Unnecessary Operations Another subject on which doctors disagree is the
ground for the removal of tonsils. A most instructive verbatim report is given in the Post-graduate Medical Journal of a debate arranged by the Fellowship of Medicine on a motion that these operations are " too often performed without adequate cause." Dr. Alison Glover showed that the operation rate for the removal of tonsils in elementary schools had increased by more than 225 per cent. in seven years ; and Mr. Herbert Tilley indicated the danger to the public of the " single track " mind in medical specialism. Lord Dawson of Penn, too, expressed his uneasiness. It is not reassuring to us to know that other medical men totally disagreed with the first speakers. What are we, the general public, to do, in the matter of affected tonsils or any other suspected part of our anatomy, when - in doubt—as we always are ? Lord Dawson urges the separation of diagnosis from treatment. But between the two schools of thought, to whom should we turn for the diagnosis ?
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