616 REPORT— 1893. 



dull forehead ; or coarse, producing a frown. This sign varies in degree, 

 being least when the child is attentive and mentally engaged. 



Corrugation. — Knitting of the eyebrows, drawing the eyebrows 

 together, with vertical creases on the forehead. 



Orhicularis Ocelli relaxed. — There is a thin circular muscle encircling 

 the eyelids. Its tone gives sharpness of outline to the lower lid, so that 

 its convexity is marked. Its action is increased in laughter. When this 

 muscle is relaxed there is fulness or bagginess under the eyes. 



Eye-movements defective. — There may be wandering movements of 

 the eyes without fixation ; the child may not follow a slowly moving 

 object with the eyes, but turn the head without any movement of the 

 eyes. 



Head-balance iveah. — In the normal the head is held erect; it may 

 fall forward or be inclined to one shoulder. 



The normal posture of the hand when held out to the word of com- 

 mand is straight, all parts and the fingers being in the same plane, and 

 the hand on a level with the shoulder, the arms being parallel. 



Hand-halance nervous. — The wrist drooping, the palm slightly con- 

 tracted laterally, the thumb and fingers extended backwards at their 

 junction with the palm of the hand. 



Hand-balance weaJc. — In this type of balance the wrist is slightly 

 drooped, the palm contracted laterally, and the digits are slightly bent 

 or flexed. This postui'e is seen in sleep when the forearm is passively 

 held out. 



Finger-twitches. — These may be seen when the hand is held out and 

 the fingers are spread. The twitching movements may be lateral or in 

 flexion and extension. 



Lordosis. — When the hands are held out an altered balance of the 

 spine may be seen in a weak child with arching forward in the lumbal* 

 region, while the upper part of the trunk is thrown back. 



Other Nerve-signs. — This group includes the signs less frequently 

 seen, such as the following: — Slowness of response in movement, defects 

 of speech, over-smiling or grinning, drooped jaw with open mouth, 

 nystagmus, paralysis, &c. 



Analysis of Dr. Francis Warner's observations of 50,000 children seen 

 1890-92 has aff"orded much new information as to conditions bearing on 

 the mental status and well-being of school children. 



It has been shown that more boys than girls are ill-developed ; but 

 of such cases the girls tend more to delicacy and mental dulness, suggest- 

 ing that, while the average girls may work hard with advantage, there 

 are a certain number who need special care. 



The group of children who appeared to require special training in- 

 cluded the epileptic, imbeciles, those ' feebly gifted mentally,' and the 

 paralysed : they amounted to 16 per 1,000. It is satisfactory to know 

 that the School Boards of London, Birmingham, and Leicester have 

 made special arrangements for the care of such cases. The same scientific 

 principles as enabled their numbers to be ascertained may be used to 

 indicate their special requirements in training. 



Tracing the group of children with defects in development through 

 certain schools, it is evident that they are more numerous in Poor-law 

 schools and in certified industrial schools than in day schools, and that 

 though they become fatter in resident institutions they there present 

 more nerve disorder and more mental dulness. 



