In the same year Drs. L. W. Childs, J. H. McHenry, H. L. Sanford, and other members of the medical profession volunteered their services as school physicians, to detect not only cases of possible contagion, but also the existence of physical defects. What was probably the first school dispensary in the United States was opened at the request of Dr. Childs by the Board of Education in 1907 at the Murray Hill School. The value of school dispensaries was so immediately evident that by 1909 seven others were established for the use of these three physicians. Coincident with the dispensaries came the school nurse. When the first nurse was appointed at the Murray Hill School, a remarkable change was observed among the children. Absences became less frequent. Skin diseases were rare. Children began to take an interest in health matters, and there was a marked rise in standards of neatness and cleanliness. Teachers and principals united in their demand for more nurses, until within a year after the movement started there were six nurses appointed by the Board of Education and regularly employed in school work. In the same year, December, 1909, the Board of Education formally voted to establish a Division of Health Supervision and Inspection as part of the regular school system. THE PRESENT SYSTEM As it is at present organized, the Division handles inspection for contagious disease, inspection for physical and mental defects, follow-up work for the remedying of defects, health instruction, recommendation of children to schools for the physically and mentally handicapped, school lunches, gardens, and playgrounds. Either the nurse or physician reports at each school every day of the year. Once during the year each child is given a careful physical examination, and further examinations are made when they are needed. All serious defects are reported to parents, and in cases where treatment is important, parents are urged to consult with the school doctor concerning the nature of the difficulty and the best means of curing it. To supplement these interviews, the school nurse spends a large part of her time in visiting homes, talking with parents, noting conditions under which children live, and making suggestions as to home care. [Illustration: Either doctor or nurse visits every school every day.] Some idea of the complexity of this work may be gained from the Division records for 1914-1915. From the beginning of September to the end of June--a period of 38 school weeks--doctors and nurses examined 74,725 children; gave private interviews to 2,547 parents; made 5,675 visits to dispensaries; 10,603 visits to homes; and gave 76,240 treatments and dressings. In addition, they gave 775 toothbrush drills, and 19,406 individual or class health talks to the pupils of the public schools during the year. THE SCHOOL NURSE