ACCORDING to the June issue of the Statistical Bulletin, the organ of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, of New York, there were fewer cases of smallpox in the United States in 1940 than in any previous year on record. The 2,839 cases reported represented a drop of more than 70 per cent from the previous year, and were little more than half the total reported in 1934, the previous record low year for smallpox. In an area containing one quarter of the population, namely, the New England States and the Middle Atlantic States plus Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia of the South Atlantic Division, not a single case of smallpox occurred in 1940. In that year, as in every year, the majority of cases were reported in the north central area and in some of the western States. In most of these States large numbers of people disregard the danger of contracting smallpox, and minimize or ignore the efficacy of vaccination. On the other hand, in the neighbouring country of Canada, smallpox has been practically eliminated, as is shown by the fact that in 1940 there were only elevencases and no deaths, while in eighty–seven cities there was not a single case.