on of remedial means for the removal
of the simpler defects in the case of the children of parents unable
without great difficulty to supply these themselves is no less evident
than in the more extreme cases. But here the only sound principle of
guidance is to ask whether the remedial measures required are reasonably
within the power of the parent to provide. If they are not, no community
which exercises a wise forethought will suffer children to grow up
gradually becoming more and more defective, more and more likely in
after-life to be a burden upon its resources. But this question of the
provision of remedial aid involves a much larger question, which we
shall now discuss.

APPENDIX

As showing the need for the systematic examination of the special sense
organs, I append a summary of the results arrived at and the conclusions
reached by Dr. Wright Thomson after examination of the eyesight of
children attending the Public Elementary Schools under the Glasgow
School Board:--

"The teachers tested the visual acuteness of 52,493 children, and
found 18,565, or 35 per cent., to be below what is regarded as the
normal standard.

"I examined the 18,565 defectives by retinoscopy, and found that
11,209, or 21 per cent. of the whole, had ocular defects.

"The percentage with ocular defects was fairly constant in all the
schools, but the percentage with defective vision was very
variable--_i.e._, many children with normal eyes were found to see
badly.

"The proportion of these cases was highest in the poor and
closely-built districts and in old schools, and was lowest in the
better class schools and in those near the outskirts of the city.

"The proportion of such cases in the country schools of Chryston
and Cumbernauld was much lower than in any of the city schools; and
in Industrial Schools, where the children are fed at school, the
proportion was lower than among Board School children of a
corresponding social class.

"Defective vision, apart from ocular defect, seems to be due,
partly to want of training of the eyes for distant objects, and
partly to exhaustion of the eyes, which is easily induced when work
is carried on in bad light, or the nutrition of the children
defective from bad feeding and unhealthy surroundings.

"Regarding training of the eyes for distant objects, much might be
don