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In reviewing the literature on congenital atresia of the esophagus, almost every author begins with Sir Morell Mackenzie's1 collection of 62 instances compiled in 1884 for the report of his own single case. According to Mackenzie, the first recorded case was that of Durston in 1670. In 1861, Hirschsprung2 collected 10 cases from the literature and reported 4 new cases. In 1913 and 1918, Brennemann3 reported 7 cases seen in a period of five years. In 1919, Plass4 collected the reports of 136 cases of esophageal atresia. Since then, Rosenthal5 has assembled 85 additional cases, of which 61 were associated with tracheoesophageal fistula and 14 were cases of atresia occurring independently. In the 10 remaining cases the presence or absence of fistula was not established by autopsy, although the clinical findings pointed to its existence in the majority of the instances as well as to

The intrauterine relations of a pair of fraternal twins (male-female; dichorionic) near or in the eighth lunar month are described. The maternal ovaries, prepared histologically, show that the twins arose from ova in separate follicles of the right ovary, as indicated by the presence in it of two corpora lutea and the absence of a corpus in the left ovary. Since the two corpora lutea are very closely approximated it is quite probable that surface inspection of the ovary would have failed to disclose the double nature of the mass. Inspection of the ovarian surface at laparotomy is the only feasible observation in some twin cases, and the present finding points a warning against assuming that the full number of corpora lutea is invariably noted by this means.

History.—Almost immediately after it was born, baby B. was admitted to the Touro Infirmary from the Child Welfare Association because of malformations and because of difficulty in resuscitation, cyanosis and short and irregular respiration.The family history showed that three of the grandparents were still living at the ages of 55, 58 and 60, respectively. The paternal grandmother had died of heart trouble at the age of 51. The members of both sides of the family were long-lived. There were no abnormalities in the parents nor in any other member of the family so far as was known. There was no history of hereditary disease, and there was no consanguinity. The father was 37 and the mother was 28 years old. There were two other children in the immediate family, both healthy; the eldest was 8 years of age and the youngest 3 years. One child had died at