EARLY DIAGNOSIS BETWEEN BENIGN AND MALIGNANT NEOPLASMS OF THE LARYNX.

The editorial assertion of the British Medical Journal, that laryngeal neoplasms which originally show no trace of malignancy often assume a malignant character in consequence of the irritation produced by attempts at removal, will be remembered in connection with the case of the late Emperor Frederick the Third. The assertion was apparently based upon the opinion of Mr. Lennox Browne advanced to this effect as early as 1875, which position had been accepted as correct by Sir Morell Mackenzie and in part, but only in part, substantiated by Dr. J. Solis-Cohen, inasmuch as he qualified by "occasionally" and "sometimes" in place of "often:" "It occasionally occurs that papillomata become transformed into epithelial carcinoma, sometimes from mere local irritation from cough and pressure, and sometimes from irritation set up by repeated unsuccessful attempts at removal by evulsion." Later, Gottstein, Bosworth and Seiler spoke of the possibility of such transformations under traumatic