Page:The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1876.djvu/28

20 Taylor — Syphilis of the Nervous System.

CERTAINLY in no department of clinical medicine has more real progress been made within the past ten years than in the study of affections of the nervous system due to syphilis. Indeed, so carefully have the various affections been described and so fully have they been illustrated by cases, that I felt much hesitation in accepting the courteous invitation of the President of this society to read before it a paper on this subject. However, in looking over my records of cases, I saw that among the many instances of syphilis of the nervous system which it has been my good fortune to observe there were a few cases which would prove a not uninteresting subject for study, and which I thought would be still more interesting if discussed by the members at one of the meetings of this society. I shall first call attention to a group of cases in which the symptoms point to a meningitis of subacute nature, undoubtedly caused by syphilis. 1 am induced to do so, as we have not as yet a clear didactic description of the condition in question, which I am convinced has peculiar features, being in fact a definite affection, and therefore worthy of careful study. In contrast with that condition, I shall call attention to certain mild and ephemeral nervous phenomena as presented by a case observed by me, in which slight disturbances of the intellect and of the special senses were caused by syphilis. I think that this case may be considered as a prototype, presenting a not uncommon class of symptoms produced by syphilis,