View report page

2
Lungs.—Two cases, or 1.26 per cent., showed signs of slight bronchitis, but there was no
serious chest trouble.
Heart.—In 30 cases, or 8.6 per cent., the heart was affected ; of these, 5 suffered from shortness
of breath and 9 from albuminuria. Classified technically, the varieties of heart affections
were—10 cases of mitral regurgitation, 6 of mitral stenosis, 6 of simple hypertrophy, probably
nephritic, 4 of simple hypertrophy with albuminuria, 2 of mitral regurgitation and stenosia,
1 of aortic regurgitation, and 1 of mitral regurgitation and pulmonary stenosis.
In only one of the above was the affection serious enough to be a cause of present invalideism,
but to minimise the risk of future trouble in the other cases it was highly important that the
instructions, as to recreations and callings to be avoided in these particular cases, should be
followed out by the parents to whom these instructions are sent.
As at previous examinations, there was present in a large number of cases an indefinite
presystolic apex murmur unaccompanied by any signs of heart trouble, which I am convinced
is due to circulatory disturbance produced by nervous excitability, and is of no definite import.
Only in one case of heart affection was there a definite history of rheumatism, and none had
suffered from chorea.
Spine.—There were no cases of spinal disease.
Eyes.—8 scholars, or 2.2 per cent., were affected with colour blindness. Of these, 3 suffered
from confusion of colours, i.e., imperfect colour vision, and 5 were definitely colour blind.
Acuteness of vision.—In 71, or 20.4 per cent., vision was below " army standard " (one-third
perfect vision). Of these, only 23 were wearing glasses.
In 8 of the 71, the vision of one eye only was below " army standard," the vision of the other
being perfect.
Of the 348 junior scholars, 158, or 45.4 per cent., had perfect vision.
Throat and nose.—115 scholars, or 36.4 per cent., had enlarged tonsils, adenoids, or both. Of
these, 95 had enlarged tonsils, 8 enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and 12 adenoids. 38, or 33.0 per
cent., had more or less defective hearing, and 25 of these required treatment to prevent increasing
deafness, but in the remaining 77 the abnormality was very slight, and of no import.
Hearing.—72 scholars, or 20.6 per cent., suffered from defective hearing. Of these—
In 48 the hearing was fair (the tick of a watch could not be heard at more than 2 feet).
In 18 ,, ,, poor ( ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 1 foot).
In 6 „ „ bad ( „ „ „ „ „ 4 to 6 inches).
Of the 72 scholars who suffered from defective hearing, 38 suffered from enlarged tonsils,
adenoids, or both, 2 from nasal obstruction, 3 had discharge from their ears, and 3 had had
discharge at some previous time.
With reference to the effect of adenoids upon the hearing and mental condition of boys, Dr.
Wilbert gave, in the " Deutscher Medicinisch Wochenschrift" of 5th February, 1903, his
experience in the examination of 231 boys suffering from this complaint. He found that 27 per
cent, were affected in their hearing, 16 per cent, not being able to hear whispered speech at a
distance of one metre. With regard to the mental condition, he found that of 26 children who
were described as bad scholars, 22 had adenoids, and that of the 84 boys, forming the bottom
12 in each class, 65 suffered in this way.
I do not hesitate to quote the above in this report, as I am convinced that, from an educational
point of view, it is of great interest. It is worthy of remark that among the 1,890 boys who
have taken county scholarships and been examined by me during the last five years, only 96, or
under 6 per cent, of the whole number, have shown any signs of adenoids in the naso-pharynx,
and none of these have been bad cases.
Urine.—52, or 149 per cent, of the junior scholars had albumen in the urine.
In 31 of these there was only a trace; 15 had been examined twice, with an interval of three
months between the examinations, and in 5 no albumen was present on the second occasion.
In 12 there was a fair cloud; 5 had been examined twice, with an interval of about three
months between the examinations, and in 3 no albumen was present on the second occasion.
In the remaining 9 there was a heavy deposit of albumen; 4 had been examined twice, with
an interval of about three months between the examinations, and in one of these no albumen
was present on the second occasion.
In those cases, 20 in number, in which albumen was present in the urine on two separate
occasions, some organic kidney mischief is probably present.
Skin.—One scholar had ringworm, and immediate steps were taken to inform his parents of
the fact.
Nervous system.—Three scholars were rather badly affected with stammering.
Other cases of deviation from the normal.—One scholar had a congenital hernia on the right
side, and one gave a definite history of a tendency to hsemophylia.
Analysis of the physical examination of 72 intermediate and commercial scholars.
General appearance.—36 good, 24 fair, 3 rather delicate, and 9 delicate.
Previous illnesses.—59 had had measles, 19 whooping cough, 19 scarlet fever, 8 chicken-pox,
3 mumps, 3 congestion of the lungs, 2 diphtheria, 2 typhoid fever, 1 rheumatism, 1 croup,
1 influenza, and 1 ringworm.