The authors give the results of their cytological and bacteriological examinations of the cervix and vagina carried out routinely in a laboratory. They emphasize, in detailing their method of working, the criteria that they feel must be adopted in an attempt to code the qualitative appraisal of direct examination and the result of studying the cultures. The first part of the paper deals with an overall survey of the 4,573 examinations which were carried out over a period of 8 years. The second part is concerned with a more detailed analysis of the 883 samples which were divided into 4 categories: pregnant women, those having oral contraception, those with an intra-uterine device, and others. There are several variations revealed between these 4 categories as far as the white cell count, the bacterial flora and even pathogenic organisms are concerned.