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ABCHIVE8 OF SUHGEBY. 



ARCHIVES OF SURGERY 



BY 



JONATHAN HUTCHINSON, LL.D., F.E.S., 

Consulting Surgeon to the London Hospital, cmd late President of the 

Boyal College of Surgeons. 



VOL. IX. 



Xon^on : 
WEST, NEWMAN & Co. 

64, HATTON GARDEN. 
1S98. 






LONDON : 
PRINTED BY WEST, NEWMAN AND CO., 
HATTON OABDEN, E.G. 



LIST OF PLATES. 



XX. 

LXVII. 

LXVIII. 

LXXVI. 

LXXVII. 

XCVII. 

CXLII. 

CXLIV. 

CXLVI. 

CXLVII. 

CLII. 

CLIII. 

CLVI. 

CLX. 



Arsenic-Kebatosis and Arsbnic-Canceb. 

Multiple Lupus Vulgaris. 

Multiple Lupus Vulgaris. 

Multiple Lupus Vulgaris. 

Multiple Lupus Vulgaris. 

Pemphigus in Secondary Syphilis. 

Lupus Erythematosus on Face and Chest. 

Cystic Hydrosis op the Face. 

The Eruption of Yaws. 

The Eruption of Yaws. 

Mortimer's Malady. 

Mortimer's Malady. 

Pemphigus Vegetans. 

Frambcesia in an Englishman. 



Note. — The reade]^ is requested to observe that the Plates do not always 
bear consecutive numbers. They have been printed for a smaller Atlas of 
Clinical Illustrations of Disease (of which an announcement appears on the 
following page), and the plate nimibers refer to their position in that work. 



371058 






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AECHIVES OP SURGERY. 



JANUARY, 1898. 

SELECTED CASES IN ILLUSTEATION OF 
INHEEITED SYPHILIS. 

When in 1878 I resigned my appointment on the staff of 
the Moorfields Ophthalmic Hospital, my sphere of observa- 
tion in reference to the later results of inherited syphilis 
became greatly reduced. In private practice such affections 
are fortunately rare. It was at Moorfields that I had collected 
the cases upon which were based my observations as to the 
keratitis, choroiditis, and other eye affections which occur in 
connection with inherited taint, and also as to the peculiarities 
in the teeth by which such taint may be recognised. My 
Work on these affections which was published in 1863 con- 
tained narratives of most of the cases which had come 
under my observation up to that date, and after its publica- 
tion it did not seem worth while to continue to collect cases 
in illustration of doctrines which were generally accepted 
by the profession. Since that time I have taken note 
almost solely of such cases as seemed either exceptional to 
the views which had been advocated, or which suggested 
new ones. From time to time I have since published brief 
annotations on these topics. 

It may be convenient to briefly recapitulate some of those 
which have appeared in Archives. 

Vol. I., p. 51, et seq. Two cases of infantile convulsions in connection 

with inherited syphilis. 
Vol. I., p. 51. Severe chronic bone disease, one node having suppurated. 

No other indications of taint in the child, set. 13, but 

mother syphilitic. 

VOL. IX. 1 



2 SELECTED CASES OF INHERITED SYPHILIS. 

Vol. I., p. 58. A case in which a mother showed secondary symptoms 

apparently from foetal contamination. 

Vol. I., p. 53. Choroido-retinal disease in an infant after convulsions. 

I may now add to this record that four years later the 
child was partially idiotic. 

VoL II., p. 65. Are women liable to transmit syphilis to offspring during 

longer periods than men ? 

Vol. II., p. 66. A woman bore syphilitic children four or five years 

after her own disease (erroneously stated in text to 
have been eight years). The fallacy was that she or her 
husband might have contracted it again more recently. 

Vol. II., p. 118. A case in which, of twin infants, both dead, the bones 

of one showed syphilitic changes, and those of the 

other were free. (Seen at Berlin.) 
Vol. II., p. 291. A case in which two sisters, bom with an interval of 

seven years, both suffered from late lesions, neither of 
them having had infantile symptoms. Both parents 
were probably tainted, the mother by foetal contamina- 
tion. (A very remarkable narrative.) Again referred 
to, with additional particulars. Vol. V., p. 70. 

Vol. II., p. 294. Case in which it might have been believed that a man 

who married four years after his syphilis, communi- 
cated the disease to his wife. 

Vol. II., p. 295. An example of glandular gumma in the neck of a girl 

the subject of inherited syphilis. 

Vol. IV., p. 324. A case in which a man who married, with my consent, 

four years after syphilis, was supposed to have been 
the father of a syphilitic child. Diagnosis as regards 
the child erroneous. 

Vol. v., p. 72. Severe syphilis inherited from a father. The mother 

remained in excellent health. Severe keratitis and 
nodes, but no peculiarities in teeth or physiognomy. 

Vol. v., p. 75. Case of acquired syphilis (severe) in a man who was 

reputed to have had symptoms of inherited disease in 
infancy and also interstitial keratitis. 

Vol. v., p. 76. Four healthy children born to parents both of whom 

had suffered from syphilis. 

Vol. v., p. 76. Palmar psoriasis in a girl of eighteen the subject of in- 
herited taint, and whose mother had the same affection. 

Vol. v., p. 183. Good health, and entire absence of physiognomical and 

dental peculiarities in a gentleman, aged 26, whom I 
had myself treated for infantile syphilis. He had 
suffered from a severe attack of keratitis at the age 
of nine. 

Vol. v., p. 216. Several cases illustrating paralytic dementia in the 

subjects of inherited syphilis. 



GENERAL STATEMENTS. 3 

Vol. v., p. 264. Gumma in the tongue in a patient the subject of in- 
herited syphilis. 
Vol. v., p. 360. Arrest of sexual development, with mental peculiarities, 

in a boy the subject of inherited syphilis. 
Vol. VI., p. 16. On the differences between syphilitic teeth and the 

malformations due to mercurial and other forms of 

stomatitis. 
Vol. VII., p. 60. "Ringworm tongue " in a child of six years, who had 

suffered from mherited syphilis. 
Vol. VII., p. 62. An instance of very severe keratitis, with choroiditis and 

vitreous opacities in a syphilitic girl of twelve, who 

showed no peculiarities of physiognomy. Synovitis 

of one knee. 
Vol. VII., p. 63. Reference to the case described in Vol. II., p. 291. 
Vol. VII., p. 294. An instance of severe syphilitic pemphigus present at 

time of birth. (Drawing kept.) 
Vol.VIII.,p.246. Synovitis of the knees preceding keratitis in a young 

man the subject of inherited syphilis. 
Vol.VIII.,p. 280. A case of complicated and relapsing inflammation of 

the eyes in a young woman (one of twins) who 

inherited syphilis. 
Vol.VIII.,p.283. On deafness in connection with inherited syphilis and 

on the greater liability of girls to suffer from it. 

I now purpose to give from my private note-books a few 
facts which I have not previously recorded. Some of these 
appear to be of value because they supply further detail 
respecting cases already recorded, but most of them will 
concern wholly new ones. Amongst the special points 
which will be illustrated by them the following may be 
mentioned : — 

That the subjects of taint often grow up into healthy 
men and women. 

That complete exemption from other indications of taint 
does not exempt from the risk of an attack of keratitis. 

That it is not unusual for one child in a family to suffer 
very definitely whilst all the others apparently escape. 

That it is very exceptional for any considerable series of 
children to suffer in succession from inherited taint. 

That the mother of one or more syphilitic children may 
herself remain throughout quite free from sjmaptoms and 
apparently in good health. 



4 SELECTED CASES OF INHERITED SYPHILIS. 

That a condition of general arrest of growth may be one 
of the consequences of inherited taint. 

That it is possible for children bom within dangerously 
short periods of the primary disease in one or both parents, 
to entirely escape the inheritance. 

That although, as a rule, after keratitis, choroiditis, &c., 
the recovery is permanent, there are exceptional cases in 
which certain progressive changes continue. 

That it is by no means improbable that some who really 
inherit taint never; either in infancy or subsequently, show 
any symptoms. 

That the children of those who have suffered from inherited 
syphilis are usually quite healthy. That syphilitic infants 
may be suckled by their mothers as a rule without risk to 
the latter. (My life's experience affords no trustworthy 
exception to either of these two propositions.) 

No. I. — Uterus and Appendages from a case of inherited 

Syphilis showing arrest of growth. 

The woodcut here given is from a drawing which I have 
had many years in my possession. It represents the exact 
dimensions (measured by compasses) of the uterus and ovaries 




of an adult woman (set. 20) who was the subject of inherited 
syphilis. She was of low stature and displayed a general 
arrest of development. Her mammae were extremely small, 



DWAEFING IN CONNECTION WITH TAINT. 5 

and her skin was dry and of earthy pallor. She had, I 
believe, menstruated a few times. Her physiognomy and 
teeth showed the usual characteristics. She died in the 
London Hospital, and as we had noted the especial absence 
of feminine development we were interested in examining 
the organs here delineated. They were the smallest I have 
ever measured. Thus the uterus was only an inch and a half 
(a to b) in length (half of what is normal), and the appen- 
dages were in proportion. The sketch shows the parts as 
seen from behind. The right ovary is laid open. C indiciates 
a dark stain probably from ecchymosis ; d, a small peduncu- 
lated growth. 

A case which I have recorded in Vol. V., p. 360, is a good 
example of a parallel condition in the male sex. Although 
seventeen, the boy was quite feminine in his build and had, 
I have no doubt, arrest in development of the sexual organs. 
He had extensive choroido-retinitis. 

No. n. — A strong^ healthy son bom of a mother who had 
suffered severely from inherited SypMlis — The mother 
dwarfed in stature. 

Mrs. H was herself a sufferer from inherited syphilis 

in a very severe form. She was dwarfed and quite deaf. 
She had had under my care an attack of keratitis, and sub- 
sequently was much troubled with noises in the head. She 
was married and had borne one child. I saw this child 
when he was twelve years old. He was a fine, strong lad 
without a symptom of taint, had perfect teeth, and was as 
tall as his mother, to whom he offered a strong contrast. 

No. III. — Inherited Syphilis — Keratitis and Internal Otitis 
at the age of thirteen — Beport on state of health at the 
(^^ of forty — Important facts as to family history, 

Maria D was my patient at Moorfields Ophthalmic 

Hospital, for a severe attack of interstitial keratitis, in 1870. 
Twenty-three years later, in August of 1894, through the 
courtesy of Dr. W. H. Johnson, of Limehouse, I had an 



6 SELECTED CASES OF INHEBITED SYPHILIS. 

opportunity for investigating her then present condition. 
She was now a tall, well-grown woman of 37. Her features 
were not peculiar, and the notches which ha'd formerly been 
present were worn out. She was absolutely deaf. The 
history of her deafness was that in 1871, whilst still taking 
small doses of mercury, which I had prescribed for her 
keratitis, her hearing began to fail, and that within a fort- 
night she had become quite deaf, and had remained so ever 
since. She had learned to talTk with her fingers, but of 
late her sight had failed so much that it was feared she 
would lose even this means of intercourse with others. 
She was liable to attacks lasting a few moments at a time, 
during which she was in darkness. Her comese showed the 
characteristic steel-haze, and the pupils were small. There 
were white patches near the borders of the comeae, and a 
conspicuous white arcus at the upper part. 

As regards family history, this patient was the fourth 
child, and had younger brothers and sisters. She was the 
only one who had suffered. I saw one sister only eighteen 
months younger who had ailed nothing whatever. 

