since the very term "fire escape" implies incombustible material. Most of the laws are carefully framed; such expressions are found as "fireproof," "incombustible," "iron," "wrought iron," "steel," etc. The type of the escapes is very important and does not show so great uniformity. Aside from the discretion vested in certain executive authorities, the statutes and published regulations of administrative bodies make possible the following summary of permissible structures for fire escapes:

Ladders-Idaho, Iowa.

Ladders or stairs-Illinois, New Hampshire, Oklahoma.

Stairs-Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin (not retroactive).

Stairs, chutes, or toboggans-Nebraska.

How made secure.-Safety of escapes is contemplated by several provisions that have to do with the method of fastening to the building. Indiana requires that the fastenings extend clear through the wall. Wisconsin calls for the support of the stairs by the balcony, and of the balcony by brackets. Ohio provides for three different forms or types of escape. One is supported by brackets from the wall of the building. Another may run parallel with or at right angles to the wall of the building, and is independently supported by columns at a distance of at least 2 feet from the building. The third is a tower 8 feet from the building, with the stairs between any two adjacent stories broken into two flights running in opposite directions. Bridges connect this type of escape to the building at each story.

Extent of escapes.-When the extent of escapes is mentioned, aside from accessibility at different stories, it is principally to insure that the inmates shall be able to reach the ground without delay or danger. Missouri, for instance, provides that the escapes shall extend to the ground. Indiana requires a drop ladder 16 inches wide from the lower platform to the ground. Wisconsin substitutes for the drop ladder a permanent balance stairway. Ohio interdicts. the use of any outside stairway or fire escape unless it comes within 8 feet of the grade line.

Slant. Slant is regulated in two ways. The maximum degree of slant is set down as 45° in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and as 55° in Missouri. The matter is settled in other States by the regulation of treads. The maximum height and width of tread in New Jersey are 7 and 10 inches, respectively. This tends toward a slant of less than 45°. Vermont fixes the angle satisfactorily with a minimum tread of 9 inches and a maximum rise of 8 inches. Ohio does likewise with a fixed tread of 10 inches and a riser of 7 inches.

Railings.-Handrails on escapes, apart from platforms, are required on both sides in some States even when the escape does not diverge from the building. Vermont fixes a minimum of 2 feet 10

inches, North Dakota one of 2 feet 6 inches, Wisconsin one of 3 feet. New Jersey leads all with a screen 5 feet high on the outside. Ohio has a varying requirement of from 2 feet 7 inches to 3 feet 7 inches, the distance to be measured perpendicularly from the nosing of the step.

Miscellaneous.-The width of escapes varies widely, as can be seen from the following:

Inches.

20.-Nebraska.

22.-Wisconsin.
24.-Pennsylvania.

36.-New Jersey, North Dakota.
40-44.-Ohio.

So also is there variation in standards for strength of escapes Pennsylvania places 400 pounds as the load per tread; Vermont places only 200. Vermont figures throughout on a safety factor of 4. Vermont, too, requires a strength of 100 pounds per step for the flight as a whole; Wisconsin insists on 150 pounds; Ohio has several provisions of a like character. Escapes are not to pass a window unless unavoidably (Missouri); if they pass a window, the window is to be glazed with wire glass (New Jersey). All surfaces of platforms and stairs shall be of "rough diamond" to prevent slipping (Nebraska). Besides the stair escapes there shall be in each room above the second story a rope 1 inch in diameter securely attached to a chain over a window. This rope shall be long enough to reach the ground (Pennsylvania). Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and Wisconsin, especially warn that all escapes shall be kept free from various obstructions, such as snow, ice, etc. The doors to escapes must not be bolted or locked during school hours (New York).

Penalties.-Penalties are more consistently announced by the various States for violation of the laws on fire protection than for the violation of any other provision in the whole code of school hygiene. Not all of these have been noted in the examination of statutes, but some samples have been collected. Michigan is one of the most severe, with a fine of from $100 to $1,000 and imprisonment of from three months to a year. Imprisonment is not a rare penalty, however.

Alarms and fire-fighting apparatus.-In five States schools of certain sizes must have a fire-alarm system. Schools of over three rooms come under the law in Minnesota. In Connecticut and Ohio (except one-story buildings without a basement) there must be gongs located in the halls and operated from each story; but in Connecticut a bell in each room, similarly operated, may replace the gong. In Montana there must in all schools of over 30 pupils be a fire gong operated from each room and from the basement. In Florida special gongs to be

used for fire signals only must be capable of operation from both the basement and the office floor, and a fire-alarm box must be located in the principal's office.

