[Ads-l] Antedating of "Cerebral Palsy"

[Mark Mandel]

On Thu, Nov 7, 2019 at 4:55 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Several earlier examples on HathiTrust, the earliest I saw was 1824,
> which cites to a French journal from 1823.
>
> Here are a few examples.
> ...



> John Malcolmson, A Practical Essay on the History & Treatment of
> Beriberi, Madras, Vepery Mission Press, 1835, page 118.
>
> "In two other instances, Mr. Wright *fond* slight serous effusion in the
> spine.  A few cases occurred to him in which there were signs of
> phrenitic inflammation, but
> *the ordinary consequences of cerebral palsy, such as impaired intellect
> or memory,* were never observed; and the only
> morbid appearances in the brain, consisted in engorgement and slight
> serous effusion, which, as he found them, he considers to be uncertain
> signs of morbid action."
>

I assume "fond" is a typo for "found". More relevant, I was wondering
whether this mention referred to the same condition that is now called by
that name. I checked Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy> and found probable
confirmation:

Other symptoms include seizures and *problems with thinking or reasoning,*
> which each occur in about one third of people with CP.
> — "Cerebral Palsy: Hope Through Research
> <https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Hope-Through-Research/Cerebral-Palsy-Hope-Through-Research>".
> *National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Neurological_Disorders_and_Stroke>*.
> July 2013. Archived
> <https://web.archive.org/web/20170221033227/https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Hope-Through-Research/Cerebral-Palsy-Hope-Through-Research>
> from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
>


> ...
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
> Sent: 11/6/2019 7:22:06 AM
> Subject: Antedating of "Cerebral Palsy"
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> >Subject:      Antedating of "Cerebral Palsy"
>
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >cerebral palsy (OED 1889)
> >
> >1872 _Lancet_ 29 June 911 (Science Direct)  The _Philadelphia Medical
> Times=
> >_ contains a short paper by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell on the same subject as a
> m=
> >eans of diagnosing certain forms of paralysis.  Dr. Mitchell pointed out
> la=
> >st year the remarkable fact that any sudden cerebral palsy arrested the
> gro=
> >wth of the nails on the palsied side.
> >
> >Fred Shapiro
>
>

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