To the Editor: —I desire to call brief attention to an auscultatory sign in cases of uremia, more particularly when this condition is secondary to chronic interstitial nephritis. The sign is an unusual dryness and harshness of the breath sounds to auscultation. This sound is more or less masked when edema of the lungs is present, as would be obviously supposed. I have no satisfying explanation to offer for the sign, although it may be safely inferred that it is in some manner, not as yet understood, dependent on the presence of retained excrementitious products. It is highly probable that the corresponding anatomic lesion is merely intense dryness of the bronchial mucosa and also that of the air cells. Dryness of the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat is much complained of, as a rule, by patients who manifest the sign. I have frequently pointed out this sign to