Hrdlicka. II 



taught good ones, and can in addition be physically much improved 

 in a comparatively short time. But the child will lose these advan- 

 tages as rapidly as it has acquired them if it comes into circum- 

 stances which favor their loss. Only such a child will be safe 

 against losing the benefits given to it by the institution, in whom 

 the body has been permanently strengthened and in whom the good 

 habits have been so firmly inculcated that they become a stable 

 component part of its nature. 



To improve a child to the degree just expressed requires a much 

 longer time than is necessary simply to teach the child better habits 

 and elevate its physical condition. The length of time necessary to 

 effect the complete restoration of the child (and this, I think, is the 

 only true duty and the only true charity of society), will vary largely 

 with different individuals, and can only be determined by a constant 

 and careful observation of each subject by his attendants, his teacher 

 and his physician. 



I will not enter here into further details. 



That what I said above is true, is well demonstrated by the fre- 

 quent recurrences in cases where the discharged child returned to 

 similar circumstances in which it lived before coming into the 

 Juvenile Asylum. Fortunately in a very large number of instances 

 the child gets a new home in which the good circumstances initiated 

 in the asylum continue until the child is out of danger of recurrence. 



Examinations. 



Of the 1,000 children examined, 700 were boys and 300 were girls. 

 Of the boys 634 were white and .66 colored. The girls include 274 

 white and 26 colored children. 



In age the white boys ranged from 5 to 17 years, the white girls 

 from 5 to 18. The colored boys from 6 to 16, and the colored girls 

 from 7 to 15 years. 



The methods of examination have already been explained. All 

 such parts examined which were found to agree well with the typical 

 form of the same parts in healthy children of corresponding color, 

 sex and age, were recorded as normal. As an abnormality every- 

 thing was characterized which was a decided deviation from the typi- 

 cal form in health of the particular part examined. 



