Sextus Empiricus (about AD 200) is credited1 with being the first person to use the word “aphasia”, albeit in a philosophical sense. Carl Wernicke's studies on aphasia, published from 1874, are among the classics of clinical neurology. However, Benton and Joynt2 suggest that Johann Schmidt in 1677 gave the first account of paraphasia and alexia. They also observed that:

”Almost all the clinical forms of aphasia—complete motor aphasia, paraphasia, jargon aphasia, agraphia and alexia—had been described before 1800. The unawareness of defect which may accompany paraphasia and jargon aphasia had been noted, as well as the coincidence of aphasia and agraphia...”

After the studies of Gall3 in 1807, and Bouillaud, there were many exponents of a dynamic view of aphasia. Finkelnburg (1870) regarded speech disorders …