The past few years have marked a greater advance in the success attending the treatment of chronic arthritis than of almost any other disease. This advance, we believe, is due largely to the many important studies made as to the etiology and pathology which have resulted in the differentiation of various types, thus rendering possible more rational therapeutic indications. In the brief time allotted us we are obliged to omit entirely any account of these investigations or discussion of their bearing on treatment, and shall confine ourselves to a general outline of the treatment which, in our hands, has proved most successful.
The treatment of chronic arthritis consists essentially, first, in the employment of methods influencing general metabolism, and second, local treatment of the affected joints. The first are almost universally applicable to all cases, while the second varies somewhat with the particular type. For purposes of presentation, therefore, the