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92
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1911.
"unless remedied it is likely to materially interfere with progress in school or future success in life."
The majority of cases now recorded as defects could only very doubtfully be brought under this
definition.
In the enquiries conducted some years ago it was considered as a result of experience that too
detailed records of the findings of medical inspection tended to exaggerate the trivial. As a matter of
economy in time and money these unimportant defects did not seem worth recording for all children.
At the same time, as a scientific enquiry, no detail can be too small to record for some, but not necessarily
all, children. As was pointed out in a previous report, the two purposes are quite distinct, scientific
enquiry to gain accurate knowledge and general medical inspection for the detection and remedying
of defects. Statistical analysis showed that all methods of inspection, whilst differing enormously
in cost, gave practically identical results for the defects which really mattered, whilst for trivial
things the more detailed the record the greater the number of defects noted.
So far as the doctors themselves are concerned, serious defects are about equally noted, but the
slighter defects show increasingly the effect of personal equation. The differences of standard taken
as to what requires treatment shows up too in the numbers referred.

Re-inspec-
tion.
Here the variation in numbers of children referred for treatment lies between 40 and 60 per
cent. As the highest number occurred in the district which, if anything, was the best socially, the
variation may be largely ascribed to personal equation in the examiner.
This small enquiry should be extended, as it may mean, as has already been suggested, that a
series of definitions will have to be laid down for the degree of each sign or symptom to be registered
under each heading, or the variability of the records taken later or elsewhere will make comparisons
fallacious.
During 1911 the only share in medical treatment taken by the school doctors was in
re-inspecting cases which they had recommended for treatment.
The results of the re-inspection is given for the several electoral divisions in the Appendix VII.
From this it is seen that 63,752 children were reinspected. The work of taking out the figures from the
cards was so laborious that two representative schools for each division were taken, and analysis of the
details made. These 116 schools with 120,534 children on the rolls are probably sufficient to give nearly
average results.
Reinspection returns from two schools in each electoral division (116 schools, with 120,534 on
roll.
Numbers. Percentages.
Defects reinspected 7,639 100.0
Defects referred for treatment under Council's schemes 4,842 63.4
Not under Council's schemes 1,074 14.1
Dental defects 1,723 22. 6
Defects in children not traced 753 9.9
Defects not treated—
, Still requiring treatment 3,422 44.8
Not requiring treatment 218 2.9
Defects treated—
Privately 578 7.6
Otherwise 2,668 34.9
Results of treatment—
Satisfactory 1,979 25.9
Unsatisfactory 434 5.7
Still under treatment 833 10.9