Much controversy has arisen regarding the relationship between mastoiditis and acute nutritional disturbances in infants. Since the publications of Marriott, Alden, Floyd, Lyman and many others,1 a great deal of attention has been given to infections of the middle ear and the mastoid. The work of these men has been so startling that a great number of pediatricians and otologists have, we believe, without careful investigation, more or less blindly followed their teachings.
The contention of most investigators has been that the ear infection acted as the primary focus, and that the enteric disturbance was secondary. The result has been a marked increase in the number of ear drums lanced and mastoids operated on.
Our contribution to this subject is an effort to determine, by careful examination of the end-results, i. e., by necropsy and histologic studies, the correct relationship between enteritis and ear infection.
About a year ago, one