OBSERVATIONS were made upon the chests of all patients who underwent abdominal operations during one complete year at Charing Cross Hospital. Altogether 710 cases were studied, and in 75 (11%) of these, pulmonary complications developed. For appendicectomy and herniorrhaphy the incidence was about 5%, and rose to 20% or 30% for operations upon the upper abdomen. The highest incidence was found after perforated peptic ulcer.Age.-In dividing the present series into those below and those over 40, it was found that the incidence of pulmonary complications was twice as great in the older group. This, however, does not represent the true state of affairs, as a relatively greater number of extensive operations are performed after the age of 40, and if we divide all operations arbitrarily under two headings, " large " and " small ", according to their extent, we find that under the former heading there is no difference in the incidence in the two age-groups, whereas for the smaller operations, patients over 40 show rather more than twice as many complications as those under 40. These findings were rather surprising and are a little difficult to explain, but, provided

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