Since Hutchinson, in 1861, reported the first authentic case of primary carcinoma of the male urethra, no article on this subject has appeared in which the author personally reviewed all the preceding cases. In most instances the reports made by previous writers have been accepted without consulting the original sources. No doubt one of the reasons this has not been done is the fact that it is not always possible to obtain the original articles. We have searched the entire literature and, except for a few papers, have been able to abstract the originals. As a result of our work, 32 additional cases have come to light which had not been mentioned in the literature since their publication. The total number of cases reported in the literature is 148 (see table). LOCATION OF LESION Carcinoma may occur in any of the anatomic divisions of the urethra. For clinical purposes we