Chronic interstitial nephritis in children has been the subject of considerableand discussion in the British medical literature but relatively little concerning it has appeared in French, German, Italian, American or other medical journals. The collection of material on this subject and a review of what it contains concerning the history, inci¬ deninci-gdence,sis, pathology, symptomatology, prognosis of chronic interstitial nephritis in children and of renal rickets the object of this presentation. In addition, certain personal observations will be recorded. It would be a proper question to ask why such a large number of cases, particularly those associated with bone changes, are reported from England. If there is a local factor there which is absent in other places, it is not brought out by the authors, nor can it be discovered in study of the case reports. The only allusion to this matter is the doubtful statement by O1enheimn none of his collected cases was there uratic arthritis "which in England is so frequent a factor." It would seem most likely that it is an aware¬ ness of the condition that makes its discovery so frequent in England, TERMINOLOGY The term chronic interstitial nephritis has been employed for a long time to describe the essential underlying pathologic process. It is more descriptive of an end-result than of a definite entity. There is much confusion in the mind of the average clinician in regard to the terminol¬ ogy of kidney disease. He realizes that in any nephritis, whether acute or chronic, there is never present a pure glomerular, pure tubular or pure interstitial process, but that to some extent all kidney tissue and cells are involved. He is able, however, to describe rather definite
