Combette has related a case, which to our knowledge is unparalleled; viz., complete destruction of the cerebellum in a girl eleven years old, who was addicted to onanism. In place of this organ was found a gelatiniform membrane, attached to the medulla oblongata by a peduncle of a similar character. The genital organs of this girl presented evident marks of her habit: the finger could easily be introduced into the vagina; the hymen was absent; the external labia were of a bright red colour, and seemed to have been frequently irritated. All that is known of this patient, who died at the Hospital des Enfans, in 1831, is reduced to a few facts. She was born healthy and well-made, although she was slight; and her physical and intellectual development was slow, and very imperfect. On entering the Foundling Hospital the 13th of January, 1830, she was feeble and ricketty, had but little intelligence, and seemed indifferent to surrounding objects. She answered questions with difficulty and hesitation. Her legs, although feeble, still supported her; but she fell frequently. She was in the full possession of all her senses: her appetite was good. Her health suffered more the following months, and she was finally obliged to remain constantly in bed. Her constitution then appeared impaired, and she was as it were stupified. She was depressed, and complained neither of pleasure nor pain; if questioned, she merely answered yes or no. She laid constantly on her back, her head turned to the left, and she moved her limbs with great difficulty. She soon became affected with a continual diarrhœa; and she died fifteen months after entering the hospital, in a state of complete exhaustion. What was the effect of masturbation in this case? Was it the cause or effect of the malady, which had disorganized the brain? This habit certainly had a great deal to do with it. (_Revue Medicale, April, 1831._) To these facts others might easily be added, where the affection of the brain was manifest, although not verified by a post mortem observation: thus, in the following case mentioned by Serrurier, the epilepsy, loss of sight, and the destruction of the intellectual faculties, certainly indicated a deep lesion of the brain. “I always remember with horror,” says this author, “the frightful picture presented by a young soldier, after frequent indulgence in onanism, and of nocturnal pollutions, which were more violent and copious after each epileptic fit. This young man was in a perfect state of marasmus: his sight was lost entirely; he was perfectly imbecile, and even the calls of nature were unanswered by him. His body exhaled a particularly nauseous odour; his skin was livid; his tongue trembled; his eyes were sunken, his teeth decayed; and his arms were covered with ulcers, which indicated a scorbutic affection. This state continued for six months, when the melancholy man died, having struggled for a long time against death, which finally terminated his sufferings.”