Newark post., 1910-04-20
Edical Inspection In
The Schools
resS By Prof. MeSSerSmith Be-
fore New Century Club
(Continued from last week. J

Continued from last week.
entail Deiects-This is third
lies OF defects very different
hl the two | have already de-
bed and yet SO closely allied to
m that i'll some cases they have
relation of cause and effect.
ntal defects while not always
icult to detect, are almost al
Us difficult to diagnose. Here
us say, is a boy ten years old,
is just little under size, but
|erwise physically normal. His
ad is well shaped, a little small
not microcephalous, his mus
ar control is good, he is active
d lively and enjoys play, his
IS generally seem to sparkle
h intelligence and yet this boy
er four years in school cannot
k plainly and has yet to read
first line. Here is boy that
S none OF the defects SO far en-
fhtfated.. aid yet lie IS hor a il1r-
III boy. He is a clear case OF
Fntal detective.
las tie kinds Of lnG1ltal trouble
SO numerous, it will perhaps
best to eliminate from the pro-
em those with which the school
not directly concerned. There
e two principal types OF mental
bubie, mental arrangement and
eble mindedness. The mentally
kranged are not necessarily mer-
lily defective, they are mentally
balanced. The principal types
mentally unbalanced are the
olently and apparently perman-
bit insane, the violent and appar-
1ntly periodic insane, the obsessed,
be melancholic, and those suffer
> g from hallucinations. As a
bile these cases, especially of the
rst two types, are physically nor
bal and may live to d great age.
hese types may again be divided
Ito two classes with reference to
he period in life at which the de-
ement occurs. The dementia
Enilc if it comes after middle
it is termed dementia praecox
occurs before middle life.
) insanity generally does not
r until after the school life is
and as those VII do become
hnged may have made normal
gress in rhe school, the ques-
arises, what has all t1is to do
the school Two concep-
ls OF our alienists have been
proved. That insanity is not
always inCurablc has been shown
by the remarkable cures affected
by intelligently managed asylums.
That insanity may be avoided by
| Those predisposed towards it has
been shown in many cases. Now
it is evident that the deranged are
beyond the province Of the school,
the Stae and the family have pro-
vided adequate asylums for their
care, seclusion, and treatment.
But those predisposed towards
mental unbalance spend crucial
years in the school and DR.. Adolf
Meyer of New York, has recently
shown that many cases of dennen-
tia praecoX can be avoided by the
school endeavoring to train the
pupil to a proper mental balance
Boys, and especially girls, on APP
preaching the age OF fourteen, il
they happen to have hereditary
taint, are at the parting of the
ways about the time they enter
the High School The hypersen-
sitive, the inordinately bashful, the
intensely egotistical. the abnor-
mally seclusive and reserved, the
too visionary and idealistic. the
sexually abnormal, in fact, al
those who do not join in the usua'
school activities and sit apart list
less though thoughtful are sub
Jects OF anxious care especially /
there is mental arrangement in the
family history. DIR. Meyer, whose
experience is wide and who speak.
from that experience, advises tha
every endeavor be made to inter
est such pupils in the ordinary ac
tivities OF school, social and famil,
life. Their thoughts must be di
verted along the usual interest.
and above all, they must be got te
do rather than to think things.
The feeble-minded or the men
tally defective are class entircl,
distinct from the mentally derang
ed. There are four principal type
of these detectives, imbeciles of th'