26 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 310 



medical records. (See page 15.) That is, at the end of the experimental period 

 the data given in all the records for each child were pooled, weighed, and evaluated 

 by the observers. This seemed the only method possible with the present state 

 of our knowledge, and the authors feel that the ratings derived by its use are a 

 sufficiently accurate index of the condition of the children to be used in analysis 

 of the results of the findings. In a full knowledge of the danger of accusations 

 of being unscientific, this is submitted as the most scientific approach possible 

 to the problem at the present time. 



During the first year the details of method and particularly the phraseology 

 for describing the conditions found were being worked into definite form. In 

 each case, also, during the first year the physician so obviously improved in 

 ability to describe the condition of the children with discrimination that the 

 first records are not altogether comparable with those made later. Moreover, 

 the senior author had observed the examinations of the children for only the last 

 two years and as a result had less basis for judging the first two years' records. 

 For these reasons the first two years have been regarded as preliminary, and 

 findings from the analysis of the data reported only when they confirm those of 

 the last two years. In general, however, when any difference was found between 

 the first and last half of the records, it was in degree and constancy rather than 

 in trend of results. 



Relationship of Points Observed to "Qualitative" Nutritional Condition 



Since so little information was available that indicated to what degree a clinical 

 sign may be an index of nutrition, it seemed of interest to determine what relation- 

 ship existed between the various points observed by the physician and the nutri- 

 tional status of the children as judged from the medical examination. Accordingly, 

 correlations were run for all the observations in which the description had been 

 sufficiently detailed to make the comparison of statistical value. Only the ex- 

 aminations made during the last two years were used. The coefficients of corre- 

 lation obtained are given in Table 7. 



Table 7. — The Correl.a.tion of the Various Points Observed by 

 THE Physician with the Nutrition.\l Condition of the Child- 

 ren AS Judged from the Medical Examination 



Number of Coefficient of 

 Points observed Examinations Correlation 



Muscle tone 



Skin color 



Lungs 



Amount of subcutaneous tissue 



Posture 



Glands (total scores) 



Tonsils 



Color of mucous lining of mouth . . . 



Bodily repose 



Heart 



Color of lips 



Conjunctivae (injection) 



Muscle coordination 



