| Summary: | The remarkable functions performed, by the brain and the great readiness with which these functions are, under many conditions, interfered with, have naturally led to a large amount of discussion and investigation as to the circulation inside the skull and the means by which the cerebral tissue receives its nourishment. The inherent difficulty of such investigations, from the presence of the cranium surrounding the brain on all sides, has not lessened the amount of discussion on the question, for theories frequently enough based on but scanty facts have been rife for the last century and a half. The result of this has been,that the literature on the subject, though extremely voluminous, is very confusing. The present thesis does not pretend to deal with the whole or even a large part of this great question, but is specially directed towards a discussion of the pecularities of the intracranial circulation under ordinary physiological conditions, although some pathological aspects will also be touched on more or less briefly. The writer has found much difficulty in deter? mining what order to take up the various aspects of the question he wishes to present and has eventually decided on that which follows, viz:- 1: A consideration of the changes in the circulation inside the skull as they can be determined by observation of the movements of the brain, in the human subject as well as in the lower animals, where the cranium is not intact. 2: A resume of the chief work and writings on the subject of the circulation inside the cranium. This is practically necessary for the discussion of the 3: A consideration of the question of the intracranial circulation inside the closed skull. And 4: Some references to pathological conditions which are closely associated with the questions raised in the 1st and 3rd parts will be considered. At first sight it seems rather out of place for the discussion of the intracranial circulation in the unclosed skull to come before the historical resume of the literature on the subject, but after careful consideration the writer found that in many ways it was preferable to take up the divisions in the order he has adopted.
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