Physician to the National HotpiUUfor the Paralyted and Epileptic ABOUT a year ago a married lady was brought to me by her medical attendant, complaining of great loss of power in the right hand and left foot, which had been gradually increasing for three or four months; and was then so confirmed that she dragged her foot, and could do nothing with her hand. She was 26 years old, healthy looking, and the mother of three children, of whom the youngest was two years of age. On examination, the

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... t forearm, at a point four inches below the oleoranon, was found to measure 7$ inches, as against 8^ inches, the size of the left at the same level. The plump of the thumb, too, of the right-hand appeared somewhat thin, and the interossei depressed. The hand could not be brought to a level with the forearm. Its grasp was feeble, and the patient could not perform delicate movements with the fingers. The left foot dropped when lifted off the ground. On the other hand, there was nothing wrong, so far as could be observed, with the left upper and the right lower extremity. This bizarre arrangement of the paralysis had suggested to more than one medical observer that the affection was of an hysterical character. The general health was described as fairly good, except that there had been occasional vomiting. The patient was not constipated, nor had she suffered from colic, and careful examination failed to show the slighest trace of any blue line in the gums. Enquiry had not succeeded in eliciting any history of exposure to lead. When the excitability of the muscles came to be tested by electrical currents, important changes were observed. On the right side none of the muscles on the back of the forearm would respond to the highest strength of induced currents which could be borne, except two. The supinator longus con-by guest on June 9, 2016 http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from