Three years later still, in November, 1897, I again ex- 
amined this patient, and obtained from her elder sister in 
more detail the important facts at to the history of their 
family. Fortunately the fears which had been entertained 
as to the advancing failure of sight had not been realised. 
She had ceased to be liable to retinal epilepsy, and although 
her left eye was disabled by pupillary occlusion, could still 
see fairly well with the other. It was impracticable, owing 
to the smallness of the pupil, to examine the fundus ; at any 
rate I found it so, and a note on a Moorfields Hospital letter 
recorded the same result. In spite of this, however, I was 
assured that she was a great reader and could do the finest 
needlework with ease. Apart from her disability from deaf- 
ness, &c., she enjoyed excellent health, was of a happy 
disposition, and always busy. She was now 39. 

An elder sister who brought her to me in November last 
at my request, that I might ascertain her present condition, 
gave me the following important particulars as to their 
family : Maria D is the third living, and there are six 



CASE-NAEEATIVES. 7 

younger than her. All these six are in good health, and 
have never suffered anjrthing suspicious of syphilis. My 
informant's remark was : ** We are a remarkably healthy 
family, and all well grown and strong." Asking as to their 
parents, I was told that their father, who was a pilot, was 
a man of splendid frame and always healthy, but who had 
'*lost part of his palate after a bad sore throat.*' He finally 
fell down dead from heart disease when between sixty and 
seventy. Their mother enjoyed good health until her death 
from bronchitis at 65. 

No one can reasonably doubt that this woman is the sub- 
ject of inherited taint ; her deafness and keratitis sufficiently 
prove that, and the statement that her father had a perfora- 
tion of his palate as a consequence of a bad sore throat 
indicates the source from which the disease was derived. 
As her sister, only three years older than herself, is wholly 
without indications of it, there cannot be much hesitation in 
believing that her father acquired the disease after his mar- 
riage, and not long before our patient was begotten. It is of 
interest to note that not only does his wife appear to have 
wholly escaped, but also all their subsequent children. The 
man and wife continued to live together as though nothing 
had happened, and a succession of six children were bom, 
all of whom lived and have remained well up to adult life (all 
being, in fact, still living and robust). The one next to our 
patient is not more than eighteen months her junior. 

I am well aware that the absence of symptoms in infaaicy 
and childhood, and good health up to adult age, does not prove 
escape from taint. Those who have so escaped may still in 
exceptional cases suffer from keratitis or other of the less 
common late manifestations. They may, however, be fairly 
held to have escaped so far as serious peril to health is 
concerned. 

No. IV. — Syphilis inherited from the father — Severe infantile 
symptoms and subsequently Keratitis — A younger sister 
free from symptoms, hut showing typical teeth. 

The next case which I have to relate is a very conclusive 
one in proof of what has just been remarked as to the possible 



8 SELECTED CASES OF INkSBITED SYPHILIS. 

escape from all obvious sjonptoms, in childhood, of those who 
yet most certainly inherit a taint. A gentleman who had 
suffered from syphilis resumed, after a short time, cohabitation 
with his wife and became the father of a child (a girl), who 
suffered severely in infancy. It was not expected that she 
would survive. With great care, however, she was reared 
and became a healthy woman. At the age of twenty-nine, 
however, she passed through a most severe attack of keratitis, 
which left her comeae permanently damaged. It was for 
this that I was consulted when she was thirty-two years of 
age. The bridge of her nose was much sunken, her corhesB 
opaque, and her teeth very characteristic. Her whole frame 
was somewhat dwarfed. With her came a younger sister, 
aged 28, who was married and the mother of a fine, healthy 
child. This woman had never suffered anything. She was 
well grown and showed nothing peculiar in physiognomy, yet 
she had teeth as characteristic as any that I have ever seen. 
Between the patient and this her younger sister, two births 
had occurred. One of the infants was stillborn, and the 
other lived five weeks and then died of diarrhcea. In this 
instance the mother, who had continued to live with her 
tainted husbaoid and had borne to him during five years four 
tainted children, never herself suffered in any way. She is 
still living and in excellent health. She suckled her eldest 
child for some time whilst it was ill, and never contracted 
any sore on her nipple. 

Incidentally in the above narrative we have an instance of 
healthy offspring in the second generation. 

No. V. — Hereditary Syphilis — Interstitial Keratitis at the 
a^ge of twenty-six — Patient the father of healthy children. 

The following case is of interest as an example of the 
production of healthy children in the second generation, 
and also of the late occurrence of keratitis. 

** December 11, 1873. J. C , a six-foot soldier, 

attended me in 1862, set. 26, for interstitial keratitis. He 
got well, and remained well for five years. Then he had 
ophthalmia, which ended in granular lids. He was a tall, 
stout, florid man in splendid health, and the father of six 



VARIOUS CASE-NARRATIVES. 9 

healthy children. Yet his teeth were quite characteristic as 
also was his keratitis. 

"His elder sister came with him (five years older), and 
she had no signs of hereditary syphilis. I was informed 
that a yomiger brother had had an attack of inflammation 
of the eyes." 

No. VI. — Healthy child of a mother herself the subject of 

inherited Syphilis. 

Mrs. C , aged 28, had borne two children. One 

had died of bronchitis after measles, aet. 18 months; the 
other, aged three months, she brought with her, and it 
appeared to be perfectly healthy. 

This woman came to be inspected at my request, because 
I had diagnosed inherited syphilis in a younger sister. 

Mrs. C had deep scars about the mouth, and her teeth, 

although not greatly malformed, were quite characteristic. 
She had suffered from keratitis at the age of eleven, and 
the comese were still hazy. She now appeared to be in good 
health. She stated that she had been told that up to three 
months old she had a bad rash on the face. 

No. VII. — Effusion into one knee-joint in a hoy aged 5, 
pale and puny — Interstitial Keratitis of marked 
character three months later — No history of infantile 
symptoms. April 9, 1873, 

A further note on August 29th of the same year records 
that the eye was well, but the knee still somewhat swollen. 
It will be seen that the synovitis, contrary to rule, preceded 
the keratitis. 

No. VIII. — Hereditary Syphilis in a child of eleven, whose 
mother I had attended for a syphilitic gumma — Inter- 
stitial Keratitis — Teeth not malformed. July, 1873, 

No. IX. — Congenital Syphilis — Infantile convulsions followed 
at the age of eight by threatened dementia, 

Mr. C 's child, aged 8J years, was brought to me in 

February, 1892. At the age of three months she had had 



10 SELECTED CASES OF INHEBITEd' SYPHILIS. 

pain in all the epiphyses, and a month later she had a 
convulsion. When six months old she had a very severe 
fit, attended by squint. Last summer her mind seemed 
to fail, and she was no longer able to say hymns as before. 
Although she had not been taught at school, yet she had 
picked up a good deal. During the past few months she 
had become dirty in her habits. I examined her eyes, and 
found grey degeneration of the optic nerves. 

There were two younger children of the same family who 
were quite healthy. 

Comments. — ^I do not know the sequel of this case. The 
child was obviously threatened with failure of mind, &c., 
such as is illustrated by the cases cited at p. 216, Archives, 
Vol. v., and concerning which Dr. Shuttleworth has 
published some important facts. 

No. X. — One only in a family of eight showing signs 
of inherited Syphilis — The others living and quite 
free. 

Clara T , 8Bt. 16, attended on September 10, 1870, 

on account of the remains of interstitial keratitis. Her 
teeth, physiognomy, and eyes were in most characteristic 
conditions. With her came two sisters — one eet. 24, the 
eldest of the family, and one eet. 7, the youngest, neither of 
whom showed the slightest indication of inherited taint. 
Both had perfect teeth. I was told that there were eight 
living children in the family, that Clara had suffered severely 
all her life and none of the others at all. The attack 
of keratitis in Clara was very severe, and she had to be 
kept in a dark room for six months. There are three 
younger than Clara living and four older. Two had died 
in infancy. 

Comments. — The above facts are best explained by sup- 
posing that the father of C. suffered from syphilis not long 
before her begetting. This would explain the escape of all 
bom previously. The husband of her mother was a sea- 
captain, and often away from home, and in connection with 
this fact several possibilities suggest themselves. Unfortu- 
nately I have not noted how long the interval was between 



INHERITANCE FROM FATHER ONLY. 11 

C. and the one bom next to her. It may have been long 
enough to allow of the infecting parent having got rid of 
the taint. Possibly the two who died intervened. 

No. XI. — Inherited Syphilis — Father alone the source of 
infection — Mother remaining quite healthy througJiout, 

A surgeon had a chancre on his index finger in August, 
1883. He took mercury, and did well under it. His wife 
bore a child in December, 1884. It was a fine child at 
birth, but when two weeks old, quite suddenly, as the nurse 
said, it, in one night, became covered with an eruption. 
After that it never thrived. Grey powder was at once 
given, and when the child was brought to me on January 
16th, at the age of five weeks, the rash had faded, but there 
were unmistakeable symptoms of inherited taint. Its 
buttocks were then covered with a red excoriated eruption, 
which tended to assume a polished surface. There was 
also some eruption about its mouth. It had had no snu^es. 
Under mercurial inunction the symptoms disappeared, and 
the child afterwards throve well. 

In this case I know that the mother remained throughout 
quite free from symptoms. It appears to be a good instance 
of inheritance from the father only. As the chancre was 
not on the penis, there was but little risk of direct contagion 
to the wife. That a woman should bear to a syphilitic 
husband a sjrphilitic child, and yet, apparently, wholly escape 
herself, is, I believe, not uncommon. Foetal infection, 
although a possibility, is by no means invariable. Much 
probably depends upon the development attained by the 
virus in the infant during its intra-uterine life. In this 
instance the child at the time of birth was in perfect 
condition. The virus was then apparently latent, and 
we may suppose that it was possibly inactive as a means 
of contagion. 

It is interesting to add to the narrative, that three years 
after the date of my notes the father reported to me 
that his wife, his child, and he himself were, all in 
excellent health. 



12 SELECTED CASES OF INHERITED SYPHILIS. 

No. XII. — Congenital Syphilis — Keratitis severe in eldest 
and youngest of three children — Absence of teeth 
symptoms, 

Mr. D brought me his three children. 

W. (M.), set. 14, had suffered from keratitis, and had a 
characteristic forehead. His cornese were now clear. 

F. (M.), apt. 12, showed nothing and had ailed nothing. 

E. (F.), set. 10 (my present patient), had now the remains 
of most severe keratitis. 

None of the three had peculiar teeth. 

No. XIII. — Scrofula and congenital Syphilis together. 
Keratitis of several years' duration on and off; cured by 
setons. I had treated both father and another for Syphilis 
only four months before this child's birth, yet no very 
definite symptoms had occurred in the child. Inherited 
tendency to Phthisis, and great enlargement of the glands 
in the neck. May 20, 1892. 

No. XIV. — Syphilitic Pemphigus developed during intra- 
uterine life — Bicord*s Plate and Archives VII. 294. 

No one who has seen the 46th plate of Eicord's Atlas can 
doubt the occasional occurrence of the intra-uterine develop- 
ment of syphilis. The infant whose body is depicted was 
born dead, and it is covered with abrasions and pemphigus 
blebs. The hands and feet are affected with special severity. 
The infant was a male, and bom at full time. Its father 
had suffered from syphilis quite recently, but the mother 
remained, so long as she was under observation, in perfect 
health, and had never had a sjmaptom. The child was 
believed to have been dead three or four days before birth. 
It had no special visceral disease. 

