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]
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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.

    51/1148 (page 33)
    INFLAMMATIONS. (CONTINUED.) By L. DUNCAN BULKLEY, M.D. TJRTIOAEIA. Synonymes.—Nettle-rash, Hives; German, Nesselsucht, Definition.—An inflammatory, non-contagious affection of the skin, characterized by the more or less sudden development of wheals, associated with burning, tingling, and itching sensations. History.—Urticaria may occur as a sudden outburst, almost furious in its character, involving much of the surface and causing great suffering; or it may ajjpear more slowly, with the occasional development of a few wheals, which may come and go, even for a period of weeks or months. It very commonly appears in those supposed to be otherwise in perfect health, but may also accompany or follow other diseases, both of the skin and of other organs. Etiology.—The etiology of urticaria is frequently very obscure: while in certain cases, especially of the more acute form, it will be caused by irritating food, such as fish, strawberries, pineapple, etc., or by an acute attack of indigestion, or by certain drugs, especially quinine, in a large proportion of cases it seems impossible to trace the eruption to any special cause, and the most rigorous attention to diet will fail to produce any beneficial effect upon the disease. It is recognized, however, that, in the main, urticaria depends upon disorders of the digestive system, and in chil- dren it is not infrequently caused by the presence of intestinal worms: in certain cases there will be a marked periodicity in the recurrence of the eruption, and it will be found that malaria is at the bottom of the trouble, which will then be checked entirely by quinine. In some cases the eruption may come from cerebral or spinal disease. External irritants are also often the cause of wheals, which may be produced by the bites of insects,—^as mosquitoes, fleas, and bed-bugs,—also by puncture with the electric needle, and in those subject to the eruption the lesions can be produced at will by irritating the skin lightly, as with the finger-nail; in very susceptible skins it is possible even to draw figures on the skin with a blunt instrument