_The Medical Inspection of School Children_, by Dr. W. Leslie Mackenzie, assisted by Dr. E. Matthew, 1904, p. 196.
Report of the School Medical Officer for Blackburn for 1911, p. 190.
Report of the School Medical Officer for Leeds for 1912, p. 30.
This relation of mental capacity to nutrition was exemplified in the figures quoted by Dr. Ralph Crowley at the Education Conference in 1907. He examined 1,840 children in elementary schools at Bradford, and classified them according to their nutrition and intelligence.
Of the children of exceptional intelligence, 62·7 per cent. were of good nutrition, 35·6 per cent. were below normal, and 1·7 per cent. were of poor or very poor nutrition. Of the children who were exceptionally dull, only 24·9 per cent. were of good nutrition, 39·5 were below normal, and no less than 35·6 poor or very poor.[484]
"The Physical Conditions of School Children," by Dr. Ralph H. Crowley, North of England Education Conference, January, 1907 (reprinted in the _School Government Chronicle_, Supplement, January 12, 1907, pp. 80-81).
In an enquiry made at Manchester by the School Medical Officer a few years ago, it was found on examining 146 poorly nourished and 163 markedly badly nourished children, that 56·1 per cent. of the former were below par in mental capacity, and 4·8 per cent. were classed as bad; of the latter 63·2 per cent. were below normal, and 12·9 per cent. bad.
But the most remarkable results are recorded by Dr. Arkle, of Liverpool, in the enquiry to which we have already referred. He asked the teachers to give evidence as to the intelligence of the 2,111 elementary school children whom he examined. "The teachers in 'A' and 'B' both return about 60 per cent. of the children as normal in intelligence, but whereas the former returns 25 per cent. as above and 15 per cent. below normal, the latter only returns 5 per cent. above and 35 per cent. as below the normal. But it is in the return from the poorest school that we get the most curious result. In 'C' the master only feels justified in calling 22 per cent. of the boys normal, while he puts 33 per cent. above and 45 per cent. below normal." These figures, "it seems to me," writes Dr. Arkle, "can only be explained on one hypothesis. I believe, and my personal notes tend to confirm this view, that almost all the abnormal intelligences in the poorest school are due to the one factor--starvation.... Over and over again I noted such cases of children without an ounce of superfluous flesh upon them, with skins harsh and rough, a rapid pulse and nerves ever on the strain, and yet with the expression of the most lively intelligence. But it is the eager intelligence of the hunting animal.... I fear it is from this class that the ranks of pilferers and sneak thieves come, and their cleverness is not of any real intellectual value. On the other hand, with children of a more lymphatic temperament, starvation seems to produce creatures more like automata.... If I told one of these children to open its mouth, it would take no notice till the request became a command, which had to be accompanied by a slight shake to draw the child's attention. Then the mouth would be slowly opened widely, but no effort would be made to close it again until the child was told to do so.... I believe both these types of children are suffering from what I would call starvation of the nervous system, in one case causing irritation and in the other torpor. And, further, these cases are always associated with the clearest signs of bodily starvation, stunted growth, emaciation, rough and cold skin and the mouth full of viscid saliva due to hunger."[485]