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In the recent epidemic of influenza with its accompanying pneumonia the unusual frequency of cyanosis was striking, and was in fact one outstanding feature of the epidemic. To find the cause, if possible, of the cyanosis a group of pneumonia cases at the Hospital of The Rockefeller Institute was studied during the past winter, with particular reference to cyanosis and its relation to the arterial and venous blood oxygen.Studies of the venous blood have been made, notably by Lundsgaard 1 in cardiac insufficiency, and Harrop 2 in pneumonia; but the interpretation of the results is difficult, because of the undeterminable factors which affect the venous oxygen, such as variations in the rates of circulation and metabolism in the parts from which the blood is drawn. It appeared that satisfactorily complete data on which to base an explanation of the cyanosis could be expected only from analyses of arterial as well as venous blood. A group of 33 cases of pneumonia is here presented in which the oxygen of both arterial and venous blood has been determined.• Method.Technique of Arterial Puncture.--Hfirter 3 has shown that puncture of the radial artery is a safe procedure.

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