On diseases of the skin / by Erasmus Wilson.

  • Wilson, Erasmus, Sir, 1809-1884.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On diseases of the skin / by Erasmus Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    physiology of the skin, a Physiological Classification ; and I took as the heads of my arrangement the natural division of the skin into—1. Derma proper; 2. Sudoriparous system; 3. Sebi- parous system ; 4. Hair and hair-follicles. The first of these heads I subdivided into five secondary groups, as follows: Inflammation; Hypertrophy of papillae; Disorders of the Vascular tissue ; Disor- ders of sensibility; and Disorders of chromatogenous function. And the first .of the secondary groups, namely, inflammation, I further divided into: Congestive inflammation; Effusive inflam- mation ; Suppurative inflammation; Depositive inflammation; Squamous inflammation ; and inflammation from the presence of Acari. Time, however, brought with it the conviction, that however well adapted such a classification as the Physiological Classification might be for the student, or for the mere scientific inquirer, it was not equally suitable to the practitioner; and, that, as the primary object of the study of medicine should be to curb disease ; a classification must be sought for that would carry with it the idea and principle upon which our curative operations ought to be con- ducted. These were the views with which I advanced the classifi- cation adopted in the fourth edition of this work ; a classification founded upon the supposed cause of Cutaneous disease; and which I then distinguished as an Etiological Classification. Further experience has confirmed my approval of the etiological classifica- tion ; so that, although I foresee a probability of improving it at some future period, that time has not yet arrived; and I am con- tent for the present to follow it without alteration. As the cause of disease is naturally obscure, our appreciation of the nature of a cause must be greatly influenced by the theory of medicine, which has been impressed upon us in our early educa- tion, or by the prevalent theory of the day. One theory that has been handed down to us from a very early age, is that of the hu- mors ; which assumes that the majority of diseases originate in a morbid condition of the humors of the body, and especially of the blood. This is the foundation of the Humoral Pathology, and the disciples of this doctrine are the Humoralists. Humoralism was early adopted as an explanation of cutaneous disease; and the practice which has been founded upon that theory has been most successful in the treatment of these diseases. Theory assumes a morbid alteration of the blood; practice exerts all its powers to remove the offending constituents of the blood, to improve the condition of the blood; in fact, to purify the blood. But Humoralism does not explain all the known phenomena of