WHEN READING articles on medical and surgical subjects in books written in the last century and in the first years of this one, I am always fascinated by the knowledge, the dexterity, and the bravery of our colleagues of that period. I know how many more things we can do in our days than they could do in theirs, and, of course, like every doctor I feel very proud. When reading the old books, however, I feel very humble about myself and this period and very proud of our ancestors, our predecessors, our teachers, and sense how we are standing on their shoulders. This feeling was very strong when I had to read the story of surgery in cases of tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. Imagine the conditions of those days and then read how the cerebellopontine angle was attacked both through the ear and through the skull in a