For the year 1940 a large number of foreign journals are unavailable. On account of the chaotic military and political situation abroad, the foreign reports which are at hand appear meager and possess little of scientific import. The Swedish otolaryngologists provide an exception to this general observation. They seem unaffected by current happen¬ ings, and their reports and articles are well planned and worked out.A gratifying observation is the increase in the number of scientific contributions from Latin America. A hint as to how this newly awakened interest might be enhanced is contained in the Acta otolaryngologica, which gives extensive resumes of its original articles not only in English but also in Spanish and Portugese. The great American special journals would profit by following this excellent example.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONSIn 1927 Weiss 1 made his first study of the use of the von Schilling hemogram in otologie diagnosis, particularly in the diagnosis of mas¬ toiditis, and reported it in the American literature. At that time it was stressed that by this means no estimate of the severiy of an infecion could be established. Several studies have been made since then, all concerned with the value of the von Schilling hemogram in both the diagnosis and the prognosis of otitic infections.Couper 2 studied the use of the von Schilling hemogram in otitis media and mastoiditis in infants. He found that the count is valuable,