The basic work of Eagleton, Kopetzky and Almour, Profant and others has established suppuration of the petrous pyramid as a clinical entity. It remains for time and experience to make this condition better understood. For this reason future papers will serve to define in greater detail what is already known or will deal with special phases of the subject. As evidence of this, mention might be made of a recent paper by Eagleton which deals with osteomyelitis of the inferior aspect of the petrous pyramid.
We believe with Eagleton that a majority of infections of the petrous pyramid heal spontaneously, that a small group end in localized formation of abscesses which are healed by well directed treatment and that a still smaller group are caused by progressive vascular involvement in the form of thrombophlebitis, which is invariably fatal. Those which heal spontaneously would present no special problem if one could