that might have appeared in persons whose worldly circumstances favoured either of those conditions. _Habits._—In my inquiries as to habits, the usual difficulty of obtaining trustworthy replies was experienced. Three of the more severe cases pleaded guilty to long-standing intemperance, but the rest all regarded themselves as moderate drinkers—an elastic term. There was, however, nothing in their general condition to indicate that alcoholism had exercised any material influence in favouring the palmar lesion. _Race and climate._—We have at present no statistics with regard to the effects of race and climate upon the disease; but so far as we are at present informed it must be rare, if not altogether absent, in certain countries. During my own residence of six years in Japan I did not meet with a single instance; and the far larger experience of my friend Surgeon-General Takaki has been equally negative as to this particular affection. My friend Surgeon-Colonel Owen tells me that in an extensive experience amongst the natives of Bengal, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, he does not recollect more than one or two cases, and that these may have been traumatic. At any rate, the condition is extremely rare. _Inheritance._—There is unquestionably a strong predisposition to the disease in certain individuals and families, and so many examples of hereditary transmission of the tendency have been related that it is useless to add further to the list. We can no more explain the cause of this special predisposition than we can account for the idiosyncrasy which renders certain persons inordinately liable to erysipelas and some other affections; and although Dupuytren’s contraction is often associated with such widespread complaints as gout, rheumatism, and various neuroses, its relation to these is probably to be regarded as a coincidence. _Morbid anatomy._—It has long been a subject of dispute whether the complaint is or is not a contraction of the palmar fascia. There is, of course, no doubt that the palmar fascia is always implicated to some extent, but its exact relation to the morbid tissue that constitutes the essence of Dupuytren’s disease can only be decided by a consideration of the anatomy of the healthy structure.