London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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elementary schools or were "no longer certifiable" as defective between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years.
| Defect. | Cases passed "no longer certi fiable." | Cases passed fit to return to elemen tary school. | Defect. | Cases passed "no longer certifiable." | Cases passed fit to return to elementary school. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart | 68 | 37 | Miscellaneous — Nervous | ||
| Rheumatism | 13 | 9 | conditions, ataxia, etc. | 4 | 3 |
| Tuberculosis | 40 | 23 | Chorea | 8 | 10 |
| Infantile paralysis | 31 | 16 | Bronchiectasis | 2 | — |
| Rickets and deformities from this cause | 2 | 16 | Osteomyelitis | 6 | 5 |
| Miscellaneous skin conditions | — | 1 | |||
| Various traumata | 11 | 12 | |||
| Congenital deformities | 19 | 22 | |||
| Non-tuberculous arthritis and synovitis, including pseudo-coxalgia | 2 | 7 | 206 | 161 |
Mental
Deficiency
Acts.
Cases notified
to the local
authority.
The following table shows the number of cases notified to the local authority by the education authority under section 2 (2) of the Mental Deficiency Acts, 1913-1927, during the year 1929. The figures in brackets are those for the previous year:—
| Boys. | Girls. | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Feebleminded— | ||
| (1) Leavers | 89 (66) | 81 (85) |
| (2) Detrimental | 7 (3) | 6 (6) |
| (3) Special circumstances | 1 (3) | 1 (0) |
| (4) Ineducable | 0 (0) | 1 (0) |
| (6) Imbecile | 81 (96) | 58 (79) |
| (c) Idiot | 3 (6) | 11 (12) |
| 0 (1) | 0 (1) | |
| Total 339 (358) | 181 (175) | 158 (183) |
Mental status
of parents,
and brothers
and sisters of
200 children
examined
with a view
to admission
to M.D.
schools.
Dr. A. C. Williams has analysed the records of certain children brought to
notice as being probably mentally defective in which it was possible from the comments
of the certifying officers, or from the notes submitted by the teachers, to form
some estimate of the mental status of the parents and of the brothers and sisters.
The parents were classified in five groups:—
I.—Superior: deduced from such remarks as "parents highly intelligent," "above the
average for the district" etc.
II.—Average: "parents average," "home ordinary," etc.
III.—Inferior: "parents seem dull," "children neglected," etc.
IV.—Unstable: "parents alcoholic," "father often in prison," etc.
V.—Mentally defective: this class was used when a parent had been a pupil in a special
(M.D.) school or had been ascertained under the M.D. Act.
The siblings were classified in three groups:—
1.—Superior: if they had obtained scholarships or places in secondary schools.
2.—Average: if they had attended ordinary elementary schools.
3.—Defective: if one or more attended a special school.
The children whose records are dealt with comprised 100, who were admitted
to special (M.D.) schools, 100 who were examined with a view to such admission but
who were not at the time accepted, and 22 imbeciles. The results as regards parentage
were:—
Group of Children.
Superior.
Average.
Parents.
Inferior.
Unstable.
M.D.
Inferior but returned to E.S. (100) 16 52 21 10 1
Mentally defective (100) 15 45 28 8 4
Imbecile (22) 6 13 — 2 1