diff --git a/base/BTree.h b/base/BTree.h
index 130ecb48a..17dcc0f23 100644
--- a/base/BTree.h
+++ b/base/BTree.h
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
 		public:
 
 			// traits for playing nice with STL
-			typedef ptrdiff_t difference_type; // correct ?
+			typedef ptrdiff_t difference_type;
 			typedef std::forward_iterator_tag iterator_category;
 			typedef std::pair<KEY, VALUE> value_type;
 			typedef const value_type* pointer;
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
 
 		}; // const_iterator
 
-		// hack to make BTree work with BOOST_FOREACH
+		// to make BTree work with BOOST_FOREACH
 		// We do *not* want a non-const iterator
 		typedef const_iterator iterator;
 
diff --git a/base/Matrix.h b/base/Matrix.h
index 6ebb86623..8ce7dc59d 100644
--- a/base/Matrix.h
+++ b/base/Matrix.h
@@ -213,8 +213,6 @@ void insertColumn(Matrix& A, const Vector& col, size_t i, size_t j);
  */
 Vector row_(const Matrix& A, size_t j);
 
-
-
 /**
  * solve AX=B via in-place Lu factorization and backsubstitution
  * After calling, A contains LU, B the solved RHS vectors