the value of benedikt's syndrome in the localisation of lesions of the brain

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1788 THE ANATOMICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. resolved to despatch a fresh expedition to the Gambia and to Senegambia to follow up the investigation. The new expe- dition will start next month and will consist of Dr. J. E. Dutton, the Walter Myers Fellow in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Dr. J. L. Todd of McGill University, Montreal, who has been working for some time in connexion with the Liverpool school. Its principal object will be to in- vestigate the conditions under which the disease occurs in both Europeans and natives and its distribution, and also to ascertain how it is conveyed from man to man, whether by a biting insect or by other means. Sir Alfred L. Jones, K.C.M.G., the chairman of the school, will kindly provide for the passages of the members of the expedition. THE ANATOMICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. THE committee of management of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland has decided to hold the summer meeting at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, London, E. C., on Thursday and Friday, July 3rd and 4th, commencing each day at 3 P. M., under the presidency of Mr. C. B. Lockwood. The annual dinner of the society is arranged for Thursday. July 3rd, at the Cafe Royal, Regent- street, W., to commence at 7.30 P.M. Communications should be addressed to the honorary secretary, Dr. Peter Thompson, Middlesex Hospital, W. - THE VALUE OF BENEDIKT’S SYNDROME IN THE LOCALISATION OF LESIONS OF THE BRAIN. SINCE Professor Benedikt of Vienna drew attention in 1889 to a group of symptoms, subsequently known as "Benedikt’s syndrome," which occurred in lesions of the upper half of the cerebral peduncle, little has been recorded of this condi- tion. Charcot, however, reported two cases in 1890 in which this group of symptoms was present and where the post-mortem findings confirmed the localisation of the lesion diagnosed during life. The symptoms which constitute Benedikt’s syndrome are briefly a partial paralysis of the ocular muscles of one eye and a paresis of the opposite side of the body. In an article in the Rezoe Neurologique of May 15th last Dr. Leon d’Astros and Dr. E. Hawthorn have published a case illustrating the symptoms and diagnostic value of Benedikt’s syndrome very clearly. The case was that of a child, age(] 21 months, who was admitted to hospital in November, 1901, with oculo-motor paralysis of the right eye and paresis with involuntary movements of the left upper and lower limbs. The right eye remained closed sometimes for hours and could not at any time be fully opened. There were divergent strabismus and mydriasis of the pupil. There was also some spasmodic contracture of the left hand, including the thumb and fingers. The fore- arm remained in a state of semiflexion and pronation. The most salient feature, however, consisted of oscillations and rhythmic movements of the forearm which varied in ampli- tude and rapidity, occurring when the patient was awake and - ceasing during sleep. The triceps tendon reflex was almost .absent. The left leg lay extended and immobile with the toes semi-flexed but the foot showed rhythmic movements of extension of flexion. There was no Babinski symptom. The knee-jerks were exaggerated on both sides. Some degree of left-sided facial paralysis was present. The patient was .ansemic and emaciated on admission and gradually grew worse and died on the nineteenth day. The necropsy showed a tuberculous tumour in the upper half of the cerebral peduncle, situated mainly to the right of the middle line. n was embedded in nerve-tissue and came nowhere into .contact with the pia mater. Inferiorly it reached to within two millimetres of the upper border of the pons, and superiorly it extended to the ependyma of the third ventricle and involved the substantia nigra and subthalamic tissues. It measured 17 millimetres vertically and 16 millimetres trans- versely. Dorsally it reached as far as the iter and impli- cated the oculo-motor nucleus but spared the corpora quad- rigemina. The clinical symptoms during life were so characteristic that diagnosis was made of a tumour in the above situation which the necropsy confirmed. A tumour in such a situation is beyond the reach of surgical operation, but the writers have shown that Benedikt’s syndrome has a distinct diagnostic value. - THE PREVALENCE OF SMALL-POX. THE figures showing the number of patients admitted to the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board for the past week are as follows :-On Saturday, June 14th, there were 18 fresh cases ; on Sunday, the 15th, there were seven fresh cases ; on Monday, the 16th, there were 12 fresh cases ; on Tuesday, the 17th, there were 20 fresh cases ; and on Wednesday, the 18tb. there were eight fresh cases. In the county of Essex for the week ending June 14th there were notified 22 fresh cases, while throughout Scotland from June lst to June 15th there were notified 41 fresh cases. THE BREAD-SUPPLY OF JOHANNESBURG. . IN May last the chairman and members of the Public Health Committee of Johannesburg instructed Dr. C. Porter, the medical officer of health of that town, to inquire and to report in regard to the bread-supply and bakeries of Johannes- burg. The report cannot be considered satisfactory ; 85’7 per cent. of the bread sold was found to be appreciably under weight. It was also found to be deficient in quality ; over 65 per cent. of the samples contained alum, many had an excess of acid, and others were sour and badly baked. The bakehouses generally were in fairly good structural condition and pretty well kept, but the ventilation of many was not worthy of praise and it was suggested that an improvement could be made by the adoption of louued roof ventilators. The shallow-well water-supply of certain bakehouses was stated to be dangerous and a possible source of typhoid fever, and a recommendation was therefore made that every bake- house should be supplied with water from the main or from an artesian well. In those houses where this plan could not at once be adopted Dr. Porter proposed that the water from the wells should be boiled and allowed to cool before being used for making dough. The attention of each baker in Johannesburg was ordered to be called to the results of this examination and the secretary of the water company was also communicated with. Now that peace is assured in South Africa the civil authorities will be able to supervise more closely the food- and water-supply, and doubtless the unsatisfactory state of affairs which existed in Johannesburg previously to May will speedily be remedied. ____ THE ANATOMY OF ANKYLOSTOMA DUODENALE. IN the Records of the Egyptian Government School of Medicine, published in 1901 under the authority of the Egyptian Ministry of Public Instruction, Dr. A. Looss, professor of helminthology in the school, contributes an elaborate article on an important department of his special subject. This monograph, which fills 115 pages and is illustrated by 13 large plates containing 172 figures, is headed, "The Sclerostomidae of Horses and Donkeys in Egypt." Its chief medical interest lies in the opening portion which is devoted to some questions connected with ankylostoma duodenale, a familiar designation which Dr. Looss says is no longer retained in modern zoological nomenclature but is replaced by the name uncinaria duodenalis." " It is generally conceded by those who are familiar with ankylostomiasis that the parasites in

