H.—3l

45

the schools; but they have one and all expressed their desire for expert help in bringing about the reform they have deemed necessary. It may be advantageous to set out briefly again the scheme suggested. With a sparsely populated country such as ours it would be unwise to attempt to set up a system of medical inspection such as obtains in Belgium, Germany, France, America, or England. On the Continent of Europe, in addition, to inspection during school life, all children are carefully examined before they are allowed to begin their studies. That this is of the very greatest value is attested by the fact that last year about 11 per cent, of the children about to begin school were referred back for periods varying from one to more years. Such a system of inspection would not be impossible here; but I suggest that we should begin in the manner least likely to entail a large initial or annual expenditure. Again, in nearly all of the countries where medical examination obtains all children attending school are examined by the medical officer. I have suggested that, instead of the medical inspector sorting out the abnormal from the normal, this should be done by the teacher. It may be said that the teacher cannot do the work as well as an expert. That must be admitted, and here again the sacrifice of efficiency is done solely to lessen the cost. After all, the number of cases that will be missed by the teacher will be small. I have found throughout the colony that the teachers, with few exceptions, do take a great interest in the physical welfare of their pupils, and as a matter of fact many of them are actually doing the work which I suggest should be done by them under the suggested scheme. It is proposed that the schoolmaster should keep a list of all his pupils who, in his opinion, are below normal in health. The child who complains that he cannot see the figures on the blackboard, the scholar who always turns one ear to the teacher, who sits with open mouth, who complains of frequent headaches, suffers from constant toothache, who coughs, suffers from a rash, who mopes or limps about the playground, or who suggests in any way that he is not well, should be placed upon the list. This list would be given to the Medical Inspector at his visit. Thus, instead of having to examine the whole school, his time would be spent over, say, some 10 or 12 per cent. With this reduced number it would be possible, I think, for four or five officers to examine all the schools in the colony. There would certainly be plenty of work for them to do; but, at any rate, the scheme might be begun with such a staff. I reproduce a graphic representation of the weights and heights of the pupils attending the Girls' High School, Dunedin. I am enabled to do this through the courtesy of Miss Marchant, the Principal of the school. The numbers are comparatively few, and therefore the " mean error " has to be borne in mind. It is most interesting, however, to see that both in weight and stature the Dunedin schoolgirl exceeds the anthropometric standard as well as the girls attending the North London Collegiate School of Girls. (See facing page.) Through the kindness of W. Empson, Esq., Principal of the Wanganui Collegiate School, T am able to reproduce the following graphs of the weight and height of the scholars attending that well-known school. The records embrace the period 1895-1907, and the average number of pupils was 180 per annum. (See facing page.) I sincerely hope that next year the data at our disposal will be greatly increased.

Statistics regarding the Average Weight, Height, and Chest-measurement of Girls attending the Otago Girls' High School, Dunedin, taken during Two Years from 1906 to 1908.

Similar Statistics of Girls attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls, from May, 1893, to May, 1902. (From the Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training (Scotland) 1903.)

Number of Observations. Ages in Years. Height, Average. Weight, Average. Chest-girth, Average. 31 220 498 306 151 99 29 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 s" In. 574 59-7 62-0 63-8 63-7 65-6 64-6 Lb. 82-2 90-7 101-7 115-0 117-0 125-3 132-0 In. 27-2 294 30-0 264 32-2 33-0 33-6

Number of Observations. Ages in Years. Height, Average. Weight, Average. j Chest-girth, Average. Waist-measurement. 88 110 129 151 131 42 8 12 13 14 . 15 16 17 18 In. Lb. 57-91 84-14 59-82 91-69 61-66 105-48 62-42 112-43 62-44 114-54 62-46 120-66 6215 121-00 Lb. 84-14 91-69 105-48 112-43 114-54 120-66 121-00 In. 27-17 27-91 29-14 29-87 29-57 29-90 30-07 In. 27-17 27-91 29-14 29-87 29-57 29-90 30-07 In. 23-55 24-66 24-01 23-90 24-13 24-33 24-67