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Report of the Medical Officer (Education).
171
Functional Nervous Trouble.
Allusion has been made previously to functional disorders among school children. Epidemics
of shakings, faintings, hiccuping, or other disorders are occasionally recorded in continental schools,
Some years ago there was a small outbreak of paralysed left arms in a class in Hackney, but such
school outbreaks are very rare in England. There are, however, other forms of functional disease which
are not uncommon in individual cases, and they are cases which need investigation carefully as part
of the school work, but for which some special observation school is required. There are very many
educational problems in which there will be little advance till careful study of individual cases can be
made under suitable conditions. Children are especially liable to suggestion, and cases of long standing
disorder are seen which could be cured in a half an hour by one who thoroughly understood the treatment,
but which often continue neglected. An illustrative case is given below of a boy's writing.
Monday Mays
Monday Mays
Monday Mays
1. The boy's attempt on arrival. 2. Wiitten after suggestion to do better. 3. After a few minutes
repeated suggestion that he could write without any tremor. These were all written within the same
quarter of an hour.
The boy had been frightened some weeks previously by a dog, and this may have originated the condition
noticed by the head master, who called attention to "the onset of a nervous disease" and submitted
copybooks written by the boy during a period of about a month, in which the gradual onset of
tremulous writing was shown. From the character of the alterations in writing the nature of the
disorder appeared to be hysterical, and for safety in diagnosis the boy was sent up to the head office.
His writing in my room was quite tremulous and characteristic. By impressing the boy, laying one's
hand on his head and repeatedly saying "In a few minutes you will write as well as ever" he wrote
the word required without a shake. He was directed to return to school and write an exercise that
afternoon and another next day, and send them up to the office. The writing of these two exercises
probably suggested a contrast to him, for the one written that afternoon was perfect whilst next day
it was as bad as ever, and an exercise written a fortnight later was even worse. This case could be
permanently cured in a very short time by appropriate means.
Stammering.
In the case of stammering the majority of the cases are of a functional nature, and there is
little doubt that the equally good results obtained by all kinds of methods and treatments from comparatively
untrained teachers owe their success to the common element of the teacher's complete
faith in his method as the best, and its suggestive influence on the stammerer. A stammerer can sometimes
be cured in a quarter of an hour. For this reason, and looking to the facts recorded in the last
Annual Report that 1.3 per cent, of all children have some obvious speech defect, and that about 3
per cent. Standard VI. boys and about 4 per cent, of Standard VII. boys present defects, it has been
suggested that an experimental class for the educational treatment of stammerers should be opened.
The argument commonly used against such work is that we must not experiment with children, but
if this is not to be done, schools might as well be closed, for all education is experimental, and without
experiments no progress is possible. If stammering is not to be wholly neglected, as it has been hitherto,
careful enquiry into its educational and physiological aspects is necessary, and there is little doubt
that a class for stammerers would speedily bring the whole matter within regular lines of treatment.
It has been proposed to institute such a class so that the children can attend it on several halfdays
a week, and be treated whilst still continuing their ordinary school work at other times.
Teachers' Health in relation to Ventilation and Heating of Schools.
Attention having been called to the ventilation of Culloden-street School (Plenum ventilation),
enquiries were made during the year into the health of teachers in the nine schools ventilated on the
Plenum system, and also in nine schools warmed by open fires and nine warmed by radiators, the
last two groups being ventilated by the so-called "natural" means. One department only of each
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