In any state or territory a comprehensive survey concerning the causes of blindness is the first real step toward the preservation of human eyesight. A study of this type to be uniform should be compiled entirely from the reports of recognized ophthalmologists ; to be complete it should include data on the blind from all of the economic stratums of society ; to be scientifically accurate it should consider etiologic as well as topographic groupings, and lastly, to have other than medical (e. g., social) significance it should take into account the racial, geographic, climatic and industrial conditions peculiar to the various communities. The statistics which follow were obtained in a recent survey conducted among the blind of the Territory of Hawaii. The classifications adhered to and the special report forms used in compiling the data were recommended by the Committee on Statistics for the Blind. The data were secured from the