I shall include under the heading abscess of the lung all types and degrees of abscess, except those due to tuberculosis and bronchiectasis, and all degrees of gangrene of the lung except a massive gangrene involving an entire lobe or lung. Because localized gangrenous abscess is so difficult to differentiate from a pure pyogenic abscess, symptomatically, and even at necropsy, and because it is usually impossible to determine whether one has supervened on the other or preceded it, I shall consider the so-called gangrenous abscess as a type of lung abscess per se rather than as a distinct entity.
There are few conditions which, arising often from such trivial and preventable causes as does abscess of the lung, so quickly and completely incapacitate a person, rendering him a burden to himself, his friends and to society. The progressive weakness, the distressing cough, the long convalescence and, above all, the foul