The toxemias of pregnancy are usually classified as (1) preeclampsia (toxemia grade 1, or grade 2 in some clinics) and (2) eclampsia, this term being reserved for the condition in which convulsions or coma develops in the presence of the toxemia. The cause of these toxemias is not known. Most authorities believe that they are etiologically similar, and therefore a single disease entity.1 However, why one patient has convulsions as part of the syndrome and another remains free of seizures is not clear. It is with this aspect of the problem of the toxemias that this paper will be concerned.
In recent years, with the aid of the electroencephalographic technic, a good deal of light has been shed on the problem of convulsive disorders. Many aspects of the clinical picture of the toxemic syndrome suggested the necessity of electroencephalographic studies. In a preliminary report we have briefly discussed our