No. XV. — Becovery from Syphilitic Pemphigtcs in an 
infant — Choroido-retinitis and m/uch damage to Eyes. 

Nellie B , aged 6 years (July 13, 1873), had been in 

infancy the subject of syphilitic pemphigus. She had at 
birth crimson palms and soles, and ten days afterwards buUas 
as large as grapes appeared on her hands and forearms, 



INFANTILE PEMPHIGUS. 13 

feet and legs, and were confined to those parts. She was very 
ill, but recovered under grey powder and mercurial ointment. 
She also had sores at the comers of the mouth, snuffles 
and patches at the anus. These facts were supplied to me 
by the surgeon who had treated her. 

Her father had contracted syphilis six months before his 
marriage, and her mother, after a first miscarriage, had a 
syphilitic eruption. A previous child was syphilitic. The 
child born next after our patient had an eruption on the 
buttocks, and got well under grey powder, but died from 
tuberculosis and inflammation of the brain at three years of 
age. The next child, a male, had no symptoms of syphilis. 
He was at the time of my notes nine months old, and had, 
I was told, some tendency to rickets, as shown by late 
dentition and large ends of the bones. 

To return to our patient. She was brought to me on 
account of her failing sight. Her eyeballs were constantly 
rotating (not oscillating), and there was convergent strabis- 
mus. The left eye saw ^%; the right saw f^, perhaps 
more. There were in both numerous very irregularly 
shaped patches of choroidal absorption. Some of these 
were small, with black dots in their centre, while others 
simply showed removal of choroidal pigment. The patches 
were arranged quite irregularly. The left disc was grey and 
waxy, and there was much pigment at its edge. The move- 
ment of the eyeballs and defective sight had been recognised 
at the age of two years, so that it is probable' that the 
choroiditis occurred early in life. When I saw the child 
she was healthy - looking, with no malformation of the 
head, and with good temporary teeth. 

No. XVI. — Case of Infantile Pemphigus of hands and feet, 
probably Syphilitic — Death of two children in early 
infancy with similar symptoms. 

On the 6th of May, 1874, I was called upon to visit Mr. 

B 's infant, a seven months baby then twelve days old. 

It was suffering from spots of erythematous pemphigus on 
the hands and feet, and a few small excoriations about the 
anus, not true condylomata. 



14 SELECTED CASES OF INHERITEP SYPHILIS. 

The father admitted gonorrhoea some years ago, but 
denied having ever had either sore throat or rash. The 
mother appeared to be perfectly healthy. There was, how- 
ever, a statement that some years before, after nursing a 
syphilitic child of her brother's, she had experienced an 
inflammation of one eye, which was supposed to be 
syphilitic, and was cured by mercurial treatment. This 
was not followed by any symptoms of secondary syphilis. 
Since that time she had had one other child, which had 
snuffles very badly, and died with pemphigus when a 
fortnight old. 

The child was ordered mercurial treatment, but died 
thirty-six hours after my visit. 

Comments (written at date of notes, May, 1874). — Though 
' the parental history in this case is too imperfect to justify a 
positive conclusion as to its syphilitic nature, still the pro- 
babilities are all in favour of such a conclusion, for it is 
certain that the children of syphilitic parents do frequently 
suffer from pemphigus, and that the disease very usually 
makes its appearance immediately after birth. Indeed, I 
should believe that it is often a disease of intra-uterine life, 
and is a common cause of the death or premature expulsion 
of the foetus. And on the other hand, I cannot say that I 
have ever seen the disease make its appearance immediately 
after birth in any case where there was no suspicion of 
syphilitic taint. (This opinion has been since modified.) 

No. XVII. — Congenital Syphilis in a first-horn child — No 
treatment in infancy and but slight symptoms — Very 
severe Keratitis at the age of twenty-one, with Periostitis 
and Synovitis of knees — No indications in fa^ce or teeth 
— No relapse, and in good health at the age of forty. 

The first and only child of her mother's second marriage. 
Sores at the anus were her only infantile symptoms. Her 
mother died of bronchitis set. 69. Her father died young 
after a badly ulcerated throat. Her physiognomy shows 
nothing obvious : teeth good. In 1896 she was florid and 
looked well. Suffered from nothing but leucorrhoea and 
dyspepsia. Much distressed that she had had no children. 



CASE-NARRATIVE S. 



15 



In this case although there were extensive iritic adhesions, 
no recurrence of iritis ever occurred. In 1896 she could see 



TEAR. 



1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1888 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1898 
1894 
1895 
1896 



AGE. 



21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
81 
82 
38 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 



DETAILS. 



A most severe attack of syphilitic keratitis. Synovitis of knees. 
A long treatment. Node on tibia : pupils fixed by adhesion. 



Married : never conceived. 

Began to suffer from leucorrhoea, possibly gonorrhoea. 

" Ulcers on the womb " diagnosed, and some operations done. 
Still much trouble with leucorrhcea. 



Excepting ilidigestion and leucorrhoea, in good health. 



Comes on account of dyspepsia. Teeth are good. 



almost perfectly. Her front teeth were of perfect form, and 
had such good enamel that I mistook them for artificial 
ones. 

No. XVIII. — Family history in the case of a man who had 
suffered from Syphilis, and continued to show symptoms 
long after his marriage, 

1 attended Mr. H about the year 1870 for severe 

syphilis. He married within the two years. The disease 
hung about him for long. He had an attack of hemiplegia 
with aphasia about a year after his marriage, and much 
later became the subject of very severe tabetic pains in his 
legs. He also suffered from hydrocele, which required 
tapping once a year. In spite of all these infirmities, 
however, he was a cheerful, happy man, very proud of his 
wife and family, and never neglecting his business. He 
finally, in 1896, died, after a few months' illness, of abdominal 
cancer. I had had many opportunities for seeing his wife and 
children. The former never ailed anything whatever, and 
was always the picture of health. She was aware of her 



16 SELECTED CASES OF INHEBITED SYPHILIS. 

husband's anxiety about their children, and used to smile at 
his fears. None of their children ever had any infantile 
symptoms conclusive of syphilis. Their eldest was bom at 
seven months, and was said to have an enlarged liver, and 
was for some time so delicate that she was not expected to 
live. She has, however, developed into a fine young woman, 
now set. 22, and her teeth show nothing. 

No. XIX. — Hereditary Syphilis — Enlargetnent and partial 
displacement backwards of head of each radius. 

David H , aet. 28. (Sent by Mr. Tay, September 8, 

1876.) Has been in London Hospital for some trivial ail- 
ment. Considerable haze of each cornea from severe old 
keratitis. Pupils sluggish, and L. more than E. Slight 
dots of whitish deposit on each lens capsule, but no 
synechise. Eefraction highly myopic in each. Consider- 
able crescent in each. Eetinal veins and arteries normal. 
Abundant peripheric, old choroiditis, large patches of black 
pigment, a few of atrophy without pigment. Blue irides ; 
darkish "brown hair. There are a few dense circumscribed 
floating bodies in each vitreous. Teeth screwdriver-shaped. 
No deafness. Physiognomy not characteristic. There is 
slight enlargement of inner part of E. patella (after a small 
wound in or close to knee some years ago ; the joint was 
much swelled). The L. outer malleolus is considerably 
larger than E. No nodes on tibiae. 

He is an only child. There was one miscarriage after he 
was bom. Has never to his knowledge had inflammation 
of the elbows or ankles. The enlargements at his elbows 
have been as they are now as long as he can recollect. At 
each elbow the head of the radius is very considerably 
enlarged and projects backwards. That of the right radius 
is the larger of the two. 

[To he c(yncluded,) 



PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VAEIANTS. 

(Continued from page 336, Vol, VIII,) 

Before proceeding to make some general comments, I have 
a few additional cases which must be recorded. 

The following letter from Dr. Groome, of New Cross, 
gives some additional particulars as to the latter part of 

Miss L 's illness. Hers was the last case recorded, and 

was left incomplete. 

" My dear Sir) — I attended Miss L in Jime, July, and August, 

1895, for a recurrence of the pemphigus, and in September of the same 
year she had not a blemish on her skin except the staining of the 
epidermis left after the eruption. She then left for the country and 
remained clear until December, 1895, when she came to me with the 
rash developing in the chest and arms. From this time she got from 
bad to worse, and the rash appeared over the whole cutaneous surface 
with the exception of the malar portion of each cheek. Her gums, 
together with the buccal mucous membrane, were extensively involved, 
as also were the soft palate and tongue. The bullae were very large, and 
extended from head to foot; in fact, her skin was virtually one raw 
surface, covered here and there with large yellowish crusts, the whole 
exhaling a most ofifensive odour. As to the treatment, I confined myself 
to quinine and arsenic in gradually increasing doses, and applied soothing 
ointments locally, but all to no purpose, for the disease steadily progressed 
and, as I said before, the patient died in a pitiable condition consequent * 
on the pemphigus and the exhaustion following it. The death certificate 
contained the words * Pemphigus foHaceus * and * Exhaustion.* " 

A Pemphigus Eruption affecting only the limbs — Very large 
bullcB — Inflammation of Conjunctivce and of Mouth — 
Partial obliteration of conjunctival sa^s and inversion of 
eyelids. 

The subjoined schedule and notes concern a case in which 
the most distressing condition was the affection of the con- 
junctivae. There appeared much reason to fear that the 
boy might lose his eyes. The pemphigus eruption which 

VOL. IX. 2 



18 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VAEIANTS. 

had preceded and accompanied the conjunctivitis had 
apparently followed typhoid fever, and had been wholly 
confined to the limbs. My patient was brought to me with 
an introduction from a physician in Lausanne, which 
informed me that he had in the early stages suffered from 
bullae on the conjunctivae, and that he could not take 
arsenic. The diagnosis given was pemphigus of the con- 
junctivsB, with consecutive atrophy. He was in a most 
deplorable condition. I advised as a preliminary measure 
excision of the eyelashes ; but I did not see him again, an3 
believe that he left London. 



YEAB. 



1890 

1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1896 
1896 



AGE. 



1 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 



DETAILS. 



Bom in Guernsey. He is one of five. 

Quite well. 

Was taken to the Biviera, and had a severe attack of typhoid. 

Very weak, and liahle to whitlows, and sores in nose and 
corners of mouth. 

Liahle to hullee on face, hands, and feet (sudden). Eyes in- 
flamed. 

Suffering severely both in eyes and skin. 

October 30, brought to me. 



Additional Notes. 

He has never had pemphigus on his body, but his hands have suffered 
severely. It might be taken for a form of ** blistering chilblains." Both 
eyes are affected, the comeae being opaque and vascular, and the con- 
junctival sacs contracted. The right eye has been considered to be lost. 
He screws the eyelids up and turns the lashes of both upper and lower 
lids in upon the comese, and it is difficult to say how much may be due 
to this. He is of pale complexion and flabby skin. His skin on the 
limbs blisters wherever touched. I am told that he has had very large 
bullae on thighs as big as eggs. 

Acute Pemphigus with Sore Mouth, following a patch of 
Eczema on the neck — Arsenic disagreeing. 

Mrs. E , aged 35, the mother of three healthy 

children, was brought to me on April 2, 1897, by Dr. 
Hampton Brewer, of Dalston. I was told that she had,. 



