Changes in 178 brains of persons who had had convulsions are reviewed. Gross pathologic change was demonstrated in 174 of the brains and anomalous blood vessels in 2, and 2 were considered to be normal. In 34 cases in the series a clinical diagnosis other than idiopathic epilepsy was made and substantiated. In this group of cases the following clinical and pathologic conditions were observed: tumor of the brain, in 1 case; syphilitic meningo-encephalitis, in 6 cases; meningitis (all types), in 21 cases; traumatic encephalitis, in 2 cases; encephalitis, in 3 cases, and alcoholism, in 1 case.
A diagnosis of epilepsy with some degree of amentia or dementia was made in the remaining 146 cases. In this group of cases of idiopathic epilepsy in which no clinical diagnosis was made, the pathologic observations were as follows:
In the group of 146 cases of idiopathic epilepsy, the cause of the convulsions