In reviewing the experience of a decade with 85 cases of bacterial endocarditis, a startling disparity was noted in the results of treatment in this hospital compared with those generally reported in the literature. Only 22% of patients were known to be alive at the end of one year, in contrast to estimates of 80 to 90% in the literature. The data from these 85 cases were analyzed for clues to the poor results obtained. No attempt was made to present a detailed analysis of all the features of the cases in this series, since excellent monographs are already available