[Santiago Ramón y Cajal: his activity as a military doctor (1873-1875)].

Santiago Ram n y Cajal entered the Medical Corps after graduating in Medicine in 1873. His marked Spanish nationalist character and his excellent physical condition led him to serve in the third Carlist war as a medical lieutenant and later in the Cuban War as a captain. His stay in Cuba, however, was marked by hardship and illness.

[Neuroscience in Al Andalus and its influence on medieval scholastic medicine].

Introduction: Since the application of technical medicine by the Greeks, modern neurology has been based on a body of knowledge and cultural heritage from ancient times. In this paper we review the contribution made by Al Andalus to neuroscience during the Middle Ages and its repercussions on modern neurology.

Development: Following the death of Mohammed in the vii century AD, Islam enjoyed one of the most spectacular periods of expansion in the history of mankind.

[The history and social importance of cerebrovascular pathology].

In this work we present a study of the different conceptual, physiopathological, anatomical and clinical aspects that cerebrovascular pathology has had throughout history, from the early pre scientific beginnings of religious medicine, through the Renaissance period up to the Modern and Contemporary Ages. In the second part we emphasise its social importance and economic cost, and new methodologies are proposed for use in its study and pursuit. We also highlight the need for the creation of stroke units.

[Neuroscience in ancient Egypt and in the school of Alexandria].

Introduction: About five thousand years ago, one of the most ancient, important and enduring civilisations in the history of Mankind flourished on the banks of the Nile. In Egypt, all the branches of human knowledge attained a high degree of development and today it is considered the mother of medicine. Despite the marked religious component that affected all its activities, the medicine of the Pharaohs was practised in a rational and deductive manner, and the Egyptians were the inventors of clinical observation.

[Treatment of urethral stenosis with endoscopic urethrotomy with local anesthesia].

We evaluated the efficacy of local anesthesia for endoscopic urethrotomy in 20 cases of urethral stricture. Patient clinical features and maximum urine flow data before and after the procedure were compared. The technical difficulties encountered are described.

Ultrastructure and light microscopical study of a Leydig cell tumor of the testis associated with bilateral gynaecomastia.

Light and electronmicroscopic study of a Leydig cell testicular tumor in an 18-year-old male is presented. Bilateral gynaecomastia and normal hormonal blood levels were found. Emphasis on the diagnostic value of electronmicroscopy is remarked upon, based on the following ultrastructural characteristics of the cells; 1) Ovoid shaped nuclei with ondulating contours and dispersed and homogeneous chromatin, 2) Rich agranular endoplasmic reticulum with frequent special modifications, such as membranous whorls with a central cytoplasmic mass or lipid droplets, 3) Numerous mitochondria with occasional tubular cristae, 4) Numerous lipid vacuoles.