itance of a particular shape of nose and throat,--"the family
nose," as it has been called,--or from some peculiar sponginess and
liability to inflammation and enlargement of all these tonsilar or
lymphoid "glands" and "kernels" of the body generally--the old
"lymphatic temperament."

We are, however, now coming to the opinion that this so-called
"hereditary" narrow nose, short upper lip, and high-arched palate are,
in a large percentage of cases, the _result of adenoids in infancy_ in
each successive generation of parents and grandparents. At all events,
there are now on record cases of children whose parents, grandparents,
and great-grandparents are known to have been mouth-breathers, and who
have on that account been sharply watched for the possible development
of adenoids in early life, and these removed as soon as they appeared,
and they have grown up with well-developed, wide nostrils, broad, flat
palates, and regular teeth, overcoming "hereditary defect" in a single
generation.

Curiously enough, their origin and ancestral relations may have an
important practical bearing, even in the twentieth century. At the upper
end of this curious _throat-brain_ canal lies another mass, the
so-called _pituitary body_. This has been found to exert a profound
influence over development and growth. Its enlargement is attended by
giantism and another curious giant disease in which the hands, feet, and
jaws enlarge enormously, known as _acromegaly_. It also pours into the
blood a secretion which has a powerful effect upon both the circulation
and the respiration. It is found shrunken and wasted in dwarfs. Some
years ago it was suggested by my distinguished friend, the late Dr.
Harrison Allen, and myself, that some of the extraordinary dwarfing and
growth-retarding effects of adenoids might be due to a reflex influence
exerted on their old colleague, the pituitary body. This view has found
its way into several of the textbooks. Blood is thicker than water, and
old ancestral vibrations will sometimes be set up in most unexpected
places.

Now comes the cheerful side of the picture. I should have hesitated to
draw at such full length and in such lugubrious detail the direful
possibilities and injurious effects of adenoids if its only result could
have been to arouse apprehensions which could not be relieved.

Fortunately, just the reverse is the case, and there are few conditions
affecting the child, so common and such a fertile