undermined, if not swept clean away; whereas +when built on the firm rock of good habits it +emerges unshaken from the storm.</p> +<p>That childhood is an honourable estate must +be now evident; pregnant as it is with possibilities, +pathetic in the risks associated with its +plasticity and dependence. Should it therefore +be necessary in the twentieth century to point +out that, when the fund of nervous energy is +constantly exhausted by deficient sleep and poor +food; when a demand on function in advance of +what nature is prepared to comply with is persistently +made, as it has habitually been in our +schools; when exaggerated and pernicious stimuli +are allowed to fatigue and to paralyse our child +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +population; when inadequate training in the right +conduct of life is provided, and no information +given on the dawning functions of potential parenthood; +when premature responsibility is imposed +or precocious and unwholesome independence is +permitted; worst of all, when, through parental +disease or alcoholism, the brain tissue is of too +poor a quality to resist the strain of modern +life—it is no matter for surprise that mental +instability and insanity are on the increase, nor +that degenerates hamper by their helplessness and +crime the productive capacity of the normal.</p> +<p>The importance of mental hygiene calls for +no more emphasis on my part; though, did space +permit, further illustrations might be given of its +scope. It includes the methods in our nurseries, +the curriculum of our schools, the care of our +adolescents, the increasing differentiation of our +industrial processes, the character of our often +miscalled recreations. It is concerned with the +warding off of nervous breakdowns, and, with +Goethe, it would call the attention of all women +to the fact that the secret of rest is found not “in +quitting a busy career, but rather the fitting of +self to one’s sphere.” It views with anxiety the +growing disregard of religious obligations and +restraints, and emphasises the grave antenatal +responsibilities of parents for their offspring; +they who should be the most ardent advocates +of a sound heredity, as well as the promoters +of a good home environment for their children.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span></div> +<h3>XIV. WOMAN’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR +HOME ADMINISTRATION</h3> +<p>Thus, though the human constitution is still +imperfectly understood, though its intricacies and +the details of environmental influences are still +mainly undefined, the women of every nation must +nevertheless see to it that progress in the administration +of the home keeps pace with modern +demands for revised methods and less conservative +practice, in order to give every chance of normal +health to their occupants.</p> +<p>It is a serious reflection upon many housekeepers +that the hall-mark of progressive civilisation, +namely growth in power to organise, is +generally absent from their domestic methods. +The time will come when it will be to them a +matter for the deepest searchings of heart that +they are directly and inexcusably responsible for +a mass of the disharmonies which disfigure the +fugue of family life. The fact is too certain to be +denied. Homes have not developed in proportion +to the opportunities offered, and the chief opponents +to progress have been their organisers. The +economic link they form between the physical +economics of the individual and the social +economics of the nation has been unnoticed. +Reference to the hygienic significance of due +economy of time, of strength and of health, as +well as of money, has hitherto been generally met +with incredulous smiles; and though home has +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span> +been extolled as the place for children, how +scant has been the attention devoted to their +legitimate requirements, and how few demands +for special training have emanated from, or been +attempted by, those who have undertaken the sole +charge of young lives during their most important +and impressionable years.</p> +<p>The new movement, designed to foster the +science and art of right living, cannot gain strength +and influence unless it receives the whole-hearted +support of the millions of women whose lives and +energies are absorbed in the care of man’s physical +needs. It behoves <i>them</i> to recognise that intuition +and tireless industry are insufficient qualifications +for their imperial service, and they must themselves +promote the substitution of systematic +training for rule-of-thumb anomalies.</p> +<p>This training must be varied and comprehensive. +No other profession is concerned with so +many interests nor associated with more fateful +responsibilities. For those who can afford the time, +it should include a general acquaintance with the +biological basis of life, and should further direct +attention to the vast mental and moral endowments +which give pre-eminence to our race. The +products of literature and art and the records of +natural and moral science afford ever present +evidence of the extent of these endowments, and +of the executive capacity associated with their +utilisation.</p> +<p>Chemistry must play a prominent part in the +training, were it only for the insight it gives into the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span> +inviolable law of cause and effect! besides which +physiologists tell us that the chief commerce of our +bodies with their environment is chemical; therefore, +this subject becomes an indispensable element +in any comprehensive course of domestic training. +Without a working acquaintance with the physics +of water, of heat, or of air, a housewife is at the +mercy of her architect, if not of her plumber and +her servants. In the absence of an introduction +to bacteriology she lives in constant perplexity +over the vagaries of her larder; and is at a loss +to understand the sources of fermentation or the +methods of infection by the majority of known +diseases. Without an insight into economics she +is helpless in the hands of the advertiser or the +vendor of patent preparations, all of whose wares +are warranted to perform impossible feats with +an infinitesimal expenditure of trouble. At their +best these preparations are expensive, and at their +worst they are injurious to health.</p> +<p>Some personal practice of the domestic arts is +also advisable even for the wealthy; it is indeed +essential to a right adjustment of the daily duties +in a home, though naturally the degree of skill +acquired will depend on the style of living. A +study of hygiene in sufficient detail is of course +imperative, and while it will remove difficulties +by explaining common errors in diet, habits, and +dress, it will be found materially to lighten labour. +Finally, hygiene will render extraordinary assistance +in the right rearing of children and in the +general arrangements of family life.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span></div> +<p>The objections may here be advanced that the +study of these scientific subjects is uncongenial to +those whose temperaments are artistic or literary; +upon these people sanitary science has surely +meagre claims, while life is not long enough for +all to pursue such exhaustive studies. The reply to +the first objection must be in the negative. There +can be no health under modern conditions of +existence unless those who assume responsibility +in the affairs of men possess a scientific acquaintance +with its right regulation. The subjects just +enumerated are the very pillars which support the +temple of Hygeia. But, for the encouragement +of these complainants, be it added that the temple +walls demand decoration; the shelves must be +filled with wholesome mental provender; the gifts +of both artist and author are therefore contributory +to harmonious living, and an unlimited scope is +offered to their utilisation. The building which +shelters a healthy family, for instance, should be +characterised not only by advances on existing +provisions for convenience but by symmetry in +its parts. The test of beauty (use, ease, and +economy) can certainly not be passed by a large +proportion of modern houses, neither do they +provide the space which gives to each occupant “a +chance to utilise his own gifts or to pursue his +own hobby.” Space needs in its turn regulation, +for the saving of steps must be considered and +compactness is essential. Decorations and furniture +should also be suitable in form and colour to their +purpose, not a mere heterogeneous confusion of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span> +inappropriate colours and articles, out of tune one +with the other.</p> +<p>The natural needs of normal children, too, must +be more taken into account in the future than in +the past, and the conveniences offered by scientific +progress must be far more generally introduced +into the most modest homes. Here is a huge field +for intelligent, artistic work; for true beauty and +real utility are near of kin.</p> +<p>It has been said that as in the world of life +the localisation of function made the organ subsequently +to become responsible for that function, +so may the differentiation of labour develop individual +talents, just as the exercise of our vital +activities has led to the differentiation of parts in +a house. Thus, as satisfaction of hunger is a first +necessity, eating made the kitchen, where means +for the gratification of this instinct were localised. +By degrees the growth of men’s social and intellectual +demands led to the setting apart of a +chamber for conversation; that is, the parlour. +Storage of bread called the pantry into existence; +increased refinement necessitated a scullery for +the washing of cups and platters. Centuries, +however, elapsed before the enlarging personality +of the individual demanded privacy for the toilet +and the right to isolate himself periodically from +the bustle and publicity of group life. The +general provision of separate bedchambers for +each unit of a household is not even yet habitual, +though most desirable in the interests of health. +Reparation of the omission will mark a further +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span> +phase of social evolution, and will remove one +disintegrating force now continually at work in +home life. Here again the artist will most advantageously +collaborate with landlord and with +health authorities to devise means for the suitable +satisfaction of this laudable demand.</p> +<p>Further objections to the adoption of any comprehensive +schemes for training housewives of all +ranks are found in the apparent want of time +available for the purpose and the prohibitive cost +incurred if the period of education be prolonged. +The best answers to both objections are found in +the movement now active all over Europe and +North America to furnish more and fuller opportunities +for this training, and to extend, not curtail, +its duration. More than this: this movement, +which generally originated in the desire to improve +home life among the poorest, has recently extended +itself just as generally to institutions for higher +education, upon whose pupils and students its +claims are now recognised. There is no suggestion, +for instance, in Germany or England, Norway +or the United States, of restricting the education +of girls by this movement or of prematurely +enforcing upon them technical instruction. The +growth of public opinion is due rather to a belated +realisation that the end of all education is the +betterment of life, and that suggested applications +to the practical concerns of daily life in the course +of a girl’s general education make for the sounder +assimilation of theory by the pupil, and are thus +contrived a “double debt to pay.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></div> +<p>The progress of preventive medicine has also +introduced another incentive to the diffusion of +this training; for it affords convincing proofs that +the foundation of the national health is laid in the +home. If, however, the foundation is permitted +to be imperfect the edifice must necessarily be +unstable.</p> +<p>Among other influences prejudicial to family +life, the force of which was for a long time unsuspected, +mention must be made of modern industrialism, +the reopening of professional life to +women, with its associated financial independence +and the increasing seductions of society. For a +century past the tendency has been to discredit +housekeeping as an unsystematised occupation, +which has emphasised the common and sometimes +humiliating financial dependence of its representatives. +The first nation to perceive the importance +of stemming this dangerous tide was the United +States, where conclusive demonstrations are now +offered of the fact that intelligent housekeeping +calls for a high degree of capacity, and that its +problems demand the resources of a university +for their solution. By the recognition of housecraft +as a profession, American colleges accomplished +even more than at first they anticipated. +A satisfactory proportion of their students return +to home life convinced of its scope and importance, +and satisfied to perform the duties which +there present themselves, instead of seeking outside +occupations and divorcing themselves from +family interests. The King’s College Course for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span> +graduate students in Home Science and Household +Economics bids fair to exercise an influence of as +satisfactory, though naturally of a slightly variant, +character.</p> +<h3>XV. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HOME</h3> +<p>If the functions of the home are briefly enumerated +under three heads, no hint of exaggeration +will attach to the assertion that by <i>its</i> +atmosphere children are modified in soul and +body, and that upon <i>its</i> outlook depends the +ideals and health of all its occupants.</p> +<p>The first function of the home may be fitly +defined as <i>Protective</i>. If its evolution be traced it +will be found that home life originated in a craving +for warmth, safety, and shelter; in the desire for +a place where the weary could rest and where +security from ill was assured. Physical comfort, +sympathy and sanctuary are, or should be, primary +characteristics of every home.</p> +<p>The second function of the home is <i>Educational</i>. +It is largely responsible for the systematic +formation of good habits, which should here be +stimulated by example and precept, and every +advantage taken of the imitative instincts so +powerful in early life. Within its precincts +care can be exercised to afford opportunity for +the development of individuality; it is also, <i>par +excellence</i>, the place for early training in the +judicious expenditure of energy and in the +acquirement of self-control. Such training +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span> +improves brain power, relieves nervous tension, +and obviates the tendency to mental and moral +confusion and disorderliness which is associated +with its absence. In a good home the child’s +sanitary education should be fairly complete, +at least in its main principles, before the infection +of bad habits from without can interfere +with automatic practice or weaken faith in home +standards and conduct. Regular washing of the +teeth, for instance, should be early inculcated, +and rigid conscientiousness in matters of personal +cleanliness:—external, by bathing, rubbing, and +brushing; internal, by strict daily attention +to the bodily functions. Slow and thorough +mastication of food should be cultivated, as well +as good habits of posture, of enunciation, and +of regular exercise. Last, but not least, habits +of prompt and cheerful obedience, of truthfulness, +and in due course of moral purity, +must be wrought into the very fibre of a child’s +being. The discipline of home ought to be +above all things consistent; gentle, though firm +and well considered. The virtues of obedience, +of self-restraint, and of respect for others should +become instinctive almost from infancy; for they +sow the seeds of physical morality in later life.</p> +<p>The third function of the home is <i>Social</i>. +Before the present era of “only” children, the +exaggerated individualism was uncommon, of +which many of them are now unfortunately the +victims. When large families were the fashion, +the give-and-take in nursery and schoolroom +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span> +gave early training in the duty of participation +in the interests, the pleasures, or the sorrows +of others; it rubbed off the rough angles of +selfishness and gave invaluable lessons in consideration +for those whose circumstances varied +from immediate individual experience. The wider +social sphere, for which much of the rough and +tumble of family life was an excellent preparation, +was not familiar then to young children as it +is now, when the modern child’s premature +introduction to its attractions is not only a +constant source of physical detriment and of +mental exhaustion, but tends to disguise its real +character and to stimulate precociously the +capacity to respond to its demands. Occasional +glimpses of this larger life are a desirable part +of home education; but constant familiarity with +its excitements is to be sternly deprecated in the +causes of health and of mental stability.</p> +<p>Where and when, then, are “only” children +to receive this necessary social training, occupants +as they are of solitary nurseries; or where +are these qualities to be developed in the +millions of children reared under circumstances +of such acute overcrowding and poverty that +the amenities of life are obscured by its fierce +and exhausting conditions? Observation shows +that the function of accomplishing this training is +steadily devolving upon the school. Unfortunately, +though the school <i>does</i> offer necessary opportunities +for social intercourse, this intercourse is +relatively of an advanced type, which presupposes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span> +some previous training in the more elementary +principles of community life, most fitly acquired +at home. This tendency to force the school to +<i>supplant</i> instead of to <i>supplement</i> home training +must be resisted, as it involves loss to parents +as well as to the children themselves.</p> +<p>The stress here laid upon the social function +of the home may seem to some exaggerated, and +its association with the subject of this paper may +appear far-fetched; but to the writer its pressing +importance calls for this emphasis, for its connection +with habits of sanitary practice within and +without the home is of the closest. The social +spirit is the very essence of sympathy; it exercises +the imagination, it widens the horizon, it quickens +the sense of duty and of self-respect. If graduation +through the school of domestic, social training +be omitted in childhood, the realisation of +personal responsibility is too often indefinitely +postponed. Consideration for others, care for +their welfare and personal sacrifice for their protection, +must ever bulk largely in importance +throughout life, and must always be associated +with self-respect and self-control. When this +sense of personal responsibility is habitual, conduct +which makes for limitations of health in self, +family, or neighbours will appear unjustifiable; +and neglect of either domestic or civic duties will +become as unpardonable as it is unpatriotic.</p> +<p>But antecedent to the attainment of this ideal, +fundamental even to its entertainment, is the adjustment +or readjustment of home influences or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span> +methods, as the case may be, to a higher standard. +A better understanding of the constitution of +those for whose welfare the home is established +must also be insisted upon as an integral part +of general education.</p> +<p>It may be wise to point out that no proposal +to sweep away in wholesale fashion all the domestic +traditions and family methods of this or +any other phase of civilisation is even suggested. +Apart from the impossibility of such a holocaust, +treasures of great worth have been handed on +to us by our forebears, of which the majority only +need some slight readjustment to enrich many +generations yet to come.</p> +<p>To take a somewhat extreme example. The +mention of such homely, old-fashioned, domestic +remedies as black-currant tea for a bad cough, or +soap and sugar plasters for a boil—genuine relics +from our grandmothers—now usually excite a +smile of derision; nevertheless they have been +instanced by one of our most able living pathologists<a name='FNanchor_0120' id='FNanchor_0120'></a><a href='#Footnote_0120' class='fnanchor'>[120]</a> +for their admirable adaptation to their +purpose, and have been shown to rest upon a +hitherto unsuspected basis of physiological therapeutics.</p> +<p>Another illustration may be drawn from the +nursery tradition that bad temper is often effectually +cured by a dose of rhubarb.<a name='FNanchor_0121' id='FNanchor_0121'></a><a href='#Footnote_0121' class='fnanchor'>[121]</a> Carefully conducted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span> +observations upon children confirm the +conventional connection of peevishness with disordered +digestion. It has been found that +gastric indigestion produces oversensitiveness, +fretfulness, and irritability, while chronic constipation +results in erratic conduct, stupidity, languor, +headache, and moodiness. These effects may be +so far-reaching that, for no other reason than +chronic constipation, children may lose a large +proportion of the advantages provided in school +life; they may even run the risk of being classed as +“backward,” from the interference with mental +progress of the food poisons reabsorbed into their +circulation.</p> +<p>Modern methods of child training lay great +emphasis upon the prevention of these or kindred +conditions by early formation of good habits; or, +when carelessness necessitates curative treatment, +our old nurse’s panacea of drugs is the last resort; +the first consists in attempts to re-establish +normal functions by the more natural means of +suited food and special exercise.</p> +<p>It is time, too, that the so-called “hardening +fallacies,” responsible for the maiming of countless +lives, were finally exposed and exploded. The idea, +for example, dies hard that beneficial endurance +is cultivated by exposure to cold; therefore, bare +necks, arms and legs are lauded as means of developing +a Spartan spirit in young children. Now +no profound study of hygiene is required to demonstrate +the close interdependence of warmth with +growth and nutrition, or to show that the chilly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span> +and underclothed, sedentary child is both stunted +and starved; whereas the suitably clothed and +freely active child is able to carry on unhampered +the necessary processes of growth and development.<a name='FNanchor_0122' id='FNanchor_0122'></a><a href='#Footnote_0122' class='fnanchor'>[122]</a> +So important is warmth to the infant, +that <i>eighty per cent.</i> of the total energy derived +from its food is utilised for the maintenance of +the body temperature essential to growth and for +the activities of the organic and muscular systems.</p> +<p>Children, in accordance with the law of the +relation between mass and surface in a cube, have, +relatively to their mass, about thrice the body +surface possessed by an adult. The greatest loss +of heat occurs by radiation from the skin and +by the evaporation of sweat, therefore undue +loss from this extensive area should be prevented +by its suitable covering; otherwise the +child is placed at a far more serious disadvantage +than would be suffered by an adult similarly +situated; for in his case growth as well as +equilibrium must be maintained. Few parents +realise the further fact that the power of heat +regulation is very imperfect at birth; indeed its +slow development accounts for the instability of +a child’s temperature for many years after. The +fallacy therefore of seeking to strengthen a young +life by inadequate clothing, by enforced and prolonged +inactivity, or by abstinence from the source +of all energy—food—must be persistently exposed. +Quite recently, also, Dr. Eurich has advanced evidence +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span> +to show that the quality of sleep is adversely +affected where the sleeper is insufficiently protected +from cold, thus emphasising the injury to +health associated with going to bed with cold feet.</p> +<p>All parents are ambitious that their offspring +shall be distinguished by the energy, the +stability, the endurance and the power which +characterise the cream of humanity. The lives +of young people are carefully planned with this +object in view. The waking hours of most girls +and boys are distributed in ordered sequence +between what is intended to be concentrated +work and vigorous more or less exciting play. +But the fact has been very commonly ignored +that these young people are built up of young +cells, which cells are passing through almost +every conceivable phase of instability in the course +of development; consequently recurring periods +of leisure and rest are as important to nutrition +and nervous stability, more especially in the case +of girls, as are the most elaborate arrangements +for exercise. Thus it comes about that many +youths and maidens suffer from chronic though +unrecognised fatigue, while others are unable to +employ pleasurably even a short space of “time +to themselves,” finding no interest in occupations +from which excitement is absent. The habitual +limitation of the hours of sleep among the +rising generation is equally serious. The loss +which would be unbearable,<a name='FNanchor_0123' id='FNanchor_0123'></a><a href='#Footnote_0123' class='fnanchor'>[123]</a> says Dr. Acland, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span> +even among our most favoured children, were +it not for the indulgence permitted them during +their long holidays. Is it not a parental duty +to insist upon the necessary provision for rest +being made in every school, and ought not +inviolable rules upon the subject be laid down +in their home circles? Sleep, be it remembered, +is the property of animals possessed of brains +and endowed with consciousness; it affords +mechanical rest, and is accompanied by a respite +from the chemical changes which are particularly +rapid during childhood and adolescence. The +intense activity of the child’s waking hours +must be counterbalanced by ample periods of +entire rest. Habits of prolonged profound sleep +are said to be the best investment against mental +instability and insanity; yet parents permit a +constant loss of from two to four hours’ sleep +each night throughout the long period of immaturity.<a name='FNanchor_0124' id='FNanchor_0124'></a><a href='#Footnote_0124' class='fnanchor'>[124]</a> +Our newspapers and lunatic asylums +bear evidence to the price paid for this now +inexcusable carelessness.</p> +<p>Many more examples might be given of similar +fallacies which apply to later periods of life. How +soon will a loving daughter allow herself to learn +that the consumption of large quantities of highly +nutritious food will not make for the prolongation +of an aged parent’s life? The fact that abstemiousness +and rigid conformity to the “simple life” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span> +are not coincidents of longevity, but contributory +to it, should be now common knowledge. When +will the day come that the fact will be accepted +that alcohol does not warm and protect +the consumer, but actually lowers the temperature, +and by this means, in cold weather, renders +him a more ready prey to the effects of exposure. +When will the value of good work cease to be +measured by the exhaustion it brings about or +the breakdown to which it conduces? Is it not, +time that the housewife should be abashed rather +than self-commiserating when a bad cold runs +through her household, for observation of certain +elementary principles of disinfection would go far +to avert such a catastrophe? When will the +fallacy be destroyed which gauges the strength of +a disinfectant by the pungency of its odour? +The knowledge now available on these and many +other points only awaits assimilation by the housekeepers +of the empire, to serve as a powerful +lever by which to raise the standard of health in +its every part.</p> +<h3>XVI. HOME LIFE AN IMPORTANT SPHERE +FOR SANITARY SCIENCE</h3> +<p>The urgent call for a more intimate acquaintance +with these tenets of domestic sanitary science +calls for no further examples, though at the risk +of wearying the reader one or two more may +be selected to illustrate their claims upon every +member of a household.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span></div> +<p>It behoves the householder, in the first place, to +choose his dwelling with care; and, in the second, +to maintain the health of its inmates by his own +conduct and by compliance with the requirements +of public health enactments. He must be generally +acquainted, therefore, with the essentials of a +healthy home and with the obligations he must +fulfil or the demands he may legitimately make +upon local authorities and neighbours; otherwise +he cannot insure that his own care is not +frustrated by derelictions of duty on the part +of others. The selection and purchase of the +family’s food will probably devolve upon his +wife, but it rests with him to insist that this +food is produced, transported or distributed, with +due observance of cleanliness, and that reliable +protection from sophistication or adulteration is +maintained. If conformity to necessary standards +as well as the good quality of their products is +to be safeguarded, the premises of dairy, bakehouse, +slaughter-house, laundry, market, and local +purveyor of goods should come under his intelligent +inspection. The surroundings as well as the +conveniences of a house also call for careful +consideration, especially when some of its inmates +are of tender years; and the reminder that to +the provision for light and air in its rooms +must be assigned a greater prominence than the +mere prettiness of external elevation is still necessary. +It is the householder who for some time +to come must from his wider knowledge of +economics personally safeguard his women-folk +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span> +from unnecessary exertion and chronic fatigue, +by the provision of efficient fittings and equipment, +by a judicious expenditure upon labour-saving +devices, and by insistence upon adequate +rest, recreation, and remuneration. To the graduate +in the school of personal experience the duty +of public service will next arise, in order that the +advantages enjoyed in his own home may be +extended to those for whom cheap housing must +be provided. Civic claims must in the near future +appear much more prominently than hitherto in +the balance-sheet of duty.</p> +<p>The necessity for a study of child life and +its requirements ought to be realised by both +parents before the bitter results of inexperience +have permanently shadowed their home. This +should be pursued by the man as well as +the woman before marriage is consummated, if +their offspring is to be “well born” and well +nurtured.</p> +<p>Maternal care is of course the more conspicuous +during the first ten years of a child’s life; but +during the next fifteen, more especially in the case +of his sons, it is the father’s example, sympathy, +and companionship which will steer them healthily +through the stormy seas of adolescence, which +will safeguard them from pernicious habits and will +extend a helping hand in moments of temptation.</p> +<p>To enumerate the opportunities for hygienic +practice by the prime organiser of domestic +methods—the mother—is almost superfluous at +this point. It is the foundation upon which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span> +depends the welfare of each member of a household; +for it is the housekeeper who plans the food and +is responsible for its character and suitability to +age, season, health, and occupation. It is she +who superintends, if she does not carry out, the +details of cleanliness, so arduous and discouraging +in our great cities. It is she who selects the clothing +of her family; who directs the order of their +lives:—their work and play, their rest and exercise, +their sleep and their habits. It is her place +to shake faith in popular patent preparations, +by good reasons and demonstrations of their exaggerated +claims on purse and person.<a name='FNanchor_0125' id='FNanchor_0125'></a><a href='#Footnote_0125' class='fnanchor'>[125]</a> It is her +example which sets the tone in recreation, pursuit +of hobby, or choice of literature. It is her +infinite, understanding patience which cements +breaches in family love; it is her skilful treatment +which heals wounds, spiritual as well as physical. +It is her privilege to devise better methods for +daily doings and to appreciate the principles of +sound economics. It falls on her to discourage +futile expenditure of health, time, or temper; to be +alive to possibilities of progress; to show by her +deeds how profound is her faith in the dignity of +a home-maker and her recognition of the extraordinary +demands made by her profession on intelligence, +moral capacity, and mental attainments.</p> +<p>It has been slowly dawning upon some minds +for half a century at least that kitchen methods +in many of their details fail to meet the requirements +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span> +of sanitary science. The ordinary cook +does not even suspect what cleanliness means +from the laboratory point of view; neither, alas! +does her mistress, in the case of 90 per cent. +of middle-class housekeepers. Both alike cheerfully +ignore the relative value as cleansing agents +of boiling as compared with “scalding” water; +and refer to the broad shoulders of the weather +or, quite frankly, to bad luck, the waste of food +directly attributable to ignorant and uncleanly +methods in market, purveyor’s cart, or scullery. +Yet no valid excuse can now be offered for ignorance +of the real causes of the souring of milk, the +tainting of meat, or the decay of vegetables; +neither is it permissible to entrust to the untrained +the care of larder and refrigerator, except under +intelligent supervision. It is of course a sign of +progress that the modern housewife prides herself +upon the delivery of the daily milk supply in +bottles. But a quite superficial acquaintance with +bacteriology would show the imperfect character +of such a protection. The milk may still be +poured by the cook from the unwashed mouth +of a bottle, grasped, even if but momentarily, by +the hand of a milkman, which shortly before was +caressing his horse or serving him as a substitute +for a pocket-handkerchief! When the numerous +uses of paper in the kitchen are considered, +the advantage of a scientific acquaintance with +its constituents and absorbent properties should +hardly need emphasis. But the <i>laissez-faire</i> attitude, +common in many households, permits +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span> +newspaper or brown-paper bags of questionable +antecedents to be used indiscriminately for the +lining of cake tins or the draining of fried foods. +Should this be tolerated any longer?</p> +<p>A sounder knowledge of the risks to health +associated with unwholesome food would surely +check the growing disposition to purchase provisions +over the telephone, instead of by personal +inspection and careful selection; for the risks +associated with stale vegetables or with “woolly” +fish would be recognised, in the light of this +fuller knowledge, as too serious to be encountered +by any one responsible for the health +of a household. Again, cold storage is so justly +credited with the numerous and unquestionable +benefits which it confers upon the housewife, that +she is apt to forget the coincident dangers; only +through tardily acquired experience does she become +aware that foods which are thawed after freezing +possess a singular faculty for rapid deterioration, +and undergo subtle and detrimental changes +when so preserved over a long period. No excuse +for continued ignorance as to the changes responsible +for such deterioration is now permissible; +neither can it be condoned in connection with +the “flora” of the refrigerator, now known to be +accountable for the unpleasant and all-pervading +flavours of the food stored in such a receptacle, +and itself the product of defective cleanliness. +The idiosyncrasies of different groceries, as regards +temperature and receptacles, have hitherto received +no attention, though the art of preserving fruits, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span> +fresh as well as dried, is better appreciated than +was formerly the case.</p> +<p>It would be easy to show, too, did space +permit, what ample scope there is for the application +of sanitary science in the storeroom, as +well as the true hygienic inwardness of frequent +coats of limewash in larder and scullery, not to +mention the worth of impervious coverings to +their wall surfaces and shelves. This suggests +the inquiry: How many women to-day are versed +in the external tests, simple as some of them are, +which can be applied to tins containing foodstuffs, +with the object of gauging the quality of +their contents; or who among our ordinary housewives +understands the reasons for the employment +of reliable, <i>domestic</i> methods of preserving +the contents of the larder, such as sterilisation by +the use of heat, or why fat, sugar, salt, or vinegar +are preferable to the seductive yet questionable +chemicals, so attractive to the producer and purveyor +of provisions?</p> +<p>A better understanding of the relation of sanitary +science to daily life would also facilitate some of +the painful steps which must inevitably be taken, in +order to bridge the gulf set between the feudal +methods of the past and the modern problems +of domestic service. That the isolation from her +kind of a “general” servant predisposes to anæmia +is stated as a fact on good authority, but it is +certainly not generally known. That absence of +opportunity for recreation or social intercourse +has led and may lead again to deception, if not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span> +to worse, is recognised unwillingly, if at all. That +human nature is physiologically similar, however +diverse its external appearance and standards, is +very hard to realise or to act upon; so the fact +that suitable provision for bathing and wholesome +sleep by dependents is not always made, is apt +to be ignored on economic grounds; and the resultant +complications are assigned to any but their +real cause.</p> +<p>The solution of another of the acute problems +of the day depends upon the women also of this +country. I refer to the character of the influence, +an influence of the most intimate, to which young +children are subjected during infancy. In addition +to vulgarities of conduct or enunciation, actual +moral harm may be suffered from want of care in +the choice of a child’s attendant. Bad habits, impossible +to eradicate, are to be traced to this source +only. Their hygienic import calls for no further +stress. Their prevention rests entirely with the +child’s parents.</p> +<p>Another illustration of the need for a better +acquaintance with hygiene is found in the general +custom of entrusting the preparation and care +of the daily diet to empirically prepared, ill-informed, +young women. Ascertained facts in +connection with, for instance, “typhoid carriers”<a name='FNanchor_0126' id='FNanchor_0126'></a><a href='#Footnote_0126' class='fnanchor'>[126]</a> +should have surely created almost a panic in the +households of England; but it is rare to learn that +even one mistress has inquired into the personal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span> +habits of her cook, or that she has concerned +herself personally in the cultivation of most careful +attention to necessary hand-washing by her +household. A mere tyro in sanitary science would +take warning and be on her guard against this +and other disgusting and preventable sources of +domestic infection.</p> +<p>Finally, the protective function of the home must +not be allowed to obscure the educational and +social. It is the right of all children to be trained in +habits of social, as well as of family, sanitary service. +Very early the love of ceaseless doing, by which +these little people are distinguished, can be taken +hold of as an agent in this department of education. +Habits of neatness and order, of kindness +and ready help, of self-sacrifice and self-control, +become lifelong in their persistence and develop +a physical as well as moral conscience which +makes for public health. But, without appropriate +stimulus this interest in others, this sense +of civic obligation, remains in abeyance. Therefore +girls should be encouraged in the educational +practice of the domestic arts about the age of +thirteen or fourteen; though instruction in the +care of children may be postponed for a year +or two. Always it should precede marriage and +be adapted to the prospective social sphere of the +pupils. It would be advantageous to foster the +interest of boys in social sanitation by the introduction +of some equivalent training into their +curriculum.</p> +<p>Enough has been said to show that knowledge +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span> +of household administration must soon become an +indispensable qualification for any woman who +undertakes the charge of human lives, whether it +be as wife or guardian, as official or philanthropist, +as physician or educator, as head of an institution +(such as orphanage, asylum, hospital or +prison), or as almoner of public funds. To be +practical and influential this comprehensive subject +must be systematically acquired and securely +based; it must be accorded the support of men, +and it must receive the recognition due to its +imperial importance. Thus sustained and fortified, +acquaintance with all that is comprehended +in the domestic administration for good of human +lives will lead our women to redeem their many +shortcomings in the past, and will stimulate +them to assume with courageous confidence their +weighty responsibilities in the present and future.</p> +<p>Whether prepared or not for their discharge, +these responsibilities cannot be evaded. Upon +their capable fulfilment depend human health and +happiness. “Health and good estate of body are +above all gold,” said Ecclesiasticus, “and a strong +body above infinite wealth.” Seen in its true light +this great, beautiful, responsible work becomes +the highest form of consecrated service to the +Source of all Life and to the Giver of all those +good things which humanity is intended richly to +enjoy.</p> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0091' id='Footnote_0091'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0091'><span class='label'>[91]</span></a> +<p>“Darwinism and Human Life,” by J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., &c. +(Andrew Melrose.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0092' id='Footnote_0092'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0092'><span class='label'>[92]</span></a> +<p>“The Descent of Man,” by Charles Darwin. (J. Murray.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0093' id='Footnote_0093'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0093'><span class='label'>[93]</span></a> +<p>“Hereditary Genius,” by Sir Francis Galton.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0094' id='Footnote_0094'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0094'><span class='label'>[94]</span></a> +<p>“Heredity,” by Prof. A. Thomson. (J. Murray.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0095' id='Footnote_0095'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0095'><span class='label'>[95]</span></a> +<p>“English Sanitary Institutions,” chap. viii., “The Growth of +Humanity in British Politics.” Sir J. Simon. (Cassell & Co.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0096' id='Footnote_0096'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0096'><span class='label'>[96]</span></a> +<p><i>Les Pouvoirs en Matière d’Hygiène</i>—Part i. <i>L’Hygiène dans les +Législations de l’Antiquité.</i> Alfred Filassier. (Paris: Jules Rousset.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0097' id='Footnote_0097'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0097'><span class='label'>[97]</span></a> +<p>“English Sanitary Institutions,” part i. chap. i. Sir John Simon. +(Cassell & Co.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0098' id='Footnote_0098'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0098'><span class='label'>[98]</span></a> +<p>“English Sanitary Institutions,” part i. chaps. iii., iv., v., vi. Sir +John Simon. (Cassell & Co.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0099' id='Footnote_0099'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0099'><span class='label'>[99]</span></a> +<p>“The Family and the Nation,” chap. i. Whetham. (Longmans.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0100' id='Footnote_0100'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0100'><span class='label'>[100]</span></a> +<p>“Selected Essays and Addresses by Sir James Paget, F.R.S.”—“The +Chronometry of Life,” Royal Society Croonian Lecture, May +1859. Edited by Stephen Paget, F.R.C.S. (Longmans & Co.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0101' id='Footnote_0101'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0101'><span class='label'>[101]</span></a> +<p>“The Diurnal Course of Efficiency.” Howard D. Marsh. (The +Science Press, N.Y.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0102' id='Footnote_0102'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0102'><span class='label'>[102]</span></a> +<p>“Social Psychology,” section ii. chap. x. William McDougall. +(Methuen.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0103' id='Footnote_0103'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0103'><span class='label'>[103]</span></a> +<p>“The Family,” Lecture i. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0104' id='Footnote_0104'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0104'><span class='label'>[104]</span></a> +<p>“The Family,” Lecture ii. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0105' id='Footnote_0105'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0105'><span class='label'>[105]</span></a> +<p>“The Family,” part i. chap. ix. Helen Bosanquet. (Macmillan +and Co.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0106' id='Footnote_0106'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0106'><span class='label'>[106]</span></a> +<p>“The Hygiene of Mind,” chap. iv. T. S. Clouston. (Methuen.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0107' id='Footnote_0107'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0107'><span class='label'>[107]</span></a> +<p>“Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Employment +of School Children, appointed by H. M. Principal Secretary of State +for the Home Department,” 1901.</p> +<p>“Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training (Scotland),” +1903, Neill & Co., Ltd., Bellevue, Edinburgh.</p> +<p>“Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration,” +1904.</p> +<p>“Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Model Course +of Physical Exercises,” 1904.</p> +<p>“Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Medical Inspection +and Feeding of Children attending Public Elementary Schools,” +1905.</p> +<p>“Report of Dr. W. Leslie Mackenzie and Captain A. Foster on a +Collection of Statistics as to the Physical Condition of Children attending +the Public Schools of the School Board for Glasgow,” 1907.</p> +<p>“Report of the Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the +Feeble-minded,” 1908.</p> +<p>“Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the +Unemployed—Majority and Minority,” 1909.<a name='FNanchor_0108' id='FNanchor_0108'></a><a href='#Footnote_0108' class='fnanchor'>[108]</a></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0108' id='Footnote_0108'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0108'><span class='label'>[108]</span></a> +<p>In each case, unless otherwise mentioned, these Reports are published +by Wyman & Sons.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0109' id='Footnote_0109'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0109'><span class='label'>[109]</span></a> +<p>“The Hygiene School of Life,” chap. viii. p. 129. Ralph H. +Crowley. (Methuen.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0110' id='Footnote_0110'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0110'><span class='label'>[110]</span></a> +<p><i>Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute</i>, April 1905—“Physical +Inspection of School Children in Relation to Public Health Administration.” +A. K. Chalmers, M.D., M.O.H., Glasgow.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0111' id='Footnote_0111'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0111'><span class='label'>[111]</span></a> +<p>“Continuation Schools in England and Elsewhere.” M. E. Sadler. +(Manchester University Press, 1907.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0112' id='Footnote_0112'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0112'><span class='label'>[112]</span></a> +<p>Report of Departmental Committee on “Employment of Children +Act, 1903.” (Wyman & Son, July 1910.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0113' id='Footnote_0113'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0113'><span class='label'>[113]</span></a> +<p>“Report to the L.C.C. Education Committee of the Medical Officer +(Schools),” March 31, 1906. (P. J. King & Son.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0114' id='Footnote_0114'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0114'><span class='label'>[114]</span></a> +<p>“The Drink Problem,” edited by T. N. Kelynack, M.D. +(Methuen.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0115' id='Footnote_0115'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0115'><span class='label'>[115]</span></a> +<p>“The Nature of Man,” parts i. ii. chap. vii.; part iii. chap. xii. +Metchnikoff. (Heinemann.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0116' id='Footnote_0116'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0116'><span class='label'>[116]</span></a> +<p>“Principia Therapeutica,” chaps. ii. iii. Harrington Sainsbury. +(Methuen.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0117' id='Footnote_0117'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0117'><span class='label'>[117]</span></a> +<p>“Some Thoughts on Causation in Health and Disease.” An +address delivered to the Faculty of Medicine, October 1909, by Lord +Fletcher Moulton.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0118' id='Footnote_0118'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0118'><span class='label'>[118]</span></a> +<p>“Studies on Immunisation.” Sir Almroth Wright, F.R.S. (Constable.) +“Immunity in Infective Diseases.” Metchnikoff. (Cambridge +University Press.) “Immunity and Specific Therapy.” W. d’Este +Emery. (Lewis & Sons.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0119' id='Footnote_0119'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0119'><span class='label'>[119]</span></a> +<p>“Infant Education.” Eric Pritchard, M.D. (Kimpton).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0120' id='Footnote_0120'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0120'><span class='label'>[120]</span></a> +<p>“Studies on Immunisation,” pp. 279, 462. Sir Almroth Wright, +F.R.S., M.D. (Constable.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0121' id='Footnote_0121'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0121'><span class='label'>[121]</span></a> +<p>“Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association, +St. Louis, Mo.,” 1904, pp. 952-962—“The Chicago Hospital +School for Nervous and Delicate Children,” by Mary R. Campbell.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0122' id='Footnote_0122'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0122'><span class='label'>[122]</span></a> +<p>“Children in Health and Disease,” p. 41. David Forsyth, M.D. +(Murray.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0123' id='Footnote_0123'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0123'><span class='label'>[123]</span></a> +<p>“On the Hours of Sleep at Public Schools.” A paper read before +the Medical Officer of Schools Association, May 11, 1905, by T. D. +Acland, M.A.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0124' id='Footnote_0124'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0124'><span class='label'>[124]</span></a> +<p>“Some Results of an Investigation into Hours of Sleep of School +Children.”—<i>International Magazine of School Hygiene</i>, vol. v. part i. +Alice Ravenhill.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0125' id='Footnote_0125'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0125'><span class='label'>[125]</span></a> +<p>“Secret Remedies: What they Cost and What they Contain.” +British Medical Association. “Popular Drugs: Their Use and +Abuse.” Sidney Hellier, M.D. (Werner Laurie.)</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0126' id='Footnote_0126'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0126'><span class='label'>[126]</span></a> +<p>“Human Carriers of Typhoid and other Zymotic Diseases.”—<i>The +Sanitary Record</i>, Sept. 8, 1910, pp. 215-216.</p> +</div> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span> +<a name='MODERN_WOMAN_AND_THE_DOMESTIC_ARTS_BY_MRS_R_W_EDDI' id='MODERN_WOMAN_AND_THE_DOMESTIC_ARTS_BY_MRS_R_W_EDDI'></a> +<h2>MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS +<span class='chsub'> <br /><br /><span class='smcap'>By Mrs. R. W. EDDISON</span><br /><br /><span class='smcap'>Member, Education Committee, West Riding County Council, Etc.</span></span></h2> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span> +<a name='I_NEEDLEWORK_AND_DRESSMAKING' id='I_NEEDLEWORK_AND_DRESSMAKING'></a> +<h3>I. NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSMAKING</h3> +</div> +<h4>INTRODUCTION</h4> +<p>Modern woman finds herself in the twentieth +century heiress to an accumulation of domestic +experience handed down from her primitive +sisters, much of which originated in necessity, +and survives from custom.</p> +<p>It is said that “of the billion and a half human +beings on the earth, about 700,000,000 are +females, and what share their mothers and grandmothers, +back to the remotest generation, have +had in originating and developing culture is a +question which concerns the whole race,” though +allusion only can be made to it in this paper.</p> +<p>If, from the study of anthropology, we find +that man was the hunter, the killer of food, it was +woman who cared for it, prepared it for use, tilled +the ground, cleaned, dried, cut, and sewed skins +for clothing and shelter. It is believed by many +authorities that it was woman who invented and +made many of the implements with which she +worked, and who spun, wove, and dyed fibres of all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span> +kinds into strong, useful, and sometimes beautiful +fabrics of varied and pleasing tints and colours, +from dyes of her own making, which she obtained +from animal and vegetable sources. The introduction +of much plain and ornamental stitchery, the +forerunner of the needlework of the present day, +followed quickly upon the coming of textiles.</p> +<p>Until the invention of machinery and the institution +of the factory system, the practice of a +large number of arts was in the hands of women +as part of their lives and homes. Now, however, +women are no longer leather-dressers, potters, or +weavers in the home—these arts have become +trades for men, carried on in factories; and even +the more intimate arts of cooking, cleaning, and +needlework are threatened from the outside.</p> +<p>The cheapness and readiness with which the +products of the factory can be obtained, whether +for the purposes of food or of clothing, has to a +large extent removed the desire to exercise these +arts herself, especially from the woman whose +time can be otherwise employed to her financial +advantage in industrial pursuits. It would almost +appear that she has failed to perceive the intellectual +and æsthetic enjoyment to be derived from +them, and has been content to permit the skill and +knowledge she originally acquired and exercised to +rust from want of practice as each generation +succeeds its predecessor. On the other hand, as +the accumulated profits from the factory have +made it possible for well-off women to depute +their own share of cooking, cleaning, sewing, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span> +the care of children by payments to their less +financially fortunate sisters, usually untrained +women of narrow education, public opinion has +shown a tendency to regard these arts as menial, +and to some extent derogatory in practice to the +educated and refined. Amongst this class of +women, consequently, knowledge of these arts +has steadily dwindled, until the home-made jams, +jellies, cordials and pickles of our grandmothers, +the linen they spun, wove, and fashioned, are no +longer the glory of our storerooms and linen-presses; +while the home has come to be less and +less regarded as the right and proper place for +instruction in the domestic arts.</p> +<p>Deep down, however, in the modern woman’s +nature lies the old instinct for order, for caring for +things animate and inanimate. This instinct has +found expression since the early seventies among +more fortunately situated women in an endeavour +to arrest the decay of what I have called the more +intimate household arts, to promote their revival +and to raise their status in education—an endeavour +due, shall we say, to “something in the air,” a kind +of “Zeit Geist”—beginning more or less contemporaneously +on the Continent of Europe, in Great +Britain, and in the United States and Canada; an +endeavour not to benefit themselves alone, but to +help their poorer sisters.</p> +<p>It was soon agreed that the cultivation of the +household arts belonged to education, and that +they might and should be taught in schools; but +the questions—What was their link with general +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span> +education, by what methods they could be most +appropriately taught, and in the curriculum of +what schools they should find a place—have been +the basis of prolonged experimental effort. It is +now the opinion of a large section of persons of +authority in education, that these arts are neither +“sacred mysteries which can only be understood +by patient life study,” nor, on the other hand, can +any woman, whatever her intellectual ability, master +them without training. It has been well said, in +effect, that the former attitude leads to a contempt +for the plain everyday things of life, while the +latter is responsible for the cultivation of a girl’s +head at the expense of her hands.</p> +<p>The arts of cooking and cleaning took the lead +in order of experiment. The results, as recorded, +have proved their position to belong directly to +the region of applied science, and to be worthy of +a place in a specially arranged course of household +science and economics for women, of +university standard. We may confidently expect +that this result only anticipates a corresponding +triumph, awaiting in its turn similar experimental +work, which has been carried on for some years +in respect of the teaching also of the art of needlework. +These experimental efforts include the +intelligent employment of the pencil, the scissors, +and the needle in the production of garments, +draperies, napery, and so forth. The lines along +which at the present moment this development is +proceeding have regard indeed not only to the +practical worth of needlecraft, but to its intimate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span> +association with general education as well as to +decorative and applied art.</p> +<p>When we inquire what have been the results of +past methods of teaching needlework in our +elementary schools, and find that they are in no +way commensurate with the time, labour, and +money spent upon them, it surely is wise to call +a halt and examine into our aims and methods. +The circular of “Suggestions for the Teaching of +Needlework” issued by the Board of Education in +August 1909 is not the first authoritative pronouncement +of the Board on this matter, but +is the outcome of “the well-considered criticism” +invited upon their “Suggestions” on the same +subject issued in 1905, which teachers and +others were asked to consider as a challenge to +independent thought on the subjects of which it +treated.</p> +<h4>THE “PRINCIPLES” OF NEEDLEWORK</h4> +<p>This challenge has resulted in the statement of +certain important “principles” in the new circular +and of the proper attitude of the teacher towards +them, viz.:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>I. <i>The duplex aspect of needlework.</i></p> +<blockquote> +<p>1. As a separate branch of instruction, the aim of +which is proficiency.</p> +<p>2. As a means to an end, other than (but not excluding) +a certain proficiency, <i>i.e.</i> to develop +the intelligence and even to form the character +of the child.</p> +</blockquote> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span></div> +<p>II. <i>The subject must be made interesting</i> if it is to be +educational. The making of specimens is not interesting, +and should be discouraged, excepting for the +practice of new stitches before they can be used on +a complete garment or article, however small, for the +child herself or for others.</p> +<p>III. <i>Correlation of needlework</i> with drawing and arithmetic +in the higher classes.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>1. To train the eye in form and proportion.</p> +<p>2. To illustrate principles of arithmetic, by measuring +and deciding upon quantities and by calculating +cost, introducing incidentally ideas +of economy and thrift.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>IV. <i>Needlework lessons are ordinarily uninteresting</i> and +wearisome to body and mind. This need not and +should not be; if the subject is taught with the why +and wherefore of things, it should rather stimulate +intelligence and capacity.</p> +<p>V. <i>Opportunity is afforded</i> by the lesson for practically +and tactfully inculcating the charm of neatness, +cleanliness, and tidiness in person and in clothing, +encouraging the child in self-respect and to regard +as a matter of shame that any girl should reach +woman’s estate without a practical knowledge of the +use she can make of the needle.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Certain suggestions follow as a basis for a more +detailed scheme, viz.:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>1. Classification of scholars as to age and capacity.</p> +<p>2. Size of illustrations and use of blackboard.</p> +<p>3. Instruction of weakly children, and care of eyesight.</p> +<p>4. Exercises in knitting and various forms of constructive +handwork for very young children, in preparation +for definite instruction in needlework at a later age.</p> +<p>5. Condemnation of habit of counting threads.</p> +<p>6. Order of teaching “processes” in needlework, from +simple to complex.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span></div> +<p>7. Suitability of materials, needles, and threads to each +other, and of the style of sewing to the garments +which the children should wear.</p> +<p>8. Direction of attention to the fact that hands and eyes +which have been sensibly trained to execute “plain +work” will acquire “fancy work” quite readily later +on if leisure can be found.</p> +<p>9. New methods and stitches to be learned on waste +material.</p> +<p>10. Importance of practice in mending at school and at +home.</p> +<p>11. Importance of cutting-out and pattern-making.</p> +<p>12. Garments made to be worn, not kept at school.</p> +<p>13. Elaborate making-up of paper garments to be discouraged.</p> +<p>14. Rough sketches to train the eye to recognise the value +to each other of different parts of a pattern.</p> +<p>15. Importance of recognition of difference between a well-cut +and an ill-cut garment.</p> +<p>16. Calculation of kind, quantity, and cost of material to +be worked out in an arithmetic lesson.</p> +<p>17. Note-books and records to be kept.</p> +<p>18. Fixing to be done by actual maker of garment—not a +joint production.</p> +<p>19. Use of sewing machine permitted for long seams and +hems.</p> +<p>20. No time to be wasted while waiting for teacher’s help. +Independent work to be encouraged. Knitting and +other suitable work to be at hand.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This excellent and sensible paper of suggestions +means an offer of freedom on the part of the +Board; it remains, therefore, but to accept and +adopt its conditions. A practical difficulty, however, +at once arises from the fact that, after a long +period of bondage to many “Regulations,” it is +difficult for the teaching profession in general to +realise that independent judgment is now expected +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span> +of them, indeed is required, though this is a phase +temporary and evanescent, which will quickly +adjust itself.</p> +<p>For lack of time and space we must here pass +over the important question of the relation of the +domestic arts to the general school curriculum, +as well as the proportion of time to be allotted as +between needlework and the other domestic arts, +and dwell for a moment on the relative qualifications +of our teachers in different sections of the +whole subject taken at its widest, for these qualifications +reflect the existing demands of the public. +Taking England, for example—how do we stand +with other countries in this respect? Speaking +generally, and as one who, though not professionally +a teacher, has for many years had a hand in +the training of teachers, and who has given much +time and thought to the comparative study, both +theoretical and practical, of needlework and dressmaking, +it seems to me that, as to sewing, we are +as good, if not in some ways better than our +neighbours, though we have been apt to regard +the perfection of our stitches as an end in itself, +which decidedly vitiates our conclusion. We also +appear to have much to learn, or at least to +practise, in respect of suitability of materials, +needles, and threads to each other, and of the style +of work to the purpose required. As to “cut” +and “the hang of the thing,” and the root difference +between an “ill-cut” and a “well-cut” garment, I +fear we make a bad third with France and Austria; +but with our newly acquired freedom we can and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span> +we must change all that: the public begin to +demand it.</p> +<p>In the first place, we must clear our minds +of the indefinite cloud of detail in which they +have been so long submerged; or, to change the +metaphor, whereas hitherto we have too often not +been able to see the wood for the trees, we must +now learn clearly to distinguish between “principles” +and “methods,” which in practice are over +frequently confused: then, quite easily and naturally, +the teacher will derive resulting details from +the few definite principles which are the “basis +alike of the simplest garment and the most artistic +handicraft,” and “the principles once understood, +in one instance, the pupils will be able to make +wider applications for themselves.”</p> +<p>It is important here to emphasise that some +elementary knowledge of hygiene, physiology, and +anatomy is necessary for the intelligent appreciation +of the requirements of the body as to clothing, +and of its alterations in shape when muscles are +tense or relaxed. By a reliable system of drafting +from direct measurement, such as one of those in +use in the Ecoles Professionelles of Paris, a shaped +bodice can be produced fitting the arms and figure +easily and gracefully, and from this pattern can +be deduced further patterns of other garments, +whether tight, loose, or semi-fitting, which hang +from the shoulder or the waist.</p> +<p>When the theory of drafting has been learned, +and the shapes and proportions of a pattern and +its derivatives are understood, “moulage” or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span> +modelling on the figure in muslin, should be +attempted; though, be it remembered, “moulage” +should not be regarded as a substitute for drafting, +but as its necessary accompaniment, for it affords +opportunity for eye training, and for learning how +and where at certain points the material should +be stretched or held easily on the figure. The +pupil is thus prepared to handle the pattern intelligently +when cut out in material.