MEDICAL INSI'IUTIOX OF SCHOOLS. 539 



deal with them on ])itrely repressive hues, just ;'.s we deal with 

 the native eriniinal. and with as little eiiect. Ir.discriminately we 

 hmi]) together the ahnornial child, who through environment or 

 direct parental education hecomes a ])Otential criminal, and the 

 moron and mentall\- defective child, who through ante- or post- 

 natal causes entirely heyond his control or otirs is an 

 utterly irresponsihle being. The one should he dealt with on 

 what are. after all, fairly well-known rules of modern i:>enology ; 

 the other needs much more carefid study, and \vhat we are to 

 do with him is a problem that Avill have to be very carefully dis- 

 ctissed. S])ecial schools, farm colonies, and sjiecial legislation ' 

 to follow up the work of these institutions and tu prevent it 

 from being wasted — all lliese will have to be considered, and in 

 their consideration. I venture to think, the information and 

 statistics collected by the medical insi)ectors in the sch'uils will 

 weigh to influence the final decision. 



Lately I have been i^rivileged to supervise the medical 

 inspection of all the liurgers recruited for tlie various com- 

 mandoes in the Transvaal Province, and I have been struck, in 

 collating the reports on these inspections, with the fact that the 

 percentage of men rejected for i^reventable and remediable 

 defects is far higher than it is in conscrijjt armies in countries 

 where medical inspection of schools has been in vogue for some 

 years. Above all. it was strikingly shown that the j^ercentage 

 of defectives was far higher tlian the i)ercentage registered 

 diu-ing the ins])ections for peace training. T ascribe this differ- 

 ence, which is too high to be wholly natural, to the laxity shown 

 at previous examinations, and to the inexperience ui the ex- 

 aminers in regard to the nature of certain defects. Whatever 

 the cause, it is clear that there is a large percentage of our adtilt 

 population sufl'ering from remediable and preventable defects 

 that appreciably aft'ect their wage-earning capacity and conse- 

 quently the national efficiency. 



I started this ])ai)er by insisting upon the larger obligations 

 of the State ; I conclude it by suggesting that here in this country, 

 where we already ])ossess. to some extent, the machiner\- for the 

 inspection of the adult males, school medical insi)ection should 

 be linked Uj), on the one hand with the voluntary inspection of 

 children before school-going age, and on the other with the_ en- 

 forced inspection of at least all males between the ages of i6 

 and 45. This latter inspection should be carried out by specially 

 qualified officers ai ^pointed by the Defence Force, who_ should 

 have access to the school medical records of the recruits they 

 examine. In this way we have the nucleus of a i)roper anthro- 

 pometric survey ready at hand. Tt only needs co-operation and 

 attention to develo]) it. by means of accretion, into a real national 

 service of health. 



