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95
Act, 1908, must be put into operation, and the erection of a
cleansing station is under consideration. In those cases where
other means fail, notice will be served upon the parent or
g uardian requiring the child to be cleansed to the satisfaction
of the School Doctor within 24 hours. If this notice is not
complied with the child may be taken and properly cleansed.
When a child so cleansed is allowed again to get into a
verminous or filthy state the parent or guardian becomes
liable to a summary conviction and fine.
Clothing and Footgear.
The condition of the clothing is, generally speaking,
good, and one rarely comes across children insufficiently
clad. In some cases the footgear was seen
to be defective. It is not uncommon, however, to see
children who are over-clad, many parents apparently thinking
that once a child has suffered from a cough or cold it must
never be without two or three thick flannel vests, etc. This
"coddling" often is prejudicial to the child's health, and must
be very uncomfortable. The cleanliness of the clothing often
leaves something to be desired, but there is evidence that
considerable improvement is being effected in this respect.
The Secretary of Education informs me that during the year
about 80—90 pairs of boots were provided through the boot
fund.
Defects Discovered
Of the 794 children examined, 113 ( = approximately 14
per cent.) had defects requiring medical treatment. This
number does not include cases already treated: these
averaged about 5 per cent. Ignoring for the moment the
question of teeth and cleanliness, it appears that about 30
per cent. had minor defects not requiring skilled treatment-
Table V. shews the number of children examined in each
department and the number with defects of various nature.
Further particulars of the defects are given in the text under
the separate headings as a multiplicity of tables and figure is
simply bewildering.