</p> +<p>I have seen it objected that only awkward and +wooden lines can be obtained from drafting on +paper because of its rigidity, and because the +pattern is built up upon a framework of straight +lines at right angles to each other. The objector +cannot have understood that the rectangular construction +lines have no connection with the outlines +of the pattern, except as affording <i>points +d’appui</i>, which are found by direct measurement. +These construction lines stand for the warp and +woof, or “thread” of the material to be used for +the garment. Stress must be also laid on the fact +that the grace or angularity of the pattern outline +actually depend upon the eye training and perception +of curves derived from drawing lessons, +which must, for this as well as other reasons, form +a part of the scheme of instruction.</p> +<h4>CONCLUSION</h4> +<p>Limits of time and space have only allowed me +to touch the fringe of a fascinating and useful +subject; but the frequent conferences of teachers +now being held in different centres, and the new +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span> +suggestions of the Board of Education are stimulating +so much interest and discussion that I feel +that the educational teaching of needlework in +its broad sense in England has a cheerful future. +There is already much excellent teaching and work +done in some of the trade schools in London as +well as in a few of its elementary schools, and +others elsewhere, which leaves little to be desired +from many points of view.</p> +<p>Apart from the modern educational treatment +of needlecraft and dressmaking, though arising +directly from it, are the unquestioned advantages +which may result to any woman of whatever rank or +social position who is willing to devote, in the first +instance, a little time and intelligence to mastering +a few elementary principles introductory to their +practical application, either by herself or by any +one in her employment, to the cutting and making +of her own garments from direct measurement, +modified by measurements of individual carriage +or conformation.</p> +<p>When these modifications are clearly understood, +the proving of the flat pattern on the table after +drafting should produce a well-shaped and correct +lining, without the misery of standing for hours +in the ordinary way to be “fitted on.” If finer +touches are needed, they are of the nature of +“moulage,” or modelling; the different parts of +the pattern retain their balance and relative proportions, +and the length of the operation is much +shortened.</p> +<p>The majority of women, especially when past +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span> +youth, are not so happy as to possess the theoretically +perfectly balanced and well-proportioned +figure which has been so successfully adopted by +the best business houses as the basis for cutting +high-class ready-made garments. Happy indeed +is the woman who can “walk straight into them” +without the offered “slight alteration” which so +often spoils the cut and brings bitter disappointment +to the wearer. There are few women who +have not groaned under the waste of time and +fatigue entailed by being “fitted on” under the +hands of the “little dressmaker,” or for that matter +under hands of much greater pretension, with no +idea of principles in cutting, who pinch and drag +and smooth down by rule-of-thumb, producing +garments without balance or ease, whose faults +may be disguised by trimming or drapery, but +whose discomfort is always present to the wearer.</p> +<p>Women have in fact so long submitted to this +tyranny of rule-of-thumb in dress-cutting, as inseparate +from it, that, as is their nature, they +continue to endure what they think cannot be +cured. Nevertheless, the discomforts and uncertainties +of this rule-of-thumb misery may be +entirely eliminated, and it is for the modern +woman to demand and insist upon its elimination.</p> +<p>Let me especially recommend to ladies possessing +the invaluable qualities in this connection of +taste and style in dress, who may be thinking of +taking up dressmaking as a profession, that as an +important preliminary step they should master +the principles of a good method of cutting. Let +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span> +them make sure that the method can lay claim to +this description; that it is reliable and not altogether +empirical. Thus they will render themselves +to some extent independent of the possible vagaries +and misfits of their cutters and workers. The +excellent courses of instruction now carried on in +the trade schools already referred to should ere +long create a supply of well-trained young women +who will do their best work under an instructed +head, and will be able to carry out intelligently +her ideas and directions. Under such conditions +there should be no room for failure in a business +of this kind. As a result, the arts of needlecraft +and of dressmaking will be raised to the plane of +scientific certainty and success which is their due, +instead of remaining at the often low level of the +unorganised, empirical and inartistic occupations—a +frequent source of financial disaster to their +exponents and of perennial vexation to the helpless +victims of their products.</p> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span> +<a name='II_HOUSECRAFT' id='II_HOUSECRAFT'></a> +<h3>II. HOUSECRAFT</h3> +</div> +<p>The position of modern woman towards matters +domestic is somewhat undefined, and at best can +hardly be considered satisfactory. Her attitude +towards housekeeping is not one of enthusiasm. +The Lancashire mill-girl is proud to have a house +of her own, but prefers her life at the mill to one +spent in ordering that house; the elementary +school teacher considers housekeeping of so little +economic interest that she is injured if she may +not devote her married life to a profession demanding +the best of her energy; the university +graduate pretends to a mind superior to physical +comfort and welfare unless it can be produced +by a creature less specialised than herself.</p> +<p>In the field of paid occupations for women, +educated and uneducated, domestic work stands +low; not necessarily low in scale of payment, but +uninviting as a sphere of work and lacking the +dignity of skilled employment. That good housewives +may be found in every grade of society is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span> +evident, but the general trend of our social evolution +demands that some organised effort shall be +made to simplify actual work and to raise the +appreciation of that work.</p> +<p>In history and philosophy, the moral advantages +of a good home have been acknowledged and extolled. +The physical advantages are only now +being fully emphasised, and there is an ever-increasing +demand that women shall diligently +apply their best efforts, first to the problems of the +individual household, and then beyond it to those +forms of housekeeping that fall to municipal and +national control. We need a different estimate, a +better realisation, of the enormous responsibility +that lies in feeding, housing, and general hygienic +conditions, and such a realisation must work from +the top downwards in our social and intellectual +strata.</p> +<p>In the care of the sick we have seen a complete +revolution. Even so recently as the days of our +grandparents “Sarah Gamp” was the general +refuge—now her name is a byword. The work +of nursing and the care of an invalid’s room, be +it home or hospital, has been raised from mere +manual labour. Intellect has established formulæ +and dogma on which workers can be trained, and +the work itself has been proved not alone a suitable +means by which a woman can earn her living, but +also a profession demanding a dignified respect and +admiration. The researches of medical laboratories—the +accumulated experience of the great physicians +and surgeons of the world—are constantly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span> +placing valuable knowledge in the hands of nurses +and those who train them. Elaboration and fuss +have gone in favour of a simplicity of service based +on scientific facts; the influence of the trained +worker has to some extent permeated the untrained +service of home nursing. Great may still be our +ignorance and great the need for a more adequate +service, especially in the homes of the poor, but +taken as a whole the care of the sick has been +raised to what we may, without ambiguity, call a +scientific art. Nursing may be popular from a +love of such work and from its financial return, +but the real strength of the nursing world lies in +its <ins title='Was orgainsed'>organised</ins> provision of skilled women sent out +to their work with a knowledge of its detail and +a training in routine, paid for by service during +years of apprenticeship.</p> +<p>The changes that have been effected in regard +to the care of the sick may not form a perfect +analogy of what can be done in other forms of +domestic work, but they at least constitute a lesson +in cause and effect, with many suggestions for the +would-be reformer. Improvement in nursing owes +its first impetus to a realisation of the part a nurse +must of necessity play in curing or alleviating +suffering, and any real improvements in our +general domestic work and conditions will only +be seriously considered when they are properly +appreciated in their relation to the health and +efficiency of the nation. To bring this home to +individuals and classes must be the work of +education. Let us magnify the office of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span> +housewife unduly rather than leave it unrecognised. +We must demand something more than mere +manipulative skill from the manual worker—a +knowledge and interest from those who direct her +work; a place in laboratories and schools for the +many problems worthy of elucidation. To make +lessons in housecraft a part of the curriculum of +elementary and secondary schools has its own +good; to make lessons in sick-nursing also a part +might be good; but to leave both there would +be only to patch, not mend, a rent in our social +conditions. The matter must find its way into +universities and research schools for its physical +and economic investigation—as in other kinds of +work we need an aristocracy of brains to guide +the democracy of hands to found an apprenticeship +system that shall provide efficient workers +to bring the mighty forces of chemical, physical, +and biological science to bear directly on such +matters as selection of foods, methods of cooking, +better apparatus for cleaning purposes, and +an evolution of house-planning and furnishing that +shall reduce the present elaboration of service and +cleaning. It is not possible that every woman who +cooks a potato shall be intimately acquainted with +the structure of starch-cells or the effect of heat on +those cells, nor is it likely that we shall aim at a +system that makes the cooking of our food as +exact as a laboratory experiment, but that thermometer, +microscope, and test-tube have their own +part to play is evident. The use of a disinfectant +by a nurse is a scientific operation, the scope of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span> +which has only been made possible by many and +careful investigations in which the specialised +effort of the few has resulted in a definite formula +and a handy preparation only to be used with intelligent +appreciation of its purpose. She understands +its use and abuse, how to adapt it to circumstances, +and probably how to find a substitute for it if +occasion requires.</p> +<p>It is much on these lines that many of the +problems of kitchen and household interest must +be attacked.</p> +<p>We need a simple and reliable classification of +foods that shall be useful to the practical cook. +A quantitative analysis of proteid or carbo-hydrate +qualities of wheat, lentils, or milk may form excellent +exercise for laboratory classes, but even +there it is too often taught without any relation +to the assimilative properties of the average +digestion and their consequent effect on food +values. For ordinary use we want all this +brought to a general outlook of the value, and +comparative value, of such ordinary food as +bread, oatmeal, eggs, and beef; not only as to +suitable proportions in our diet and to methods +of cooking, but also as a help in providing suitable +substitutes for a particular commodity in +time of scarcity. Beyond the inevitable victims +of the Irish potato famine, many suffered quite +unnecessarily for want of ability to replace the +familiar potato by a possible substitute; and to-day +we are little more intelligent in our catering. +Quantity and quality of the potato crop must +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span> +each year to some extent make itself felt on small +purses, and while not dependent on this one +article of diet we might often help a meagre table +by a good substitute such as rice, hominy, dumplings, +and an increased supply of fresh vegetables. +Substitutes for butcher’s meat too often suggest +the purely vegetarian dish that to most people +is but a <i>pis aller</i>. To replace part or even most +of the meat in a dish with a food of approximate +dietetic value would generally be more acceptable. +A dish of haricot beans cooked with a little +minced beef is, for example, a very different dish +from the vegetarian treatment of the same article. +Pea-soup made with the addition of a ham or +beef bone will generally win approval over its less +“tasty” rival. The value of eggs and the many +ways of using cheese—the possibilities of oatmeal +beyond mere porridge—are all matters worth +understanding; so also is the problem of our +milk supply.</p> +<p>The fact that legislation is active in securing +the hygienic conditions of the wholesale milk +supply cannot excuse individual indifference to +either its actual value or suitable treatment. The +inferiority of skim or separated milk to “whole +milk” has been so emphasised that in many +places a useful article is lying as a drug in the +market. That skim milk is as useful as many +“stocks” and much better than water for making +porridge, maigre soups, sauces, for mixing bread +and scones, has yet to be appreciated, and will +only be so when the true economic use of food +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span> +is removed from its present haphazard position +among the instinctive arts!</p> +<p>The constructive consistency of meat, fish, and +vegetables must be clearly set out if we are to +understand the effect upon them of heat. The +primary methods of cooking and the standard +proportions of ingredients may already be used +with an intelligence that at least puts aside the +recipe book; but the research that can produce +a satisfactory system of catering and cooking has +yet to invade the higher education of men and +women. A suggestion of the scientific treatment +of domestic matters too often presumes an elaboration +of work rather than a reduction of it, and yet +we all realise the labour-saving and economic +return that has been the result of science applied +to commercial industries. There must be a +definite aim to simplify housekeeping and domestic +work; the conditions of life have gone that made +a women find scope for <i>all</i> her energy in administering +the affairs of her house or in employing +others to that end.</p> +<p>To the uninitiated the various culinary processes +seem endless, and to arrive at a proper accomplishment +of these is generally considered a matter of +continuous practice. A better understanding of +the matter readily shows that while many processes +can only be perfected by repetition, there +are even more that fall under science rather than +art. Take, for example, the principles underlying +the cooking of meat by stewing. This is surely a +process where manipulation is <i>nil</i>. To make pastry +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span> +or bread we must have a certain practice in the +manipulation to give the deftness (on which final +success depends) in addition to any understanding +of the principles involved; but with regard to +stewing and many similar processes it should be +possible to have one lesson made so explicit that +the actual process was known for all time—the +Irish stew of an artisan’s home or the dainty +entrée of the “Ritz” being only an adaptation of +given principles to different foods.</p> +<p>In order to reduce primary methods to such +business-like proportions, it is necessary to consider +them in their effect on different foods, having +due regard to texture and to the effect of a moist +or a dry heat. It would be a matter of interest +to know how the established methods of cooking +meat and fish all really conduce to one end, viz. +to soften the fibres by steam formed from their +own juices. The rules for most methods of cooking +these foods lead to this assumption, though +nominally based only on a means of retaining +these juices in order to save a valuable part of the +food. The actual part played by the liquid in +which foods are cooked is possibly very small, +but not to be ignored; the presence of salt in the +water in which beef or potatoes is cooked makes +an appreciable difference in the flavour and probably +in the food value. The relation of the fat +used in frying to the food fried in it is too often +quite misunderstood, and a dyspeptic patient consequently +is ordered “no fried food.”</p> +<p>To “fry in butter” sounds well, but it is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span> +practically impossible; to <i>sauté</i> in butter at a +temperature allowing some of the butter to enter +the food, is quite a valuable method of cooking; +but to raise the temperature to a point at which +frying can be done is to char the butter. To fry +properly, the food should be immersed in fat so +hot that the outside of meat is immediately “set.” +Then allow the heating of the juices inside the +meat to perform the necessary cooking. The immersion +of the cold food soon lowers the temperature +of the fat and makes continued immersion +possible. The best kind of fat for this purpose +and the relative temperature at which different +fats may be used needs more investigation. At +present for ordinary kitchen use we have no more +reliable test of temperature than to venture a bit +of bread and judge by result. One thing we may +accept—frying is not a greasy or rich method of +cooking. The fat used is merely a means of excluding +atmosphere and cooking food at a high +temperature; it bears no more relation to the +food itself than does the atmosphere of the oven +in baking.</p> +<p>This question of temperatures and their relation +to the kind of food, as also to the various cookery +processes, needs careful handling; we want not +alone a definite dogma established on a scientific +basis, but we want the means to apply it brought +within easy reach—reach of a limited purse and a +limited intellectual capacity, for we are not all +scholars. There is no reason why a thermometer +should not become part of our kitchen equipment +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span> +just as readily as that old sand-glass which +regulated the boiling of an egg, but, before it +is the case, many other matters must fall into +line. It is probable that a careful investigation +of the best means of frying, boiling, stewing, &c. +would effect a considerable revolution in our +household pots and pans. Is it impossible to +produce a pan in which a given quantity of fat or +oil should be easily brought to, say, 400° Fahr., +and yet be unable to exceed that temperature? +It would so safeguard expense from burning that +the most delightful frying medium, olive oil, would +be readily used by many people.</p> +<p>The matter of watching, and waiting, and judging +the exact minute for certain operations takes far +more time than is generally supposed, and the +gloom surrounding the average kitchen range +increases the difficulty. The cook who understands +the use of double pans for oven and range +has done something to save both time and anxiety, +but it is evident that much more might be done to +render many cookery processes almost automatic. +The science that controls the production of such +commercial products as biscuits, tinned foods, +pickles, and jam, and turns them out to a uniform +standard, is at present remote from the household +kitchen. Such scientific knowledge has been produced +at a commercial value for commercial +enterprise. We need <i>our</i> problems brought into +universities and colleges; into the channels where +research is made public; into the laboratories of +schools, where, if no wonderful result may be proclaimed, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span> +we have at least established a scientific +method of approaching the work of kitchen, +laundry, and storeroom. The ordinary teaching of +the domestic subjects too often tends to magnify +the difficulties in order to show how they may be +overcome. The simplification of methods by +classification would do much, and the evolution of +possible devices for saving labour would do still +more, to establish a favourable view of housekeeping. +What is worth doing is worth doing +well; but it is “doing” unnecessarily that spells +drudgery.</p> +<p>Our attitude in considering household problems +turns almost involuntarily to cooking, but the need +for an intellectual grasp of matters domestic is +equally potent in methods of cleaning. If the +word “hygiene,” which we use so glibly, were +really understood and appreciated, the modern +house-builder and furnisher would quickly be sent +to swell the ranks of the unemployed, and we +should demand construction and fittings which +would minimise the problems of dust and tarnish, +provide suitable storage for food, and allow cleaning +to be simple, straightforward, and efficient. +The advent of the vacuum cleaner is less valuable +in itself than in the establishment of a new principle +for dealing with dust, and one that may eventually +revolutionise our house-cleaning. We need a +simple appliance of equal scientific value to +reduce some at least of the labour entailed in +“washing-up.” Pots and pans, plates and dishes +may be economised in number by a careful +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span> +worker, but cleaned they must be, and the average +“sink” of scullery or pantry is little removed +from the pristine incompleteness of its first appearance. +There is, in the cloisters of Gloucester +Cathedral, a sink, evidently used by the monks of +the sixteenth century, which is identical with those +found in sculleries of to-day, and yet chemistry +and physics have revolutionised our industries and +produced all sorts of scientific methods for cleaning, +lighting, and heating on a large scale. Perhaps +when the same woman who takes a D.Sc. bestows +some of her energy on the washing of dishes we +shall get to something less primitive than washing +each individual greasy plate with a mop or cloth. +The only scientific treatment of “washing-up” +used at present seems open to criticism, and is +only suited to large establishments, but it should +be possible to construct every sink with some sort +of douche and general fittings suited to this work.</p> +<p>The question of the position of modern woman +towards laundry-work seems to have resolved itself +into one of income. If she can pay for the services +of a steam laundry she does so. In the United +Kingdom it is estimated that there are 30,000 +public laundries, but we have yet to find one that +can produce a list of charges within reasonable +limits of a small income. In the homes that are +run on incomes of £100 to £400 a-year, and +where the laundry-work is done at the public +laundry, the amount of “washing” must be small, +or some other side of the expenditure must be +seriously curtailed. Laundrying performed intelligently +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span> +and under suitable conditions is neither +difficult nor unpleasant. To stand over a wash-tub +rubbing each article by hand; to strain every +muscle emptying that tub; to dry garments on a +rail across a kitchen and iron them near a blazing +fire is <i>not</i> intelligent, and can only be followed by +women driven by custom to wash clothes at all. +Perhaps in no section of household work are +scientific methods within reach as in the laundry; +the existence of the public laundry and the rivalry +of different firms has produced an open market +for appliances of all kinds, and the exhibition of +laundry utensils, machines, &c., has become an +annual event. Though many of the inventions are +destined for the “power” and general scope of the +public laundry, there are always a number of home +appliances to be seen; many more would be adapted +if there were more demand. Any real scope for +these must rest in the first place with architect +and house-builder. In the North of England it is +usual to build a small “wash-house” to nearly +every house, but the general construction of these +wash-houses is such as to discourage any desire +to use them. Only cold water is provided; the +boiler is arranged as a detached unit; the possibility +of a drying cupboard in connection with +kitchen stove or hot-water cylinder is never considered, +and the economical heating of irons is +generally overlooked. The use of irons heated by +gas, charcoal, and methylated spirit would be more +general if these were more efficiently constructed +and less expensive. The provision of electricity +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span> +at a cost within the reach of ordinary folk will +simplify many things in laundry-work as in cooking +and cleaning. Instruction is, to some extent, +already available as to soaps, detergent solutions +and bleaching agents. We need more appreciation +of the part that may be played by the process +of “steeping” and the minimum of handling +with which clothes may be efficiently washed and +finished. The profit and loss in the matter cannot +be estimated only in labour, time, soap, and firing; +the wear and tear of fabric in public laundries compared +with home handling and the risk of infection +involved must both be taken into account. If we +make laundrying easy we do much to make a +frequent change of garment possible to a section +of the community inclined to economise in this +direction, and we should probably make fashionable +those household materials that may be consigned +to a wash-tub, instead of paying a reluctant visit +to the dry-cleaner—chintz, cretonne, and Bolton +sheeting instead of serge, tapestry, and plush. We +owe one debt of gratitude to the public laundry—it +has raised a section of household work to +the level of a skilled industry, though as yet there +seems no system of apprenticeship that turns out +the “complete” laundress.</p> +<p>For the limits of a short paper these matters +have perhaps been treated somewhat discursively, +but the object has been attained if, by the few illustrations +selected, some attention has been drawn +to the field of inquiry which lies open, and the +urgent need for a definite application of scientific +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span> +minds to problems which, amid all the advances +of this progressive age, seem to lag behind. The +inclusion of housecraft as part of the curriculum +of elementary and secondary schools may do much +to rouse interest and overcome some difficulties +of cooking, &c., but to any one familiar with these +classes it is evident that their scope is very limited, +if only for the reason that the teaching so often +treats the work of housekeeping as an imitative +art, based, for want of reliable scientific data, on +rules and recipes that are practically organised +tradition no more. In secondary schools, the +introduction of laboratory work has opened up +fresh possibilities of a more reasonable treatment +of housecraft, for it is certain that, when teachers +are properly equipped for their work, biology, +physics, and chemistry (organic and inorganic) can +be successfully taught along lines that bring within +the scope of school science such matters as food +and feeding, cooking and washing, fuels, heating, +ventilation, and hygiene.</p> +<p>To teach chemistry and physics in the usual +academic manner and then tack on a course of +cookery and laundry-work at the end of school +life cannot possibly be of the same value as the +co-ordinated courses; we want scientific method +even more than “science” for these schools girls, +who shall so soon be the housekeepers and +home-makers. We may say with Stevenson, “A +dogma learned is only a new error—the old was +perhaps as good; but a spirit communicated is a +perpetual possession.” For those girls who pass +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span> +on to a university or technical school we want +an intelligence alert to all that may lie in further +investigation of those problems suggested at +school.</p> +<p>A certain jealousy may be pardoned that the +possible evolution of housekeeping may be the +work of women; the leaders of the “woman’s +movement” have so often spoiled their work by +following the lines of men’s activities and aiming +at a goal essentially masculine. The things that +go to housekeeping seem so intimately connected +with motherhood and mothering that it must be +hoped our most able women will bring their intelligence, +their education, and their sense of +national responsibility to the task of housekeeping—to +the simplification of its problems, the reduction +of the labour involved, and the organisation of the +paid service. There is certainly scope for master-minds.</p> +<p>We touched on the organisation of the nursing +service. If it is possible to duly care for the sick +and at the same time train an efficient nurse, it is +surely possible to provide proper service in the +huge caravanseries of our modern life, and at the +same time provide a suitable apprenticeship for +the domestic worker. Good instruction at school, +followed by one or two years of definite training +in a hostel or boarding-house, should produce a +class of skilled women workers who can be +organised and employed on the same lines as +those of the nursing service.</p> +<p>In many branches of labour the women are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span> +ousting the men; unless we can make good the +present breach in our home bulwark and train our +army of defence, we may find men ousting women +in their own particular sphere.</p> +<p>America and Canada, realising that their coveted +nationality must be founded on homes, have +brought into their universities the “science of +home affairs.” England, in spite of the warning +note sounded by inquiries into physical deterioration, +infant mortality, and kindred evils, has been +content with a <i>tradition</i> of good homes, and has +so far done little more than provide a smattering +of cookery lessons for elementary school girls.</p> +<p>There is, however, a promise of better things. +One university college has made a venture into +home science, and other universities would soon +be at work if the necessary money could be +secured. Oh, for some silver-tongued evangelist +to cry in the ears of our philanthropic millionaires +all that might be done for this country by bringing +its <i>best</i> brains to consider the material things that +go to the making of a good home!</p> +<hr /> +<p class='center'><b>THE END</b><br /> +<br /> +Printed by <span class='smcap'>Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.</span><br /> +Edinburgh & London</p> + +<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: 3.22k3 --> +<!-- timestamp: 2011-07-17 21:17:41 -0500 --> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Household Administration, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + +***** This file should be named 36781-h.htm or 36781-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/8/36781/ + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Household Administration + Its Place in the Higher Education of Women + +Author: Various + +Editor: Alice Ravenhill + Catherine J. Schiff + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36781] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + + + + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION + +ITS PLACE IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN + + +EDITED BY ALICE RAVENHILL AND CATHERINE J. SCHIFF + + + NEW YORK + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 1911 + + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + +PREFACE + + +The object of this book is threefold. (1) It endeavours to define +the importance and scope of household administration in the twentieth +century, which, when analysed into its component parts, is found +intimately to concern the right conduct and domestic care of individual +human lives, from their inception to their close. (2) It seeks to +demonstrate the necessity of an adequate preparation for all who assume +the responsibility of such administration; particularly for those who, +in consequence of their parental responsibilities, their wealth, their +social status, or their professional duties, exercise far-reaching +influence through their standard of life and example. (3) Finally, it +gives prominence to the fact that the domestic arts are no collection +of empirical conventions, to be acquired by imitation or exercised +by instinct. It is clearly demonstrated that the group of sciences +upon which they rest is more comprehensive than most people suspect, +and that their contribution to the solution of pressing domestic +problems has so far been but partially realised. It is, therefore, of +considerable interest to observe the remarkable consensus of opinion on +each of these points among the recognised experts in their subjects, +to whom were entrusted the preparation of the various sections of this +book. The writers of the papers, untrammelled by editorial restrictions, +each writing from the fulness of her knowledge, tested by ripe +experience, reached independently conclusions conspicuous for their +unanimity. It will be evident to the most casual reader that, in the +opinion of these thoughtful women, blind instinct must yield place to +trained intelligence, if home life is to be preserved and modern +conditions of existence adequately adjusted to human requirements. + +Progressive changes, social, commercial, industrial, and, last but not +least, educational, now require that this trained intelligence be +fostered by organised instruction outside the home, adapted to the +needs, present or prospective, of girls in every grade of society. Such +instruction, whether in the fundamental sciences or in the applied arts, +must be associated with individual practice in laboratory, studio, +workroom, and kitchen; the details to be varied as circumstances +dictate. + +If, however, consistent applications of such knowledge are to be made in +order that desirable saving in time, labour, money, health, or happiness +shall be effected, graduate women of high attainments are urgently +needed for the work. It is they only who can bring to bear upon the +problems of childhood and adolescence, of food, of clothing, of housing, +of domestic economics, of occupation, rest, and recreation, the patient +study and research in the interests of humanity, which men of similar +standing have lavished upon the advancement of commerce and industrial +processes. It is by their skilled labour in the almost untrodden field +of domestic science that the millions of homes will benefit which are +committed to the charge of women who possess neither time, opportunity, +nor ability to carry out these indispensable investigations, but who can +yet effectively fulfil their responsibilities, if they be supported by +systematic training and organised common sense, based on sound +knowledge. + +It is in the hope of forwarding these objects that this book has been +prepared. + + ALICE RAVENHILL. + CATHERINE SCHIFF. + + _Nov. 1910._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTION--A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE FAMILY 11 + + By CATHERINE SCHIFF, Officier d'Academie + + THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN 35 + + By WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (Dub.) + + SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD 71 + + By Mrs. W. N. SHAW, formerly Lecturer of Newnham + College, Cambridge. Author of "First Lessons in Observational + Geometry." + + THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD 121 + + By MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (Glasgow), Lecturer in + Economics, King's College for Women (University of + London), formerly Scott Scholar in the University + of Glasgow; Research Student at the London School of + Economics; and Fellow of Economics, Bryn Mawr + College, U.S.A. Author of "Local Government in Scotland." + + SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE + AND INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCY 207 + + By ALICE RAVENHILL, late Lecturer in Hygiene, + King's College for Women (University of London), &c. + Author of "Practical Hygiene," "Some Characteristics + and Requirements of Childhood," "Elements of Sanitary + Law," "Household Foes." + + MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS-- + + I. NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSMAKING 295 + + By Mrs. R. W. EDDISON, Gen. Hon. Sec. Yorkshire + Ladies' Council of Education, Added Member of Education + Committee of County Council of West Riding of + Yorkshire, &c. + + II. HOUSECRAFT 308 + + By MAUD R. TAYLOR, Examiner in Domestic Science. + + + + +A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE FAMILY + +BY CATHERINE SCHIFF + + +The home must always claim the first place in the large majority of +women's lives. It has done so in the past, it does so in the present, it +will continue to do so in the future. But woman's activities are no +longer to be merely confined to her own fireside, though that must +always hold a prominent place. The real problem of the day is the right +conduct of the home on scientific lines. + +In some ways the management of the home has never been more difficult. +The servant problem has never been more acute than to-day; the cost of +living and the standard of comfort is going up by leaps and bounds, and +the old recipe of "Feed the brute," as far as the husband is concerned, +is no less inefficient. It is essential to-day to know something about +food values, the arrangement of meals, which avoid monotony, and provide +that requisite variety in nourishment, on which the good health and +ultimately the good temper of the household depend. + +Again we are realising the great complexities of all questions dealing +with child-rearing and education. We have travelled far from the +self-complacency of the woman of thirty years ago, who based her claims +to a thorough knowledge of the up-bringing of children on the fact that +she had buried ten. This need for wider knowledge in all branches of +housekeeping is equally important to the unmarried woman, who is more +and more being called upon to act as a foster-mother, whether as a +teacher or in some other capacity, to the nation's children. + +The care of the children is considered by all shades of opinion to be +the _clou_ of a woman's life, and every day more and more responsibility +is cast upon her in this respect. How can she, then, fulfil these duties +as they should be fulfilled if she is utterly ignorant of the laws of +health and of child-life, and how both are affected by environment and +all the other grave and fundamental truths which lie at the root of the +successful up-bringing and development of the child? It is now a +hackneyed saying "that the child of to-day is the man or woman of +to-morrow," but a whole world of truth lies enshrined in those words; +the children are the assets of the nation, and if their up-bringing is +not of the best they can never attain to that full heritage of +development which is the right of every soul born into the world. + +Scientific training in Household Administration can alone save the +sorely taxed housewife of to-day from becoming more than a slave to her +domestic responsibilities. It is only by being a mistress of her craft, +"whether China fall or no," that she can make sufficient time to devote +herself to necessary self-culture and recreation as well as to those +ever-growing outside duties which the twentieth century is imposing upon +her in the shape of public and social work. If there is one thing which +is becoming increasingly obvious, it is that the help and advice of +scientifically trained women are absolutely necessary in the management +of hospitals, the administration of the Poor Law, and the general +solution of social problems. + +At no other epoch in the history of mankind has woman stood on the same +high plane as she does to-day, and at no other period has so much been +demanded of her, intellectually, morally, and physically. It is only +within recent years that Science has attempted to come to the aid of +woman in helping her firstly to obtain, and then to maintain, the +position for which she was originally designed, as the complement of man +and as the chief element of preservation in human society. + +If the history of mankind is traced back to primordial times, we find +that it was the female who possessed power over the emotional nature of +man, and it is becoming increasingly evident that the family owes +its origin as a social factor to the Mother, not to the Father. +Lippert is convinced "that the idea of an exclusively maternal kinship +at one time extended over the whole earth," and McLennan says, "We shall +endeavour to show that the most ancient system in which the idea of +blood-relationship was embodied was a system of kinship through the +females only." + +Occupation seems to have been the main factor in determining that the +mother rather than the father should be the founder of the family. +Agriculture originally appears to have been entirely the woman's +industry, while the men were engaged in hunting or looking after the +cattle, and wherever agriculture was the predominant feature of life we +find that relationship is traced through the mother; while on the other +hand those tribes who were chiefly pastoral had a paternal system of +relationship--that is to say, that descent was counted through the +males. + +Drummond, in his book on the "Ascent of Man," places the Evolution of +Motherhood long before that of Fatherhood. "An early result, partly of +her sex, partly of her passive strain, is the founding through the +instrumentality of the first savage Mother of a new and beautiful social +state--Domesticity--while Man, restless, eager, and hungry, is a +wanderer on the Earth, Woman makes a Home!" And according to the same +authority we find "that to Man has been assigned the fulfilment of the +first great function--the Struggle for Life--Woman, whose higher +contribution has not yet been named, is the chosen instrument for +carrying on the Life of Others." Nature took many aeons to make a mother, +whose gift to the world was Love and Sympathy; the evolution of the +Father came still later. "It was when man's mind first became capable of +making its own provision against the weather and the crops that the +possibility of Fatherhood, Motherhood and the Family were realised." +"The Mother-age, with its mother-right customs, was a civilisation, as I +have indicated, largely built up by woman's activity and developed by +her skill; it was an age within the small social unit of which there was +more community of interest, far more fellowship in labour and +partnership in property and sex, than we find in the larger social unit +of to-day."[1] + +In connection with this theory of the "Mother-age" it is interesting to +note that the Etruscans traced their descent through the female line, +and it was from the Etruscans that the Romans derived nearly all their +institutions; thus many of the "initiative forces of civilisation" have +come down to us from women. + +It is believed that the patriarchal system--where the man was the head +of the family, as amongst the Jews--which succeeded the Mother-age, grew +out of the custom of capturing women belonging to other tribes, this +being succeeded later on by purchase, and "as soon as the woman ceased +to be protected by the force of ideas, as soon, that is to say, as she +lost her position as head of the family, her downward path was certain." +But even among primitive people we find that it was an almost universal +custom that a woman should be provided with an independent property, +"Mitgift," though as time went on and the patriarchal system became more +firmly established, it appears that this Mitgift became the husband's +property, and that every bride was expected to bring a dowry to her +husband, whose property she became, thus losing all independence. + +However, in Greece the position of woman, during the Heroic times was to +a certain extent an independent one, as is clear from the poems of Homer +and the treatment of Homeric and Heroic themes by the Athenian +dramatists. But one has only to compare the "Nausicaea" of Homer or the +"Electra" of the Tragedians with the women of the time of Pericles, to +see how much the status of the female sex had deteriorated. The Athenian +wife of that time was treated as a mere "Hausfrau," expected to spend +her whole time at home in the managing of the household, while the +husband satisfied his intellectual tastes by intercourse with the +"Stranger-women" attracted to Athens from other towns. "Thus arose a +most unnatural division of functions among the women of those days. The +citizen-women had to be mothers and housewives--nothing more; the +stranger-women had to discharge the duties of the companions, but remain +outside the pale of the privileged and marriageable class."[2] To this +artificial condition of domestic and social life may be partly +attributed the downfall of Athens, for it is impossible to divide the +functions of woman without serious risk to State and race. + +In ancient Rome the patriarchal system was the prevailing custom. Under +the Roman law the husband was the only member of the family possessing +legal rights. "The family (_familia_) in its original and proper meaning +is the aggregate of members of a household under a common head; this +head was the paterfamilias, the only member of the household who +possesses legal rights."[3] It is true that there were many honoured +women under the Roman Republic, such as Cornelia and Portia, the +daughter of Cato, but the lot of the majority was not an enviable one. +Gradually, however, the tutelage of women became less severe, and +Justinian in revising the whole Roman code placed married and family +life on an altogether new basis, "the husband lost his absolute control +over his wife's dower, and in case of separation he had to restore it +entire." + +Women had been for so long under such strict tutelage that they were +unfit to benefit by these new laws. Doubtless it will be remembered that +the corruption of the women of the period is practically unparalleled in +history, but it must be also borne in mind that the whole system of +Imperial government was so vicious that it was almost impossible for +women to escape from the widespread influence of vice and corruption. + +Christianity as a force began to make itself felt while woman was yet in +this low moral state, and it is not therefore surprising that to the +leaders of Christianity the freedom which women then enjoyed and the +easy method of divorce obtainable were in a large measure responsible +for the vitiated state of Roman life. In their eyes the only means of +producing a more salutary state of affairs was to put a check on what +they considered a menace to a Christian society. + +It is of interest to notice how the attitude of the Early Fathers +towards women differs from that of Our Lord as recorded in the Gospels. +There indeed are women highly honoured, and it is to a woman that Christ +often gives a message of the highest import. It was to Mary Magdalen +that the Risen Lord first appeared and bade her tell the others, and +again it was the woman of Samaria who became the instrument of salvation +to her people. But to the Early Fathers the ascetic ideal was the +predominant one, and in consequence thereof women were treated as the +chief source of temptation to man. "Woman was represented as the door of +Hell, as the mother of all human ills. She should be ashamed at the very +thought that she is a woman. She should live in continual penance on +account of the curses she has brought upon the world. She should be +ashamed of her dress, for it is the memorial of her fall. She should be +especially ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most potent instrument +of the demon."[4] In fact a decree of the Council of Auxerre (A.D. 578) +forbade women to receive the Eucharist in their naked hands owing to +their impurity. + +Unfortunately "the bigotry of the Early Christian teachers gave the +first check to the tendency to freer institutions, the next was given by +the fall of the Empire." + +With the influx of the Teutonic tribes we find a new code of ideas and +morals, but eventually a compromise was effected between the Germanic +and Roman laws. Thus from very early times we find that it was a German +custom to provide every bride with a dower, and this is remarked upon by +Tacitus. Afterwards the Church adopted this custom, which was strangely +enough both Roman and Teutonic in origin. + +From the time when the Empire went down in a cataclysm which shook the +foundations of the world, until the beginning of the Middle Ages, we +hear but little of woman. It was the Sturm and Drang period in the +world's history, in which woman had no real position. The women of the +upper classes were of necessity confined either to the castle or the +convent, and woman's sphere was therefore a small one; man demanded +nothing more than that they should minister to his physical wants in the +short periods of peace he then enjoyed. Hallam says, "I am not sure that +we could trace very minutely the condition of women for the period +between the subversion of the Roman Empire and the First Crusade ... +there seems however to have been more roughness in that social +intercourse between the sexes than we find at a later period."[5] + +With the end of this stormy period comes the dawn of the Age of +Chivalry, and from that time forward until the Reformation, woman +enjoyed a portion at least of her rightful position. It is said that +"Chivalry not only bestowed upon the woman perfect freedom in the +disposal of hand and heart, but required of the knight who should win +her, devoted and lengthened service"; this may be, however, a rather +idealised view of the situation; but there is no doubt that the Court +and the Cloister became the two centres of women's lives, and an +intimate connection was maintained between the two. Nearly all women of +gentle birth were educated in nunnery schools, and by the eighth century +we find that these schools had attained a high standard of learning, +which increased and developed in the succeeding centuries. The convent +afforded a shelter to the woman who did not marry and to whom the +marriage state did not appeal; there she was able to a certain extent to +follow the career she desired, at the same time her personal safety was +assured. "The scholar, the artist, the recluse, the farmer, each found a +career open to him; while men and women were prompted to undertake +duties within and without the religious settlement, which make their +activity comparable to that of the relieving officer, the poor law +guardian, and the district nurse of a later age."[6] It is perhaps of +interest to us to note that the first hospital for lepers in England was +founded by a woman, "good Queen Maud," in 1101 at S. Giles' on the +East. + +The rule of an abbey or a priory called for no mean business capacity on +the part of their heads, and as a rule the abbess and prioress were +women of great business and administrative ability. Before the Norman +Conquest nearly all the nunneries founded in England were abbacies, +subsequently priories were the most usual foundations, as according to +feudal law women were unable to hold property. + +The latter half of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are renowned +throughout history for their women, who, occupying foremost positions in +the government, were clever, cultured, and liberal-minded. One has but +to mention the names of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the "Lady +Margaret" of Oxford and Cambridge; of Leonore d'Este, the mother of +equally famous daughters, Isabella and Beatrice d'Este; Marguerite de +Valois, sister of Francis I., and Isabella of Castile, to conjure up +before one's eyes the whole procession of the proud and capable women of +these days. + +"One and all have been fruitful as successive stages of growth, yet they +can never recur, and only the fanatic or visionary could wish that they +should recur, for each is narrow and insufficient from the standpoint of +a later age." + +In England "the women who were the mothers of the men who created the +great Elizabethan epoch were almost without exception brought up in +nunnery schools"[7] and, alas, the destruction of the nunneries and the +rise of the Puritan spirit sounded the death-knell of women's education. +After the Reformation the position of woman was peculiarly degrading; in +the eyes of the law she possessed practically no status, and "the old +chivalrous feeling for woman seems to have faded out with the romance of +the Middle Ages--she now figured as the legal property of man, 'the +safeguard against sin,' the bearer of children _ad infinitum_." + +So woman was left once more to sink back into a slough of despond, until +with the end of the eighteenth century there arose the humanitarian +movement and the gradual awakening of woman to the sense of her +responsibility, with the inevitable corollary of her rightful position +as the social equal of man. + +If these ideals are to be realised, woman must recognise her +responsibilities and act accordingly. She has proved herself a more than +apt student in all the liberal studies, she has practically forced the +door of nearly all the professions, now she must realise that she must +apply her higher learning to what is probably the most difficult +profession of all, the management of the home, or in other words she +must see that the knowledge she has acquired be adapted and turned to +practical aims. + +Up to the present time the conduct of the home has been regulated purely +by rule of thumb methods; if however in the future it can only be +administered with the same method and scientific exactitude as prevail +in other great business enterprises, the drudgery of housekeeping will +diminish and woman will cease to be a slave to household duties. She +will have more time to devote to the cultivation of her own mind, and +thus, while becoming a more real companion to man, she will be free to +take a more enlightened interest in the education and development of her +children. + +"Incidentally this may go to prove that a sound knowledge of the +household sciences and arts may serve, not to tie a woman more to the +storeroom and kitchen, but to enable her to get better results with the +expenditure of less time and energy, by enabling her to apply to +everything simple and complex within the household the master-mind, +instead of the mind of the uncertain amateur." + +Her responsibilities are great not only as an individual but as a member +of the community to which she belongs; and if she is to fulfil these +responsibilities in respect to the home, she cannot do so without a +thorough scientific preparation. + +The home is the "cradle of life," it was the birthplace of those +industries which to-day form the great centres and constitute the means +of livelihood for millions. In some of these there is reason to believe +that woman took her share as originator. With the process of time, +these primitive practices have grown into the great industries and arts +of to-day, yet it is still to the woman that the call comes to cultivate +and use her taste in these matters, so that when it falls to her to be +responsible for the decoration and furnishing of a house, she may be +able to choose in all departments of life what is _the best_, to the +everlasting benefit of herself and her family, both physically and +morally. + +If man be the producer and distributer of wealth, woman is certainly the +director of consumption. On her rests the responsibility of expending +wisely and well the money entrusted to her for the nutrition and +clothing of her family, and how can this be adequately fulfilled if she +have no real knowledge of the subject beyond what she is able to pick up +as she goes along, a method detrimental to all concerned? Little would +be thought of any business house which entrusted its most delicate +operations to inexperienced buyers, or of any municipality which allowed +its affairs to be conducted by an amateur. Far less would be heard of +misery, poverty, and ill-health if the art of buying and preparing food, +for instance, were properly understood by those whom it most concerns. + +Again, the chief racial responsibility falls on woman; it is just in the +most precious years of childhood that her influence is so potent, and it +is the mother, who besides helping to sow all the ethical and spiritual +seeds, should safeguard the perfect physical condition of her children, +in order that an unimpaired vitality and constitution be handed on from +generation to generation. No proverb is truer than "Mens sana in corpore +sano"; the two go hand in hand together, and their accomplishment is the +proud privilege of the woman. + +From the family flows the life of the nation, and the power to guide it +aright lies largely in the hands of women, whether they be married or +single. With the married woman her own family comes first of all, and +then through it her duty as a citizen; the unmarried woman's duties as a +citizen are manifold, and each year they increase and expand. Nearly all +the activities of public life are open to her; for instance she may sit +on County Councils, Municipal Councils, District Councils, urban and +rural Parish Councils,[8] Boards of Guardians, &c.; in fact in the +growing field of social work, her services are being more and more +recognised as indispensable, and it is impossible in a few words to +enumerate all the possibilities of service which lie before her, both +professional and philanthropic. + +Consequently if a healthy nation is desired, the women of a country must +be educated both academically and scientifically. "If women are to be +fit wives and mothers they must have all, perhaps more, of the +opportunities for personal development that men have. All the activities +hitherto reserved to men must be open to them, and many of these +activities, certain functions of citizenship, for example, must be +expected of them. Moreover, whatever the lines may be along which the +fitness of woman to labour will be experimentally determined, the +underlying position must be established that, for the sake of the +individual and race character, she must be a producer as well as a +consumer of social values."[9] + +Now how is this most desirable end to be attained? The succeeding papers +will deal with the subject _in extenso_; here can only be briefly +indicated the scope and purpose of the majority. + +An eminent authority tells us that "the objects of nature may be +designated as the objective point of view. It is the standpoint of +biology and affords the natural conditions for the successful +investigation of the laws of life, not only of the lower organisms but +of the human race as well."[10] This immediately demonstrates the vital +necessity that women should know something of these fundamental laws of +life, which biology alone can teach, in order that she may apply these +to her ordinary daily life and recognise them as operating in all her +surroundings. + +The transition from this stage to the next is an easy one. Woman +having learnt the laws of life, will immediately view her economic +responsibilities with a clearer eye and fuller understanding. It is +true that throughout the ages woman has striven to acquit herself as +best she could, but until the present day it has mostly been a +groping in the dark, without the aid of any exterior agency. Now +light is beginning to be thrown on many points hitherto obscure. + +Household economics has been well said "to rest on two chief +cornerstones, the economy of wealth and the economy of health, and +encloses the groundwork of human happiness and human aspirations ... +even all departments of science must contribute to its development." + +But a mere knowledge of biology and economics is useless without bodily +efficiency, and true bodily efficiency is only possible where the +environment is favourable to growth and life. It cannot be expected that +full physical development can ever take place in ill-lighted, badly +ventilated, defectively drained or otherwise objectionable houses. And +it must never for a moment be forgotten that if the body be neglected, +then, as an inevitable consequence, the mind and spirit must also become +warped. It is not that we desire man to develop his physical nature at +the expense of his spiritual, but rather that we would see him placed in +such a condition that he is able to apply those great faculties, which +distinguish him from the brute creation, to their highest and best use. + +The ancients recognised in very early times the need of sanitary +precautions to protect themselves from the onslaught of disease and the +consequent decimation of their race. + +We find Mena, King of Egypt (5000 B.C.), mentioning in his Ordinances +that offences in diet were one of the things through which "the genius +of death becomes eager to destroy men." + +The Levitical Laws contain many enactments of a sanitary character, they +are one of the oldest known sanitary codes, and have many wise and +necessary provisions for the health of the people. + +Rules for the conduct of rural life were formulated so far back as +100-500 B.C. in Boeotia. Tarquinus Priscus began and Tarquinus Superbus +completed the great works for the drainage of Rome in the fourth and +fifth centuries B.C., of which the Cloaca Maxima was the most remarkable +feature; even to-day the ancient water-supply of Rome and her system of +baths are still a source of admiration to the modern world. And to +their credit be it said that the Romans carried this knowledge with them +to the countries which they conquered; we find aqueducts at Great +Chester and Lanchester, an arterial sewer at Lincoln, and the well-known +baths at Bath. + +From the destruction of Rome until well-nigh ten centuries later was a +period in which no advance in sanitation was made; on the contrary, +retrogression was the keynote of the time. Warfare, religious +segregation, and the spread of asceticism were the chief reasons for +this; the ideals of both Christian and Pagan were opposed to personal +and public hygiene. "The ascetic violated all laws of personal hygiene, +the monastery's ideal was inconsistent with public hygiene, and both +glorified God by teaching submission to pestilence,"[11] which from time +to time swept over the country, devastating it from end to end. + +But with the increase of trade it became necessary to adopt certain +measures for the preservation of human life, and in 1348 we hear of +the first street-cleaning and quarantine in those two great centres of +commerce, Venice and Cologne. It was in the same year that the most +terrible plague which the world has ever known attacked Britain and +practically depopulated it, finding its chief prey in the filthy +streets of the City. This led in 1379 to an Order in Common Council +for keeping the streets clean. But despite this, all through mediaeval +times personal health was shamefully neglected and public health +practically unknown. The consequences are easy to trace; the country +was again and again swept by epidemics which were naturally followed +by severe famines, and thus on every side progress was checked. The Fire +of London at least cleansed London of its filth, and from that time +forward matters began to improve. All through the eighteenth century, +smallpox, typhus, scurvy, and ague were rampant, and it is not till +1834 that we find the beginning of sanitary legislation. In 1837 the +Act for the Registration of Births and Deaths was passed, which at +once provided the indispensable foundation for reliable statistics; +previous to that date all that there was to depend upon were the +Baptismal Registers and the more or less accurate Bills of Mortality. +This has been followed by a long series of Public Health enactments +concerned with practically every department of life. In fact during +the last fifty years the public conscience has been quickened to an +extraordinary degree. Much however has yet to be done which cannot +be touched by legislation, and it is to the woman, who has been trained +in the right conduct of life both private and public, that the world +looks for the preservation of healthy human life, much of which is now +needlessly sacrificed on the altar of ignorance. In many cases the +woman is the only person who can prevent this, therefore she must +equip herself for her high and noble duty with all that Science can +provide and Art can suggest, neither must she forget that her own +home must ever be the starting-point of every endeavour. For the +"Mrs. Jellabies" of this world are not those who help forward its +progress, rather are they the clogs on its wheels. + +Not only charity, but all other virtues begin at home. "So long as the +first concern of a nation is for its homes, it matters little what it +seeks second or third." