"I have been associated with the Imperial Cancer Research and in touch with its staff from the foundation of the Research, and have been a member of the publication committee of all its scientific reports. IT HAS DONE NOTHING ON THE LINES IN WHICH OBSERVATION HAS BEEN SO USEFUL. It has not unfolded the life-history of a single variety of cancer, so that we can base our operations on the information. It has not even discovered whether spontaneous cancer of a particular part of the body in the rat or mouse runs a similar course to spontaneous cancer of the same part of the body in the human subject. These problems are not suited for experimental investigation; they are determined by observation."[1] [1] Lancet, London, October 7, 1911. No "serum," no drug, no curative agency of any kind, has thus far been discovered upon which the slightest dependence may be placed. The only measure of relieve which medical science can now suggest is early and complete extirpation. Of what proportion of cases even this insures immunity we cannot tell. Without decrying what has been done in the laboratory, may it not be that we have gone in that direction as far as there is any hope for success, and that all effort should now be directed TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE CAUSE OF MALIGNANT DISEASE IN HUMAN BEINGS? That great secret still eludes us, but until we can penetrate that mystery, it is difficult to perceive how we may hope to prevent the increasing prevalence of the great destroyer . Yet there is one method of investigation which (speaking from a study of cancer statistics for more than twenty-five years) seems to me to offer, more than all others, a reasonable hope of ultimate success. It is independent of all sacrifice of animal life. It involves, however, an expenditure far greater than is possible for any private investigator, and probably only by the co-operation of the Government can it be undertaken with any chance of success. Yet, if Society can once be aroused to a recognition of the need for the completest possible investigation concerning malignant disease, and particularly the reasons for its differing prevalence among people of different nationalities, habits, and general environment, that inquiry will take place, even though it cost the price of a battleship.