The Scientific Board of the California Medical Association presents the following inventory of items of progress in preventive medicine and public health. Each item, in the judgment of a panel of knowledgeable physicians, has recently become reasonably firmly established, both as to scientific fact and important clinical significance. The items are presented in simple epitome and an authoritative reference, both to the item itself and to the subject as a whole, is generally given for those who may be unfamiliar with a particular item. The purpose is to assist busy practitioners, students, research workers or scholars to stay abreast of these items of progress in preventive medicine and public health that have recently achieved a substantial degree of authoritative acceptance, whether in their own field of special interest or another. The items of progress listed below were selected by the Advisory Panel to the Section on Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the California Medical Association and the summaries were prepared under its direction.