CASE OF MRS. R . 19 

some months ago, sxiffered from haemorrhage from the 
bowel, and that in former life she had presented some 
indefinite nervous symptoms with ''paralysis." She had 
also, in 1895, had an attack of acute general eczema. The 
first indication of her present skin disease was a rough 
patch (eczema?) on the back of the neck. Some weeks 
after the first appearance of this, a general pemphigus 
eruption appeared on the limbs and trunk. There were 
bullfie of large size. Arsenic was given from the first, but 
only with irregular benefit, and finally it had seemed to 
disagree with the general health. Mrs. E had emaci- 
ated, and although she had no fresh bullae when she was 
brought to me, she looked very ill. The statements as to 
the disagre6ment of arsenic induced me to advise its dis- 
continuance, at any rate for a time. We agreed to sub- 
stitute quinine and small doses of opium. She had 
complained of sore throat and mouth. 

Four weeks later, on April 30th, Mrs. E came to me 

a second time. She had now many bullae and of large size, 
especially on the limbs. She said the blebs would rise very 
rapidly, ** often a large one would form in five minutes.'* 
They would remain clear for two or three days, and then 
become purulent. They now occurred on all the limbs, on 
the abdomen and the back. The mouth and lips showed 
plum-coloured patches. It was clear that quinine had failed, 
and I now advised resumption of arsenic. Four days 

later Mrs. E attended one of my Demonstrations. She 

had still very numerous bullae on the limbs, but her mouth 
was better. As she could not be well nursed at home, I asked 
my colleague. Dr. Stephen Mackenzie, to be good enough to 
take her under his charge into the London Hospital. This 
was done the same day. 

The date of her admission into the hospital was May 5, 
1897. The following notes as to her condition and progress 
under treatment have been kindly supplied to me, through 
Dr. Mackenzie, by his House Physician, Mr. Sears. 

*' On admtisaion, — Patient was in fairly good health, but said that she 
had not slept more than two or three hours on any one night for the last 
week. She complained of a feeling of * soreness ' of the body and throat 



20 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VAEIANTS. 

and a general sense of weakness, but was not at all depressed. Her 
temperature on admission was 99*4° F. and there were no signs of disease 
in the heart, lungs, or other viscera. 

" The entire iaurface of the body, with the exception of the face and 
back, was covered more or less completely with a bullous eruption, the 
bullsB varying in size from a pea to the top of a teacup. The contents 
were either translucent, opaque, or hsemorrhagic in character, the latter 
variety being the smallest in number. There was no actual pain, but 
only a feeling of irritation previous to or during the development of the 
bullae. When, however, the bullae became very distended with fluid, they 
caused a good deal of pain and had to be pricked, the pain disappearing 
on the outlet of the fluid. On various parts of the body there were dry, 
hard scabs which marked the remains of bullae which had been absorbed, 
some of which were sHghtly pigmented, and along the edges of these 
patches (which were well marked on the hands) small clear vesicles were 
seen. The glands in the axillae were enlarged. 

^* Progress and Treatment, — Up to May 11th the patient continued in 
the same state as before, crops of bullae appearing on various paj:ts of the 
body, the temperature, however, rising about half a degree every evening 
till, at the date above mentioned, the thermometer registered 101*6° F. 
On the morning of the 12th she complained of feeling ill and very 
depressed, and could not take soUd food on account of a feeling of 
enlargement of the inside of the throat. A laryngoscopic examination 
at this date, however, revealed nothing abnormal, and it was not till two 
days after that a large oval bulla was detected at the junction of the hard 
and soft palate. The patient was by this time in a very serious state, her 
condition causing great anxiety, as she was unable to swallow either soUd 
or liquid food, the smallest amount being almost immediately rejected, 
and showing traces of blood. The temperature at this time varied 
between 102*4° F. and 99° F. This condition lasted up to May 17th, when 
the throat symptoms abated, though the feeling of depression continued ; 
the patient being now able to swallow small quantities of milk without 
vomiting. At this time she was taking Liq. Arsenicalis m. x. t.d., the 
dose having been increased from the original one of m. v. which she was 
ordered on admission. During this severe period of her illness crops of 
bullae continued to appear on different parts of her body, the character 
of the eruption not varying in any way ; and on May 22nd, when the dose 
of Liq. Arsenicahs was increased to m. xv. t.d., no improvement of a 
marked character had taken place, though her general condition was 
much better. On May 25th the patient was ordered Ext. Opii gr. ^, in 
pill form, every four hours. No improvement was noticed bill the first 
week in June, when the face became clear and the crops of vesicles 
gradually became less ; and in a few days no new vesicles showed them- 
selves, the last bulla being noticed between the second and third week 
of that month. Her general condition improved, and she left the hospital 
on June 25th on account of some family trouble, still feeling more or less 



A NOTEWORTHY RECOVERY. 21 

weak and thin. Since then, however, she has been seen and is at 
present looking remarkably well, and has had no recurrence of the above 
illness." 

This patient attended one of my Demonstrations for a 
second time on December 7th, five months after her discharge 
from hospital. It is long since anything has given me 
keener pleasure than I then received fjrom seeing in perfect 
health one whom I had beUeved would die, and who had, I 
knew, been saved not by the resources of nature but by the 
timely use of drugs. On the former occasion of her 
attendance, just before her admission under Dr. Mackenzie's 

care, Mrs. E was a pitiable object, emaciated, covered 

with bullae, with a sore mouth, and, worst of all, her symp- 
toms had apparently resisted the influence of the two 
specifics arsenic and opiunu It was this latter fact which 
made me especially unhopeful as regards her recovery. Yet it 
was by these drugs, when used with the advantages of hospital 
supervision, that the cure was effected. Dr. Mackenzie has 
since informed me that during the first few weeks of her 
hospital residence she got worse, and that the improvement 
did not begin until the dose of opium was increased. He 
credits the combined use of the two drugs with the cure. 
At the time that she left the hospital the eruption had not 
quite disappeared, and at this date the opium was left off 
and arsenic alone continued. I should Uke to insist on the 
completeness of the disappearance of the symptoms. Mrs. 

E had, when I last saw her, a perfectly sound skin ; she 

had fattened and looked quite well. This completeness of 
result is not unusual in pemphigus cases, and is a very 
important fact. It seems to prove that there is some con- 
stitutional element of causation of a very definite kind, the 
removal of which may permit of return to perfect health. 
Nor is it very unusual for cases to resist treatment for a 
while which finally yield to it in this complete manner. Of 
this the next case which I have to narrate is a yet more 
definite example, for the disease had lasted longer and had 
relapsed repeatedly. Yet the patient, after being long at 
death's door, was finally cured, and has now for nearly 
three. years enjoyed excellent health. 



22 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VABIANTS. 

This susceptibility of absolute cure is a feature which, 
pemphigoid dermatitis shares with the malady which we 
know as Lichen planus. This latter will often for a time 
resist treatment, and although it does not, like pemphigus, 
threaten the patient's life, yet it may cause extreme dis- 
comfort and much reduce his health. At page 88 of Vol. II. 
will be found the narrative of a case in which the disease 
was one of much severity, and in which suddenly under the 
influence of antimony it began to decline and the skin was 
soon restored to perfect soundness. It is like pemphigus 
also in that there is a definite risk that a return of the 
dermatitis may take place after an interval of some years- 
It is much to be desired that those who have the oppor- 
tunity would put on record their observations as to the 
permanency of cure in cases like the foregoing. It is 
unfortunately the fact that many of the case-narratives 
of pemphigus are only fragments, and do not take us 
further than the disappearance of the eruption. We know 
that in many the eruption does relapse, and it can scarcely 
be asserted that we know for certain that there are any in 
which, sooner or later, it does not do so. This is really a 
very important point, and more definite- knowledge respect- 
ing it might help us much in our endeavour to form correct 
ideas as to the real nature of the malady. It is, I think, 
highly probable that some patients who have passed through 
a pemphigus illness and been cured by drugs do remain well 
ever after. At any rate I have myself quite lost sight of 
some patients who would, I think, have returned to me if 
they had had relapses, and such, I doubt not, has been the 
experience of other observers. 

Femphigus in a hoy — Itepeated temporary cures by Arsenic — 
Severe illness with Ascites — Subsidence of the Pemphigus 
— Paracentesis six times — Return of Pemphigus — Cure 
by Arsenic — Becovery and good health three years later. 

In my next case, as I never myself saw the patient and 
have not had any detailed notes supplied, the safest way will 
be, I think, to let my friend's letters give the narrative. 



SEVERE PEMPHIGUS WITH ASCITES. 23 

It will be seen that it is a case of great therapeutical 
importance. 

On March 18, 1894, I received from my friend. Dr. 
Clement Dukes, of Rugby, a letter, of which the following 
is an extract : — 

^* Dear Mr. Hutchinson, — I wonder if you can be a good Samaritan 
and give me a hint on a hospital patient who will die unless I can do 
something more for him. 

** A boy, est. 6, has suffered from pemphigus on and off for about two 
years. I got him cured for a time by making his meat and drink of 
arsenic. 

" A month ago, solely from interest in the case, I went five miles to 
see him as he had ascites, and no pemphigus. I removed him to the 
hospital, and tapped him three times, letting out 120, 90, and 72 ounces 
at the three times. Since the last tapping Ms pemphigus has returned, 
and he seems very prostrate. 

** In addition to the arsenic, I have used mercury and iodide of 
potassium." 

The following note bears date ten days later : — 

" Ma/rch 29, 1894. 

" Dear Mr. Hutchinson, — Thank you for your kind note about the 
pemphigus boy. I am sorry that I cannot give you complete notes, for 
I have only seen him intermittently. 

'^ When I first saw him, some two years ago I think, he was one mass 
of bUsters as large as the palm of the hand. It was about a month ago 
that the village doctor asked me to see him, and take him into the 
hospital. 

" I have again tapped him twice since I wrote to you, and I must do 
it again to-morrow I fear, as he has incessant abdominal pain unless it 
is done. 

** The pemphigus has now subsided, and he seems better while he fills 
so rapidly. I thought that the case would interest you. I have not 
detected any disease of liver." 

After that I did not hear anything until, in 1897, I wrote 
to inquire what had been the sequel, quite expecting to hear 
that the boy was dead. The following was Dr. Dukes' 
reply :— 

** December 6, 1897. 
"Dear Mr. Hutchinson, — This lad remained under my care from 
February, 1894, to August of the same year, when he returned home 



24 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VARIANTS. 

cured. He was tapped in all six times. I got liim nearly black with 
arsenic. He hovered between life and death for long, often with a tend- 
perature of 104°. When he was at last mending, and I had to stop the 
arsenic, I think because of diarrhoea, I gave him thyroid gland, as he 
was such a miserable object, and he seemed to thrive on it. 

** I have httle doubt that he keeps well, otherwise I should have had 
him in hospital again." 

Not feeling quite assured that a good recovery had been 
established, I wrote again, asking that inquiries might be 
made as to the lad'fe present state of health. I had the great 
pleasure to receive the following reply : — 

" December 9, 1897. 

" Deab Mr. HuTCHDiSON, — To-day is the first opportimity I have had 

to drive out to Easenhall to inquire after Walter W . He resides in 

the same cottage with his father and his father's sister. His mother ia 
dead. He left my care in the autumn of 1894. 

** In the spring of 1895 he went to Pailton village school. He ha& 
attended school ever since (two miles away), has never had a day's 
illness, is fat, strong, and hearty. Only the other day the aunt said, ' I 
only wish the doctor could see Walter now ; he wouldn't know him, and 
he wouldn't believe it was the same lad.' He has never had a spot on 
his skin since he left the. hospital." 

