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68
medical advice, and to persuade those who have done nothing
to have such defects remedied; (c) making a periodical inspection
once a month of the children in the schools with a
view to personal cleanliness.
STATISTICS AND RESULTS OF INSPECTION.
Attached hereto are statistics showing the number of
children examined at each school, along with the results of
their inspection. It has been thought desirable to interpret
these results by submitting short reports under the following
heads:— (a) Cleanliness, (b) Ringworm, (c) Clothing, (d) Teeth,
(e) Eyesight, (f) Diseases of the Throat, (g) Diseases of the
Ear, (h) Heart Disease, (i) Skin Disease, (j) Tuberculosis,
(k) Mentally Defective Children, (l) Treatment.
CLEANLINESS.
The urgent necessity of periodical inspection by the
School Nurse is proved by the statistics. At the commencement
of her work, the condition of the heads of many of the
scholars (especially amongst the girls) was a matter for
comment. The figures include all those who showed any
traces of a verminous condition; many of course were slight,
and, but for the examination, would doubtless have been
overlooked. Naturally, the neglected children suffer most,
yet many well-dressed and otherwise quite clean children
suffer from this condition, the majority no doubt from contact
with dirty children, and it behoves parents to recognise the
necessity for constant supervision. This condition is by no
means limited to children attending elementary schools, for
in any institution where a large number of children congregate
this state of things will arise except the most stringent
precautions be taken. It is satisfactory to report that there
is a very considerable improvement in this respect, doubtless
due to the fact that parents are more alive to the necessity of
supervision than was formerly the case.