528 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



have grown round the trunks of the nerves, or slowly pushed them 

 aside without actually causing them injury or interfering with their 

 function. • I do not consider that this objection has weight as regards 

 the optic commissure and optic tract, because it is only reasonable to 

 infer that these structures suffered in this extreme case in the way 

 they usually do in other cases of the same disease. As regards the 

 motor nerves of the eyeball, on the other hand, I am not prepared to 

 say that they may not be less susceptible to damage, and, as a matter 

 of fact, paralysis of the orbital muscles in acromegaly is not very 

 common, although it has been observed. 



