To the Editor:— In the September 5 issue, page 4, in Carson's article on otolaryngologic problems, the question of Valsalva's method of inflating middle ear is discussed and the statement made that holding the nose shut and swallowing raises the pharyngeal pressure. This experiment does not inflate the middle ear but deflates it when the drum has been bulged out by expansion of the air in the tympanic cavity. The experiment was first described by Toynbee (cited by Politzer, Adam: A Textbook of the Diseases of the Ear). Valsalva's method is to hold the nostrils closed with the fingers and then blow the air outward. Both methods may be useful in aviation, one in flying upward, the other in descending, but the two methods have directly contrary actions and should not be confused.