One chemical fire extinguisher on each floor is required in Florida, Kansas, and Minnesota; one for each 2,000 square feet of floor area or less on each story above the basement in Ohio; one on each story above the first in Minnesota (if there be over two stories). Massachusetts requires that there be in readiness on each story above the second pails of water or other portable apparatus, or a hose attached to suitable water supply and capable of reaching any part of the story. Maine demands that each story above the first shall be equipped with some portable fire apparatus or a hose attached to a suitable water supply. In Ohio a standpipe and a hose in the basement are sufficient, unless a 75-foot hose will not reach all parts of the building, in which event other standpipes must be constructed. In Minnesota, buildings over two stories used for educational purposes shall, "when practicable," be provided with a 13-inch inside standpipe with sufficient 11-inch hose connected therewith on each floor and sufficient pressure either constantly maintained or available through pumps at a moment's notice, or a 24-inch metallic standpipe on the outside with accessible connections at each story. In cities and villages where there is a water supply, Wisconsin requires that there shall be attached to fire escapes a 3-inch standpipe, but no connection must be maintained except on the roof.

Drills. The importance of fire drills has appealed to several States. Florida specifies drills for public schools only; Michigan and Iowa, for public and private schools. It is probable that most of the other States contemplate only the public schools in prescribing drills. The drills must occur as often as once a month in 9 of the 11 States maintaining them; in Washington, semimonthly; in Montana, weekly. The size of schools that must practice the drills varies in the following manner for the different States:

Schools subject to law on escapes, exits, and fire-fighting appliances-Pennsylvania. Schools of over

100 pupils and over 1 story high-New York. Schoolhouses over 1 story high-Iowa.

Florida and Michigan do not state any exceptions to the liability to keep up the drills. Very little other direction is given for this exercise. The drills in Florida are to include movement with unobstructed exits and the diversion of the lines to exits not regularly used, as well as the use of fire escapes. In Pennsylvania the drill is to include the use of the escapes and other appliances.

VII. LIGHTING.

Though the lighting of schools has not received the stress in regulations and statutes that hygienists claim it deserves, the aspects of the matter regarded in different States have been to a considerable extent the same, thus making a tabular presentation of some value. TABLE 4.-Lighting. 1 1

Light ratio. Students of school hygiene have, as a rule, decided on 1 to 5 as the proper ratio of window area to floor area, and legislative enactments and administrative rules have usually followed this minimum. The standards in different States, so far as established, are exhibited below:

1 to 4-Virginia.

1 to 5-Indiana (if light is from the north), Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio (study, class, and recitation rooms, and laboratories), Pennsylvania, Vermont (1 to 4 recommended).

1 to 6-Indiana, Texas.

1 to 7-Louisiana, Montana (all schools).

1 to 10-Ohio (play, toilet, and recreation rooms).

It is not infrequent to find "actual glass area" mentioned instead of "window area." North Dakota permits the use of reflecting lenses to offset a deficiency in actual lighting area; New Jersey will allow a 10 per cent deficiency to be corrected by the use of prism glass in the upper sash.

Direction of light.-Under the head of "Direction of light" a number of possible rules may be taken up. Children must not sit facing a

window (Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas). A stronger provision is for light from the left, or left and rear only (New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia). Montana's law for light is from left and rear. Indiana is the only State which has gone to the logical limit in protecting the eyes of both pupils and teachers by permitting light only from the left, except for left-handed students. This exception is without force obviously, since nowhere have left-handers been segregated. Minnesota and Texas have also gone some distance toward unilateral lighting, but in Minnesota exception is made of those unusual classrooms over 24 feet wide. Texas demands that the main light come from the left in all 1-room schools, and in larger schools as nearly as architectural demands and the systems of ventilation will permit.

The Minnesota Department of Education is the only body that has referred in regulations to the points of the compass from which light should come. This solitary instance in itself is evidence of the disagreement that still obtains among those who have thought and written so much on this particular subject. The Minnesota regulation is:

Buildings shall be so placed that each room, except such as may be herein specified, shall receive sunlight during some part of the day. Laboratories, manual training rooms, rooms for mechanical and freehand drawing, and other rooms not continuously used for recitation and study, may be lighted from the north. Light from the east is most desirable. Light from the west holds second place. Light from the north as well as from the south should be avoided in school rooms and study rooms.

Height of windows.-Closely allied to direction of light and light ratio is the height of the windows. Hygienic considerations apply especially to the height of their tops. Minnesota, South Dakota, and Vermont require that the windows shall approach as near the ceiling as possible under the usual architectural limitations. Indiana and Montana make the permissible difference in height of ceiling and of windows not over 1 foot. Ohio makes it 8 inches, Texas reduces it to 6. It is apparent, nevertheless, that however close windows may come to the ceiling, a low ceiling in a broad room will prevent proper lighting. Hence we find in Ohio that the height of the window head above the floor must always be 40 per cent of the width of the room, if lighting is unilateral. And in Texas no part of a study hall or classroom is to be further from the window than twice the height of the window from the floor, except where adequate skylights are provided. The height of the window sill from the floor may also be of hygienic significance if the room is ventilated by windows. No maximum distance from the floor is given in any State, but the minimum is 4 feet in Indiana and Vermont, 3 in Texas.

Interior color scheme.-The color of walls, ceilings, and window shades is deserving of far more attention than it has so far received.