Friedreich's ataxia is still a rarity, and the opportunity to examine the spinal cord in an early stage of the disease does not often present itself. The following case is of interest because it occurred in a boy, aged 11 years, who died of an acute intercurrent disease. He had a younger brother who also had this familial affection. The fact that they were negroes perhaps lends additional interest, for Friedreich's ataxia is probably even more rare in the negro than in the white race.
The problem which the disease presents is not so much the distribution of the lesions as the causation and exact nature of the affection. As is well known, the disease process is not confined to the posterior columns; it is more diffused, and is evidently a degeneration with neurogliar proliferation, but the causation is obscure and has given rise to a variety of theories, none