Mineral Dust

Respiratory dust disease until comparatively recently was commonly thought of as comprising little more than silicosis and asbestosis. In the last decade, however, there has been general appreciation of the fact that the field is con-siderably wider. Silicosis, asbestosis and pneumo-coniosis of coal miners and coal trimmers have been described in this issue and the author has been invited to deal with the remaining dust diseases of the lungs. To do so in detail in this article is impossible. His object will be to indicate something of the scope of the subject dealing only briefly with the individual dusts and the conditions they cause. The references which are given have been chosen with a view to forming a starting point for further reading about the effects of individual dusts