BECAUSE of the frequent presence of a facial paralysis in bulbar poliomyelitis, it was apparent to early investigators that the pons was commonly involved in this disease. Wickman1 was one of the first to describe the pontine form of poliomyelitis. During the Swedish epidemic of 1905 he collected 26 cases of facial paralysis, 6 cases of abducens paralysis, and 2 cases of trigeminal paralysis. Wickman believed that the seventh cranial nerve was the one most commonly involved in poliomyelitis. Medin,2 in the Scandinavian epidemic of 1887, observed, among 65 patients, 9 with involvement of the facial muscles and 6 with abducens paralysis. It was apparent to these early investigators that three types of facial paralysis can occur in this disease: (1) facial paralysis appearing as an isolated finding, (2) facial paralysis associated with spinal paralysis, and (3) facial paralysis as part of a severe bulbar paralysis. The first