We all know cases who have got better and we like to think that we played a part in causing their improvement. To prove this is, however, a very different matter. We have all read the follow-up studies based on a carefully selected group of cases where the authors report on those whom they could trace—but what of the untraced? At times, an overall survey of one's case material may reveal facts unnoticed in the preoccupation with the day to day clinical work.