Any discussion of rheumatoid arthritis always brings up for consideration cortisone and its derivatives. After nearly six years of experience the drug is recognized as a substance with effective therapeutic activities as well as a potent agent for control of pain. Despite all the dire promises formerly made, cortisone properly used does not ablate adrenal activity or produce complete diabetes. If prescribed with reasonable caution psychoses, compression frac­ tures, rounded facies, buffalo hump, hirsutism, and high blood pressure usually can be avoided. It has been shown that these drugs can be given un­