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] Karl Pearson, "The Chances of Death," p. 3. + + [2] Donaldson, "Woman," p. 58. Longmans & Co. + + [3] Greenridge, "Roman Public Life," p. 18. Macmillan & Co. + + [4] Lecky, "History of European Morals," vol. ii. p. 358. + + [5] Hallam, "History of the Middle Ages." + + [6] Eckstenstein, "Woman under Monasticism," p. 106. + + [7] "The Mediaeval Education of Women in England," _Journal of + Education_, June 1909. + + [8] It is interesting, however, to note the following Electoral + Disabilities for women in England and Wales, which, however, do + not exist in Scotland or Ireland:-- + + No married woman can vote in any Town Council election or in any + County Council election outside London. + + No woman owner has any right, in virtue of her ownership, to + vote in any local election. Until 1894 women owners, as such, + were entitled to vote in Poor Law Guardian elections, but the + Local Government Act of that year disfranchised them, while + enlarging the voting rights of men owners. + + No woman lodger can vote in any local election, although men + lodgers can vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian + elections, and in the election of the London County and London + Borough Councils. + + For women there is no service franchise--such as entitles men to + vote in District and Parish Council and Guardian elections, and + in the election of London Borough Councils--_i.e._ no occupation + of a dwelling as an official or servant (for example, as matron + or caretaker) entitles a woman to be placed on the Register. + + For neither men nor women is there any ownership franchise, + lodger franchise, or service franchise for Town Council + elections or for County Council elections outside London. + + [9] Parsons, "The Family," p. 346. + + [10] Lester Ward, "Dynamic Sociology," vol. ii, p. 120. D. Appleton and + Co., New York. + + [11] _Sanitary Record and Journal_, Nov. 24, 1904. + + + + +THE PLACE OF BIOLOGY IN THE EQUIPMENT OF WOMEN + +BY WENONA HOSKYNS-ABRAHALL, M.A. (DUBLIN) + + +In considering what is the best mental equipment for women in civilised +countries it is as well not to contemplate only the great general facts +of life, such as wifehood, motherhood, and the woman's position in the +household. It is necessary to take into account also the special +characteristics and circumstances of our own times and civilisation; +for, unless a woman is prepared to meet these successfully, she cannot +be deemed adequately equipped, even if from other points of view her +education be ideal. In the beautiful old-fashioned education of Japanese +women we have an instance of such ideal excellence, which is yet proving +unable to cope with the requirements of actual life in modern Japan. + +The most striking, and also the most radical and pervasive, +characteristic of our time is, of course, the progress made in +scientific knowledge. Month by month enormous numbers of facts are, in +every department, added to the knowledge already acquired. To let one's +imagination range, even in a cursory way, over the work that is being +done in chemistry and physics merely as they concern biology--to +enumerate the subdivisions of these sciences, or to look down a list of +recent publications relating to research carried on in them, is enough +to make one's brain reel. + +This ceaseless widening of the borders of knowledge is, we must gladly +allow, most inspiriting; and yet, seen from another side, it may well +give rise to fears. For it is fairly obvious that the progress of human +happiness goes by no means _pari passu_ with this progress of knowledge; +and, on looking more closely, we may even observe miseries and +degradations which can be traced up directly to the practical +application of some of those scientific discoveries. + +To what must we ascribe this? It would seem to be the outcome of two +lines of tendency just now predominant. + +The first of these is that very strong bent towards mere accumulation of +fresh facts which may be noted in the most able and active workers all +over the world. Just as, in other times, the best minds have flung +themselves with enthusiasm upon art or literature or philosophy or +statesmanship or war, so now they fling themselves eagerly upon the +discovery of more and more recondite truths in science--leaving the +ordinary government of affairs, on the whole, to minds of the second +order. + +The next is the reckless way in which isolated scientific +discoveries--more especially in physics and chemistry--are brought to a +practical application and introduced into the scheme of everyday human +life. This is done without consideration of anything beyond ensuring +some obvious superficial convenience, and--what is a principal +determinant--the opening up of new financial enterprises. Advantages of +a sort no doubt are won--but often only at a fearfully disproportionate +cost. The game--if we would but look at it unconventionally, from the +standpoint of true biological science--is not worth the candle; for it +involves a sacrifice of life itself to what can hardly be considered +even as the means of life. + +Thus the chemicals used to preserve food impair its nutritive qualities; +while other chemicals, as well as a number of ingenious mechanical +processes, serve to facilitate adulteration. We all know how difficult +it is to obtain pure milk and butter, or pure bread from pure flour, or +jams made with sugar from fresh and good fruit. Bread may be made from +flour which has passed through no less than seven processes,--a sad +contrast this to the old home-made bread, the product of home-ground +meal, whole and sweet as nature made it. What is sold in enormous +quantities to the people as sugar, whether alone or as part of +preserves, turns out often to be glucose. Butter, so-called, is often +only skilfully-treated fats, the weight helped out by water. These three +articles of diet alone, when adulterated as they thus often are, mean +serious deterioration in the food--and therefore in the physique--of the +nation; and to them we have yet to add the effect of the chemicals used +for keeping fish and meat in place of the genuine, old-fashioned +pickling, salting, and smoking. + +Machinery, again, growing ever more and more complicated, has destroyed +an incalculable wealth of traditional activity: and therewith, +generation by generation, it tends to destroy the finest capacities of +individual men and women, whether producers or consumers of the finished +product. The consumers suffer through the lack of opportunity to acquire +and exercise manual dexterity and resourcefulness--as well as through a +great lack of experimental knowledge. The producers suffer through the +monotony and narrowness of their labour. + +We may take as other instances of recklessness our common use of +unprotected illuminants--electric light and incandescent +gas-mantles--which give off ultra-violet rays injurious to the eyes; the +use of portable electric lamps and switch lampholders, which is by no +means free from risk; and again the extreme recklessness of the +so-called "medical electrician," who will actually venture to give +electrical massage to a patient immediately after wet pack.[12] + +As a last example we may take the rage for speed, and in particular +the use of electrically driven motor-cars. The exact effects upon the +human frame of the rapid motion, of the vibrations, of the presence +of the electric current and escaping gas have never been adequately +investigated--though sundry ill consequences of motor-driving have +been noted without any diminution of the practice. + +A very cursory reflection may show us that, while the progress of +science is the great characteristic fact of modern life to which we all +have to adjust ourselves, we must be prepared not only to take advantage +of the good it offers, but also to discern and counteract the perils it +brings with it, when applied to human life in our present somewhat +random way. + +The random nature of our proceedings may be illustrated from yet another +side. There are a number of facts and principles, long since agreed upon +as truly ascertained, which have never, or only very partially, been +brought to bear upon custom and daily life. We all know that plenty of +fresh air is a first condition of health and vigour; and are so far +convinced of this verity that open-air treatment is generally accepted +as the proper mode of attacking and mastering consumption. Yet we crowd +together into cities: our houses are often very imperfectly ventilated, +and our public buildings--churches, theatres, halls, schools and +institutions, as well as our railway-carriages and tram-cars--provide +only for the very minimum of change of air. Similar neglect of +definitely ascertained facts may be seen in dress, in food and drink, in +furniture, in occupations. Noise is well known to be injurious to the +brain, and destructive to thought: more than that, it has been +discovered that it is harmful to the viscera. We insist, more or less, +upon quiet for the sick: but no trouble is taken about quiet for those +who are well. Our thoroughfares echo with noises of all kinds, from the +roar of traffic to the howling and whistling of errand-boys; and the +authorities would be much surprised if they were accounted specially +negligent for not making some effort to suppress them. Yet to any +biologically trained person this noise must appear not disagreeable +merely, but a real handicap to the health and energy of the community. +Wherever faithfulness to scientific principle involves trouble without +prospect of money-making, it is likely to be shirked, however great the +benefits known to come from it. + +This is not entirely due to laziness, nor yet to ignorance, it is due +quite as much to circumstance and to the pressure of our present social +institutions. It is closely bound up with the great social question of +the ownership of land, and with the husbandry and use of the resources +of the land, our rivers and our sea-shore. Wasting a great measure of +what these have to give us, polluting them in different ways by our +manufactures and by the refuse of our cities, we are constraining whole +masses of our population to look to the work and the products of other +countries for the first necessities of life. Whole masses of our +population are removed from direct contact with the soil, which is the +nursing-mother not only of the body, but also of the mind of man; the +people and the land being thus alike impoverished. Inquiring how so +dangerous an error can have arisen, we may find at least part of its +cause to lie in an ignorance of the fundamental principles of biology, +the science of life. + +What, it may now be asked, is to be done to counteract these +disadvantages and dangers? And, again, how does all this bear on the +equipment of women? + +Taking the latter question first: it is indisputable that an enormous +proportion of our commerce and manufactures is concerned with food and +with articles required for the home. But things for the home are made to +be dealt with and used by women. In so far as science comes in and +modifies this material it is imperative that women should be placed in a +position, not only to know what are the essentials for life, but also to +criticise and estimate accurately that which is offered to them as +scientific improvement. For we need, in this connection also, to +remember that science can only be fought by science--that is, by +knowledge belonging to the same plane. + +We have now in part answered our former question. What we need is a +central or basal science to which--for practical purposes and in regard +to its practical application--the work done in other sciences can be +brought to be accepted, or rejected, or modified. This central science +can, in the very nature of things, be none other than biology: the +science, that is, which gives an account of the functions and +inter-relations and structure of all living things, and deduces +therefrom those principles which, in a rather loose way, we speak of as +the laws of life. + +It would, we think, be a very happy turn of affairs if, not all, but +some of that genius, which is now spending itself in the research for +fresh facts, could be diverted to the work of correlating with one +another facts already known, and bringing all those that are appropriate +to be grouped as it were in order of service around biology. + +But perhaps not less important than this is what we may call the +practical synthetic work of women in their households. There are, +indeed, two circumstances which would give the ordinary woman of average +intelligence, if she were but adequately instructed, some advantage, so +far as the service of mankind goes, over even the most brilliant man of +genius. The first is the vantage-ground of her position in the home--at +the very point, that is, where so many sciences thrust themselves up +together to the surface of actual life--where in some way or other, +however roughly, they have to be correlated, compared, their different +claims adjusted. The second is the natural inclination of the womanly +mind towards synthesis rather than analysis, towards practice rather +than theory. + +We ought now to consider rather closely--exhaustively we cannot--what +is included under the term Biology. It stood for some time chiefly to +mean an account of the structures of animals and plants, structure +being pursued into ever further minuteness, down to the cell and the +constituents and parts of the cell. With this has gone insistent +inquiry into the process of reproduction and growth; and more lately, +in bio-chemistry and bio-physics, the conformity of living substance +to the order recognised in non-living matter has been, and is being, +most eagerly investigated. And now a school of biologists is arising +whose aim is the vindication of the claims of function as against +the too exclusive study of structure. Function, of course, involves +activity; and activity, in a complex, multicellular organism, involves +the interplay of parts. This interplay, again, cannot be studied +without reference to the environment, and to the relations between the +organism in question and others--whether of its own or of other species. +In this way it seems likely that biology--moving as it were in a +spiral--will by-and-by return, though at a much higher level, to the +standpoint of the older naturalists, whose interest in plants and +animals was focussed more upon their activities, habits of life and +special environment than upon their morphology--and even disdained +not to consider their possible uses for man. Also, more thoroughly and +extensively than before, the study of man himself is being caught up +into the great web of Biology. It is seen as an integral part of +Biology, and pursued in the biological spirit. Whether we look to +psychology on the one hand, or to anthropology and its associated +sciences on the other, the present is a most propitious moment for +drawing public attention to this vast science, as being the true +centre and foundation of that practical knowledge which is needed as +a guide, and also as a stimulus, for practical everyday life. + +It will, of course, be instantly objected that the subject is indeed +vast--much too vast. But not too vast, surely, if, by means of a very +simple principle, we select out what is of immediate definite use, and +necessary for everybody, from what may be, by the majority, safely left +on one side. We shall then get, on this side, the highly specialised +Biology of the laboratory with its minute researches and nicely +calculated experiments, and, on that, what we may, for our present +purpose, call Common-sense Biology. + +Just one word of explanation is perhaps needed at the outset. +Common-sense Biology does not mean anything like that slipshod dealing +with miscellaneous phenomena of nature which sometimes goes by the name +of Nature Study. It is a course of work systematic and strictly +scientific, conducted as truly as any other in the scientific spirit. It +presents, however, two points of contrast with special or analytical +Biology, in that, whereas, in analytical Biology, a beginning may be +made practically anywhere, with any series of facts one may prefer to +take first, in Common-sense Biology there is only one right mode of +starting, and that of the utmost importance; while, secondly, +Common-sense Biology combines some of the characteristics of an art with +the ordinary characteristics of a science. + + +COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY + +It is this latter form of the science--this science, which is also an +art--that we would advocate as essential for the equipment of women. +With this view let us examine it further. + +And first, what is its proper starting-point? Its proper starting-point +is accurate instruction concerning the living things with which the +student is, or can easily be, brought into immediate practical contact. +And, again, in the study of these living things--plants and animals +alike--attention is directed first towards the organism in its totality +and in its activities--towards function rather than towards structure; +and also towards mode of life, relations with environment, and, where +possible, towards its use or danger to mankind. Structure will, no +doubt, early have to be introduced, but only in its larger details as +explanatory of function, for the sake of a better knowledge of the +animal or plant as a whole. + +What are to be the types and examples of organisms studied? + +This is an important question, and the writer would most strongly urge +that the principle of selection should be that of locality; that the +student should start with those plants and animals--both wild and +domestic--which are to be found within a given radius of the place where +she is living and working. The first things to know about are habit, +activity, inter-relation and use to human beings. In respect to these, +the presence of one organism will react upon others, and therefore no +plant or animal within the area should be lightly overlooked. + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIOLOGY + +We must not, however, confine attention to the higher multicellular +animals and plants. One of the most important factors in the environment +is the existence of bacteria; and it is of great importance that an +outline of bacteriology should be included in our course of Common-sense +Biology. This outline should be kept close to the common necessities of +everyday life. For the sake of making clear and real to the mind the +manner in which bacteria multiply and the extreme rapidity of the +process, a certain amount of microscopical work ought to be done, the +examples being few, but carefully chosen. This kind of work, +nevertheless, should be kept subordinate. The effects wrought by +bacteria in water, earth and air, in stored foodstuffs, and in the +tissues of the living body are the important subjects for study; and +naturally, connected with these, the conditions which permit the access +of bacteria or which, in the case of noxious bacteria, will best ensure +protection. + +The rationale of toxins and anti-toxins, with the relations of these to +the blood-serum should also, in a general way, be known; and moreover +the student should be prepared to learn that many diseases, which are +at present very imperfectly understood--we may take, for instance, forms +of insanity--have their _vera causa_ in the action of toxins, and +require to be treated accordingly. + +Perhaps, for those who cannot take more than the shorter courses of our +Common-sense Biology, it will be sufficient to consider only those forms +of inimical bacteria which we have to combat in our own islands. But the +writer would strongly urge that, at least among women of the leisured +classes, this instruction should be extended to cover the bacterial and +other minute parasitic forms of disease most prevalent in our colonies +and in our foreign possessions. The wives of officers, civil servants +and missionaries ought to know, in a clear, scientific way, the causes, +modes of attack, and methods of prevention of the principal tropical +diseases, so far as these have at present been made out. + + +METHOD OF STUDY + +What should be the method of this study? + +The sketching out of a course would be far beyond the scope of this +paper. Here it may only be said that the work must, of necessity, fall +into two main parts. There must be, on the one hand, field-naturalist's +work, for the greater proportion of the animals and plants studied +ought--so far as is in any way practicable--to be observed in their +natural surroundings; and there must be, on the other hand, work allied +to that of the gardener and farmer, the rearing of selected plants and +animals for purposes of experiment and of closer examination. Nothing +worth mentioning can be done on either of these lines without some study +of the food and climatic conditions required by each creature; and this +will involve a study of soils, temperature, atmosphere, and so on--and +also a study of the nutrient properties of those organisms which furnish +forth the food of other organisms. From this knowledge, gained thus +through direct observation and experiment, would be deduced the general +principles which--so to express it--govern life; and upon it as +foundation would be reared the more specialised knowledge of all that +pertains strictly to the life of mankind. Throughout the aim should be +to use books mainly for reference. + +It is not necessary--as it might have been a few years ago--to show that +a training on these lines is better, as a preparation for life, than +that offered by the ordinary school and university curriculum; but it +may be worth while to show how far and why it is superior to a +well-planned course in the analytical biology of the laboratory. The +superiority is surely twofold: in that the kind of knowledge acquired is +of greater practical utility; and, again, in that the development which +it ensures, to the powers, bodily and mental of the student, is more +varied, thorough, and effective. + + +COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGY AS AN ART + +As has been said, this Common-sense Biology partakes of the nature of an +art. Now it is characteristic of any art that, for its satisfactory +exercise, it demands not only knowledge, but also intuition;--not only +conscious volition, reflection, and endeavour, but also subconscious +nervous and muscular activity, and, together with that, a certain +emotional state--a trend, tendency, disposition of the whole being, +which likewise is chiefly subconscious. + +Without such a disposition to begin with you cannot have an artist. +Neither will you get an artist, if, on the other hand, this disposition +is never given an opportunity for displaying itself and developing its +capacities. You cannot play an instrument properly if you have no music +in you, and the music in you will never come forth if you have no +instrument to play upon. When disposition and opportunity are happily +met, and the true artist arises, it is in the subconscious that the +chief riches, gained by her work and experience, are stored, and from +the subconscious that she draws her skill; while in the subconscious, +again, lie the mysterious sources of original inspiration. We all know +well how over-consciousness spoils art, as it spoils most kinds of +action. The happiest effects, the loveliest deeds spring, as it were, +spontaneously. + +What is true of such arts as music and poetry is at least equally true +of the art of living. The rich and well-harmonised subconsciousness is +the proximate source whence all that is strongest and most beautiful in +human activity is derived. The domestic arts, conversation, power of +rapid judgment at a crisis, the care of the sick, the care of children, +tactful daily dealing with one's fellows, all these, and so much else, +we recognise to be dependent for perfection upon practice; and that is +only another way of saying that they depend on the efficiency and the +character of the subconscious. But the character and efficiency of each +person's subconscious being depend in their turn--not solely, yet +principally--first, upon the knowledge she has acquired, and secondly, +upon the actions she has habitually performed. Action and being, as we +all know full well, are for ever acting and reacting upon one another. + +Action is a more potent influence upon the subconscious even than +knowledge; and when to mere activity there is added emotion--such +emotion, for instance, as pleasure or love, or solicitude, or desire for +truth--we may feel assured we have brought into play the most powerful +of all the forces which, in an ordinary way, go to vivify and to form +human character. + +The subconscious is even more important for women than for men, because +women have more calls upon their emotions, and more need for intuition, +and also more need for general resourcefulness and skill. It is because +the Common-sense Biology whose claims we are urging involves so much +activity, such care, quickness of observation, patience and ready wit, +that it makes a better preparation for life than the more highly +specialized work in the Biology of the laboratory alone could be. + + +THE GAINS AND LOSSES OF CIVILISATION + +Is there, it may now be asked, anywhere any definite evidence to bear +out this contention. There is: and in abundance. For it, however, we +must look away from civilised communities, especially from the educated +portion of their populations. Civilisation, no doubt, gives much; but it +also takes much away. It has taken away much of the traditional lore of +women, and more and more of their traditional activities. This does not +merely mean that the practical ability and knowledge of civilised women +is greatly restricted; it means also that the peculiar intuitive wisdom +of women--the fruit of a richly-stored subconsciousness--is much +diminished. In capacity for pure thought the educated woman of civilised +communities no doubt excels all the rest: in most other respects the +barbarian or savage woman will--with some few exceptions--probably be +found her superior, whether judged merely by her mastery of the +conditions amid which she has to work, or, more broadly, by the amount +of her real knowledge and the range of her effective capacities. + +Take, as an example, the Eskimo woman, who is considered to represent +the woman of palaeolithic times. As there is no Eskimo Board of +Education--no paraphernalia of Primary, Secondary, Technical, and other +Schools, with their red tape and officialism--she is free to carry on +the tradition of her ancestresses, and to rear, in the good old ways, +children who grow up to be sturdy men and women. The preparation she had +for her task was chiefly that of watching and imitating her own mother. +Thus, as a child, she followed all the processes of turning the dead +reindeer to account--learning thereby an economy and an unwillingness to +waste which were essentially scientific--learning, too, subconsciously. +She saw the flesh of the reindeer made into pemmican--cut into thin +slices, and dried in the sun or in the smoke of a slow fire, then +pounded between stones (the use of stones is worth noticing) and stored +under a cover of melted fat, poured over it in due proportion. She saw +the bones--after the marrow had been extracted from them--pounded down +and boiled to get out the residual fat; the horns set aside to make +fish-hooks, chisels, needles, and fishing-spears, work for the long +winter evenings; the skin carefully dressed with a split bone and cut +into shape to make clothing, and snow-shoes, thongs, bow-strings, +fishing-nets, and so on. The very tendons make threads for sewing: and +the garments thus fashioned are not only strong and serviceable, but +beautiful with that particular beauty, which may perhaps be called +barbaric, but which almost invariably denotes vigour and fulness of +subconscious life. The Eskimo women also make their own boats and their +own tools; they are good fishers and hunters. Their year's work +comprises an exercise of dexterity and quick wit of which the ordinary +Englishwoman can have no idea. + +We might take as another example the North American Indian woman, with +her varied forest-lore; but, since space is limited, let us pass for one +further illustration to the despised Australian aboriginal. She too +knows and does things worthy of our admiration and imitation. For +instance the English housewife's preparation of the household food is +nothing like so conscientious as the Australian's, whose proceedings +have the keen disinterested concentration proper to a bit of scientific +research. Thus, to take but one example of the processes connected with +the preparation of one form of food--a seed of a species of eucalyptus: +"With a hooked stick she pulls down the terminal branches of the tree +and spreads them out to dry on a piece of ground cleared for the +purpose. After allowing them to lie there for a period determined by +temperature, she collects the distal ends of the branches, damps them +and brushes the seeds off into water. For a period of two or more hours +these seeds are kept soaking, but the water is repeatedly changed, so as +to remove all traces of the 'gum.' After this they are dried and ground +on a stone. Again, she builds their rough, but wisely devised home most +carefully according to ancient tradition. She takes her little girl, +armed with a miniature digging-stick, out to track the honey-ant with +her, and to learn by the way what are the birds and beasts and plants, +friendly or inimical, which surround their home-camp." + +Alongside of this direct learning about nature goes the learning of the +legends and traditions of the tribe, together with the customary +dances, rituals, and religious practices. The activity of savage life is +everywhere such that no anomalies like our physical exercises are +needed,--for the physique of the young men and women is as graceful, +strong, and enduring as need be. + +If we turn to savage or barbarian peoples higher in the scale we shall +find their knowledge, abilities, and accomplishments higher and also +more varied. But, on the whole, until we come to the average modern +woman of a civilised community, we shall find that the women--through +their happily developed subconsciousness--are equal to the best the +community requires of them. They do not call their training Common-sense +Biology, but that is what it practically is. They know all about their +surroundings, and what to do therein. And grace and beauty wait upon +what they do. + +This ideal is not, however, quite without parallel among the more highly +civilised peoples. The Greeks conceived of Athene, the great goddess of +wisdom and of war, as also Athene Ergane, the Workwoman, the goddess of +handicrafts in the home. In our own country--to take examples near to us +and familiar--the names of Caroline Herschel, Jane Austen, the Brontes, +Mary Somerville, and George Eliot not only attest the fact that +exquisite skill in domestic arts is not, in a woman, incompatible with +learning and genius, but may also lead us to suspect that the exercise +of this skill actually aided and furthered their better-known +achievements. + +In our civilised communities--from the point of view of the +subconscious--women are in two ways at a disadvantage. First, excessive +division of labour, with our dependence upon machinery, has made the +life of the State far more complicated than in former days; and +secondly, the activity of the individual, from the same causes, is far +more monotonous, far less well-calculated to bring out all her powers +and train her being as a whole, than it used to be. Hence, as we said, +women have lost a good deal subconsciously--even though, in +consciousness, they may have gained. + +There is nothing in which the character of the subconscious is more +clearly seen than in a person's attitude towards the great mysteries of +life: towards birth and marriage and death on the one hand--towards +religion on the other. It is, of course, matter of common knowledge that +in regard to marriage the customs of some savage tribes are what we +should describe as licentious. A truer understanding of the savage mind +has, however, mitigated many of the judgments passed even upon the worst +of these practices--at least in so far as they were taken to indicate +gross inward depravity on the part of the women. And among many peoples +there are found laws and customs of real beauty and noble significance, +witnessing to reverence, fine intuition, and real care for the highest +good of the tribe. And in general of all savage races it may be said +that whatever their laws and customs are--though perhaps born of +ignorance and selfishness--they feel seriously about them as about +sacred things, and observe them scrupulously. + +The better side is exemplified chiefly by the women. When +anthropological work is more largely undertaken by women, and when, +through their sympathy, the jealously guarded secrets of the women's +tradition, now almost entirely unknown, are yielded up to us, it is +probable that our conceptions of savage life and thought will have to be +radically modified. However that may be, it is even now sufficiently +well known that the women do not leave the question of reproduction and +marriage to chance in the education of their girls. The girls are +definitely, carefully, and it would seem often tenderly, taught; and if, +among some peoples, they are made to undergo great sufferings, a closer +study usually reveals in these the effects of the long subjection of the +women to the cruelty and uncontrolled passions of the men. All this +should not blind us to the fact that the maternal instinct is here +actively grappling with the great realities of life: and we may contrast +this with the ways of the modern woman who, less developed in +subconsciousness, is not so forcibly impelled to make any such attempt, +and, for the most part, practically lets the whole thing slide. Here, as +in other directions, the fuller development of the subconscious would +compel and also enable us to correct a grave omission: while the +knowledge necessarily acquired concerning reproduction and birth in the +course of biological work would fill up that which has hitherto often +been wanting even in the best-inspired women who have dealt with this +question. + +It must by now have been made clear that our object in advocating this +Common-sense Biology is to recover what was excellent in the equipment +of the women of the past, and to unite it with what is most excellent, +and most germane to woman's life, in the methods and knowledge of the +present. Since modern household life is deficient in the requisite +opportunities we are obliged to have recourse to definite educational +schemes. But education of this sort will assuredly continue to be +necessary even after many improvements in the home have been brought to +pass; because it will always be necessary to keep the knowledge and +activities of women in correspondence with the advance of science. At +the same time it is worth while to remember that the earlier the child +begins to observe living things, to live with them, learn about them, +and take care of them, the better the final result will be; while the +ideally trained mother in the ideal home, herself practical and active, +will be able to do more for her children in this regard than most +people, perhaps, would now dream of. + + +THE INFLUENCE OF COMMON-SENSE BIOLOGICAL TRAINING ON SOCIAL WORK + +Biological training of the order we have been considering is, we +believe, desirable for all women in the interests, first, of the home +and of the rearing of children. But it is equally desirable for the +women who are not destined to be wives and mothers, and particularly so +as a foundation for any kind of university work, even for the different +literary or philosophical schools. + +Here it is, perhaps, worth while to urge upon women the claims of the +other great division of Biology, that of the laboratory. A considerable +number of women who go up to the universities have, indeed, intellectual +abilities deserving special cultivation, yet abilities which show no +very distinct inclination in any one direction. These have been very +commonly drafted into the study of history. It may be questioned whether +some branch of Biology would not be better for them, and more useful to +the community. Women working at Biology in the universities ought to +serve, and to aim at serving, as the channels by which each fresh +addition of scientific knowledge finds its way to, and its appropriate +place in, the schemes of Common-sense Biology generally obtaining. + +In another field--the field of public work--it is to be hoped that ere +long a knowledge of biology will come to be considered a _sine qua non_ +for women. It would be superfluous to point out in how many kinds of +public work women are gradually coming to the fore--in those especially +which deal with education and with the care of the disabled. Already the +influence and the peculiar gifts of women have in some degree made +themselves felt; but these might operate much more powerfully if they +were more commonly associated with scientific knowledge--with a +knowledge of those branches of biology, more especially of bio-chemistry +and bio-physics, which bear most nearly upon humanity. + +It would take up too much space to give an account of the many ways in +which biology is here of service: two great lines of utility may just be +indicated as examples. + +First, biology would lead to certain modifications of +practice--particularly in our treatment of children, and of persons +deemed criminal or insane. The biologist, when anything was +amiss--before she pronounced any one to be mentally or morally unsound, +defective, or bad--would presume, to start with, that there was some +definite physical trouble to be set right, not necessarily anything +dangerous in itself or mysterious. In New York they now make it a rule +to examine for adenoids every young offender against the law, before +punishing him; and it is amazing how often adenoids are found, and when +removed carry the child's wickedness away with them. Adenoids and divers +glands are responsible for a great proportion of youthful wrongdoing; +and yet other physical troubles will account for a great proportion of +the rest. The writer herself once came across a young girl who was, in +intention and attempt, a murderess--yet was so only through the effect +of a common physical condition, easy enough to treat when once +ascertained. Until our general conception of a child--or indeed of a +human being--is a more truly biological one, framed more closely upon +the facts of its bodily life, we shall have but little effective +intuition into its state. And such a sound biological conception is not +to be had apart from some good measure of sound biological knowledge. + +When, however, the most careful observation reveals no local or +definite mischief to be dealt with in the person under consideration, +the biologist will still not hastily set him down as bad--or even as +unsound or defective. He will next suspect that he is one whose physical +organisation is not fitted for its environment: if he can be placed in +a better environment perhaps he will grow better. If this change is, +from whatever circumstances, impossible, the biologist in treating +him, however troublesome he may be, will still never regard him as +wholly responsible for what he is, will still try to ascertain the +exact ways in which the environment presses injuriously upon him, and +to help him in those definite particulars. If we desire the work of +our reformatories and prisons and the disciplinary work of our +schools really to be and not merely to appear effective, it is only by +such nicely-calculated methods that we shall attain our object. + +This brings us to our second point. Biology, when a knowledge of it is +more widely spread among us, will assuredly work a change in public +opinion. We have among us thousands of men and women whom we account +failures in life; whose existence constitutes our gravest social +problem. The drunkard, the wastrel, the thief, the prostitute--these are +characters whom society thrusts out. They have proved themselves +unfitted for their environment; they cannot act in it with any +regularity or seemliness: its laws are not their laws. And the +assumption most generally is that these are beings of a lower stamp than +the average, unhappily surviving in, or at war with, an environment +which postulates a nobler sort of men and women. Is it so? + +The finer and more delicately poised a mechanism--whether it be chemical +balance, galvanometer, electroscope or what not--the more sensitive is +it to its surroundings. Thus the instruments once at Kew Observatory +have had to be transferred to the wilds of Scotland to ensure their +perfect working--rendered impossible at Kew by the noise and vibrations +of encroaching London. Thus, again, the mind of Darwin required for its +proper functioning the quiet of a study at Down, in the heart of the +country. A ray of light will spoil a delicate experiment: the presence +in an observatory of one steel key will hinder the work of the +instruments. A boy commits suicide because of the noise of the factory +in which he is compelled to work. A girl drowns herself because the +worries of her home are intolerable. + +The point I would press is that these different examples belong +fundamentally to the same category. Whether it be the instrument devised +by man, or whether it be the human nervous system itself, that which we +are looking at is a mechanism too delicate for the cruel exigencies of +an unyielding gross environment. We have but to reflect on one organ +alone--on the exceeding fineness of structure, and nicety of adjustment, +and definiteness of sense-limit, of the eye--in order to realise that +the comparison between the human nervous system and the most delicate of +our delicate instruments is more than justifiable. + +How do we know, when dealing with any given drunkard, that we have not +before us a fine, fine nature, to which the harsh and low conditions of +our Western civilisation have simply proved intolerable? How do we know +that, instead of blaming him and trying to adjust him to the world, we +ought not rather to blame the world, and try to make it a fit place for +him to live in? + +This consideration--strictly scientific as it is--ought to have very +great weight in that new department of biological work which has been +named Eugenics. Before lightly saying of any stock that it is not good +to breed from, or that it is good to breed from, pains should surely be +taken to ascertain whether irregularities and disease evinced by members +of that stock do not in reality proceed from their superiority to their +environment and to the average men and women about them. Individually +they may be irreclaimable, yet, thrown out of gear, miserable and wasted +as they are, they may be the carriers of the finest hopes of humanity, +of a promise for the fulfilment of which we are not yet ready. Perhaps +there is a tendency to be a little over-hasty in our estimates of good +and bad stocks to breed from. Perhaps we have not yet fully learnt +either the significance of recessive characters or the importance of the +mere fact that the unit-characters of a human being are immensely +numerous, and their inter-relations therefore extremely intricate. And +yet, again, perhaps we are too intolerant of variety, too eager for +uniformity. + +Here in England we have a mixed population, sprung from many diverse +origins. The differences between individuals are many and great. Yet the +majority of the population is thrust into the grooves of one educational +system, and thereafter compelled to settle down to occupations and modes +of life which are the same for thousands together. Any attempt to leave +the common rut is looked at askance. What wonder that there are rebels, +and that the rebels are unhappy! A society constructed in conformity to +true biological principles, instead of suppressing variety would give it +welcome as one of the most precious of national characteristics, and +would purposely adjust itself and its systems with more accuracy so as +to give every sort and type of person the best possible chance for +developing his or her peculiar gifts. In a society so constituted, very +rare indeed would be the occurrence of insanity. + +These considerations should have weight in yet another direction: in +determining the counsel which ought to be given to girls as to the +choice of a mate. + +The importance of soundness of stock has here too been well brought into +prominence by the workers in Eugenics; and perhaps it may not be amiss +to make one or two suggestions with a view to obviating a too narrow +application of the principle of the sound stock. + +We must remember, first, that disease is not necessarily evidence of +unsoundness. Like some forms of moral obliquity, it may be merely +evidence of a quality in the stock which renders it unable to tolerate a +given environment. And this quality may be in itself an excellence of +the most precious kind. This would be the true account of many cases of +insanity, while others would be covered by the action of toxins on the +brain. Heredity, we are told in many instances of "insanity," is more +probably a heredity of "special liability to the production of toxins or +to the action of toxins on the brain," than heredity of insanity proper. +This view will naturally entail modifications in our methods of treating +the "insane," as well as a considerable change in public opinion with +regard to the significance of insanity. + +And, secondly, we must remember the importance of the environment, more +especially of the human part of it. A man of sound stock is very +commonly brought up as a sportsman, whose first idea is to kill; or as +an idler, whose chief occupations are eating, drinking, and smoking, +with travel and some amount of gambling thrown in by way of variety. Or +he may easily be above all things a money-maker and a lover of money. +His habits of this sort will determine to a very great extent the +early--and that is the critical--environment of his children. The +tendency in his family will be towards uniformity, towards one level, +and that not a high level, of thought, activity, and character. His +example and influence will go very far to counteract the advantages +presumably ensured by the soundness of his stock. + +On the other hand, a man whose ancestry is eugenically not flawless +may have such wide interests, so many and such fine powers, so much +skill in different activities, and so high and generous a personal +ideal, that the environment which his manner of life would make for his +children--the inspiration he would be to them--might well be expected +very largely, if not wholly, to counteract the disadvantages of defects +in the stock. + +No doubt this principle should be applied with all reasonableness and +care, but it is extremely important for the highest welfare, for the +development of the best possibilities of the people, that it should be +definitely recognised. + + +ANTHROPOLOGY A BRANCH OF BIOLOGY + +A word must here be said as to the importance--more especially to the +biological student who aims at social work--of some knowledge of +Anthropology. Biology is, in fact, incomplete without anthropology; for +in its absence there is a danger of applying biological principles too +summarily, and therefore unscientifically, to humanity. Anthropology, of +course, goes behind art and history and the literary ideas current among +civilised peoples. It gives life and meaning to customs, legends, +handicrafts, details of dress, ornament, and furniture which otherwise +go unheeded or misunderstood. It helps to interpret for us the ways of +contemporary peoples and classes which are on a level different from our +own. It gives a unity in infinite diversity to our whole conception of +humanity. When more widely studied, there can be little doubt that it +will cause us to reconstruct many of our judgments, both concerning the +history of the past and concerning the civilisations of the present +day. + +We cannot but believe that a time will come when it will be assumed of +all women that they know the broad truths of biology, just as it is now +assumed that they know the alphabet. It will be taken for granted that +they have mastered the essential domestic arts with their own hands, +just as we now take for granted they can write with their own hands. We +shall have reached then the beginning of a new era--an era which we may +hope will unite the excellences, moral, aesthetic, and hygienic, of +earlier times, with the excellences, more purely intellectual and +scientific, of our own day. + + +WOMAN'S SYNTHETIC POWERS AS AN INSTRUMENT TO EFFICIENCY + +The most effective instruments for bringing this about are the synthetic +powers of woman herself, combined with her practical skill and her ready +intuition. As we have tried to show, the best chance for the eliciting +and the disciplining of these powers of hers, so as best to fit them for +the struggle of modern life, is afforded by biology. + +It must be clear how many reforms--impossible to the nominally educated +women of the present day--would flow easily from this better training of +women; for those so trained could certainly not endure the futility of +some of our educational ideals, nor that haphazard disregard of the +nature and needs of the child, which still characterises so much of our +educational method. They could not support the continuance of many of +the common evils of modern life--the noise and dirt, the brutality of +manners, the scamping of work, the rush for pleasure. These, however +they may or may not affect the adult, are plainly impairing the best +promise of the children; and that fact will be enough for the truly +educated woman. + +Knowing, too, as she will, more accurately and scientifically than women +to-day generally know, how largely energy and depression, irritability +and calm strength are questions of right or wrong food, the educated +woman may be trusted to find a means to put an end to the crying +iniquity of adulteration. Directly or indirectly, by the pressure of her +determination that the race shall no longer be offered a sacrifice to +Mammon, she will assuredly find a way to put an end to all not +absolutely necessary dangerous trades. + +The opposition of such women to what is wrong in social custom, in +government, in education, will be a very different thing from the +opposition of well-meaning but imperfectly instructed women on the one +hand; or, on the other, that of a few thoroughly trained and informed +ones working more or less in isolation, scattered over the country. It +would mean a body of sound, enlightened, disinterested public opinion, +so vast, so far-reaching, yet so intimately cognisant of all the little +daily details of life in the home, that it is difficult to see what +other body of opinion could be found mighty enough to resist it. + +If, unhappily, this advance should not be made--if our present Western +civilisation be allowed to run unchecked down the groove into which it +has sunk--there seems nothing before it but destruction. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [12] "The Electrical Resistance of the Human Body." Gee and Brotherton, + Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 1910. + + + + +SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +BY MRS. W. N. SHAW + + +The slow development of the demand for the training of girls of the +middle and upper classes in the details of household management has been +to a great extent due to the common observation that persons of +imperfect education are frequently proficient in the domestic arts, and +to the assumption that good housekeeping consists entirely in the +efficient exercise of those arts. + +The fact that in the early Victorian period girls living much at home +learned, almost insensibly, from their mothers the routine of daily +duties in the house, has made elder women look askance on the lectures +dealing with domestic economy which appear to them so needless, and has +led them to foster the superstition that woman _qua_ woman should be +equal to any demand that may be made upon her as organiser of her own +household. + +That the housekeeping of to-day is more complex than that of half a +century ago is incredible to the older woman who remembers the baking +and brewing, and divers other matters, that demanded the attention of +the notable housewives of the forties and fifties of the nineteenth +century. That the horizon of women's lives has widened, and that other +interests than those appertaining to their immediate circle claim their +attention, is not acceptable to all; it is however the claims of these +outside interests that have awakened in the more thoughtful the desire +so to order their households that they may in some degree free +themselves from petty cares, and be able to help in the amelioration of +the lives of less fortunate persons; or to pursue other branches of +knowledge in which they have learned to take a keen intellectual +pleasure. + +It is a paradox that one of the difficulties with which the modern +mistress has to contend is the fact that her house is "replete with +every modern convenience." Every labour-saving contrivance, every +mechanical convenience, calls for vigilance to ensure its proper use, +and for knowledge as to the ways in which it may fail, and of the method +of readjustment if it should happen to do so. No apparatus which is not +thoroughly understood by the mistress will be well used by the servants, +and servants will rarely if ever exercise any knowledge they possess to +prevent the expense of calling in a workman. If the mistress of a house +can use such ordinary tools as a hammer, a screwdriver, a gluepot, and a +soldering-iron, a great deal of expense may be saved in small repairs; +on the other hand, ignorant meddling with scientific apparatus may be +worse than useless. There can be no doubt that a course of instruction +in natural philosophy, combined with work in a well-equipped laboratory +and workshop, should find a place in the curriculum of every girls' +school, whether elementary or secondary, as this training lays the +surest foundation for a superstructure of experimental domestic science. +The argument against including the application of the physical sciences +to domestic methods in the ordinary educational course of every girl, +namely, that she may not be called upon to keep a house of her own, +cannot be sustained; there are no circumstances in which knowledge of +the laws which govern the health and well-being of human beings can be +useless. We all live in houses, either our own or other people's, and we +are all liable to disease and discomfort caused by the faulty +construction of the house or the unhealthy practices of the inmates. + + +THE AIM AND METHODS OF MODERN EDUCATION + +The aim of education is to enable a person to act wisely in every +emergency of life whatever his particular calling may be, but it is +hardly possible to act wisely without some knowledge of the relation +between cause and effect. This is true whether we are engaged in the +practical affairs of life, in the pursuit of knowledge, or in the effort +to extend knowledge by research. It is sometimes argued that a woman of +trained intellect can easily acquire the art of housekeeping, and this +is no doubt the case if we limit the art to the choice and supervision +of competent domestics, but there can be no doubt that there are many +women of trained intellect who not only suffer themselves but entail +suffering on others from inability to discern good housekeeping, in our +sense of the word, from bad. It must be remembered that courses of +education should be framed for the training of unmethodical and +unpractical minds, which may and often do accompany the highest forms of +intellect, as well as for those of a naturally orderly and practical +bent. + +We all consciously or unconsciously make use of the facts of science: we +do not send eggs by parcel post merely placed in a box, we do not even +send one egg in a box that exactly fits it, we are careful to surround +each egg with soft paper or some other elastic material in sufficient +quantity to distribute the effects of the blows that we know the box +will be subjected to in the post, so that the eggs may not be broken; if +we place a tray of china on a table, we are careful that it should not +project beyond the table so as to fall when we let it go; we do not pour +hot water into cut-glass tumblers, and we do not mix effervescing drinks +in wine-glasses. We should call a person ignorant who was unaware of the +probable results of doing the things enumerated above; but if the +accidents following want of knowledge were always so simple, ignorance +would not be a matter of much importance, and we might be willing to let +our girls learn by experience. Unfortunately, the neglect of a +scientific law has led in the past, and may lead in the future, to much +more serious, even fatal results, and Solomon has applied a not very +complimentary epithet to those who have wisdom forced upon them by +involuntary experience. It is to the publication of statistics which +show the alarming spread of such diseases as consumption and the +terrible waste of infant life, that we owe the awakening of the public +mind to the need for systematic training in science and scientific +method. + + +THE VALUE OF A SCIENTIFIC TRAINING + +Scientific method seeks to establish relations between isolated facts or +phenomena, and the relation generally takes the form of cause and +effect; so that persons with a scientific training are accustomed to +examine the grounds for considering this relation of cause and effect in +circumstances which are selected with a view to exhibiting the reality +of the relation. From that training it becomes possible for them, when +confronted with circumstances presenting some difficulty, to form a +better opinion as to what is the cause of the difficulty than they could +if they were confronted with the same difficulty without the previous +training. Any attentive observer of human nature will be struck by the +fact that every person is accustomed to refer every event to some cause; +if it is an illness, the occasion for contracting the illness is +defined; if it is any unforeseen event in the domestic economy, a reason +is nearly always forthcoming; the question which the housewife is called +upon to decide is whether the reason offered is a real and sufficient +one. Meteorologists tell a familiar story of an Indian nabob who found +that there was a deposit of moisture on the outside of his tumbler of +brandy and water, and tasting it with his finger, remarked it was very +curious that the water came through the glass but the brandy did not. +Plenty of reasons offered for domestic incidents have no better ground +of fact than the nabob's opinion that the water came through the glass. + +A good deal of the comfort of a modern house turns upon a right judgment +as regards cause and effect, and therefore some preparation which will +fit the housewife to appreciate the rights and wrongs of domestic +reasoning is an indispensable qualification for success. It is not +always possible for the most profound student to offer offhand the true +explanation of various facts of domestic life, but it is possible to +approach the consideration of these questions with some hope of deciding +whether the explanation offered is a true or a fictitious one. The +ability for this is largely a question of habit of mind or training; and +for our purpose the training must include those departments of +knowledge, the laws of which find daily expression in the manifold +experiences of domestic life. The ultimate foundation for these laws is +to be found in the study of Physics, which deals with those changes in +the state of matter which stop short of the alteration of its +composition; of Chemistry, which deals with changes involving an +alteration of the composition of the substances under consideration; and +of Physiology, which is the identification of the processes which take +place in living animals and plants and their relation to the laws of +physics and chemistry. Without a knowledge of the fundamental principles +of these sciences and of the methods by which those principles are +established, it is not to be expected that any person can deal +adequately with the common experiences of life. + +It is true that experience, if it is sufficiently extensive and +prolonged, may lead to the formulation of a set of practical rules that +will carry a housewife through the ordinary household round without +discredit, but the question which we have to put to ourselves is +whether, by organising and directing the experience, success may not be +made certain and more instructive. In these days domestic life is more +complicated than it used to be; at the same time experience is in a +sense more restricted. Many of the instructive processes, practical +experience in which conveyed valuable if unconscious scientific +training, are now conducted on a large scale, and are outside the range +of domestic duties, and the housewife has to supply, by special training +in scientific principles, the judgment that in days gone by was acquired +as a matter of habit. + +It is impossible in the short space of a single article to set out the +details of a systematic course of training sufficient to fit the +housewife to use her judgment wisely in circumstances which require a +knowledge of the principles of the fundamental physical sciences. The +most that we can attempt is to give a few examples which illustrate the +application of the principles of physics and chemistry. Our purpose in +doing so is to suggest illustrations which appeal to every householder, +and may create a desire for fuller knowledge rather than to supply a +course of instruction. What we aim at is not to provide the equipment of +scientific training, but to show that the scientific habit of mind will +find opportunities for useful employment in many of the most ordinary +affairs of life. The problems that present themselves in the course of +experience are sometimes difficult and intricate; patience and careful +observation as well as knowledge are required for their solution. +Sometimes this solution is beyond the immediate resources of those +concerned, and it is a part of scientific training to recognise when +this is the case, so that effort and money may not be wasted in +endeavours which are foredoomed to failure. We may cite a case in point +where an extra bell was desired in a system of electric bells in a flat +at a time when electric installations in private houses were somewhat +rare, and workmen with any knowledge beyond that necessary for carrying +out instructions were not easily found. To the confusion of the tenant, +the introduction of this extra bell caused all the bells in the flat to +strike work. A mathematical lecturer living in the same building was +consulted, and opined that the battery of two somewhat small-looking +cells was insufficient, so he obtained and added a larger cell, but the +bells were obdurate and did not resume work. A lady with knowledge of +physics examined the installations and discovered that the wire +connections as altered were entirely wrong and did not connect the bells +to the battery. A plan of the correct connections was shown to the +workman, who a few days later reported that now all the bells rang at +once, and he had had to disconnect the battery! He produced a sketch of +the connections he had made, and on his error being pointed out he was +able to rectify it, and the bells answered to touch without the use of +the extra cell. Generally speaking, a failure on the part of electric +bells is corrected by filling up the cells which compose the battery +with water, an operation which any one may undertake. + +It is not safe, however, for an inexperienced person to interfere with +electric light fittings further than to remove a worn-out lamp and place +a new one in the socket, and even this operation may be attended with +disaster. A young friend of ours who was taking part in some private +theatricals obtained the loan of a row of electric footlights. It did +not occur to any one concerned to ask the voltage of the lamps or of the +current to which they were to be applied. When the footlights were +turned up they blazed for a brief period, and then every light in the +house went out! Electrical science for the housewife has been resolved +into a knowledge of electric terms and of a few practical rules useful +and interesting in themselves, but not immediately suitable for our +purpose of showing how scientific study may aid the housewife in her +daily routine. + + +PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +We may for this purpose examine some of the laws of common physical and +chemical phenomena, neglect of which has resulted in much needless +discomfort in daily life, and even more serious consequences. For +instance, the laws of expansion of gases and liquids with heat, and +their subsequent behaviour, are phenomena that are often imperfectly +realised. There is probably no person who is unacquainted with the law +of gravitation, but there are many persons who accept literally the +statements that smoke rises and that balloons ascend. A clear +understanding of what actually takes place when gases and material +masses appear to move in opposition to the law of gravitation is +essential to any scheme for warming and ventilating the house. + +A very simple experiment will serve to reconcile the apparent +contradiction of the universal law by the observed fact. Suppose we have +two fluids, oil and water, of which oil is, bulk for bulk, lighter than +water. If the oil be poured into a glass beaker, it will be seen to rest +at the bottom of the beaker; if water be now poured into the same +beaker the water will go to the bottom of the beaker and will displace +the oil and lift it up so that the oil will float on the water; the oil +may be lifted to any height we please if sufficient water be poured in +to lift it to that height. If a single drop of oil be introduced into +the water by means of a pipette and be liberated at the bottom of the +beaker the water will close in under it, and lift it up to the surface. +In both cases the oil "rises" through the water. Oil, however, has no +tendency to "rise" by itself, and in this case it lay motionless until +it was lifted by the heavier fluid. We may use colloquial language when +describing phenomena if we bear in mind what is really taking place. + +A balloon "rising" through the air is exactly analogous to the drop of +oil in the water. The balloon is, bulk for bulk, lighter than air; the +air therefore closes in under it and lifts it just as the water lifted +the bubble of oil. + + +EFFECTS OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE ON AIR + +Let us apply this to air. Air when warmed expands, and therefore warm +air is, bulk for bulk, lighter than cold air. Warm air behaves in the +presence of cold air as the balloon: it is displaced and lifted by the +cold air, the result being an ascending stream of warm air, which is +called a convection current. + +The movement of ascending smoke is essentially the same as that of the +warmed air. Smoke is warm air made visible by the particles of soot with +which it is laden. The particles of soot would fall to the ground except +that they are carried upwards in the stream of warm air. Dr. W. N. Shaw +has called attention to the importance of these phenomena in his book on +"Air Currents and the Laws of Ventilation," in the Cambridge Series of +Physical Text-books. He there says: "The dominant physical law in the +ventilated space is the law of convection. It is at once the condition +of success and the cause of most failures. Without convection, +ventilation would be impossible; in consequence of convection, nearly +all schemes of ventilation fail. + +"The law of convection is the law according to which warmed air rises +and cooled air sinks in the surrounding air. Its applications are truly +ubiquitous. Every surface, _e.g._ a warm wall, or a person warmer than +the air in the immediate neighbourhood, causes an upward current; every +surface colder than the air in contact with it causes a downward +current. + +"Ventilation would be much easier if warmed air or cooled air could be +carried along at any height required; but the law of convection is +inexorable: warmed air naturally finds the ceiling, cooled air the +floor." + +It is true that the ventilation of a house is generally considered to be +the business of the builder and architect, yet there are many unpleasant +phenomena that come under the observation of the housewife which are +due to this law of convection, and it will be useful to consider a few +of them. + +Let us take first the universal annoyance to housewives caused by the +sight of _dirt on the ceiling_. That all air is full of dust is seen +when a stream of sunlight crosses a room; the particles of dust are then +clearly perceived moving rapidly in all directions in the air. These +dust particles, when air is at rest, constantly fall to the ground under +the action of gravity, and are deposited on shelves and ledges, from +which they have to be removed daily by the housemaid. When air is warmed +and ascends it carries the dust particles with it, and these particles +striking against any cold surface with which they come into contact +stick to it. This is the cause of the necessity for the periodical +sweeping of chimneys. The walls of the chimney are colder than the smoke +that comes into contact with them, and the particles of soot in the +smoke striking against them are deposited on them. In the house the +effect of the bombardment of surfaces by dust-laden streams of air is +seen most conspicuously over burning gas-lights. Burning gas does not +itself produce all the dirt which is found on the ceiling above it, but +it causes upward streams of hot air, which carry up the dust and deposit +it on the ceiling. The practice of suspending a shade over the gas-light +does not lessen the amount of dust and smoke in the air, but the shade +serves to spread out the air over a larger surface, and thus to render +the dirt on the ceiling less apparent. That the shade itself remains +clean is due to the fact that it gets hot. A heated surface promotes the +activity of the motion of the air-particles in its neighbourhood, and by +this local activity the dust is repelled, so that a surface remains +clean or becomes coated according as it is more or less hot than the +invading current. The validity of this explanation may be tested by +holding a cold spoon over a lighted candle when it will be seen that the +spoon becomes blackened; if a hot spoon be substituted for the cold one +it will remain clean. + +In order that the hot, vitiated air of a room may escape easily, it has +been in many cases the custom to place an exit opening for it in the +chimney over the room fireplace. The wall in the neighbourhood of this +ventilator invariably becomes black; but as this wall is warm it is not +probable that dust is deposited on it by the outgoing air, the +explanation given by the housewife that the smoke from the chimney gets +through the ventilator into the room is probably correct, though these +ventilators are supplied with mica flaps which should swing open when +air from the room strikes against them, and close when the air from the +chimney does so. + +When a house is heated by hot-water pipes and radiators, the walls over +these pipes are another source of trouble (Fig. 1). A good deal of +scientific ingenuity is required if the walls are to be kept clean. