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prescribed for school children. 673 boys and 45 girls were examined, and 318 boys (47 per cent.)
and 16 girls (35 per cent.) were found to require treatment. The cases needing treatment were—.
dental, 33 per cent. boys, 7 per cent. girls; vision, 18 per cent. boys, 16 per cent. girls; nose and throat
cases, 3 per cent.; ear disease and hearing, 1.6 per cent. As the girls were so few in number, the following
account is confined to the boys, and the percentage of defects found is compared with those of
" leavers " examined during 1918.
Clothing and cleanliness.—The condition of the clothing was found to be better than that of
"leaver" boys as a rule, 64.2 per cent. being good, 33.3 per cent. fair, and 2.5 per cent. poor, as compared
with 51.2 per cent. good, 45.2 per cent. fair, and 3.5 per cent. poor in the school children. In
cleanliness there was found an improvement in the case of heads, 99 per cent. of the juveniles having
heads completely free from traces of vermin, as compared with 91.8 per cent. in "leaver" boys, while
in the case of clothing .3 per cent. were verminous, as compared with .8 per cent. among "leavers";
on the other hand, only 81 per cent. were returned as satisfactory in regard to cleanliness of clothing,
as compared with 84 per cent. in the case of "leavers."
Nutrition.—The condition of nutrition presented greater variation than that of "leavers,"
41 per cent. being excellent as compared with 25.2 per cent.; 49.3 per cent. normal as compared with
69.5 per cent.; and 9.7 below normal as compared with 5.3 per cent. in the " leavers."
Teeth.—The condition of the teeth was distinctly worse than that of the 1918 "leavers"; 33 per
cent. were found with sound dentition as compared with 48.8 per cent. in the "leavers," 55.3 per cent.
with a few decayed teeth as compared with 43.9 per cent., and 11.7 with very bad teeth as compared with
7.3 per cent. in the "leavers." It is to be noted here that the juveniles left school at a period when the
Council's provision for treatment of teeth had not advanced to its present dimensions.
Nose and throat diseases.—4.7 per cent. of the juvenile lads suffered from enlarged tonsils as
compared with 9.3 per cent. of " leavers, and .7 per cent. with adenoids as compared with 3.3 per cent.
in the "leavers." It is already well known that these conditions tend to disappear during
adolescence.
Vision—58.7 per cent. of the juveniles had normal vision as compared with 57.6 per cent. of
"leavers," but 25.7 per cent. had a high degree of visual defect as compared with 21.7 per cent. of
"leaver" boys.
Diseases of the ears and hearing.—One per cent. of juveniles were found with ear disease as compared
with 1.9 per cent. of "leavers"; but 1.3 per cent. with deafness is almost identical with "leavers"
(1.4 per cent.)
Speech.—5 per cent. of the juveniles stammered as compared with 1 per cent. of'' leavers."
Heart disease and anæmia.—The percentage of cases of heart disease was identical with that
of "leaver" boys, viz., 3.4 per cent.; but anaemia was found in a less number of cases—1.8 per cent. as
compared with 3 per cent.
Lung disease other than tuberculosis was found only in .9 per cent. of juveniles as compared with
3 per cent. of " leavers."
Tuberculosis of the lungs was found in .3 per cent. compared with .2 per cent. of " leavers," and
other forms of tuberculosis in .7 per cent. compared with .2 per cent. of "leavers."
The remains of rickety deformities were discovered in 4.6 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent.
of " leavers."
Deformities other than rickety were found in 5.5 per cent. as compared with 1.8 per cent. of
"leavers."
General considerations.—The most striking fact that arises out of the report is the exceptionally
heavy incidence upon juveniles of deformities as compared with the incidence upon "leaver" boys.
How far this is due to early employment and how far to the possibility that we are here dealing with a
special class of the population in relation to the employment then under review, are questions requiring
consideration. It is noteworthy that no increase in heart strain was found in the juveniles, and this
to a large extent supports the view that the whole of the increased deformity noted cannot be ascribed
to conditions of occupation, as it would be anticipated that undue physical exertion would produce its
first effect upon the heart.
The exceptionally high proportion of boys suffering from rickety deformities must be taken into
account. These conditions are produced in early childhood, and nothing in the employment after leaving
school would have the effect of increasing the number; the fact, therefore, that rickety deformities were
exhibited in 4.6 per cent. of the juveniles as compared with 1.8 per cent. of the "leavers" is significant;
and looking at the results of individual inspections, in which a much higher proportion of the juveniles
suffer from pigeon chest and other rickety conditions than is ever found in groups of boys in elementary
schools, it seems probable that a special class of boys is being dealt with, who have failed to obtain or be
continued in employment in competition with others, because of want of physique. Some confirmation
of this view is shown by the fact that there appears to be a greater number of deformities of long standing,
other than those returned under the head of rickets, than would be found in an average group of boys.
There is, for instance, an excessive number of cases of infantile paralysis and of old tuberculous joint
disease. On the other hand, there also appears a class of deformity of a new type as compared with
the elementary school boy—namely, varicose veins. This condition regularly develops in a certain
proportion of the population during adolescence and early manhood, and its exact relation to occupation
and early manual strain requires further study.
Dr. Reade, who inspected 388 of the juveniles, in a detailed analysis states that in only three
cases was he able to satisfy himself that the defects found were associated with the employment which
had been undergone. These included a baker's boy, who had developed pulmonary tuberculosis, a lad