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(Part I.) of this report. With regard to children, however, it may be here stated that, at the beginning
of the year, the Council had in use 240 beds, of which 75 had been provided by the Metropolitan Asylums
Board, at Queen Mary's Hospital, Carshalton. The remaining 165 beds were obtained by the Council
in various voluntary institutions. For part of the year, the number of beds for children at Carshalton
was raised to 100, but later, some of these beds had to be given up as they became vacant, partly owing
to demands upon the accommodation by Boards of Guardians, and partly to staffing difficulties, so
that at the end of the year the number of beds occupied at Carshalton was 71. The Metropolitan
Asylums Board were, however, able in July, 1916, to place at the disposal of the Council 27 beds for
girls between 10 and 16 years of age at the Northern Hospital, Winchmore Hill. These were all in
use on 31st December, 1916. The number of beds at Nayland Children's Sanatorium was increased
from 62 to 85, and the Council obtained 15 beds at Holt Children's Sanatorium, Norfolk. Other
institutions included in the scheme, in 1915, were able to increase the number of beds, so that, at the
end of the year, the Council had 231 children's beds in voluntary institutions, and beds in two institutions
belonging to the Metropolitan Asylums Board already mentioned.

Open-Air Schools.
The two open-air schools, at Shooters Hill, with 64 boys and 40 girls, and at Birley House, with
57 boys and 41 girls, continue their activities. Dr. Kerr has made a careful study of the record cards
of the children, and has compared the results with those relating to children in playground classes and
in the ordinary schools. He finds from study of the actual weight measurements, made at four weeks'
intervals, that the open-air school children show a stationary weight for the first 3 months, and after
that a comparatively rapid and steady increase.