To the Editor.— With regard to the Gram's stain used for the diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in men mentioned by Riccardi and Felman, I have found this method to be reliable and pass along a useful hint that has increased the yield and confidence that can be placed in the diagnosis of N gonorrhoeae infection on Gram's stain of the male urethral discharge. Often the patient will have urinated or be in the earliest stages of the disease when he is first seen, and a false-negative result can be found on Gram's stain of the direct smear. When the Gram's stain of the direct smear is negative, but the history and symptoms support a high suspicion for infection with N gonorrhoeae , we now do a Gram's stain of the spun urine specimen. The results of this have frequently been positive for Gram-negative intracellular diplococci; this eliminated the need for