Most certainly we have here a very remarkable instance 
of recovery from a very unhopeful condition. The ascites 
was probably of a more or less inflammatory character, as 
evidenced by the pain, high temperatures, and the rapidity 
with which refilling: occurred. It was in connection with 
this diagnosis that I advised my friend to continue the mer- 
cury with opium which he was already giving. I have known 
ascites in more than one case in the late stages of fatal 
pemphigus, and in one in which the patient had been treated 
for psoriasis. This latter case led me to entertain a suspicion 
that possibly arsenic might cause it. On this account 
I was inclined to advise Dr. Dukes that the arsenic should 
not be pushed, more especially as the pemphigus had sub- 
sided when the ascites set in. A subsequent relapse of the 
pemphigus made it necessary to give arsenic again. We 
are obliged to leave it a little doubtful as to what remedy 
it was that at last brought about the restoration to health, 



PEMPHIGUS WITH STOMATITIS. 25 

for several had been tried simultaneously. That the arsenic 
controlled the pemphigus temporarily there could be no 
doubt, and probably it had in the end the main share in the 
cure. The disease had probably been quite conquered at the 
time it was left off. 

PemphigiLs with Inflamed Mouth — Partial Cure by Opium. 

In the following case the patient had been under careful 
treatment by opium for some seven months before I saw 
her. 

At the time that Mrs. T was with me she had nothing 

more to show than mere stains. These were visible under 
her breasts, on her bald scalp, and, to a slight extent, on 
her face and other parts. She gave the history, however, of 
having been liable to pemphigus blebs on various parts for 
the last eighteen months. It began, she said, by a most 
troublesome ** eczema" on the scalp, which proved intract- 
able. The parts next affected were the folds under her pen- 
dulous breasts. Her nose and mouth had been inflamed. She 
counted three definite attacks. She described very sore lips 
and tongue (with blisters) ; they used to stick together and 
were covered with discoloured secretion. The opium had, 
she thought, cured this. 

Additional Memoranda, — Quinine makes her head ache. She has 
Xanthelasma palpebrarum affecting the right upper eyelid and both 
outer oanthi, but not the left upper eyelid. In youth she used to have 
much liability to " biliousness " in the form of giddiness, for which she 
used to take calomel by " dipping her finger in it." 

She was formerly stout and has lately lost much fat. She inherits 
gout from her mother, father, and one grandfather. 

For two years she has been liable to profuse perspiration, which usually 
begins about five in the afternoon and affects her head and forehead first 
and next her trunk. 

She menstruated regularly till 54, but, although married at 30, never 
conceived. She once had a throat which had white exudation and was 
considered diphtheria, but this was doubted by one observer. This was in 
August last. 

Two years ago she took ether to have her sphincter stretched. She 
has had constipation all her life. Jerusalem artichokes were her best 
aperient. Her attacks have occurred at two different places of residence. 



26 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VARIANTS. 

A severe outbreak of Pemphigus in a mem of intemperate 
habits for seven years the subject of Albuminuria, 

Early in May of '88 I went to Foots Cray to see a gentle- 
man (aged 43) who was in a most deplorable condition from 
general pemphigus. He was confined to his bed and couch, 
and covered with bullae and excoriations. He had for some 
time been under medical care on account of albuminuria, 
and he had suffered from epilepsy. His habits had been 
intemperate. In the October preceding my visit he had 
suffered from "herpes," which, however, soon got well. 
In March, during hot weather on board ship at sea, his skin 
showed an eruption of minute red spots which itched. These 
Were scratched, and, apparently as a consequence, a bullous 
eruption rapidly developed. This, however, under quinine 
and iron and the local use of carbolic acid, disappeared 
to a large extent, and it was only ten days before my visit 
that a relapse occurred and the disease assumed the severe 
form above mentioned. The bullae had been large, and he 
had rapidly become very weak. No albumen was present 
in his urine when I saw him, but it had a low specific 
gravity. 

I prescribed arsenic, and a fortnight later I had the 
pleasure of hearing from his medical attendant. Dr. Fegen 
(now of Molton, Beds) , that from the day that the medicine 
was begun the production of bullae had ceased, and that his 
skin had rapidly got quite well. 

Some General Remarks on the Series of Cases and on the 

Employment of Names, 

Just as religious teachers recognise in the human mind a 
constant proclivity towards idolatry — a preference for the 
concrete rather than the purely spiritual — so in pathology 
we have to contend against the tendency to substitute a name 
or a definition for the perception of essential nature. As 
it is easier to most of us to worship a personality, a name, or 
even a book, rather than to conceive of non-material power, 
so we more readily become accustomed to content ourselves 
with some euphonious name for a disease rather than acquire 



EEMABKS ON NOMBNCLATUEE. 27 

the habit of constantly trying to reahse its nature and its 
relation to possible causes. The concrete has always for the 
indolent mind — and who in this sense is not indolent — ^more 
attractions than the abstract ; and not infrequently our 
minds accomplish for themselves the further feat of giving 
to the abstract a concrete form in the imagination. Thus in 
the case in point we assign to the name Pemphigus a defini- 
tion and give to the group of symptoms which it comprises 
a» sort of individuality, and but too often rest content with 
our attainment. All that we attempt thereafter is to keep in 
memory our definition and our name, and to arrange future 
facts accordingly. Just the same process takes place in 
reference to such names as ** Dermatitis Herpetiformis," and 
even ** Herpes " itself. When once, however, names have been 
aJlowed to assume this kind of significance they become a 
bar to progress, however useful they may be in every-day 
intercourse with others. Whilst, therefore, it is a matter of 
necessity that for the sake of conversation and debate a man 
should make himself familiar with the meanings of the 
names in common use, I feel sure that he will find it 
best in the recesses of his own mind to discard names as 
much as possible and to think only of relationships and 
<;auses. 

My main object in narrating the cases which have been 
given as illustrations of the various forms of what is known 
as " Pemphigus ** has been to throw light, if possible, upon 
their real causes and their relations to other maladies. I am 
sanguine that this has to some extent been accomplished. 
It has been proved, I think, that the pemphigus process 
depends in part and in certain cases upon congenital 
pecuUarity in the structure of the skin. It is only by appeal 
to such peculiarity that we can explain the occurrence in 
several members of the same family of children, of a pre- 
cisely similar tendency to form bullae on any slight irrita- 
tion or injury. The peculiarity appears to involve a defective 
adhesion of the epidermis, and to permit of its easy 
elevation by fluid secretion under it. It is an element 
not alone in those cases of pemphigus which occur in 
childhood, but is met with also in adults in whom the type 



28 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VAEIANTS. 

of pemphigus does not differ materially from that long known 
as ** diutinus." It has long been known and mentioned 
as occurring in the latter, although it has, I believe, only 
recently received the distinctive and convenient name of 
" epidermatolysis." 

Another point which has, I think, been established, and 
which is an important advance, is that in some cases there 
is a definite relationship of the pemphigus process to that 
of herpes. This assertion implies that there is a large 
neurotic element, and that the vesications are produced in 
direct connection with the nervous system. These are the 
cases in which frequent and sudden relapses occur, in which 
vesications on the lips and in the mouth may have preceded 
perhaps by years the appearance of any dermatitis, and in 
which there is burning pain in the part before the bullae 
form. Some of these cases never go beyond the stage of 
affection of the mouth, and in some the dermatitis is not 
bullous at all but may even be papillary. The alliance is 
perhaps more close with dermatitis herpetiformis than with 
any other of the more strictly herpetiform maladies, for, so 
far as I am aware, there is never any definite deviation 
from bilateral symmetry, and but rarely any tendency to 
spontaneous cure. The case narrated at page 128, in which 
a man had suffered for several years from recurring herpes, 
in the mouth, and subsequently developed pemphigus- 
vegetans, and finally died of the bullous form, is an example 
of this type of the disease. So also is the case of Miss- 

L given at page 333, Vol. VIII., in which attacks 

of sore mouth preceded by nearly a year the eruption 
on the skin. In this instance the dermatitis was always 
a bullous pemphigus, and never attended by vegetations. 
It was also always under the temporary control of 
arsenic. 

Whilst suggesting that these two essential features of 
causation — congenital peculiarity in structure and herpetic 
tendency — should be kept clearly in mind in our discussions 
as to the nature of pemphigus and our attempts to group 
our cases, I by no means wish to imply that they suffice to 
separate them. Many cases appear to partake of both 



PLATE XCVIL 

PEMPHIGUS IN SECONDAKY SYPHILIS. 



This Plate represents an eruption of acute pemphigus, which 
occurred as the exanthem in the secondary stage of syphilis. The 
bullsB were exceedingly well characterised and very large. The 
eruption covered the arms and legs with bullsB, but on the trunk 
it caused only erythematous patches. It was said to have exactly 
resembled the chicken-pox at the time of its first appearance. The 
chancre was still present, as also some very hard glands in the 
groins, and ulceration of the tonsils. The early treatment had been 
neglected. The treatment proved very difficult. Iodide of potassium 
made the eruption worse, and mercury did not cure it. When, at 
length, arsenic was given simultaneously with mercury, but not in 
combination, then very satisfactory results were obtained. The 
patient was, however, still, at the end of two years, not perfectly 
well. He was in good health, but the eruption tended to return 
unless the two specifics were continued. The case is recorded in 
detail in 'Archives,' vol. iv., page 195. 

Postscript. — Since the publication of the case in * Archives,' the 
patient has remained under treatment, and a perfect recovery has 
resulted. He has attended several times at my Clinical Demon- 
strations. 

This case and some similar ones which I have published prove, 
I think, that the special type which the secondary eruption of 
syphilis assumes depends upon the pre-existing peculiarities of the 
individual. Hence the necessity for modifications of treatment. 



> • r • 



•i , 



r" • 



V ' ,;• 



r 



CLINICAL GROUPS OF PEMPHIGUS. 29 

tlities, and others do not in any appreciable extent dis- 
y either the one or the other. 

[t may be freely conceded that the two features to 
lich I have adverted by no means cover the whole ground, 
lere still remains much that is unexplained, and for the 
osent perhaps inexplicable, as regards the real nature of 
•mphigus and its exciting causes. To the two established 
cts we may, however, add a third, perhaps yet more im- 
)rtant, because of more general application. It includes 
:)th the others, and is this, that in seeking to explain 
omphigus we must look to the idiosyncrasies of the in- 
ividual who is its subject rather than to the influences to 
/hich he has recently been exposed. Some persons are 
)om liable to pemphigoid dermatitis in any one of its 
arious forms, and others are less so, or not at all. In 
lOme of those thus congenitally predisposed the poison of 
sjrphilis may act as the determining or exciting cause,* and 
in others other influences which as yet we cannot recognise 
may take the same role. In all instances, however, we shall 
probably be safe in supposing a pre-existing proclivity. 

For clinical convenience we may perhaps suitably classify 
our cases of Pemphigus, or better of Pemphigoid Dermatitis, 
under the following groups : — 

Group I. — Those occurring in connection with acquired 
syphilis. In these the whole surface is a£fected, the eruption 
is severe and the general health fails, a rapidly fatal course 
being threatened. Arsenic, and not mercury, is necessary. 

Group II. — The pemphigus of congenital syphilis. The 
eruption affects almost exclusively the extremities. It 
appears within a few days of birth, and is usually followed 
by death. 

