joints), heart cases, paralysis, cases of chorea, and cases of general
debility. The list must not be taken as complete, for there are, of
course, various unusual forms of defect too. It sometimes happens that
after a stay of some time in a physically defective school, a child
becomes so much better that it is able to return to the greater strain
of an ordinary school; on the other hand, it is often apparent,
that if certain children had been admitted earlier to the physically
defective school, their particular trouble might have been greatly
minimised, if not altogether avoided. What then appears to be needed
is an intermediary type of school to which children might be drafted
who are not as yet absolutely defective, but who are liable to become
so. Children of tubercular tendencies, who should be guarded
against falls or blows more carefully than normal children; those
highly-strung nervous children who, if exposed to the strain of
ordinary school life run the risk of chorea; children suffering from
the after-effects of diseases such as rheumatic or scarlet fever,
who need particularly to avoid over-exertion or too violent exercise;
children of such marked general debility that their power of resisting
disease is abnormally low--all these, if neglected, tend to become
qualified candidates for the physically defective schools. If they
could attend a school designed to suit their needs, they would in many
cases be quite able to return, after varying periods, to their places
in the ordinary schools. The open-air schools are an attempt to meet
this need on the very best lines, but there are far too many of these
border-line children for the available accommodation. If the great
expense entailed by new schools of this description be considered, it
seems not unreasonable, while waiting for them, to allow the admission
of these children to the invalid schools already working, by simply
making the term "physically defective" elastic enough to include a
latent as well as a developed defect. Whatever the apparent expense