IV. STATEMENT OF THE OPHTHALMOLOGIST. Upon admission every boy is given an examination by the eye department and a record of the result is kept in a card-index system. The examination covers the following: Name and age. Vision.... (Each eye taken separately at 5 or 6 meters.) (Instituted, if required.) Under this head all the boys divide into the three following classes: No treatment.. Observation.. Refraction... These cases are not seen again before the periodic examination, unless they complain or are sent for consultation. These cases are those which show something out of the normal and are seen again as often as it is deemed necessary. .All refraction is done under mydriasis. The mydriatic used in every case is atropine sulphate, 4 grains to fluid ounce 1. One drop three times a day for six instillations. Upon reexamination many of these cases are done under homatropine. In refraction cases glasses are generally ordered under the following rules: Hyperopia...... If total less than 2 dioptres, no glasses ordered unless there are symp toms. If total over 2 dioptres, glasses generally ordered. Myopia......Glasses always ordered. Hyperopic astigmatism......If more than 0.50 dioptre, it is corrected. If less than 0.50, it is not corrected unless there are symptoms. In myopia, full correction is generally ordered. In hyperopia, care is taken to give full play to the physiological function of accommodation. After a boy gets his glasses he is placed in one of two classes-those who must wear their glasses constantly or those who are only required to use them when doing close work. In order to control this, lists of boys are sent to the respective school or household officers. Boys who do not come regularly under the observation of the eye department are referred to it by the school or household officers whenever it appears to be necessary. The careful supervision of these officers reaches promptly and effectively any boys requiring treatment. At regular intervals the vision of all the boys is taken, and those who show any defect are placed under appropriate treatment. V. THE DENTAL DEPARTMENT. Realizing the importance of the care of the teeth as a factor in the conservation of normal development and the health of the boys, and with the knowledge that a large percentage of disease and lack of mental and physical development are due to deleterious effects resulting from neglect and improper treatment of diseased conditions and malocclusion of the teeth, the board of directors of Girard College reorganized the department of dental surgery, which was formally opened on September 11, 1911. It is composed of three operating rooms, a waiting room, and a dental laboratory.1 The whole equipment in this department was selected and installed with the greatest care. The fitting out of what is one of the most elaborate dental departments to be found in any institution or school of this kind in the world has for its sole object and aim the care of the boys in Girard College and the practice of dentistry for them as an exact science. An elaborate equipment of this character has been considered unnecessary in most institution and school work; in fact, the care of children's teeth, particularly the temporary teeth, has been, as a rule, neglected by both parent and dentist. With the enormous task of caring for and establishing a healthy condition in the mouths of approximately 1,500 boys, the necessity for having every facility at hand for rapid, thorough, and careful work is quite obvious. The white marble partitions, white enameled steel cabinets with porcelain tops, white enameled chairs, engines, and switchboards were selected to create an impression of cleanliness and refinement which we desire the boys of Girard College to have of their dental department. On leaving college the boys will then seek to have their teeth cared for in an office where a carefully selected equipment is available and where a high standard is maintained. These are usually found in the offices of the most progressive men, who realize that in their adoption they are enabled to advance their work to its highest degree of perfection. 1 Plate 5. |