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74
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE FACTS DISCLOSED
BY MEDICAL INSPECTION.
Diseases of the Eye. —67 were found to be suffering from
external disease of the Eye, chiefly Blepharitis and Conjunctivitis.
Visual Defects.—Of the 934 boys examined in the upper
schools 96 were found to be suffering from defective sight, and
of the 676 girls 66 were discovered. The infants were not
tested in vision owing to the fact that they were not old enough
to read the vision test card.
The defects are in cases of vision worse than 6/12
Diseases of the Ear.—The number of children suffering
from some disease of the ear or defects of hearing was 6o, equal
to 2.4 percent.
The hearing was tested in some cases by means of the
watch test, and in others by the whisper test. The latter is the
most perfect test but takes much longer to carry out. Wax in
the ear was present in a number of cases, and in this respect, as
in discharging ears, it is most important that attention should
be given to this before permanent trouble is caused.
It is very often tedious treatment that is required on the
part of the parents to remedy this.
Speech Defects.—Minor defects of speech were present in
18 cases, ten of these being at five years of age. These will
probably be remedied by education. The remainder were
either due to disease of the palate or nervous disease (Stammering)-
Heart and Circulation.—42 cases of disease of the heart and
circulation were discovered. In some cases the parents were
entirely ignorant of any organic disease being present. Some
of the cases were slight, caused by Anaemia and insufficient
feeding. Others no doubt were suffering from over-work and
did not get sufficiert sleep, being employed early in the
morning and late at night. In my opinion this should be forbidden
whilst children are attending school.