THE TERM ligneous conjunctivitis was first used in 1933 to describe a rare but distinct clinical entity characterized by an acute inflammatory stage and by a chronic phase with a recurrent granuloma of woodlike consistency.1 The disease usually begins as an acute, bilateral membranous or pseudomembranous conjunctivitis of childhood.2 Occasionally, this is associated with corneal involvement that may progress to perforation and loss of the globe. In addition, the acute phase is frequently accompanied by nasopharyngitis, vulvovaginitis, and other systemic findings. The chronic phase is characterized by the appearance of a relatively asymptomatic conjunctival granuloma which recurs despite all modes of treatment. There is some evidence of a familial predisposition to the disease,3,4 and the suggestion has been made that the acute phase represents a viral infection.3 The following case of ligneous conjunctivitis has been observed for 37 years and well illustrates this interesting and unusual