§1. Introduction. In some recent works [4], [3] , [5], [1] we considered the abstract Volterra equation:or nonlinear where b is a real kernel in Lloc, m-accretive operator in a real Banach space X, u 0 • X and g • LllocQR+'X)' . Such equation has been previously studied by several authors [8], [9], [10], [2], [13], [ii], [6], [14]. If b(t) = I, then (V) formally reduces to the problem du d-T + Au : g u(O) : u 0 (D)If moreover the Banach space X is an ordered Banach space (X,P) with cone P, then it is well-known that the condition "(I+kA)-I(P) c P, for every ~ > 0", implies that the solutions of (D) satisfy u(t) e P, t > 0, provided that u 0 e P and g(t) e P, t _> 0. The main point in [4] was to introduce kernels b such that the same "positivity preserving property" holds for the Volterra equation (V). These kernels, called completely positive in [5], are defined as follows. For b e LI[0,T], we shall denote by s(b) (resp. r(b)) the unique solution in AC[0,T] (resp. in LI[0,T]) of the scalar Volterra equations: t s(t) + S b(t-~)s(6)d~ = I, t > 0. (S) 0 t r(t) + f b(t-~)r(6)d6 : b(t), t _> 0. (R) 0