Primer on Arthritis

INTRODUCTION The American Committee for the Control of Rheumatism, cooperating with the Committee on Scientific Exhibit of the American Medical Association, published the first Primer on Rheumatism in 1934. Now additions to the scientific knowledge of the rheumatic diseases necessitate a thoroughgoing revision if it is to continue to serve as an accurate introduction to the subject. One of the principal difficulties encountered by the clinician in the management of chronic arthritis has been the lack of understanding of the important points of differential diagnosis and insufficient knowledge of the pathologic and physiologic factors involved. In this discussion rheumatic fever and tuberculous arthritis have been omitted. After publication in The Journal, the Second Primer on Arthritis will be available in pamphlet form at a cost of fifteen cents. HISTORY Among the first of the disease entities of which there are any records is the syndrome of arthritis. Evidences of its ravages are to be seen