hi list, as a neuroscientst, i thought i'd chip in regarding the cerebellum. It is actually a part of the brain largely disregarded as we currently have a very poor understanding of what this area does. It appears to be involved in motor control as it is close to the motor areas of the brain and lesions to it cause paralysis - particularly paralysis of voluntary controlled movement, e.g. playing the piano is a common example. . It is also involved in many other things, e.g. being able to focus or attend to stimuli and language processing. I would imagine that in 1839 an abcess to the cerebellum would indicate a general infection of the back of the brain - (the cerebellum is quite large and occupies a large part of the back of the skull). If the inflammation was large in that area, it could also mean the loss of vision as the visual areas are also at the back of the brain One more point is that efficient and widely used anaesthetics were not commonly available until the 1840s, therefore I would imagine that his last 13 days were rather painful. james _____________________________________________ Dr James Curley www.eboracensis.blogspot.com ----- Original Message ---- From: Kenneth William Bibb <kbibb@bigpond.com> To: eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, 12 November, 2006 8:47:02 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] General Hospital Birmingham to whom it may concern, cerebellum in the dictionary states; "the part of the brain at the back of the scull, which co-ordinates muscular activity" Ken B ----- Original Message ----- From: "RaKay Dance" <rakaydance@hotmail.com> To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 5:44 AM Subject: Re: [B'ham] General Hospital Birmingham > "itis" is typically an infection (at least here in the US). Could it > have > been some kind of menengitis or sinusitis? Rakay Dance > > >>From: "Fay Lewis" <fay.lewis@virgin.net> >>Reply-To: eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com >>To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> >>Subject: [B'ham] General Hospital Birmingham >>Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:52:53 -0000 >> >>Hi members, I appreciate this message is not Birmingham Specific so if I >>am >>wrong in posting here then I do apologise. >> >>I have a copy of my g g g granfathers death certificate which states he >>died in General Birmingham Hospital in 1839 aged 28 of an abscess to the >>brain. I visited Birmingham Central Library today to look at the hospital >>records to find when he had been admitted and to read the hospital notes. >> >>Unfortunately the details were very faint and I couldn't decipher the word >>that had been written when he was first admitted 13 days before he died. >>In brackets was written "abscess to the cerebellum" which was added after >>he died. >> >>I am sure I have come accross a web site which lists diseases/terms used >>in >>that era of causes of death - has anyone else come accross that site? >> >>The word that was written when he was first admitted looked like >>"Th...tis? >>or possibly could have been a little longer with another couple of >>letters. >> I think the "tis" stands for inflammation. >> >>Regards >> >>Fay >> >>_____________________________________________ >>Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: >>http://www.bham.de/ >> >>Any problems, please contact the List Admin: >>ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com >>------------------------------- >>To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >>without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > _________________________________________________________________ > All-in-one security and maintenance for your PC. Get a free 90-day trial! > http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwlo0050000002msn/direct/01/?href=http://www.windowsonecare.com/?sc_cid=msn_hotmail > > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > _____________________________________________ Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: http://www.bham.de/ Any problems, please contact the List Admin: ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ___________________________________________________________ All New Yahoo! Mail – Tired of Vi@gr@! come-ons? Let our SpamGuard protect you. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html