Treatise on diseases of the skin : founded on new researches in pathological anatomy and physiology / by P. Rayer ... ; translated from the French by William B. Dickinson.

  • Rayer, Pierre François Olive, 1793-1867.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Treatise on diseases of the skin : founded on new researches in pathological anatomy and physiology / by P. Rayer ... ; translated from the French by William B. Dickinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    marks and ulcerations more or less profound, and cicatrices, which disfigure and alter the expression of the countenance. Besides these alterations of the skin, other symptoms show that the mucous membranes themselves are deeply affected. In children, diarrhoea, which is observed at the beginning, continues till the end of the disease. Ptyalism is abundant; and the mouth, pharynx, and sometimes even the larynx, is covered with pustules. They are seen on the free edges of the eyelids, and at times on the surface of the transparent cornea. This membrane softens, ulcerates, and is, rarely, perforated. After the cure of the disease, part, or the whole of the cornea, remains opaque. I should however add, that it is almost always at the period of desquamation that ophthalmia is ob- served, and that most frequently it is not pustulous. § 237. Independently of inflammation of the mucous mem- branes, which should be looked upon as one of the elements of variola, it may be complicated with rubeola, scarlatina, petechia?, or spontaneous ecchymosis (variola nigra,) with croup, pneumonia, and more rarely, with haamoptysis, menin- gitis, &c. which may supervene during the eruption, desicca- tion, or after the fall of the crusts. Erysipelas sometimes shows itself on the legs; furuncles, and phlegmous on the arms and thighs; ecthyma on the limbs; lastly, chronic in- flammation of the intestines, often prolongs convalescence, and may prove fatal. § 238. Inoculated variola* differs in some respects from natural small-pox, and, in others, it approaches to umbilicated pustulous varicella. This variety of small-pox is produced by causing the virus of variola to penetrate the skin by means of friction; or by applying the virus to the mucous mem- brane, or to the skin deprived of its epidermis ; or lastly, by introducing it into the skin, or subcutaneous cellular tissue, by means of punctures or slight incisions. § 239. On the first day, and sometimes the second of inser- tion, no change is observed in the punctures, which are usually made in the arm. The second or third day of inocu- lation, an itching may be felt to precede the appearance of small spots of an orange-red, like fleabites. The third day, these extend. The fourth, the redness increases, and they are the seat of slight shootings. The punctures become pro- minent and lenticular. The fifth day, the smarting is more • Dezoteux et Valentin, Trait/: His/oriqm and Pratique dc VInoculation. Paris, an viii.