boarding schools and colleges. The average age of school children is
from six to sixteen years. During this time both mind and body are
undergoing development. Throughout school period the growth of the
body is continued until almost completed. There are unusual demands,
therefore, upon the functions of absorption and assimilation. The food
must be abundant, and of the character to furnish new tissue, and to
yield energy in the form of heat and muscular activity. The food
should also contain salts of lime to meet the requirements of
formation of the bones and teeth. Many children acquire habits of
dislike for certain articles of food, which become so fixed in later
life that they find it very inconvenient, especially when placed in
circumstances, as in travelling, where one cannot always obtain the
accustomed diet; it therefore is unwise to cultivate such habits,
which are often a serious obstacle to normal development.

"A physician is often baffled in the treatment of a severe disease by
the vitiated taste of the patient. Many cases of anæmia and chlorosis,
which are so commonly seen in young girls, are directly traceable to a
faulty diet. It should be the imperative duty of all teachers to
consider the responsibility of rightly developing the physical
constitutions of those entrusted to their care. They should remember
that the mind keeps on developing long after the body, and that the
period under discussion is one in which the constitution of the
individual is established for the remainder of life. At this stage
success in digestion and assimilation is of greater importance than
success in mental attainments." (Thompson.)

An important consideration in school diet is to avoid monotony, which
becomes so common from economic reasons, or more often from
carelessness. It is so much easier to yield to routine and force of