The evil, however, is the source of much suffering and disappointment, and as it cannot be corrected until the public is rendered fully aware of its existence and influence, it cannot be too often brought under its notice, or too strongly condemned. The teacher alone has not the power of providing a remedy. The concurrence and co-operation of the parent are indispensable; but both combined could easily effect such a distribution of the time and business of the school, as to leave at least a couple of hours in the middle of the day appropriated to dinner and play after it in the open air. It is no valid objection to say that in winter the day is too short to allow the “sacrifice” of so much time. The shorter it is, the greater is the necessity for making the most of it by adequate attention to the laws of health. The real “sacrifice” of time is when health is impaired and progress retarded by undue confinement and deprivation of exercise in the open air. The very shortness of the day, indeed, implies that we should employ the hours of darkness in _in-door_ occupations, and make the most of the daylight by going out while we have it; and I have no doubt that as society advances, this truth will be felt and acted upon to the great advantage and delight of the young. Supposing it to be made an imperative condition of our social existence that we shall rise after mid-day, and not go to bed till a late hour in the morning, the present fashion of dining at seven or eight o’clock becomes much more rational than is commonly imagined by those who declaim against it without regard to the concomitant circumstances. It is, no doubt, most absurd and hurtful for a man who rises at seven or eight o’clock, breakfasts at nine, and goes to bed at eleven, to delay dining till seven in the evening; but it by no means follows that seven is a bad dinner-hour for a person who rises at twelve or one o’clock, breakfasts at two, and goes to bed at three in the morning. The interval between the breakfast at one and dinner at seven o’clock, is the same as between breakfast at nine and dinner at three, namely, six hours--which is little more than enough. The error lies, not in the hours chosen for meals, but in the utter perversion of the whole system of living, by which night is converted into day, and the business of life is postponed five or six hours beyond the time appointed by the Creator for its performance. So far from the late dinner being hurtful in such circumstances, it is only the stimulus and support which it affords that enables the victims to withstand the fatigue even for a single week.