Sumrnarp: Charcot saluted Parkinson for his early observations, but condemned his use of the term "paralysis agitans." He emphasized that patients were neither dramatically weak nor were they necessarily plagued with tremor. Charcot suggestedthe name "Parkinson's disease," although he could not resist the comment in his amphitheater lecture series at the Salp&x%re that Frenchphysicians (unnamed) had probably described the disorder before 18 17. Tremor, rigidity, postural instability, and bradykinesia were all recognized by Charcot. He classified the disorder as a "n6vrose," meaning a neurologic disorder without a known pathologic lesion, and found little benefit from therapies available at the time, including belladonna and ergot products. Key W o r k Bradykinesia-Parkinson's disease-Postural h t ability-Rigidity -Tremor.
Jean-Martin Charcot's detailed descriptions of Parkinson's disease, its clinical-spectrum, and associated features are among his major contributions to neurology. His descriptions allowed physicians for the first time to differentiate Parkinson's disease from other neurologic disorders with which it had been previously confused. The amphitheater teaching sessions at the SalpQtribre under Charcot's direction provided the needed medical and theatrical setting to compare various movement disorders from the vast patient material at Charcot's disposal. The quotations cited here are taken fiom the transcripts of these sessions (1-3), hand recorded by his students, Doctors Blin, Colin, and Jean Charcot (the professor's son), and fiom his more formal lectures compiled later into his Complete Works in textbook form by Boumeville (4).
After a long and frustrating search, Charcot acquired a copy of Parkinson's "Essay on the Shaking Palsy" (1 8 17) through the help of an English librarian, Dr. Windsor. In 1887, there was still no French translation of this work, and Charcot encouraged his students to embark upon the project. Charcot characterized Parkinson's essay: This is a descriptive and vivid definition that is correct for many cases, most i n fact, and will always have the advantage over others of having been the first, but it errs by being too gener al... (1).