Ichthyol and resorcin as representatives of the group of reducing remedies / by P.G. Unna.

  • Unna, Paul Gerson, 1850-1929.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Ichthyol and resorcin as representatives of the group of reducing remedies / by P.G. Unna. 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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    leads, eventually, to follicular inflammation ; this, however, probably only takes place when the follicles are at the same time infected with definite pus-germs. This is the result with sugar circulating in the tissue-juices in diabetes,—with vapor of tar, pyrogallol, and chrysarobin in the vicinity of the places treated by these remedies, and with sulphur in too weak doses in acne, etc. It is high time that we give to the living skin its rights, and do not continue to treat it as a dead, artificial cov- ering (of the body). Therefore we see that not only pus for- mation itself is a part of the weak action of reducing agencies, but the retention of the pus in the excretory canals of the skin (which normally are open) is a preliminary condition of every pustulation process. If, now, the action of the reducing agent in weak does ex- tends into the deeper tissues, we notice an influence upon the blood-vessels which we will designate, for the sake of brevity, a “ size diminution.” The matter in question is not a tempo- rary musculo-motoric contraction of the arterioles, as so often occurs from reflex action, but a permanent diminution, narrow- ing, and shortening of the entire system of blood-vessels,—ar- teries, capillaries, and veins. This influence can of course be best followed with the eyes in those conditions in which the vascular system is enlarged beyond the normal, whether it be an acute infectious process (erysipelas) or a chronic infiltration (lupus or angioneurosis). This influence is less easily seen, but always distinct, on those portions of the skin which are normally redder, as, for example, the face. In view of the im- portance which we, since Cohnheim’s experiments, put upon the integrity of the vascular walls in each form of inflamma- tion, it is not hard to understand that this shrinking, or diminu- tion in size, of the general vascular system must lead to a ces- sation of the inflammatory process (erysipelas, eczema), and likewise to a reduction of the swelling of such tissues as have been attacked by inflammatory oedema (trauma or collateral oedema). The weak effect of the reducing agent, which is necessary to produce this result, is generally secured in this way,—viz., that the agent, used either in weak or strong doses, is applied upon the surface of the normal epidermis. The