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To these must be added 0.4 per cent. boys, and 0.4 per cent. girls,
with adenoids and no enlarged tonsils.
It is noticed that while the percentage of boys with enlarged
tonsils decreases with age, that of girls is slightly increased. This
tendency of enlarged tonsils to be less prevalent in the elder boys and
more prevalent in the elder girls was also found in the previous two
years' medical inspection.
The number of children who had had an operation for the removal
of enlarged tonsils and adenoids previous to medical inspection was 161.
That is, 6.9 per cent. of the children have had operations on the throat
previous to medical inspection, basing the percentage on the number of
cases at which the parent was present, for it is only in these cases that
one is able to obtain a history. Among the infants of five, 6.1 per cent,
of the boys and 4.6 of the girls had been operated on before inspection.
This operation may be looked upon as a popular one, and the parents
are generally very satisfied with the result of it. One mother told us that
she " always had her children's throats done" when they were three years
old. In a few cases, however, the operation does no good whatever, and
the adenoids speedily recur; there is no evidence to show that in these
special cases the recurrence is due to want of after treatment. Two of the
children examined, both boys, had had two operations.
The following table gives the defects found in the children who
had been operated on:—

The percentage with enlarged tonsils and adenoids is a good deal
below that of all the children, and the percentage with ear discharge is
about the same. The number of mouth-breathers is small among these
children, when we consider that probably all of them were mouthbreathers
before they were operated on. The worst result is shown in
the hearing. Of the children operated on whose hearing was tested, 7.9
per cent. had fair hearing; 23.9 per cent. bad hearing, and 1.1 per cent.
very bad hearing, and only 67.1 per cent. had normal hearing.