THE FREQUENCY OF TUBERCULOSIS IN MAN

A few years ago Naegeli aroused widespread interest by reporting that a careful examination of a large number of bodies had demonstrated the presence of evidences of tuberculosis in over 90 per cent. The findings attracted wide attention because they were so startling and because they justified the old axiom of "every one has a little tuberculosis," and so Naegeli's figures have been widely quoted and almost universally accepted. For the most part pathologists supported Naegeli's contention, for their experience in autopsy work had shown them that few adult bodies were free from calcified peribronchial glands, calcified nodules in the lungs, pleural scars and apical adhesions, which lesions are all suspicious, although not positive, evidence of healed tuberculous processes. General impressions are one thing and careful analysis of evidence is another, however, and as regards this very important matter of the tuberculosis morbidity, the former have been much more abundant