In the summer of 1899 my attention was first directed to the effect which intercurrent troubles have on epilepsy and mental diseases. At that time, a small epidemic of measles appeared at the State Hospital for the Insane at Independence, Iowa, and, among others, six epileptics acquired the disease. These patients were not under my direct charge, but I saw them frequently, and it was my opinion, as well as that of Dr. Joseph Ohlmacher, in whose immediate service they were, that their convulsions were lessened in number. This opinion, however, was based merely on general observation, and there are no definite records to support it.
The next year, during a prolonged epidemic of typhoid fever, a large number of epileptics became ill, and on the study of these patients my paper is chiefly based. As opportunity offered since that time, I have kept a record of other