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46
With respect to the second criteria the evidence is hardly so
favourable, for we find the following:—

Looking at these figures I cannot help but feel that in
both 1910 and 1912 there must have been some alteration in
the standards as to what constituted a verminous child. Still,
on the whole, the bodies of the children have much improved,
though the fact that 42 per cent. of the girls. show evidence
of this insect in their hair can hardly be pleasant reading,
especially as the figures seem to indicate an increase. It is,
I think, desirable that more stringent measures be taken to
remedy this deplorable state of affairs.
Turning to the more medical aspect, it should be possible
to demonstrate statistically what the effect of this work is by
comparing the defects noted during the last five years. Unfortunately
the figures show a variability which is hard to
explain, as it is much beyond the fluctuations of random
sampling. It would seem as though the standard changed
materially in 1910, and that even from year to year it has
varied somewhat. It would hardly be safe and certainly unfair
to deduce anything either for or against from the statistics
at our disposal. Bearing this reservation in mind we can take
each heading seriatim.