B.—ll

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Baths. —All children should have a hot bath at least once a week for cleansing. It is not generally realized that a quick cold sponge or a rub over with a wot cold towel every morning is to most children a very valuable skin and nerve tonic. Food. —Pood should be simple and well-cooked. It is important to see that children have a good breakfast without hurry, as tho fear of being late for school seriously interferes with a child's appetite and digestion. Where lunch is carried to school, sandwiches, and if possible, fruit are better than cakes, pastry/or biscuits. A suitable diet for schoolchildren may be selected from the following :— Breakfast: — Porridge and milk, bread and milk, eggs, or fish, or fruit. Milk or cocoa. No lea, no meal. Lunch (when taken at school) : — Sandwiches, fruit, milk or cocoa if obtainable. Dinner (as soon as passible after return from school, when appetite, is teen) : — Soup, meat, vegetables, potatoes, milk puddings, custards, plain suet puddings with syrup or jam, stewed fruit. Tea (where dinner is taken at midday) : — Bread, oat-cake, butter, jam, milk, cocoa, with or without extras as for breakfast. Supper (where evening meal is taken early) : — Bread and milk. Avoid pickles, vinegar, tinned food, oxcess of sweets, biscuits, food between meals. Teeth. —lt is very important that children's mouths should be kept clean and their teeth in good condition. Children should be taught to clean their teeth twice daily, in the morning and before going to bed, and if necessary should havo tho attention of a dentist. Clothing. —All clothing for children attending school should be warm and light and sufficiently loose to allow of perfect freedom of movement. For girls, a suitable costume for general wear and for physical exercise and games would be : A loose tunic hanging from the shoulders and reaching to the knoc ; a loose blouse with sleeves loose enough to allow the arms to stretch fully overhead ; a pair of dark knickers. Corsets and high-heeled shoos should bo given up. For boys tin: following is suitable: Pants, with washable underpants, arid a loose shirt or jersey, giving plenty of room at neck and wrists ; a belt is better than braces. For both boys and girls, rubber shoes without heels, or sandals, are the best footwear for drill. Notices from Medical Inspectors.- —When a notice regarding defective eyesight, enlarged tonsils, adenoids, or other condition is received from the Medical Inspector of Schools, you should at once consult your own doctor or take the child to the publio hospital. Children cannot receive full benefit from mental or physical work until these abnormal conditions arc put right. Education Department; N.Z. —Medical Branch. (Circular issued by the Medical Inspectors of Schools.) CONTAGIOUS SKIN-DISEASES IN SCHOOL-CHILDREN. I. Treatment or Scabies (" Itch "). 1. Give a prolonged hot bath and scrub the body well with soft soap, especially the fingers, toes, armpits, and groin 2. Dry thoroughly with a soft, clean towel. 3. Rub in the ointment thoroughly, paying special attention to lingers, toes, armpits, and groin. 4. Repeat tho treatment next evening. Remember: This disease is contagious. The child, therefore, must not use other children's towels, wear other children's clothes, and, particularly, must not sleep with other children. Caution : A child when cured is often reinfected from clothes or bedding which were in use before treatment was begun. Therefore all clothes and bedding should be washed, and where possible boiled, The Ointment.—Sulphur Ointment [Equal Vaseline f parts. Scabies is often complicated by eczema and inflammation. If the treat nent described is not successful, the failure is duo to want of thoroughness in treating, or to one of these conditions, in which case further medical advice must be sought. 11. Treatment or Impetigo ("Common Sores"). 1. Bathe off the crusts with warm water or weak boiled starch twice a day. The bathing must, be done thoroughly, and it must bo continued for a quarter of an hour or longer, until the crusts get soft and can be wiped away. 2. After removing the, crusts, apply the ointment to the sore places. 3. Wherever possible keop the sores covered with clean lint or rag, after applying the ointment. II iin nb.:r: As thi< diss 1,93 is cout:igiom, the child must not use other children's towels, &o. The Ointment. —White Precipitate Ointment [Equal Vaseline | parts. 111. Treatment of Rinowoijm. Ringworm of the Body. —Paint the ringworm for several days with tincture of iodine, going well, over the spreading edge. Keop a sharp lookout for fresh spots, and paint them as soon as they appear. If this does not cure the ringworm in a few days, further medical advice is required. Ringworm of tho head is difficult to cure, and should be under the care of a doctor. The hair must always be cut over tho patch and for at least half an inch beyond. Remember: This disease is contagious. The child must not use other children's towels, clothes, &c. Disinfection of Clothes. Clothes which cannot be soaked in strong disinfectant or boiled may be disinfected by prolonged baking in an oven, Wrap them in a newspaper to prevent scorching.

Education Department, N.Z. —Medical Branch. (Circular issued by the Medical Inspectors of Schools.) CARE OP THE HAIR IN SCHOOL-CHILDREN. The School Medical Officers wish to draw the attention of parents to the fact that tho hair of children, oven clean children, is liable to get into an unclean condition owing to infection by small insects (head-lice). The " Nits," or eggs of these insects, will be found as whitish specks firmly glued to the hair. With proper patient treatment this condition can always bo got rid of. ft should never Ik; neglected, as it may lead to the formation of scabs and sores on the head and enlarged glands in the neck, resulting sometimes in abscesses in the neck and even tuberculosis.