Cyclopaedia of the diseases of children, medical and surgical / The articles written especially for the work by American, British, and Canadian authors. Ed. by John M. Keating.

  • Keating, John M. (John Marie), 1852-1893.
Date:
[1889-99]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cyclopaedia of the diseases of children, medical and surgical / The articles written especially for the work by American, British, and Canadian authors. Ed. by John M. Keating. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    35/1148 (page 17)
    This paste should be spread thinly over the involved surface. It is not only directly curative in its effects, but also affords a most admirable protec- tion from irritating discharges. SYMPTOMATIC EKYTHEMA. When we bear in mind the anatomical and physiological peculiarities of the skin, and the intimate connection of this organ with the system at large, it is quite comprehensible that many morbid states of the organism find local expression in circulatory derangements of the integument. One of the commonest of these disturbances is hyperaemia of various grades. Certain general diseases—e.g., variola, diphtheria, cholera, meningitis, vac- cinia, etc.,—are often preceded, accompanied, or followed by erythematous rashes. These need not be further mentioned here, as their description will be given in connection with those disorders in other sections of this work. More or less temporary congestions of the skin are known to occur in consequence of the ingestion of various drugs (erythema medicamentosum), although it is true that these rashes usually represent true inflammatory processes. One of the most frequent, and at the same time one of the most impor- tant in a negative way, of these symptomatic erythemata is the form com- monly called erythema infantile, or roseola infantilis. In the older works on dermatology, and in most books on children's diseases, many pages are devoted to a description of this eruption. An attentive reading of such descriptions will show, as already stated, that much of what is set down as significant of the so-called roseola really applies to a variety of other cutaneous diseases, more especially rotheln, mild cases of scarlatina and measles, and light attacks of urticaria. It is nevertheless true, as is well known to practical physicians, that evanescent congestions of the skin are quite common in young children who are teeth- ing, or suffering from some slight derangement of the alimentary canal. These rashes generally assume the roseolous form, and are accompanied by a slight elevation of temperature and perhaps some redness, without swell- ing, of the palate and fauces. It is said to be most common over the sacral region and buttocks. Its course is capricious, and it usually disappears in from a few hours to a few days without desquamation. The chief impor- tance of this so-called roseola is from the stand-point of diagnosis. Its existence is often the cloak for ignorance and charlatanry. Much of what the laity and certain irregular practitioners call scarlatina—not knowing or conveniently ignoring the fact that scarlatina is the technical name for scarlet fever—is in reality this symptomatic erythema, which fact also ex- plains the wonderful facility of its cure, and the statement that is often made that a certain person has had repeated attacks of the specific rashes. If one bears fully in mind the essential characteristics of the acute exanthemata,—the heat of skin, the rapid pulse, the condition of the Vol. II.—2