some were artisans. But the great teachers stand out from all others in that they began their work by studying the physical side of education. A great many of course, such for example as Esquirol and Pinel, who began in Paris the study and treatment of so-called idiots and insane persons, were doctors by profession. In England and Scotland too, doctors took up this new work, and certainly no one disputed their right to do so. For the professional teachers did not want to spend time and talent on children who, as it seemed, could never do them any kind of credit. Even the Scottish dominie, successful as he was, cared mainly for the "boy o' pairts," not for the poor "innocent" who ran about the village. So it came to pass that the school doctor has really come to us via the sad class rooms where the unfortunates of the race were gathered at last.
One of the most original and successful of these teachers was Edouard Séguin—a Frenchman living in America. He was a fully qualified doctor. He seems to have known very well all that was written up to his day—he died about twenty-five years ago, in the early eighties—by the great educationists. He was an admirer too, of Froebel. But it was from his poor scholars themselves that Séguin learned what made it possible for him to become a true pioneer.
