Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-11-18

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15.-The
lore throat season is approaching
when tonsils will again be a popular
topic of conversation. Scarcely an
adult but wakes intense owe a gen.
eral discussion of ~tonsils. Everybody
has them or has had an exciting
time getting rid of them, and if by
chance q grown-up hasn't personally
a performing set of tonsils, there are
always the tonsilar adventures of
the children, not to speak of their
adenoids.
Yet, with all the interest in this
subject, comparatively few people
| can tell what tonsils are for and why
mankind is SO pestered by them.
A throat specialist of this city, DR..
| W. A. Wells, explained some OF the
modern ideas on this subject the
other day. 1t may be a shock to
some people to learn that we really
should practically dispense with ton
sils by the age of Is years. At the
age of about IL in girls and about is
in boys the tonsils should be shrunk-
en- almost to atrophy, says DR..
| Wells.
If you have had no tonsilar trou-
bles since childhood, the probabili-
lAOo aIO IAAd JOdAo @NN
out of your life at the proper time.
If this is the case you should have
practically no trouble for the rest
of your days. This was natures
plan, as modern specialists under
| stand it. The tonsils serve their pur-
pose in infancy and childhood, and
then they u~nobtrusively shrink.
There are several theories re-
| garding the function of the tonsils.
The belief hat they affect digestion
or the singing voice is no longer
generally held. DR.. Wells says hat
the most plausible theory is that
they make white blood cells in
| young children. At about the age
of 10 or IL the bone marrow, which
makes the same sort of cells, begins
to be active and the tonsils are no
longer needed for this purpose.
1t is a sad fact, however, that
| most people do not retire their ton
sils at the critical stage. If tonsils
are not altogether healthy at the
| time when shrinkage would norman
ly occur, the diseased organs hou-
| IRISH and on a very little encourage
ment from germs at any time become
sore and swollen.
How the Trouble Starts
Trouble starts somewhat like this:
the tonsil is q capsule containing a
mass of soft and spongy tissue known
as lymphoid. In this tissue are q
number of crypts and depressions
| Germ colonies lodge~in these recess
es, and diseased matter and pu,
form. These produce poisons anc
the poisons spread through the sys'
TEN. In recent years diseased teetf
have been a popular explanation o.
all Of ailments. Now tbs
throat specialist offers the theor!
that 9 cases out of ten of rheuma'
tism and neuritis can be traced t
diseased tonsils. Heart trouble, kid
ney inflammations, high blood pres
sure, and even hardened arteries
have been connected with tonsiis.
If the natural atrophy fails to tax
place in adolescence it is general!
deferred until old age. Then tn
soft Iymphoid tissue is gradually re
placed by hard, fibrous tissue.
One of the most recent uses o
radium to be developed to a practi
cal stage is in connection with ton
sils. Radium is now being use
successfully to cause the atroph
that nature fails to accomplish D.
Wells, who recently published a re
port on this subject, says that ra
dunn does in a few hours what ma
ture takes years to do. Two radiur
needles are inserted in a disease
tonsil for a certain length of timt
and after two or three of thes
treatments the organ is shrunk to 1t
normal insignihcance.
The needles used are about on
inch long and about the thickness
of a photograph needle. At tn
blunt end is an eye in which sill
is threaded so that the needle ca
be readily withdrawn. Small a
these tools are they represent fou
or five thousand dollars worth {
radium. The precious substance
in the center of the needle and tn
exterior. composed of platinum an
iridium forms a screen throug
which the rays are filtered. No mai
ter how often or how little tn
needles are used one-half of thei
power will not be gone for 1850
years.
Radium's Mysterious Ways
One strange fact about radium
that it has a ~selective effect, lettin
i, some cells alone and changing til
: character of others. 1t has bee
| found that the tissue Of the tonsi
lis extremely sensitive to radiur