The conclusions of the author of this book are based on ten years of careful study, during which a group of 2,200 school children who had had their tonsils and adenoids removed are compared as to susceptibility to disease with 2,200 children in similar surroundings who, although presenting the indications for an operation on the tonsils and adenoids, had failed to have it done.
The opening chapters contain a brief historical sketch of the operation, the anatomy and possible function of the tonsils and the bacteriologic and pathologic findings in these organs.
The statistical report concerns the results of careful study of these two groups of children as to their susceptibility to sore throat, head colds, otitis media, laryngitis, bronchitis and pneumonia, kidney infections and the communicable diseases of childhood.
The children whose tonsils and adenoids had been removed presented fewer cases of sore throat, head colds, otitis media, heart