Dr. G. Rabbas (“Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie” xli. Band, 3 Heft), following out the observations of Dr. Rieger, has, in a course of careful experiments, tested the capacity of the insane for reading in progressive dementia. He found that in general paralysis the power of reading was diminished, and in the end totally destroyed, and that this incapacity commenced at an early period of the disease. The words were given wrong or altered in a senseless manner, with a faint connection with the text read, whereas in functional insanity as well as senile dementia the power of reading was long retained even in cases where the mental fatuity seemed greater than in given cases of general paralysis. When maniacs could be induced to read they read on quickly without any regard to stops or beginnings of sentences, but they generally read correctly, without alteration of the words. This early loss of reading power in general paralysis, like the alteration in writing, is of great use for a differential diagnosis.