[Neuromuscular diseases were always difficult to diagnose].

The Deutsche Zeitschrift fuer Nervenheilkunde (German Journal for Neurology) was founded as a specifically neurological journal at the end of the nineteenth century and soon became a European platform for scientific discussion of neurological topics. Papers also came from the USA, Scandinavia and Russia. The difficulties of the diagnosis and definition of clinical entities are illustrated in cases of botulism, myotonic dystrophy and myasthenia gravis.