This paper consists of two parts which, at first sight, are quite detached from each other: the pulsating variables of spectral types B to F, and the close spectroscopic binaries of the types of β Lyrae, UX Monocerotis and U Cephei. I shall show that there exists a connexion between these groups which, though still rather nebulous (in both senses of this word), promises to yield interesting results.