Group III. — The pemphigus of infants not the subjects 
of syphilitic taint. This, as in the specific form, is usually 
more or less confined to the extremities; it begins im- 
mediately after birth. It is attended by severe failures of 
health, but does not lead to death, and may last into adult 

• See two most important cases given in Archives, Vol. V., in which 
severe general pemphigus occurred as the secondary eruption in S3rphilis, and 
was controlled not by mercury but by arsenic. 



30 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VAEIANTS. 

life. Arsenic exercises a beneficial influence, but does not 
cure. It may affect several members of the same family ; 
not usually attended by sore mouth. 

Gboup IV. — Cases of severe pemphigus beginning in 
young persons. These may be divided into two sub-groups 
— those which run a rapidly fatal course uncontrolled by 
arsenic, and those which, under arsenic, are either wholly 
cured or lapse iiito a chronic form. In these the eruption 
comes out over the whole body. 

Group V.— ^Cases resembling the preceding, but with the 
peculiarity of a sore mouth preceding the pemphigus. These 
are at times acute and rapidly fatal ; see Dr. Penrose's case,. 
Archives, Vol. VIII. p. 127. 

Group VI. — Cases in which a sore mouth follows soon 
after the beginning of pemphigoid dermatitis. A good 
example of this is given at page 135, Vol. III. (At whatever 
stage sore mouth occurs it is a complication of bad omen, 
and implies that arsenic alone will not cure.) 

Group VII. — Cases of pemphigus beginning in healthy 
adults. These are almost invariably amenable to arsenic, 
though sometimes with marked tendency to relapse, or only 
an imperfect cure. 

Group VIII. — Cases in which the pemphigoid dermatitis 
has been preceded by attacks of herpetic inflammation in 
the mouth. These are far less amenable to arsenic, and 
more so to opium than the preceding. 

Group IX. — Cases in which the pemphigoid eruption 
rapidly passes into a generalised dermatitis without bullaB, 
and attended by exfoliation. These are for the most part 
incurable. They are very rare. Pemphigus foliaceus : see 
portrait in New Sydenham Society's Atlas and one in 
Hebra's Atlas, representing precisely similar conditions. 

Group X. — Cases in which a tendency to the production 
of papillary excrescences is shown (*' Neumann's malady," 
or ** Pemphigus vegetans"). In many cases the tendency 
to vegetations is only temporary, and in the rest of its course 
the disease conforms to Group VII. Opium is the remedy. 

Group XI. — Cases in which pemphigoid bullae remain 
for a long time restricted to one region. 



PLATE CLVI. 

PEMPHIGUS VEGETANS. 



Tms portrait shows the condition of the skin in Mr. S 's 

case three or four weeks after his arrival in London. The growth 
of vegetations had already been much checked by local treatment. 
The portrait was taken under difficulties, as the patient could not 
bear long exposure. It may suffice, however, to indicate the 
arrangement of morbid changes and the bulbous character of the 
greater part of the eruption. Attention is asked to the fact that 
the comers of the mouth are ulcerated. The vegetations occurred, 
as usual, with greatest luxuriance in the armpits and groins, but 
they had been present in an earlier stage over other parts, more 
particularly on the chest, neck, and arms. 

The narrative of the case begins on page 129 of * Archives,* 
vol. viii. 



^' i'. • . '•. 'a '.. ..1 

I.- .■■■■ n^ U%(: J rL':^." 



•  '^^ V ... 
I -u I" 



J. .it',-'-'! .!■ 



. I ".   . r 
. I'' >^^' \ '■ 



)■>■ 



RECENT ADVANCE OF KNOWLEDGE. 31 

In proposing these Groups, it is clearly to be understood 
that they are constructed with a full knowledge that they 
in no sense constitute species. They indicate only variant 
types of the same malady or of forms of dermatitis which 
occur in association with causes more or less closely alHed 
in all. It must be expected, therefore, that individual cases 
will be found to present in different stages the features of 
more than one group. 



POSTSCEIPT. 

Although for the most part I restrict myself in the pages 
of Archives to the record of my personal experience, and 
do not attempt any general purview of the literature of the 
subjects on which I write, yet I cannot resist the expression 
of pleasure at the rapidity with which our knowledge of 
Congenital Pemphigus has recently increased. With the 
exception of one or two examples of that form, — concerning 
which, perhaps, some doubt might have been felt, — we knew, 
until a few years ago, nothing as to infantile pemphigus 
beyond the fact that it might occur in congenital syphilis. 
Although Dr. Wickham Legge and Dr. Payne had both 
previously recorded cases, it was a paper by M. Hallopeau 
published no longer ago than 1890 which first drew 
definite attention to the malady. The writings of 
Besnier, Brocq, Beatty, Goldschiedes, Koebner, Valentin, 
Galloway, Augagneur, and others have contributed to our 
knowledge of the subject. We now know by the con- 
current testimony of these observers that a very peculiar 
form of pemphigus of the extremities may occur as a family 
disease and may show itself in the first weeks of infancy. It 
may affect only one or several members of the same family,, 
and may be inherited from a parent (see Vol. VIII., p. 317). 
Although usually differing much from the more common 
forms of pemphigus, yet it may undoubtedly merge into it ; 
that is, the eruption may spread to the trunk and persist 
for years (see Vol. VIII., p. 321). It does not appear, how- 
ever, that it is ever attended by the severe constitutional 



32 PEMPHIGUS AND ITS VABIANTS. 

disturbance and danger to life which acute spontaneous 
pemphigus involves. 

The observation of this group of cases is a most valuable 
addition to our clinical knowledge. By it a broad ray of 
light is thrown over the whole subject, and we are made to 
recognise a congenital peculiarity in the structure of the 
skin as the predisposing cause to all forms of pemphigus. It 
is true that this had been suspected before, but it ig now a 
matter almost of demonstration.* 



* Koebner of Berlin had in 1886 described " epidermatolysis bullosa heredi- 
taria," and in 1882 Dr. Wickham Legge had published two cases of the same 
which he had observed in the same family. Dr. Payne, also, in the same year 
gave an excellent account of a case. It is unfortunate that a new name was 
coined, and still more so that it was subsequently superseded by that of 
" traumatic bullous dermatitis." These names have led to the endeavour to 
separate such cases from '* pemphigus," instead of recognising them as being 
really forms of it. The lesions in these cases are certainly not always trau- 
matic, and epidermatolysis is a factor in all pemphigus. So 'recently as 1893 
Dr. Payne wrote : "It is alleged by some and denied by others that there is 
A second form of pemphigus neonatorum which is not syphilitic. I have 
never seen such a case, and am disposed to think that it is extremely rare, if 
not entirely unknown in this country" (Lancet, August, 1893, p. 426). Yet 
in spite of this statement, to Dr. Payne himself belongs the honour of having 
observed and published one of the first cases (see St. Thomas's Hospital 
Beports, vol. xii. p. 187, 1882). 



ON THE SO-CALLED EETINAL EPILEPSY. 

Amongst the many items of original observation in disease 
for which we are indebted to the clinical genius of Dr. 
Hughlings Jackson is the description of what he once named 
" Retinal Epilepsy.'' The name was, I believe, subsequently 
abandoned as not being strictly appropriate, but no one 
has found a better, and meanwhile the conditions so 
designated remain a reality. They consist in the sudden, but 
quite temporary, loss of function on the part of the retina or 
some portion of it. It is possible that in some cases a 
deeper region of the nervous apparatus of vision is affected. 
At any rate the patient becomes suddenly either in part or 
wholly blind, and after a longer or shorter time the sight 
returns again. Thus proof is afforded that the suspension 
of function is not due to structural changes, but rather to 
some alteration either in the nervous state or the vascular 
supply which may completely pass away. Sometimes both 
eyes are affected, and sometimes only one or a part only of 
one. As the phenomena are purely subjective, we have only 
for our guidance the patient's description of them, and as 
they are often of very short duration the opportunities for 
observation are often not the most favourable. Many 
circiunstances suggest that they are of reflex origin, for 
they often occur during attacks of liver derangement, and 
are followed by other indications of disturbed health. They 
are very prone to recurrence, and often after more or less 
regular intervals. Thus in many features they conform to 
what we know under the name of Epilepsy, and may 
perhaps still be placed conveniently not far distant from 
that group of nervous phenomena. 

I purpose in the present paper to describe some recent 
examples of the eye symptoms referred to, but before doing 

VOL. IX. 3 



34 ON THE SO-CALLED EETINAL EPILEPSY. 

SO may perhaps suitably give a resumS of such cases as I 
have previously recorded. 

At page 169 of the first volume of ** Clinical Illustrations" 

will be found the case of a man named S , aged 45. 

This man had suffered much from his liver and sick head- 
aches, and had large patches of xanthelasma on his eyelids. 
He had for long been liable to attacks of temporary blind- 
ness, lasting only a minute or two and followed by sick 
headache. Sometimes both eyes were involved and he was 
for a time in almost absolute darkness, but more usually it 
was only one, and the right more often than the left. After 
this liability had been going on for several years (the eyes 
always recovering sight after a short time), he one day while 
at work found a cloud rapidly coming over the right eye, 
and in a minute or two it was quite blind. After this a 
headache as usual followed, and he had great sense of 
pressure on the top of the head. From this attack the eye 
never recovered. I made an ophthalmoscopic examination 
a fortnight after its occurrence, and could find no difference 
between the discs of the two eyes. Five .years later, 
however — ^the eye being still blind and the other retaining 
perfect sight — the disc of the right was quite white and 
atrophic. His general health was much as formerly. 

An almost exact parallel to the above is afforded by the 

case of Miss E , which I published in Aechives, Vol. 

Vin., p. 376. This lady was very liable to sick headaches 
and disturbance of sight. After one of these attacks at 
the age of 26 she lost the sight of the left eye. This 

occurred twenty-six years ago. I have seen Miss E 

quite recently. Under continued treatment by nux vomica, 
&c., she has lost all liability to sick headache. Her left eye 
remains blind, its disc being now quite white. The other 
eye is perfect. She is of dark complexion and comes of a 
bilious family. She is now aged 52. 

In the same volume of ** Illustrations,'* &c., at page 171, 
is the narrative of the case of Miss A- , aged 46, who was 



IN ASSOCIATION WITH XANTHELASMA. 35 

the subject of xanthelasma with serous cysts. She had not 
menstruated since the age of 25. She did not consider 
herself "bilious." For many years she had been liable 
to attacks of numbness during which her hands would be- 
come useless on account of inability to feel with them. The 
numbness would last usually about an hour and then give 
place to a short sick headache, to be followed in its turn by 
abnormal' hunger. During one of these attacks of numb- 
ness she had experienced considerable loss of sight, and her 
speech had become so thick that she had difficulty in making 
herself understood. The attack lasted half an hour, and 
was followed by a bad headache. Her attacks of numbness 
would usually occur two or three times a year, but she had, 
I believe, loss of sight on only one occasion. She was quite 
bald on the top of her head. 

In a case of severe and protracted Jaundice recorded by 
Eichter, and which I have quoted in Aechives, Vol. III., 
p. 6, it was stated that the man had been liable to attacks 
of transitory blindness with vertigo. 

