denoids is a frequent cause of both slight and
aggravated deafness. Of 156 deaf mutes examined 59 per cent had
adenoids, while only 6 per cent of the general run of the children in
the neighborhood had this trouble. In mouth breathing, the current of
air entering the mouth draws out some of the air from the Eustachian
tube which ventilates the middle ear and unequalizes the atmospheric
pressure on the eardrum, causing it to sink in and to blunt the
hearing. An examination of the eardrums of school children in New York
who are mouth breathers showed a high percentage of deafness, incipient
or pronounced, accompanying adenoids. For example, of 9 mouth breathers
selected from one class (average age 7-8 years), 6 were well-marked
cases of deafness. Of 8 mouth breathers (average age 8-9 years), and of
5 mouth breathers (average age 5-6 years), all had noticeable defects
of hearing. Many adults that suffer from deafness maintain that they
never had any trouble in childhood. Yet the evidences of nose and
throat trouble in childhood persist and disprove such statements. _The
foundations of deafness in later life are, in most instances, laid in
childhood._ Since the majority of cases of ear trouble occurring in
school children accompany diseased conditions of the nose and throat,
the proper care of nose and throat will, in large measure, balance the
shortcomings of the aural examinations. Since the examination of the
drum itself is not practicable, especial care should be given to the
examination of the nose and throat.

The figures published by New York City's department of health show that
of 274,641 children examined from March, 1905, to January, 1908, 3540,
or 1.2 per cent, gave evidence of defective hearing. Ear specialists
suggest that this small percentage results from employing the whisper
test at twenty feet. The whisper test at sixty feet has been set by
experts as a test of normal hearing. But preciseness with this test is
well-nigh impossible when we consider that the acoustics, the quality
of the examiner's voice, the weather, the vowel or consonant sounds,
all are variable quantities. The watch test is frequently used, but
since a young teacher in her enthusiasm used an alarm clock to make the
test, specialists have decided that the volume of sound differs in
watches to such a degree as to make the watch test unreliable. The
examination of the eye has been reduced to mathematical precision, due
altogether to the an