I1HE subject of this report, a male child, was born on November 13, 1935, at MIarch, Cambridgeshire. No case of developmental abnormality had occurred in the family of either parent, and there was no consanguinity. Pregnancy and labour had been normal. The mother, a primipara, aged 31 years, was one of a family of six. Her eldest brother is healthy; an elder brother and sister survived only a few hours; whilst two younger sisters are alive and well. The elder of these has produced one healthy child; the younger's first child died in infancy; a second survives and is normal. Her father died at the age of 62 years; her mother is alive and well. One maternal aunt died in a mental home. The father, aged 37 years, had been married twice previously. There were no issue by his first wife, but one healthy child by the second. He was the eldest of a family of six, all of whom survive and are normal except the third who died in infancy. One of his brothers has a healthy child. His father is alive and well, but his mother had died two years previously. A normal child has since been born. Dr. J. A. Hislop, of March, invited one of us (E.R.) to see the infant when thirty hours old. It appeared to be normal in every respect apart from the entire absence of eyes. The birth weight was M lbs. 10 ozs. The eyelids were normal and the lacrymal puncta present. The palpebral apertures just admitted the tip of the little finger. Two smooth conjunctival sacs were explored but no vestige of a globe could be detected. The orbital cavities seemed to be smaller than normal. The child progressed normally for a few days but later failed to put on weight, which on the tenth day was only 6j lbs. Breast feeding was only possible for the first week. It was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, under the care of Dr. Leslie Cole, and gained weight steadily until shortly before its death (January 8, 1936) from bronchopneumonia. A post-mortem was performed and the brain and orbits removed for microscopic examination. The only abnormal post-mortem findings, apart from those relating to the visual apparatus, were a patent foramen ovale (which measured 2 by 3 centimetres), and bronchopneumonic changes in the lungs. The thymus was normal in size and the testicles had descended to the scrotum. 353 copyright.
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