This study was begun at the suggestion of Dr. Arthur Elvidge while the author was a Fellow in the Tumour Registry and Follow-Up Clinic. It was thought that by analyzing carefully the material gathered over a period of thirty years, and comprising the medulloblastomas and cerebellar sarcomas seen at the Montreal Neurological Institute during that time, pertinent information could be obtained concerning a) the difference in survival time in medulloblastomas and cerebellar sarcomas and b) types of treatment leading to prolongation of useful life in patients suffering from this disease.

It was in 1862 when William John Little so aptly quoted Shakespeare's description of Richard III., "who was born feet forward from the Duchess of Gloucester who had much ado in her travail". For the first time in medical history, Little delivered before the London Obstetrical Society his classical paper on the influence of abnormal parturition, difficult labours, premature birth and asphyxia neonatorum on the mental and physical condition of the child, especially in relation to deformities. Before this, others seemed quite unaware that abnormal parturition besides ending in recovery or death not infrequently had another termination which was then fully described by Little for the first time.

Interest in the role of the Nucleus Caudatus (N.C.) on neural processes started when in 1873 Ferrier obtained strong contralateral pleurothotonos in animals upon stimulation of this structure (Ferrier, 1873 and 1876). For years research was concerned with the contribution of the N.C. to motor output. Results have suggested that the N.C. is a regulatory structure. Reports are at variance to some extent. Some claim an inhibitory action, ethers a facilitatory action and still others claim to have demonstrated both. Among the first authors to report on an inhibitory action of the N.C. on the motor system were Mettler et al. (1939).

It was known from ancient times that some men suffered from a disease that periodically threw them to the ground and caused a convulsion. The earliest mention of epilepsy of which we are now aware occurs in the Code of Hammurabi (2080 B.C.) in which may be found laws regulating the marriage of epileptic persona and the validity of their court testimony. Ancient Hebrew writings (2000 B.C.) found in the Talmud contain references to epilepsy in the precepts of the sanitary laws (Pirkner, 1929). It is understandable that the attention of the earliest observer of epilepsy should have been arrested by the prominent and awesome aspect of the generalized convulsion, and it is to this part or form of the disease that most consideration was given.

In recent years increasing interest has been aroused in short-term memory processes and their anatomical substrate. There have been numerous reports, some based mainly on clinical observations and others on experimental findings, but these are not all in agreement, and analysis of the results obtained by different investigators is rendered particularly difficult by the lack of uniformity of methods and by the lack of comparable studies in man and experimental animal. In man. bilateral medial temporal-lobe lesions appear to cause a grave, persistent, and generalized defect of recent memory (Scoville and Milner, 1957; Penfield and Milner, 1958; Milner, 1959; Milner, 1962b) but attempts to produce an analogous deficit in the monkey by similarly placed lesions have been largely unsuccessful (Orbach, Milner, and Rasmussen 1960), although loss of recent memory in both auditory and visual modalities has been reported after bilateral medial temporal-lobe removal in one study (Stepien, Cordeau, and Rasmussen, 1960).

It is obvious that while blindness results from bilateral section of the optic nerves, the complex function of vision does not reside in these tracts to the exclusion of all other parts of the nervous system. What can be stated confidently, however, is that the circuitry which is the indispensable anatomical basis of vision does run in these tracts. Similarly, the occurrence of unconsciousness subsequent to a local lesion in the brain does not prove that consciousness resides in that area to the exclusion of any other area, but only that the integrity of the damaged region is essential to consciousness. An analysis of the anatomy of lesions which produce short, prolonged or permanent loss of consciousness is helpful in deciding which areas are reversibly and paroxysmally inactivated in petit mal epilepsy.

Procaine was first synthesized by Einhorn in 1905. Xylocaine (Lidocaine) was synthesized by Löfgren in 1948. Wiedling, Löfgren and Tegner reported on Propitocaine (Citanest) in 1960. They have been used mainly for local and regional anesthesia in surgery and dentistry. The first review of the use of local anesthetics by the intravenous route was reported by Graubard and Peterson in 1950. Gilbert et al (1951) reported similar results using intravenous Xylocaine. In their cases they reported effective analgesia when the Xylocaine was used in cases of advanced cancer. They reported that the danger of side-effects appeared to be less than with Procaine.

Subdural haematoma was one of the first neurological lesions to be treated by man. Prehistoric man performed trepanation. Later, Hippocrates and Galen described cases with recovery after evacuation of clot which were probably subdural haematomas. As the science of medicine evolved over the centuries, investigators have argued about the etiology of this lesion. Up to now many questions have been answered. But in spite of modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology, the mechanism of chronic subdural haematoma remains obscure. This study was undertaken to add more basic knowledge to this essential question. Attempts were made to produce experimental subdural haematomas in animals. Radio-isotopes were used to trace the route of absorption of haematoma in animals and as a diagnostic aid in detecting lesions in human cases.

The folic acid group: The discovery of Methotrexate and some of the other antimetabolic agents that are currently being used for the treatment of neoplastic disease is a long and colorful epic, beginning about thirty years ago. The development of these “folic acid analogs” was intimately tied in with the elucidation of one of the B complex vitamins, folic acid. Folic acid (pteroylglutamic acid) is found in many natural materials.

The question of prematurity and its role in the development of spasticity is investigated in this study. 319 spastic quadriplegic and 112 spastic paraplegic children from The Montreal Children's Hospital were selected as probands. The incidence of prematurity in this group was 33.8 per cent. [...]