study of the phenomenon-Nature's" trick way" of stopping the disease rapidly even if temporarily-may give us a clue to the pathogenesis of the disease and a clearer understanding of the immunity mechanism involved. Perhaps it may even lead to some superior method of treatment by which we can reproduce the phenomenon of remission at will. Jaundice obviously provides not a cure but a temporary control, at least of symptoms. But is it not likely that the differences between a preliminary temporary remission and the final permanent remission which we call a" cure" are merely quantitative-differ-ences of degree and of persistence? Recently new successes in the treatment of certain diseases have rewarded those willing to follow Nature's lead, no matter how" irrational" that lead seemed, instead of continuing methods that were" rational" but relatively unsuccessful. There was no rationale for the use of malaria in neuro-syphilis. Originally, behind this venture was simply the unexplained fact that" it worked." So there is to date no particular rationale for the use of" artificial jaundice" in rheumatic diseases. The history of the therapeutics of rheumatoid arthritis is filledwith the ghosts of" rational treatments" which should have helped but didn't. In this instance, guided by the exposition of this phenomenon-one of Nature's revealing" slips"-a return to the empiric