London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London

London County Council 1905

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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42
For Elementary
School.
For M.D.
School.
Invalid.
Imbecile.
Remain at
Special School
Excluded
unfit.
Total.
Boys 7 3 29 3 2 11 55
Girls 9 3 33 3 2 8 58
THE ASSOCIATIONS OP MENTAL DEFICIENCY.
Enquiries were made by Miss E. Sayer, M.B., into the family history and surroundings of 100
consecutive cases of mental deficiency occurring in the special schools for Mentally Defectives. Then,
in order to make a comparison between the conditions affecting the mentally defective and the normal
child similar enquiries were made concerning 100 children from corresponding ordinary schools. In
order to avoid selection every seventh name on the register was chosen. Careful enquiries at the
homes and the compilation of a genealogical tree for every child, assigning all the facts that could be
obtained from the enquiry, afforded the data for the following statements.
Some reason was given why the mentally defective child should, to its own disadvantage, vary
from the normal in 98 per cent.of cases.

Table: Causes assigned—

Causes assigned—

Accident in childhood involving injury to head4 per cent.
Repeated illnesses (damaging special senses and preventing attendance at school)5 per cent.
Difficult labour (in each case lasting three days and being terminated by instruments). One head still bears strong evidence of delayed face presentation3 per cent.
Accident to or iLlness of mother during pregnancy. Severe fall 2 per cent. Typhoid 1 per cent. (7 other children and parents all normal). Esbolics 1 per cent. Other illnesses 4 por cent. Cruelty (knocked about by drunken husband) 6 per cent.14 per cent.
One parent mentally defective34 per cent.
One parent insane2 per cent.
One parent epileptic3 per cent.
One parent drunkard42 per cent.
One parent syphilitic6 per cent.

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Additional disadvantages from which the mentally defective child suffers will be shown to be
poverty, hereditary diseases, and exhaustion of the mother, owing to the rapidity with which an
abnormally large number of children are born.
Home Surroundings.—In 4 per cent. of normal and in 40 per cent. of mentally defective there
is a history of abject poverty occasionally, and notably at the time of the birth of the child. By this
is meant the father being out of work, family living in one room on insufficient food, the mother earning
some money by doing some "odd jobs." In several cases the woman said she did not have enough
to eat during the whole of the pregnancy.

Table: Size of Family.—The following table shows that the average normal family is five, whereas in families where mentally defective cases occur it is 7'6. These figures are, however, not final as the mothers interviewed were of all ages from 24 years onward.

Size of Family.—The following table shows that the average normal family is five, whereas in families where mentally defective cases occur it is 7'6. These figures are, however, not final as the mothers interviewed were of all ages from 24 years onward.

100 families of each class.No. children alive.No. M.D.No mbecile.No. with tubercular; disease.No. dead.Assigned cause of death.Still-born.Miscarriages.Total.
Specific fevers.Convulsions teething.Tubercle.Consumptive bowels.Various causes.
Nofmal38700284331913281223506
76%16%39%2%4%
M.D46724410176264813147517101761
64%22%14%2%13%

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*Not including the cases investigated.
The mothers of mentally deficient children thus have larger families, but a larger percentage die
the majority of these doing so in the first year of life, a much smaller proportion (14:39) dying of specific
fevers later. Although probably a considerably greater proportion of these are included under "various
causes" among the mentally deficient than among the normal. In addition to the increased chance of
pregnancy (especially in those families where there is poverty, drunkenness, or mental deficiency of
the parents) there is a greater likelihood to miscarry (13:4).
Among the sisters and brothers of the 100 mentally deficient children there were 4 imbeciles and
24 other mentally defectives.