It is quite impossible here even to give a comprehensive idea of the immense amount of work which has been given to the study of the statistics of cancer in various parts of the world, as collected in the remarkable works of Roger Williams and Jacob Wolff, but brief mention must be made of some of the items observed and recorded in order to properly understand our subject. Williams in particular has analyzed the recorded facts in an interesting and convincing manner, and shown again and again in connection with the figures from different countries, sections, and cities, that the occurrence of cancer bears a striking relation to the condition of the people in reference to their material prosperity; namely, that the well-to-do, who can overindulge in many ways are vastly more subject to cancer than those in the poorer walks of life; also that aborigines in the wilder parts of the world are either almost exempt from cancer, or suffer from it to a very much less degree than civilized foreigners who come to their lands. This is also shown in a very striking manner by Wolff, and I present here a table which he gives in regard to the progress of cancer in a single country, Australia, among the native born and foreigners. OF 100,000 LIVING THERE DIE OF CANCER IN AUSTRALIA _Year_ _Number of _Native Born_ _English_ _Other Inhabitants_ Nationalities_ 1851 403,889 28 14 1861 1,153,973 5.6 30.5 19 1871 1,168,377 9.7 56.7 25 1881 2,252,167 16.8 72.9 32.6 1891 3,183,237 19.8 119.8 45.9 1901 3,771,715 22.6 203.1 57.3 He remarks, “We see from this comparison in what a great degree the death rate from cancer has increased in foreigners as compared to the native born, in whom the disease has remained about stationary, when the increase in population is considered.” Another writer remarks that when native Australians mingle with foreigners as servants or employés, and adopt their diet and customs, cancer occurs more frequently in them. Much the same has been reported in regard to other peoples and nationalities, and later we will consider the influences of urban life on the production of cancer. In New Zealand, according to Hislop and Fenwick, where the general death rate is the lowest in the world, cancer is on the increase, as civilization advances. In the great majority of cases the alimentary canal is the seat of invasion, even in women: all the patients studied were hearty eaters, taking also very much strong tea many times daily.