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The material presented is based on a large clinical experience and careful study of the physiology of the central nervous system of the child. It is well known that young nervous tissue is peculiarly apt to manifest the convulsive state. The author discusses three factors which make for this aptitude in the infant: (1) histologic and functional isolations of the nerve cells; (2) frequent disturbances of the calcium concentration, and (3) insufficient development of the suprarenals, parathyroids and thyroids, which in the adult play an antitoxic rôle.
Convulsions, due to these factors, may then be considered as benign, which distinguishes them from manifestations of epilepsy. Their symptomatology may be explained without the participation of the cortex. They are predominantly clonic and bilateral and are not accompanied by a period of stertor; they frequently are precipitated by fever and never come on during sleep. They may occur in older children who