In ancient times all acute delirium states were known as “phrenesis.” It was not until the 17th century that inflammations of the meninges and cerebrum were differentiated from each other. By the 19th century meningitis had been described to the extent that a number of epidemics were reported both in the United State and Europe, but it was the development of the lumbar puncture by Quincke in 1893 which opened up a new diagnostic era for the disease
