From the onset of embryonic life up to the period of birth, the fetus is exposed to multiple damaging influences having a direct bearing on the growth of the central nervous system. Lesions of the latter may be numerous, and vary with regard to their localizations, extent and depth. They are apt to compromise the cerebral functions not only at the time the damage is done but especially during later development of the nervous system. If the infant survives, infirmities are seen not only in the sensorimotor sphere but also and more particularly in the mental faculties in which a definite defect is manifest. Of the many facts that are likely to lead to such consequences, only meningeal hemorrhages at birth will be discussed here.
During birth, hemorrhages may occur at different levels, either within the nervous tissue itself or close to the cranium. In the latter case, the blood