excitement about this kind of learning (especially when it is mainly competitive, and directed to the gaining of prizes and medals) which must be injurious. But I think it is quite ridiculous to suppose that, in this country, the actual amount of intellectual labor undergone by boys and girls at school is sufficient to do harm, were it only regular and systematic, and carried out in a conscientious manner; on the contrary, though I think that the total daily period occupied in study ought not to exceed some six or seven hours, I believe that the insisting on strenuous diligence during school hours, and the maintenance of a high standard as to the quality of the work exacted, is all on the side of nervous health. But, an even more serious and difficult matter than the regulation of the amount of intellectual work to be done is, the question how we are to deal with the unfolding emotional instincts of the boy or girl who has reached the age of puberty. It is useless to ignore this side of the mental life; it will assert itself either for good or for evil. At the risk of seeming to meddle with matters that belong to the school-master rather than to the physician, I would urge very strongly that a portion of the training be deliberately directed to a serious study of one or other of the fine arts--to that one, whether poetry, painting, sculpture, or music, to which the boy or the girl instinctively leans. I am aware that there is a prejudice among parents that the study of the fine arts renders young people idle and indifferent to other branches of education and other duties of life. I believe that this only applies to the miserably inefficient way of teaching these subjects which prevails at present in all but a few English schools; and that, in truth, a thorough knowledge of the principles of either music or painting, and a real study of the best masters, would be sure to prevent the development of that lazy, conceited manner, and that neglect of other duties, which no doubt unfavorably distinguish a good many of the young ladies and gentlemen who dabble a little in music, or painting, or versification. We want the German rather than the English type of training, we want the acquirement of sound knowledge of the principles of music (at any rate) to be made so common that the accidental possession of two pennyworth of superficial accomplishment in that line shall not enable young ladies and gentlemen to give themselves airs in society. The truth is, that the young people who make music or painting an excuse for idleness respecting other matters are invariably imposters even in that which is their own supposed _forte_. On the other hand, the serious study of art, a certain definite portion of time being set apart for it, and thoroughness being insisted upon, is, I believe, an admirable vent for the emotional effervescence of commencing sexual life; and I no less firmly believe that the things that are usually substituted for it are