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At the routine inspections, 146,305 parents attended, or 56.6 per cent., as compared with 154,927
or 67.8 per cent, in 1914, the falling off' being chiefly at the inspections of the older children, particularly
the boys, and being no doubt attributable to the new and urgent claims on the parents' time rather
than to waning interest. Attendance of parents
The three indices of straitened home circumstances, viz., the condition of the clothing, of nutrition,
and of cleanliness of the children, reflect the improved prosperity brought to certain of the homes of
the poor; 6,735 children were classed as having insufficient clothing or footgear, or 2.6 per cent., as
compared with 3.9 per cent, in 1914 ; 17,032 as below normal in nutrition, or 6 6 per cent., as compared
with 9.4 per cent. ; 1,968, or 0 8 per cent., as unsatisfactory as regards cleanliness of the head, and
2,537, or 1.0 per cent., as regards cleanliness of body, as compared with 1.1 per cent, and 1'3 per cent,
respectively in the previous year. State of clothing nutrition and cleanliness
The difficulties attending the preservation of the long hair of the girls from parasitic infestation,
in the homes of the poorer classes, are shown by the much greater percentage of girls compared with boys
returned as unsatisfactory as regards cleanliness of the head, although the gradual improvement in
this respect manifested in recent years is maintained ; 72.6 per cent, of girls at the leaving age were
marked as satisfactory in regard to condition of the hair as compared with 68 8 per cent, in 1914. The condition of the hair of girls
The condition of the teeth also shows a steady improvement at the leaving age, although the Teeth,
amount of dental disease still remains deplorable. The incoming entrants of 1915 showed a somewhat
worse condition in regard to teeth than those of 1914, only 47.6 per cent, boys and 47.1 per cent, girls
having satisfactory mouths as compared with 51.6 per cent, and 52.0 per cent.
It is to be hoped that maternity centres and schools for mothers will be able as their work extends
to effect improvement in the condition of the children entering school. On the other hand, it is exceedingly
satisfactory to note that a larger percentage of children leaving school had satisfactory dentures
in 1915 than was the case in 1914 ; the figures being 53.1 per cent, boys and 55.5 per cent, girls this
year, as compared with 51.9 per cent, boys and 54.1 per cent, girls last year.
It is curious to note that each year the teeth of the leaving girls are in better condition than
those of the leaving boys, and this in spite of the fact that, speaking generally, the health of leaving
boys is superior to that of leaving girls. It is probable that the teaching of hygiene in schools is more
generally practised in girls' departments and there finds a readier soil, and the practice of cleaning the
teeth night and morning is more likely to be followed by school girls than school boys.
The percentage of children recorded with skin diseases was 1.7 per cent., as compared with 1.8 per Skin
cent, in 1914, and 1.9 per cent, in 1913. diseases,
The Medical Officer of the Board, in his Annual Report for 1913 (par. 13), suggested that School
Medical Officers' Annual Reports for 1915 should contain the results of special enquiry made on the
subject of adenoids. The following notes epitomise the results of the inquiry in London.
Catarrhal conditions of the mucous lining of the respiratory passages are rife in this country
amongst children of school age. Accompanying these catarrhal conditions is found overgrowth of the
natural lymphoid masses, particularly of the tonsils and of the adenoid tissue of the naso.pharynx. Such
overgrowths persist for long periods during child life, producing through their secondary effects serious
interference with growth and development. Towards the end of school life they tend spontaneously to
disappear, but deformities and habits produced by their long persistence remain more or less permanent.
The almost inevitable spread to the middle ear of the general unhealthy condition of the throat renders
the association of adenoid growth and deafness an extremely close one. As medical inspection of school
children became general, the very serious interference with educational efficiency brought about by the
widespread prevalence of these conditions soon became apparent; and amongst the complaints for which
special arrangements for treatment of school children became necessary under the Administrative
1'rovisions Act, adenoid growths and enlarged tonsils took a prominent place. Results of special inquiry made concerning adenoids
From the figures which will be quoted below it will be seen that as the result of school medical
inspection the most striking accompaniments of adenoid growths are found to be firstly deafness and
ear discharge, and secondly mental dulness and retardation of intellectual progress.

It is to be noted that the continuous decline of late years in the number of children with defects
so severe as to require recommendation for treatment is this year again conspicuously apparent.
It would be both interesting and useful to attempt to arrive at conclusions which would show
to what extent locality and social conditions affect the prevalence of adenoid growths, and returns from
various districts have been compared with this object in view. A serious difficulty, however, is at once
experienced in the very wide variations in the practice of different observers in recording cases.
The actual demonstration of the presence of overgrowth requires the insertion of the observer's
finger into the child's naso.pharynx, an operation which though harmless causes discomfort, and to a