Digitalis is often believed to be ineffectual in the treatment of cardiac disease in children. The most probable explanation for this belief is that the doses commonly used have been too small, for McCulloch and Rupe1 have demonstrated that both normal children and those suffering from heart disease require from 10 to 100 per cent more digitalis per pound of body weight than do adults before electrocardiographic or other signs of digitalization are produced. Our studies of twenty-six children suffering from severe myocardial failure confirm this report, and lead us to the conclusion that even larger doses are beneficial in causing a loss of edema and an increase in the patient's comfort. Digitalis will not, of course, repair the myocardial damage, but a comparison between the fate of children treated with the drug and that of those who did not receive it would seem to indicate that the administration