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IN a previous communication' we described in detail a case of 'Congenital Auditory Impereeption ' in which word-meaning-deafness was the outstanding and important element. It was then pointed out that the disorganisation of the speech mechanism resulting from the auditory defect had led to a method of vocal expression of the nature of so-called 'idioglossia,' an individual language consisting of an extreme form of mispronounced and ill-expressed conventional language. In a further communication2 the results of the examination of the patient by the methods employed by Head3 in the investigation of aphasia were detailed and the findings described. As regards the latter, the conclusion was reached that in spite of the fact that such methods revealed more clearly the fundamental nature of the defect, they were not so helpful in the investigation of cases of congenital origin as in cases of aphasia which occur in adult life. The standpoint from which the findings were to be considered was also discussed and the opinion expressed that in congenital cases it might be more valuable to consider what the patient had acquired in spite of his disability, rather than the functions in which he was deficient on account of the defect.In the present communication, the condition known as congenital worddeafness is reviewed, the clinical features and consequences of the defect are described, and its relation to speech defects and especially to ' idioglossia ' is discussed. NOMENCLATURE. It is clear that when the earlier cases of congenital word-deafness were reported the association of the auditory defect with defects in speech was not A * From the West End Hospital for Diseases of the Nervouis S.ystem, London.

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