That the tonsil is a focus of infection in cases of myositis and arthritis is common knowledge and will not be discussed in this report, which deals with the results of operation in a series of consecutive cases of myositis and arthritis.
As a preliminary to the selection of the 200 cases of the series, letters of inquiry were sent to 400 patients who had been operated on consecutively. The answers from the first 200 were accepted as sufficient data for the basis of our report.
The data recorded were facts concerning sex, age, first attack of myositis or arthritis, number of attacks, joints involved, presence of pyorrhea alveolaris or tooth abscess, history of tonsillitis, history of previous tonsil operations, and the present condition, whether ambulatory, incapacited or invalided.
In recording the improvement in the long standing cases we fully appreciate the importance of the time element, and also the