Epiglottitis in children is generally abrupt in onset and often progresses from the first symptoms to a fatal respiratory obstruction in four to six hours. Most patients in the present series came to the hospital with fever and leukocytosis, but the gravity of their condition was not always proportionate to the extent of the leukocytosis. Of the 37 cases here reported, 20 (54%) occurred in boys, and 31 (84%) were in children between the ages of 1 and 5 years. Two patients were dead on arrival at the hospital, and one died within a few hours after admission; the mortality was 8%. Histories of the three fatal cases are given to illustrate the necessity of constant observation of the patient, the abrupt onset of respiratory obstruction, and the place of tracheotomy in management of the disease. Tracheotomy was carried out to prevent asphyxiation in 12 (34 % of the 35 patients who were treated in the hospital.