Sometimes, too, an epidemic of laughing comes merely as a reaction from a long continued period of study. It should not be treated as an offense in such a case, but rather as a symptom of fatigue. ILLUSTRATION (SECOND GRADE) [Sidenote: Laughing Permitted] Unusual silence reigned in Miss Grey’s room one Friday afternoon, for she had allowed the children as a special treat for Friday to have a period of their favorite pastime, paper-weaving. With absorbed attention they had worked out their own designs and little Teddie Hendricks, in his eagerness to show his teacher what a wonderful figure he had made, could not persuade himself to wait until she could come to him; he must go to her. His older sister had carelessly left her geography on Teddie’s desk and he had been using it as a sort of framework for his design. A pile of unused strips of paper lay on one side of the geography. He picked up the geography upon which both the paper mat and the strips of paper lay and started for his teacher. When about half way across the floor a sudden gust of wind from the open window caught his papers and sent them flying in all directions. With a puzzled look Teddy stared first at the bare geography which he held in his hands, then at his teacher, and then burst out laughing. “Well, Teddie, Mr. Wind is having some fun as well as you, isn’t he?” asked Miss Grey. “Never mind, we’ll pick them up.” But the charm which held the room in silence was broken. One giggle after another was heard from time to time and presently Miss Grey said: “Children, you have worked so beautifully this afternoon, we’ll all have a little fun together. Teddie may get the bean bags and we’ll have a little game of catch. Girls in this row! Boys in that one! Let’s see how many can catch without once dropping!” Ten minutes of substitution of one activity for another cured the giggles and the rested children went quietly back to work with no further attacks for the remainder of the afternoon. (5) _Chewing gum._ Frequently some teacher is heard to say that his pupils annoy him by chewing gum. They even go so far as to chew rubber or even paper and when told by the teacher to throw away their gum innocently remark, “I have no gum, it’s only paper.” Whenever such an annoyance exists it is largely due to the indiscretion of the teacher. The trouble with too many teachers is that they denounce the chewing of gum as an evil, making it out as a sin, when in truth, it may be beneficial to many and often such teachers use it themselves when their pupils do not see them. Is it any wonder pupils worry them by chewing gum during school and finish up by sticking it to the under sides of their desks?