Is spite of' tlic very coiisidcrahle 1-oliiiiic of work which iii rcccnt years has I)eetl carried out i i i relation t o cholclithiasis, tlicrc is still much that remains o1tsc:iirc with regard to this subject. Tlic rccciit siiiiiniiiry gi\.cri hy Wells,' lor itistiuice, revc,:ils c*onsiderablc diversity both of evidencc air(\ of coticlusioiis, imd leavcs 1)chitid tlic iiiipressioti that not,liiiig is knowii with aitything approaching certaitit,y either of the etiology of the disease or of the niechanistns opcratiiig to prodiicc its striking illid ititercsting results.;Iiiioiig tlic most intriguing oC tlic problems prcsciited l q r the study of' this tliscase is that which eoticeriis its relatioiiship to 1i~~~crcholestcrol~rllii:i. Tliiit, coirsidera1)lc at,teiitioii should bc focused oil tlic eholestcrol coiiteiit of thc ldootl is iiot siirprisiiig. siiice vliolesterol lbriiis the greatcr part of iiearly :dl gall-stoiies. It seeiiis soiiicwhat striiiige, howc\.er. that iiiorc attciitioii lias i i o t lxcn paid to tlie part, plnycd by calciiuii. siiice this too is preseitt iii prac:tically a11 gall-st,oiies. f'or c\mi t,tic 'pure cholesterol stoiiv' is geiic:rally not witlioiit il t,race ol' this elemeiit,. Other prolhxiis of iio leas iiitcrest arise iii c!oiiiieetioii with t,liis disease. and urge the biochcntist to add frat.lier iiivestiptioils to those already made.It seetiis to 11s that any investigation wliieh iiiakes an effort towards cminpleteiiess miist iiiclurle within its scope not oiily the blood hut, also the lAc, thc stoiies, ant1 thc gall-l)laddci-itsell'. atid i t is desirable to know not only Iiow tiiiicli cliolcsterol ea.cli voiitaiits but also liow iiiueh cdciuni. It is witli siicli ill1 iiivestigatioii slid its rcsults t l i n t \vc propose t o conccr~i 0111'-selves i n the ltrcscnt coniiriiii~ic.at,ioii, a i d from our own ;ind other workers' ot)ser\-wtioiis we offer certain suggestioiis beariitg on soiiie of the prol)lci~+ of this disease.
COLLECTION AND PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL.The inaterial uwd tlirouglioiit this iiivestigatioii has becii obtaiiicd froni paticlit4 iuiilcr tlic c m~ of Sir Uerkelcy Rloyiiihaii. Spevimetis of k,looil wcrc o1,taiiietI w i t h i a clay or trio prior t o opemtion, and, i i i cwtaiti ease\ t o be tlr~vrihctl later. a t :in iiiteri a1 of six to twelve iiioiitlis after operation. The ' k 14'roiii the c'liiiic ol' Sir Berkeley lloyiiihaii.