Light, very light, almost inaudible percussion, what Goldscheider called "Schwellungsperkussion," must be practiced. Use the middle finger of the right (left) hand as the hammer and the last joint of the middle finger of the left (right) hand pressed firmly against the chest, as pleximeter. I believe it is better to place the pleximeter finger parallel to the boundary to be limited although some place the finger perpendicularly, that is, pointing toward the boundary. Now and then it helps to bend the pleximeter finger at the second joint, hold it perpendicularly to the chest wall, and strike the joint directly in line of the finger. This in my hands has been of great assistance in percussing the limits of the heart dullness. Pottenger's "light touch palpation" is a modification of the light palpation and, to my mind, has no very special advantages. Auscultatory percussion is of great value at times. The bell of the stethoscope is placed over the portion of heart uncovered by lung (should such be the case), and with this point as a center the chest is lightly and quickly tapped along radii converging toward the stethoscope. One soon learns to recognize the change of pitch as the tapping reaches the border of the heart. It is well to use all methods, especially in difficult cases, and to compare the results. Personally I have found that by light percussion I can limit with much accuracy the upper, right, and left borders of the heart. There is much to be gained by using light percussion. Strong blows set in vibration not only the underlying structures, but also more or less of the chest wall. We wish to avoid this source of error, we do not wish to differentiate by pitch alone. Finally one's pleximeter finger becomes, after long practice, so sensitive to changes in the resonance of structures lying below it, that there is actual feeling of impairment to the slightest degree. This delicate touch is what we should endeavor to cultivate. It is at times of advantage to use immediate percussion. This is done by bending the fingers of the striking hand, bringing the tips in a line and striking the chest lightly with the four fingers as one finger. Some find it easier to percuss the dullness due to the heart in this way than by mediate percussion. The little hammer and hard rubber, celluloid, bone, or ivory pleximeter does not seem to me to be nearly as good as the fingers. Moreover, one always has his hands, but may forget his hammer and pleximeter. =Auscultation=