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.] + +That some ceilings appear striped with broad light and dark lines is +due to inequalities in the temperature of the ceiling. The light stripes +are under the joists, which prevent to some extent the escape of heat +from the ceiling, and the dark correspond to the unprotected parts of +the ceiling. The dust rising from the room is slightly repelled by the +currents from the warmer parts of the ceiling, and sticks more readily +to the colder parts. + +Let us take for our second example the apparently trivial matter of +_smells in the house_. Smells may be of various kinds from various +causes. The best judge of the kind, and therefore of the cause, is the +nose. Suppose the smell to be the common one in houses of all +classes--the smell of cookery! The smell of cookery in the house is +generally a winter phenomenon. The air in an inhabited house is always +in a state of motion, induced by the inequalities of temperature caused +by the inhabitants themselves, and to a greater extent by the fires, of +which there will certainly be one in the kitchen. We must remember that +cold air will get into the house through all available openings, to take +the place of the air which supplies the fires. The most obvious +available openings in an ordinary dwelling-house are the casual ones of +the open chimneys of unused grates, and the loosely fitting doors and +windows. In cold weather fires are lighted in the sitting-room grates; +these fires when lighted should warm the air in the chimneys above them +and cause an upward draught in the chimney. Sometimes however the +chimney will be found to be occupied by a current of air coming down to +feed fires in other rooms, and so long as this goes on the smoke from +the newly lighted fire comes into the room. The down-draught can be +stopped by opening a window to supply sufficient cold air to counteract +it, otherwise we have to adopt special devices to make the smoke go up +the chimney in the first instance. Sometimes a newspaper is burnt in the +grate to give the necessary amount of warm air, but this is a dangerous +practice by which the chimney may be set on fire. Sometimes air is +supplied by the bellows. A newspaper is often held in front of the grate +so as to close the opening above the fire and cause the cold air to pass +through the fire, thus promoting combustion and the supply of hot air in +the chimney. In any case, the warm air of the fire is carried up the +chimney by the cold air of the room, and this cold air is drawn from the +casual openings already referred to. It has been demonstrated by +laboratory experiments that the amount of draught in any chimney depends +on the height of the chimney and the fire in its grate. + +Smells are conveyed about a house by the flow of air to feed the fires, +and they nearly always find their way from all parts of the house to the +ground-floor sitting-rooms when the doors are left open and the fires +are burning. On their way they pass through passages and are therefore +nearly ubiquitous. The air of any room in the house is in communication +with that of every other room, and it is only by the nature of the smell +that we can tell its probable source. There are people who like when +they open the bedroom door in the morning to know that coffee and bacon +await them downstairs, or on coming into the house from a cold winter's +walk to meet a "delicious smell of Irish stew." To other people all +smell of cookery is abhorrent, and they feel a sense of irritation that +their guests should on entering the house be regaled with the odour of +the preparation of food. To many mistresses the only remedy that +suggests itself is a message to the cook, who is powerless in the matter +and returns an answer that she is sorry, but that she doesn't know why +there should be a smell of cooking upstairs as there is none in the +kitchen. A visit to the kitchen will generally confirm the cook's +statement as to that particular spot, but a considerable smell will be +encountered on the kitchen stairs. We may inquire into the cause of +this. The usual equipment of the kitchen includes a closed range, +supplemented in many cases by a gas stove. The kitchen fire draws a +plentiful supply of air from casual openings, and this air for the most +part passes with the smoke up such flues as are open. The oven is +provided with a ventilator, which carries off the odour of baked or +roasted meats. The odour in the hot air over the closed range has no +escape except into the kitchen--the cook says that ever so slight an +opening in the top of the range will prevent the oven from heating. This +odour-laden air therefore comes directly into the kitchen, and being hot +is directed to the ceiling, thus escaping the cook who is in the draught +of the fresh air supply. Travelling along the ceiling the hot air passes +through the opening at the top of the door and mingles with the fresh +air on its way upstairs. The same thing happens when the gas stove is +in use. The only remedy is to provide some exit for the hot air of the +kitchen which will be more easily accessible than that by way of the +door, for the hot air will travel by the easiest path. A considerable +knowledge of science is required to achieve this object. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.] + +Closely allied with the smell of cookery is _the smell of the gas +stove_. Many persons consider that the use of a gas stove either in the +kitchen or in a bedroom is inseparable from the peculiar odour of +partially consumed gas. It may therefore be useful to consider how the +gas supplied to stoves and incandescent lights differs from that of an +open gas fire or that of an ordinary burner. Gas stoves and incandescent +lights get their supply of gas through what are known as Bunsen burners, +so called after the German chemist whose invention they are. In an +ordinary burner the gas mixes with atmospheric air at the opening at +which it burns; the supply of air obtained in this way is insufficient +for complete combustion until the outer layers are reached; the interior +part of the flame is bright and smoky. In the Bunsen burner the gas +issues from the main through a nozzle which opens inside a bulb. The +bulb is perforated to allow of the ingress of atmospheric air; the gas +and air mix in the tube which is a prolongation of the bulb, and the +mixture is lighted at the top of the tube. Fig. 2 shows a representation +of the Bunsen burner as applied to a gas stove. In this the gas escapes +from the main at the nozzle _n_, into a bulb of which the tube A is a +prolongation, air is admitted to the bulb at the openings _a a_, and +the mixed gas and air is burnt at the openings in the tube A. The amount +of air supplied is regulated by the size of the openings _a a_ and the +holes where the gas is lighted. The gas thus supplied with air is +completely consumed where combustion begins, and a clear, blue, +non-luminous flame is the result. If the holes through which the mixture +of gas and air issues are partially closed by rust or by accretions from +the "boiling over" of saucepans it is evident that, the gas supply being +unchanged, less air can be drawn through them; consequently the gas will +not be entirely consumed, and acetylene (C2H2, one of the products of +partially consumed coal gas) will pass into the atmosphere and will give +rise to the peculiar odour associated with gas stoves. This product of +partially consumed gas is very poisonous, and all gas stoves should be +furnished with chimneys to carry off the fumes to the open air. The +phenomenon known as "burning back," that is, the ignition of the gas at +the nozzle in the bulb, is caused by the pressure of gas being too small +for the supply of air. The gas should at once be turned out and +relighted till it burns at the proper places. The simple remedy for +smell from a gas stove is the cleansing of its burners, unless indeed +the kettle is too close to the holes from which the gas issues for +complete combustion to be possible. + +There is another winter phenomenon which is very disagreeable--the +presence of _fog in the house_; and the perplexed housewife asks, Where +does the fog get in when all outside doors and windows are closed? We +have already pointed out that the sitting-room fires must have air, and +that that air will be drawn from casual openings. Among these openings +are the chimneys of fireless grates; the greater part of the fog in the +house comes down these chimneys. On a foggy day it is wise to close the +chimneys of fireless grates and provide some other opening for the +supply of air; but all air from the outside is full of fog. The problem +of how to let in air and keep out fog suggests the question, What is +fog? Fog consists of material particles (dust or smoke) on which vapour +has condensed; if these particles can be removed the air will be clear. +The problem for the housewife is how to free a sufficient quantity of +air from these particles. + +_A smell of gas_ in any part of the house may be very dangerous if no +one on the premises has any scientific knowledge, for it may be premised +that the escape of gas is not where the smell is first perceived. Gas +being lighter than air is carried upwards, and the smell is at first +above the place of escape; it may even be in a room over where the gas +is escaping. The only safe detector of the source of mischief is the +nose; the mixture of coal gas and atmospheric air is explosive, and no +light must be struck. The upper sash of the window should be pulled down +to allow the gas to escape, and if the accident is at night time must be +allowed before searching for the source of escape further than can be +done by feeling the taps in the dark or following the scent by the +nose. + +Further illustration of the effect of convection currents in the air of +a dwelling-house are needless, but the student may profitably spend time +and thought in considering how fresh air may be introduced into a room +without causing cold air to lie on the floor or hot, vitiated air to +cling to the ceiling. It is the old problem (with a difference) of +teaching a grandmother to suck an egg. He may also interest himself in +seeking answers to the questions (1) What action is expected to take +place when a poker is placed against the bars of a grate to make the +fire draw? and (2) Does the sun put the fire out, and if so how? In +connection with the expansion of air with heat he may consider the +popular fallacy that an inverted empty pot in a pie keeps in the juice. + + +EFFECT OF CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE ON WATER + +Accidents have occurred in houses owing to ignorance of the full effects +of heating or cooling water from its ordinary temperature. Water at any +ordinary temperature expands when subjected to the action of heat; it +contracts on cooling till it reaches a temperature seven degrees above +the freezing point; from this temperature it expands until it becomes a +solid mass of ice. At still lower temperatures ice contracts. + +Let us consider first the effect of heating water. If water at the +ordinary temperature be poured into a vessel which is placed on a fire +or other source of heat the water at the bottom of the vessel will be +warmed and will expand; it will therefore be lighter, bulk for bulk, +than the water nearer the top of the vessel. The cold water will +therefore descend, and the warm water will rise. All ordinary water +contains air; presently the air in the water will become visible as +small bubbles which rise to the surface of the water and escape +noiselessly into the atmosphere. As more heat is applied some of the +water in the bottom of the vessel will be formed into steam, and bubbles +of steam will expand and rise into the cooler water above and collapse +there with a rattling noise which is characteristic of the state known +as simmering. These bubbles of steam rising and bursting aid the +convection currents in stirring and mixing the water so that it +presently becomes of even temperature throughout. When this occurs the +bubbles of steam rise to the surface and burst explosively into the +atmosphere, throwing the water violently about; the water is then +boiling. It is an important point to remember in cookery that boiling +water will not become any hotter with the application of more heat, but +it will "boil away;" that is, it will be completely converted into +steam. The steam resulting from any volume of water occupies a space +1700 times that of the water from which it is produced, but what +concerns the housewife most seriously is that the change of water into +steam is accompanied with the evolution of tremendous mechanical force +that will burst any vessel in which the water is enclosed. It is the +fact of this tremendous exercise of mechanical force that has led to +serious accidents when hot-water bottles have been put into the oven to +keep warm. It has been assumed by some people that if the hot-water +bottle be not completely filled, that if what they consider to be +sufficient room is left for the expansion of the water, no harm can +result from putting the bottle into the oven, but no arrangement can +make such a course safe. + +The bursting of the kitchen boiler is an accident resulting from +disregard of the phenomena of heated water. It sometimes happens that +the hot-water supply of the various taps in the house fails. If the +boiler supplying the water is a hand-fed one some one whose duty it was +to fill it has neglected that duty. An empty boiler with a removable lid +will do no harm, but it is not advisable to leave it empty, as the heat +of the fire will destroy the iron of which it is made. No attempt, +however, should be made to fill the boiler while it is hot, as the +result of pouring cold water into it will be the sudden and violent +conversion of the water into steam, and the person pouring in the water +will assuredly be scalded. If the boiler be one that is filled +automatically, one of two things has probably occurred: either the pipes +are blocked by fur--that is to say by sediment from the boiled water--or +the supply-pipe is frozen. In neither case is it safe to light the fire. +If the pipes are blocked by fur steam will be formed in the boiler and +it will burst; if the supply-pipe is frozen the heat may thaw the ice, +and the inrush of cold water will at any rate crack the boiler. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.] + +When water expands with heating convection currents are formed in it, +and the hot water rises to any height we please if cold water be +available to take its place. This law of convection is applied to +maintain a circulation of hot water in pipes used for warming a house. +The general arrangement of such a system is shown in Fig. 3. The +furnace heats a boiler in the basement or on the lowest storey of the +house; HB and HL' are parallel vertical pipes connected with a +horizontal pipe H'H at the top of the house; C is a small cold-water +cistern which is furnished with a ball-tap to maintain the supply of +cold water to the pipe H'L if any water is drawn off at any part of the +circuit. The short pipe A acts as a valve for the escape of air from +the pipes. The pipes H'L, H'H, and HB are filled with water. When +the fire is lighted in the furnace, hot water is driven up the pipe +HB by cold water descending through H'L, and this circulation goes +on so long as a difference of temperature is maintained in the pipes; +that is, so long as the fire is burning. Any number of coils of pipes +may be introduced into the circuit between the boiler and the top of +the pipe HB. In filling the pipes with water allowance is made in these +coils for the expansion of the water with heat and for the air which we +have seen escapes from heated water, and a tap is fixed in each coil +for letting out any air that may have lodged in it. If free air +remains in the pipes the circulation of the water will be hindered and +the boiler may become dangerously overheated. It is therefore necessary +when the heating apparatus is in use to examine these taps and see that +water and not air escapes from them. + +The installation of a heating apparatus in middle-class houses is fairly +common, and where one is not found many persons use gas or oil stoves in +the passages in the winter, for it is now realised that it is not +possible to heat rooms by means of open fires without creating cold +draughts in them from the cold passages into which they open. And, +moreover, the constant change of temperature encountered in passing from +one warm room to another through cold passages is not only disagreeable, +but is not found to be conducive to health. + +Let us turn to the cooling of water. Water expands about one-eleventh of +its volume on becoming ice. This change of state, like that of change +into steam, is accompanied by the evolution of tremendous mechanical +force. If water freezes in pipes it bursts the pipes, and on a thaw +taking place the pipes are found to leak. The appropriate remedy for +this state of things is to protect the pipes from cold or to empty them +when a frost is apprehended. In all properly built houses there is a tap +by means of which the water supply can be cut off from the house, thus +allowing the pipes to be emptied on a frosty night. The custom of +leaving the taps dripping is effective, because the pipe is generally +liable to freeze at some particular point where it is in immediate +contact with the cold air, probably in the unclosed chink where the +pipe passes through the wall; keeping the water moving in the pipe +prevents any part of it getting cold enough to freeze, but the practice +should not be resorted to, as it wastes water. + + +RADIANT HEAT + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Section of a Convex lens.] + +It is pleasant on a dry, still day in winter, when the ground is covered +with crisp snow or glistens with hard frost, to feel the warmth of the +sun's rays, and it is becoming quite a fashion for people of leisure to +spend the winter months at the pleasure resorts amid the snow-laden +mountains of Switzerland. It is a matter of some interest to inquire how +it happens that the sun's rays are warm when the thermometer tells us +that the temperature of the air is below freezing-point. There is an old +and pretty experiment in which a burning glass is made of ice; it is not +a difficult thing to do. If the scale-pan of an ordinary balance be made +hot and be pressed against a slice of ice (the concave side of the +scale-pan towards the ice), first on one side of the slice and then on +the other, the ice can be formed into a convex lens (Fig. 4). If now +this lens be placed in the path of a sunbeam and the light be brought to +a focus, that is, to a bright spot on a piece of paper, the paper will +be heated and will take fire while the lens through which the heat +passes remains ice. From this we may surmise that the heat of the sun +does not affect the medium through which it passes. + +Clerk Maxwell suggested yet another experiment in illustration of this +law. By means of an ice lens he collected the sunlight to a focus in the +middle of a basin of clear water, and observed that no effect was +discernible in the water. He then directed the focus (the spot of light) +on to a mote in the water. The mote became hot, the water was agitated, +convection currents were formed, and the mote was carried up in them. +This showed that rays of light from the sun do not affect the substances +through which they can pass, and that they heat bodies through which +they do not pass. It has been demonstrated by laboratory experiments +that all hot bodies emit rays of heat, whether we see the rays or not. +When we see the rays the bodies are said to be red or white-hot. The +process by which heat passes from one body to another without warming +the intervening medium is called radiation. Radiation takes place only +through transparent bodies. Rays of heat, like rays of light, pass +through transparent bodies; whereas they are absorbed by, that is they +make hot, opaque bodies. Heat rays travel in straight lines and are +reflected from polished surfaces; their intensity varies inversely as +the square of the distance of the object on which they fall from their +source. The heat of an ordinary fire is radiant heat; when we sit round +the fire we act as opaque bodies and absorb the heat, and are what we +call scorched if the fire is very bright. If we move away from the fire, +still letting the same firelight shine on us, we are not scorched; this +is because the heating power of the rays varies inversely as the +distance from their source, therefore if we move away double the +distance we receive one quarter of the heat that we received before we +moved. If we draw our chairs to one side we are not scorched, because +the rays of heat do not travel round a corner. + + +CONDUCTION OF HEAT + +We have seen that the ice-lens was not affected by the passage of heat +through it. If we now take hold of the lens we shall experience a +feeling of cold, and the lens will begin to melt. Heat has passed from +our hand into the ice. The process by which heat passes from one body to +another in contact with it is called conduction. The fundamental law of +conduction is, that heat always passes from a warm body to a cold one. +Clerk Maxwell illustrated this law in a series of very simple +experiments. He placed a silver teaspoon in a cup of hot tea, and noted +that the handle became warm gradually from the hot tea; the heat passed +from the bowl of the spoon in the tea to successive parts of the handle +until the whole spoon was hot. His second experiment was to put two cold +spoons, one of silver and one of German silver, into the tea, when he +found that the same phenomenon took place, but that the silver spoon +became hot much more quickly than did the German silver one. He then put +three spoons into the tea, made respectively of silver, of German +silver, and of bone. In the result, he found that when the other two +were hot, the bone spoon hardly showed any sign of heat at the end of +its handle. + +The conclusion to be drawn from these experiments is that heat passes at +different rates through different substances. Substances through which +heat passes quickly are called good conductors of heat. The law of the +conductivity of heat is that in a homogeneous body the flow is +continuous, and is from the region of high temperature to the region of +low temperature, and that it continues until the body is of uniform +temperature throughout. The law is the same for bodies of different +materials when in contact one with another. + +The conduction of heat is in operation in every department of domestic +life. People live in houses and are clothed to protect them from the +vicissitudes of the weather, including the cold of winter and the heat +of summer; use is made of the phenomenon in warming the house and in the +preparation of food. + +In selecting materials for various purposes, account has to be taken of +their conductivities, for in some cases it is desirable that the +transfer of heat should take place slowly, and in others that it should +take place quickly. It might be thought that the conductivity of a +substance could be estimated by touch, but a little reflection will +show that this cannot be the case. The flow of heat between two bodies +depends upon the difference of temperature between them, and if there +should be no difference of temperature between them at the moment of +touch there will be no flow of heat, though both are bodies of greater +or less conductivity. Let us take, for example of the uncertainty of +estimation by touch, a well-known experiment. Suppose we have a basin of +hot water and a basin of cold water, and place a hand in each for a few +moments; suppose we withdraw the hands and plunge them into a basin of +tepid water, we shall find that the tepid water feels cold to the hand +that was in the hot water and warm to the hand that was in the cold +water. + +Luckily, it has been found possible in the laboratory to refer +substances to a common standard and to assign numerical values to them +in order of their conductivities, so that substances can be compared and +a selection made for any desired purpose. Pure silver has the highest +conductivity; other useful materials take the following order: copper, +zinc, lead, iron, steel, marble, glass, brick, slate, wood, fur, cotton, +flannel, water, air. Fur and wool no doubt owe much of their warmth to +the fact that they consist of fibres which enclose a good deal of air, +but as a matter of fact the warmth of loosely woven woollen and knitted +articles in general is often overrated; they are very warm as under +garments or in calm weather, but in windy weather the air in them is +rapidly changed and the cold seems to blow through them. If for any +purpose we select a material from its place in a table of comparative +conductivities, and use it without reference to the law of conduction of +heat, we shall probably be disappointed with the result. We know that +cotton burns easily; if we stretch a cotton handkerchief over the back +of a gold watch and place a red-hot cinder from the fire on the +handkerchief on the watch, the handkerchief will not be burnt. + +Many interesting problems present themselves when a house has to be +built or rented. There is often opportunity for some choice of material +in walls or roof, and some peculiarities to be considered. Are the top +rooms of a thatched cottage warmer or colder than the top rooms of a +house covered with slates? Is a wooden or an iron building warmer? What +difference does it make if the iron building is lined with wood? If the +iron walls were twice as thick, what would be the effect inside the +room? Would the walls of such a building be always dry inside? It +sometimes happens that the end wall of a row of houses is covered with +slates to preserve it from the effects of storms of wind and rain; will +that inside wall be always dry? + +But the housewife is probably more interested in those articles in +use in the house which it is her business to provide. Shall the +stoves be of slate or iron? In olden days warming-pans were made of +copper. What change in the manner of use justifies making them of +earthenware or India-rubber? The slow transmission of heat through thick +woollen materials has been applied to the construction of Norwegian +cooking-stoves (Fig. 5). These stoves consist of a wooden box, lined +with well-padded felt. The cooking vessels are of metal; the food when +at boiling point is placed in these vessels and the lids put on, a +thick padded felt is placed on the vessels and entirely fills the +wooden lid of the box which is then closed; the heat is preserved so +that the cooking is continued without further attention. Would it be +possible to use the Norwegian stove as a refrigerator? Would it keep +an ice pudding cold without any alteration? In connection with this +we may ask why freezing machines have the inner vessel in which the +freezing takes place of zinc, and the outer vessel which contains the +ice and salt of wood? What would be the effect of interchanging the +materials? + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.] + +It is possible that the excellence of some continental cookery is due to +the extensive use on the continent of earthenware cooking utensils +through which heat passes very slowly. The growing fashion of using +enamelled cooking vessels must have some effect on the food cooked in +them as heat certainly passes quickly through them. Reference has been +made to them simply to demonstrate the universality of the application +of physical laws, and we may now return to the house and its arrangement +for the comfort of the inmates. + + +METHODS OF DOMESTIC HEATING + +The two methods of warming a house are by radiation and conduction. We +may surmise that in any case both methods will be in use, but the one +will predominate; for instance, in heating by an open fire radiation +will predominate, and in heating by stoves and radiators conduction will +predominate. In planning a house a decision must be made between the +two. This decision being made there is the further consideration of +where the source of heat shall be placed. In the case of an open +fireplace shall it be in an end wall, in a corner, in an outside wall, +and so on, the object being to make the greatest possible use of the +heat that passes up the chimney and of that which radiates into the +room. The same consideration must be paid to the situation of the closed +stove; where will it pass heat by conduction to the greatest volume of +air, and where can its radiant heat be utilised? + +In a room heated by a stove there is frequently a vessel of water placed +by or on the top of the stove. If we ask what is the purpose of this +water we shall be told that the stove dries the air in the room. Now, it +is impossible that the heat of the stove should remove any moisture from +the air; we must therefore seek an answer to the question, What is dry +air? The sensation of the dryness or moisture of the air does not depend +only upon the amount of vapour in the air but upon the ratio of the +amount present to the amount that the air is able to hold at the given +temperature. The warmer the air is the more vapour it can hold, hence +when the air is warmed the percentage of water present to the possible +amount in it is lowered; that is its humidity, which is the percentage +amount, is lowered, and we feel it to be dry. The question may arise why +we should feel this when the room is heated by a stove and not when it +is heated by an open fire? It may be that in a room with an open fire we +are warmed by radiation and give out heat to the surrounding air which +is constantly changed by convection currents, so that the air we breathe +is colder than we ourselves; and that in a room warmed by a stove we +receive heat from the air and are constantly breathing air that is +warmer than we ourselves. But it is more than probable that the custom +of providing a source of moisture to the air persists from the +suggestion of a single person in seeking to relieve the disagreeable +feeling attending the breathing of air laden with the poisonous products +of half-consumed gas, and that it has no real scientific foundation. + +_How to estimate temperatures._--Whatever method is adopted for warming +a room, the housewife may be assured that the resulting temperature will +not be pleasing to every member of the family. One will find it too +warm, and another will at the same time find it too cold, and this not +from any wilful captiousness but from the cause that we have already +alluded to, that the feelings are a very uncertain test of temperature. +It is therefore advisable to keep the air of the room as far as possible +at a standard temperature. To do this it will be necessary to have a +thermometer in the room, and to know what its readings indicate. When +the thermometer registers 32 deg. Fahr. or less, water will freeze in the +room, and the vessels in which it is kept will burst; it is therefore +wise, when it is anticipated that the temperature will fall below 32 deg. +Fahr., to empty the ewers and bottles that may be in the room. From 32 deg. +Fahr. to 40 deg. Fahr. the room will be very cold, up to and including 58 deg. +Fahr. it will be too cold to be pleasant; the standard temperature may +be taken as between 62 deg. and 64 deg. Fahr. + +It may appear a simple matter to hang up a thermometer and read it, but +a little thought will show that it is not so easy as it seems. If, for +instance, the thermometer is placed in front of the fire at a distance, +say of four feet from it, what will its reading indicate? Will it be the +temperature of the air of the room or the temperature of the fire, or if +neither, what will it be? Suppose we have two identical thermometers, +and hang them on adjacent walls, one of which is an outside wall, which +of the two readings shall we take as that of the temperature of the +room? It is not an easy matter to decide. In a sick-room, where one +person's comfort only has to be considered the doctor will order the +thermometer to be hung at the bed-head, but we cannot adopt this plan in +a general sitting-room. + + +CHEMICAL SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD + +In our endeavour to establish the claims of the science of chemistry to +a prominent place in the educational equipment of women, all reference +to those most interesting and important chemical phenomena that +accompany the exercise of the physiological functions will be omitted; +as also those which are most immediately concerned with the preparation +of food. Attention will be confined to some of the common occurrences of +daily life, the methods of dealing with which are typical of the method +adopted in considering more important and abstruse problems. + +Perhaps one of the most disappointing experiences of the novice in +housekeeping is the rapidity with which everything assumes a shabby +aspect. Bright paint grows dull, dull paint wears away, curtains and +fabrics fade, and very soon mistress and maids alike feel that the +house no longer repays the trouble incurred in the spring-cleaning +that it must still undergo. This spring-cleaning, the primary object +of which is the preservation of the beauty and substance of the house +and its appointments, is in the result the cause of much of their +deterioration. + +Cleaning consists in removing dirt by means that are partly physical and +partly chemical; for instance, the removal of dust by sweeping, shaking, +or brushing is a physical operation, and the removal of dirt and grease +by dissolving them in soapy water involves their change by a chemical +process. If the surfaces or materials to be cleaned include a substance +on which the cleansing agent can operate the agent will not confine its +work to the removal of the dirt only; in washing coloured fabrics we +know how often the colour comes out with the dirt. Knowledge therefore, +not only of the composition and properties of cleansing agents, but also +of the surfaces and materials to which they are to be applied, is +essential, and we should find that it is not always the powder or paste +which makes the greatest show of cleanliness in the shortest time, with +least expenditure of labour, that is the most to be desired. + +_The use of alkalies._--The most common cleansing agents are hot water, +soap, and soda. Hot water is itself a detergent; that is, it has the +power of dissolving dirt. It does not, however, dissolve grease, and all +household dirt is more or less greasy, hence we cannot do our cleansing +with water only, and we are accustomed to add to it soap or soda. + +It is not easy or even possible to discuss the chemical properties of +substances without the use of chemical terms. Substances are +classified for chemical purposes in groups, every member of which +exhibits the same chemical property, and we shall require to distinguish +between the group called acids and the group called alkalies. It +will be sufficient for our purpose just now to know that acids have a +sour taste and that alkalies counteract acids. From this definition +lemon-juice will easily be recognised as an acid. If we add soda to +lemon-juice there will be a brisk effervescence and the lemon-juice +will no longer be sour, hence soda is an alkali. Alkalies have +another well-known chemical property--they dissolve grease and oil and +enable them to mix with water. If we have some hot water in a +tumbler and pour oil into it the oil will float on the water, and if +we stir the two together the oil will break into globules but will still +float on the water; we cannot mix them together. If we dissolve some +soda in hot water and pour in oil we shall find on stirring that the +mixture becomes milky or soapy in appearance and the oil and water are +no longer discernible as different fluids. Moreover, on standing the +oil will not again separate from the water; it has been emulsified. +Oils themselves have the chemical power of dissolving resins. Resins +are hard, bright vegetable gums which will come under our notice when +we consider the composition of varnishes. + +All hard soaps are made from soda, grease, and resin; the cheaper soaps +contain free soda, the dearer ones contain an excess of fat. Yellow +scrubbing soap contains about eight per cent. of free soda. Both soap +and soda can be dissolved in water, and are so dissolved for cleaning +purposes. Knowing the constituents of our cleansing agents, we can +consider their action on paint and varnish. Paint contains white-lead, +linseed-oil, and colouring matter. It is not very hard when dry and can +be easily scratched with the nail. Varnish is made from linseed-oil, +resin, and turpentine. When dry it should be very hard and bright. + +The whole of the painted woodwork of the house is subjected to +spring-cleaning whatever its appearance with regard to dirt may be. The +operator throws into a pailful of hot water a "handful" of soda, soaks a +scrubbing-brush in the mixture, rubs it well with soap, and uses it to +brush the somewhat soft paint or harder varnish. The soda and soap, +aided by the heat, soften the paint and the brush removes a quantity +equal to about a coat of paint. The effect is certainly pleasing for the +time being, but there will be no difficulty in understanding that the +process can only be repeated until the paint and varnish grow shabby or +disappear. + +It is not wise for the inexpert housewife to trust to unscientific +friends for advice as to the best materials to use when cleaning paint. +A foreman painter once gave, as a recipe for this purpose, an +instruction to add a tablespoonful of "salts of tartar" to +three-quarters of a pailful of water. The result was a very rapid and +complete removal of dirt from the paint, but the housewife, being +dissatisfied with the rather dull appearance of the white varnish, +stroked it with her finger and found that it was covered with a fine +white powder. The maid's assurance that this was all right and only +needed to be removed by dusting did not satisfy her, and she began to +wonder what chemical action was to be expected from "salts of tartar." A +first search for information revealed that salts of tartar was an old +name for "potassium carbonate," but the housewife knew no chemistry and +had never heard of potassium carbonate, so this information was useless +to her. She had, however, had some scientific training and was not +satisfied to rest in ignorance. A search in a book on elementary +chemistry disclosed the further truth that the commercial name for +"potassium carbonate" is pearlash! She then remembered that being +desirous at one time to remove the paint from some oak carving said to +be two hundred years' old, she had successfully used a solution of +pearlash painted on with a brush. The paint when dry from the +application had been scraped off in long, tough ribbons. Of course the +mixture had been very much stronger than that prescribed by the painter, +but the effect had been very much more apparent. + +Acids and alkalies are to some extent responsible for the fading of +fabrics in the wash when these fabrics owe their colour to vegetable +dyes. Acids turn vegetable blues red, alkalies turn vegetable blues +green and vegetable yellows brown. It is easy to illustrate this action +of acids and alkalies on vegetable colours. A blue liquid can be +obtained by boiling a red cabbage in water. If we take two portions of +this water and add any acid, say lemon-juice, to one portion we shall +obtain a red liquid; if we add any alkali, say soda, to the other +portion we shall obtain a green liquid. If we go a step further and add +lemon-juice to the green liquid and soda to the red liquid we may +approach very nearly to our original blue liquid. These experiments +suggest a remedy for the change of colour in fabrics on washing with +soda, but the dyes most commonly used are not vegetable dyes, and the +fading of the fabrics is due to chemical changes, into which we have no +space to enter. + +Strong acids and alkalies act as caustics; that is they destroy fabrics. +Continued washing in strong soda and water not only tends to destroy, +but also spoils the appearance of all kinds of wearing apparel and +household linen. White silk and wool at once become yellow on being +washed with soap that contains free soda, and linen is affected in the +same way though not to the same extent. + +The widely advertised pastes and liquids for cleaning metal-work, +particularly brass, often contain acids or alkalies that are injurious +to metals. If after cleaning there should be a green deposit on brass or +copper it will be wise to inquire into the composition of such deposit, +and to discontinue the use of that paste or liquid. When brass pans are +used for boiling fruit for jams, it is usual to rub them inside with a +slice of lemon before putting in the fruit. A careful housewife will +consider the reason for this custom. We remember once seeing a copper +pan, that had been provided for the preparation of oatmeal porridge, +with a band about an inch wide of green crystals on the inside. Inquiry +elicited that the cook had thought it a convenient pan in which to +prepare the fish (salt haddock) for breakfast. Ignorance of the chemical +action of salt and acids on metals may lead to very serious results. The +common name for the green deposit on brass and copper is verdigris, and +most people know that verdigris is a poisonous compound; the difficulty +is that, not knowing its chemical composition, they do not recognise +verdigris when they see it. The cook thought that the complaint made had +reference only to the misuse of the pan, and said that it was quite easy +to clean the green deposit off! + + +THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BODY + +It is to the science of chemistry that we owe our knowledge of the +composition of the various foodstuffs from which dietaries are selected, +as well as of the several parts of the human body which relies for its +sustenance on those dietaries. But the adjustment of dietaries to the +work they have to do is a more complex problem than those we have +hitherto considered. We learn from the science of physiology that the +human body is a laboratory in which certain juices are secreted for the +digestion of foods, and that in this laboratory foods must be reduced +to the consistency necessary for their passage through animal membranes; +for it is by passage through membranes that the nutritive parts of food +find their way into the general circulation of the blood which carries +them to all parts of the system. Very few foodstuffs are available for +use in their natural state, and the majority of them are prepared for +consumption in the first place by more or less elaborate processes +included in the art of cookery. When thus prepared they should be in a +fit state to undergo in the body the physical changes comprised in +mastication, and the chemical changes associated with the process of +digestion. + +It might be surmised by the thoughtful parent that as the child's body +lacks some of the external features of the adult body, such as hair and +teeth, so there might, and probably would, be corresponding lapses in +the internal economy, and that therefore the food prepared for the adult +would be, even in the smallest quantity, unsuited to the child. +Physiologists tell us that this is so, and in particular that the +secretions which in adult life are called saliva and pancreatic juice +and which have the function of preparing starch for digestion, are at +this time scanty in amount and deficient in chemical action. But these +secretions are essential for the digestion of starchy foods, and +chemists tell us that starch abounds in the vegetable kingdom from which +most of the food of children is derived. It is therefore a matter of +some importance that every person in charge of an infant should have +that amount of knowledge of chemical reactions which is requisite to +enable them to detect whether a food does or does not contain starch. A +child fed entirely on starchy foods suffers from malnutrition of so +serious a character that death may, and often does, ensue. Even if other +suitable food, such as modified milk, be given, the internal economy of +the child will be seriously disturbed. + +The names by which patent foods are advertised are very often misleading +to unscientific persons, and invalids have suffered much from the +mistaken idea that jellies and meat extracts are foods. Meat extracts +have their use, but any invalid fed on extract of beef only would die +sooner than one left with no food at all. The reason for this can be +learned from the knowledge of the constituents of beef extracts and the +part they play in the human organism. + + +CONCLUSION + +If we have seemed to lay stress on the value of a knowledge of the +sciences of physics and chemistry to the exclusion of the mention of +others, our justification of the fact is that space is limited, and that +we believe that physics and chemistry underlie all the other sciences +and are of paramount importance to students of all other subjects. In +the sciences of biology, physiology, botany, geology, &c., little +advance can be made without a knowledge of the fundamental laws of +nature. The physical laws control movement, and the chemical laws +control growth, whether of animate or inanimate nature. Physical and +chemical phenomena are concerned in the upheaval of rocks and mountains +which govern the contour of the continents of the world. These contours +influence climates and peoples; as the contours change the people +change. The dwellers in the mountain regions differ in character from +the dwellers in valleys and plains; the inhabitants of cold districts +differ from the inhabitants of warm districts; but it is people who make +history, and historians cannot afford to pass by natural environments +and natural laws. + +If a foundation of the fundamental sciences be laid at school the +student can subsequently build upon it the special science that is +suited to his career. It matters little what the calling in life of any +person may be; if he aim at success in that calling he must acquaint +himself with the laws by which he has his being, and by which he must +perforce be guided in all his actions as well as in his intercourse with +his fellow-men. + +The many avenues now open to women for public work entail on them the +responsibility of fitting themselves for that work. They as much as, if +not more than, the housewife need to study the sciences which treat of +the safeguarding of human life. As councillors dealing with sanitary and +building laws, as inspectors of workrooms, of institutions, and of the +conditions of child-life, they owe it to themselves and to the community +they serve not to undertake those duties without adequate knowledge. +Adequate knowledge must be taken to mean scientific knowledge of those +matters of which, by offering themselves for such appointments, they +assume an expert knowledge. It is an irony that scientific training +should be willingly and even eagerly acquired when it is a question of +qualifying for a salaried post for work among strangers, and that a +mother should be content to bring to bear on the well-being and lives of +her own circle unscientific and amateur experience. + +We have only been able to touch the skirt of a great subject, but our +end will have been achieved if we have succeeded in pointing the way for +a fuller realisation of the aims of earnest men and women for the saving +of child-life and the mitigation of disease, and if we have shown how +great that subject is--how much too great for anything but the most +superficial treatment in a single article. + + + + +THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD + +BY MABEL ATKINSON, M.A. (GLASGOW) + + +I. INTRODUCTORY + +The household has been treated by economists with curious negligence. +The founder of political economy showed so little insight into the +real nature of the work carried on there as to class those whom he +described as menial servants with unproductive labourers.[13] The +later classical economists have followed his lead. Marshall, it is +true, shows throughout his books an appreciation of the position and +responsibilities of the housewife and the mother which is foreign to +most of his colleagues.[14] But he has never attempted to analyse the +economic functions of the household, or to show its varying relations to +the rest of the community; neither has he pointed out the peculiar +factors which differentiate the position and remuneration of the women +employed in domestic activities from those of all other workers. On +the other hand, the more modern school of economists, those who devote +themselves to the history of economic development in the past or to +the intensive study of special economic institutions in the present, +have equally failed to discuss with any adequacy the organisation of +the household. + +The economic historians describe with minuteness the rise and fall of +gilds and chartered companies, the workings of different methods of +education and of poor relief in successive epochs. They rarely indicate +how the various forms of industrial organisation translated themselves +into the domestic expenditure of the people. It would, for instance, be +very difficult to extract from the pages of the economic historians an +answer to the question, "What were the conditions determining the supply +of domestic servants at the close of the Middle Ages, in the eighteenth +century and in the nineteenth century respectively?" It is not easy to +answer definitely even simpler and more fundamental questions than +these. It is often stated, for example, that the household arrangements +of the serfs on the mediaeval manors were rude and uncomfortable to the +last degree,[15] but it is certain that this is not so universally true +as has been thought. Some at all events of the more prosperous +inhabitants of the manors possessed household furniture and equipments +of a kind not inferior to the outfit of the casual labourer to-day. +Sheets, for example, are mentioned several times in extant inventories. +But much more investigation than has yet been possible would be +necessary before it could be determined whether these instances of a +higher standard of comfort are or are not exceptions to a general rule. + +To take other instances of unsettled problems: How was pottery made in +the Middle Ages--by travelling potters as in the East to-day, by gilds +of potters, or by the inhabitants of the manor directly for their own +use? Or again: When did the custom of building houses to let on rent +first become general in England? It is clear that the habit of living in +rented houses has and must have the most profound influence on family +life and national character. But so far, neither from economic histories +on the one hand nor from histories of architecture on the other, have I +been able to obtain any reliable information on this point. + +When one turns to even more important questions--such, for instance, as +the industrial position of women at different epochs--it is equally +difficult to obtain precise and detailed knowledge. Without a very +lengthy and elaborate investigation of the extant original materials, +many of them scattered in municipal chambers in distant parts of +England, it would be quite impossible to say on what terms women were +admitted as members of the gilds and fraternities which extended over +the whole area of industrial life in the Middle Ages. The character and +organisation of the household and the position of women in the Middle +Ages are subjects still practically untouched by the economic +historians.[16] + +When we turn to modern times, a little more material has been collected. +There is an investigation by the Board of Trade into the wages of +domestic servants, and a book on domestic service by Professor Lucy +Salmon of Vassar College. It deals of course mainly with American +conditions, but cannot be neglected by any English student of the +economic relations of the household. + +Humanitarianism has prompted studies more or less elaborate of the +dietaries and housing conditions of the working classes, especially in +towns,[17] but it would be idle to pretend that there has been yet more +than a beginning made of the task of determining how for each class of +the community its share of the national income as stated in money is +translated into the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, into +house-room, fuel, food, cleanliness, clothing, insurance, domestic +service, recreation, and culture. The generalisations available are of +the most meagre description. We can, for instance, say with tolerable +certainty that the agricultural labourer spends three-fourths of his +income on food, the town labourer two-thirds, the artisan a half, the +middle-class man from a third to a fourth; but there is practically no +reliable information with regard to very large incomes, or to sums spent +on clothing in _any_ section of the community. + +Moreover, there is one class--large, growing in importance, and an +essential element in modern civilisation--about whose domestic +expenditure we have no scientific knowledge at all. This is the class +which may be named "the routine brain-workers," the people who as +clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, typists, &c., are responsible for the +routine administration of modern commerce. They have been compared to +the nervous system, for like that system in the animal body they serve +for the communication and the mechanical record of the life of the +community on its industrial side. With them may be classed elementary +school-teachers, reporters, and the lower ranks of the Civil Service, +though I should not be prepared to say that some of these--especially +the teachers--ought to be regarded as performing only routine +brain-work. But all these workers can be conveniently studied together +in that their labour is carried on under somewhat similar conditions--it +is sedentary, highly regimented, exhausting to the brain and nervous +system, and is generally remunerated by a fixed salary, &c. They earn an +income larger than that of the manual labourer, but considerably less as +a general rule than that of the professional man. There is a total +absence of information as to the domestic expenditure of this class. It +is sometimes declared that its less well-paid members suffer as severely +from poverty as do sections of the working-class, and that the poor +clerk is really much more to be pitied than the well-to-do trade +unionist, the skilled manual worker. + +But no one has yet attempted to test the truth of this view by the only +scientific means, namely, by the collection of precise details as to +the domestic expenditure of the routine brain-working class, showing +what sums are spent on house-room, food, clothing, &c., and what kind +of accommodation is obtained for the money spent. In short, the +investigation of domestic expenditure has never yet been carried out +in a purely scientific spirit solely for the sake of the resultant +knowledge. It has always been undertaken with some special practical +problem in view, and is consequently always fragmentary and frequently +biassed. + +Yet if it is important to know how the wealth of the country is +produced, it is of equal importance to know how it is consumed, and that +whether the consumption takes the form of porridge and flannelette for +the child of a dock-labourer, of drink and admission to a football match +for the miner or cotton-operative, or of a gardener, and a holiday in +Switzerland for the hard-working doctor or stockbroker. Domestic +expenditure should be investigated as impartially by the economist as +are the variations of plants or animals by the biologist. His one aim +should be the discovery and statement of truth, as complete and as +unbiassed as he can make it. + +Hitherto, as I have said, this field of research has remained +comparatively untouched. In the first place, economists have generally +been men, and have naturally devoted their energies to the elucidation +of the problems of industry and business which concern men most closely. +Few women, on the other hand, have until recently received any training +in economics, and it has never occurred to them that the familiar and +wearisome problems of the rent, the butcher's bill, and the children's +clothes, together with the difficulty of finding a satisfactory cook, +may have a wider aspect than the narrow and personal one. But even as it +is, the few women who have distinguished themselves in the sphere of +economics have in a note or a casual remark pointed out distinctions +between household management and other branches of industry which cast a +flood of light on the whole subject. There is a paragraph in the second +volume of "Industrial Democracy"[18] which lays down the difference +between the underlying principles of business and of the administration +of the home in a few words which might serve as the text for a volume. +It is precisely this difference, first clearly indicated by Mrs. Webb, +which constitutes the second ground for the common neglect of this +branch of economics. A factory or a shop is run for profit; a household +simply to provide comfort and convenience for its members. To put it in +technical language, in the world of industry we are concerned with +exchange values, but in the home with use values alone. From this +distinction, overlooked by reason of its obviousness, there flow a large +number of consequences which will be discussed later. At present we are +only concerned to show that economists, with their eyes fixed on trade +and the mechanism of trade, very naturally neglected that section of +life in which values, material and immaterial, were being continually +created, but for use alone, not for commercial purposes. + +The wife who cooks her husband's dinner, or caters, organises, and keeps +accounts for him, is really engaged in work which in any rational +interpretation of the word has far more right to be called productive +than is much of the labour employed in manufacture or business. But the +work accomplished by the wife in the household has never yet received +its full acknowledgment from the economists. The truth is that, although +they constantly warn students to avoid the vulgar error of confusing +money wages with real wages, they themselves have been so biassed by the +commercial conception of profit-making that they have almost completely +overlooked even the purely economic value of much work, such as cooking, +cleaning, and clothes-making, which is carried on within the home, not +for profit-making or for a salary, but as part of the duties attaching +to the status of wife and mother. It is acknowledged by the economists +themselves[19] that although in theory they have set aside a section to +be devoted to the discussion of "consumption" as other sections deal +with "production" and "distribution" of wealth, yet in practice the +treatment of consumption has been meagre and ineffective. This, perhaps, +is inevitable--it is certainly regrettable--and women economists would +be performing a most useful work if they were to undertake a careful and +detailed investigation into the consumption of wealth at different +epochs and by different classes of the community, and one, moreover, for +which their connection with housekeeping, which is only the practical +application of the science of the consumption of wealth, would have +already partially prepared them. + +There is still another reason why a scientific treatment of the +consumption of wealth has been delayed. It could not be developed until +medicine and hygiene had provided us with satisfactory standards of the +needs of the human body. When food, for example, was still regarded +purely as a matter of individual likes and dislikes, it was impossible +to discuss at all adequately the sufficiency or insufficiency of the +food consumption of a given class. But now that we know that the varying +tastes simply express in different ways the need for so much proteid, +carbo-hydrates and fats, we have a firm basis on which to work. It is +true that it is not yet quite so firm as we could wish; the scientists +have not yet succeeded even for a single class in fixing a dietary +standard which would be accepted by all in particular, and recently the +investigations of Professor Chittenden have suggested that the amount of +proteid hitherto thought essential may be excessive. Moreover, little +attention has yet been paid to the need of different food for different +work. Yet it seems probable, to say the least, that the sedentary +worker, using his brain and not his muscles, may require lighter and +daintier food than the labourer in the fields or the docks, and may +really suffer as seriously if that better food be denied him as does the +latter if he fails to secure a sufficiency of coarser and cheaper +nutriment. This question would be of great importance in investigating +the expenditure of the clerk class. But although the scientists have +here failed to provide the students of domestic expenditure with all the +data required, yet there is sufficient knowledge of the general +principles of dietetics to enable us to base our study of food +consumption on a fairly sound basis. + +In the same way a standard of housing accommodation establishing the +minimum of space per head necessary for health is generally recognised; +and on these and similar calculations, correlated with the cost of +house-room and commodities, it will be possible to build up a science of +consumption which will be really a science and not a series of guesses +and vague generalities. + +It is true, again, that it is easier to deal with the grades of society +practising the roughest and least-skilled labour than with those +engaged in the higher forms of brain-work, but we can at all events set +ourselves to discover what _is_ the average distribution of the +expenditure of men earning L1000 a year, and can afterwards appeal to +the hygienists to decide for us what kind of food, house-room, and +recreation is essential for a man who makes his living by the higher +activities of the intellect. A very close connection between economics +and hygiene is essential if the division of our subject that deals with +consumption is to be adequately treated. + +So, then, a scientific study of the economics of the household would +fall into two divisions--(1) an endeavour to describe the industrial +development of each country as it affects family life, house-room, food, +and clothes; and (2) a descriptive account of the domestic circumstances +and the expenditure[20] of each class of the community at the present +time. Under each of these headings special sections should treat +domestic service, the work of woman beyond the household, and the +organisation of household work as compared with different branches +of industry and administration. Finally, a supplementary section +should set forth the practical applications of the conclusions arrived +at, and should endeavour to help the housewife or, it may be, the +superintendent of an industrial school, college, or boarding house +in the administration of the income at her disposal. + +But much more careful investigation into the question of how incomes +actually are spent is essential before we can deal satisfactorily with +the even more difficult problem of how they ought to be spent. And there +is, too, another factor which must be taken into consideration. +Economists in defining wealth commonly admit nowadays that it includes +collective and immaterial well-being of various kinds.[21] But having +made this admission, they straightway put it aside and proceed to +discuss wealth as though it consisted exclusively of material +exchangeable commodities. Yet clearly the real income of a family is +increased if the children have easy access to good free schools or to +ample open spaces. It will not be possible to estimate precisely the +money value of opportunities of this description. But we should at least +notice their presence or absence for each class and for each stage of +national development. It is clear that in the present paper no attempt +can be made to deal with the problems of the economics of expenditure +or of the household save in the merest outline, and therefore the +following pages are to be taken simply as a sketch to be filled in by +more extensive and more throughgoing investigation later on. + + +II. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POSITION OF THE HOUSEHOLD IN ENGLAND + +English industrial history has been divided into three main epochs with +intervening periods of transition. These are (1) the mediaeval period, +(2) the period extending from Elizabeth's reign to the reign of George +III., and (3) the modern period. + +In the first, the typical economic institutions are the manor and the +gild; in the second, domestic manufacture and convertible husbandry +are predominant; and in the third the factory system and capitalist +farming take their places.[22] Trade, too, undergoes a similar +evolution. In the first period it is intermunicipal rather than +international. In the second period, within each nation trade is free +and unfettered, and a considerable amount of territorial division of +labour and regional specialisation results. But external trade is +regulated by governments on the principles of the mercantile system. In +the third period, with the increase and improvement of the means of +communication, international trade becomes more and more important, +markets are immensely widened, and the economic organisation of society +reaches the complexity possessed by it to-day, which reacts in many +half comprehended ways on the household and on family life. + +The main characteristics of these divisions of English industrial +history are, on the whole, clear and well-marked. But the transition +periods are more difficult to describe. It has often been pointed out +that the two industrial revolutions, as they have been named by some +writers, bear a certain resemblance to each other. Both involve a +reorganisation of industry which results in increased productivity on +the one hand, but in the demoralisation of certain classes of the +workers on the other hand. Both therefore require a revision of the +system of providing for the destitute. Both, too, produce the most +far-reaching effects on home-life and the economy of the household, and +influence profoundly the position of women. Both, too, are alike in that +it is not easy to fix dates to the periods within which the revolution +in industry takes place.[23] But roughly we may regard the late +fifteenth century and the early part of the sixteenth as a time of +stress and strain, due to the appearance of new methods both in +agriculture and in industry, especially in the wool trade; and in the +same way the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the +nineteenth was a period of sudden and violent economic transition. In +both cases alike the changes in agriculture preceded somewhat the +changes in industry, and the revolution made itself felt in different +ways and at different times in the various districts of the country. +There are still backward areas in the south of England and in the west +of Scotland where life has been very little affected, notwithstanding +trains and steam-engines, by the alterations in industry which have +produced the roaring mills and clattering shipyards of Lancashire and +the Clyde. + +The task before us, then, is to sketch as clearly as possible from the +scanty material available the main features of domestic life at each one +of these epochs, and to show how the changes in industry reflected +themselves in the life of the household. + + +(_a_) THE HOUSEHOLD IN THE MEDIAEVAL PERIOD + +(1) _The Serf--his Position and Domestic Arrangements_ + +In the mediaeval period, outside the small and scattered towns, the +prevailing form of economic organisation was the manor. We have to +imagine the surface of England dotted over with stretches of cultivated +land, with areas of waste, moorland or woodland intervening. Each +stretch of arable land was cultivated more or less in common by groups +of serfs, who lived generally in one long village street, with the +church and the lord's hall near at hand. Usually, in addition to the +arable land worked on the complicated "three-field" system soon to be +described, there were also hay-meadows down by the river, sometimes +permanent pasture held in common, while the waste was available for +extra pasturage, and for cutting turf and wood for fuel. Each serf +possessed, besides, a small croft attached to his house, and sometimes +an orchard and rude garden. The arable land was divided into three large +fields, not shut in as are our fields by hedges, but lying open. Each +field, again, was partitioned into numbers of strips more or less +regular in shape, and each serf possessed a certain number of these, +not, however, all lying together, but intermixed "mingle-mangle" with +the holdings of his neighbours. He was not allowed to cultivate these, +or indeed any of the land save his own tiny croft, as he pleased, but +was compelled to follow the traditional method of farming according to +the customs of his manor. Usually the rotation was wheat or rye in the +first year, oats or barley in the second year, fallow in the third year, +while the other two fields followed the same course a year and two years +later; so that in each year one field was fallow, one grew wheat or rye, +and the other oats or barley. The animals belonging to the serfs and +their lord were pastured on the arable fields when the crops were taken +off, and on the fallow field. The lord of the manor also possessed +strips in the common fields, and was regarded as the owner of the common +and waste, subject to the pasturage and fuel rights of the tenants. He +did not receive rent quite as we understand it, but each serf owed him +dues calculated in labour, in kind, and occasionally in money. + +For instance, on the manor of Tidenham, in the time of Edward I., one +serf worked for the lord for five days in every alternate week for +thirty-five weeks in the year, two and a half days every week for six +weeks in the summer, and three days every week for eight weeks during +August and September (the three festival weeks of Easter, Christmas, and +Pentecost were holidays). Then, in addition to this regular weekly work, +he could also be required for extra work, commonly called boon-works or +precariae. "He made one precaria called churched, and he ploughed and +harrowed a half acre for corn and sowed it with one bushel of corn from +his own seed, and in the time of harvest he had to reap and bind and +stack the produce, receiving one sheaf for himself on account of the +half acre." And he had to plough one acre for oats. In addition, there +were dues in kind--one hen at Christmas, five eggs at Easter, eight +gallons of beer at every brewing, and also small payments in money, +commuted, one would conjecture, for payments in kind, _i.e._ one penny +for every yearling pig, and one halfpenny for those only of the half +year.