ABSTRACT
Studies of the lungs of smokers and non-smokers reveal deleterious after-effects very clearly among the former; dangerous substances are precipitated in the lungs, and the ciliary movements by means of which these substances are normally removed are themselves impeded by smoke. Clearly, smoking is not likely to promote anyone's health, and suspicion is very strong that cigarette smoking may indeed be a killer. If the evidence appears strong in pointing to a statistical correlation between smoking and lung cancer, then it must be added that the actual numerical values often cited are subject to so many errors and inaccuracies that they should be regarded with the greatest caution. An alternative hypothesis to that of direct causal relation between smoking and lung cancer has been put forward, postulating that the statistical results obtained may be due to the fact that persons constitutionally predisposed to take up smoking are also constitutionally predisposed to develop cancer.
