90 IMMUNITY IN HEALTH 



so fill the nasopharynx as to set up mouth-breathing 

 with all its serious sequelae. The faucial tonsils, if very 

 much enlarged, may then impede even the mouth 

 respiration, and cause chronic deficient oxygenation. 

 Swelling of the lymphoid tissue about the orifice of the 

 tuba auditiva is said to block this tube, leading to re- 

 traction of the membrane of the tympanic cavity, pent- 

 up secretions, and middle-ear suppuration, with result- 

 ing deafness. ' 



Barnard believed that the common variety of intus- 

 susception in infants, which starts in the lower few 

 inches of the ileum, results from an enlargement of the 

 last Peyer's patch (which is especially prone to hyper- 

 trophy) bulging into the ileum and being seized upon 

 by peristaltic movements. 



It is just credible that localised hyperplasia of lymph 

 nodules in the vermiform appendix may lead to func- 

 tional blockage of the tube, the stagnation of contents 

 and the formation of calculi. 



General increase of lymphatic structures signifies 

 prolonged bacterial assaults, and may be accompanied 

 by a toxin-weakened heart in the condition known as 

 status lymphaticus. (See Chapter XIV.). 



