Harold F. Dorn

In the face of rising levels of atmospheric contamination, the subject of radioactive fallout warrants the concern of today's public health worker and the populations he serves. It is kept alive through the press, radio, and television and in some instances, unfortunately, has been inaccurately interpreted. This summary report of the director of the Atomic Energy Commission's Division of Biology and Medicine was especially prepared for presentation at the Hearings on Fallout before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, May 5-8, 1959. It is factual and yet interpretive for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with day-to-day advances in the field. Twenty-seven pages constitute the body of the report, while the remaining 83 pages are devoted to supporting appendixes, individually authored by specialists. The report includes a valuable tabulation of AEC's program devoted to research into the nature and hazards of fallout. Health administrators and their lieutenants, and related workers in the biological realm would do well to add this document to their list of required reading. By so doing, they will be better informed on the nature and distribution of fallout, and on how and by whom pertinent studies are being conducted. They will benefit also from a lucid explanation of the problem of permissible levels of radiation exposure. Of particular significance is a statement in the text which points to the paucity of relative information on man with respect to the effects of low dose and the low total doses which we are concerned with today. Man's quest for new uses of atomic energy will require intensified research if man himself is to emerge the victor. It is patently clear that the double-edged sword of radiation must be under full control at all times, and that under the aegis of the Atomic Energy Commission some valuable contributions toward this end have been made. JAMIES LIEBERMIAN

A study of some 200,000 life insurance policyholders contributes striking evidence that regular cigarette smokers are subject to in- creased risk of dying from lung cancer, as well as cardiovascular dis¬ ease, certain respiratory diseases, ulcers, and cirrhosis of the liver. Tobacco Consumption and Mortality

Abstract This paper reviews the development of demography, and especially of population forecasting, and discusses the current demographic situation. The merits and limitations of several methods of making population predictions, and errors in demographic thinking are examined. The complexity of the problem of making forecasts either for short periods or long-time trends with the techniques now available is pointed out.

Uses and Significance of Multiple Cause Tabulations for Mortality Statistics Harold F. DornPh.D., and Iwao M. MoriyamaPh.DF.A.P.H.A. CopyRightDr. Dorn (deceased) was chief, Biometrics Research Branch, National Heart Institute, PHS, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Md. Dr. Moriyama is chief, Office of Health Statistics Analysis, National Center for Health Statistics, PHS, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D. C. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.54.3.400 Published Online: August 29, 2011

SIX years ago Bradford Hill, in his Cutter Lecture on the role of observation and experiment in preventive medicine, pointed out that although the experimental method clearly is preferable whenever it can be used, many, if not most, of the problems arising in the investigation of the etiology of disease in human populations, for ethical or other reasons, must be studied by the observation of naturally occurring events. Therefore he did not "repudiate or even. . . underrate the claims of accurate and designed observations." But, he emphasized, in using the method of observation, one should not be content with . . .