A.- 3.

Medical and Public Health. The following are extracts from the report of the Chief Medical Officer : — The general health conditions of the island has been good during the year, the only sickness of an epidemic nature being a mild outbreak of influenza during the second quarter. The deaths were eighty-two, as against sixty-nine for 1926. Most of the deaths were of persons of sixty years and over. The following figures show the volume of work carried out during the year : — Europeans in-patients .. . . .. .. .. . . 1 Native in-patients (including 10 infants under one year) . . .. .. 128 Average duration of stay was fifteen days. Patients treated at dispensary and out-patients Department .. .. 1,954 Out-patients, dressings .. .. .. .. . . 3,207 Patients treated in their villages .. .. .. .. .. 531 Patients treated for gonorrhoea (males, 30 ; females, 22) .. .. 52 Injections given (bicreol, 154; novarsenobillon, 93) . . .. .. 247 Yaws (cases treated) .. .. .. .. .. .. 61 Operations (minor) .. .. .. . . .. .. .. 95 Dental— Fillings .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 92 Extractions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 67 Medical Inspection of School-children. —During the year a systematic inspection of all schoolchildren was carried out, and the results recorded on specially prepared medical-history cards giving the following particulars : Name ; sex ; date of birth ; kaina, village ; school; name of father, name of mother ; date inspected —height, chest-measurement; remarks ; date inspected —teeth, yaws, skin, parasites, general. Under this system a complete medical history of each child will be built up. No children were found to be actively suffering from yaws, while over 50 per cent, gave a history of having suffered from this condition ; but it is considered that these figures are somewhat lower than what they should be. Over 50 per cent, of the children were suffering from pediculosis ; but these figures would certainly have approached at least 80 per cent, if the parents had not taken the children in hand prior to inspection. Nine cases of scoliosis, or lateral curvature of the spine, were detected, but these were in weakly children in whom the condition was probably aggravated by the bearing of heavy loads. The inspection revealed that the facial features were as a whole pure Polynesian with a sprinkling of Negroid, Mongolian, and European facies : the Negroid being traceable to a resident negro on Niue, and the Mongolian through Niueans who were sometime resident in Samoa and Tahiti. Children with European blood tended to have flatter chests than the pure Niuean child. The attached list gives the results of the inspection : —

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