While neurology is a separate and distinct specialty, one is at times prone to forget that the brain is not an isolated organ but takes part in the pathologic processes to which the rest of the body is subject. On the other hand, internists should keep in mind that in many of the so-called medical diseases there are changes in the brain that are capable of modifying or intensifying the clinical picture. Every one knows the susceptibility of the brain to syphilis and to tuberculosis, and its involvement at times in cancer, but one may forget that in generalized infections the brain may suffer intense damage which may entirely overshadow the clinical picture. Because of our continued interest in these general infections, our attention has been focused on the pathologic changes in the brain in cases of endocarditis that have come to autopsy within the last few years.
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