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It will be seen that the average attendance at Douglas Road is
75. This, towards the end of the year, was greatly exceeded,
the attendances often being over 100, and on one occasion reached
128. There is no need to point out that this makes work absolutely
impossible from the point of view of the nurses and also of the
Medical Officer.
The rapid growth of the district, with the consequent influx of
families from other districts, brings to light various matters, one
of which I think must be mentioned. It affects more particularly
children who have attended Clinics in other parts of the County.
I find a small but increasing number of children who are brought
to the Clinic on account of inability to sleep soundly at night, and
this group presents the same symptom, namely preputial adhesions;
in most of the cases about one-third of the distance from the meatus
to the glans penis, at the same time the foreskin is not in any way
redundant, but rather the reverse. The mechanism is perfectly
obvious; as a result of a full bladder an erection takes place, and
discomfort is caused at the dragging of the preputial adhesions. It
is quite a different matter to the discomfort which so many infants
seem to experience as a result of a full bladder. One sees this
almost every day in the clinic, and one learns what to expect from
the type of infant's cry, and any abdominal manipulation immediately
emphasises the wisdom of wearing washable jackets for this