H.—3l.

district nurses). On the whole their physique was very good, with good healthy complexions, bright alert eyes, and the children compared more than favourably with the pakeha children of the same districts. The few Maori children seen by Dr. Zane in the city and provincial town schools did not have the same good healthy physique as the country Maoris. Dr. Boyd (Nelson) reported that the Maori children whom he examined were very far ahead of the pakeha as regards posture, physique, and deportment; perfect jaw-formation, with teeth to match was noted. Dr. Davis (Gisborne) writes : " I would like to again commend the work of a great many of the Native-school teachers for the interest they display in the various health activities connected with the Native-school children. There is ample evidence in many of the schools of the interest and the amount of effort put in by some of the teachers along the lines of health teaching, and in attention to skin-diseases, &c. These schools contrast markedly with a very few where there is obviously very little endeavour to improve the state of cleanliness of the children. One of the things that has impressed me most in my work in the Native schools, however, is the high standard of cleanliness that has been achieved, a standard which reflects great credit on the teachers concerned." Medical Examination of Entrants to Teaching Profession. The following is a summary of the examination of 1,007 applicants for entrance to training college last year : — Number of applicants examined .. .. .. .. .. 1,007 Number with any defect of vision .. .. .. .. .. 157 Number wearing glasses .. .. .. .. .. .. 145 Number with defective hearing .. .. .. .. .. 7 Number with any past or present aural disease .. .. .. .. 14 Number with nose defect .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 Number with throat defect .. .. .. .. .. ... 32 Number with enlarged thyroid .. .. .. .. .. 130 Teeth— Number with any caries when seen .. .. .. .. 105 Number with one artificial plate .. .. .. .. .. 95 Number with upper and lower plates .. .. .. .. 44 Number with malocclusion .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 Number with any heart or lung condition .. .. .. .. 15 Number deferred for immediate treatment .. .. .. .. 143 Number considered as excellent .. .. .. .. .. 226 Number considered as average .. .. .. .. .. 656 Number considered as fair .. .. .. .. .. .. 86 Number accepted .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 954 Number deferred for further examination .. .. .. .. 30 Number rejected .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 23 It is recognized that, working with such a short staff as has been necessary during recent years, the important work of assisting to train teachers in health and hygiene has not received the attention it merits from our officers. We have not even been able to supplement with practical lectures or demonstrations the course on hygiene now given by the training-college staffs. It is the desire of this Department to have sufficient staff to allow of medical officers giving regularly each year a course of practical lectures on hygiene, general health questions, the commonest diseases found in schools, sanitation, ventilation, &c. We cannot expect young teachers to go into the schools and make health one of the most important subjects, and to work as many lessons as possible with health as the basis, if we do not give them the foundation for such lessons while they are still at training college. Nutrition. The nutrition of the majority of school-children in New Zealand can be regarded as satisfactory, but School Medical Officers advise that there are still a number who show evidence of subnormal nutrition. New Zealand has abundance of the best food in the world available to all; what some parents fail to realize is that children should be fed well and correctly each day, not just once or twice a week, and that as well as good plain food, well cooked and served at regular hours, they require fresh air and sunshine, adequate rest, and regular sleeping-hours. Too much stress cannot be laid on these last factors. It is again reported that the nutrition and physique of town children compare more than favourably with country children, especially children who, after travelling long distances to school, have to help with the daily work on the farm. The reports of the newly appointed School Medical Officers from overseas agree that with the good living-conditions in New Zealand all children should reach optimum nutrition. That this is not so is a fact to be deplored, but one which only education can remedy. It is essential, therefore, that in our schools the time devoted to hygiene and diet should have a prominent place in the curriculum. If the principle of a sound mind in a sound body is emphasized and j>ractised in the early years of life, it must result in a desire to continue this principle after school days. The following extracts are indicative of reports of all School Medical Officers :— Dr. Mulholland.—" In the course of the physical examination of normal school-children one has formed a mental picture of the nutritional standard for each age-group. The majority of children fall into the ' average nutrition ' group. The two classes which arrest one's attention are those children who are above and those who are below the norm. The fact that there is in this district a permanent

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