A survey of last year's publications on progressive deafness and allied conditions, as well as pathologic labyrinthine processes, yields some interesting material.
Harris1 contributed a paper based on the study of eighty-two cases of progressive deafness with no history of suppuration. The method of selection was to take only cases with a history of gradually increasing deafness not due to a suppurative condition. No attempt was made to fit the cases into groups according to supposed morbid anatomy. In addition to the usual examination and functional hearing tests the patients were subjected to a complete physical examination and chemical analysis of the blood.
A family history of deafness was found by a trained investigator in only 8 per cent of the cases. These figures are much lower than those quoted by many other observers, and lead to the view that the importance of heredity has been overemphasized.
The drum membrane