PAPERS OX MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 301 



pharynx and the Eustachian tube. Approximately 

 thirty per cent of the deafness in the United States is 

 due to the suppuration of the middle-ear during child- 

 hood. Ten per cent of the discharging ears of children 

 are complications of scarlet fever, measles, or other com- 

 municable diseases: in ninety per cent diseased tonsils 

 and adenoids are predisposing causes. In a systematic 

 oral examination of patients with adenoids, Tomlinson 

 found some grade of ear involvement in seventy-rive per 

 cent. 



Where the function of hearing is impaired, the men- 

 tality of the child suffers. He becomes inattentive, in 

 many instances diffident, and frequently a class repeater. 

 ■Partial deafness, especially when it dates from child- 

 hood, is a disadvantage that seldom permits the indi- 

 vidual to attain the efficiency of which he would be 

 otherwise capable. 



Much deafness would be avoided if disease of the ear 

 were promptly treated by specialists and if parents 

 would see that the adenoids and enlarged tonsils 

 of their children received proper attention. Medical in- 

 spection of schools and free treatment for children with 

 disease of the nose, throat and ear whose parents are 

 unable to provide medical care for them should be an 

 important part of any program for the prevention of 

 deafness. 



XOSE AXD THROAT 



Twenty-six and two-tenths per cent of the students ex- 

 amined showed some abnormality of the nose. In the 

 vast majority of cases the conditions were not of patho- 

 logical significance. Approximately 43% of the defects 

 were due to deviation of the septum and 33 r c to nasal 

 spurs. Enlarged adenoids showed a very low instance 

 due to removal before examination at registration, the 

 age of the individual, and possibly to being overlooked 

 in rare instances by examiners when rushed. Of the 

 2955 students examined 17.6 r c had had their tonsils re- 

 moved. This is an indication of the greater knowledge . 

 of the danger of diseased tonsils. This large per cent of 



