Affections of the sebaceous glands / by Edward Wigglesworth.

  • Wigglesworth, Edward, 1840-1896.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Affections of the sebaceous glands / by Edward Wigglesworth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    chemical combination of the sulphur with the mercury causes a black deposit upon the skin and in the orifices of the follicles, producing much the appearance of the very disease which is under treatment. Sulphur combines in the same way with the ingredients of other lotions which might be employed, such as lead water. Comedones are usually only a local affection. When constitutional treatment is required it is usually on account of the anaemia or general debility of the patient, and this is often due to a scrofulous or phthisical habitus which interferes with the nutritive processes and amongst others with those of the sebaceous glands. Tonics are therefore called for, especially the nutritive oils. Olive oil, half an ounce after meals, is nutritive and slightly laxative. The animal oils are perhaps preferable to the vegetable. Cod-liver oil may be freely given, alone or with a little glycerine. Half an ounce of glycerine added to a six-ounce mixt- ure in case of very many medicines tends to conceal any disagreeable taste. This applies particularly to the oils, and especially if a few drops of oil of cinnamon are added and the mixture well rubbed to- gether. Some writers also hold that the internal administration of oil exercises a local effect upon the sebaceous glands, and increases in their secreted products the amount of olein present, thus preventing the in- spissation of the sebum, rendering it less like an irritating foreign body, and aiding its elimination from the follicles. They base their theory upon such facts, as the rarity of comedones in fat people; the immunity from this disease of patients with oily skins, as, for example, old drink- ers, or of patients with fatty livers; and upon the results of such exper- iments as that of Boussingault, who found that in the casQ of a duck fed exclusively upon butter for a fortnight, the butter “ oozed from all the pores of the body.” But such views certainly lack verification. Such writers recommend also instead of oils the exhibition of glycerine, one drachm three times daily, in the belief that a base is thus supplied which, by uniting with crystals of stearine and margarine in the sebum, renders them fluid and aids their elimination. But here, certainly, the direct external application of the glycerine would seem to possess supe- rior advantages. In all cases of disease, and especially in diseases of the skin, it is to be borne in mind that the physician is not a necromancer, distributing specific magical antidotes to “ poisonous humors,” but a public edu- cator to supply instruction in a much neglected but most important branch of knowledge, namely, that of hygienic laws, and his sphere of practical usefulness is co-extensive with his inculcation and dissemina- tion of a proper comprehension of these laws and of the necessity for their observance. The habits of the patient as regards bathing, exer- cise, sleep, diet, and clothing ; the condition of his home in respect to warmth, light,, and ventilation ; his habits in regard to the use of st.imu*