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97
on the health and comfort of the children. Probably however this
supervision will remain incomplete until school baths are recognised
as part of the necessary equipment of elementary schools.
In 56 instances children were found to be harbouring live
vermin but this does not by any means show the number actually
infected. As already stated the children had been specially prepared
for inspection and clean clothing together with attention to the
scalp had temporarily removed all live stock. The prevalence
of vermin is better shown by the number of children on whose
heads nits were observed. Unfortunately by an oversight this
information was not extracted. That the number of children
infected with vermin is very considerable is shown by the following
figures obtained from four typical schools which were specially
inspected from this point of view early in 1909.

Of course these variations are, to a certain extent, to be
explained by the home conditions of the children attending these
schools, but this is by no means the whole explanation.
While recognising the special difficulties of certain head teachers,
am confident the condition of the children not only reflects the condition
of their homes but the standard of cleanliness adopted in
the school. In the girls' schools much improvement would follow
the adoption of a regulation similar to that in force at the High
School, namely, "girls with hair long enough to reach the shoulders
are expected to have their hair tied back." This is a simple precaution,
which is not only calculated to check the spread of vermin,
but has other obvious advantages.