In view of the epidemic of anterior poliomyelitis in New York, and the constant travel between that metropolis and Panama, the case here reported is of unusual interest from a diagnostic standpoint because of the several exceptional characteristics it presented.
The health authorities of the city of Panama first discovered the case and sent the patient, a girl aged 11 years, into Santo Tomas Hospital for diagnosis and treatment. Accompanying the patient's admission, a history of illness for two days was given which began Sept. 9, 1916, with malaise, headache and chills, and continued with high fever. The following day the patient had two convulsions; paralysis of the right side of the body became evident, and she neither spoke nor took any nourishment. Communication with any one arriving recently from the United States was denied by the family. At the time of onset of the illness the patient was living