[24] + +In other cases the tenants paid dues of lambs, of fish, of honey, of +clews of net yarn, of straw, &c. One of the tenants of the great +monastic establishment at Glastonbury had to find thirty salmon, "each +as thick as a man's fist at the tail."[25] A curious form of labour due +is described in the Boldon Book. The tenants of certain manors in Durham +had to build each summer a hunting-lodge for the bishop and his retinue +when they came to take their pleasure in the moors in the west of +Durham. + +At different periods and in different districts the subdivisions of the +tenants vary greatly, and for complete details the reader must be +referred to the special works on the subject. But two classes can +usually be distinguished--(1) the villeins, who possessed oxen and +worked the larger holdings (often about thirty acres--called virgates or +yard lands); and (2) the cotters, who held about five acres, and whose +domestic animals consisted of pigs and poultry. In addition there were +often found socmen, who were personally free; and, at the other end of +the social scale, slaves, who, largely through the influence of the +Church, were manumitted before the end of the Middle Ages. + +The most striking feature about the manors is that each was almost +completely self-supporting. Each manor provided corn, meat, eggs, milk, +cheese, poultry, &c., for its own inhabitants. Fuel, and perhaps game +and rabbits, came from the waste. The furniture was of rude wood, and +the clothes would be sheep-skin and coarse cloth spun and woven from the +wool grown on the sheep that were fed on the manor lands. The ordinary +serf would very rarely either receive or spend coin of the realm. Salt +he would buy and the metal pots and pans used for cooking, and, as +Ashley suggests, tar.[26] But the greater amount of the goods required +for himself and his family would be produced under what the economists +call "natural economy," _i.e._ they were made by the people who intended +to use them, directly, without the intervention of money or any +mechanism of exchange. + +Together with this self-sufficiency would go a considerable amount of +co-operation. Economists are not yet agreed as to the precise extent to +which co-operation was used in the manorial village. But we know that +tenants frequently lent their oxen to one another to make up the +necessary team; that in some of the Durham manors there was a communal +smith, who received payment in the possession of a strip of land; and +that the tenants owned a common oven. It was customary, too, for one +shepherd or swineherd to guard the sheep or the pigs of the whole +community. The village mill, when first established, was also a common +boon to the whole body of serfs, but later on the obligation to grind +their corn at the lord's mill and to pay the dues came to be regarded as +an onerous burden. + +A curious and important person on the mediaeval estate was the +bee-keeper. Particulars are given of his duties and rewards in one +Durham manor by the Boldon Book.[27] He does no regular weekly work, the +care of the bees apparently taking the place of this, but he must take +part with the other serfs in the boon-works necessary at harvest and +other times of pressure. As honey was almost the only source of +sweetness in early mediaeval cooking, it can be understood why the +bee-keeper ranked only a little below the shepherd. The Boldon Book, +unfortunately, since its aim is to define the relations between the +villeins and their lord, does not tell us whether he superintended the +bees belonging to his fellow tenants. On the analogy of the shepherd and +swineherd, we should assume that he did. + +How, then, are we to describe the domestic life of the various +sections of rural society at this time? Unfortunately, very little +material exists on which to draw for the account of the household +arrangements of the serfs. They have naturally left no account-books; +they enter rarely into the literature of the period; there are no +remains of their houses or clothing, and it is, in fact, far from +easy to decide how they did live. But it seems probable that a rude and +dirty plenty, procured by long hours of toilsome open-air labour, was +the prevailing characteristic of the serf household. The house would +be of clay or wattles or wood, probably without windows--and those +certainly unglazed--and with a hole in the middle of the roof to let out +the smoke, the fire being placed in the centre of the floor. The +furniture must have been rough but solid, its most valuable items being +the brass or iron cooking-pots. On the other hand, I do not believe +that, in the more prosperous villein households at all events, the +level of domestic comfort was so low as has sometimes been represented. +Rough cloth was probably woven or sometimes bought. There is one case +on record where, in return for a small piece of land, one family +undertook to do the weaving for another, and Gasquet mentions[28] that +to the common Christmas feast on one of the Glastonbury manors some of +the tenants brought their own napkins, "if he wanted to eat off a +cloth." I see no reason to doubt that some at least of the villein +households were provided with coarse coverings for bed and table. On +the other hand, it seems doubtful whether any form of artificial +light was commonly used in the poorer households. The food, too, would +show what to us would seem strange contrasts of plenty and of +poverty. It would include neither tea nor coffee, neither sugar nor +spices, nor yet potatoes. On the other hand, there was probably, +save at times of famine, a sufficiency of bread,[29] and eggs and +dairy produce would be used in quantities now quite beyond the reach of +the ordinary working-man. The butter, it is true, was not of a high +standard, for it was usually liquid, but the children must have had +milk to drink and cheese and eggs to eat. Even the poorest serfs +apparently kept a few fowls, since their dues are so often payable in +eggs, and some of the eggs and the chickens would be available for +family consumption. But their meat must have been much poorer than +ours. Fresh mutton and beef were rarely eaten, except in the case of +animals who had died a natural death. The others were much too valuable +for draught purposes, for milk or for wool. Among the maxims of an +old agriculturist of the thirteenth century we find the following +remark: "If a sheep die suddenly, they put the flesh in water for so +many hours as are between midday and three o'clock, and then hang it +up, and when the water is drained off they salt it and then dry it. But +I do not wish you to do this."[31] In the autumn, animals which it +was impossible to keep during the winter, owing to the absence of +root-feeding, were killed and salted down. Occasionally, however, fresh +pork would be used, and no doubt every now and then a wild beast or +bird from the common or waste would find its way into the housewife's +iron pot. The food, then, would be rough and sometimes unwholesome, +but on the other hand it contained many most desirable forms of +nourishment which are absent from the labourer's diet to-day, and which +are, it might be observed, those specially suitable for children.[32] + +The fuel used was wood or peat, or in some cases dried cow-dung. + +On the whole, then, the household arrangements of the mediaeval serf were +primitive, and in times of famine he and his family must have endured +great hardships. The winters, too, when the tracks were deep in mud and +artificial light was absent or scarce, must have been recurring times of +considerable suffering. But on the other hand, fresh air and easy access +to the land were benefits hardly valued until in later times they have +been lost to whole sections of the population. + + +(2) _The Lord of the Manor--his House and Household_ + +There is more material available for the description of the household of +the lord than of his serf. Account-books, directions for household +administration, and in the fifteenth century very curious rhymed rules +of behaviour and of precedence are available. Naturally, however, it is +of the king's household and of the households of the nobles and of the +great monasteries that we know most. Very little can now be discovered +of the details of the domestic arrangements of the master in possession +of one manor only, and it is not certain that we should be justified in +supposing that what we find to be true of the great household will +necessarily hold also for the smaller one. For example, in the families +of which we have records the great majority of the servants are men, +cooking in particular being in the Middle Ages a masculine vocation. But +is it safe to assume that the same would be the case in the household of +a simple knight? It must therefore be clearly understood that what +follows has reference mainly to royal and noble families. + +The domestic buildings of all manors were on a more or less uniform +plan. They were grouped round a quadrangle, one side of which consisted +of the great hall where dinner was served, business transacted, and +where servants and the humbler guests slept at night. The door was at +one end, usually protected by screens, behind which was another door +leading to the buttery, and above which the musicians' gallery was often +placed. Opposite the door was a raised dais, where stood the table +reserved for the master, his family, and important guests. In the body +of the hall dinner was served to the rest of the household. A private +chamber called the solar or bower, reached by a staircase either inside +the hall or placed in the quadrangle outside, was kept for the special +use of the lord and his family. There occasionally they took meals, +though it was regarded as a sign of luxurious self-seeking to avoid the +formality and bustle of the meals in the great hall. In the solar, too, +beds were placed for important guests, and any particularly valuable +articles of furniture would be kept there. On the other sides of the +quadrangle were the chapel, granaries, storehouses, dairies and +bakehouses, and the kitchen. This was often placed at a little distance +to guard against fire. The cooking was usually carried on at an iron +grate placed in the middle of the floor, and pictures show us that +sometimes it was even done in the open air. Refuse was carried off by an +open drain running across the centre of the kitchen. + +As an illustration let me quote an account of a typical manor-house of +the twelfth century. "The manor-house of Ardleigh consisted of a hall +with bower annexed. Also a kitchen, a stable, a bakehouse, two stores +for corn (granges) and a servants' house. In the hall were two moveable +benches, a fixed table, and a buffet." [33] + +In course of time other rooms were added, and the furniture and +equipment became more elaborate. But until Elizabeth's reign the great +hall where master and servants dined together was the central feature in +the wealthy English home. + +The food was derived from the manor, and purchases were only made of +such things as could not be produced in England, notably red wine,[34] +spices, almonds and rice, all much used in mediaeval cookery. Sugar, too, +would be bought, when it replaced honey for sweetening purposes. But the +corn, meat, milk, cheese, and eggs would be all home-grown, and as it +was easier in the state of transport at that time to bring the family to +the food than the food to the family, part of the duties of housekeeping +consisted in so arranging the sojourn of the household as to draw +food-supplies from each manor in the most convenient way. The great +Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grossetete, gives elaborate directions on this +head to a widowed friend of his, Margaret, Countess of Lincoln. + +"Every year at Michaelmas when you know the measure of all your corn, +then arrange your sojourn for the whole of that year and for how many +weeks in each place according to the seasons of the year and the +advantages of the country in flesh and in fish, and do not in any wise +burden by debt or long residence the places where you sojourn. + +"I advise that at two seasons of the year you make your principal +purchases, that is to say, your wines, your wax, and your +wardrobe."[35] + +And there follows a list of the fairs recommended by the pious bishop. + +The materials of mediaeval food, then, would be similar to the diet of +the serfs already described, but would be used in greater plenty and +would be supplemented by luxuries imported from the East and bought at +the fairs. If we keep in mind these conditions, as well as the leisure +and the large supply of labour available, we shall understand why +mediaeval cooking was so elaborate; for, contrary to ordinary opinion, it +was distinguished by a large number of complicated made dishes. Small +birds were commonly roasted, but other forms of meat were stewed or +minced. They would in this way both be more easily dealt with at the +open fire of the mediaeval kitchen, and more easily served in the +mediaeval dining-room, where knives and spoons were the only implements +in common use. Moreover, there was what seems to us an extraordinary +liking for violent and mixed flavourings and brilliant colouring. +Bucknade, for instance, was made of meat hewn in gobbets, pounded +almonds, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, onions, salt and +fried herbs, thickened with rice-flour and coloured yellow with saffron. +Here, again, is the recipe for mortrews, a dish mentioned in Chaucer's +"Canterbury Tales." + +"Take hennes and pork and seethe them together. Take the flesh of the +hennes and of the pork and hack it small and grind it all to dust. Take +bread y-grated, and add thereto and temper it with the self-broth[36] +and mix it with yolks of eggs, and cast thereon powder fort,[37] and +boil it and do thereto powder of ginger, saffron, and salt, and look +that it is standing,[38] and flour it all with powder of ginger." The +lavish use of eggs, pork, and chickens in this recipe could be +paralleled in many others, and is evidently to be connected with the +custom of receiving manorial dues in kind at stated intervals. Hundreds +of eggs would be sent in by the tenants at Easter, and the problem of +the housekeeper would not be how to lessen the consumption of eggs in +order to keep down the bills, but how to get through those in store +before they were hopelessly spoiled. + +For the earlier period menus are not available, but a curious rhymed +treatise on servants' duties dating from the middle of the fifteenth +century, entitled "John Russell's Boke of Nurture," has been reprinted +by the Early English Lent Society[39] in the volume entitled "Meals and +Manners of the Olden Time," and from it I extract the following:-- + + Furst set forth mustard and brawne of boore, the wild swine, + Suche pottage as the cooke hath made of herbis, spice, and wine, + Beef, mutton, stewed feysaund, swan with the chawdyn[40] + Capoun, pigge, venisoun bake, leche lombard,[41] fritter, viant fine, + And then a soteltie.[42] + Maydon Marie that holy Virgin + And Gabrielle greeting her with an ave. + +This is followed by two other courses rather lighter in character, +though still including venison, peacocks, quails, &c., and then comes +dessert: + + After this delicatis mo, + Blanderelle or pepins with caraway in confite, + Wayfurs to eat, hypocras[43] to drink with delite. + +The service in the wealthy mediaeval manor was as elaborate as the +cooking, at all events in the later period. The Bishop of Lincoln finds +it necessary to warn the Countess of Lincoln not to permit slovenliness +among her retainers. She is not to allow "old tabards, and soiled +herigauts, and imitation short-hose." But even this widow lady is served +with considerable pomp. "Command that your panter[44] with the bread and +your butler[45] with the cup, come before you to the table foot by foot +before grace and that three valets be assigned by the marshal each day +to serve the high table and the two tables at the side with drink. And +at each course call the servers to go to the kitchen, and they +themselves to go always before your seneschal as far as you until the +dishes be set before you, and see that all servants with meats go +orderly and without noise to one part and another of the hall to those +who shall be assigned to divide the meats, so that nothing be placed or +served disorderly."[46] + +In the "Boke of Nurture," which refers of course to a much later +period, the service is even more elaborate, and we gather indeed that +the dinner was a social function at which all classes of the community +met together. Even the poorest were not forgotten, as there was a +special officer whose business it was to distribute alms of broken meats +to the beggars waiting at the door. The rules of precedence were most +elaborate, and the serving seems on special occasions to have risen +almost to the rank of a solemn ritual. In addition, dinner was +accompanied by music and sometimes enlivened at intervals by pageants +and shows. + +Domestic service in these great households was very different from what +it is to-day. There was, in the first place, no fixed line drawn as +there is now between the menial and the non-menial classes of the +community. The higher servants were often people of nearly the same +social rank as those whom they served. Sir William de Mortimer was the +head-steward of Bishop Swinfield, Sir Gilbert Brydges the steward of +Gloucester Abbey.[47] Young men who entered the service of a lord might +one day be called on to carve or serve wine, and the next day might sit +at meat in the same room.[48] + +Through the account-books and the household ordinances of the period, we +can trace four grades of household servants--squires or gentlemen, +valets or yeomen, grooms, and pages. The last grade had been recently +introduced into the royal household in Edward IV.'s time, and they did +not eat in hall. "A page etyth in his office or with his next fellow, +not in the halle at noe place, taking dayly one lofe, one messe of great +meate, half a gallon of ale; one reward quarterly in the counting-house, +twenty pence of clothing when the household hathe at every one of the +four feasts, one napron of one elle and part of the King's great rewards +given yearly amongst them in household."[49] + +The last quotation illustrates also the method of remuneration. The +money received was a very minor and unimportant factor. The servants +were paid mostly in kind, and the share of each in food, fuel, and +clothing is very fully and carefully stated. The chief porter of the +Abbey of Gloucester, for instance, had a chamber next to the abbey gate. +His weekly allowance was three white loaves, called myches, and two +called holyers, with seven loaves of squire bread; for ale every quarter +3s. 4d. On every flesh or fish day he had a mess of flesh or fish of the +first course, as much as was set before two monks. He had a gown every +year of the suit of the gentlemen of the Lord Abbot, and in addition +13s. 4d. per annum. These fixed rations of food clothing &c., are called +livery, a term now restricted to clothing alone. + +It is noticeable that these servants are almost all men. Washerwomen +(lotrices) are women, and there are occasionally notices of young girls +in attendance on the lady of the house. But so far as our information +goes, cooking and cleaning and serving are carried on by men, though +mention is made of women pastry-cooks who in monasteries, to avoid +scandal, had to be accommodated in a separate kitchen, called the +pudding-house.[50] But in the Middle Ages domestic service was not, as +it is now, regarded as a menial occupation to be left, save in some of +its higher branches, exclusively to women. + +I can find no trace at this period of any difficulty in obtaining +service. Bishop Grossetete assures the Countess of Lincoln that she can +easily obtain servers if she needs them, and the young men addressed in +the rhyming exhortations preserved in "Meals and Manners" evidently +regard it as promotion almost beyond their hopes to become members of a +lord's household. Whether this would be equally the case if we had +information about the smaller households, it is not easy to say. But +when we remember that the alternatives were laborious and monotonous +work at agriculture or the chance of finding a place in the gilds or +fraternities which monopolised the trade in towns at that period, we can +believe that the plentiful fare, the lively society, and the not too +strenuous[51] work required of a serving-groom or yeoman would be +regarded as a prize worth striving for and worth keeping. + +It would be interesting, had I more space at my disposal, to discuss +mediaeval town life and the domestic arrangements of the monasteries, +which are very fully and interestingly described in Abbe Gasquet's book, +"English Monastic Life." But I must content myself solely with one or +two extracts illustrating the household furniture of the mediaeval +town-dwellers. + +In 1303, a certain Alan de Bedeford, a baker of London, was sold up for +arrears of taxes, and the following were the goods seized by the +inexorable tax-gatherer: "One brass pot weighing 18 lbs., value 2s. 6d., +and another brass pot weighing 13 lbs., value 21d., and one kettle value +14d., the total whereof amounts to 5s 5d."[52] + +In 1337, an inventory was preserved of the goods of a felon. It was +probably exhaustive, and may therefore be taken as indicating with +tolerable precision the standard of household comfort of a London +burgess at that time. It is too long to quote in full (the list of +garments in particular is rather tedious), but it is interesting to note +that it includes a mattress, three feather-beds, five cushions, six +blankets, seven linen-sheets, four table-cloths, six whole brass pots of +varying value and one broken one, one candlestick and two plates of +metal, two basins and one washing-vessel, a spit, a frying-pan, and a +funnel.[53] + +Further study of wills and inventories would yield a fresh store of +information with regard to mediaeval household equipment, and might not +improbably upset some preconceived ideas as to the ordinary standard of +life at that time. + + +(_b_) THE POSITION OF THE HOUSEHOLD FROM THE FIFTEENTH TO THE NINETEENTH +CENTURIES + + +(1) _The First Industrial Revolution and its Effects_ + +The fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century were +marked by great economic changes. The manorial system, modified before +this period by the gradual commutation of labour dues and especially by +the catastrophe of the Black Death, was replaced on the one hand by +enclosures for sheep-farming and on the other by convertible husbandry, +when the farmer possessed or rented his own separate holding and managed +it as he pleased, using the same land alternately for pasturage and as +arable.[54] At the same time, the gild organisation of industry was +replaced by the system commonly known as domestic manufacture. This +spread largely in the country districts, and profoundly influenced home +life and the position of women. At the same time both home and foreign +trade greatly increased, and "natural economy" was almost entirely +replaced by "money economy," the necessities of life being no longer +produced by the family for their own use; men worked instead for +payment, and then with the money so earned bought in the market the +goods they required.[55] These changes, like the corresponding changes +at the end of the eighteenth century, brought greater wealth and pomp to +some classes, increased comfort to the bulk of the people, but called +into existence a new class of landless labourers, whose needs and +importunities finally led to the establishment of the poor-law. + +It would require a volume to describe how these changes reflected +themselves in the daily life of the people, and at present I must +content myself with noting very briefly the main effects of this first +industrial revolution. + +In the country two classes appeared: the labourer, who, although he +might possess a small piece of land of his own[56] or at the least had +grazing rights over a neighbouring common, yet depended for his +livelihood on the wages paid by his master. So far I have not discovered +any reliable source of information with regard to the family expenditure +of this class.[57] + +Next there was the farmer either renting or owning a farm. Very often +farming would be combined with spinning or weaving wool. Agriculture +of this kind, partly for subsistence and partly for the market, +supplemented by the practice of domestic industries, remained the +dominant type in England until the introduction of capitalist farming +in the eighteenth century, and indeed can still be found in backward +districts. The part played in it by women can be illustrated by a +curious account of the duties of the wife of a husbandman given in +Fitzherbert's "Book of Husbandry" (1534). + +"First in a morning when thou art waked and purposiste to rise, lyfte up +thy hands and blesse thee.... And when thou art up and redy, then first +sweep thy house, dress up thy dysshe-board, and sette all things in good +order within thy house. Milk thy kye, suckle thy calves, sye up thy +mylke, take up thy children and array them, and provide for thy +husband's brekefaste, dinner, souper, and thy children and servants, and +take thy part with them. And to ordayne corn and malt to the myll, to +bake and brue withal whanne need is. And meete it to the mill and fro +the mill, and see that thou have thy measure again beside the toll or +else the miller dealeth not truly with the or els thy corn is not drye +as it should be. Thou must make butter or cheese whan thou maist, serve +thy swyne both morning and evening, and give thy poleyn[58] meat in the +morning, and when tyme of the year cometh, thou must take heed how thy +duckes henne and geese do lay and to gather up their eggs and when they +wax brodie to get them.... And in the beginning of March or a little +before is time for a wife to make her garden and to gette as many good +seedes and herbes as she can and specially such as be good for the potte +and to eat. [Then come lengthy and technical directions for sowing and +working up flax and hemp] and thereof may they make shetes, bordclothes, +towels, shirts, smocks and such other necessaries and therefore let thy +distaff be always ready for a pastime that thou be not idle.... It is +convenient for a husband to have shepe of his owne for many causes, and +then maye his wife have part of the woll to make her husband and herself +some clothes. And at the very least way she may have the locks of the +sheep either to make clothes or blankets or coverlets or both. And if +she have no wool of her own, she may take wool to spyn of cloth-makers +and by that means she may have a convenient living.... It is a wife's +occupation to wynowe all manner of corns, to make malt, to wasshe and +wrynge, to make haye, shere corn, and in tiyme of nede to help her +husband to fyll the muck-wain or dung-cart, drive the plough, to load +hay, corn or such other. And to go or ride to the market, to sell +butter, cheese, eggs, chekyns, capons, hennes, pigs, geese, and all +manner of corns, and also to bye all manner of necessary things +belonging to the household and to make a trewe reckoning and account to +her husband what she hath paid. And if the husband go to the market to +bye or sell, as they oft do, he then to show his wife in like manner." + +It is interesting to note in this extract the mixture of natural and +money economy, the appearance of domestic manufactures, and the +energetic co-operation of the wife in the work of the farm. The +sixteenth century would have had little sympathy with the +sentimentalists who hold that womanhood in itself is a burden so heavy +that all active occupations should be forbidden to the married woman. + +According to Harrison[59] the standard of comfort among the agricultural +classes rose markedly at this time. Chimneys became common, pewter +plates and silver or tin spoons are used in place of "tinn platters and +wooden spoons." A farmer thinks his gains very small "if he have not a +fair garnish of pewter on his cupboard, with so much more in odd vessels +going about the house, three or four feather-beds, so manie coverlids or +carpets of tapestry, a silver salt, a bowl for wine if not a whole nest, +and a dozen of spoons to furnish up the suit." + +Food, too, according to Harrison, was plentiful and varied. The increase +in pasture farming and the decrease in arable land had made meat (often, +it is true, salted) cheaper and corn-stuffs dearer, at least in +proportion. This tendency can be traced in the menus and accounts of the +period, and certainly appears in the following extract:[60] "The +artificers and husbandmen make greatest account of such food as they may +soonest come by and have it quickliest ready. Their food also consisteth +principallie in beef and such meat as the butcher selleth; that is to +saie, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, whereof he findeth great store in the +markets adjoining, besides souse,[61] brawn, bacon, fruit, pies of +fruit, fowles of sundrie sort, cheese, butter, eggs." A little lower +down he notes that venison and a cup of wine are luxuries reserved for +special occasions. + +It is not easy to estimate the worth of Harrison's testimony to the +social habits of a class which he did not probably know intimately. It +is certain, too, that he was not speaking here of the poorest class of +labourers,[62] those who later recruited the class eligible for poor-law +relief. But even making these admissions, his words seem to be evidence +of a standard of comfort higher in some respects than could be attained +by the corresponding classes to-day. Chicken, for instance, practically +never forms part of the dietary of even the well-to-do urban artisan of +the present time. + +In the organisation of the wealthy household, the economic changes of +the time produced important alterations. The increase in buying and +selling made the landlords more anxious to dispose of their surplus +produce in the markets, and on the other hand provided new luxuries on +which money could be spent. There resulted a tendency, which can be +traced in all the household books of the period, to limit the numbers of +servants and retainers. At the same time there was a growing desire for +privacy, and a widening gulf between the upper and the lower classes of +society. Hence the hall, the general assembly-place for the entire +household, lost its importance; dining-rooms and withdrawing-rooms for +the exclusive use of the family and guests, took its place, and the +servants were relegated to their own part of the house. Partly as cause +of this, partly as effect, domestic administration ceases to be a career +for men of better social rank, a tendency which would of course be +intensified by the fact that in commerce, in literature, in exploration, +&c., new opportunities were perpetually being opened up. Hence +Elizabeth's reign is a turning-point for the history both of domestic +service and of domestic architecture. It was probably about this time +that women superseded men as cooks and cleaners, and it is certain that +the increase in Elizabeth's reign of industries worked for profit must +have diminished the production for use in the household of many articles +of common domestic utility.[63] + + +(2) _Life in the Stuart Period_ + +For 150 years after the death of Elizabeth no startling changes occur in +the organisation of the household or in its economic relations. The +marked feature of this period is the existence of domestic manufactures, +engaging the head of the household and his family, one or two +apprentices, and sometimes a journeyman or two. It was common, indeed +all but universal, for the small master manufacturers to board and lodge +their employees, as it was common for farmers to board and lodge their +labourers. The larger households carried on at home many of the +operations--baking, brewing, washing, jam-making--which have now passed +to the factory. There was a steady growth of domestic luxury and of +convenience. The development of commerce made available new commodities, +such as tea, coffee, cocoa, and thereby influenced social life. +Furniture became more elegant, and perhaps at the same time more +stuffy. + +It would require much reading and research to elaborate the details of +this progress, and for our present purpose it is hardly necessary, as it +involved alteration in particulars but not in the general organisation +of household economy. The difficulties of finding domestic servants +begin, however, to make themselves felt, and are amusingly discussed by +such writers as Defoe and Swift. It is at some time during this period +that houses are first built in terraces and squares on an identical +plan for letting purposes. But there are no sweeping changes, such as +mark the eighty years before the accession of Victoria. + + +(3) _The Influence of the Second Industrial Revolution on the Home_ + +In the last half of the eighteenth century agriculture and industry +were once more revolutionised, the former by the introduction of +capitalist farming, the rotation of crops, and the further enclosure of +common fields, commons, and wastes, the latter by the introduction of +machinery and mechanical motor power. For a detailed account of the +enormous changes consequent on these new methods of production, I must +refer the reader to the special treatises on the subject,[64] but we +must spend some time in considering the ways in which the home, +family life, and the position of women have been modified by these +industrial developments. + +In the first place, the introduction of machinery meant the growth of +the factory system, and in consequence work left the home, which ceased +to be the institution where productive industry was carried on, and +became instead a centre solely of emotional and domestic life. At the +same time, the alteration in the land system made it impossible any +longer to combine home weaving, spinning, &c. with subsistence farming; +the worker becomes an employee in a business where the capital is owned +by his employer, and he depends absolutely on the skill of his own hands +for his livelihood. + +Nothing could be more curious than to contrast Defoe's celebrated +picture of the wool-weaving districts of Yorkshire[65] with those +districts in their present condition. Then the workers, +semi-independent, farming small enclosures of two to six or seven acres, +laboriously produced cloth by hand processes in their own houses. Now +they work in enormous factories, fitted up with machinery which can spin +and weave wool both easier and better than in earlier days. They return +to their homes for rest and leisure alone. Work for wages and the home +are now separated, and, unless the use of cheap electrical power brings +about a counter-revolution, are likely to remain so. At the same time, +since mobility is in modern economic conditions of prime importance, it +is becoming less and less common for the manual worker, or indeed for +the citizen of any class, to own his house, and therefore the new trade +of the speculative builder comes into existence, its place being taken +in some cases, specially in mining districts, by the "company" houses +provided by masters for their employees. + +These alterations in the framework of society inevitably influenced home +life, which was still further affected at a later period by an analogous +movement. Not merely the work done for wages left the home, but also +many of the commodities formerly produced for its own use by each +household came to be made by outside labour. + +A very interesting and quite untouched field of inquiry here awaits the +economist. Why, for instance, is it customary to bake bread at home in +some districts and to buy it from a shop in others? Probably the +explanation is to be found in the relative cheapness of fuel. Yorkshire +and the North of England are close to abundant coalfields, and in the +days before cheap and quick transit the difference in the price of coal +in the South and North of England must have been even greater. At a +time, too, before the improvement of ovens, owing to the introduction of +the iron range and kitchener, the amount of fuel used for baking bread +would be even larger than at present. Therefore in the south there grew +up a race of housekeepers and servants unskilled in the making of the +delicious, crusty home-baked loaf, while in the north, even though +conditions have changed, the tradition still remains, and the weekly or +bi-weekly baking day is a regular institution. But this theory does not +explain why bread is not baked at home in Scotland, even in Glasgow and +the districts near it, or in Fife, which are all situated right in the +coal-bearing areas. + +And at present there is little material for describing how brewing, jam +and cake-making, biscuit-making, the making and the washing of clothes, +the cleaning of furniture and carpets, &c., passed from the household to +the factory and laundry. It is a process which has evidently been much +quickened by the growth of town life, itself one of the most important +effects of the industrial revolution.[66] + +The aggregation of population in towns in the first place made the +space available for household operations much smaller than was the case +when the kitchen was supplemented by rows of outhouses, a green and a +garden. In modern conditions, washing at home results in the discomfort +of the whole family, whether that family lives in a single room or in a +decent middle-class house of ten or twelve rooms. In the second +place, the massing into a comparatively small area of a homogeneous +population makes it easy to arrange for other methods of cleansing +clothes, either in the working-class districts by the provision of +municipal washing-houses, or in the more well-to-do suburbs through +the appearance of steam laundries. In the same way, when each +household possessed a garden it was natural to pick the fruit and +make it into jam. It is a different thing to buy fruit specially for +the purpose. Many housewives find that when the cost of the fruit, +sugar, and extra fuel is calculated, taking into account also the +dislocation of the regular routine of the household caused by the extra +work, it pays them better to buy the jam ready-made. On the other hand, +the use of machinery, the existence of cheap methods of transit, and +the multiplication of grocers' shops makes it increasingly possible to +produce jam in large quantities actually cheaper than it can be made +at home, and to distribute it quickly to the consumer. + +The same cause, acting within and without the home in different ways, is +resulting in a steady transference of these domestic avocations from the +household. Moralists often lament this tendency, and attribute it +entirely to increased love of ease and leisure among women. But it is no +more possible to draw an indictment against a whole sex than against a +whole people, and an alteration in custom so widespread as this which we +are discussing must have deeper roots than a personal defect of laziness +in particular individuals. + +This removal of production for domestic use from the home operates, +however, in very different ways in different cases. Sometimes the +article is produced much more cheaply outside the home than within, +owing to the lower cost and greater efficiency of large-scale methods of +manufacture. But this is not invariably the case. Laundry-work, for +instance, is probably done more cheaply in the private household. The +few attempts hitherto made to provide hot cooked food from a central +kitchen at a reasonable price have not been successful. On the other +hand, no individual household could hope to rival Messrs. Huntley & +Palmer as producers of biscuits. The factors which prevent the full +economies of the large-scale method of production from being realised in +the making of certain commodities are twofold. (1) Some goods are of +such a kind that they must be consumed where they are produced. Jam or +even plum-puddings can be made in a factory in the North of England and +afterwards transferred to London. But roast beef, omelettes, and +rice-puddings must be eaten within at least a hundred yards of the place +where they are cooked. This obvious fact effectually retains the +supremacy of the home in the provision of hot cooked food, and disposes +once and for all of the cruder arguments for co-operative housekeeping. +(2) Certain commodities must be made for or returned to individual +owners. If, for instance, we did not trouble to receive our own sheets +and towels from the laundry, but simply made a contract that each week +we should be supplied with a certain number, then the washing and +sorting could be done wholesale at a much cheaper rate. If we sent our +own fruit to the factories to be made into jam, jam would be much more +expensive. + +Thus the household will compete successfully with outside agencies, in +the case of all commodities which must be consumed on the spot, and the +outside agencies will have only a small advantage--will do the washing +or dressmaking more conveniently, but not much cheaper--when wholesale +methods are forbidden by the personal interest of each consumer in one +special portion of the commodities dealt with.[67] + +Still, regarding the matter from the general economic standpoint, it +cannot be denied that the result of the industrial revolution has been +to transfer many branches of production both for profit and for use from +the home to the factory. + + +(4) _The Position of Women as Affected by the Industrial Revolution_ + +This in its turn affected the position of women, and is probably, if not +the sole, at least the most important reason for the discontent and +unrest to be traced among women of many different classes in the +nineteenth century. But the women belonging to the manual labouring +class and the women belonging to the upper classes were influenced in +different ways. + +The former had always been accustomed to work for their living, +indirectly if not directly. On the little farms they looked after the +cow, the hens, and the garden. They did the carding and the spinning of +flax and of wool. True, these industries were carried on at home, and +probably the decent "manufacturer," then literally a hand-worker, would +have regarded himself as disgraced had his wife or daughters needed to +go outside his home to find work.[68] But when the factory system came, +with the horrible sufferings caused by the transition from one system of +industry to another, the women and children always accustomed to toil at +home followed their work to the factory, and there, owing to the new +methods of competition and to the absence of any regulation of industry, +they suffered hardships of overwork and underpayment which seem to the +present generation nearly incredible. + +Home life for a time almost disappeared, and the suffering and +degeneration was only checked by the series of Factory Acts, imposing +ever fresh and fresh restrictions on the treatment of women and +children.[69] The policy underlying these acts was much criticised at +the time, and was indeed not fully comprehended until recently. But it +is now all but universally admitted that the Factory Acts have in the +main achieved their object, and have greatly improved the position of +women in the districts most affected by them; and reformers are +constantly urging their extension to fresh trades. + +This movement was not understood, and was in consequence opposed by +the women of the middle-classes, whose position was affected quite +differently by the industrial revolution. They too found their +occupations within the home to a large extent destroyed. And in +other ways their situation was altered. For some reason not yet +explained, there appeared in the middle-classes a surplus of women. +This is no doubt partly due to the colonial expansion of the period, +which sent young men out to Australia, Canada, and South Africa, +while their natural mates remained behind in England. It is not easy to +give precise statistics, as our statistical tables make no distinction +of classes, but common observation and the description of social life +in the novels of the nineteenth century afford evidence of this fact. +Some statistics bearing on the subject can be found in Miss Clara +Collet's[70] article, "Prospects of Marriage for Women," and also in +"Die Frauenfrage," by Lilie Braun, pp. 157 _ff._ Frau Braun, whose +book is marked throughout by characteristic German thoroughness, sums +up:[71] "Es hat sich gezeigt, dass die Zunahme der allein stehenden +Frauen, die Abnahme der Heiratsfrequenz und die wirtschaftliche Not +als Ursache der Frauenbewegung in aller Laende anzusehen sind." + +But it was not merely the decreased chance of marriage which made the +lives of middle-class women difficult in the last century. There was +also a change in the position of the fathers, which decreased their +opportunity for providing for their unmarried daughters. The +middle-class man is now less and less frequently at the head of a +business of his own, and is more and more frequently a salaried clerk, +manager, or engineer. + +Formerly the shop or farm when it passed to the eldest son was burdened +with the charge of the spinster sisters, who often would help in the +dairy or behind the counter. Now, when a middle-class man dies, his hold +on the industrial world, so to speak, passes away with him, unless he +has been at once able and willing to lay by savings out of his salary, a +duty too often neglected. Briefly, therefore, the unmarried woman of the +middle-classes is less likely to marry, has less to occupy her at home, +and cannot so easily be provided for by her father if she remains a +spinster. + +Is it then to be wondered at if women insist, in increasing numbers, +upon a thorough education as well as the right to enter a profession in +which they can be self-supporting?[72] But the first women who decided +that a way must be opened by which they could earn for themselves +honourable maintenance not unnaturally fell into what we cannot but +regard now as regrettable mistakes, however unavoidable these errors may +have been at the time. Their great difficulties were to win admission to +the universities and permission to practise what had hitherto been +regarded as men's professions. Therefore they dreaded all restrictions +liable to be laid upon the entrance of women to occupations, and were +led in consequence to oppose the Factory Acts, designed for the +protection of women of the working-classes. It is only to-day and only +partially that the woman teacher, doctor, or journalist has come to +understand that the position and problems of the factory-hand are very +different from her own, and that confusion is created if she insists on +judging them from her own standpoint. + +In the next place, they were almost forced to become masculine and +aggressive in their manners and outlook upon life. In particular, the +need of conformity to a system of education framed for men and not for +women led to an undervaluation of domestic pursuits. It was not realised +that in managing a household and in bringing up children there was scope +for the most developed character and the finest education. + +But with the twentieth century,[73] college-trained women themselves are +coming to see that their previous neglect of those principles of science +and economics which underlie household administration was unwise and +unwarranted. Of that change of attitude, the new courses in home science +at King's College are the firstfruits, and this book is a small +contribution to a movement which is destined, perhaps, to revolutionise +housekeeping, as a band of devoted women succeeded some few years since +in revolutionising the profession of nursing. + +The main lines on which the influence of the industrial revolution on +women's position has operated can be but briefly indicated in this very +summary sketch. Want of space prevents me from doing more than allude to +other aspects of the question, such as the employment of married women, +the status of women in government offices, women's trade unions, +homework and sweating, the prevention of infant mortality, the work of +women in the administration of charity and in local government, together +with many other developments of the one cause--the alteration between +the relations of the home and of society due to the changes in our +commercial and manufacturing system. + +I must turn now to a study of the economics of the household as it +actually exists to-day. + + +III. THE PRESENT ORGANISATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD + +To begin with, it is perhaps worth while to notice certain broad +distinctions which differentiate the household, considered merely as an +economic institution, from other agencies engaged in the production of +commodities and services. + +One main difference is, as was noticed earlier, that the household +produces use-values, and all other organisations (save some public +bodies) exchange-values. Or to put the same thing in another way, the +industrial world is run to make a profit; the household, on the +contrary, is kept up by the contributions of its members, and exists +to provide for them the necessaries and comforts of life. None the +less is the work of cooking, cleaning, and serving of real economic +value when carried on within the household, as people discover when +they have to pay for the organisation of the same services in hotels +or boarding-houses. + +The second great distinction is that while any other business may expand +to meet the demands of a growing market, and as a result of the +increasing competency of its organiser and work-people, the household is +definitely limited in scope by the numbers of the family included within +it. Biscuit-makers or jam-makers, to put the matter concretely, may +succeed by skilful management in enlarging their businesses until they +supply their goods to hundreds of thousands of people, and earn a large +profit by doing so. But the most efficient housekeeper continues all her +life to organise and cater for the same number of people, and her reward +for her good management does not consist in a raised salary or increased +profits. It is, in fact, not pecuniary at all, but is the increased +well-being of those whom she serves. + +Important consequences follow from these two distinctions, some of them +desirable, others the reverse. The household is preserved, as it were, +as a little oasis in the midst of the surrounding commercialism. There +at least exists no temptation to adulteration or sophistication, or to +shoddy work intended to sell but not to last. No housewife would be such +a fool as to put alum in the bread baked at home, to use decaying fruit +in the tarts, or questionable meat in her pies. She can have no object +save to provide the best she can for her family with the means at her +disposal. This is an enormous advantage, the value of which it is hardly +possible to overrate. + +But the absence of profit-making has certain disadvantages. It means +that while other economic organisations are being constantly spurred to +increasing efficiency by the stimulus of competition, the household +remains backward. A manufacturer knows to-day that he must use the most +up-to-date machinery and employ the most skilled management or be beaten +in the race for commercial supremacy. But housekeepers may continue (and +do continue) to use old-fashioned ranges or antiquated systems of +hot-water heating without any reference to the proceedings of their +neighbours. Without doubt it results that new inventions make their way +much more slowly in housekeeping than in profit-making industry. How +rare, for instance, it is to find properly constructed grates outside +very wealthy households. How badly the kitchen, larder, and scullery are +planned in relation to one another. In how few cases is any attempt made +to utilise electricity for cooking or removing dust, for both of which +purposes admirable machines are already on the market. + +But there are other factors which also contribute to the backwardness of +domestic engineering. The smallness of the household is one. It pays a +large hotel, for instance, to buy special machines for cleaning knives, +or to instal superheated steam, for washing plates and dishes. But +neither the initial expense nor the cost of running could be met out of +the funds at the disposal of the small household. Another reason exists +in the fact that the average housewife does not distinguish between +annual and capital outlay. Unaccustomed to finance, and keeping +accounts--if she keeps them at all--in a very amateurish fashion, she +fails to understand that capital expenditure, let us say, on one of the +little electric vacuum cleaners now on the market might pay for itself +in a short time by saving the wages of a charwoman. + + +(_a_) THE ORGANISATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD AS AFFECTED BY THE HOUSING +QUESTION + +Then, finally, few people own their houses, and are therefore +disinclined to make an outlay which would benefit their successors +rather than themselves. Landlords (who are frequently retired tradesmen +or elderly ladies depending on the rent of a row of houses for their +sole income) are in their turn unprogressive and unenlightened. It is +often hard to induce a landlord of the type indicated to consent to +structural changes even if carried out at the tenant's expense. The +builders of new houses, again, are not, to put it mildly, educated in +the best schools of household architecture and domestic engineering. It +is true that in some suburbs, largely under the influence of the more +competent architects employed by the garden city organisations, a marked +improvement in domestic building is noticeable. But only too often the +hot-water system is inefficient, the ventilation poor, the grates +wasteful, and so on. I have never yet heard of a speculative builder who +deliberately planned the laying out of the streets in the area which he +was developing in such a way that the living-rooms might have a maximum +and the larder and pantries a minimum of sunlight. The new roads are +usually all set at right angles to the main street, and the houses +rigidly planted square to the roads, regardless of the points of the +compass. + +All these factors, acting together, prevent that general improvement in +the construction of houses which is noticeable in other branches of +industry. Progress does, of course, take place. The pressure exercised +by the local health authorities leads to improved drainage and plumbing; +lighting, owing to the recent competition between gas and electricity, +has become both cheaper and better. But an intelligent application of +science and investment of capital when a house is under construction +could easily effect still further improvements. + +Since, however, the household is not influenced by the ordinary +processes of competition, advance will probably depend on some form of +co-operation among tenants. The principle of tenant co-partnership has +hitherto been applied only to the construction of working-class houses, +but there seems to be no reason why it should be not equally useful +among the middle classes. The advantages of the organisation are that it +secures to the tenant a well-built house, sometimes specially +constructed to meet his wishes, while his complete mobility is not +interfered with as it is by ownership of his dwelling. These apparently +opposed results are obtained by the formation of a company which is the +legal owner of the land and the houses; but no one is allowed to rent a +house until he invests a certain amount of money in the company. Thus +there are two classes of shareholders--tenant shareholders and ordinary +shareholders. If a man wishes to move from the neighbourhood, then he +ceases to be a tenant and becomes only an ordinary shareholder, and if +he needs the money he can always sell out. Rent is paid in the ordinary +way, and so too are dividends on the shares. Thus groups of people are +enabled to control the conditions under which they are housed, without +being hampered by the possession of a dwelling-house, which in an +emergency they may be forced to sell at a serious loss. Minor advantages +are greater cheapness of construction owing to wholesale buying of +materials, and the provision of a more liberal repair fund than is +contemplated by the ordinary landlord. It is possible, too, to provide +common tennis courts, children's playgrounds, pleasure gardens, &c., +which are kept up out of the general funds of the company.[74] The +"co-partnership tenants'" villages at Bournville, Hampstead, Ealing, +&c., are all doing well,[75] and we may venture to hope that if the +same principle were applied to the housing of the middle classes, the +worst horrors of the dreary and yet pretentious suburbs constructed by +the speculative builder would soon be checked. + + +(_b_) THE PROBLEMS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE + +The position of the domestic servant is the next subject which demands +consideration. It is a question which has aroused much acrimonious +controversy, mistresses accusing maids of ignorance and inefficiency, +maids objecting in their turn to the menial position and lack of freedom +involved in domestic service. Yet it is curious to notice that the +conditions of this branch of work have been little studied by the +economist. The number of domestic servants as enumerated in the census +of 1901 was 1,330,783, the largest single occupation in the country.[76] +But while dozens of books and blue-books could be named discussing the +position of the textile worker or the agricultural labourer, not more +than three or four investigators have concerned themselves with the +domestic servant, on whose efficiency our health and comfort absolutely +depend. + +Another curious anomaly is that domestic servants are becoming fewer in +proportion to the population, although the level of their wages is very +high in comparison with the usual payments for women's work. Between +1881 and 1901 female indoor servants increased from 1,230,406 to +1,330,783, an increase of 8.2 per cent., while the population increased +25.2 per cent. Actually, then, there was a smaller proportion of the +population engaged in domestic service in 1901 then in 1881.[77] What is +still more remarkable is that at the younger ages the number has +actually decreased. Between the ages 15-20, there is a decrease of 7.3 +per cent., while in the number of females living at those ages there is +an increase of 28.1 per cent. This suggests that the difficulty of +finding servants will intensify as time goes on, as is indeed borne out +by observation. Other women's industries are growing very rapidly. The +number of female clerks more than trebled between 1891 and 1901. In the +same period, female elementary school teachers increased by over 50 per +cent., and the women engaged in hospital and institution service and in +workhouses and workhouse infirmaries by 41 per cent. These facts +indicate that domestic service is becoming less and less popular and is +losing ground, while other women's industries are gaining. + +It is our duty then to consider the causes of this state of things, +which cannot be regarded with equanimity. Our steadily increasing wealth +ought to make it more and more possible and desirable for more women to +specialise in those basic industries of cooking and cleaning, which are +of the utmost importance for the right ordering of life. + +The question must be treated in reference to the general industrial +and social changes of our time. Many ladies, knowing nothing of +economics, discuss the matter as one of personal relations only, and +when they find themselves annoyed with one incompetent servant after +another, content themselves with blaming the servants as individuals +without inquiring whether the difficulty has any deeper root. Or they +take up a reactionary attitude, and declare that the lower classes are +over-educated and too well off, and are in consequence refusing to +perform their natural duties. But neither personal blame nor the +semi-feudal belief that the one and only rightful destiny of daughters +of bricklayers, coal miners, or small clerks is to become cooks or +housemaids in the service of their betters will avail to throw any +light on the difficulty of obtaining competent domestic workers. We +must study carefully and without bias the conditions of that industry as +compared with other industries, in order to solve the problem. + +In the first place, we may note the advantages of domestic service. It +is, as has been already observed, well paid. Some investigations carried +out by a group of my students last year led to the conclusion that the +ordinary cook, housemaid, or general servant in middle-class households +costs her employer in wages, food, house-room, heating, lighting, and +insurance about L50 a year.[78] I have been informed by a lady +accustomed to deal with servants in a wealthy household, that board +wages are usually 14s. 6d. for men servants, and 12s. 6d. and 10s. 6d. +for women servants. When we remember that in the ranks from which +servants are drawn,[79] a workman is comparatively well off if he is +earning 35s. a week for the support of himself and his family, and that +a woman who makes L1 a week is a rarity,[80] we should expect to find +domestic service one of the industries in which the supply outruns the +demand. Again, there is no period of apprenticeship or training +necessary. The servant earns from the first day she enters service, and +is often carefully trained by a mistress in cooking or waiting at table, +only to leave that mistress for a better situation the moment she +thoroughly understands her duties. Again, in many households the maids +share in the family holidays. They spend a month at the seaside or in +the country, having all their travelling expenses paid as a matter of +course. Their allowance of personal holidays may not be large, but at +all events their wages run on without interruption. These advantages +are the more remarkable, when it is considered that they have been +attained without the aid of any trade organisations at all. Trade unions +for domestic workers have been formed from time to time, but their life +has been ephemeral and their membership of the smallest. High wages, +practically continuous employment, food and lodging usually of a +standard much above that in the servant's own home--all these are to be +found in domestic work. Why, then, does it remain unpopular? + +In the first place, the hours are long and irregular. A domestic +servant, especially in a place where only one or two are kept, is "on +duty" for at least fifteen hours a day--from 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. Even +meal-hours are not free from interruption. The thoughtful mistress, it +is true, will not summon her maids at dinner-time or supper-time if she +can help it, but all mistresses are not thoughtful, and in any case +there is the doorbell to be answered. Much of the work is not hard; in a +well-managed household there should always be an hour or two of +comparative leisure in the afternoon and again in the evening. But the +average maid is never sufficiently free through the whole day to go out +without asking leave, or to lie down for an hour should her morning work +have been unusually heavy. Of some households a much blacker picture +could be painted. Not merely do the maids have no leisure, but they are +actually hard at work washing, cooking, ironing, serving meals, washing +up, carrying coals and hot water, &c., for even a larger period than +the fifteen hours which, as noted before, is the minimum of time "on +duty." These hours compare very unfavourably with the six or seven +hours' day of the elementary school-teacher, the eight hours' day of the +Civil servant, and the nine or ten hours worked in factories and in +offices. + +Next, there is the lack of personal freedom. This may seem a mere +sentimental objection not to be weighed in the balance for a moment by +sensible persons as against the solid advantages of domestic work. But +sentimental objections count more decisively with women than with men. +Miss B. L. Hutchins points out in a recent article that respectable +girls of the working class often accept quite low wages, provided only +their employment is light, clean, comfortable, and affords abundant +hours of leisure. And women enter on domestic service exactly at the age +at which freedom and some amount of leisure seem more valuable than high +wages. Doubtless in later years many sweated drudges have wished that +they had become servants instead of entering the jam-factory or the +steam-laundry. But at sixteen and seventeen, when the choice was made, +the situation appeared very different. I have very little doubt that one +of the greatest objections to domestic service is that it removes the +young woman from her own class just at the marriageable age, and +therefore decreases her chances of marriage, while in some ill-governed +households and in hotel and restaurant service she may be subjected to +severe temptation. The widening of the gulf between rich and poor and +their segregation into distinct districts increases this disadvantage. + +Again, there is the fact that domestic service is strangely enough +regarded as a peculiarly menial occupation, in itself a mark of a lower +social grade. This is indicated by the use of the Christian name, the +insistence on a uniform, and the commonness of contemptuous terms such +as "slavey." Refined people are careful to avoid the use even of the +word "servant," replacing it by "maid," so strong is this connotation of +inferiority. Here again we are on sentimental grounds. But it certainly +seems undesirable, in view of the spread of doctrines of social +equality, that this suggestion of a low social status should cling +around the person who undertakes such important duties as cooking and +washing. + +Another disadvantage is the loneliness of domestic servants. In other +occupations women have colleagues and companions. The general servant, +coming as she does from a lively even if poor working-class home, with +neighbours at hand for gossip in moments of relaxation, may find it very +hard to bear up against the restraint and unnatural quietude of her +first place,[81] and often ends by returning in haste to the factory +industry she had been persuaded to abandon, when she will find the +gaiety and lively society of girls and young men of her own age. Even +when two maids are kept, they may not be congenial to one another, and +one cannot deny that to share work, meals, and often bed with a woman +whom one has reason to dislike, is a fate we would all wish to avoid. + +Girls of higher status and more intelligence are often turned from +domestic service by the fact that it affords little or no opportunity +for self-improvement or recreation, or for promotion inside its own +ranks. Servants cannot go to lectures or evening classes. The servant's +piano or bicycle is a common theme for jesting in the comic papers. In a +large household or in a hotel promotion may be obtained, but the maid +who becomes a general servant or a single-handed cook reaches the limit +of her increase in income at an early age. + +Many of the disadvantages noted do not apply to large households. There +companionship is to be found, and promotion may be looked for. The hours +are more regular, meals less interrupted, and free time easier to +obtain. Hence I was not surprised when I questioned proprietors of +clubs, residential hotels, and the mistresses of wealthy households to +learn that most of them considered the servant difficulty to be greatly +exaggerated. The housekeeper of one suite of residential flats told me +she had no trouble at all in getting servants, and that she sent them +off at a week's notice if they proved unsatisfactory. "Even if I cannot +get a maid to live in at once," she added, "I can always supplement the +work of the others by an extra charwoman. There are any number of +outworkers to be had." In another residential hotel all the women +servants had two evenings a week free from 5 to 10.30. Here, too, there +was never much difficulty in obtaining workers. + +Another disadvantage of the small as opposed to the large household is +that the management is often inefficient, and the equipment poor. In +these residential flats, for instance, each suite had its own bathroom +and lavatory, and consequently the work of carrying water was reduced to +a minimum. I think, too, that the regularity of the discipline is often +liked by girls, who find it hard to keep to good ways when they work +alone. + +On the whole, then, I see no reason to believe that domestic service is +unpopular because cooking and cleaning are regarded as disagreeable +occupations in themselves. It is the conditions under which it is +carried on that are disliked, and if mistresses desire to have better +servants, those conditions must be altered. Some of them, it must be +admitted, are inherent in the present organisation of the household.