The increasing prevalence of trachoma in the United States attracted widespread attention for some time prior to 1897, and because of its contagious character and inimical effects the disease was in that year classified as "dangerous, contagious" within the meaning of the immigration law—thus making mandatory the deportation of aliens so afflicted. Since that time thousands of aliens afflicted with trachoma have been excluded from landing in this country. It has been shown that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906, alone, 29,600 patients with trachoma were prevented from embarking at foreign ports, and 1,600 individuals with the disease were certified as having trachoma on arrival.1
The physical and mental examinations of arriving aliens are made by medical officers of the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service who are responsible for the efficiency of such examinations. Cases of undoubted trachoma are immediately certified, and suspicious individuals must be held