On the median anterior cerebral artery as found among the insane

The subject of anomalies of the cerebral arteries among the insane has received considerable attention in the past, especially noteworthy being the article by Bullen in the Journal of Mental Science, volume 36, 1890,1 but unfortunately comparative statis~ tics are meagre. In 1907 I made a study of the conditions of development of the encephalic arteries in 220 consecutive cases of mental diseases, making a comparison with the studies of Windle2 in 200 cases of those presumably sane. The results of this com~ parison seemed to show a decided predominance, in general, of anomalous conditions among the mentally diseased. 8 In the study above mentioned, being chiefly conce,rned with the anomalies of the circle of Willis, sufficiently careful studies of other arteries were not made, and as a result, the anomalous vessel which forms the subj ect of this paper was not as frequently found as subsequent observations show is probably the fact. This artery is found of course among the sane as well as the insane. My studies, however, are based upon the examination of 400 consecutive cases of mental disease examined with special reference to this vessel. In all of the text books of anatomy at my comI