[82] +Some form of co-operation might obviate certain of these defects; in +groups of associated homes, the domestic equipment could certainly be +improved, skilled supervision and proper discipline could be more easily +carried out, and the maids would have the advantages of shorter and more +regular hours and of companionship with their equals. Here again it may +be possible to apply the co-partnership tenants' organisation. Many +people, however, not unnaturally dread the lack of privacy and +independence which such a mode of life would, they think, entail, and +would prefer to endure the disadvantages of the present system rather +than lose control over their own kitchen and their own servants. It is +too soon yet to express an opinion. Fortunately, at Letchworth, at Brent +Lodge, Finchley, and elsewhere, experiments in the provision of +associated homes with a common kitchen and a common staff of servants +are shortly to be tried. If successful, they will no doubt prove a boon +to many people. + +In the meantime one can only suggest that mistresses must endeavour +individually to mitigate some of the disadvantages of domestic service. +It is not higher wages that are needed, but more leisure and more +society, and an absence of the foolish snobbery which regards it as an +amusing joke that a servant should wish to possess a bicycle or go to a +meeting or concert. + +The suggestion has sometimes been made that distressed gentlewomen might +find a refuge in domestic service. But "lady servants" or "mothers' +helps" only rarely prove a success. Their presence is inevitably a +hindrance to the full enjoyment of family privacy, and often enough +their gentility is an excuse for incompetence. But in special cases +lady servants turn out well, especially as children's nurses. The +most interesting attempt to introduce them into general domestic service +is that started by the Guild of the Dames of the Household at +Cheltenham. A short period of training is insisted upon, while on +the other hand certain privileges not usually conceded to maids must be +granted, in particular, a period of two hours each day free from +duty. In small and quiet households, specially in those composed of +ladies only, a "Dame" would be welcomed in place of the incompetent +general servant, or two Dames might take the place of the regulation +cook and house-parlour maid. But it would not be easy to have one Dame +demanding special privileges and imbued with different traditions in +a larger household.[83] + +Nor do I see any reason to expect that increased provision for domestic +training alone is likely to improve the lot of mistresses who want +maids. The training in the elementary schools is often given to children +too young to profit by it, and is besides designed rather to enable them +to be of use in their own homes than to qualify them to become cooks or +housemaids in middle or upper-class households. Again, the girls who +attend at the special domestic economy schools are not usually available +for ordinary domestic service; the greater number of the students are +being prepared either for teaching or for positions as housekeepers and +matrons. While untrained girls can find a place and wages without any +difficulty, working-class parents are not likely to spend money on +training for domestic service; and the numbers for whom scholarships +are provided must naturally be limited. + +Improvement is much more likely to result from alterations in the +condition of domestic service. If, as regards leisure and social status, +that occupation could be put more nearly on a level with other women's +trades, the outlook would be much brighter, and then training in +domestic economy in continuation schools or trade schools for girls from +fourteen to sixteen would be valuable. + +Failing these reforms, mistresses will probably continue to find +themselves obliged to put up with cooks who cannot cook, and housemaids +and laundresses who are both ignorant and incompetent. The irk and +irritation of living all day long at close quarters with an impertinent +and inefficient person, which often severely tries the nerves of the +women of the professional classes, will continue. These things are +inevitable so long as domestic servants do not choose their occupation +because they wish to follow it, but because they have been failures in +other directions. Therefore no improvement would be attained by shutting +other avenues of employment to women and forcing them back into this. +Such a line of action is, of course, quite impracticable, whatever be +the difficulties of mothers of families and mistresses of households; +factories, offices, shops, elementary schools and post-offices will +continue to offer employment to women. But even if it were practicable +it would fail of its aim. Work is only well done when it is chosen for +its own sake, not when it is unwillingly accepted because the worker is +fit for nothing else. And a genuine improvement in domestic service can +only come about by an alteration in its conditions. + +A systematic investigation into English domestic service similar to that +carried out in America by Professor Lucy Salmon of Vassar College would +be most useful at the present juncture, and may possibly be undertaken +by the household economics class at King's College. Professor Salmon +issued 5000 schedules to employers and 5000 to employees, and received +in all 1744 answers. On the answers received she based the conclusions +arrived at in her book, "Domestic Service," which are not dissimilar to +those set forth in the preceding paragraphs. Conditions in America are, +however, so unlike those in England that a separate investigation for +this country would be most valuable. + + +(_c_) A DISCUSSION OF DOMESTIC BUDGETS + + +(1) _Working-Class Budgets_ + +I have left myself very little space for dealing with another important +section of household economics, namely, domestic budgets. Unfortunately +the material for a satisfactory study of the actual and the advisable +division of household expenditure is only abundant in certain classes. +There are a considerable number of investigations into the cost of +living among the working-classes.[84] From these it is clear that we +must make a very marked line of distinction between the domestic +circumstances of labourers and of artisans. The former spend at least +from 75 to 80 per cent. of their income on food and lodging alone; yet +if the family is of ordinary size and none of the children are earning +anything, they are commonly under-nourished and badly lodged. The +remainder of the income is devoted to fuel, clothes, savings, insurance, +and recreation. + +Members of this class commonly wear second-hand clothes, and live in +tenement houses, originally built for a wealthier section of the +community. It is they who send their children to work at any employment +that turns up at the earliest moment allowed by the law. The burden laid +on the women of this class is peculiarly heavy. They must work for wages +if possible, for every extra shilling adds immensely to the family +comfort. Hence they go out charing; they undertake ill-paid home work; +and at the same time all the toil of keeping the house and children +clean and of doing the cooking and washing falls on the mother. Add to +this the fact that if the food supply runs short, then the children and +the husband have their share first and the mother takes what may be +left. It has been calculated[85] that this class amounts to about +one-third of the population, and is the source whence comes the greater +part of the pauperism with which the country is afflicted. + +The artisan class was found by Mr. Rowntree to comprise about one-half +of the working-class population. Its domestic circumstances differ in +several respects from those of the class already described. Food and +housing were adequate; and, save in the textile districts, the wife +commonly remains at home and the children stay longer at school. It is +this class that is the backbone of trade unionism and the co-operative +movement; it is in fact the true "middle-class" of Britain. + +Lady Bell in her book "At the Works" gives a very sympathetic sketch of +the home life of the ironworkers of Middlesborough, pointing out that +the monotony and narrowness of the lives led by the women and the +ugliness of the surroundings of the workers' houses are the main defects +from which they suffer. Roughly half their income goes on food, which is +plain but adequate. The proportion of rent varies very much from +district to district. In York it was 12.8, but in such crowded towns as +London and Glasgow it would be higher. There is, however, a surplus +sufficient for clothing, saving, holidays, and reasonable recreation. + +It is conjectured that the excessive expenditure on drink in the United +Kingdom[86] must be largely due to this class. But the evidence is +insufficient to show whether the labourer or the artisan is the more +guilty. + + +(2) _Lower Middle-Class Budgets_ + +The next class which should be examined is that made up by the clerks +and routine brain-workers. As already noted, there is little or no +material available for the study of the budgets of this class. The +Economic Club published a few years ago a collection of family budgets, +four of which might be taken as illustrating the home life of this +important section of the community. From these and from the rather +unreliable divisions of income given in some of the smaller women's +papers, I have come to the conclusion that food absorbs 30 to 40 per +cent. of the income, and rent 15 to 20 per cent. The expenditure on +clothing is much more liberal, and I am inclined to believe that the +poorer clerks are sometimes insufficiently fed. + +It should be noted that in this class the cost of education tends to be +borne by the parent and not by the State; no doubt there is here a +genuine grievance, one, however, which the provision of municipal +secondary schools is gradually removing. But a thorough and accurate +study of the circumstances of the lower middle-class would be of the +utmost value at the present time. It is certain that its needs and +demands are to some extent at all events overlooked through the +increasing power of organised labour on the one hand and the increasing +wealth of the upper classes on the other. + + +(3) _The Budget of the Well-to-do_ + +Probably it is in the budgets of these wealthier classes that the reader +of these pages will be most interested from a personal standpoint. Under +this head there is very little scientifically collected material; but on +the other hand the ladies' papers and the housekeeping handbooks afford +considerable information of somewhat varying value. + +It is in this class that service becomes an important item; it is in +this class that the artistic side of life, the enjoyment of physical and +intellectual luxury, first becomes possible. In a sense the study of +expenditure here is both more useful and more interesting. A fraction of +the income would suffice for the satisfaction of the mere physiological +needs, and there is a real choice possible in the disposition of the +surplus. + +Therefore, in the case of these larger incomes, I propose to discuss +rather the general principles of expenditure than the statistical facts. +The latter are not thoroughly reliable, and at the same time the +circumstances of the class in question are better known to my readers. + +The fundamental principle, as Marshall[87] states, is that the marginal +utility of each separate division of expenditure should be equal. He +means by this that our income should be so distributed that the last +sixpence we spend on clothes should yield us the same amount of pleasure +as the last sixpence expended on food or on books. And he rightly +remarks that to the housekeeper the value of keeping accounts lies +precisely in the fact that it makes the application of this principle +easy. + +If we know exactly how money has been spent, then it is possible to see +that expenditure has been wrongly balanced, that impulsive extravagance +on hats or on out-of-season delicacies has unduly curtailed the amount +spent on holidays, books, or concerts. It is for this reason that +itemised tables are more useful to the housekeeper than is the ordinary +creditor and debtor method of account-keeping. She should of course be +able to present an accurate statement of the money spent and received, +but she should not be content with this. She should further show for +each quarter the amount spent on rent, food, fuel, &c. + +QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE + + Columns: + A Food and Cleaning Materials. + B Household Washing. + C Service. + D Coals. + E Gas. + F Electricity. + G Rent. + H Rates. + I Garden. + J Miscellaneous. + K Total. + L Guests.[88] + M Remarks. + + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Weeks | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | + |Ending. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Jan. 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 30 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |Feb. 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 27 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |March 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + | " 27 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |April 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |TOTAL. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + |Weekly | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + |Average. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ + +The table appended has been in actual use for some time, and has served +on more than one occasion to check expenditure which was unduly +increasing. It could easily be modified in various ways. Food could be +further subdivided, and headings for dress and other personal expenses +could be added. Probably, however, it will be found better to keep one +card for the quarterly household expenditure, and others for the +personal expenditure of the separate members of the household. The +amount of trouble involved is comparatively small, provided that the +different items are summed up and entered regularly each week when the +household books are examined. If the quarterly cards are then filed in +order, they afford a most valuable record of household management in a +small and easily handled form. + +When deciding on the amount of money to be allotted to the separate +items, the first thing to be kept in mind is the necessity of +preserving efficiency; and brain-workers ought to remember that +thorough mental alertness and competency can only be secured by +well-chosen, well-cooked, and daintily served food, by sufficiency of +sleep, by frequent intervals of rest and recreation, and by thoroughly +invigorating holidays. Extravagance should of course be avoided, but +the journalist or scientist who is niggardly of expenditure on these +items will probably later on be obliged to spend his savings on +doctor's bills or a rest cure. A high standard of comfort and efficient +work is the cheapest way of living in the long run. Whether, however, +all the conventional necessaries now included by custom in the upper +middle-class expenditure are really essential to the brain-worker's +standard of life is perhaps another question. + +The "simple life" which consists in doing without all the conveniences +of civilisation has been proved a failure by many experiments, but a +"simple life" which accepted the comforts of electric light, gas stoves, +and laid-on hot water, but abolished heavy curtains and carpets and that +multiplicity of ornaments and of dishes, which increases the complexity +of life without adding to its beauty, might turn out to be a success. In +many cases, however, conventional expenditure is essential for +professional advancement. The doctor, for instance, must live in a house +of a certain size and importance; the high school teacher or woman +journalist must be well dressed. Expenditure of this character is really +of the nature of advertisement, and it is foolish to endeavour to +curtail it. + +After the claims of efficiency have been met, saving and insurance come +next. Life insurance is of course almost universal among the salaried +classes, and is a duty imperatively laid on every man whose death would +leave his family without means. But it is curious that other forms of +insurance are not more practised. A small yearly payment for each child, +commencing at its birth, would provide a convenient sum for its +education, its start in life, or, in the case of a girl, for her +trousseau and dowry. Insurance against illness also is much rarer among +the upper middle class than among the working-classes. Possibly this is +due to the fact that, save in the case of prolonged disease, salaries +are paid during illness, while wages cease as soon as the worker is +compelled to stay at home; also partly no doubt to the fact that +provision for contingencies is made in other ways. + +Saving and insurance will be less necessary in the case of those whose +income is derived from land or from invested capital, but should be +considered absolutely essential by all those in receipt of a salary. In +addition a small sum saved and invested in some easily realisable +security will be most valuable to meet special emergencies. + +If after all these needs have been met, _i.e._ (1) full "efficiency" +and "conventional" expenditure (including, of course, such an education +for the children as will prepare them in their turn to earn an income +in the same rank of life as their father), and (2) saving and +insurance to provide against all contingencies that may reasonably +be anticipated--if, then, a surplus still remains, its disposition +must be a matter of individual choice, and it is impossible to lay +down general rules. + +In some cases it will be saved, in others it will be used to provide +more material and conventional luxuries, in others it will supply the +needs of what American writers rather unpleasingly call the "higher +life." Certainly the claims of generosity, charity, and culture should +first be met, and it is the right and wise disposition of this surplus +income which might well tax the highest powers of any human being. It is +commonly supposed to be a difficult thing to earn money, but a simple +matter to spend it. On the contrary, to spend with wisdom and discretion +is always hard, and is hardest when the income is so elastic that a +slight deviation from the best method is not immediately visited on the +head of the person who has offended. + +The artisan's wife has no easy task, it must be confessed, but the +results of any mistakes she may make fall at once upon herself or her +children. But if the mistress of a large household is careless or +incompetent, then she may cause untold waste, inefficiency and +degeneration among her servants and tradespeople, and may never even be +aware of it. + +A recent book by Mr. A. Ponsonby[89] gives some extraordinary instances +of unnecessary expenditure on food. Mr. Ponsonby is not, of course, to +be taken as an unprejudiced investigator; he is writing rather from the +standpoint of the preacher than from that of the unbiassed sociologist. +But his figures are not likely to be absolutely false, and it is safe to +say that if in a household containing four in family and fourteen +servants the food bills amounted in a week when there was little +entertaining to L60, 12s. 7d. (L3, 7s. 4d. per head),[90] either the +servants were being fed in a way that was quite absurdly lavish, or much +of the food was absolutely wasted, or there was dishonest collusion +between the housekeeper and chef and the tradespeople. In any case, the +ignorance and negligence of the mistress of the house were corrupting to +her staff. + + +(_d_) CONCLUSION + +In short, in place of regarding the household as standing in no special +relation to the rest of the community, it ought to be understood that +the function of the housewife is of the utmost importance, not only to +her own family, but to the whole nation. It is she who is finally +responsible for the education of the children; it is she who, in the +quiet and restful charm of the home, provides (or should provide) for +her husband and grown-up children the recreation and refreshment which +they need. If she employs many servants, then the example of her +household will influence for good or for evil the homes of many +working-class couples. It is the demand of the household that determines +whether the labour of this country shall be employed on debased articles +of sham luxury or on well made and artistic goods. + +The conscientious housewife could also to some extent discourage +sweating, if she refused to buy products which to her knowledge were +made under bad conditions. The responsibilities of the housewife place +her at every turn in economic relations to the rest of the community, +and therefore it is only right that coming housewives should be trained +not alone in the manual crafts of cooking and laundry-work, but also in +the general principles of economic science which underlie the +development and present organisation of the household. We may perhaps +hope too that the principles of household management may in turn react +on economic science, and may show to its professors that value in use, +though more difficult to detect and estimate than value in exchange, has +been unduly neglected both in theory and practice. + +If to the management of our towns--which are, after all, only our homes +on a larger scale--were applied the principles used by a good +housekeeper in ordering her home, then cleanliness, beauty, and +convenience would increase around us. A science of economics so modified +would recall to a scholar the original meaning of the word; for what, +after all, did the craft of oikonomike, as first developed by Xenophon +and Aristotle, mean but just "the management of the home"? + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [13] Smith, "Wealth of Nations," edited by J. S. Nicholson, pp. 135 and + 280. It is of course true that Adam Smith meant by this merely + what is in a way true, that domestic servants earn no profit for + their employers. He does not deny (p. 136) that their labour + "has a certain value." But, like all the economists who followed + him, he is content to dismiss domestic workers with this cursory + treatment and to identify labourers with the workers hired for + profit-making purposes. + + [14] See "Principles of Economics" (4th ed.), pp. 192, 772. + + [15] Marshall, "Principles" (4th ed.), p. 764: "The working classes had + then no other beds than loose straw, reeking with vermin and + resting on damp floors." + + [16] Thorold Rogers is a partial exception. + + [17] _e.g._ Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life;" portions of + Booth's "Life and Labour of the People;" reports to the Board of + Trade on the cost of living. + + [18] Webb, S. and B., "Industrial Democracy" (cheap edition), p. 674. + + [19] Marshall, "Principles of Economics," vol. i. p. 159. + + [20] There is an assumption here which needs perhaps some discussion, + _i.e._ that expenditure or consumption of goods can be most + conveniently studied on the basis of family life. This is + obviously the case with house-room, food, fuel, cleanliness, + &c., less so with regard to clothes or recreation; it was truer + of the past than of the present, and is truer of the poor than + of the rich. In some classes, _e.g._ the professional class, + where marriage is commonly delayed and a considerable period may + intervene between the end of education and the establishment of + a fresh household, it may be necessary to supplement the study + of family expenditure by a consideration of the standard of + living of unmarried men and women. Attempts, too, must be made + to deal with the various forms of institutional life, varying + from prisons and workhouses on the one hand to expensive + boarding-schools and hotels on the other. But when all these + necessary deductions have been made, it remains true that in + order to study expenditure we must in the great majority of + cases take the family as our basis of investigation. Consumption + is organised on a family basis. + + [21] See Marshall, "Principles," book ii. chap. ii. + + [22] Ashley, "Economic History," vol. i. part ii. p. 262. + + [23] The economic historian must always be prepared to acquiesce in a + certain vagueness in the matter of dates. He is not dealing with + definite events, such as battles and the enactment of special + laws, but rather with social tendencies, each constituted by a + large number of small events; such as, for instance, the + replacement of hand labour by machinery, the appearance of + limited liability companies in the place of the single employer, + or the determination of middle-class girls to earn their own + living instead of remaining dependent on father or brothers. + Tendencies such as these appear at different times in different + industries and in different parts of the country, and only a + misleading precision can be gained by any mention of definite + dates. + + [24] Summarised from Seebohm, "Village Community," pp. 156-157. + + [25] Gasquet, "English Monastic Life," p. 197. + + [26] "Economic History," vol. i. + + [27] Surtees Society, Boldon Book, p. 28. + + [28] "English Monastic Life," p. 198. + + [29] The English were famed in the Middle Ages for their preference for + good bread. They would eat no bread + + "That beans in come, + But of cocket[30] or clerematyn[30] or else of clean wheat." + + --_Piers Plowman_, A. vii. 292. + + [30] Better kinds of bread, but not the best (wastel). + + [31] Walter of Henley, p. 29. + + [32] Apparently, it is only within the last hundred years that the cow + has ceased to be a normal possession of the agricultural + labourer. See Slater, "English Peasantry and Common Fields," pp. + 122-128. + + [33] Eddy, "English House," p. 133. + + [34] England at that time possessed her own vineyards, _e.g._ near + Gloucester, and produced white wine. + + [35] Rules of S. Robert as given in "Walter of Henley," p. 145. + + [36] Broth in which the meat had been boiled. + + [37] Pepper. + + [38] Stiff. + + [39] "Meals and Manners of the Olden Time," p. 164. + + [40] Kind of sauce. + + [41] Pork, eggs, cloves, currants, dates, sugar boiled in a bladder, + cut into strips and served with hot rich sauce. + + [42] A soteltie was an elaborate confection of pastry painted or + adorned with paper to represent a saint or a figure of spring, + summer, &c. + + [43] Spiced wine. + + [44] Panter and pantry, from pain. + + [45] Butler = bottler. + + [46] Rules of S. Robert in "Walter of Henley," pp. 138-140, _passim._ + + [47] Webb, "Essay on Gloucester Abbey," p. 13. + + [48] "Meals and Manners," p. 74. + + [49] _Libes Niges Domus_, p. 65. + + [50] Gasquet, "English Monastic Life," p. 211. + + [51] The maintenance of a large retinue was one of the easiest ways + available for indicating the possession of surplus wealth. This + fact, coupled with the almost absurd over-elaboration of the + details of serving, incline me to believe that in the mediaeval + castle servants were numerous and not overworked. + + [52] Riley, "Memorials of London," p. 48. + + [53] Riley, "Memorials of London," p. 199. There is, unfortunately, no + indication of the social standing of this felon, Hugh le Bevere + by name. The list of clothes suggests that he was fairly + well-to-do, in which case his equipment of cooking and table + utensils is certainly meagre. It is curious that pottery is not + mentioned; it can hardly be urged that although in use it was + too unimportant for a place in the inventory, since room is + found for one small canvas bag, value 1d. + + [54] Hence the name convertible husbandry. + + [55] This is, of course, a very summary statement of changes which it + took centuries to bring about. On the one hand, money economy + existed in the mediaeval town; on the other, subsistence farming + continued in England to some extent until within a hundred years + ago. Yet it is roughly true that in the fifteenth and sixteenth + centuries production for the market and not for use markedly and + suddenly increased. + + [56] By an Act of 1589, it was ordained that four acres of land should + be attached to every cottage. _Cf._ Hasbach. "English + Agricultural Labourer," p. 40. + + [57] See Cunningham, "English Industry and Commerce," vol. ii. p. 40 + (4th ed.). + + [58] Poultry. + + [59] "Description of England," p. 238 _ff._ + + [60] _Op. cit._, vol. i. p. 150. + + [61] Pickled pork. + + [62] This class is never described by him. + + [63] See Cunningham, ii. p. 78, "Issue of Patents for making Soap and + Vinegar." + + [64] _e.g._ Slater, "English Peasantry and the Enclosure of the Common + Fields." Hasbach, "History of the English Agricultural + Labourer." Toynbee, "The Industrial Revolution." Hobson, + "Evolution of Capitalism." + + [65] [Near Halifax]. "After we had mounted the third hill, we found the + country one continuous village ... hardly a House standing out + of speaking distance from another, and as the day wore on we + could see at every House a tenter, and on almost every tenter a + Piece of Cloth, Kersey or Shalloon, which are the three articles + of this country's labour.... Then as every clothier must + necessarily keep one horse at least to fetch home his wool and + his provisions from the market, to carry his yarn to the + spinners, his Manufacture to the fulling mill, and when finished + to the market to be sold and the like; so every one generally + keeps a cow or two for his Family.... Nor is the industry of the + people wanting.... Though we met few People without Doors, yet + within we saw the Houses full of lusty fellows, some at the + dye-vat, some at the loom, others dressing the cloths, the women + and children carding or spinning. All employed from the youngest + to the oldest. Scarce a thing above four years old, but its + hands were sufficient for its own support." Defoe, "Tour through + Great Britain" (1769), vol. iii. p. 146. + + [66] "The increase of urban areas can be gathered from the Census + Reports. In 1851 ... the population of such areas amounted + approximately to 9,000,000, or 50 per cent. of the total + population of England and Wales; by 1881 the population of urban + sanitary areas, as defined by the Public Health Acts, 1872 and + 1875, was 17,600,000, or 68 per cent. of the aggregate + population; by 1901 ... the population of boroughs and urban + districts amounted to 25,000,000, or 77 per cent. of the + aggregate population."--Blue Book on Public Health and Social + Conditions, p. 6 [Cd. 4671 of 1909]. + + [67] It should be noted, too, that the advantages of the large-scale + method of production are greatly diminished by the dangers of + adulteration. _Cf._ p. 177. + + [68] In the absence of an efficient system of police, it probably was + not safe for women to walk or travel alone. In the security + provided for us by paved and lighted streets, guarded by trained + constables, and in the complete safety of modern methods of + travelling, some of us are apt now to forget these elementary + considerations, once of supreme importance. + + [69] For the whole subject, see Hutchins and Harrison, "History of + Factory Legislation." + + [70] In "Educated Working Women," by Clara E. Collet, 1902. Miss Collet + says: "Were statistics available it might perhaps be shown that + the unmarried women are to a large extent the daughters of + clerks and professional men.... Emigration is probably more + frequent in the salaried class; and where the sons are obliged + to emigrate, it frequently happens that the daughters have to + work for their living. In this class I believe the inequality of + the sexes is greatest and the chances of marriage least" (pp. + 37-38). + + [71] P. 171. + + [72] I cannot refrain at this point from inserting the following + quotations from "Shirley" (chapter xxii.). Charlotte Bronte's + genius illumined the situation of many girls even in her time, + and of a larger number since. Caroline is speaking. "Old maids, + like the houseless and unemployed poor, should not ask for a + place and an occupation in the world; the demand disturbs the + happy and rich; it disturbs parents. Look at the numerous + families of girls in this neighbourhood. The brothers of these + girls are every one in business or in professions ... their + sisters have no earthly employment but household work and + sewing.... Men of England! look at your poor girls, many of them + fading around you, dropping off in consumption or decline; or, + what is worse, degenerating to sour old maids, envious, + backbiting, wretched, because life is a desert to them; or, what + is worst of all, reduced to strive, by scarce modest coquetry + and debasing artifice, to gain that position and consideration + by marriage which to celibacy is denied." + + [73] I am not suggesting here that the pioneers of women's higher + education were wrong in the attitude they adopted. To win for + women intellectual freedom was the most important duty for them, + and that could only be achieved by women submitting to the same + intellectual tests as men. But the problems which call for + solution by their successors of a later generation have assumed + a new form. + + [74] See Raymond Unwin, "Housing and Town-Planning." + + [75] In June 1908, the value of the property of the various tenants' + companies was only a little short of a quarter of a million + pounds, and their operations have since then been extended in + various directions. + + [76] For comparison:-- + + Number of + Occupation. Persons Employed. + + Agriculture 1,197,922 + Textile fabrics 1,155,397 + Professional occupations 606,260 + + [77] Owing to a change in the system of enumeration which alters the + basis of comparison, the year 1891 cannot be used in our + calculations. + + [78] The competent single-handed maid is meant here, not the little + "slavey" who assists her mistress in the rougher part only of + the work. + + [79] A further inquiry is needed into this matter. I am not at all + clear whether servants are derived from the class of the fairly + prosperous artisan or from the unskilled labouring class. + + [80] "There are unfortunately no reliable statistics as to the average + wages earned by women workers, but, speaking from a large + experience, I estimate that the average wage of the manual woman + worker, taking into account slackness, sickness, &c., is + certainly not more than 7s. 6d. all the year round."--"Trade + Unions," by Mary Macarthur, in "Women in Industry from Seven + Points of View," p. 66. + + [81] Stephen Reynolds in "A Poor Man's House" paints this situation + with great psychological insight. + + [82] Compare Salmon, "Domestic Service," pp. 145-6. + + [83] Compare "Englishwomen's Year-book for 1910," p. 69. + + [84] _e.g._ Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life"; Liverpool + Economic and Statistical Society, "How the Casual Labourer + Lives"; "Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in + Edinburgh" (published by Otto Schulze & Co., now out of print); + Recent Blue-books on the Cost of Living, &c. + + [85] Rowntree, "Poverty: a Study of Town Life," pp. 117, 298 _ff._, as + to inadequacy of diet of labourer, pp. 235 and 303. Mr. + Rowntree's conclusions have been impugned by several critics, + and it may be that his dietary standard is too high. But even if + it turns out that only a quarter and not a third of the + population are in receipt of incomes insufficient for the + expenditure necessary to secure bodily efficiency, the fact is + serious enough. + + [86] Calculated by Messrs. Rowntree and Sherwell to amount to 6s. 10d. + per family of the working-class population. "Temperance Problem + and Social Reform" (7th ed.), p. 20. + + [87] "Principles" (4th ed.), p. 194. + + [88] A special charge was made for guests in this household, and the + amount received was deducted from the weekly food bill. + + [89] "The Camel and the Needle's Eye." + + [90] "The Camel and the Needle's Eye," p. 153. + + + + +SOME RELATIONS OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO FAMILY LIFE AND INDIVIDUAL +EFFICIENCY + +BY ALICE RAVENHILL + + +Among the many notable characteristics by which the last half century +has been distinguished, there are two which bid fair permanently to +colour its records and materially to influence the future of our +country. I refer in the first place to the scientific study of man, his +nature, his needs, and his potentialities; and in the second to the +growing appreciation of the fact that the centre of ethical gravity must +be shifted from absorption in the sole concerns of self to an +intelligent interest in the affairs of others--that is to say, that +selfishness must yield to well organised and discriminating social +service. + + +I. MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE + +It is of course no new thing for questions upon the real nature of that +complex creature, man, to force themselves upon the attention of the +observant, and from time immemorial the philosophical have spent +themselves in efforts to solve this problem by theories designed to +detect, even if not to account for, the agencies active in the +formation of the human mind and body. The records of older civilisations +bear testimony to their labours, and are familiar to most students of +ancient literatures. But it was not till the resources of modern science +forged new tools for the inquirer that it became possible to chisel out +from the bedrock of fact the main features of man's physical and social +history. + +With admirable patience and infinite skill, the scientific craftsmen of +recent times have laboriously pieced together the scattered chips of +biological research, of human tradition, of tribal customs and of +world-wide folklore, until the dignity and power, the beauty and the +possibilities of human nature have emerged from the dust of ignorance +and the veil of superstition. The result is that it is no longer +permissible to deplore in pessimistic tones the inevitable degradation +of the race, nor to accept with supineness the threatened deterioration +of a population. The forces by which humanity is moulded are no longer +unknown; the principles which underlie social stability have been +identified; the means by which the arts may be developed, which make +life not only tolerable but healthful, are ready to our hands. + +The far-reaching significance of these facts in connection with human +health and progress become apparent when considered in more detail. +Observers throughout the ages have gradually noted, and subsequently +turned to practical account in garden, meadow, and farmyard, certain +characteristics common to all known forms of vegetable and animal life. +By due consideration of these it was found possible to improve breeds, +to strengthen and lengthen life, to avert disease, and generally to +enhance economic value. It may now appear simple enough, to extend and +apply these observations to the betterment of human life; but many +generations of human beings slipped away before the facts, dimly +discerned by Aristotle and Lucretius, by Buffon and Lamarck, were +clearly focussed by Darwin,[91] Wallace, Spencer, and Huxley, through +whose skill and labours the continuity of the web of life was first +displayed to the world at large. The design may here be almost +elementary in its delicate simplicity; there its subtle intricacies +well-nigh baffle description. The variety of pattern is marvellous +indeed, as Nature weaves with ceaseless industry the woof of progressive +development. But the warp of this wondrous web is nevertheless +continuous throughout its length, uniting the whole into one vast +fabric. + +This basic unity of all manifestations of life has been further +substantiated by another group of scientists--Schleiden, Schwann, +Koelliker, and Virchow, for instance--who gradually and conclusively +proved the identity, in their simplest form, of those living bricks +(_i.e._ microscopic particles of protoplasm) from which the whole vast +edifice of life is constructed. The capacity they possess for +differentiation in their functions and in modes of combination long +masked recognition of the fact that each commonwealth of cells, whether +plant or animal, is developed in the first instance in orderly +progression from a similar minute speck of protoplasm, acceptation of +which has sufficed to bring about a complete revolution in the +scientific world. To these discoveries were shortly added Pasteur's +conception of the nature and causation of infective diseases; a +knowledge which brought with it a great accession of power over hitherto +mysterious and uncontrollable conditions. And finally, man's eyes have +been opened to the comprehension of Nature's means of self-defence +against the micro-organisms of disease. Thus, while humanity is by these +means armed with most potent weapons against the inroads of infection, +decay, and death, the light thrown upon the mystery of the origin of +each individual life has shown man his true place in the kingdom of +nature. The application of these great discoveries, together with +increased opportunity for and accuracy in their utilisation, constitute +the basis of the modern methods of hygiene. + +It must be borne in mind that until less than a century ago it was man's +custom to dissociate himself wholly from the less highly developed +animals and plants which he employed so freely for his support and +convenience. He set himself on the highest pinnacle, as it were, of the +edifice of life, believing himself to be independent of the influences +by which the rest of the building was dominated. And thus through +countless ages he suffered, languished, and died, unconscious that the +forces he had learned more or less to control in husbandry and farmyard +were in their turn controlling him in the conduct of his life. Ignorant +alike of the influences of his own inherited nature or of those of his +environment, he paid no heed to the responsibilities of transmitting the +torch of life undimmed to succeeding generations, and gave no thought to +utilising to his own personal perfecting the resources of Nature, which +he habitually employed to increase his wealth or to improve his crops +and stock. + +It was indeed to the control of his _surroundings_ that man first gave +more or less careless heed. The fact that environment can either +stimulate or stunt both physical and mental powers, thrust itself too +persistently on his attention to be ignored; but the influence of a good +parentage or of sound ancestry was less obvious, and for generations +received little or no attention. Vague talk on "family temper," "family +habits," "family voices" was common enough, but no more than a passing +curiosity was aroused as to their hidden import, nor was their profound +significance suspected. + +Thus, though half a century has passed since Darwin placed man[92] "in +his proper position in the sequence of biological forms," during which +interim enormous strides have been made in applying to the betterment +of human existence the principles found to hold good in the case of +lowlier type of life, public sentiment has so far only supported +sanitary reforms directed to the promotion of improved environment. And +this in spite of Sir Francis Galton's[93] first appeal in the cause of +eugenics more than forty years ago. The distinguishing characteristics +of progressive races and the right of every unborn child to be the +offspring of healthy, self-respecting, virtuous parents have been +repeatedly pointed out; while attention is drawn to the accumulating +evidence in favour of the fact that of all influences upon the +individual his inherited nature is the most powerful. Yet the public ear +remains deaf to the cry that the present generation is largely +responsible for the weal or woe of their children's children. + +This is not the place in which to discuss Darwin's theory of heredity +nor its subsequent elaboration and amplification by his contemporaries +or successors.[94] But the time is come when emphasis _must_ be laid +upon the duty of gaining some general acquaintance with the subject and +its applications in the case of an Imperial people. + +It may be also well to point out that pessimism is not necessarily +associated with the fruits of the studies carried on by our students of +inherited qualities, such as Sir Francis Galton or Professors Thomson, +Bateson, Karl Pearson, and others; only their results give us reason to +pause, for they cannot lightly be disregarded. They tell us that we hold +in our hands to-day the mental vigour and bodily powers of an untold +number of descendants, therefore it behoves us to consider our ways and +be wise while there is yet time. For our encouragement also be it known, +that while the lamp of modern hygiene illuminates the errors of the +past, it sheds its bright rays over the paths of the present, and +penetrates to some extent the dim twilight of the future. + + +II. FACTORS ADVERSE TO HUMAN PROGRESS + +It is a matter for regret that the sympathetic consideration for the +sufferings of others, which found such grand exponents in John Howard, +in Elizabeth Fry, and in thousands more since modern methods of +philanthropy were initiated in the eighteenth century,[95] has tended +latterly to lose its virility. It is giving place to a maudlin +sentimentality, which seeks not only to preserve life at all costs, but +to permit, nay to encourage, the production of a quality of human life, +so defective, so devitalised, that it threatens to minimise the +multiplication of the fit, by taxing them to their detriment with the +care and support of the unfit. So to smooth the path of the weakly and +unsound as to put a premium on their fertility is false philanthropy and +faulty hygiene; for it is well to remember that reasonable exertion is +beneficial to health; that to overcome obstacles is stimulating to the +energetic; that some struggle for the means of livelihood calls forth +resourcefulness and adaptability in the intelligent. Success in the +battle of life comes to those made of stuff equal to the wear and tear +of daily existence, and possessed of the qualities which conduce to +progress. These are they who are competent to perpetuate the best +qualities of a good stock; these should be the chosen bulwarks of a +nation's progress; nor must their numbers be swamped by the ailing, the +crippled, the defective, and the insane. + +A proportion probably of some of the deeply seated, complicated, social +problems which have presented themselves, unperceived and almost +unconsciously, are the outcome of a one-sided study of hygiene: these, +combined with the slow growth of social science, and a sickly, +easy-going susceptibility, have been allowed to obscure the real issues +of many well-intentioned but unwise and ill-considered philanthropic +measures. The necessity, the _urgent_ necessity, has now, however, +arisen for the bold and scientific solution of these social problems. +The work of biologists, sociologists, and students of history during the +last ten years has illuminated the whole question of race progress and +public health with a light so powerful and clear that even he who runs +can read the signs of the times by its clear rays; while to the millions +of parents and guardians whose lives are spent in the care of children +and home, its brilliance throws into high relief the dignified +responsibility of their work, its far-reaching worth and enduring +influence, as well as the fact that for its adequate performance +something more is necessary than a bowing acquaintance with modern +sanitary science. + +For what is the message of scientific hygiene to the parent and +householder of the twentieth century? Dr. W. H. Burnham, of Clarke +University, U.S.A., a world-wide authority on the subject, has +formulated this message for us into three terse, but telling and +suggestive, commands. + +The first gives solemn warning to beware of fads and of the many popular +doctrines which are mediaeval in their crudities and damaging by their +unconsidered acceptance. + +The second preaches the gospel of _work_ and self-control, which must be +practised in this as in every other connection where progress and good +results are desired. + +The third enforces the doctrine of cleanliness to a degree as +comprehensive as it is unusual--cleanliness in person, dwelling, and +food; in air, water, and decoration; in occupation, environment and +morals; the work of home hygiene being to secure for each family +conditions which will permit normal and unhampered functioning for all +the organs of each one of its members; elasticity and pliancy in the +functions being a primary characteristic of health. + +If once it be accepted that health, capacity, endurance, and energy are +more powerful weapons for a progressive people than are sword or gun, +obedience to these commands will be general and their results enduring. +The pages of history teach us that each nation in turn has exhibited +these qualities at its zenith of success, whether it were the relatively +highly civilised inhabitants of Greece and Rome, or the barbarian hordes +under Attila. They characterise equally each group of successful +pioneers, whether they be the Pilgrim Fathers of the sixteenth, the +Huguenots of the seventeenth, or the successful colonist of the +nineteenth century. When however their cultivation is neglected the +force of the life current of a people or community is lost; the mighty +river of a nation's prosperity dwindles to an insignificant streamlet of +mere existence, soon to be lost to view in the morass of oblivion. + +To what general causes may such deterioration be attributed? Among +the more prominent must be mentioned ignorance of man's physical +nature and of the nurture essential to his welfare; subtle forms of +self-indulgence; lowered standards of morality; enervating luxury, or, +in some cases, so severe a struggle for existence among the salt of +the population (the upper, middle, and professional classes, superior +mechanics and artisans), that even patriotism does not justify a +quiverful of children. But the persistence of these causes is a +national calamity. It is the science and art of hygiene which is +emphasising their disastrous consequences. No longer in its infancy, no +longer a mere collection of fads, questionable statistics, and +empirical doctrines, hygiene is prepared to inform us how to +promote human efficiency in every relation of life--domestic, +occupational, social, and imperial. Its tenets are firmly based upon a +goodly group of sciences, and their utilisation call into play a +whole range of arts. Its theories find confirmation in the social +problems of the day, and the experience gained from their tentative +and partial application affords sound evidence of their worth to the +world. The "expectation" of life, for instance, has been extended ten +years in half a century; in twenty years the death-rate has decreased +thirty per cent. Disease has been found in most instances to be +controllable, and has been controlled; unhealthy occupations have had +their dangers curbed if not entirely banished, and the lot of many has +been immeasurably brightened. _Yet_ the weak joints in the nation's +harness are gaping, and the vigour and virility of the masses appear +to be diminishing. Again we ask, Why? + + +III. STAGES IN THE GROWTH OF SANITARY SCIENCE + +The answer may be found by reference to the late Professor de Chaumont's +now classical outline of the stages to be identified in the hygienic +education of a race. He divided these into three periods, of which he +described the first as merely "Instinctive," for efforts after sanitary +practice were dictated solely by the personal discomfort associated with +their neglect. In those far-off prehistoric days, Professor Boyd +Dawkins tells us that primitive man, then in his nomadic stage, would +dig runnels to carry off the rain water from the near neighbourhood of +his shelters, or would move on to fresh pastures when his family and +herds had fouled the nearest stream, or change his camping ground when +the accumulated refuse of his food and his prowess as a hunter +interfered with convenient access to his dwelling; but he took no +precautions to prevent the recurrence of these discomforts, and his +efforts to remove their consequences were purely temporary. + +To this there succeeded what Professor de Chaumont designated the +"Supernatural" period,[96] which extended over many thousands of years, +during the dawn of which Eastern rulers often combined in their own +person the triple callings of priest, prophet, and physician. Whether it +be in China or in Persia, in Egypt or in India, among the Greeks, the +Arabs, or the Hebrews, the practice of physical morality and of personal +cleanliness, of restrictions of diet or protection from infection, were +closely woven into the religion of the people. Reasons of health and +sanitary advantages permeate the rules of more faiths than that of the +Jews--whose Lawgiver embodied in the Pentateuch health maxims now known +to have been derived from earlier civilisations. + +But, remarkable and interesting as are the ancient sanitary codes to a +generation which professes to believe in the necessity for hygienic +practice, their usage was tinctured from the first by a mass of +superstition. Tradition and fatalism hampered true consistency between +faith and works; the often sound regulations suffered from their +empirical foundations. Constant warfare, varied by alternations of +luxury with asceticism, combined to absorb men's minds and to pervert +their common sense, so that plague and famine, disease and penury, were +superstitiously regarded as discipline from the Deity, not to be averted +or avoided, but rather to be accepted as a chastisement prompted by +love. The creed that to save suffering to the vile body might risk the +salvation of the soul, cost Europe far dearer than is at all generally +recognised; for the noble, the pure, the high-minded, the intellectual, +segregated themselves for centuries in monastery and convent, in the +firm faith that by denying to themselves the joy of parenthood they +promoted the spiritual welfare of their country. Ignorant of their +racial responsibilities, they left as progenitors of the next generation +the less refined and ruder elements in the population. It is no cause +for surprise, therefore, that progress in sanitation moved slowly. +Domestic and urban conditions were permitted of a character well defined +by the facts that, in mediaeval times, a man of forty-five or fifty was +considered long lived, and that first attempts to control disease were +based upon commercial convenience rather than upon the saving of life. + +To this long night of superstition succeeded the third and last period, +known as the "Rational," of which the first dawnings can be detected +even in Plantagenet days. In this period it is desirable further to +differentiate three stages of progress--(_a_) that of Development, when +uneasiness made itself felt, but from absence of knowledge efforts at +reform and control were crude, though often intelligent; (_b_) the stage +of Legislation, and (_c_) the stage of Freedom.[97] + +In the first of these, for instance, Henry III. effected an improvement +on any former practice by bringing water to the city of London in pipes, +made by boring or burning a channel through the trunks of large trees. +Half a century later, in 1297-8, laws were promulgated upon the subjects +of offensive trades, food adulteration, and wandering pigs; while +Richard II. imposed penalties upon those guilty of fouling rivers and +ditches. Out of sight out of mind, however, was the sanitary creed of +this and many succeeding generations, so that too often the apparent +gain of the moment sowed the noxious seed of intensified subsequent +ills. + +Sir John Simon has pointed out that it was not until the early part of +the eighteenth century that hygiene in its modern significance loomed on +the social horizon with clearer outline and more definite aims. A +gradual transformation took place in the next hundred and fifty years, +when the national records, as well as the reports of philanthropic +organisations, indicate the gradual growth of a public opinion which +presently sought its sanitary salvation in legislation. The nineteenth +century saw, as a consequence, the accumulation of a huge mass of public +health laws, designed to accomplish reforms where philanthropy or +self-interest had failed to influence habits. + +The suggested designation, namely, the Legislative, is therefore +peculiarly appropriate for this, the second stage of progress in the +third period of our country's hygienic education. To legislation men +pinned their faith as the most potent weapon of reform. From the first +most inadequate and ineffective Factory Act of 1802 until the enactments +of the last parliamentary session, each year has seen substantial +additions made to the growing mass of sanitary legislation, which has +become unwieldy in bulk and intensely complicated in machinery. + +Any attempt to enumerate even a few of the public health laws which +crowd our statute books would here be tedious and out of place, though +the community in general ought to be better acquainted than it is with +its powers and obligations. For, truth to tell, fifty years of public +health administration has proved that human beings are not yet consumed +with a sufficiently strong desire for health and efficiency to be +willing to change objectionable or unwholesome habits or to sacrifice +their conception of comfort at the _suggestion_ of officials. Indeed +the sterner measures of compulsory conformity were so necessary to the +education of the public in the elements of healthy living, that the year +1866 saw the commencement of a new era in Public Health Department of +the Government. "The grammar of common sanitary legislation,"[98] writes +the historian of our "English Sanitary Institutions," "then first +acquired the novel virtue of an imperative mood." "Must" was substituted +in some laws for "may," and though the permissive has not, even in fifty +years, entirely given place to the peremptory, the efforts to effect +individual reform by Act of Parliament have, since the formation of the +Local Government Board in 1872, assumed more importance and vigour. + +Since that date the reports of health committees all over the country +record the substantial results of persevering work in the interests of +hygiene, qualified by the fact that the experience of other nations has +been abundantly confirmed by our own, namely, that it is futile to +legislate in advance of public opinion. Until the populace has been +impregnated with a knowledge of what is right, right action, though +demanded by its legislators, will be perverted by ignorant intention or +by resentful indolence. Even those who have served the cause of +sanitation most loyally recognise that coercion is but a poor yeast with +which to leaven measures for the public weal; the product is liable to +become sour and worthless rather than wholesome and effective. One +higher grade must be passed by the nation under the tutelage of a +sanitary reform before its education can be called complete. + +The final stage in this last long period is described by Professor de +Chaumont as that of "Freedom," of which the attainment is not possible +until action is based on intelligent individual conviction. Then and +then alone there will be a general recognition that "rights" are +inevitably associated with responsibilities, and that true liberty is +followed not by license, but by self-control and respect for the rights +of others. + + +IV. WHY THE IDEALS OF MODERN HYGIENE ARE NOT ATTAINED + +And so it has come about that, with this ideal in view, the methods of +modern hygiene are directed to awaken the nation's sanitary conscience +and to stimulate the growth of true civic freedom. These methods may be +fairly defined as the working of common sense aided by the results of +scientific research, in their turn supported by very carefully tested +applications. Necessarily it is assumed that each individual will accord +to them intelligent, personal support and, where necessary, will be +willing to sink unreasonable likes and dislikes in the sea of social +service. + +Examples of the enormous benefit inseparable from well-considered +sanitary legislation could be multiplied; though, on the other hand, it +is also necessary to check optimism by many illustrations of the +grievous harm still being wrought by want of thought. Hindrance to +possible progress is also associated with the ignorance of those whose +development has not yet attained the level when freedom of action can be +permitted. It is some of the results of this ignorant indolence which +cause the minds of the thoughtful and far-sighted to be tense with +anxiety for the welfare of their country, and arouse a wish for further +and more stringent public health enactments. Nevertheless, again it must +be said that to legislate in advance of public opinion is futile. Only +after stupendous exertion, for instance, has the serious and continued +mortality among infants excited general attention; and the curious, +widespread indifference to the recommendations of recent Royal +Commissions on the Poor Law and the Care of the Feeble-minded indicates +that, were infant mortality controllable by legislation, such +legislation would still fail of its object unless it were also realised +that a child's hold on life is practically dependent upon parental care, +and is intimately associated with maternal nutrition before its birth. + +Or again; the law relating to the protection of the public food supply +is approaching a high pitch of excellence; the penalties on adulteration +or on the sale of diseased or otherwise unwholesome foodstuffs are +severe and quite frequently inflicted; _but_ these regulations are +powerless to influence the errors of nutrition constantly reflected in +the features of our population at each age period, neither can they stem +the tide of self-indulgence, emotionalism and luxury which enervate and +deteriorate thousands of our people. Vain indeed are their endeavours to +disguise by alcoholism and drugs the traces of their misfortunes. Stern +Nature is relentless; her laws are as those of the Medes and Persians; +the children's teeth _shall_ be set on edge by the fruits of the +reckless folly and intemperance of their ancestors. + +Is sanitary legislation therefore a failure, or by what means can light +from the sun of knowledge penetrate this dense mass of ignorance and +apathy? For what reason has it opposed such a resistant surface to the +manipulations of the reformer or to the coercions of the official? These +questions do not, unfortunately, admit of concise or conclusive +replies. + +Each political party in turn points the finger of reproach and derision +at its opponents for the modest success by which their legislative +efforts at social reforms are attended. Disease, malnutrition, +alcoholism and overwork continue to hamper their efforts, and will +continue so to do, until a sanitary conscience is awakened in each +breast, at an age when habits and ideals are still unformed. + +There is no royal road to the solution of these serious problems. They +call for infinite, patient and untiring tact, while they also demand the +employment of many and varied well-considered methods, based on a sound +foundation of sanitary and social science. The day for reform by theory +is over; the moment for practice by individual example and co-operative +effort has arrived. + + +V. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN'S PHYSICAL NATURE + +Before proceeding to suggest some means by which to increase the +stability of the national health through the agency of family life, it +will be advantageous to recall the advice given to students of any form +of life by Professor Arthur Thomson:--that they should, before +attempting to form conclusions as to its nature, submit its constitution +to analysis, with the assistance of what he described as the biological +prism. This, he says, will throw light on the inherited nature of the +creature--the capital, so to say, with which it is endowed at birth. It +will illuminate the functional nature of its parts, and will reveal what +it does in the course of its ceaseless activities--nervous, muscular and +organic. Further, the prismatic rays will render visible the results of +some of the influences dependent upon the environment with which it is +surrounded, which play upon it before and after birth. Unfortunately +these rays, when directed to human nature, cannot penetrate so deeply +nor divulge so clearly the secrets of this the highest and most complex +form of life, as they do when directed to its simpler manifestations. +All ordinary difficulties are enhanced by our human capacity for racial +admixture and the creation of an artificial environment. + +This much, however, is clearly revealed by a partial analysis. Human +beings, in common with all life, are distinguished by the power of +movement, and are sensitive to many forms of external stimulus:--heat, +cold, electricity, or pressure. They pass their lives in rhythmic +alternations of activity and repose; they breathe; they absorb food to +supply energy and to maintain unimpaired the substance of their bodies; +they excrete waste products. They share with plants and animals an +intrinsic tendency to continue their growth for a certain period and up +to a definite amount, while, at the close of the most pronounced period +of growth, ability to transmit life absorbs the energy hitherto utilised +for personal development, by which means the perpetuation of a species +is secured. Research shows, also without possibility of question, that +certain similar characteristics distinguish the mechanism of every type +of animal life; though the machinery be in some cases of the simplest, +in others highly complex. Thus have been revealed many secrets of man's +physical nature; as, for instance, the knowledge that, in the earliest +stages of their existence, higher forms of life recapitulate more or +less imperfectly certain far-off ancestral phases of development, of +which living specimens are still to be found on the lower branches of +humanity's huge genealogical tree. By means also of the close and +detailed observation of these lowlier organisms a clearer conception +has been formed of the intricacies of growth and the prolonged process +of development in mankind. Just how human beings have come to be what +they are, mentally and morally as well as physically, is a still +unsolved problem. There are, of course, many missing chapters in the +long story of life, though so far no contradictions have been detected +in its arguments. The sad side of this biological lore exists in the now +ascertained fact that the highest intellectual and moral powers, those +last to develop, are the first to suffer arrest or to die away when the +organism is subjected to premature exhaustion or to precocious +responsibility. Predisposing causes are found in disease, dissipation, +or defective nurture. + +Another of the more important lessons to be learnt from the pages of +this book of life's history is the conservative influence of the law of +inherited nature; a law which makes for the preservation of racial types +by suppressing wide deviations from the normal. A familiar illustration +of this may be found in the fact that the children of parents of great +height or of very short stature usually revert to the average of the +race. The significance of this genetic relation in maintaining an +efficient people was unrecognised until quite recent times, and though +valuable evidence is accumulating on the descent of hereditary character +in mankind, no definite conclusions have yet been reached on the +_intensity_ of the transmission of qualities. It is, of course, a +subject of intense complexity, the full discussion of which is here +impossible. In the interests of future generations it is, however, to +be wished that more thought were given to the conclusions it is +allowable to draw. "If," for instance, says a recent writer, "instead of +allowing the race to mate at random we selected both parents for some +one quality, we could raise the intensity of inheritance and establish +gradually, by continued selection, a strain in which the quality reached +a value much higher than the average in the original mixed race...."