The frequency of the chronic intractable bronchitides, extensive bronchiectasia and other nontuberculous suppurative infections of the bronchi and lungs commonly grouped under the designation of suppurative pneumonitis, along with the well established fact that ordinary medicinal treatment possesses little or no real value, renders this relatively large group of pulmonary infections worthy of further investigation in relation to both etiology and treatment. This is particularly true since bronchiectasis not unfrequently begins in childhood and sometimes results in semi-invalidism for many years and indeed for the balance of life.
Fortunately, bronchoscopic drainage and bronchial lavage have definitely improved the treatment and prognosis of bronchiectasis and these allied conditions. Bronchoscopic drainage, as developed by the brilliant investigations of Jackson, Tucker, Clerf and others, has at least largely aided in the treatment in those cases due to foreign bodies1 and, along with bronchography, has greatly improved methods of diagnosis as well as