The term "abdominal section for traumatism" is meant to include those cases where the operator de liberately opens the belly, or greatly enlarges an existant wound for the purpose of discovering intraperitoneal wounds, and, if they are present, repairing them as far as possible, together with more or less final cleansing of the peritoneal cavity. Such cases as those in which wounds of prolapsed viscera are simply repaired, and the parts returned to the abdominal cavity, are not included. My excuse for this paper is, that I have been so fortunate as to be associated as an assistant to more than one-half of all the cases that have occurred in Philadelphia. In four of the cases I have been the assistant, and in three the care-taker also. These four cases have been treated in the Pennsylvania Hospital. I had at first expected to read merely the history of these cases,