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and 10 cases of skin disease were dealt with. Defective clothing'
was remedied in 31 instances.
It was not found necessary to cleanse any children under
Section 122 of the Children's Act, but 86 heads were cleansed at
the school clinics by nurses.
(c) Minor ailments. The treatment of minor ailments and
diseases of the skin is undertaken at the school clinics. Details
of the treatment carried out during 1937 are given in Table IV of
the Appendix to this section. The table shows that the total number
of cases who were treated at these clinics during the year was
12,937. This figure may be compared with a total of 12,896 for
1936. It is of course necessary for many patients to attend on
more than one occasion, and some indication of the work carried
out at these clinics will be obtained from the following table.

Skin diseases. A comparison of the incidence of various
skin diseases, as judged by the number of patients who attended
for treatment at the clinics, is instructive. Table XII gives these
figures for twelve years.
This table brings out certain satisfactory features. Ringworm,
both of the scalp and of the body, has shown a progressive
and marked decline, and the incidence of impetigo has been halved
in ten years. These facts may indicate an improvement in the
handling of patients by their mothers, so that children who are
infected are kept away from others. On the other hand, the
incidence of scabies has increased three fold since 1927. This
increase is very regettable, but is quite analogous to a similiar
increase which has been noted in other large areas.
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