STONES in the common bile duct as a cause of jaundice were described by Michael Ettmüller1 243 years ago. Exploration of the common duct was performed by Marcy, of England, (cited by Ochsner2) in 1882. The operation was introduced in Germany by Langenbach3 and Kümmel3 in 1884 and KnowsleyThornton3 performed the first successful operation five years later. In 1891 Charles McBurney (cited by Glenn4), before the New York Surgical Society, reported operating upon a patient who had been jaundiced for a long time and had lost 63 lb. (29 kg.) in weight. The common duct was approached through an incision in the duodenum, the ampulla of Vater divided, and the common duct split to remove a stone. The patient recovered and regained her health. In 1892 Robert Abbe (cited by Glenn4) reported that he had operated upon four patients and removed common duct