Case of complete word-blindness; right-sided homonymous lateral hemi anopsia; no agraphia, but inability to read own writing; optical aphasia; temporary mind-blindness; the ability to spell correctly completely retained.
Case of paralysis of the right hand and arm; aphasia; very marked word blindness presenting the peculiarity that the patient could read many words (com binations of letters) while he was abso lutely unable to recognize the individual letters of which they were composed, with some impairment of the motor side of the speech-mechanism; partial right sided homonymous hemianopsia, with some peripheral constriction of the sound half of each field.
Case of word-blindness in a patient who had never learned to write; con striction of the fields of vision chiefly toward the right; no obvious word deafness: cardiac and renal disease; death; extensive old softening in the white matter of the left occipital lobe and of the left angular gyros, and the hack part of the first temporo-sphenoidal convolution.
Case of word-blindness and agraphia ; instead of reading individual letters as letters, the patient substituted a word commencing with the letter which be could not read—"George" for "G," "nearly" for "n," etc.
Case of sudden cerebral attack after confinement; absolute deafness to all sound for sixteen days; temporary motor aphasia and word-blindness; absolute word-deafness for four weeks; rapid recovery from the motor aphasia; partial recovery from the word-blind ness; very slow and imperfect recovery from the word-deafness; slight para phasia and slight paragraphia; echo speech; retention of the power of writ ing from dictation and of reading aloud; no hemianopsia; redevelopment of acute cerebral symptoms (meningitis or cere britis) six months after the original attack; hyperpyrexia; death.
Sudden cerebral seizure due to embolic infarction in a man aged 25 years; temporary loss of power in the right side of face, right arm, and right leg; com plete motor vocal aphasia; some—but, comparatively speaking, much less agraphia; no word-deafness; no word blindness; complete recovery of the power of writing; gradual, but slight, improvement as regards vocal speech; second embolic attack four months after ward; increased paralysis of the right side of the face, of the right arm, and of the right leg; no increase of the motor 1 vocal aphasia; marked increase in the agraphia; some word-blindness; no word-deafness; death four years after the original seizure.
Seven out of twelve eases supporting the view that the right hemisphere must be regarded as forming an active part of the nervous speech-mechanism; in other words, that the so-called speech centres and speech-faculties are bilat erally represented. Byrom Bramwell (Lancet, Mar. 20, 27; April 10, 17; May 8, 22, '97).
Advisability of enlarging the zone of language, as given by D'ejerine, so as to make it include a centre for concepts in the third temporal convolution, and pos sibly extending over more of the mid temporal region, and, in addition, a graphic motor centre in the caudal por tion of the second frontal convolution. This zone of language unquestionably has its deepest organization and highest development in the region encircling the Sylvian fissure, for here is situated the auditory centre, out of which the others may be said to have been evolved, and the motor. articulatory, and visual cen tres which are next in importance, as they have been next in development; but it must also include those portions of the brain in which concepts originate. and, if the views of those who believe in separate graphic motor centres are cor rect, also those parts in which graphic motor images are represented. Charles K. Mills (Medical News. June 5, '97).