To the Editor.— Many of the numerous theories that have recently been advanced to account for respiratory failure in infancy have failed to establish a single persuasive cause for this disaster and have ignored some of the early and perhaps significant proposals to account for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The recent article by van Someren and Stothers1 at least refers to one possible etiology that I have always believed. During the early months of life, most infants breathe via the nasal passage.