If the fact is confirmed that the _output of exogenous purin_ in such children is _diminished_ or _retarded_, it would certainly be a most interesting finding, possibly with a now unguessed-at significance. But we should recall that even in the subjects of _regular_ gout such is _not invariable_, and, moreover, occurs in diseases other than gout. Pending further exact investigations I think it would be wiser not to indulge in such vast generalisations, mindful of the sentiments expressed by the illustrious Sydenham in his letter to Dr. Gould:— “I have bin very careful to write nothing but what was the product of careful observation. So when the scandall of my person shall be layd aside in my grave it will appear that I neither suffered myselfe to be deceived by indulging in idle speculations nor have deceived others by obtruding anything to them but downright matter of fact.” CHAPTER XXV OCULAR DISEASE IN THE GOUTY BY W. M. BEAUMONT With the passing of Jonathan Hutchinson disappeared the premier British exponent of _l’arthritisme_, that generic term so attractive to our French _confrères_. Whether gout and rheumatism are branches of one common stem need not detain us, for it is an abstraction more suitable to the philosophic age of medicine before pathology emerged as an exact science. Be this as it may, there has been in the past, and there still remains in the present, as a bond of union, a universal belief that both are subtle causes of disease of the eye. But the age of hypothesis is giving place to the era of facts, and we find in recent writings a more cautious expression of individual opinion, a less dogmatic positivism regarding the relationship of gout and rheumatism to ocular disease. In referring to modern text-books we find Parsons[44] describes gout as one of the “alleged causes” of iritis. In rheumatic iritis he states that the patients “are often gouty.” The gouty nature of iritis is indicated by the similarity of onset of some cases of iritis with that of gout. “Iritis in an elderly patient is likely to be gouty, often starting suddenly in the night and sometimes ushering in an attack of gouty arthritis.” In episcleritis “rheumatism and gout are commonly indicated as the chief causes.” Werner[45] includes gout in a list of disorders of metabolism which produce iritis “by means of toxins of a chemical nature.” Sim[46] considers that iritis occurs in gout “as the result of some toxic influence”; and in addition he says, “Iritis is to be met with in gout.” These authors express accurately, I think, the present views with regard to gout as it affects the eye; with each there is a tone of restraint and suggestion rather than of boldness and assertion, and the contrast to Hutchinson’s emphasis is noteworthy: “I believe,” he tells us, “that iritis due to the arthritic diathesis is a common malady.”