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. -Henderson, School Medical Officer, Auckland, has made an interesting comparison between groups of white and of Native children as follows : — " Maori Children attending Prima,ry and Native Schools. —Two groups of 363 children of each of the two races taken from country districts gave the following comparison of defects expressed in percentage : — European. Maori. Per Cent. Per Cent. Pediculosis .. .. .. .. I*9 15-0 Skin impetigo .. .. .. .. 1-3 12-0 Heart-trouble .. .. .. .. ..1-6 1-1 Scabies .. .. .. .. .. .. 1-1 16-7 Respiratory diseases .. .. .. .. 0-8 1-6 Postural deformity of trunk and chest .. .. 6-8 1-9 Bony deformity of trunk and chest .. .. .. 5-5 7-4 Dental caries .. .. .. .. .. 35-0 53-7 Nose and throat .. .. .. ~ .. 11-0 11-0 Goitre .. .. .. .. .. .. 3-0 6-0 Otorrhoea .. .. .. .. 0-1 2-2 Defective hearing .. ... .. .. 0-1 1-9 External eye-trouble .. .. .. .. 1*37 11-8 " Vaccination against smallpox was negligible in both groups. " Phimosis was more frequent among Europeans. " Posture. —Ninety-one per cent, of the Maori children had good posture and carriage (in spite of flat feet and knock-knee) as compared with 87 per cent, of Europeans. " Feet. —Out of 342 Maoris only 6 wore boots, and 3 of these had Hallux valgus, while over 90 per cent, of those wearing no boots had straight inner border of foot, 5-2 per cent, being pigeon-toed, and 2 per cent, having Hallux valgus. Out of 94 Europeans who wore boots only 6 had Hallux valgus, 2 pigeon toes, and the rest had a straight inner border. Flat feet (definitely flat) —European, 7 per cent. ; Maori, 66 per cent. Knock-knee (definite) —European, 15 per cent. ; Maori, 55 per cent. " Tuberculosis in Family. —Twenty-one per cent, of Maori children were said, on parents' information card, to have T.B. history in family. As only one case in 363 children showed definite physical signs of pulmonary tuberculosis, it would appear that the infection is not active during school age to any extent. On the other hand, in absence of reliable information, it is possible that other respiratory complaints may have been credited by the parents as tubercular. " Congenital Syphilis.—European, 0 ; Maori, 1-2 per cent. " Scarlet Fever. —This is said to be rare among full-blooded Maoris. One case was met with in a girl of twelve years and a half, a full-blooded Maori. Desquamation of palms, together with previous and subsequent history, left no doubt in my mind as to diagnosis. " A more intensive, comparison in regard to some points of nutrition and physique was made between groups of Europeans and Maoris aged nine and ten years —Ninety-four Europeans and seventy Maoris —average age, nine years and a half. The Europeans were selected from rural districts. The age nine-ten was selected to avoid adolescent nutrition and posture on the one hand and " baby " posture on the other. European. Maori. Nutrition— Per Cent. Per Cent. First class .. .. .. .. .. 4-5-7 60-0 Second class .. .. .. .. .. 45-7 35-4 Third class .. .. .. .. .. 8-5 4-3 PostureFirst class .. .. ... .. .. 94-6 84-3 Second class .. .. .. . . .. 4-2 11-4 Third class .. .. .. .. .. 1-01 4-3 " Chest-development.—Average, in centimetres : Inspiration —European, 65-5 ; Maori, 66-8. Expiration, European, 59-8 ; Maori, 62-05. " It was found more difficult to get the Maori child to fill and empty the chest satisfactorily, so probably the mean between inspiration and expiration is better gauge. European. Maori. Average mean .. .. .. 62-6 cm. 64-4 cm. Knock-knee .. . . . . 18-0 per cent. 65-7 per cent. Flat feet .. .. .. .. 6-4 per cent. 84-2 per cent. " Wearing of Boots. —Eighty-five Europeans and thirteen Maoris wore boots, but this does not appear to have contributed much to deformity of feet at this early age, only 5 cases of Hallux valgus (4 Europeans, 1 Maori) being noted. The others had a straight inner border of foot. Among the 57 Maoris who wore no boots were 3 cases of pigeon toe and lof Hallux valgus. Nor did the wearing of boots eliminate flat feet among the Maoris."