130 TwENTT-FrRST BlBNKIAL EbPORT 



charge. When the baby appears for examination, the 

 mother sits by enrolling clerk, and some little family his- 

 tory is noted on the card — such as age, nationality of par- 

 ents, system of feeding employed, and general care. The 

 next step in the examination is the mental room. This 

 is most interesting, bnt quite simple, and suited to ba- 

 bies, as the age limits are from twelve to twenty-four 

 months, and twenty-four to thirty-six months. Imita- 

 tions of sounds and movements, pointing out objects in 

 pictures, naming and showing features, as mother's 

 eyes, mouth, etc., are among the methods used in test- 

 ing alertness and mental development. 



Next is the physical room, where the baby (un- 

 dressed-) is weighed and measured by a specially pre- 

 pared measuring board, and where the throat, etc., are 

 examined. Children who live in Louisville are examined 

 the week before the fair, at the offices in the Paul Jones 

 Building, while those living outside of Louisville are ex- 

 amined on the fair grounds during the week of the fair. 



The house was built especially for this work, and 

 has screen wire around all sides, so that those interested 

 may watch the work from the outside, and not disturb 

 either children or examiners. In order to make the work 

 continuous, a special prize has been offered to the child 

 who makes the greatest gain over his own previous score, 

 whether he was a prize winner or not, though the entries 

 are still in the age limit of thirty-six months. 



There has been a confusion in the minds of some 

 as to just who is a city baby. City in the fair catalogue 

 includes all the classified towns in the State, but a baby 

 must live in a community of less than one thousand pop- 

 ulation if he is to be classed as a rural baby; and, of 

 course, those living on farms and very small places are 

 in this class. 



As the work goes on, we are able to trace several 

 good effects. Parents have come to know that prizes 

 are awarded for health standards, not favoritism or 

 beauty ; consequently, they value highly the examination 

 which points out the defects. While these defects are 

 pointed out, the way to remedy them is made plain, and 

 many children have been returned from one year to the 

 next with improvement that even a layman can see. 



