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Cerebral function monitor (CFM) recordings were obtained from 107 neonates, considered by pediatricians to be neurologically normal on discharge from hospital. Maturational changes in sleep patterns for the tracings over the conceptional age range 30 to 43 weeks were quantified and the resulting EEG measures analyzed statistically. When tracings obtained from neonates of less than three weeks chronological age were considered, significant correlations were found with the weight of the neonate at the time of the recording. For tracings of premature neonates obtained at the mean chronological age of six weeks a relationship was found between EEG measures and Apgar scores. These results are discussed in relation to the mature neonatal EEG, and it is suggested that the CFM provides a simple additional method of assessment.

arterial line in selected cases, but in our opinion it is neither necessary nor justifiable to insert routinely intra-arterial lines in all patients admitted to a general medical intensive care unit.Flexibility is the essence of modular monitoring apparatus. It allows the clinician to decide which physiological variables he wishes to monitor, and he should never regard such a system as a "panindicator" unit. Therefore each separate system must be reliable in its own right, and reliability in the clinical environment can be assessed only by intensive study in a clinical situation. The technique we used seems to give a useful indication of whether a particular system is suitable for routine clinical use. Moreover, we would suggest that to be of value in hospital conditions an automatic monitor needs to be at least 90% reliable.We would like to acknowledge the unstinted co-operation of the nursing staff of Starling Ward; Mr. A.

The continuous infusion of Althesin under electroencephalographic (e.e.g.) control provided a constant level of light anaesthesia for periods of 1--5.5 h during experimental brain hypoxia in spontaneously breathing baboons and Rhesus monkeys. Polygraphic records (respiration, heart rate, arterial pressure, cerebral venous sinus pressure, end-tidal gas concentrations) and also estimation of blood-gas tensions, pH, and concentrations of pyruvate and lactate demonstrated a steady physiological state. Various methods of e.e.g. monitoring were tested to establish an optimal assessment of depth of anaesthesia as a guide to the control of the rate of infusion of Althesin. A purpose-built modification of the Cerebral Function Monitor was found to give unequivocal recognition of changing depths of anaesthesia.

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