This is a disease coming on in convulsive paroxysms, returning at undefined and irregular periods, accompanied by great muscular exertion, foaming at the mouth, loss of memory and of voluntary motion, and ending in sleep or a state of coma. The attacks are often sudden, the patient without notice falling to the ground; at other times, it is preceded by a sense of weight in the head, drowsiness, and languor, indicating the approach of the fit. The causes of epilepsy are various; in some cases it is hereditary, in others it proceeds from softening of the brain, or organic disease of that organ and the spinal marrow; it sometimes results from blows, very frequently in children from worms, or other sources of irritation in the bowels and stomach. Epilepsy is most frequent in the young, the spare, and those of a delicate organization. _Symptoms._—The fit usually begins with an excessive and involuntary action of the muscles, the body is bent forward, or drawn violently backward with great force, the eyes roll in a rapid and furious manner, the lips are convulsed, and a frothy saliva, like the champ of a horse, covers the lips and teeth; the tongue is violently protruded, and often dreadfully injured by the spasmodic closing of the teeth; the pulse is quick and irregular, the breathing heavy and laboured, the muscular action of the arms and legs and the writhings of the body are immense, and often the exertions of more than five or six strong persons are requisite to restrain even a woman. After a time, which varies from ten minutes to half an hour, nature becomes exhausted, and the patient sinks into a state of sleep, or more properly coma, from which in a few hours he awakes, exhausted, low and feeble. The only diseases with which epilepsy could be confounded, are hysteria and apoplexy; from the first, it is known by the absence of tears, sobs, and laughter, and the rising in the throat, like a ball or lump, that always characterizes it; and from apoplexy, by the stertorous breathing and the dilated pupil.