In the past year a group of nations of divergent ideol-ogies, through coordinated and exhausting effort, has succeeded in applying control measures to a disease which had been increasing in scope and virulence so as to reach epidemic proportions in the world politic. A few experienced political epidemiologists had recognized the danger early and pointed out the threat, but the majority relied upon our isolation and quarantine regulations to meet it. Various placebos were tried. It was not, however, until an open focus appeared on our own flankthat we really rose to action. The emergency demanded highly concentrated authority, enormous expenditures and the draft-ing of men from all activities into one great effort. By amazing combinations of land, sea and air power, beachheads were established and a cordon sanitaire formed. From these points the further advances were made which finally disrupted the. essential reservoirsto a point of ineffectiveness, and the epidemic subsided. Like all other epidemic diseases, however, it survives in foci to which must be applied all conceivable specific and environmental control measures in order to prevent a resurgence. This is the foremostproblem of the day and, unless effectively approached, reducesour other hopes for advancement to sheer vapor. No people can pass through such experiences without receiving a deep imprint upon its philosophy. The in-fluence extends beyond the social and political fields, hence, it is not surprising that the patterns which were developed under military exigencies should be proposed as those which would function effectively in the establish-ment of biological beachheads. The trends are seen in the current discussions of national legislation in support of research. One group has urged action similar to the methods used in the atomic bomb research project It apparently visualizes a higher echelon of master minds which plans, organizes and directs-busily splittingits mental 235 in an effort to set up a chain reaction in the low grade cerebral pitch-blende ofa large body of workers. Research workers are human tools-the important thing is to know what job they are good for and how to use them. The im-pression is promoted that the mass attack will settle problems of disease quickly and finally. Another pro-posal accepts the desirability of increased funds for scientific endeavor from federal appropriations to be distributed by a body of scientists with a minimum of gov-ernmental direction-but nonetheless an organization ad-* ministered through the federal government. There isgeneral agreement that it is highly desirable to encourage more men of ability to enter the different fields of scientific investigation. Moreover, if these men can develop sufficient common interest to study certain problems with different disciplines and different points of view, to share experiences and trade ideas, it is clearly advantageous. The past five years have furnished numerous examples of men giving up their individual preferences to join in a coordinated effort designed to test a lead or to give their abilities to continued, tedious studies, even though disagreeing with the major plan. Furthermore, in most problems a stage is reached where it is profitable and strategic to concentrate upon an organized study which can test under controlled con-ditions the validity and applicability of'experimental observations. This quantitative approach; would seem to be most useful when the stage of application is reached. But whether the concept of coordinated study can be expanded indefinitely is open to considerable doubt. Disease is a complex biological problem and while much has been learned concerning certain …