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1788 THE ANATOMICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

resolved to despatch a fresh expedition to the Gambia and toSenegambia to follow up the investigation. The new expe-dition will start next month and will consist of Dr. J. E.

Dutton, the Walter Myers Fellow in the Liverpool School ofTropical Medicine, and Dr. J. L. Todd of McGill University,Montreal, who has been working for some time in connexionwith the Liverpool school. Its principal object will be to in-vestigate the conditions under which the disease occurs inboth Europeans and natives and its distribution, and also toascertain how it is conveyed from man to man, whether bya biting insect or by other means. Sir Alfred L. Jones,K.C.M.G., the chairman of the school, will kindly provide for the passages of the members of the expedition.

THE ANATOMICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAINAND IRELAND.

THE committee of management of the Anatomical Societyof Great Britain and Ireland has decided to hold thesummer meeting at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical

School, London, E. C., on Thursday and Friday, July 3rd and4th, commencing each day at 3 P. M., under the presidency ofMr. C. B. Lockwood. The annual dinner of the society isarranged for Thursday. July 3rd, at the Cafe Royal, Regent-street, W., to commence at 7.30 P.M. Communications shouldbe addressed to the honorary secretary, Dr. Peter Thompson,Middlesex Hospital, W.

-

THE VALUE OF BENEDIKT’S SYNDROME INTHE LOCALISATION OF LESIONS OF

THE BRAIN.

SINCE Professor Benedikt of Vienna drew attention in 1889to a group of symptoms, subsequently known as "Benedikt’ssyndrome," which occurred in lesions of the upper half ofthe cerebral peduncle, little has been recorded of this condi-tion. Charcot, however, reported two cases in 1890 in

which this group of symptoms was present and where thepost-mortem findings confirmed the localisation of the lesiondiagnosed during life. The symptoms which constitute

