s nasal obstruction, and when does it
begin to operate? The primary cause is catarrhal inflammation, with
swelling and thickening of the secretions, and it may begin to operate
anywhere from the seventh month to the seventh year. A neglected
attack, or series of attacks, of "snuffles," colds in the head,
catarrhs, in infants and young children, will set up a slow inflammation
of this glandular mass at the back of the nostrils--a tonsil, by the
way--and start its enlargement.

Whether we know anything about adenoids themselves or not, we are all
familiar with their handiwork. The open mouth, giving a vacant
expression to the countenance, the short upper lip, the pinched and
contracted nostrils, the prominent and irregular teeth, the listless
expression of the eyes, the slow response to request or demand, we have
seen a score of times in every schoolroom. Coupled with these facial
features are apt to be found on closer investigation a lack of interest
in both work and play, an impaired appetite, restless sleep, and a
curious general backwardness of development, both bodily and mental, so
that the child may be from one to four inches below the normal height
for his years, from five to fifteen pounds under weight, and from one to
three grades behind his proper school position. Very often, also, his
chest is inclined to be narrow, the tip of his breastbone to be sunken,
and his abdomen larger in girth than his chest. Is it possible that the
mere inhaling of air directly into the lungs, even though it be
imperfectly warmed, moistened, and filtered, as compared with what it
would be if drawn through the elaborate "steam-coils" in the nostrils
for this purpose, can have produced this array of defects? It is
incredible on the face of it and unfounded in fact. Fully two-thirds of
these can be traced to the direct influence of the adenoids.

These adenoids, it may briefly be stated, are the result of an
enlargement of a _tonsil_, or group of small tonsils, identical in
structure with the well-known bodies of the same name which can be seen
on either side of the throat. They have the same unfortunate faculty as
the other tonsils for getting into hot water, flaring up, inflaming, and
swelling on the slightest irritation. And, unfortunately, they are so
situated that their capacity for harm is far greater than that of the
other tonsils. They seem painfully like the chip on the shoulder of a
fighting man, ready to be knocked off at t