By Margaret Lowenfeld

RHEUMATISM in childhood has been known since the early nineteenth century, but it is only within recent years that the numerical extent of the disease has been ascertained and its significance appreciated. The position which now confronts us can be summarised as follows: From the statistics of 1920, 500,000 of the school-children of the country are estimated to suffer from rheumatism, 10,000 of the children of school age in London are known to be rheumatic, and the vital statistics of 1924 showed that the deaths from heart disease exceeded those from either tuberculosis or cancer.