An Examination of the Eyes, Ears, and Throats of Children in the Public Schools of Jefferson City, MO.

Purpose. The public schools of Jefferson City have an enrolment of some 1530 pupils. The physical examination which is here reported occupied the greater portion of the school year, 1907-8. The primary purpose was to test the eyesight and hearing of 1000 white and 100 colored children, but as the work progressed its scope was widened to include observations of the throat, nose, etc. An inquiry was then made as to the correlation of sensory defects with school standings. Some attention was also paid to the value of issuing cards of warning to parents. Method. As a preliminary to the work a printed record-sheet was supplied to each child to be filled out as far as possible by the child himself, or by the teacher for the children in the lower grades. On this were first recorded certain scholastic and personal data (building, room, grade, teacher, name of pupil, sex, years in school, color of hair and eyes, name and address of parents, etc.) ; then followed questions concerning the pupil's physiological condition, e. g., Does the pupil habitually suffer from inflamed eyes or lids ? Do the eyes and head habitually grow weary and painful after study ? Does the pupil appear to be cross-eyed ? Does the pupil complain of earache in either ear? Does matter (pus) of foul odor proceed from either ear ? Is the pupil frequently subject to colds in the head, and discharges from the nose or throat ?f Blank spaces for remarks were used to note the presence of abnor-