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* Inclusive of children improperly fed.
Attention is drawn by Dr. Forsyth to the part played by neglected
decayed teeth: children with them seem unduly liable to tonsillar and
adenoid affections and to bronchitis, while the septic state of the mouth
also conduces to derangement of the stomach and bowels.
Special attention is given to the children of tuberculous parents
and to suspect cases, and 89 children were reported upon at the two
centres.
The information relating to children, which is obtained through the
visiting of families, is supplied to the school medical inspector when he
examines the " entrants" at each school, and the value of this is
enhanced when the child has been under regular medical supervision
previously,
Housewifery and Mothercraft Classes.—In addition to the advice
given at the medical inspection, classes have been instituted for the
purpose of educating mothers in various ways, " which will enable them
to improve the health of their children and the hygiene and comfort of
their homes." To this end classes are held at which needlework and
garment making is taught, after which short addresses are given on
various health subjects; demonstrations and practical cookery lessons
are also given, and visits for the same object are also given in the homes,
where mothers are shown how to make the best of the money and
appliances they possess.
Sir George Newman, Medical Officer to the Board of Education, in
his annual report for 1912, writes in strong terms of commendation of
such work as this, and suggests how schools for mothers might be further
developed so as to include a treatment clinic and a day nursery, carried
on largely by voluntary effort, but aided and supervised by the central
and local authority. The Board of Education is now prepared to make