Hadron distributions: recent results from the CERN experiment NA44

Proton distributions at midrapidity have been measured for 158A $\cdot$ GeV Pb + Pb collisions in the focusing spectrometer experiment NA44 at CERN. A high degree of nuclear stopping is found in the truly heavy ion collisions. Systematic results of single particle transverse momentum distributions of pions, kaons, and protons, of 200A $\cdot$ GeV S + S and 158A $\cdot$ GeV Pb + Pb central collisions will be addressed within the context of thermalization. By comparing these data with thermal and transport models, freeze-out parameters such as the temperature parameter T$_{fo}$ and mean collective flow velocity <$\beta$> are extracted. Preliminary results of the particle ratios of $K^{-}/K^{+}$ and $\bar{p}/p$ are discussed in the context of cascade models of RQMD and VENUS.