PRIMARY carcinoma of the trachea is a comparatively rare neoplasm encountered in the tracheobronchial tree. A search of the literature to 1949 uncovered but 211 cases. One of us (M. R. G.) reported 1 case in 1936, and this present case is his second in twenty-five years of observation. This infrequent occurrence prompts the report of this case. A perusal of the literature discloses only fifteen papers dealing with the subject, and three of these, by Culp<sup>1</sup>in 1938, Ellman and Whittaker<sup>2</sup>in 1947 and Engler<sup>3</sup>in 1948, present excellent reviews of the subject. From the pathologic point of view these tumors are found to involve mostly the distal third of the trachea, in the posterior wall, with frequent extension to the lateral wall on either side. Histologically, they may be classified in three groups: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. The squamous cell type