At page 151 of the " Illustrations," I have mentioned the 
case of a woman whom I saw in Guy's Hospital on the invi- 
tation of my late friend. Dr. Hilton Fagge. She was the 
subject of xanthelasma with jaundice. This woman, a cook, 
assured me that on one occasion, after her day's work and 
when dressing for the evening, she had become quite blind. 
She said that she was in absolute darkness and had to grope 
her way downstairs by the aid of her hands. When she had 
got into the kitchen her sight began to return, and after a 
short time was as good as ever. A severe headache followed. 
This was one of the most marked and complete cases that 
I have seen, for the woman's description was very clear. 
She was not jaundiced at the time, but became so afterwards. 
I believe that she had had many minor attacks of failure of 
sight. • 

At page 75 of Akchives, Vol. III., is a detailed description . 

by the patient herself of very peculiar attacks of defective m 



36 ON THE SO-CALLED BETINAL EPILEPSY. 

sight to which she was liable. In addition to dimness, she 
had what she described as "kaleidoscopic lights in the eyes." 
On one occasion she had been much alarmed by the 
occurrence of total blindness in the left eye, but it lasted 
only a few minutes. She was the subject of chronic 
retino-choroidal disease, and had probably suffered from 
syphilis. She could, however, still manage to read the 
smallest type. 

At page 377 of Vol. VIII. I have mentioned the case of a 
lady of 30, in whom in connection apparently with liver 
disturbance, prolonged attacks of dimness of vision were 
liable to occur. She did not become by any means blind, 
and probably suspension of the power of accommodation 
was the main element in her state. There was, however, 
something much more than what hypermetropics are liable 
to, for the attacks were sudden, and would last several hours, 
to be followed by headache. 

In my experience the cases of ** Betinal Epilepsy '* group 
themselves into two classes. (1) Those which occur in 
association with definite liver disturbance, and which may 
happen to persons whose eyes are apparently quite healthy ; 
and (2) those which occur to patients with eyes damaged by 
previous retino-choroiditis. Of the latter I have just men- 
tioned an example, and shall have to record several others- 
Most of those which I have seen have been in the subjects 
of inherited syphilis who had suffered many years before 
from keratitis and retinitis, and in whom the disc was pale 
and the central vessels small. It may be plausibly suspected 
that in these patients ischsemia of the retina is the cause of 
the loss of function, for the attacks occur to those in whom 
the structure is very poorly supplied with blood. At one 
time I was disposed to regard this as a sufficient explanation, 
but some recent facts have raised the suspicion that the 
attacks do really partake somewhat of the characters of the 
petit mal. They occur to patients in whom degenerative 
changes in other parts of the nervous system are in progress, 
and who sometimes are liable to other phenomena more or 






DIAGNOSIS FROM ISCHiEMIA. 37 

less allied to those of epilepsy.* I freely grant that I have 
never yet observed a case in which they occurred in associa- 
tion with ordinary epilepsy. It is not forme to attempt any 
definition of the term epilepsy, or to say how widely it may 
be used. Some idea of reflex causation of sudden liberation 
of nerve force and of temporary suspension of function is, I 
suppose, essential. It was, I suspect, the belief that the 
failures of sight referred to were due simply to bloodlessness 
of the retina, and were unattended by either reflex causation 
or introductory ischsemia, which led Dr. Hughlings Jackson 
to abandon his name. Nor is there any doubt that the name 
had been applied by others to cases of this kind which had 
probably nothing in common with epilepsy. 

Importance of differential diagnosis between the Betitial 
Ischcemia of Optic Neuritis and true ** Betinal Epilepsy,'' 

Cases of **Eetinal Epilepsy" must be kept in a wholly 
separate group from those of the temporary blindness to which 
those who are suffering from optic neuritis are liable. In 

* ** No doubt some of the many nervous disorders that result from ureemic 
poisoning are due to the noxious influence of the morbidly altered blood upon 
the nervous tissue, while others are more probably explained by sudden 
partial interruption of the blood-supply to certain parts of the nervous 
system. This statement may be illustrated by a reference to the two forms 
of impaired vision which are very frequently associated with advanced renal 
degeneration. In one class of cases dimness of sight comes on more or less 
gradually, affecting one or both eyes, and is permanent. This form of 
impaired vision is found to be associated with peculiar structural changes in 
the retina, results of the so-called albuminuric retinitis. In the other class of 
cases the impairment of vision may be so sudden in its onset that, in a few 
minutes or even seconds, there is complete blindness, which usually passes 
away as suddenly as it came. These attacks of sudden and transient blind- 
ness may recur again and again. That they are closely allied to epileptiform 
attacks is shown by the fact that they are sometimes immediately followed by 
general convulsions. The most probable explanation of this sudden transient 
form of amaurosis is that which attributes it to sudden anaemia of the retina, 
or of the central origin of the optic nerves, the result of arterial contraction, 
excited by the morbid quality of the blood. It is, in fact, a form of circum- 
scribed partial epilepsy, * epilepsy of the retina' as it is sometimes desig- 
nated." — The Limileian Lectures on "The Muscular Arterioles: their 
structure and function in health and in certain morbid states." Delivered 
at the Royal College of Physicians of London by George Johnson, M.D., 
F.R.S. (British Medical Journal, May 12, 1877, p. 677.) 



38 ON THE SO-CALLED RETINAL EPILEPSY. 

these latter we have no difficulty in believing that inter- 
rupted supply of blood is the cause of the loss of sight ; and 
considering the state of the disc as to swelling, &c., the only 
wonder is that sufficient blood finds its way on to allow of 
any sight at all. We are here again indebted to Dr. Jackson 
for the original observation — now universally accepted — that 
the swollen disc of neuritis is often compatible with good sight. 
That such conditions involve, however, great liabihty to its 
suspension cannot be doubted. Many neuritis patients are 
blind, and in many who are not so when the head is at rest 
and in a position favourable to circulation, sight may be lost 
by stooping or even by suddenly assuming the erect position. 
The heart is at a great disadvantage and may easily find 
it impossible to fill the retinal vessels. This is simply a 
question of hydraulics, whereas in ** retinal epilepsy" the 
hypothesis is that no mechanical causes for the attack are 
present. In the neuritis cases both eyes are, I believe, 
always aiSfected (that is provided both are involved), whereas 
in the epileptic form it is often only one. 

A good example of this form of temporary blindness with 
optic neuritis is recorded in Vol. IV. of Archives, page 184. 
In it the patient, a lady whose urine was loaded with 
albumen, was liable to find her sight leave her if she stood 
up suddenly or if she stooped. The ophthalmoscope showed 
swollen discs, but none of the more usual changes of 
albuminuria. Her attacks of bUndness, during which she 
might be for some seconds in total darkness, were never 
followed by headache or other sjmaptoms. My comment 
at the time was, "No doubt the temporary failures of sight 
are due to the inability of a weak heart to overcome the 
local impediments to arterial circulation caused by the 
neuritis." 

I will now narrate the histories of some patients recently 
under observation, and which have led me to write the 
above remarks. 



IN ASSOCIATION WITH INHERITED SYPHILIS. 39 

** Retinal Epilepsy '* in a patient whose eyes had suffered 
severely from Syphilitic Keratitis ^ dtc, — Unusual duration 
of the attacks — History of other nervous phenomena. 

Miss M is a lady whom I have known for many 

years, and who has suffered with very unusual severity 
from inherited syphilis. Her physiognomy is deformed by 
the sinking and widening of her nose, and her general 
growth has been arrested, ifier skin is opaque, pale, and 
earthy. I should much doubt whether the sexual system 
is well developed. She has had most severe inflammation 
of her eyes; not keratitis only, but involving the whole 
organ. Her left eye is lost, and diverges, there being 
secondary cataract and vitreous opacities as well as choroido- 
retinal atrophic changes. Her right eye has up to the 
present time enabled her to read fairly well at times, but in 
it also there are vitreous opacities and a greyish ill-defined 
optic disc, with very small retinal arteries. The tension of 
the globe is perhaps below normal. 

The symptom which brought Miss M to me in 

September of the present year was the very alarming 
occurrence of periods during which she could not discern 
even the largest objects. These had occurred ten or twelve 
times during the last year, and were new to her. On more 
than one occasion the attack had lasted a whole day. 
During them she was not, she said, in darkness; on the 
contrary, there was often too much light, '*as if a number 
of lamps were lighted all around me and were dazzling 
me." Sometimes, however, she was almost in the dark. 
The attacks had usually been brought on by exposure to 
strong light, or by fatigue or worry. The eyeball was, 
she believed, usually a little red during the attack, and felt 
tender. She is very much afraid of ophthalmoscopic ex- 
amination, believing that it would bring on an attack. As 
the attack passes off, which it usually does gradually after 
lasting a few hours, she is again able to read. She never, 
however, reads more than a quarter of an hour at a time, 
as it tires her eyes. Severe neuralgia in the forehead has 
often attended and followed the attacks. 



40 ON THE SO-CALLED RETINAL EPILEPSY. 

In looking back to my former notes of Miss M 's case. 

I found the following, written, I believe (for it has no date), 
three or four years ago. 

** She describes an attack during which she was quite con- 
scious, but could not move her limbs ; she thought she was 
paralysed, and was much alarmed. She spoke to her friends, 
was rubbed for some time, and recovered. Her hands were, 
she says, cramped. She now seems quite well again, but 
has much headache, and is easily tired. She describes a 
distressing sensation in her tongue and abdomen. It be- 
gins in the tongue and passes downwards, as ' if it 
were on fire.' She has had violent sickness more than 
once. Her' pupil acts, and there is fair knee-jump ; no 
tabetic pains. Gnawing sensation in the bottom of stomach., 
and slowness in micturition." 

The following are some additional particulars as to her 
symptoms and present state. 

Miss M says that she feels a sort of throbbing 

in her eyes for a day or two before her attacks. Then 
neuralgia attacks her forehead — not hemicrania, but across 
her forehead. After this she loses her sight. She con- 
siders herself perfectly well except for her eyes. Can see 
-^Q%. She feels the cold very much, and has had chilblains. 

What she terms '* loss of sight " involves being in a deep 
fog so that she could not count fingers. If it is lamplight 
she is in a yellow fog. More than two years ago she 
found in her drawing that she could not see so well as 
formerly. The eye had failed rather rapidly. She went 

into the G-erman Hospital in 1896, imder Dr. J , and 

had two months' mercurial treatment without result. 

She is now 36, and her attack of keratitis was at the 
age of 18. When she had recovered from it she could 
see to do anything with E. until two years ago; read, 
paint, draw, and sew. The eye then failed rather suddenly. 
Her left eye oscillates. There is much thinning in the 
ciliary region in the left eyeball and elongation of globe 
from this region, the anterior chamber being very deep. 
She has no perception of light with this eye. She had an 
operation for her cataract at 21 (Mr. B ). She describes 



' IN ASSOCIATION WITH INHEEITED SYPHILIS. 41 

three needle operations, and says that it was done for appear- 
ance sake only. 

On October 14, 1897, I examined Miss M 's left eye 

with the ophthalmoscope. The pupil had dilated well. 
There were numerous small films in the vitreous, and a 
single small opacity at posterior pole of lens. It was not, 
however, difficult to see the fundus. The choroid was 
everywhere thin and pale, and showed a few small well- 
margined spots of absorption near the macula. Near the 
periphery, on the outer side, was a very irregular area 
covered with coaJ -black pigment. The disc itself was pale 
and waxy-looking. Its margins were indistinct, appearing 
to merge gradually into the surrounding parts. The central 
vessels were very small and indistinct, the artery being 
reduced to a mere thread. 

Nervous phenomena in a subject of Inherited Syphilis, 

The following description of a nervous attack was re- 
ceived from a young man who was the subject of inherited 
syphilis, and in whom extensive choroidal and retinal 
changes were present. He had consulted me respecting 
his eyes, and mentioned that he had had two of what 
he called " seizures," attended by failure of sight. I did 
not feel sure that there were any aggressive or degenerative 
changes going on in his eyes. One eye had been for years 
quite disabled. 

