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At last it would appear that one of God's lowliest creatures, the fly, has found his niche of usefulness in the scheme of things. The beneficial effects of maggots in the treatment of infected wounds have been observed on a number of occasions over a period of several hundred years, but it remained for William S. Baer, clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical School, to make the first deliberate therapeutic application of this principle. The first report1dealing with the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis by the use of maggots was published in 1929, and the results were so gratifying that this method of treatment has now become an accepted procedure and numerous reports have appeared in medical literature amply confirming the results which Baer had obtained. Practically all of the reports on maggot therapy up to the present time have appeared in surgical or orthopedic journals.

When Baer 1 announced in 1929 that he was using live blowfly maggots to treat osteomyelitis, there was a decided wave of interest throughout the United States. Many surgeons began using the method, and enthusiastic reports 2 appeared in the literature. After this preliminary wave of enthusiasm the use of maggots became more limited, but certain clinics have continued the practice. At present it is difficult to evaluate the method from the literature or to determine how widely it is used. The purpose of this communication is to present in some detail a series of 29 cases in which hematogenous osteomyelitis of the tibia has been treated during the past seven years and which have been followed up to the time of writing. Most of the patients had been operated on by other surgeons, and treatment with maggots was begun after a period of antecedent treatment. Any additional operations were

The treatment of infected wounds in hemophilia is a tedious process requiring caution because of the continual danger of hemorrhage. Certain medications, especially oxidizing agents, are frequently contraindicated because of this danger. Recently we have employed maggots in the treatment of a large infected wound in a severe case of hemophilia. The wound healed rapidly without hemorrhagic complications. The literature does not refer to maggot therapy in hemophilia. REPORT OF CASE I. G., a Jewish youth, aged 19, single, admitted to the hospital Jan. 18, 1937, complained chiefly of "swollen knees." The first evidence that he was a "bleeder" occurred at the age of 6 years, when a small cut on the buccal mucous membranes bled continuously for twelve days. The condition was diagnosed as hemophilia at that time. However, aside from a tendency to easy bruising and slightly prolonged bleeding from minor injuries, he remained free of