A nice point is brought out in this paper. In a family study of recently reported tuberculosis patients among older mnencompared with a comparable group of younger male cases-a revealing difference was shown in age of contacts and hence in terms of early primary infections with resulting partial immunization. The implications are not to be missed.

Active participation of public health agencies in the treatment of unhospitalized patients with tuberculosis is now essential. The need arises from three directions. Patients awaiting admittance to hospitals require treatment to check the progress of their disease and its spread to others. An increasing number of cases are being discharged from institutions with a recommendation that chemotherapy be continued for long periods. Finally, there are always present in the community a large number of persons with communicable tuberculosis who will not accept institutional care and represent a major public health hazard.In July, 1953, the New York City Department of Health started a program for the antibacterial treatment of unhospitalized patients with tuberculosis. This policy implied that both the clinic and the laboratory consider each unhospitalized patient as a candidate for treatment. The laboratory can therefore no longer merely report to the clinician the presence or absence of acid-fast

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