Excerpt from The Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery, 1919, Vol. 24 Some of the large cities of Germany and England have medical inspection of schools. It is, however, for the New World to take up the question, and, with that energy which marks New World enterprise, carry it to success. Boston was the first city on this side of the Atlantic to adopt it, in 1894. Quickly the good work spread, until to-day many of the cities of the United States, and a few in Canada, have a more or less complete system. New York has probably the most highly developed system in the world, with Philadelphia a close second. New York introduced the system in 1897, and has perfected it, so that since March, 1905, the system provides for a complete physical examination of every school child. New York has not only a large staff of physicians, with their districts and duties specifically assigned, but also a special corps of trained nurses, who, besides giving treatment for parasitic and contagious skin diseases, visit the homes to see that the doctors orders are being followed, and to give instruction and practical assistance when necessary. The following interesting and complete resume of the system in Philadelphia is from a paper by Professor G. H. Heitmuller, A.B., M.D., published in Washington Medical Annals, March, 1907: "The System in Philadelphia is divided into: "1. Sanitary inspection of buildings. "2. Systematic examination of pupils. "In sanitary inspection of buildings the following points are noted: (a) Overcrowding, the cubic capacity of each room, number of occupants, (b) Heating and ventilation: If steam or hot water, is there provision for ventilation by direct or indirect method? Give temperature of air in rooms at time of visit, also maximum and minimum temperature. (c) Illumination: Are rooms well lighted? If from above, behind, etc. Number of windows, size, relation to pupils and to floor space. (d) Are buildings ordinarily clean? Are there accumulations of sweepings on grounds, in cellars, etc.? Is ice and snow promptly removed? (e) Drinking water: If raw, filtered, or sterilized. What provision for drinking vessels? Note condition of all sinks, plumbing, etc. (f) Toilets: Note condition of water closets and urinals, especially with regard to cleanliness, odors, etc. Give number and location of closets and urinals and state if sufficient for pupils using same. (g) Coat rooms: Note facilities for storing, whether lockers, whether one or more coats, hats, etc., hang on single hook; also ventilation. (The cloak rooms in the vast majority of Washington schools have no lockers or special means of ventilation, and consequently the odor is often very offensive.) (h) Cellars: How lighted, ventilated? Are they clean, whitewashed, dry? (i) Playgrounds: Give size and condition, also condition of sand pile. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.