Acute cervical lymphadenitis in children, secondary to infections of the upper respiratory tract, is frequently encountered, particularly in the locality about Newark. Many of the cases under observation proceeded to the stage of suppuration. Some radical deviation, therefore, from the usual course of treatment was considered. Attention was turned to the increasing number of reports in the current literature in which the treatment of patients who had various acute and chronic inflammations with roentgen rays was discussed favorably.
This type of treatment could also be expected to have a favorable effect on acutely inflamed lymphatic glands. Further justification for the application of roentgen therapy in cases of acute cervical lymphadenitis was the favorable experience of many German authors.
Until recently, the value of treating acutely inflamed tissue by the x-rays was not appreciated. Lawson,1 in discussing this subject, emphasized the fact that too much attention was paid to malignant