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*Nose and Throat Defects. Enlarged Glands.
Group. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls.
Entrants 33.5 29.7 10.7 8.7
Intermediates 23.8 25.4 15.5 13.5
Leavers 15.3 16.3 12.7 68
Other Ages 35.3 20.9 35.3 20.6
*Does not include mouth breathers, but includes other defects of nose and throat.
Defective Hearing.
The commonest cause of deafness in children is the result of
chronic inflammation of the middle ear. This may have been
caused by an attack of one of the acute infectious fevers, usually
measles, or scarlet fever, or it may arise after an attack of septic
tonsillitis. Ear discharge may or may not be present, though
there has always been a discharge at some stage of the process.
Adenoids are another cause which makes itself most prominent if
the child is suffering from catarrh.
Syringing the ears in cases of ear discharge is a risky procedure
if carried out in an inexperienced or careless manner. Permanent
damage to the delicate mechanism may be inflicted in this way,
owing to the infection being forced into the innermost parts of
the ear. Discharging ears, especially of long standing, should be
treated seriously.
A report of the work of the Ionization Clinic is given on
page 53.
The routine medical inspection figures showed that 0.4 per
cent. entrants, 1.6 per cent. intermediates, and 1.6 per cent. leavers
had defective hearing. The figure for entrants is an improvement
on 1929; the others percentages are practically unchanged.
Speech Defects.
The findings show that 0.2 per cent. entrants and 0.3 per cent.
intermediates showed speech defects. These figures are lower than
usually found.
Skin Diseases.
The findings only show the incidence in the groups examined
at a specific examination and must not be taken to indicate the