The characteristics and consequences of limbic seizures evoked by single peripheral injections of lithium (3 mEq/kg) and pilocarpine (30 mg/kg) were investigated over a three-year period. The seizures occurred when 3 mEq/kg of lithium was followed 4 to 28 hours later by 30 mg/kg of pilocarpine. The seizures did not occur if the intervals were shorter or longer or if the pilocarpine preceded the lithium. The acute mortality or persistent aphagia and adipsia could be compensated by postseizure injections of acepromazine and a special milk-bread diet. Gender, age and preinjection environmental effects, but not hybrid genetics, influenced the seizure onset latency. Fifty to 100 days after the seizures massive lesions were found in the entorhinal-pyriform cortices, amygdala and selected thalamic groups.