Benedikt’s syndrome are briefly a partial paralysis of the

ocular muscles of one eye and a paresis of the opposite sideof the body. In an article in the Rezoe Neurologique ofMay 15th last Dr. Leon d’Astros and Dr. E. Hawthornhave published a case illustrating the symptoms and

diagnostic value of Benedikt’s syndrome very clearly. Thecase was that of a child, age(] 21 months, who was admittedto hospital in November, 1901, with oculo-motor paralysis ofthe right eye and paresis with involuntary movements of theleft upper and lower limbs. The right eye remained closedsometimes for hours and could not at any time be fullyopened. There were divergent strabismus and mydriasisof the pupil. There was also some spasmodic contracture ofthe left hand, including the thumb and fingers. The fore-arm remained in a state of semiflexion and pronation. The

most salient feature, however, consisted of oscillations andrhythmic movements of the forearm which varied in ampli-tude and rapidity, occurring when the patient was awake and- ceasing during sleep. The triceps tendon reflex was almost.absent. The left leg lay extended and immobile with the toessemi-flexed but the foot showed rhythmic movements ofextension of flexion. There was no Babinski symptom. The

knee-jerks were exaggerated on both sides. Some degree ofleft-sided facial paralysis was present. The patient was.ansemic and emaciated on admission and gradually grewworse and died on the nineteenth day. The necropsy showeda tuberculous tumour in the upper half of the cerebral

peduncle, situated mainly to the right of the middle line.n was embedded in nerve-tissue and came nowhere into.contact with the pia mater. Inferiorly it reached to withintwo millimetres of the upper border of the pons, and

superiorly it extended to the ependyma of the third ventricle

and involved the substantia nigra and subthalamic tissues. It

measured 17 millimetres vertically and 16 millimetres trans-versely. Dorsally it reached as far as the iter and impli-cated the oculo-motor nucleus but spared the corpora quad-rigemina. The clinical symptoms during life were so

characteristic that diagnosis was made of a tumour in theabove situation which the necropsy confirmed. A tumour insuch a situation is beyond the reach of surgical operation,but the writers have shown that Benedikt’s syndrome has adistinct diagnostic value. -

THE PREVALENCE OF SMALL-POX.

THE figures showing the number of patients admitted tothe hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board for the pastweek are as follows :-On Saturday, June 14th, there were18 fresh cases ; on Sunday, the 15th, there were seven freshcases ; on Monday, the 16th, there were 12 fresh cases ;on Tuesday, the 17th, there were 20 fresh cases ; and on

Wednesday, the 18tb. there were eight fresh cases. In the

county of Essex for the week ending June 14th there werenotified 22 fresh cases, while throughout Scotland fromJune lst to June 15th there were notified 41 fresh cases.

THE BREAD-SUPPLY OF JOHANNESBURG..

’ IN May last the chairman and members of the PublicHealth Committee of Johannesburg instructed Dr. C. Porter,the medical officer of health of that town, to inquire and toreport in regard to the bread-supply and bakeries of Johannes-burg. The report cannot be considered satisfactory ; 85’7per cent. of the bread sold was found to be appreciably underweight. It was also found to be deficient in quality ; over65 per cent. of the samples contained alum, many had anexcess of acid, and others were sour and badly baked. The

bakehouses generally were in fairly good structural conditionand pretty well kept, but the ventilation of many was not

worthy of praise and it was suggested that an improvementcould be made by the adoption of louued roof ventilators.The shallow-well water-supply of certain bakehouses wasstated to be dangerous and a possible source of typhoid fever,and a recommendation was therefore made that every bake-house should be supplied with water from the main or froman artesian well. In those houses where this plan could notat once be adopted Dr. Porter proposed that the water

from the wells should be boiled and allowed to cool

before being used for making dough. The attention

of each baker in Johannesburg was ordered to be called

to the results of this examination and the secretary of thewater company was also communicated with. Now that

peace is assured in South Africa the civil authorities will be

able to supervise more closely the food- and water-supply,and doubtless the unsatisfactory state of affairs which

existed in Johannesburg previously to May will speedily beremedied.

____

THE ANATOMY OF ANKYLOSTOMA DUODENALE.

IN the Records of the Egyptian Government School ofMedicine, published in 1901 under the authority of the

Egyptian Ministry of Public Instruction, Dr. A. Looss,professor of helminthology in the school, contributes anelaborate article on an important department of his specialsubject. This monograph, which fills 115 pages and isillustrated by 13 large plates containing 172 figures, is

headed, "The Sclerostomidae of Horses and Donkeys in

Egypt." Its chief medical interest lies in the openingportion which is devoted to some questions connected withankylostoma duodenale, a familiar designation which Dr.

Looss says is no longer retained in modern zoologicalnomenclature but is replaced by the name uncinaria

duodenalis." " It is generally conceded by those whoare familiar with ankylostomiasis that the parasites in