Pusey1credited Hebra with the earliest clarification of the clinical picture of pemphigus as it is known today. Yet few substantial advances in the knowledge of this disease have occurred in the six decades following the death of that master of clinical dermatology. A lack of knowledge of the cause of pemphigus is undoubtedly the real stumbling block in the approach toward a rational plan of therapy. As the severity of this disease warrants hospitalization in most cases, it affords an opportunity for careful clinical observation. It was our privilege to conduct a survey of a large series of cases in the hope that the more pressing clinical problems might be better appreciated. Perhaps some service has been done in clarifying conflicting views regarding incidence, age, sex and racial frequency, mortality rates and life expectancy. We were fortunate in accumulating a series of 170 cases, dating from 1911 to