"... it is a fact that their intelligence may become weakened and their characters changed. They do not progress in their studies at school, are generally at the bottom of the class and remain in it longer than the prescribed time.... That the impairment of intellect and want of energy manifested by these children is real, and not merely in the expression of countenance, is made evident by watching these same children after the growths have been removed. To the gratification and astonishment of the parents and teachers, the children hitherto sluggish and dull of comprehension, now make rapid progress, and their comrades soon cease to make a laughing stock of them."
The following quotation from an article by Irving Townsend, M. D., is in the same vein:[2]
"Aprosexia is the rather imposing term applied to the imperfect or arrested mental development attributed to this condition. This is denied by some authors, who claim that the dullness of comprehension and inattention are only apparent, and due only to defective hearing. A strong evidence of its reality lies in the fact that these children show most marvelous intellectual development after the removal of the growth, even in cases where deafness is not markedly improved."
A most enthusiastic denouncer of adenoids and abnormal tonsils is H. Addington Bruce. Concerning their direful effects upon the intelligence, and the magical results of their removal, he is continually reiterating:[3]
"Often a surprising development of both mental and physical power follows the removal of adenoids. In one case reported by Professor Swift, a girl of fourteen grew three inches within six months after an operation for adenoids, and at the same time showed an improvement in her school work that contrasted strikingly with the dullness that preceded it. Another, three years younger, grew six inches in about five months, and from being a sad idler was transformed into an unexpectedly attractive and bright pupil. A boy of twelve, backward both mentally and physically, likewise lost his dullness and laziness within an astonishingly short time after the impediment had been removed."
And again:
"The boy or girl suffering from adenoids[4] is usually a mouth-breather because of the difficulty experienced in breathing through the nose. But mouth-breathing means difficult breathing, and this in turn means deficient oxidation of the tissues, with a resultant lowering of vital activities generally and of the activity of the brain in particular. Accordingly, the psychologist of today insists that every adenoid-afflicted child should be given prompt medical attention, with a view to correcting the vicious mouth-breathing habit, and thus aiding the child to gain a fair start in the development of mental and physical health."
The following extracts are quoted from Burgerstein's "Handbuch der Schulhygiene":
"Bresgen und Heymann machen endlich darauf aufmerksam, dass die Ursache der Kephalalgie haufig in der Behinderung der Nasenatmung zu suchen ist, als Folgerscheinung von Verengerung der Nase bei ingen Baue des Knochengerustes, Knochenkaries und Geschwulsten, Schwelungen der Scheimhaute, akuten Schnupfen, Verstofungen der Highmorshöhle, Vergrosserung der Mandeln u. s. w."...
"Viele Kinder erscheinen schwachbegabt, ohne os zu sein, da bei denselben entweder nach behebung von Ohrenkrankheiten, nach Herstellung der freien atmung oder Gebrauch einer entsprechenden Brille die scheinbare Geistesschwache schwindet."[5]