Numerous reports have been made on the incidence of tuberculosis of the tonsils as determined by examination of large series of these organs obtained after tonsillectomies. Such studies have greatest significance when accompanied with a record of the clinical condition of each of the patients concerned, for the incidence varies according to the presence or absence of tuberculosis elsewhere in the body. It is now well known that many, if not most, patients with open pulmonary tuberculosis have tuberculosis of the tonsils. Hence a study of the incidence of tonsillar tuberculosis in a population group including many persons with open pulmonary tuberculosis yields an excessive rate for this disease in the tonsils. Conversely, a slight error is introduced if persons with open tuberculosis of the lungs are excluded, for persons with pulmonary tuberculosis make up not a negligible proportion of the population. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE These facts are readily