To the Editor:— The other day, while leafing through the July issue of the Country Gentleman , I noted an article by Paul De Kruif expounding, in extravagant language, the discovery, by Davidson of the Henry Ford Hospital staff, of the efficacy of 5 per cent tannic acid lotions in cases of extensive burns. May I, apropos of this, quote the following paragraph from the Pittsburgh Medical Review of May 1890, page 170: TANNIN IN THE TREATMENT OF BURNS A correspondent of the Pharmceutische Zeitung , speaking from his own experience, says that tannin cannot be too highly recommended as an application to burns, especially when very extensive, the skin being entirely removed. A 5 per cent solution is squeezed from a sponge over the denuded surface, which is then dressed with soft ointment, either with or without tannin. Pain immediately abates, and the healing process is wonderfully rapid. The tannin solution