Some interesting and valuable innovations in presentation are included in this recent Children's Bureau publication which deals with standard indices of concern to pediatricians ... birth rate, infant mortality rate, preschool and school age mortality rates. One interesting idea is the use of parallel charts showing changes in both an arithmetic scale and a logarithmic scale. Each of these methods has advantages and both are needed to give a full picture of the rates concerned. The arithmetic scale, for example, indicates the comparative importance of a particular cause in any given year and also indicates the absolute size of the rate. The logarithmic scale, on the other hand, is directly adapted for a comparison of the speed of change.