[99] +Thus could a race be strengthened for life's calls, or, on the contrary, +until and unless the people are awakened to the existence and bearing on +their national security of such fundamental hygienic influences, it can +be emasculated. No such selection is likely ever to dominate human +marriages, but an appreciation of these and similar facts is fundamental +to national progress; and in time the dissemination of such knowledge +will be considered a parental duty, the more urgent since the resources +of civilisation and ill-regulated sympathy have combined to brush aside +the sterner laws of nature, so that the deteriorated threaten to become +the chief progenitors of the next generation. + +During the process of studying the abundant evidence of life's progress +from the simple to the complex, it becomes also apparent that it is +affected by forces other than heredity. Recognition of the ever-present +influence of these potent but often disregarded forces makes for +harmonious living, whereas their neglect is associated with heavy +penalties. I refer to the capacity for individual variation from the +racial type; to the modification of each individual by his or her +surroundings; and to the personal predisposition, technically described +as diathesis, which influences the reaction made to every form of +stimulus. Of these three forces, the first is the result of an inborn +tendency to deviate from the ancestral type; an orderly process with a +definite intention, by no means a mere chance fluctuation. This +certainly makes for progress as well as for interest in life, though it +enhances the difficulties of education, because it demands the +adaptation of conditions to each individual's requirements. The second, +the law of modification, takes into account the influence of environment +upon inherited nature; the effects of climate, and food, for example, or +of forms of occupation. Predisposition is, of course, a personal +quality--a factor of primary importance in our susceptibility to or +power to resist disease or in our capacity to withstand adverse +conditions. This property is responsible for the greater or less degree +of adaptability to new conditions possessed by each of us, and is +concerned with our power to live in tune or at discord with our +surroundings. + +Another biological law, that of periodicity,[100] or of rhythmic +alternations of activity and rest, has hitherto often suffered among +human beings more in the breach than in the observance of its tenets; +though unquestionably conformity to its requirements makes for health +and stability. Throughout nature habits of rhythmic, organic activity +are too familiar to attract attention. Of these, the periodic return of +the seasons, for instance, or the daily tides, the flowering of plants +and the ripening of fruit, the migrations of birds and the hibernation +of certain insects and animals, are obvious examples. These rhythms have +been proved by experience to be advantageous in the world. They make for +efficiency and economise energy, and, from their high degree of +development in man's nature, it may be fairly assumed that to him their +observance is of great consequence. Many of them are beyond his control; +such, for example, as the diurnal variations of his body temperature, +the beating of the heart, the call of hunger, or the rhythm of growth. +Others he can observe or abuse according to his pleasure; sleep, for +instance, or the rhythm of work, or the daily discharge from his body of +its waste products.[101] It is the work of hygiene to demonstrate how to +combine obedience to all these laws with the demands of modern +existence, and it is the duty of man to conform reasonably to modes of +life based on these demonstrations. More especially does responsibility +for the establishment of certain rhythms, such as sleep, devolve upon +the organiser of a child's early life. + + +VI. THE ORIGIN OF FAMILY LIFE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SANITARY SCIENCE + +Further researches into the records of the past, and a closer study of +the underlying principles upon which humanity has formulated many +generally adopted customs, indicate how unexpectedly intimate is the +relation between the growth of a social organisation and the origin of +primitive efforts after the preservation of life and health. The world +at large is so accustomed to the widespread existence of family life +that curiosity is rarely aroused as to its origin, intention and worth; +consequently to ignorance of its significance must be attributed the +assertion that the custom is well-nigh obsolete and the proposal of some +would-be reformers to abolish the institution and to instal the State +_in loco parentis_. + +Professor McDougall[102] assures us that such is the social importance +of the family that all who have given serious attention to the question +are agreed that the stability of the family is the prime condition of a +healthy state. This opinion is supported by other writers,[103] who have +emphasised their conviction that the healthful development of the +individual--even the possibilities of racial progress--depend to a large +degree upon maintaining intact the integrity of family life. Their +conclusions are based upon recent researches into the sciences of +biology, sociology, and economics. + +The origin of this relation is apparently traceable to one of the many +forms of human association which have proved advantageous in the +struggle for existence, when the value to a man and his wife of so +protecting their offspring during childhood that there should be later +on an array of lusty sons and industrious daughters thrust itself on +their notice. The division of strenuous work, for instance, the pursuit +and preparation of food, the effective defence of their rude shelters +against the depredations of their foes, were substantial advantages to +be derived in primitive times from the possession of a large group of +children. Upon the youthful vigour and strength of their family the +parents could rely also when overtaken by the weakness of old age or by +accident or disease. + +These economic and sociological advantages were so early appreciated +and are so widely adopted that traces of family life are to be +detected in the history and customs of every tribe or community +hitherto investigated. The bond thus formed, even amongst the lowest +savages, first developed, then strengthened the ties of natural +affection between a mother and her children and prolonged its +emotional existence. In the case of the paternal parent, it is +probable that the motives which incited him to make the efforts +necessary for the protection of his helpless infants might more +probably be found in the desire to leave an avenger on individual +enemies and a feeling that funeral rites would be duly performed +after his death, as well as his tribe strengthened in war. + +The gradual development of the human home has been admirably described +by more than one writer, who has associated its evolution with the +gregarious instinct, recognised in many of the higher forms of animal +life.[104] Within reason, associated numbers represent power--power +to preserve the progeny, therefore to maintain the numbers, which +again in reason make for social support and independence. Power for +defence, power to secure an adequate supply of food and ability to +differentiate occupations, thus dividing labour, so that while the men +of a family group were engaged in war or the chase, their womenkind +devoted their attention to the creature comforts which promote +health and efficiency--these are all factors which make for progress. + + +VII. WOMAN'S VOCATION IN HOME AND FAMILY LIFE + +And so it came about that to some extent woman's special and privileged +vocation as a home-maker began even in prehistoric times. Upon her it +devolved to rear the children she bore; to cook, to mend, to make, to +spin and dye and weave; to prepare a welcome for the victor and to +minister to the sick or wounded. No sense of menial limitation in +their duties was apparent among the notable women of the past. They +were skilled workers, capable and respected managers, under whose +direction men as well as women carried out the details of daily work, +to whose care in later centuries castle and garrison were entrusted in +the absence of their lords, and who most evidently assumed this +responsibility with confidence and success. + +The changing conditions of the last three centuries, however, reacted in +many ways to the detriment of women's domestic energies and sapped their +pride in the vocation of housewife. Industrial developments took much +occupation out of their hands, and they were not apparently concerned to +undertake others more in consonance with modern life. As concentration +of the population in large centres undermined the last survival of +feudal conditions, the strong conservative instinct of women made it +hard for them to adapt themselves and their households to revised +methods:--to substitute "new lamps for old," so that gradually it seems +women became split up into two parties, somewhat out of sympathy one +with the other. Adherence to the traditions of the past and the +attractions of social life distinguished the one party; a restless +desire to give scope to their whole nature and to work out their own +salvation on unconventional lines possessed the other. In the one case +there was no desire for domestic reformation. What methods could be +better than their great-grandmother's! In the other, glimpses of what +seemed a far wider and more intellectual life than that of the ordinary +housewife diminished interest in the physical needs of human nature, +which it was thought made no claims on mental faculties, and of which +the daily care was constantly associated with irksome restrictions and a +position of financial dependence. + +It is not possible here even to outline the numerous social and +commercial innovations which have modified every side of daily life +for the last two hundred years; but, when inclined harshly to rebuke +women for some of their now almost inexplicable blindness to these +changes, it is well to remember that the flood of new discoveries, new +inventions, new modes of transit, new forms of occupation and +amusement, new means of money-making and fresh excitements imposed an +enormous strain upon nervous systems, still but slowly adapting +themselves to the stir and stress of the modern world. That eyes +should be temporarily dazzled by the brilliance of the "wonderful +century"; that the first results of freedom from a period of unnatural +restraint should be intoxication with liberty, is not surprising. Full +of encouragement is, however, the fact that an increasing number of +women of all ranks are engaged to-day in efforts to direct the light +of modern knowledge to the betterment of human life; the movement +speaks for the innate soundness of their womanhood and for their +realisation of their imperial responsibilities. Many of these efforts +are still unsystematised, many good intentions are held to be of +equal worth with organised practical knowledge; many women are alive +only to the needs of the least favoured of the community and are dead +to the urgent calls for intelligent reforms in their own domiciles. But +if the willing mind be there, the direction of the work into desirable +channels will slowly though surely follow. It is most certainly +unnecessary to pour every girl into the mould of a conventional +German hausfrau in order that she may perceive the inner meaning of +family life. God fulfils Himself in many ways, and diversity of training +and of interests is as beneficial as it is desirable. Neither can the +women of a country single-handed conserve this great institution of +family life. The loyalty of boys and the co-operation of men are +imperative to its preservation. They as well as their mothers, wives, +and sisters must realise its responsibilities and opportunities, and +must maintain the dignified position of those who preside over this +unit of community life; they also must respond to the crying need for +its adaptation to the requirements of modern civilisation. + + +VIII. THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN NATIONAL LIFE + +Mrs. Bosanquet[105] has told us that the most important economic +function of the family to-day is its direct control of the prosperity or +ruin of nations; for here alone are found in combination the forces +which determine the quantity of the population with the forces which +determine its quality. To control these forces offers, to say the least, +a life-work for countless men and women. Both parents must safeguard the +character of their children's inherited nature; both sexes are more or +less directly or remotely concerned in the provision of a suitable +environment for human lives, infant or adult. Under the circumstances it +may well be a matter for surprise that we have been so slow to perceive +that the right performance of these duties demands a preliminary study +of the art of preserving health and promoting progress, and we marvel at +the placid spirit of content which has sanctioned the conversion into a +stronghold of empiricism, the very place where a sound knowledge of +progressive sanitary science is of primary importance. + +In the book to which reference has been already made, Mrs. Bosanquet +also enumerates the causes which in her opinion militate most actively +against the continuance of family life at the present day. Among others +she mentions evasion of responsibility, self-indulgence (with which we +are very familiar), reliance upon external sources of maintenance, and +the unequal distribution among the members of a family of the burden of +support. Further, she refers to the unfortunate failure among parents to +realise that the old Roman customs of parental possession and filial +submission are out of date to-day, and calls upon the wise guardian to +substitute others which lead to loyalty and love. + +The new movement for a study of the characteristics of childhood and +adolescence should materially contribute to the realisation that this +parental attitude of dominant authority must be now associated with and +modified by a more balanced understanding of the phases of youthful +development and of the intricacies of individual temperament. +Convenience has hitherto encouraged the customary regulation of a group +of young lives as if they were one and the same individual, no allowance +being made for variation in character or in age, in propensities or in +health. Each nursery party or infant school serves to illustrate the +point. Individual tendencies to cold or to fatigue, to nerve storms or +to indolence; individual capacities in diet, occupation or exercise, +must be intelligently respected if potentialities are to become +actualities. + +In the well-conducted home, for example, a study of individual character +must in the future replace cast-iron discipline or easy-going, +child-spoiling indulgence. The fact that the early cultivation of good +habits makes for healthful happiness must be generally appreciated; and +the duty of the home to provide opportunity for the exercise of personal +tastes, the importance of training as a relief to nervous strain and as +the best means to develop resource and skill, must be perceived. It will +be by this constant understanding supervision in early years, and later +by the cultivation of an intimate sympathetic comradeship with his +children, that the modern parent will retain for his country the +cementing force of family life. + + +IX. THE MEANING OF INFANCY + +The great discovery of John Fiske as to the reasons for the long +continuance of childhood in man must not be overlooked in this +connection; it bears so directly on health and efficiency, and is +closely associated with the importance of the family to the individual +as well as to the nation. Why, it may be asked, is man's period of +helplessness so prolonged; why, when his brain development reaches so +high a standard, is he for years in a position of entire dependence, +whereas snakelet and chick are practically self-supporting from the hour +of hatching? When the lower forms of animal life are compared with +mankind, the non-existence in their case of any such stage as infancy is +at once apparent. They are brought into the world able to take care of +themselves and to live an independent individual existence. Young pigs +run almost as soon as they are born, young swallows fly directly they +are fledged. + +Now, if the structure of lower animals be examined, it will be found +that they have no central warehouse corresponding to the human brain for +the storage of new sensations or for an elaborate and original response +to them. Each such animal repeats the life of its parents; each responds +in exactly the same way to the contact of air, of earth, of food, or of +water. Their activities, it is true, are distinguished by accuracy and +despatch, but the offspring of a hen of the twentieth century has no +larger capacity for the variation of these activities than has the +chick which was hatched out six thousand years ago. The guinea-pig of +to-day, for example, remains mentally at the level of his thousandth +ancestor. Wherein then lies the difference between the pig and the +baby? + +As animals rise in the scale, as their brains become more subtle, more +elaborate in structure, their actions become correspondingly more +numerous and complicated, more varied, more individual. The nervous +systems of such animals are characterised by an increasing complexity of +development, and this provides the machinery necessary to the +performance of an increasing number of muscular and mental +co-ordinations; they can adapt themselves to unfamiliar surroundings and +possess much enhanced advantages in the struggle for existence. _But_, +associated with these advantages, is a much longer period of immaturity, +because, where the capacity for flexibility and progress is great, the +antenatal period is insufficient for the establishment of the necessary +nervous connections or even for the development of the brain cells +between which these connections will be formed. The chick will have its +full plumage in ten weeks, but mentally it is far below a dog or a +monkey, whose period of immaturity is much longer. Similarly, the dog +attains his maturity long before the monkey, who is infinitely his +superior in fertility of resource, power to learn through imitation, and +capacity for attention. The infant in its turn is far longer in a +dependent condition than the highest ape. + +Relatively large in bulk at birth, and reaching usually its full mass in +the first fourteen years of life, the human brain possesses throughout +childhood vast silent areas, big with future potentialities, areas in +which the cells are slowly ripening to function. Even after full growth +in size is reached, many more years must pass before capacity for the +higher mental functions or for the complete control of such functions +has developed. It must be borne in mind that, throughout this period of +immaturity, errors of nutrition or defective stimulation may interfere +with function. One of the most important duties of the home is to +provide the suited environment for its child occupants during these long +and anxious years. How long they are has been emphasised by Dr. +Clouston,[106] who has said that, of all the periods of brain growth, +the most important, as regards the development of our highest moral and +mental potentialities, is that between eighteen and twenty-five years of +age, when the capacity for self-control should be coming into function +in its highest relations, and when failure to ripen in due course is +fraught with most serious consequences for the future. + +There is no such thing, therefore, as infancy or parental care in the +lowest orders of animal life; of which, one result is a gigantic +mortality among their offspring. Enormous numbers of eggs are laid to +ensure the preservation of the species when left to fend for +themselves. The turbot, for instance, must deposit millions of minute +glassy ova or the species would become extinct. Even among frogs the +destruction of tadpoles is so great that provision must be made to allow +for this loss. The fostering care of birds for their young at once +permits a great reduction in the number of the offspring; but, though +birds give evidence of some capacity for parental care, infancy, as +such, is really confined to mammalian young. Even here it is curtailed +in a vast number of species; but wherever it exists it stands for power +to progress, and represents capacity for benefiting by, indeed depending +upon, education, if only in the simple form of learning by imitation--a +form familiar to readers of such books as Long's "Schools of the +Woods." + +Plasticity is the hall-mark of progress; educability indicates a brain +more or less competent to assimilate, to remember, to compare, to +discriminate. This door of progress has been merely set ajar for even +the higher apes; it is open to man only. The period of plasticity is +evidently prolonged in proportion to the degree in which conscious +intelligence has superseded mere brute force in promoting successful +survival--that is to say, the transmission of _mental ability_ rather +than of _physical strength_ postpones maturity. Man alone possesses in +full the powers of selection and adaptation, of reason and of emotion, +of memory and of mental originality, which are included in his rich +heritage of life. If he is to realise his full potentialities, he must +have protection for years after birth and an extended time for +development. The immature infant must be fed, sheltered, and stimulated, +if the inherent powers of adjustment to surroundings are to develop +normally. But so great is the instability associated with human +immaturity and future potentiality, that arrested development is too +often the heavy penalty paid by the child for the ignorance and +carelessness of his parents.[107] Faults of food and clothing, +insufficient warmth, cleanliness, or exercise, premature work or +precocious responsibility and independence, prolonged overstrain or +insufficient stimulation of mind and body, are the prevalent causes by +which a child's normal growth is warped and prejudiced. Where this +occurs he never enters into his birthright of power; it has too often +been thoughtlessly bartered by his natural guardians, literally for a +mere mess of pottage. + + +X. CAUSES WHICH MENACE HEALTHFUL INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD + +Perhaps one of the greatest inconsistencies of an inconsistent nation +lies in the fact that the extraordinary ignorance of the elementary +needs of a tender infant is not confined to one section of society; it +is found in Belgravia as well as in Bermondsey. Thus, though the chief +sources of the tuberculosis which is responsible for the presence of 45 +per cent. of the children in the London Invalid Schools are confined to +the homes of the poorer classes,[109] inquiries into the incidence of +rickets among children in Glasgow show a higher percentage of cases in +the families of mechanics than of labourers[110]--a clear illustration +that ignorance and not poverty is here the predisposing cause. Impure +air and stuffy, ill-ventilated rooms are concerned in the susceptibility +to both diseases, as is also malnutrition with its associated diminution +of the innate powers of self-protection. But, in the one case, inability +to provide suitable food is the general cause; while in the other, +inexcusable ignorance of the right forms in which food should be +supplied to young children is a certain source of the evil. + +The thought is pathetic, for the causes are wholly preventable. Pitiful +also, because less excusable, is the grievous injury to health +associated with a mouth full of rotten teeth, permitted as it is among +families possessed of sufficient means to meet the cost of cure, who +prefer to spend their money upon dress and amusement, or among the +members of which necessary endurance of a trifling shock has not been +cultivated. Were the foulness of the discharge from a carious tooth to +be externally visible, the aesthetic instinct among the refined would +clamour for prompt treatment; but, unfortunately for health, the results +of the disease are concealed, and consequently condoned. + +Again: light, sunshine and quiet are now known to be essential to +physical development and to the possession of a sound nervous system; +the statement amounts to a platitude, for is not every wealthy invalid +despatched to complete convalescence by the sea or in the country, and +is not the custom of a general annual holiday due largely to the +conscious benefits derived from an open-air life far from the bustle of +towns? Yet physical morality is so poorly developed that the atmosphere +of suburban as well as urban districts is permanently obscured by the +preventable and wasteful results of imperfect combustion, though the +detriment is incalculable to those whose lives see no change of air. +The ceaseless rumble of noisy traffic, allowed to disturb the rest of +thousands, or more probably of millions, of our population, is another +factor responsible for the prevalence of unstable nerves and of +ill-balanced brains. It assumes great gravity when it is realised that +among these sleepers are numbered the children whose hours of rest are +already most seriously curtailed. + +Another sin against childhood bears long enduring fruits. I refer to the +terrible results upon the lives of those infants who survive efforts to +prevent their birth. The fact ought to be, if it is not, common +knowledge; yet the sale of the infamous drugs, necessary to the crime, +by pennyworths, in every drug-store, is tacitly sanctioned by the +community. + +Professor Sadler's[111] determination to direct attention to the +requirements of our adolescents has aroused such response, that excuse +is now impossible for ignoring the detrimental effects upon young people +of unskilled, exhausting "blind alley" work, or of removing prematurely +the restraint of moral discipline and systematised training.[112] +Statistics show not only the economic disasters which result from the +unsatisfactory methods of past years; they bring home also the steady +increase in the percentage of the proportion of nervous instability as +well as of anaemia, which interfere with the form of brain growth so +rapid in adolescence (namely, increase in complexity of association, and +in power to inhibit, to reason, and to concentrate). Another result of +these investigations is to draw attention to the increase in organic +heart disease, which has been shown to occur in more than thirty per +cent. of the London errand boys who are engaged in prolonged work on +Saturdays, as well as in out-of-school hours during the week.[113] + +Should not parents inform themselves diligently on these matters? for +there are warnings and to spare from physician and educationalist upon +this reckless wreckage of the nation's most valuable asset. It was +pointed out ten years ago that the imposition of adult duties upon the +child, or even upon the young adolescent, is the most effective +machinery for the manufacture of the unemployed and the unemployable. +Only now, however, are bye-laws being sanctioned which impose at all +adequate restrictions upon child labour. For a longer period the steady +migration of the rural population from country to towns has been +bemoaned, as coupled with the risk lest the deterioration of the +individual decline into the degeneration of the race. Nevertheless, in +spite of the sustained efforts of the Rural Housing Association and of +private individuals, the housing problem still lies at the root of some +at least of this exodus. Miserable and inconvenient as are hundreds of +our cottages, their number is still insufficient in many places to meet +the demand; so perforce the young people of marriageable age must go, or +the elementary code of decency must be violated. + +The curse of alcohol,[114] too, lies heavy on our land; it shortens +life, incapacitates for work, impoverishes and degrades; visits in +innumerable forms the sins of the parents upon their innocent yet +grievously afflicted children; promotes crime and perverts judgment. +Each year brings more statistical and biological evidence of its +enduring and deteriorating effects upon humanity. It seems strange, +therefore, that the law to insist upon the provision of an adequate +water supply for every dwelling remains entirely insufficient to meet +the most urgent needs of many town streets as well as country villages. +Cleanliness is consequently impossible, and the public-house must be +perforce frequented, for it provides a beverage more palatable and +perhaps as wholesome as the cottager's nearest supply. + + +XI. THE SOURCE OF THESE CAUSES TO BE FOUND IN FAULTY ADMINISTRATION OF +THE HOME + +May not the causes of some considerable proportion of this apathy be +traced to a want of popular faith in the teachings of hygiene? Is not +one source of the prevalent unbelief in its tenets to be found in the +widespread ignorance of the right administration of human life in the +home, which turns out therefore a product of unhealthy, inharmonious +citizens, who are a source of weakness to their country and a menace to +civilisation? How could it be otherwise? If the cradle of life be +defective, and its occupants be debilitated, it is not the nurslings +alone upon whom the penalties will fall; whereas if home administration +be guided by intelligence, and the quality of the inmates be high, +individual and national prosperity are assured. The burden of +responsibility or the privilege of promoting progress (according to the +spirit in which obligations are assumed) rests with those who propose to +be or already are parents; they being influenced in their turn by the +educational and social conditions of their surroundings. Parental care +and intelligent home management are thus intimately concerned with the +physical evolution of the race, as well as with its moral development. +They must, therefore, assume an increasing rather than a diminishing +importance, if the full development of potentialities is to be insured +in the rising generation, and racial progress promoted. Any proclivity +to depreciate the dignity or to undermine the influence of these +institutions must be carefully examined and, if necessary, sternly +repressed. + +The fact that such tendencies show signs of sprouting is, it seems to +me, a serious reflection upon the parental and domestic methods of the +day. There is no smoke without fuel; faults are rarely all on one side; +the young are not necessarily always in the wrong; therefore, a course +of self-examination into their methods and motives may be a wholesome +and fruitful discipline for those who are responsible for the nature and +nurture of our children, and for the stability and efficiency of +adolescent and adult. The absence of elasticity and adaptation to modern +requirements among the elders of a family is often responsible for +miserable homes, and for much arrested development in their inmates. + + +XII. HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES IN HUMAN LIFE + +Such a condition of affairs is, however, no longer to be tolerated; +for the result of research carried out during the past and present +centuries has opened up a hitherto unsuspected vista of progress to +mankind, if and when he is intelligent enough to establish an +harmonious unison between himself and his environment. Once the +jarring discords of debility, disease, and deterioration have been +modulated into the major chords of health--moral and physical--the +latent potentialities of his higher life will be quickened into +productive activity. The misconception of humanity which has denied +to it the power to rise above the level of present attainments, which +has dwelt insistently upon the hopeless degradation of the body, has +brought about a condition of enervating and passive fatalism, based +upon the conviction that all reforming efforts must be directed +solely to the preparation of one part only of man's triune nature for +another and future sphere of existence. The duty and possibility of +building a fit temple for man's spiritual nature here and now is the +ideal of a minority to-day--in the future it will be that of an +overwhelming majority; for the proofs of human capacity for progress, of +man's power to control the forces of nature, are ever becoming more +firmly authenticated, and all that they imply will soon become far +better understood. + +Though our knowledge of the subject is still incomplete and often +tentative, much progress has been made, for instance, in a correct +conception of the means by which the physiological balance of human life +is adjusted, since Metchnikoff[115] drew attention to the interference +brought about in man's normal development by certain fundamental +disharmonies in his constitution, of which the end is premature death, +if not a pathological old age. It is quite evident that unjustifiable +encroachments upon the reserve powers of the human body have been +commonly permitted hitherto, and though each year brings fresh proof of +the extraordinary endowment which it possesses to respond to the +demands made upon it, yet each year also confirms the conviction that +this reserve fund must in future be husbanded and used with economy. +When these powers are constantly drawn upon the body is necessarily +reduced to a lower level of health. If the metaphor be employed of the +body as a building in course of erection, it becomes obvious that if one +of a group of converging thrusts be much weakened or withdrawn, a +skilful rearrangement of forces may meet the strain, but the total +strength of the structure is reduced. In how many cases has the temple +of a child's body been permanently damaged by such withdrawals, or how +many adolescents are launched into life with their capital of health +seriously diminished by premature calls upon its resources. + +The duty to maintain so far as possible a condition of physiological +equilibrium in ourselves and in our children amounts to an obligation; +for which reason health promotion during the plastic period of early +life assumes a new importance. Of course, a certain capacity for +vicarious activity is associated with the various organs of the body in +order to maintain their functions against temporary failure. Healthy +tissues are furnished with power to respond to increased call for +exertion. How often are they most sorely abused and unwisely taxed? Even +now, when made aware of these facts, we are slow to apply to the conduct +of life the lessons thus taught us, and continue to be filled with +self-commiseration for the results to our bodies of overtaxing their +capacity for accurate readjustment. + +It is not possible, much less desirable, that the whole population +should plunge into amateur studies of recent physiological advance, nor +even that it should dabble, as its units are too much disposed to do, in +pseudo-scientific pathological publications. But it is both possible and +desirable for all who assume the direction of their own lives or those +of children to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" some fruits of +the labours of others in the garden of health. + +Were there one fixed standard of health to which all could attain, the +practice of hygiene would be attended by a charming simplicity. +Unfortunately, modern science forces us to conclude that each individual +can only reach his own particular standard of well-being. The grades of +health are consequently infinite in number, and the task which devolves +on parents and guardians to secure that the standard possible to each +child under their care be attained is no light one. So general is the +blindness to these truths, that the degree of health enjoyed is in most +cases far below the possible standard; the results of ancestral vice, of +parental ignorance, or of defective environment having sapped +prematurely the springs of progressive potentiality.[116] The mental and +physical balance is thus rendered relatively less stable and the powers +of resistance to adverse conditions are diminished. + +Happily, by virtue of its inherent power, but strictly in proportion to +the vigour of this power, an organism is usually able to strike a new +balance; for the capacity to regain its equilibrium is exquisitely +delicate in human nature, _if_ the change be neither too sudden nor too +severe. Throughout life this process of self-adaptation to the presence +of morbid influences is constantly exercising its protective power. If, +however, the effort to overcome disadvantageous conditions be very great +or much prolonged, the life of the individual is never quite so vigorous +and symmetrical as it might and should have been. In a luminous address, +delivered at the University of Leeds some few months ago,[117] Lord +Justice Fletcher Moulton instituted a comparison between the human +organism, which invariably tends to swing back to the normal whenever +the balance of health is disturbed, and a ship which has safely +weathered a stormy voyage. The ship, he writes, "is not stable, if +stability means that she can defy the forces that bear on her to move +her from her normal upright position, for ... the slightest roll of the +sea ... will make her heel over. But she is stable, because when made to +lean over, there is thereby generated a system of forces tending to +return her to her place, which grows greater the greater is the +displacement, and thus ultimately becomes sufficient to overpower the +disturbing forces.... As the ship arrives safely, her construction must +be such that disturbances tend to right themselves when stability is +seriously endangered. Some corresponding righting force also tends to +bring back an organism to its normal state." + +The caution may not be amiss that the amplitude of the swing of a human +pendulum, as well as the accuracy of its final balance, depends not only +upon inherited nature and the amount of reserve force possessed, but +will be stable or feeble, durable or transient, according to the +influence of environment. + +In what way, it will be asked, can individual capacity for health be +gauged? to what degree can the power to progress or to resist +encroachments be strengthened? at what age is intelligent supervision +most important? + +No concise and conclusive answers can be given to these most natural +inquiries, but much light has been recently thrown upon the long +duration of immaturity and associated instability in mankind; upon the +power of self-protection inherent in the body;[118] upon the influence +thereon of its environment; upon the penetrating power of heredity; and +upon the urgent importance of the adolescent period. + +Further, it appears that the healthful body is equipped to withstand the +attack of the bacteria of most diseases, though the mechanism of +self-defence is of more kinds than one. Of the different pathological +bacteria identified up to the present, for instance, some appear to be +eminently sensible to one kind of action of normal blood fluids, while +they are in a much less measure sensible, or are, perhaps, entirely +insensible to others; a complication which enhances our respectful +admiration for the marvellous and intricate system which provides for +our bodily welfare. Obviously, human nature would be practically immune +from disease if this protective machinery were always in good working +order: unfortunately this is not invariably the case--hence disease. It +is the duty of hygiene to insure constant physical equilibrium, but the +intricate tactics of Nature are as yet so imperfectly understood that +man is not yet an ally of great worth in her operations. + +Nevertheless, the perception that the secret of individual health lies +in fostering the resistant or protective elements, which should be +present in normal blood, marks a great step in advance; for from it have +originated measures to curtail the course of an illness and to reduce +the risk of its recurrence. It is hardly Utopian to forecast, as Sir +Almroth Wright has done, that the physician of the future will take upon +himself a still higher role than he has hitherto assumed in this work of +the prevention of ill-health, for he will attempt, by means of +systematically strengthening individual capacity for resistance to +disease, to remove the necessity for curing those who have fallen +victims to its attacks. The gain in health, in happiness, in time and in +money would be incalculable. For instance, had the death-rate _all_ over +England during 1908 stood at 13.8 per thousand, instead of at favoured +places only, no less than 33,831 lives would have been saved. Of these +deaths, one-fifth were those of infants under twelve months old, the +majority of them wholly preventable. What a reckless waste of racial and +national capital; what an unnecessary cause of bitter sorrow and +disappointment; what a source of unprofitable expenditure! The +calculation has been made that for each death there are at least six +cases of more or less serious illness, involving confinement to bed for +a few days or a few weeks as the case may be. A simple multiplication +sum will enable the reader to estimate the amount of serious illness +represented by the total arrived at: the loss in time, health, happiness +and efficiency is incalculable. + +The bright prospects for human health in the future, therefore, rely +largely upon the use which will be made of this protective machinery, +and the prospective gain to humanity lies in the hope that when family +histories are kept systematically and the inherited tendencies of a +child are far more accurately known, the invading forces of disease will +never get a footing, because precautions to strengthen the body's own +defensive powers will be taken as a matter of routine practice. The +physiological balance being thus preserved from disturbance, the great +fund of energy now utilised to resist encroachments will be available +for productive purposes. + +So great a reformation cannot of course be brought about till shame is +felt for the scandalously low standard of health now common among all +classes, nor until a general determination is developed to remove the +minor miseries from which we all suffer more or less impatiently. + + +XIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HYGIENE IN FAMILY LIFE + +The result of a curious obtuseness to the economics of personal and +domestic hygiene is also responsible for another serious dereliction of +parental duty, by which health and progress have been grievously, though +quite unnecessarily and constantly, hampered. I refer to the general +failure to economise nervous energy or to take any interest in what is +rightly called mental hygiene. Yet Press and people alike deplore the +evident increase of mental abnormalities, and anticipate the future with +undisguised anxiety. It has been well said that though men carry more of +the wood, women carry not less of the worries of life. They _may_ in +some cases escape the physical toil which strengthens; they do _not_ +escape the mental toil which demoralises and kills spirit and energy if +not body and health. Now, though the brain tissues do not create mental +activities, nevertheless we all know that they are conditioned in some +inexplicable way by that organ. Derangement in any part of the brain +deranges or diminishes its functions; non-development in any part of the +brain can and does arrest mind growth. Chronic over-fatigue and +exhaustion, anaemia however produced, the circulation through the nervous +tissues of impure blood, alter the character of the mental processes. +The results of starvation may so distort them, that the horrors of the +French Revolution are attributed by some authorities to this particular +cause. That the imperfect lymph circulation associated with adenoid +vegetations accounts for much so-called stupidity is one of the first +fruits of the medical inspection of school children; that a severe shock +may destroy intelligence is a fact familiar to every expert in mental +hygiene. If it were generally known to parents that every impression +received by this, the most sensitive of all organs, is stored up from +early infancy, albeit subconsciously, and can at some future time rise +up into the field of consciousness, influencing both thought and action +for good or ill, a very different line of conduct would be taken towards +the persons or the places which make up a young child's surroundings and +most indelibly impress his brain cells. + +It is surely time, therefore, that some broad outline of the process of +normal development of the whole nervous system should be possessed by +all in charge of children. Every mother, for example, should know that +the movements of a new-born baby, such as the facial contortions +observed during sleep, or the stretching and bending of the limbs in +very young infants, involuntary and automatic in character, constitute +the simplest form of nervous activity. They are the necessary precursors +of that intellectual ability, to the development of which parental +ambitions aspire, and should merge into more advanced forms of nerve and +muscle co-ordination, which, rightly utilised, are invaluable agents in +infant education.[119] An intelligent nurse possessed of even this +outline could begin quite early that training in physiological +righteousness and in the strict voluntary control of the whole group of +emotional expressions, of which, as a little reflection will quickly +show, good manners largely consist. Presently, as the brain cells are +stimulated into function by nutrition and a quicker and more extensive +recognition of external sensations is acquired, a child will perform +instinctive movements, such as sitting, crawling, standing, walking, +jumping and throwing. Though considerable latitude must be allowed for +their wide individual variation, failure to display these evidences of +mental progress should call for careful investigation. Later on, skill +in a hundred different forms of muscular activity should be displayed; +but many years will elapse before full control of the body in all its +parts will be acquired, and more years still must roll by before +reasoned control of the mental and moral actions is developed. The last +years of this long period of development are, perhaps, the most critical +of the whole; though all depend for their favourable fruition upon an +infinity of loving care and suitable provision for their appropriate +activities. + +There would be a marked reduction in exhausting disciplinary +difficulties were every parent aware that, to the almost vegetative +character of the first few post-natal months (when sleep will or should +absorb at least twenty hours out of the twenty-four), will succeed a +period of extraordinary activity, which lasts till about eight or nine +years of age, when the mind is essentially an exploring organ; +imitative, impressionable, retentive. Every legitimate opportunity for +the liberal gratification of these characteristics should be provided, +as well as suitable surroundings for the eager, inquiring brain. +Elaborate toys are not necessary, nor is premature book-learning +permissible; but freedom to investigate, to experiment, to test, to +explore, is the child's urgent need, as well as suitable arrangements +for the intervening periods of profound sleep. Repressed activity is +often responsible for breaches of discipline; so is insufficient sleep, +following on over-excitement, accountable for "temper" and passions. + +The next phase of growth is still distinguished by this continued +capacity for and dependence upon muscular activity, but the mind +becomes more reflective, more productive. The power to initiate should +develop during this stage of development, as well as increased power to +control mental and bodily functions; and, throughout each of these +periods, there should be a steady, unintermittent formation of good +habits. At first, the nature of these will be chiefly physical; the +habitual performance of the bodily functions should be safeguarded, +until their neglect is attended by discomfort and their violation +becomes almost painful. Then, by degrees, the moral and mental nature +develops. + +Thus is the child prepared for the stress and turmoil of the long and +anxious years of adolescence; when, under the influence of new emotions, +of fresh temptations, of unfamiliar powers, the character built on the +sands of parental indulgence is undermined, if not swept clean away; +whereas when built on the firm rock of good habits it emerges unshaken +from the storm. + +That childhood is an honourable estate must be now evident; pregnant as +it is with possibilities, pathetic in the risks associated with its +plasticity and dependence. Should it therefore be necessary in the +twentieth century to point out that, when the fund of nervous energy is +constantly exhausted by deficient sleep and poor food; when a demand on +function in advance of what nature is prepared to comply with is +persistently made, as it has habitually been in our schools; when +exaggerated and pernicious stimuli are allowed to fatigue and to +paralyse our child population; when inadequate training in the right +conduct of life is provided, and no information given on the dawning +functions of potential parenthood; when premature responsibility is +imposed or precocious and unwholesome independence is permitted; worst +of all, when, through parental disease or alcoholism, the brain tissue +is of too poor a quality to resist the strain of modern life--it is no +matter for surprise that mental instability and insanity are on the +increase, nor that degenerates hamper by their helplessness and crime +the productive capacity of the normal. + +The importance of mental hygiene calls for no more emphasis on my part; +though, did space permit, further illustrations might be given of its +scope. It includes the methods in our nurseries, the curriculum of our +schools, the care of our adolescents, the increasing differentiation of +our industrial processes, the character of our often miscalled +recreations. It is concerned with the warding off of nervous breakdowns, +and, with Goethe, it would call the attention of all women to the fact +that the secret of rest is found not "in quitting a busy career, but +rather the fitting of self to one's sphere." It views with anxiety the +growing disregard of religious obligations and restraints, and +emphasises the grave antenatal responsibilities of parents for their +offspring; they who should be the most ardent advocates of a sound +heredity, as well as the promoters of a good home environment for their +children. + + +XIV. WOMAN'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HOME ADMINISTRATION + +Thus, though the human constitution is still imperfectly understood, +though its intricacies and the details of environmental influences are +still mainly undefined, the women of every nation must nevertheless see +to it that progress in the administration of the home keeps pace with +modern demands for revised methods and less conservative practice, in +order to give every chance of normal health to their occupants. + +It is a serious reflection upon many housekeepers that the hall-mark of +progressive civilisation, namely growth in power to organise, is +generally absent from their domestic methods. The time will come when it +will be to them a matter for the deepest searchings of heart that they +are directly and inexcusably responsible for a mass of the disharmonies +which disfigure the fugue of family life. The fact is too certain to be +denied. Homes have not developed in proportion to the opportunities +offered, and the chief opponents to progress have been their organisers. +The economic link they form between the physical economics of the +individual and the social economics of the nation has been unnoticed. +Reference to the hygienic significance of due economy of time, of +strength and of health, as well as of money, has hitherto been generally +met with incredulous smiles; and though home has been extolled as the +place for children, how scant has been the attention devoted to their +legitimate requirements, and how few demands for special training have +emanated from, or been attempted by, those who have undertaken the sole +charge of young lives during their most important and impressionable +years. + +The new movement, designed to foster the science and art of right +living, cannot gain strength and influence unless it receives the +whole-hearted support of the millions of women whose lives and energies +are absorbed in the care of man's physical needs. It behoves _them_ to +recognise that intuition and tireless industry are insufficient +qualifications for their imperial service, and they must themselves +promote the substitution of systematic training for rule-of-thumb +anomalies. + +This training must be varied and comprehensive. No other profession is +concerned with so many interests nor associated with more fateful +responsibilities. For those who can afford the time, it should include a +general acquaintance with the biological basis of life, and should +further direct attention to the vast mental and moral endowments which +give pre-eminence to our race. The products of literature and art and +the records of natural and moral science afford ever present evidence of +the extent of these endowments, and of the executive capacity associated +with their utilisation. + +Chemistry must play a prominent part in the training, were it only for +the insight it gives into the inviolable law of cause and effect! +besides which physiologists tell us that the chief commerce of our +bodies with their environment is chemical; therefore, this subject +becomes an indispensable element in any comprehensive course of domestic +training. Without a working acquaintance with the physics of water, of +heat, or of air, a housewife is at the mercy of her architect, if not of +her plumber and her servants. In the absence of an introduction to +bacteriology she lives in constant perplexity over the vagaries of her +larder; and is at a loss to understand the sources of fermentation or +the methods of infection by the majority of known diseases. Without an +insight into economics she is helpless in the hands of the advertiser or +the vendor of patent preparations, all of whose wares are warranted to +perform impossible feats with an infinitesimal expenditure of trouble. +At their best these preparations are expensive, and at their worst they +are injurious to health. + +Some personal practice of the domestic arts is also advisable even for +the wealthy; it is indeed essential to a right adjustment of the daily +duties in a home, though naturally the degree of skill acquired will +depend on the style of living. A study of hygiene in sufficient detail +is of course imperative, and while it will remove difficulties by +explaining common errors in diet, habits, and dress, it will be found +materially to lighten labour. Finally, hygiene will render extraordinary +assistance in the right rearing of children and in the general +arrangements of family life. + +The objections may here be advanced that the study of these scientific +subjects is uncongenial to those whose temperaments are artistic or +literary; upon these people sanitary science has surely meagre claims, +while life is not long enough for all to pursue such exhaustive studies. +The reply to the first objection must be in the negative. There can be +no health under modern conditions of existence unless those who assume +responsibility in the affairs of men possess a scientific acquaintance +with its right regulation. The subjects just enumerated are the very +pillars which support the temple of Hygeia. But, for the encouragement +of these complainants, be it added that the temple walls demand +decoration; the shelves must be filled with wholesome mental provender; +the gifts of both artist and author are therefore contributory to +harmonious living, and an unlimited scope is offered to their +utilisation. The building which shelters a healthy family, for instance, +should be characterised not only by advances on existing provisions for +convenience but by symmetry in its parts. The test of beauty (use, ease, +and economy) can certainly not be passed by a large proportion of modern +houses, neither do they provide the space which gives to each occupant +"a chance to utilise his own gifts or to pursue his own hobby." Space +needs in its turn regulation, for the saving of steps must be considered +and compactness is essential. Decorations and furniture should also be +suitable in form and colour to their purpose, not a mere heterogeneous +confusion of inappropriate colours and articles, out of tune one with +the other. + +The natural needs of normal children, too, must be more taken into +account in the future than in the past, and the conveniences offered by +scientific progress must be far more generally introduced into the most +modest homes. Here is a huge field for intelligent, artistic work; for +true beauty and real utility are near of kin. + +It has been said that as in the world of life the localisation of +function made the organ subsequently to become responsible for that +function, so may the differentiation of labour develop individual +talents, just as the exercise of our vital activities has led to the +differentiation of parts in a house. Thus, as satisfaction of hunger is +a first necessity, eating made the kitchen, where means for the +gratification of this instinct were localised. By degrees the growth of +men's social and intellectual demands led to the setting apart of a +chamber for conversation; that is, the parlour. Storage of bread called +the pantry into existence; increased refinement necessitated a scullery +for the washing of cups and platters. Centuries, however, elapsed before +the enlarging personality of the individual demanded privacy for the +toilet and the right to isolate himself periodically from the bustle and +publicity of group life. The general provision of separate bedchambers +for each unit of a household is not even yet habitual, though most +desirable in the interests of health. Reparation of the omission will +mark a further phase of social evolution, and will remove one +disintegrating force now continually at work in home life. Here again +the artist will most advantageously collaborate with landlord and with +health authorities to devise means for the suitable satisfaction of this +laudable demand. + +Further objections to the adoption of any comprehensive schemes for +training housewives of all ranks are found in the apparent want of time +available for the purpose and the prohibitive cost incurred if the +period of education be prolonged. The best answers to both objections +are found in the movement now active all over Europe and North America +to furnish more and fuller opportunities for this training, and to +extend, not curtail, its duration. More than this: this movement, which +generally originated in the desire to improve home life among the +poorest, has recently extended itself just as generally to institutions +for higher education, upon whose pupils and students its claims are now +recognised. There is no suggestion, for instance, in Germany or England, +Norway or the United States, of restricting the education of girls by +this movement or of prematurely enforcing upon them technical +instruction. The growth of public opinion is due rather to a belated +realisation that the end of all education is the betterment of life, and +that suggested applications to the practical concerns of daily life in +the course of a girl's general education make for the sounder +assimilation of theory by the pupil, and are thus contrived a "double +debt to pay." + +The progress of preventive medicine has also introduced another +incentive to the diffusion of this training; for it affords convincing +proofs that the foundation of the national health is laid in the home. +If, however, the foundation is permitted to be imperfect the edifice +must necessarily be unstable. + +Among other influences prejudicial to family life, the force of +which was for a long time unsuspected, mention must be made of modern +industrialism, the reopening of professional life to women, with its +associated financial independence and the increasing seductions of +society. For a century past the tendency has been to discredit +housekeeping as an unsystematised occupation, which has emphasised +the common and sometimes humiliating financial dependence of its +representatives. The first nation to perceive the importance of +stemming this dangerous tide was the United States, where conclusive +demonstrations are now offered of the fact that intelligent housekeeping +calls for a high degree of capacity, and that its problems demand the +resources of a university for their solution. By the recognition of +housecraft as a profession, American colleges accomplished even more +than at first they anticipated. A satisfactory proportion of their +students return to home life convinced of its scope and importance, and +satisfied to perform the duties which there present themselves, instead +of seeking outside occupations and divorcing themselves from family +interests. The King's College Course for graduate students in Home +Science and Household Economics bids fair to exercise an influence of +as satisfactory, though naturally of a slightly variant, character. + + +XV. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HOME + +If the functions of the home are briefly enumerated under three heads, +no hint of exaggeration will attach to the assertion that by _its_ +atmosphere children are modified in soul and body, and that upon _its_ +outlook depends the ideals and health of all its occupants. + +The first function of the home may be fitly defined as _Protective_. +If its evolution be traced it will be found that home life originated +in a craving for warmth, safety, and shelter; in the desire for a place +where the weary could rest and where security from ill was assured. +Physical comfort, sympathy and sanctuary are, or should be, primary +characteristics of every home. + +The second function of the home is _Educational_. It is largely +responsible for the systematic formation of good habits, which should +here be stimulated by example and precept, and every advantage taken of +the imitative instincts so powerful in early life. Within its precincts +care can be exercised to afford opportunity for the development of +individuality; it is also, _par excellence_, the place for early +training in the judicious expenditure of energy and in the acquirement +of self-control. Such training improves brain power, relieves nervous +tension, and obviates the tendency to mental and moral confusion and +disorderliness which is associated with its absence. In a good home the +child's sanitary education should be fairly complete, at least in its +main principles, before the infection of bad habits from without can +interfere with automatic practice or weaken faith in home standards and +conduct. Regular washing of the teeth, for instance, should be early +inculcated, and rigid conscientiousness in matters of personal +cleanliness:--external, by bathing, rubbing, and brushing; internal, by +strict daily attention to the bodily functions. Slow and thorough +mastication of food should be cultivated, as well as good habits of +posture, of enunciation, and of regular exercise. Last, but not least, +habits of prompt and cheerful obedience, of truthfulness, and in due +course of moral purity, must be wrought into the very fibre of a child's +being. The discipline of home ought to be above all things consistent; +gentle, though firm and well considered. The virtues of obedience, of +self-restraint, and of respect for others should become instinctive +almost from infancy; for they sow the seeds of physical morality in +later life. + +The third function of the home is _Social_. Before the present era of +"only" children, the exaggerated individualism was uncommon, of which +many of them are now unfortunately the victims. When large families +were the fashion, the give-and-take in nursery and schoolroom gave +early training in the duty of participation in the interests, the +pleasures, or the sorrows of others; it rubbed off the rough angles +of selfishness and gave invaluable lessons in consideration for those +whose circumstances varied from immediate individual experience. The +wider social sphere, for which much of the rough and tumble of +family life was an excellent preparation, was not familiar then to +young children as it is now, when the modern child's premature +introduction to its attractions is not only a constant source of +physical detriment and of mental exhaustion, but tends to disguise +its real character and to stimulate precociously the capacity to +respond to its demands. Occasional glimpses of this larger life are +a desirable part of home education; but constant familiarity with +its excitements is to be sternly deprecated in the causes of health +and of mental stability. + +Where and when, then, are "only" children to receive this necessary +social training, occupants as they are of solitary nurseries; or where +are these qualities to be developed in the millions of children reared +under circumstances of such acute overcrowding and poverty that the +amenities of life are obscured by its fierce and exhausting conditions? +Observation shows that the function of accomplishing this training is +steadily devolving upon the school. Unfortunately, though the school +_does_ offer necessary opportunities for social intercourse, this +intercourse is relatively of an advanced type, which presupposes some +previous training in the more elementary principles of community life, +most fitly acquired at home. This tendency to force the school to +_supplant_ instead of to _supplement_ home training must be resisted, as +it involves loss to parents as well as to the children themselves. + +The stress here laid upon the social function of the home may seem to +some exaggerated, and its association with the subject of this paper +may appear far-fetched; but to the writer its pressing importance calls +for this emphasis, for its connection with habits of sanitary practice +within and without the home is of the closest. The social spirit is the +very essence of sympathy; it exercises the imagination, it widens the +horizon, it quickens the sense of duty and of self-respect. If +graduation through the school of domestic, social training be omitted +in childhood, the realisation of personal responsibility is too often +indefinitely postponed. Consideration for others, care for their +welfare and personal sacrifice for their protection, must ever bulk +largely in importance throughout life, and must always be associated +with self-respect and self-control. When this sense of personal +responsibility is habitual, conduct which makes for limitations of +health in self, family, or neighbours will appear unjustifiable; and +neglect of either domestic or civic duties will become as unpardonable +as it is unpatriotic. + +But antecedent to the attainment of this ideal, fundamental even to its +entertainment, is the adjustment or readjustment of home influences +or methods, as the case may be, to a higher standard. A better +understanding of the constitution of those for whose welfare the home +is established must also be insisted upon as an integral part of +general education. + +It may be wise to point out that no proposal to sweep away in wholesale +fashion all the domestic traditions and family methods of this or any +other phase of civilisation is even suggested. Apart from the +impossibility of such a holocaust, treasures of great worth have been +handed on to us by our forebears, of which the majority only need some +slight readjustment to enrich many generations yet to come. + +To take a somewhat extreme example. The mention of such homely, +old-fashioned, domestic remedies as black-currant tea for a bad cough, +or soap and sugar plasters for a boil--genuine relics from our +grandmothers--now usually excite a smile of derision; nevertheless they +have been instanced by one of our most able living pathologists[120] for +their admirable adaptation to their purpose, and have been shown to rest +upon a hitherto unsuspected basis of physiological therapeutics. + +Another illustration may be drawn from the nursery tradition that bad +temper is often effectually cured by a dose of rhubarb.