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74 ADMINISTRATIVE WORK.
girls, and that in the senior departments girls are more frequently attacked than boys. The
figures for last year (completed cases) were—
Infants' Departments. Boys' and Girls' Departments.
Ages 4—8 years. Ages 8—14 years.
Boys 72 35
Girls 51 49
The seasonal distribution is apt to be disturbed by the varying activities of school nurses
and others—by varying zealousness in searching out the cases. Of the 219 completed cases, 100
were reported in the first four months of the year (January-April), 75 in the second (May-August
— the summer holidays prevent the discovery of cases), and 115 in the last four (SeptemberDecember).
In 47 cases the presence of the microsporon was determined by the School
Medical Officer. Specimens were taken from 53 children for microscopical examinations during
the year by the Medical Officer of Health of the Borough.
Ringworm, from an educational point of view, is almost the most worrying of all the
ailments to which children are subject. Parents as a rule refuse to regard the treatment of the
disease seriously, and waste much time in trying all sorts of quaint remedies and nostrums. It
is not infrequent for a child to be out of school—to the detriment of education, manners, and
morals—for upwards of a year. Among the 73 cases carried over to 1913, there were 2 reported
in 1911 and 16 of over six months' duration (including 2 of nine months' and 1 of eleven). The
only treatment which can be absolutely relied upon is that by the X-rays when properly applied,
and the best method of use is that which produces complete depilation at one sitting. Even
with that treatment the child is likely to be out of school for something over three months, as
although cured of the ringworm as soon as depilation commences—usually within three weeks of
the application of the X-rays—there is a natural inclination to keep the child from school until
the head is covered with hair.
Scabies.—The schools reported 46 cases last year—30 in 1911—and 3 other cases were
known to the Department. The largest number of cases reported from any school was 12
(Campbell Street), all in the girls' department. An analysis based on the dates on which the
cases were reported and the class rooms indicates that the disease was introduced into the school
on two separate occasions, and spread from child to child. Six of the 46 children resided outside
the Borough. The distribution of the cases during the year was fairly uniform, and as regards sex,
equal. Boys in the junior departments seem to be more prone to the disease, while the opposite
may be noted in the senior.
Infants' Departments. Boys' and Girls' Departments.
Ages 4—8 years. Ages 8—14 years.
Boys 13 9
Girls 7 20
The patients' beds and personal clothing were stoved whenever consent could be obtained.
Vermin.—Last year was the first occasion of systematic reporting throughout the year of
children found in schools in a dirty and/or verminous condition. During the year 319 children
were reported, of whom 13 could not be traced through wrong addresses being given, and 16
resided outside the Borough. The total number of children visited for this trouble was 365 in
231 families. In three streets, viz., Cirencester, Clarendon, and Woodchester, 165 children in 95
families came under supervision.
Thirty-nine children in 33 families were reported on two occasions during 1912, 13 children
in 10 families on three, and 7 children in 4 families on four.
With the lack of accommodation for personal cleanliness in the children's homes, and the
absence of any "cleansing station," very little can be done by the Department in the direction
of stamping out verminous conditions, except when the tenements are found to be infested or
the beds in the like condition. To deal with the latter the consent of the owner has to be
obtained, but that is usually not very difficult. Furniture, such as stuffed chairs, sofas, &c.,