No silent areas

Many years ago I was sent by the Royal Navy to the then National Hospital for Nervous Diseases to sit at the feet of Dr William Gooddy, senior physician and civilian consultant to the navy and one of the great neurologists; happily now an old friend. Every Tuesday morning William held his grand round, beginning in a large room next to the sister's office, which could seat the 30 or so postgraduate students who regularly attended. One of the conventions at Queen Square is that difficult cases are sometimes offered to other firms for their opinion so that as many brilliant minds as possible may be brought to bear to help the patients.

On this occasion an artist was presented by the registrar of another …