Note on Two Fatal Cases of Acute Meningo-Coccal Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis in Young Children, with Pathological Report on One of Them

Thirdly, The large majority of our cases belong to the class of chronic 01* sub-acute posterior basic meningitis. These, which occur mostly in young babies, run a course varying in duration from 3 weeks to about 3 months in the fatal cases. They are due, as Dr G. F. Still showed in 1898, to a special diplococcus, and this organism is now believed by most authorities to be practically identical with the meningo-coccus of Weichselbaum, which is regarded as the chief, if not the only, cause of acute epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis. Within the last few months, and especially within the last week or two, we have, for the first time in our experience, been meeting with a fourth group of cases. In these there are symptoms of acute cerebro-spinal meningitis ; and the spinal fluid, when withdrawn by lumbar puncture, contains typical meningo-cocci, usually in large numbers, both free and within the cells. While none of the clinical features observed in these cases