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tenements (sixty-four), which ranged from a few modern open building estates to
almost derelict buildings, presenting features not unlike back-to-back dwellings,
and so present considerable difficulty in classification.
So it is with dampness, forty-nine houses were said to be damp, and the evidence
varied from leaking roofs and damp walls to " some signs of dampness below the
scullery basin." The writer's impression was that the actual dampness in most of the
houses was of small degree. It has been suggested that washing and drying of
clothes in the poorer homes might be the cause of humidity, if not of dampness, but
in such homes washing of clothes is a somewhat rare event, and when it is done
it is taken to the public baths in the perambulator and the drying is done in the
yard, which, fortunately, exists in the great majority of London's poorest homes.
On no home visit did the writer see the washing drying in the house.
Thirty-seven children were said to occupy a separate bed, this, in many instances
is an euphemistic way of explaining that the child slept on an orange box, or on the
floor, or maybe on a convertible bed chair, in many of the other sixty-three cases the
child slept either with parents or with brothers or sisters to the number of four or
more. That the very poor do not readily or often shift their residence is evidenced
by the fact that seventy-one families out of a hundred had been in the same house
for five or more years.
In summing up the environmental factors, it would appear that no one disadvantageous
factor stands out, but rather that each and all of the concomitants
of poverty, poor houses, dampness, unhealthy sites, overcrowding, lack of ventilation
and of sunlight, poor feeding, poor clothing, irregular habits, etc., destructively
converge on these unfortunate children who wilt along the lines their bias carries
them, be it marasmus, rheumatism, tuberculosis, or the respiratory diseases generally.
Personal Hygiene Scheme.
The number of examinations made at rota visits by the school nurses during
1927 was 1,990,201. Verminous conditions were found in 261,135 cases (13.1
per cent.). This is a considerable improvement, as the percentage of verminous
cases in 1926 was 15.6 per cent., while in the previous year it was 16.6 per cent.

In addition, the numbers of cases dealt with at the head cleansing centres during
these years were—24,516 (1923); 23,986 (1924); 23,947 (1925); 23,645 (1926);
and 25,693 (1927).
Of the 261,135 cases in which verminous conditions were noted, 153,291 were
found to have nits only. Instances in which vermin or flea bites were found amounted
only to 5.4 per cent. of the total number examined.
It will be observed from the above table that there has been an increase of
479 cases of scabies during 1927. The year has been an unfavourable one for skin
diseases generally.
Soabies.
A new centre having been opened in the North Paddington district, the Council
has now 11 centres for the treatment of verminous children, while there are agreements
with 18 sanitary authorities and eight voluntary committees. During 1927 there
Treatment
centres.