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1. 1. Evipal soluble was administered rectally to 75 women in labor and the results were tabulated. The dosage corresponds to that of previous investigators. 2. 2. The analgesia and amnesia secured were extremely variable. The duration of analgesia was generally short, ranging from fifteen minutes to six hours, averaging about two and one-half hours. In some cases amnesia was complete and in others totally absent. Despite the fact that about 35 per cent of the patients received supplementary drugs, the total number of good results was low (46.6 per cent). 3. 3. Two grave maternal reactions were observed. Although both patients recovered, the reactions were very alarming. These two cases are described in detail. 4. 4. Three babies were moderately asphyxiated at birth when evipal was the only analgesic drug used during labor. Two babies in cases in which evipal alone was used during labor exhibited severe asphyxia. All the babies in this series were drowsy for about twenty-four hours following delivery.

1. 1. The method of closed chest cardiac resuscitation was used in 5 full-term newborn infants for periods ranging from 6 minutes to 2½ hours. In the case in which direct measurements were made, it was found to be effective in producing adequate blood pressures and improvement of the electrocardiographic patterns without inadvertent trauma to the bony structures or viscera. 2. 2. The one permanent survivor, at 16 months of age, is healthy, developing normally, and has no demonstrable neurological sequelae. The other infants had been exposed to either severe asphyxia in utero or prolonged delays in instituting the cardiac massage. 3. 3. The prime advantages of this technique to the newborn infant are the ease with which it can be instituted and the avoidance of a thoracotomy. 4. 4. The initial results with this method of cardiac resuscitation are encouraging and warrant further serious consideration and investigation.

ConclusionIt could not be demonstrated that severe asphyxia has any effect on the clotting properties of the blood of the dog.

Accurate assessment for subsequent mental performance is now especially needed in the neonatal period. To determine the prognostic value of visual fixation responses in the neonate, 14 infants born at 27-44 weeks gestation with worrisome problems including severe asphyxia (8), systemic herpes (2), suspected microcephaly (2), severe tremors (1), and abnormal skull calcification(1), were tested neurologically and visually at a post conceptional age of 35-46 weeks. The visual tests, based on techniques developed by Fantz, assessed fixation of a single pattern, discrimination between pattern over plain and between two patterned stimuli. These infants were subsequently followed and evaluated by Stanford-Binet or Bayley tests at an average age of 28 months (range 4-60 months). Prediction of development based on visual testing was accurate for 13 of 14 infants. The neurological exam was accurate for only 7 of 14 infants. Five rated normal by visual testing are normal on follow-up. Of 8 infants abnormal by visual testing, 5 are now retarded (I.Q. or D. Q.

Recent clinical reports by one of us (Dr. Murphy) dealt with the treatment of asphyxia neonatorum by means of the Drinker respirator.1This method of treatment was instituted because the infants, many immature, either failed to breathe spontaneously or gave only occasional feeble gasps. The same degree of negative pressure (equivalent to that of a column of water from 8 to 10 cm. high) was employed in all cases, but the duration of artificial respiration was not the same in any two, as treatment was continued until a normal type of breathing could develop. Thus many infants reacted favorably and survived the neonatal period. Yet, owing to severe asphyxia, the response in some infants was not satisfactory and death occurred despite treatment continued for some time after the circulation had ceased. On necropsy many of the infants who failed to survive were found to have been suffering from intracranial