[121] Carefully +conducted observations upon children confirm the conventional +connection of peevishness with disordered digestion. It has been found +that gastric indigestion produces oversensitiveness, fretfulness, and +irritability, while chronic constipation results in erratic conduct, +stupidity, languor, headache, and moodiness. These effects may be so +far-reaching that, for no other reason than chronic constipation, +children may lose a large proportion of the advantages provided in +school life; they may even run the risk of being classed as "backward," +from the interference with mental progress of the food poisons +reabsorbed into their circulation. + +Modern methods of child training lay great emphasis upon the prevention +of these or kindred conditions by early formation of good habits; or, +when carelessness necessitates curative treatment, our old nurse's +panacea of drugs is the last resort; the first consists in attempts to +re-establish normal functions by the more natural means of suited food +and special exercise. + +It is time, too, that the so-called "hardening fallacies," responsible +for the maiming of countless lives, were finally exposed and exploded. +The idea, for example, dies hard that beneficial endurance is cultivated +by exposure to cold; therefore, bare necks, arms and legs are lauded as +means of developing a Spartan spirit in young children. Now no profound +study of hygiene is required to demonstrate the close interdependence of +warmth with growth and nutrition, or to show that the chilly and +underclothed, sedentary child is both stunted and starved; whereas the +suitably clothed and freely active child is able to carry on unhampered +the necessary processes of growth and development.[122] So important is +warmth to the infant, that _eighty per cent._ of the total energy +derived from its food is utilised for the maintenance of the body +temperature essential to growth and for the activities of the organic +and muscular systems. + +Children, in accordance with the law of the relation between mass and +surface in a cube, have, relatively to their mass, about thrice the body +surface possessed by an adult. The greatest loss of heat occurs by +radiation from the skin and by the evaporation of sweat, therefore undue +loss from this extensive area should be prevented by its suitable +covering; otherwise the child is placed at a far more serious +disadvantage than would be suffered by an adult similarly situated; for +in his case growth as well as equilibrium must be maintained. Few +parents realise the further fact that the power of heat regulation is +very imperfect at birth; indeed its slow development accounts for the +instability of a child's temperature for many years after. The fallacy +therefore of seeking to strengthen a young life by inadequate clothing, +by enforced and prolonged inactivity, or by abstinence from the source +of all energy--food--must be persistently exposed. Quite recently, also, +Dr. Eurich has advanced evidence to show that the quality of sleep is +adversely affected where the sleeper is insufficiently protected from +cold, thus emphasising the injury to health associated with going to bed +with cold feet. + +All parents are ambitious that their offspring shall be distinguished by +the energy, the stability, the endurance and the power which +characterise the cream of humanity. The lives of young people are +carefully planned with this object in view. The waking hours of most +girls and boys are distributed in ordered sequence between what is +intended to be concentrated work and vigorous more or less exciting +play. But the fact has been very commonly ignored that these young +people are built up of young cells, which cells are passing through +almost every conceivable phase of instability in the course of +development; consequently recurring periods of leisure and rest are as +important to nutrition and nervous stability, more especially in the +case of girls, as are the most elaborate arrangements for exercise. Thus +it comes about that many youths and maidens suffer from chronic though +unrecognised fatigue, while others are unable to employ pleasurably even +a short space of "time to themselves," finding no interest in +occupations from which excitement is absent. The habitual limitation of +the hours of sleep among the rising generation is equally serious. The +loss which would be unbearable,[123] says Dr. Acland, even among our +most favoured children, were it not for the indulgence permitted them +during their long holidays. Is it not a parental duty to insist upon the +necessary provision for rest being made in every school, and ought not +inviolable rules upon the subject be laid down in their home circles? +Sleep, be it remembered, is the property of animals possessed of brains +and endowed with consciousness; it affords mechanical rest, and is +accompanied by a respite from the chemical changes which are +particularly rapid during childhood and adolescence. The intense +activity of the child's waking hours must be counterbalanced by ample +periods of entire rest. Habits of prolonged profound sleep are said to +be the best investment against mental instability and insanity; yet +parents permit a constant loss of from two to four hours' sleep each +night throughout the long period of immaturity.[124] Our newspapers and +lunatic asylums bear evidence to the price paid for this now inexcusable +carelessness. + +Many more examples might be given of similar fallacies which apply to +later periods of life. How soon will a loving daughter allow herself to +learn that the consumption of large quantities of highly nutritious food +will not make for the prolongation of an aged parent's life? The fact +that abstemiousness and rigid conformity to the "simple life" are not +coincidents of longevity, but contributory to it, should be now common +knowledge. When will the day come that the fact will be accepted that +alcohol does not warm and protect the consumer, but actually lowers the +temperature, and by this means, in cold weather, renders him a more +ready prey to the effects of exposure. When will the value of good work +cease to be measured by the exhaustion it brings about or the breakdown +to which it conduces? Is it not, time that the housewife should be +abashed rather than self-commiserating when a bad cold runs through her +household, for observation of certain elementary principles of +disinfection would go far to avert such a catastrophe? When will the +fallacy be destroyed which gauges the strength of a disinfectant by the +pungency of its odour? The knowledge now available on these and many +other points only awaits assimilation by the housekeepers of the empire, +to serve as a powerful lever by which to raise the standard of health in +its every part. + + +XVI. HOME LIFE AN IMPORTANT SPHERE FOR SANITARY SCIENCE + +The urgent call for a more intimate acquaintance with these tenets of +domestic sanitary science calls for no further examples, though at the +risk of wearying the reader one or two more may be selected to +illustrate their claims upon every member of a household. + +It behoves the householder, in the first place, to choose his dwelling +with care; and, in the second, to maintain the health of its inmates by +his own conduct and by compliance with the requirements of public health +enactments. He must be generally acquainted, therefore, with the +essentials of a healthy home and with the obligations he must fulfil or +the demands he may legitimately make upon local authorities and +neighbours; otherwise he cannot insure that his own care is not +frustrated by derelictions of duty on the part of others. The selection +and purchase of the family's food will probably devolve upon his wife, +but it rests with him to insist that this food is produced, transported +or distributed, with due observance of cleanliness, and that reliable +protection from sophistication or adulteration is maintained. If +conformity to necessary standards as well as the good quality of their +products is to be safeguarded, the premises of dairy, bakehouse, +slaughter-house, laundry, market, and local purveyor of goods should +come under his intelligent inspection. The surroundings as well as the +conveniences of a house also call for careful consideration, especially +when some of its inmates are of tender years; and the reminder that to +the provision for light and air in its rooms must be assigned a greater +prominence than the mere prettiness of external elevation is still +necessary. It is the householder who for some time to come must from his +wider knowledge of economics personally safeguard his women-folk from +unnecessary exertion and chronic fatigue, by the provision of efficient +fittings and equipment, by a judicious expenditure upon labour-saving +devices, and by insistence upon adequate rest, recreation, and +remuneration. To the graduate in the school of personal experience the +duty of public service will next arise, in order that the advantages +enjoyed in his own home may be extended to those for whom cheap housing +must be provided. Civic claims must in the near future appear much more +prominently than hitherto in the balance-sheet of duty. + +The necessity for a study of child life and its requirements ought to be +realised by both parents before the bitter results of inexperience have +permanently shadowed their home. This should be pursued by the man as +well as the woman before marriage is consummated, if their offspring is +to be "well born" and well nurtured. + +Maternal care is of course the more conspicuous during the first ten +years of a child's life; but during the next fifteen, more especially in +the case of his sons, it is the father's example, sympathy, and +companionship which will steer them healthily through the stormy seas of +adolescence, which will safeguard them from pernicious habits and will +extend a helping hand in moments of temptation. + +To enumerate the opportunities for hygienic practice by the prime +organiser of domestic methods--the mother--is almost superfluous at this +point. It is the foundation upon which depends the welfare of each +member of a household; for it is the housekeeper who plans the food and +is responsible for its character and suitability to age, season, health, +and occupation. It is she who superintends, if she does not carry out, +the details of cleanliness, so arduous and discouraging in our great +cities. It is she who selects the clothing of her family; who directs +the order of their lives:--their work and play, their rest and exercise, +their sleep and their habits. It is her place to shake faith in popular +patent preparations, by good reasons and demonstrations of their +exaggerated claims on purse and person.[125] It is her example which +sets the tone in recreation, pursuit of hobby, or choice of literature. +It is her infinite, understanding patience which cements breaches in +family love; it is her skilful treatment which heals wounds, spiritual +as well as physical. It is her privilege to devise better methods for +daily doings and to appreciate the principles of sound economics. It +falls on her to discourage futile expenditure of health, time, or +temper; to be alive to possibilities of progress; to show by her deeds +how profound is her faith in the dignity of a home-maker and her +recognition of the extraordinary demands made by her profession on +intelligence, moral capacity, and mental attainments. + +It has been slowly dawning upon some minds for half a century at least +that kitchen methods in many of their details fail to meet the +requirements of sanitary science. The ordinary cook does not even +suspect what cleanliness means from the laboratory point of view; +neither, alas! does her mistress, in the case of 90 per cent. of +middle-class housekeepers. Both alike cheerfully ignore the relative +value as cleansing agents of boiling as compared with "scalding" water; +and refer to the broad shoulders of the weather or, quite frankly, to +bad luck, the waste of food directly attributable to ignorant and +uncleanly methods in market, purveyor's cart, or scullery. Yet no valid +excuse can now be offered for ignorance of the real causes of the +souring of milk, the tainting of meat, or the decay of vegetables; +neither is it permissible to entrust to the untrained the care of larder +and refrigerator, except under intelligent supervision. It is of course +a sign of progress that the modern housewife prides herself upon the +delivery of the daily milk supply in bottles. But a quite superficial +acquaintance with bacteriology would show the imperfect character of +such a protection. The milk may still be poured by the cook from the +unwashed mouth of a bottle, grasped, even if but momentarily, by the +hand of a milkman, which shortly before was caressing his horse or +serving him as a substitute for a pocket-handkerchief! When the numerous +uses of paper in the kitchen are considered, the advantage of a +scientific acquaintance with its constituents and absorbent properties +should hardly need emphasis. But the _laissez-faire_ attitude, common in +many households, permits newspaper or brown-paper bags of questionable +antecedents to be used indiscriminately for the lining of cake tins or +the draining of fried foods. Should this be tolerated any longer? + +A sounder knowledge of the risks to health associated with unwholesome +food would surely check the growing disposition to purchase provisions +over the telephone, instead of by personal inspection and careful +selection; for the risks associated with stale vegetables or with +"woolly" fish would be recognised, in the light of this fuller +knowledge, as too serious to be encountered by any one responsible for +the health of a household. Again, cold storage is so justly credited +with the numerous and unquestionable benefits which it confers upon the +housewife, that she is apt to forget the coincident dangers; only +through tardily acquired experience does she become aware that foods +which are thawed after freezing possess a singular faculty for rapid +deterioration, and undergo subtle and detrimental changes when so +preserved over a long period. No excuse for continued ignorance as to +the changes responsible for such deterioration is now permissible; +neither can it be condoned in connection with the "flora" of the +refrigerator, now known to be accountable for the unpleasant and +all-pervading flavours of the food stored in such a receptacle, and +itself the product of defective cleanliness. The idiosyncrasies of +different groceries, as regards temperature and receptacles, have +hitherto received no attention, though the art of preserving fruits, +fresh as well as dried, is better appreciated than was formerly the +case. + +It would be easy to show, too, did space permit, what ample scope there +is for the application of sanitary science in the storeroom, as well as +the true hygienic inwardness of frequent coats of limewash in larder and +scullery, not to mention the worth of impervious coverings to their wall +surfaces and shelves. This suggests the inquiry: How many women to-day +are versed in the external tests, simple as some of them are, which can +be applied to tins containing foodstuffs, with the object of gauging the +quality of their contents; or who among our ordinary housewives +understands the reasons for the employment of reliable, _domestic_ +methods of preserving the contents of the larder, such as sterilisation +by the use of heat, or why fat, sugar, salt, or vinegar are preferable +to the seductive yet questionable chemicals, so attractive to the +producer and purveyor of provisions? + +A better understanding of the relation of sanitary science to daily +life would also facilitate some of the painful steps which must +inevitably be taken, in order to bridge the gulf set between the feudal +methods of the past and the modern problems of domestic service. That +the isolation from her kind of a "general" servant predisposes to +anaemia is stated as a fact on good authority, but it is certainly +not generally known. That absence of opportunity for recreation or +social intercourse has led and may lead again to deception, if not to +worse, is recognised unwillingly, if at all. That human nature is +physiologically similar, however diverse its external appearance and +standards, is very hard to realise or to act upon; so the fact that +suitable provision for bathing and wholesome sleep by dependents is not +always made, is apt to be ignored on economic grounds; and the resultant +complications are assigned to any but their real cause. + +The solution of another of the acute problems of the day depends upon +the women also of this country. I refer to the character of the +influence, an influence of the most intimate, to which young children +are subjected during infancy. In addition to vulgarities of conduct or +enunciation, actual moral harm may be suffered from want of care in the +choice of a child's attendant. Bad habits, impossible to eradicate, are +to be traced to this source only. Their hygienic import calls for no +further stress. Their prevention rests entirely with the child's +parents. + +Another illustration of the need for a better acquaintance with +hygiene is found in the general custom of entrusting the preparation +and care of the daily diet to empirically prepared, ill-informed, +young women. Ascertained facts in connection with, for instance, +"typhoid carriers"[126] should have surely created almost a panic in +the households of England; but it is rare to learn that even one +mistress has inquired into the personal habits of her cook, or that she +has concerned herself personally in the cultivation of most careful +attention to necessary hand-washing by her household. A mere tyro in +sanitary science would take warning and be on her guard against this +and other disgusting and preventable sources of domestic infection. + +Finally, the protective function of the home must not be allowed to +obscure the educational and social. It is the right of all children to +be trained in habits of social, as well as of family, sanitary service. +Very early the love of ceaseless doing, by which these little people are +distinguished, can be taken hold of as an agent in this department of +education. Habits of neatness and order, of kindness and ready help, of +self-sacrifice and self-control, become lifelong in their persistence +and develop a physical as well as moral conscience which makes for +public health. But, without appropriate stimulus this interest in +others, this sense of civic obligation, remains in abeyance. Therefore +girls should be encouraged in the educational practice of the domestic +arts about the age of thirteen or fourteen; though instruction in the +care of children may be postponed for a year or two. Always it should +precede marriage and be adapted to the prospective social sphere of the +pupils. It would be advantageous to foster the interest of boys in +social sanitation by the introduction of some equivalent training into +their curriculum. + +Enough has been said to show that knowledge of household administration +must soon become an indispensable qualification for any woman who +undertakes the charge of human lives, whether it be as wife or guardian, +as official or philanthropist, as physician or educator, as head of an +institution (such as orphanage, asylum, hospital or prison), or as +almoner of public funds. To be practical and influential this +comprehensive subject must be systematically acquired and securely +based; it must be accorded the support of men, and it must receive the +recognition due to its imperial importance. Thus sustained and +fortified, acquaintance with all that is comprehended in the domestic +administration for good of human lives will lead our women to redeem +their many shortcomings in the past, and will stimulate them to assume +with courageous confidence their weighty responsibilities in the present +and future. + +Whether prepared or not for their discharge, these responsibilities +cannot be evaded. Upon their capable fulfilment depend human health and +happiness. "Health and good estate of body are above all gold," said +Ecclesiasticus, "and a strong body above infinite wealth." Seen in its +true light this great, beautiful, responsible work becomes the highest +form of consecrated service to the Source of all Life and to the Giver +of all those good things which humanity is intended richly to enjoy. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [91] "Darwinism and Human Life," by J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., &c. + (Andrew Melrose.) + + [92] "The Descent of Man," by Charles Darwin. (J. Murray.) + + [93] "Hereditary Genius," by Sir Francis Galton. + + [94] "Heredity," by Prof. A. Thomson. (J. Murray.) + + [95] "English Sanitary Institutions," chap. viii., "The Growth of + Humanity in British Politics." Sir J. Simon. (Cassell & Co.) + + [96] _Les Pouvoirs en Matiere d'Hygiene_--Part i. _L'Hygiene dans les + Legislations de l'Antiquite._ Alfred Filassier. (Paris: Jules + Rousset.) + + [97] "English Sanitary Institutions," part i. chap. i. Sir John Simon. + (Cassell & Co.) + + [98] "English Sanitary Institutions," part i. chaps. iii., iv., v., vi. + Sir John Simon. (Cassell & Co.) + + [99] "The Family and the Nation," chap. i. Whetham. (Longmans.) + + [100] "Selected Essays and Addresses by Sir James Paget, F.R.S."--"The + Chronometry of Life," Royal Society Croonian Lecture, May 1859. + Edited by Stephen Paget, F.R.C.S. (Longmans & Co.) + + [101] "The Diurnal Course of Efficiency." Howard D. Marsh. (The Science + Press, N.Y.) + + [102] "Social Psychology," section ii. chap. x. William McDougall. + (Methuen.) + + [103] "The Family," Lecture i. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.) + + [104] "The Family," Lecture ii. E. C. Parsons. (Putnam.) + + [105] "The Family," part i. chap. ix. Helen Bosanquet. (Macmillan and + Co.) + + [106] "The Hygiene of Mind," chap. iv. T. S. Clouston. (Methuen.) + + [107] "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Employment of + School Children, appointed by H. M. Principal Secretary of State + for the Home Department," 1901. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training + (Scotland)," 1903, Neill & Co., Ltd., Bellevue, Edinburgh. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical + Deterioration," 1904. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Model Course + of Physical Exercises," 1904. + + "Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Medical + Inspection and Feeding of Children attending Public Elementary + Schools," 1905. + + "Report of Dr. W. Leslie Mackenzie and Captain A. Foster on a + Collection of Statistics as to the Physical Condition of + Children attending the Public Schools of the School Board for + Glasgow," 1907. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the + Feeble-minded," 1908. + + "Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the + Unemployed--Majority and Minority," 1909.[108] + + [108] In each case, unless otherwise mentioned, these Reports are + published by Wyman & Sons. + + [109] "The Hygiene School of Life," chap. viii. p. 129. Ralph H. + Crowley. (Methuen.) + + [110] _Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute_, April 1905--"Physical + Inspection of School Children in Relation to Public Health + Administration." A. K. Chalmers, M.D., M.O.H., Glasgow. + + [111] "Continuation Schools in England and Elsewhere." M. E. Sadler. + (Manchester University Press, 1907.) + + [112] Report of Departmental Committee on "Employment of Children Act, + 1903." (Wyman & Son, July 1910.) + + [113] "Report to the L.C.C. Education Committee of the Medical Officer + (Schools)," March 31, 1906. (P. J. King & Son.) + + [114] "The Drink Problem," edited by T. N. Kelynack, M.D. (Methuen.) + + [115] "The Nature of Man," parts i. ii. chap. vii.; part iii. chap. xii. + Metchnikoff. (Heinemann.) + + [116] "Principia Therapeutica," chaps. ii. iii. Harrington Sainsbury. + (Methuen.) + + [117] "Some Thoughts on Causation in Health and Disease." An address + delivered to the Faculty of Medicine, October 1909, by Lord + Fletcher Moulton. + + [118] "Studies on Immunisation." Sir Almroth Wright, F.R.S. (Constable.) + "Immunity in Infective Diseases." Metchnikoff. (Cambridge + University Press.) "Immunity and Specific Therapy." W. d'Este + Emery. (Lewis & Sons.) + + [119] "Infant Education." Eric Pritchard, M.D. (Kimpton). + + [120] "Studies on Immunisation," pp. 279, 462. Sir Almroth Wright, + F.R.S., M.D. (Constable.) + + [121] "Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association, + St. Louis, Mo.," 1904, pp. 952-962--"The Chicago Hospital School + for Nervous and Delicate Children," by Mary R. Campbell. + + [122] "Children in Health and Disease," p. 41. David Forsyth, M.D. + (Murray.) + + [123] "On the Hours of Sleep at Public Schools." A paper read before the + Medical Officer of Schools Association, May 11, 1905, by T. D. + Acland, M.A. + + [124] "Some Results of an Investigation into Hours of Sleep of School + Children."--_International Magazine of School Hygiene_, vol. v. + part i. Alice Ravenhill. + + [125] "Secret Remedies: What they Cost and What they Contain." British + Medical Association. "Popular Drugs: Their Use and Abuse." + Sidney Hellier, M.D. (Werner Laurie.) + + [126] "Human Carriers of Typhoid and other Zymotic Diseases."--_The + Sanitary Record_, Sept. 8, 1910, pp. 215-216. + + + + +MODERN WOMAN AND THE DOMESTIC ARTS + +BY MRS. R. W. EDDISON + +MEMBER, EDUCATION COMMITTEE, WEST RIDING COUNTY COUNCIL, ETC. + +I. NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSMAKING + +INTRODUCTION + +Modern woman finds herself in the twentieth century heiress to an +accumulation of domestic experience handed down from her primitive +sisters, much of which originated in necessity, and survives from +custom. + +It is said that "of the billion and a half human beings on the earth, +about 700,000,000 are females, and what share their mothers and +grandmothers, back to the remotest generation, have had in originating +and developing culture is a question which concerns the whole race," +though allusion only can be made to it in this paper. + +If, from the study of anthropology, we find that man was the hunter, the +killer of food, it was woman who cared for it, prepared it for use, +tilled the ground, cleaned, dried, cut, and sewed skins for clothing and +shelter. It is believed by many authorities that it was woman who +invented and made many of the implements with which she worked, and who +spun, wove, and dyed fibres of all kinds into strong, useful, and +sometimes beautiful fabrics of varied and pleasing tints and colours, +from dyes of her own making, which she obtained from animal and +vegetable sources. The introduction of much plain and ornamental +stitchery, the forerunner of the needlework of the present day, followed +quickly upon the coming of textiles. + +Until the invention of machinery and the institution of the factory +system, the practice of a large number of arts was in the hands of women +as part of their lives and homes. Now, however, women are no longer +leather-dressers, potters, or weavers in the home--these arts have +become trades for men, carried on in factories; and even the more +intimate arts of cooking, cleaning, and needlework are threatened from +the outside. + +The cheapness and readiness with which the products of the factory can +be obtained, whether for the purposes of food or of clothing, has to a +large extent removed the desire to exercise these arts herself, +especially from the woman whose time can be otherwise employed to her +financial advantage in industrial pursuits. It would almost appear that +she has failed to perceive the intellectual and aesthetic enjoyment to be +derived from them, and has been content to permit the skill and +knowledge she originally acquired and exercised to rust from want of +practice as each generation succeeds its predecessor. On the other hand, +as the accumulated profits from the factory have made it possible for +well-off women to depute their own share of cooking, cleaning, sewing, +and the care of children by payments to their less financially +fortunate sisters, usually untrained women of narrow education, public +opinion has shown a tendency to regard these arts as menial, and to some +extent derogatory in practice to the educated and refined. Amongst this +class of women, consequently, knowledge of these arts has steadily +dwindled, until the home-made jams, jellies, cordials and pickles of our +grandmothers, the linen they spun, wove, and fashioned, are no longer +the glory of our storerooms and linen-presses; while the home has come +to be less and less regarded as the right and proper place for +instruction in the domestic arts. + +Deep down, however, in the modern woman's nature lies the old instinct +for order, for caring for things animate and inanimate. This instinct +has found expression since the early seventies among more fortunately +situated women in an endeavour to arrest the decay of what I have +called the more intimate household arts, to promote their revival +and to raise their status in education--an endeavour due, shall we +say, to "something in the air," a kind of "Zeit Geist"--beginning more +or less contemporaneously on the Continent of Europe, in Great Britain, +and in the United States and Canada; an endeavour not to benefit +themselves alone, but to help their poorer sisters. + +It was soon agreed that the cultivation of the household arts belonged +to education, and that they might and should be taught in schools; but +the questions--What was their link with general education, by what +methods they could be most appropriately taught, and in the curriculum +of what schools they should find a place--have been the basis of +prolonged experimental effort. It is now the opinion of a large section +of persons of authority in education, that these arts are neither +"sacred mysteries which can only be understood by patient life study," +nor, on the other hand, can any woman, whatever her intellectual +ability, master them without training. It has been well said, in effect, +that the former attitude leads to a contempt for the plain everyday +things of life, while the latter is responsible for the cultivation of a +girl's head at the expense of her hands. + +The arts of cooking and cleaning took the lead in order of experiment. +The results, as recorded, have proved their position to belong directly +to the region of applied science, and to be worthy of a place in a +specially arranged course of household science and economics for women, +of university standard. We may confidently expect that this result only +anticipates a corresponding triumph, awaiting in its turn similar +experimental work, which has been carried on for some years in respect +of the teaching also of the art of needlework. These experimental +efforts include the intelligent employment of the pencil, the scissors, +and the needle in the production of garments, draperies, napery, and so +forth. The lines along which at the present moment this development is +proceeding have regard indeed not only to the practical worth of +needlecraft, but to its intimate association with general education as +well as to decorative and applied art. + +When we inquire what have been the results of past methods of teaching +needlework in our elementary schools, and find that they are in no way +commensurate with the time, labour, and money spent upon them, it surely +is wise to call a halt and examine into our aims and methods. The +circular of "Suggestions for the Teaching of Needlework" issued by the +Board of Education in August 1909 is not the first authoritative +pronouncement of the Board on this matter, but is the outcome of "the +well-considered criticism" invited upon their "Suggestions" on the same +subject issued in 1905, which teachers and others were asked to consider +as a challenge to independent thought on the subjects of which it +treated. + + +THE "PRINCIPLES" OF NEEDLEWORK + +This challenge has resulted in the statement of certain important +"principles" in the new circular and of the proper attitude of the +teacher towards them, viz.:-- + + I. _The duplex aspect of needlework._ + + 1. As a separate branch of instruction, the aim of which is + proficiency. + + 2. As a means to an end, other than (but not excluding) a + certain proficiency, _i.e._ to develop the intelligence and even + to form the character of the child. + + II. _The subject must be made interesting_ if it is to be + educational. The making of specimens is not interesting, and should + be discouraged, excepting for the practice of new stitches before + they can be used on a complete garment or article, however small, + for the child herself or for others. + + III. _Correlation of needlework_ with drawing and arithmetic in the + higher classes. + + 1. To train the eye in form and proportion. + + 2. To illustrate principles of arithmetic, by measuring and + deciding upon quantities and by calculating cost, introducing + incidentally ideas of economy and thrift. + + IV. _Needlework lessons are ordinarily uninteresting_ and wearisome + to body and mind. This need not and should not be; if the subject is + taught with the why and wherefore of things, it should rather + stimulate intelligence and capacity. + + V. _Opportunity is afforded_ by the lesson for practically and + tactfully inculcating the charm of neatness, cleanliness, and + tidiness in person and in clothing, encouraging the child in + self-respect and to regard as a matter of shame that any girl should + reach woman's estate without a practical knowledge of the use she + can make of the needle. + +Certain suggestions follow as a basis for a more detailed scheme, +viz.:-- + + 1. Classification of scholars as to age and capacity. + + 2. Size of illustrations and use of blackboard. + + 3. Instruction of weakly children, and care of eyesight. + + 4. Exercises in knitting and various forms of constructive handwork + for very young children, in preparation for definite instruction in + needlework at a later age. + + 5. Condemnation of habit of counting threads. + + 6. Order of teaching "processes" in needlework, from simple to + complex. + + 7. Suitability of materials, needles, and threads to each other, and + of the style of sewing to the garments which the children should + wear. + + 8. Direction of attention to the fact that hands and eyes which have + been sensibly trained to execute "plain work" will acquire "fancy + work" quite readily later on if leisure can be found. + + 9. New methods and stitches to be learned on waste material. + + 10. Importance of practice in mending at school and at home. + + 11. Importance of cutting-out and pattern-making. + + 12. Garments made to be worn, not kept at school. + + 13. Elaborate making-up of paper garments to be discouraged. + + 14. Rough sketches to train the eye to recognise the value to each + other of different parts of a pattern. + + 15. Importance of recognition of difference between a well-cut and + an ill-cut garment. + + 16. Calculation of kind, quantity, and cost of material to be worked + out in an arithmetic lesson. + + 17. Note-books and records to be kept. + + 18. Fixing to be done by actual maker of garment--not a joint + production. + + 19. Use of sewing machine permitted for long seams and hems. + + 20. No time to be wasted while waiting for teacher's help. + Independent work to be encouraged. Knitting and other suitable work + to be at hand. + +This excellent and sensible paper of suggestions means an offer of +freedom on the part of the Board; it remains, therefore, but to accept +and adopt its conditions. A practical difficulty, however, at once +arises from the fact that, after a long period of bondage to many +"Regulations," it is difficult for the teaching profession in general to +realise that independent judgment is now expected of them, indeed is +required, though this is a phase temporary and evanescent, which will +quickly adjust itself. + +For lack of time and space we must here pass over the important question +of the relation of the domestic arts to the general school curriculum, +as well as the proportion of time to be allotted as between needlework +and the other domestic arts, and dwell for a moment on the relative +qualifications of our teachers in different sections of the whole +subject taken at its widest, for these qualifications reflect the +existing demands of the public. Taking England, for example--how do we +stand with other countries in this respect? Speaking generally, and as +one who, though not professionally a teacher, has for many years had a +hand in the training of teachers, and who has given much time and +thought to the comparative study, both theoretical and practical, of +needlework and dressmaking, it seems to me that, as to sewing, we are as +good, if not in some ways better than our neighbours, though we have +been apt to regard the perfection of our stitches as an end in itself, +which decidedly vitiates our conclusion. We also appear to have much to +learn, or at least to practise, in respect of suitability of materials, +needles, and threads to each other, and of the style of work to the +purpose required. As to "cut" and "the hang of the thing," and the root +difference between an "ill-cut" and a "well-cut" garment, I fear we make +a bad third with France and Austria; but with our newly acquired freedom +we can and we must change all that: the public begin to demand it. + +In the first place, we must clear our minds of the indefinite cloud of +detail in which they have been so long submerged; or, to change the +metaphor, whereas hitherto we have too often not been able to see the +wood for the trees, we must now learn clearly to distinguish between +"principles" and "methods," which in practice are over frequently +confused: then, quite easily and naturally, the teacher will derive +resulting details from the few definite principles which are the "basis +alike of the simplest garment and the most artistic handicraft," and +"the principles once understood, in one instance, the pupils will be +able to make wider applications for themselves." + +It is important here to emphasise that some elementary knowledge of +hygiene, physiology, and anatomy is necessary for the intelligent +appreciation of the requirements of the body as to clothing, and of its +alterations in shape when muscles are tense or relaxed. By a reliable +system of drafting from direct measurement, such as one of those in use +in the Ecoles Professionelles of Paris, a shaped bodice can be produced +fitting the arms and figure easily and gracefully, and from this pattern +can be deduced further patterns of other garments, whether tight, loose, +or semi-fitting, which hang from the shoulder or the waist. + +When the theory of drafting has been learned, and the shapes and +proportions of a pattern and its derivatives are understood, "moulage" +or modelling on the figure in muslin, should be attempted; though, be +it remembered, "moulage" should not be regarded as a substitute for +drafting, but as its necessary accompaniment, for it affords opportunity +for eye training, and for learning how and where at certain points the +material should be stretched or held easily on the figure. The pupil is +thus prepared to handle the pattern intelligently when cut out in +material. + +I have seen it objected that only awkward and wooden lines can be +obtained from drafting on paper because of its rigidity, and because the +pattern is built up upon a framework of straight lines at right angles +to each other. The objector cannot have understood that the rectangular +construction lines have no connection with the outlines of the pattern, +except as affording _points d'appui_, which are found by direct +measurement. These construction lines stand for the warp and woof, or +"thread" of the material to be used for the garment. Stress must be also +laid on the fact that the grace or angularity of the pattern outline +actually depend upon the eye training and perception of curves derived +from drawing lessons, which must, for this as well as other reasons, +form a part of the scheme of instruction. + + +CONCLUSION + +Limits of time and space have only allowed me to touch the fringe of a +fascinating and useful subject; but the frequent conferences of teachers +now being held in different centres, and the new suggestions of the +Board of Education are stimulating so much interest and discussion that +I feel that the educational teaching of needlework in its broad sense in +England has a cheerful future. There is already much excellent teaching +and work done in some of the trade schools in London as well as in a few +of its elementary schools, and others elsewhere, which leaves little to +be desired from many points of view. + +Apart from the modern educational treatment of needlecraft and +dressmaking, though arising directly from it, are the unquestioned +advantages which may result to any woman of whatever rank or social +position who is willing to devote, in the first instance, a little time +and intelligence to mastering a few elementary principles introductory +to their practical application, either by herself or by any one in her +employment, to the cutting and making of her own garments from direct +measurement, modified by measurements of individual carriage or +conformation. + +When these modifications are clearly understood, the proving of the flat +pattern on the table after drafting should produce a well-shaped and +correct lining, without the misery of standing for hours in the ordinary +way to be "fitted on." If finer touches are needed, they are of the +nature of "moulage," or modelling; the different parts of the pattern +retain their balance and relative proportions, and the length of the +operation is much shortened. + +The majority of women, especially when past youth, are not so happy as +to possess the theoretically perfectly balanced and well-proportioned +figure which has been so successfully adopted by the best business +houses as the basis for cutting high-class ready-made garments. Happy +indeed is the woman who can "walk straight into them" without the +offered "slight alteration" which so often spoils the cut and brings +bitter disappointment to the wearer. There are few women who have not +groaned under the waste of time and fatigue entailed by being "fitted +on" under the hands of the "little dressmaker," or for that matter under +hands of much greater pretension, with no idea of principles in cutting, +who pinch and drag and smooth down by rule-of-thumb, producing garments +without balance or ease, whose faults may be disguised by trimming or +drapery, but whose discomfort is always present to the wearer. + +Women have in fact so long submitted to this tyranny of rule-of-thumb in +dress-cutting, as inseparate from it, that, as is their nature, they +continue to endure what they think cannot be cured. Nevertheless, the +discomforts and uncertainties of this rule-of-thumb misery may be +entirely eliminated, and it is for the modern woman to demand and insist +upon its elimination. + +Let me especially recommend to ladies possessing the invaluable +qualities in this connection of taste and style in dress, who may be +thinking of taking up dressmaking as a profession, that as an important +preliminary step they should master the principles of a good method of +cutting. Let them make sure that the method can lay claim to this +description; that it is reliable and not altogether empirical. Thus they +will render themselves to some extent independent of the possible +vagaries and misfits of their cutters and workers. The excellent courses +of instruction now carried on in the trade schools already referred to +should ere long create a supply of well-trained young women who will do +their best work under an instructed head, and will be able to carry out +intelligently her ideas and directions. Under such conditions there +should be no room for failure in a business of this kind. As a result, +the arts of needlecraft and of dressmaking will be raised to the plane +of scientific certainty and success which is their due, instead of +remaining at the often low level of the unorganised, empirical and +inartistic occupations--a frequent source of financial disaster to their +exponents and of perennial vexation to the helpless victims of their +products. + + +II. HOUSECRAFT + +The position of modern woman towards matters domestic is somewhat +undefined, and at best can hardly be considered satisfactory. Her +attitude towards housekeeping is not one of enthusiasm. The Lancashire +mill-girl is proud to have a house of her own, but prefers her life at +the mill to one spent in ordering that house; the elementary school +teacher considers housekeeping of so little economic interest that she +is injured if she may not devote her married life to a profession +demanding the best of her energy; the university graduate pretends to a +mind superior to physical comfort and welfare unless it can be produced +by a creature less specialised than herself. + +In the field of paid occupations for women, educated and uneducated, +domestic work stands low; not necessarily low in scale of payment, but +uninviting as a sphere of work and lacking the dignity of skilled +employment. That good housewives may be found in every grade of society +is evident, but the general trend of our social evolution demands that +some organised effort shall be made to simplify actual work and to raise +the appreciation of that work. + +In history and philosophy, the moral advantages of a good home have been +acknowledged and extolled. The physical advantages are only now being +fully emphasised, and there is an ever-increasing demand that women +shall diligently apply their best efforts, first to the problems of the +individual household, and then beyond it to those forms of housekeeping +that fall to municipal and national control. We need a different +estimate, a better realisation, of the enormous responsibility that lies +in feeding, housing, and general hygienic conditions, and such a +realisation must work from the top downwards in our social and +intellectual strata. + +In the care of the sick we have seen a complete revolution. Even so +recently as the days of our grandparents "Sarah Gamp" was the +general refuge--now her name is a byword. The work of nursing and the +care of an invalid's room, be it home or hospital, has been raised +from mere manual labour. Intellect has established formulae and dogma +on which workers can be trained, and the work itself has been proved +not alone a suitable means by which a woman can earn her living, but +also a profession demanding a dignified respect and admiration. The +researches of medical laboratories--the accumulated experience of the +great physicians and surgeons of the world--are constantly placing +valuable knowledge in the hands of nurses and those who train them. +Elaboration and fuss have gone in favour of a simplicity of service +based on scientific facts; the influence of the trained worker has to +some extent permeated the untrained service of home nursing. Great +may still be our ignorance and great the need for a more adequate +service, especially in the homes of the poor, but taken as a whole the +care of the sick has been raised to what we may, without ambiguity, +call a scientific art. Nursing may be popular from a love of such work +and from its financial return, but the real strength of the nursing +world lies in its organised provision of skilled women sent out to +their work with a knowledge of its detail and a training in routine, +paid for by service during years of apprenticeship. + +The changes that have been effected in regard to the care of the sick +may not form a perfect analogy of what can be done in other forms of +domestic work, but they at least constitute a lesson in cause and +effect, with many suggestions for the would-be reformer. Improvement +in nursing owes its first impetus to a realisation of the part a nurse +must of necessity play in curing or alleviating suffering, and any +real improvements in our general domestic work and conditions will +only be seriously considered when they are properly appreciated in +their relation to the health and efficiency of the nation. To bring +this home to individuals and classes must be the work of education. Let +us magnify the office of the housewife unduly rather than leave it +unrecognised. We must demand something more than mere manipulative +skill from the manual worker--a knowledge and interest from those who +direct her work; a place in laboratories and schools for the many +problems worthy of elucidation. To make lessons in housecraft a part +of the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools has its own good; +to make lessons in sick-nursing also a part might be good; but to leave +both there would be only to patch, not mend, a rent in our social +conditions. The matter must find its way into universities and +research schools for its physical and economic investigation--as in +other kinds of work we need an aristocracy of brains to guide the +democracy of hands to found an apprenticeship system that shall +provide efficient workers to bring the mighty forces of chemical, +physical, and biological science to bear directly on such matters as +selection of foods, methods of cooking, better apparatus for cleaning +purposes, and an evolution of house-planning and furnishing that shall +reduce the present elaboration of service and cleaning. It is not +possible that every woman who cooks a potato shall be intimately +acquainted with the structure of starch-cells or the effect of heat on +those cells, nor is it likely that we shall aim at a system that makes +the cooking of our food as exact as a laboratory experiment, but that +thermometer, microscope, and test-tube have their own part to play +is evident. The use of a disinfectant by a nurse is a scientific +operation, the scope of which has only been made possible by many +and careful investigations in which the specialised effort of the few +has resulted in a definite formula and a handy preparation only to be +used with intelligent appreciation of its purpose. She understands its +use and abuse, how to adapt it to circumstances, and probably how to +find a substitute for it if occasion requires. + +It is much on these lines that many of the problems of kitchen and +household interest must be attacked. + +We need a simple and reliable classification of foods that shall be +useful to the practical cook. A quantitative analysis of proteid or +carbo-hydrate qualities of wheat, lentils, or milk may form excellent +exercise for laboratory classes, but even there it is too often taught +without any relation to the assimilative properties of the average +digestion and their consequent effect on food values. For ordinary use +we want all this brought to a general outlook of the value, and +comparative value, of such ordinary food as bread, oatmeal, eggs, and +beef; not only as to suitable proportions in our diet and to methods of +cooking, but also as a help in providing suitable substitutes for a +particular commodity in time of scarcity. Beyond the inevitable victims +of the Irish potato famine, many suffered quite unnecessarily for want +of ability to replace the familiar potato by a possible substitute; and +to-day we are little more intelligent in our catering. Quantity and +quality of the potato crop must each year to some extent make itself +felt on small purses, and while not dependent on this one article of +diet we might often help a meagre table by a good substitute such as +rice, hominy, dumplings, and an increased supply of fresh vegetables. +Substitutes for butcher's meat too often suggest the purely vegetarian +dish that to most people is but a _pis aller_. To replace part or even +most of the meat in a dish with a food of approximate dietetic value +would generally be more acceptable. A dish of haricot beans cooked with +a little minced beef is, for example, a very different dish from the +vegetarian treatment of the same article. Pea-soup made with the +addition of a ham or beef bone will generally win approval over its less +"tasty" rival. The value of eggs and the many ways of using cheese--the +possibilities of oatmeal beyond mere porridge--are all matters worth +understanding; so also is the problem of our milk supply. + +The fact that legislation is active in securing the hygienic conditions +of the wholesale milk supply cannot excuse individual indifference to +either its actual value or suitable treatment. The inferiority of skim +or separated milk to "whole milk" has been so emphasised that in many +places a useful article is lying as a drug in the market. That skim milk +is as useful as many "stocks" and much better than water for making +porridge, maigre soups, sauces, for mixing bread and scones, has yet to +be appreciated, and will only be so when the true economic use of food +is removed from its present haphazard position among the instinctive +arts! + +The constructive consistency of meat, fish, and vegetables must be +clearly set out if we are to understand the effect upon them of heat. +The primary methods of cooking and the standard proportions of +ingredients may already be used with an intelligence that at least puts +aside the recipe book; but the research that can produce a satisfactory +system of catering and cooking has yet to invade the higher education of +men and women. A suggestion of the scientific treatment of domestic +matters too often presumes an elaboration of work rather than a +reduction of it, and yet we all realise the labour-saving and economic +return that has been the result of science applied to commercial +industries. There must be a definite aim to simplify housekeeping and +domestic work; the conditions of life have gone that made a women find +scope for _all_ her energy in administering the affairs of her house or +in employing others to that end. + +To the uninitiated the various culinary processes seem endless, and to +arrive at a proper accomplishment of these is generally considered a +matter of continuous practice. A better understanding of the matter +readily shows that while many processes can only be perfected by +repetition, there are even more that fall under science rather than art. +Take, for example, the principles underlying the cooking of meat by +stewing. This is surely a process where manipulation is _nil_. To make +pastry or bread we must have a certain practice in the manipulation to +give the deftness (on which final success depends) in addition to any +understanding of the principles involved; but with regard to stewing and +many similar processes it should be possible to have one lesson made so +explicit that the actual process was known for all time--the Irish stew +of an artisan's home or the dainty entree of the "Ritz" being only an +adaptation of given principles to different foods. + +In order to reduce primary methods to such business-like proportions, it +is necessary to consider them in their effect on different foods, having +due regard to texture and to the effect of a moist or a dry heat. It +would be a matter of interest to know how the established methods of +cooking meat and fish all really conduce to one end, viz. to soften the +fibres by steam formed from their own juices. The rules for most methods +of cooking these foods lead to this assumption, though nominally based +only on a means of retaining these juices in order to save a valuable +part of the food. The actual part played by the liquid in which foods +are cooked is possibly very small, but not to be ignored; the presence +of salt in the water in which beef or potatoes is cooked makes an +appreciable difference in the flavour and probably in the food value. +The relation of the fat used in frying to the food fried in it is too +often quite misunderstood, and a dyspeptic patient consequently is +ordered "no fried food." + +To "fry in butter" sounds well, but it is practically impossible; to +_saute_ in butter at a temperature allowing some of the butter to enter +the food, is quite a valuable method of cooking; but to raise the +temperature to a point at which frying can be done is to char the +butter. To fry properly, the food should be immersed in fat so hot that +the outside of meat is immediately "set." Then allow the heating of the +juices inside the meat to perform the necessary cooking. The immersion +of the cold food soon lowers the temperature of the fat and makes +continued immersion possible. The best kind of fat for this purpose and +the relative temperature at which different fats may be used needs more +investigation. At present for ordinary kitchen use we have no more +reliable test of temperature than to venture a bit of bread and judge by +result. One thing we may accept--frying is not a greasy or rich method +of cooking. The fat used is merely a means of excluding atmosphere and +cooking food at a high temperature; it bears no more relation to the +food itself than does the atmosphere of the oven in baking. + +This question of temperatures and their relation to the kind of food, as +also to the various cookery processes, needs careful handling; we want +not alone a definite dogma established on a scientific basis, but we +want the means to apply it brought within easy reach--reach of a limited +purse and a limited intellectual capacity, for we are not all scholars. +There is no reason why a thermometer should not become part of our +kitchen equipment just as readily as that old sand-glass which +regulated the boiling of an egg, but, before it is the case, many other +matters must fall into line. It is probable that a careful investigation +of the best means of frying, boiling, stewing, &c. would effect a +considerable revolution in our household pots and pans. Is it impossible +to produce a pan in which a given quantity of fat or oil should be +easily brought to, say, 400 deg. Fahr., and yet be unable to exceed that +temperature? It would so safeguard expense from burning that the most +delightful frying medium, olive oil, would be readily used by many +people. + +The matter of watching, and waiting, and judging the exact minute for +certain operations takes far more time than is generally supposed, and +the gloom surrounding the average kitchen range increases the +difficulty. The cook who understands the use of double pans for oven and +range has done something to save both time and anxiety, but it is +evident that much more might be done to render many cookery processes +almost automatic. The science that controls the production of such +commercial products as biscuits, tinned foods, pickles, and jam, and +turns them out to a uniform standard, is at present remote from the +household kitchen. Such scientific knowledge has been produced at a +commercial value for commercial enterprise. We need _our_ problems +brought into universities and colleges; into the channels where research +is made public; into the laboratories of schools, where, if no wonderful +result may be proclaimed, we have at least established a scientific +method of approaching the work of kitchen, laundry, and storeroom. The +ordinary teaching of the domestic subjects too often tends to magnify +the difficulties in order to show how they may be overcome. The +simplification of methods by classification would do much, and the +evolution of possible devices for saving labour would do still more, to +establish a favourable view of housekeeping. What is worth doing is +worth doing well; but it is "doing" unnecessarily that spells drudgery. + +Our attitude in considering household problems turns almost +involuntarily to cooking, but the need for an intellectual grasp of +matters domestic is equally potent in methods of cleaning. If the word +"hygiene," which we use so glibly, were really understood and +appreciated, the modern house-builder and furnisher would quickly be +sent to swell the ranks of the unemployed, and we should demand +construction and fittings which would minimise the problems of dust and +tarnish, provide suitable storage for food, and allow cleaning to be +simple, straightforward, and efficient. The advent of the vacuum cleaner +is less valuable in itself than in the establishment of a new principle +for dealing with dust, and one that may eventually revolutionise our +house-cleaning. We need a simple appliance of equal scientific value to +reduce some at least of the labour entailed in "washing-up." Pots and +pans, plates and dishes may be economised in number by a careful +worker, but cleaned they must be, and the average "sink" of scullery or +pantry is little removed from the pristine incompleteness of its first +appearance. There is, in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, a sink, +evidently used by the monks of the sixteenth century, which is identical +with those found in sculleries of to-day, and yet chemistry and physics +have revolutionised our industries and produced all sorts of scientific +methods for cleaning, lighting, and heating on a large scale. Perhaps +when the same woman who takes a D.Sc. bestows some of her energy on the +washing of dishes we shall get to something less primitive than washing +each individual greasy plate with a mop or cloth. The only scientific +treatment of "washing-up" used at present seems open to criticism, and +is only suited to large establishments, but it should be possible to +construct every sink with some sort of douche and general fittings +suited to this work. + +The question of the position of modern woman towards laundry-work +seems to have resolved itself into one of income. If she can pay for +the services of a steam laundry she does so. In the United Kingdom it +is estimated that there are 30,000 public laundries, but we have yet +to find one that can produce a list of charges within reasonable +limits of a small income. In the homes that are run on incomes of +L100 to L400 a-year, and where the laundry-work is done at the +public laundry, the amount of "washing" must be small, or some other +side of the expenditure must be seriously curtailed. Laundrying +performed intelligently and under suitable conditions is neither +difficult nor unpleasant. To stand over a wash-tub rubbing each +article by hand; to strain every muscle emptying that tub; to dry +garments on a rail across a kitchen and iron them near a blazing fire is +_not_ intelligent, and can only be followed by women driven by +custom to wash clothes at all. Perhaps in no section of household work +are scientific methods within reach as in the laundry; the existence of +the public laundry and the rivalry of different firms has produced an +open market for appliances of all kinds, and the exhibition of +laundry utensils, machines, &c., has become an annual event. Though many +of the inventions are destined for the "power" and general scope of +the public laundry, there are always a number of home appliances to +be seen; many more would be adapted if there were more demand. Any +real scope for these must rest in the first place with architect and +house-builder. In the North of England it is usual to build a small +"wash-house" to nearly every house, but the general construction of +these wash-houses is such as to discourage any desire to use them. +Only cold water is provided; the boiler is arranged as a detached +unit; the possibility of a drying cupboard in connection with kitchen +stove or hot-water cylinder is never considered, and the economical +heating of irons is generally overlooked. The use of irons heated by +gas, charcoal, and methylated spirit would be more general if these +were more efficiently constructed and less expensive. The provision of +electricity at a cost within the reach of ordinary folk will simplify +many things in laundry-work as in cooking and cleaning. Instruction is, +to some extent, already available as to soaps, detergent solutions and +bleaching agents. We need more appreciation of the part that may be +played by the process of "steeping" and the minimum of handling with +which clothes may be efficiently washed and finished. The profit and +loss in the matter cannot be estimated only in labour, time, soap, and +firing; the wear and tear of fabric in public laundries compared with +home handling and the risk of infection involved must both be taken +into account. If we make laundrying easy we do much to make a frequent +change of garment possible to a section of the community inclined to +economise in this direction, and we should probably make fashionable +those household materials that may be consigned to a wash-tub, instead +of paying a reluctant visit to the dry-cleaner--chintz, cretonne, and +Bolton sheeting instead of serge, tapestry, and plush. We owe one debt +of gratitude to the public laundry--it has raised a section of household +work to the level of a skilled industry, though as yet there seems +no system of apprenticeship that turns out the "complete" laundress. + +For the limits of a short paper these matters have perhaps been treated +somewhat discursively, but the object has been attained if, by the few +illustrations selected, some attention has been drawn to the field of +inquiry which lies open, and the urgent need for a definite application +of scientific minds to problems which, amid all the advances of this +progressive age, seem to lag behind. The inclusion of housecraft as part +of the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools may do much to +rouse interest and overcome some difficulties of cooking, &c., but to +any one familiar with these classes it is evident that their scope is +very limited, if only for the reason that the teaching so often treats +the work of housekeeping as an imitative art, based, for want of +reliable scientific data, on rules and recipes that are practically +organised tradition no more. In secondary schools, the introduction of +laboratory work has opened up fresh possibilities of a more reasonable +treatment of housecraft, for it is certain that, when teachers are +properly equipped for their work, biology, physics, and chemistry +(organic and inorganic) can be successfully taught along lines that +bring within the scope of school science such matters as food and +feeding, cooking and washing, fuels, heating, ventilation, and hygiene. + +To teach chemistry and physics in the usual academic manner and then +tack on a course of cookery and laundry-work at the end of school life +cannot possibly be of the same value as the co-ordinated courses; we +want scientific method even more than "science" for these schools girls, +who shall so soon be the housekeepers and home-makers. We may say with +Stevenson, "A dogma learned is only a new error--the old was perhaps as +good; but a spirit communicated is a perpetual possession." For those +girls who pass on to a university or technical school we want an +intelligence alert to all that may lie in further investigation of those +problems suggested at school. + +A certain jealousy may be pardoned that the possible evolution of +housekeeping may be the work of women; the leaders of the "woman's +movement" have so often spoiled their work by following the lines of +men's activities and aiming at a goal essentially masculine. The things +that go to housekeeping seem so intimately connected with motherhood +and mothering that it must be hoped our most able women will bring +their intelligence, their education, and their sense of national +responsibility to the task of housekeeping--to the simplification of its +problems, the reduction of the labour involved, and the organisation +of the paid service. There is certainly scope for master-minds. + +We touched on the organisation of the nursing service. If it is +possible to duly care for the sick and at the same time train an +efficient nurse, it is surely possible to provide proper service in the +huge caravanseries of our modern life, and at the same time provide a +suitable apprenticeship for the domestic worker. Good instruction at +school, followed by one or two years of definite training in a hostel +or boarding-house, should produce a class of skilled women workers who +can be organised and employed on the same lines as those of the +nursing service. + +In many branches of labour the women are ousting the men; unless we can +make good the present breach in our home bulwark and train our army of +defence, we may find men ousting women in their own particular sphere. + +America and Canada, realising that their coveted nationality must be +founded on homes, have brought into their universities the "science of +home affairs." England, in spite of the warning note sounded by +inquiries into physical deterioration, infant mortality, and kindred +evils, has been content with a _tradition_ of good homes, and has so far +done little more than provide a smattering of cookery lessons for +elementary school girls. + +There is, however, a promise of better things. One university college +has made a venture into home science, and other universities would soon +be at work if the necessary money could be secured. Oh, for some +silver-tongued evangelist to cry in the ears of our philanthropic +millionaires all that might be done for this country by bringing its +_best_ brains to consider the material things that go to the making of a +good home! + + + THE END + + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + Edinburgh & London + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Household Administration, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION *** + +***** This file should be named 36781.txt or 36781.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/8/36781/ + +Produced by Katherine Ward, Jonathan Ingram, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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