PAPERS OX MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 309 



lire, and of correct methods of walking, is obvious. A 

 study of the geographical distribution of defects of the 

 feet found by Examining Boards under the draft reveals 

 that abnormal feet were comparatively rare in the south- 

 ern states, due to the practice of the rural part of the 

 population going barefoot and to the negroes, vrhose feet 

 are not commonly pathologically flat. In the northwest 

 part of the country flat foot is due, presumably, to the 

 large size of the immigrant? in this territory. This find- 

 ing is confirmatory of the role of weight in the causation 

 of flat foot. 



Biologically, the relatively high instance of flat foot in 

 young adults indicates that civilization is making de- 

 mands for adjustment of the feet to modern conditions 

 faster than it can meet them. 



The physical and clinical examination of a portion of 

 so representative a group from our population as high 

 school graduates is. in reality, a partial inventory of the 

 physical assets and human liabilities of the nation. Ap- 

 proximately only 7% of all children who enter primary 

 school reach the point in their education where they are 

 about to enter an institution of higher learning. A sur- 

 vey of the physical, mental, and temperamental health 

 of a part of such a group is of great educational, social, 

 economic, and public health interest. 



Such a survey gives some indication of the physical, 

 mental, and moral fiber that shows the endurance, per- 

 sistence, and capacity to meet the increasing require- 

 ments of modern education. It reveals something of the 

 ability that, in many instances, overcomes social and 

 economic handicaps to push forward in pursuit of high 

 ideals. It serves as a barometer of the failure and suc- 

 cess of man to make complete adaptation to the rapidly 

 advancing requirements of a highly artificial civiliza- 

 tion and is, therefore, of biological, racial, and eugenic 

 significance. 



Such an inventory provides a rough index of the effi- 

 ciency of child welfare, and of the care of children during 

 the pre-school age. It give? a rather clear insight into 

 the efficiency of the departments of physical education, 

 and of medical inspections in the community and in the 