In both eyes keratitis had occurred some years ago, and 
in both the periphery of the fundus showed many small 
patches of denudation with pigmented borders. Nearer 
to the centre, however, there were many whitish, ill-defined 
patches which might represent recent deposits. He did 
not think that his sight was worse than it had been for two 
years past. He had been treated before I saw him on 
the diagnosis of acquired syphilis, but he assured me that 
he had had intercourse only three times in his life, and had 
never had any local disease. I found no indication of 
acquired disease, and those of inherited were indisputable. 
The day after the consultation he wrote me as follows : 
** I left your house yesterday and came here. I in- 



42 ON THE SO-CALLED EETINAL EPILEPSY. 

tended to make my preparations for going home this 
morning, but was taken very strange through the night, 
sickness and trembling in every part of my body, which 
lasted a good part of night ; and to-day I am like one 
stupefied, and have not proper control of my legs, and cold 
shivers passing through my limbs and body. This is the 
third attack I have had like this. It appears like a form of 
paralysis ; it starts from the forehead and around the heart, 
and like as if I am passing out of the world.** 

Although the attacks described occurred to a man in whom 
syphilitic degenerative processes were present, yet we naust 
not hastily assume that such were really the cause of them. 
The patient was a young man at an age at which the 
sexual system often exercises a great disturbing influence 
on the health. He himself suspected this connection, 
alleging that he was liable to frequent escape of semen. 
It may have been the fact that the syphilis had damaged 
his nervous centres, and rendered him liable to suffer more 
than usual from sexual causes. 

The same suggestion, although the patient was of the 

opposite sex, holds good as to the case of Miss M , 

although I confess with less of plausibility. Both patients 
may, however, have been under the influence of mastur- 
bation or other causes of sexual irritability. It has been 
seen that the chaj'acter of the attack, as described in the 
patient's own words, was very similar in the two. 

Hereditary Syphilis — History of severe Keratitis at the age 
of fourteen — Liability to attacks of " Retinal Epilepsy '* 
at the age of twenty, 

Ellen D , set. 20. I had attended one of her brothers 

who suffered severely from inherited syphilis. She had 
been under Mr. Critchett's care six years ago for ** a dulness 
over the eyes *' ; the ** dulness ** being visible to her mother. 
The affection lasted, more or less, for probably two or three 
years, and was, no doubt, an attack of syphilitic keratitis. 
She now sees J. 1 with each eye easily. Ophthalmo- 
scopic examination (after atropine) shows nothing ab- 
normal. For about two years she has been liable to 



IN ASSOCIATION WITH INHERITED SYPHILIS. 43 

curious nervous attacks, during which she becomes quite 
blind for about ten minutes. Generally the blindness is 
the only symptom, but sometimes (two or three times) she 
has been giddy, faint, and felt ** numb and cold, and 
trembling,'* but she never actually fell, or became uncon- 
scious. She would fall unless she rested against things. 

I regret that my notes of this important case were taken 
hurriedly, and in only a fragmentary manner. It will be 
observed that temporary attacks of blindness occurred in 
eyes which enjoyed almost perfect vision and showed no 
changes. 

Secondary changes in the Eye after Keratitis — Liability to 

attacks of Epileptic Hemiopia, 

The following note concerns a lady, now aged thirty- 
three, whom I had attended at the age of seventeen for 
exceedingly severe interstitial keratitis. 

" She complains of being liable to attacks of dimness before 
the left eye. They last a few minutes or half an hour. If 
both eyes are open she has an uncomfortable feeling before 
her right, and then on shutting the right finds that she 
cannot see with the other. She describes an imperfect 
hemiopia. She does not see distinctly on her left side. 
The disc of L. is decidedly pale, and its vessels small. It 
is seen through a certain amount of haze from opacities on 
the lens. The other disc is seen brightly, and is of good 
tint." 

Pains in Boiies, d-c. — Doubtful diagnosis of Congenital 
Syphilis — History of attacks of sudden and quite 
temporary Deafness — Auditory Nerve Epilepsy. 

Miss S , aged 26, came to me in May, 1887, on 

account of pain in the right arm of over two years' duration, 
and for which she had seen several medical men. There 
were no physiognomal signs of syphilis. Her mother said that 
she had been a delicate baby and had bad snufifies. At the 
age of one year an abscess had formed in the thigh. At the 
age of two, a swelling developed below the knee and the foot 



44 ON THE SO;CALLED RETINAL EPILEPSY. 

dragged. She had been treated also for thickening of the 
bones of the legs. Two years before I saw her she had had 
a bad illness, with pain in. the head. I dilated the pupils 
with atropine, but found no choroiditis. Her mother said 
that although she complained much of the pain she was 
quite able to throw it aside. Her younger sister had 
had inflammation of the eyes when a year old. There had 
been several ihiscarriages between the two. This sister 
had also suffered from neuralgia and a peculiar form of 
deafness. It would come on very suddenly, and at times 
she would become ** stone-deaf *' during a drive, and then 
the hearing would return suddenly. One ear was worse 
than the other. The father was gouty. 

Comments. — ^Although in this case the diagnosis is not 
fully established, I yet think it highly probable that both the 
patients were really syphilitic. I am induced to record it on 
account of the parallel which the attacks of temporary deaf- 
ness afforjl to those of so-called ** epilepsy of the retina.'* 



ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC 

GLANDS. 

(Continued from Vol. VIII., p. 294.) 

The starting-point for almost all forms of gland disease is 
probably to be found on the surface either of skin or mucous 
membranes. Scarcely ever is the gland affection really 
primary. Yet in a large majority of the infective forms no 
primary source of irritation is to be found. This is true 
even of the more malignant forms. Two explanations may 
probably be offered of this fact. First, that in almost all 
the primary sources of irritation the condition is one only 
of non-specific inflammatory action, which may pass away 
and leave no trace, and next that it is not infrequent for 
the glands to have received their infection at a long period 
prior to the manifestation of disease in them. Both these 
hypotheses are fully supported by facts. It is very common 
to be told of a transitory sore throat as having preceded 
gland disease which proves persistent and infective. It is 
also very common to learn that a gland has been in a quiet 
state of enlargement many years before any aggressive 
development. Some change in the mode of growth — as 
inexplicable as that which occurs when leucoma on the 
tongue passes into epithelial cancer — takes place, and at 
once that which was hitherto purely local and quite quiescent 
becomes infective and generates a plasma which will produce 
its like in all structures of a similar character to its own. If 
the infection has started from the mouth, nose, or throat, 
and the cervical glands have been first affected, it will spread 
downwards on the neck, thence to thorax, taking the axilla 
in its way ; from the thorax, through the abdomen in the 



46 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

chain of glands clinging to the great vessels, and so from 
the pelvis out under Poupart's ligament to the glands in th.e 
groin. The whole affair is one of infection in continuity of 
structures ; and if the source of irritation have been on one of 
the lower limbs or in the pelvis, the infection will travel in 
the opposite direction, and the neck be the last to suffer. 
According to the pre-existing proclivities of the individual 
will be the precise histological character of the growth. If 
the tuberculous tendency be strong, crude tubercle may restdt 
and suppuration may follow, with the beneficial sequel of 
arrest of the infectious process. If, on the other hand, the 
scrofulous proclivity be but moderate, we may then have the 
chronic inflammatory hypertrophy, without obvious tuber- 
cular deposits and without the tendency to suppuration, 
which characterises Hodgkin's disease or lymph-adenoma. 
Although tubercle may not be demonstrable, no clinicist can 
doubt that lymph-adenoma is essentially scrofulous. If the 
patient's inherited proclivities be towards cancer rather than 
tubercle, he may then become the subject of one of several 
modifications of lympho-sarcoma. In some cases an enormous 
local growth may develope with tendency to inflame and 
suppurate, and there may be little evidence of spreading- 
to more distant parts. In others, the original gland mass 
may remain but slightly developed and quite free from 
irritation, whilst other growths are being produced in distant 
glands or even in cellular tissue and skin. The ability to 
leave the glandular system and to grow in the subcutaneous 
cellular tissue, or even in the skin itself, which is witnessed 
in these cases and constitutes their characteristic feature, 
although very rare in lymph-adenoma, is not wholly un- 
known in it. I have in more than one instance seen growths 
in regions where no glands exist. Probably in all these cases 
the infection takes place in lymph channels instead of in 
glands, and thus their peculiarity is not so great as at first 
it appears. 

The case with which I concluded the last part of my Eeport 
was one in which inflamed toe-nails caused enlargement of 
the glands in Scarpa's triangle, which was quickly followed 
by infection of the pelvic glands and by a very malignant form 



MALIGNANT DISEASE FOLLOWING INFLAMMATION. 4Y 

of lymph-adenoma. The patient, previously a strong, healthy 
man, was dead within twelve months of the first injuring 
of his toe-nails. The case is of great value as giving support 
to one of the chief propositions with which I set out, namely,, 
that as regards their initial stages no distinction is to be drawn 
between inflammatory and malignant affections ; or, in other 
words, that the cancerous process is only a modification of 
that of inflammation. The case which I have now to adduce is 
perhaps a yet stronger fact in the same phalanx. In connection 
with a diseased tooth, a gland became enlarged ; it remained 
quiet but swollen for ten years, and then began to grow. A 
rapid sequence of lymph-adenoina and secondary sarcoma 
of the skin was the result. 

Case XXVII. — Enlarged Gland in the Neck secondary to 
inflammation in the mouth — Quiet condition for ten 
years — Sudden development of infective qualities — 
History of Cancer in family. 

In the following remarkable case we have an inflamma- 
tory process appearing to be the exciting cause of a malignant 
one, as in the case already recorded at page 293, Vol. VIII. 

The history was as follows. Ten years ago, in connection 
with a decayed and painful tooth, a gland enlarged imder the 
angle of the jaw on the right side of neck. It gave no trouble 
for seven or eight years, when it began to increase in size 
and to be more or less tender. From this other glands in 
the same side of neck enlarged, and then some on the other 
side and in both armpits. 

His mother's sister had died with cancer in liver, aet. 66. 
Before her death she was covered with secondary growths in 
skin. No history of tuberculosis in family. 

"When Mr. H was brought to me (by Dr. Douglas^ 

of Newbury), he presented some very pecuHar conditions. 
The mass of glands in the right side of his neck was of con- 
siderable size, and extended from the angle of the jaw to the 
clavicle. There was a considerable fulness under the clavicle, 
evidently due to glands concealed by the great pectoral 
muscle, and from these a chain passed down into the armpit. 



48 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

On the opposite side the conditions were similar, but the 
gland masses were not so large. On both there were some 
enlarged veins coursing over the clavicular regions. The 
aflfected glands were for the most part of almost stony haa-d- 
ness, and they adhered to each other and to the surrounding 
tissues, but there was no tendency to inflame or suppurate. 
Over the larger glands were a few very small, hard, movable 
lumps, not bigger than currants. The most curious feature 
was, however, the condition of the skin. It did not adhere to 
the glands, but presented a considerable area of isolated little 
patches of infiltration. These were quite movable with the 
skin — indeed, almost superficial in it — and they were attended 
by a slight blush of congestion. They were exactly like what 
we often see when the skin is affected at a little distance from 
a scirrhus of the breast. One of these patches, flattened 
and thin, occurred just over the upper part of the sternum. 
It would not have been noticed by the eye, but was distinctly 
perceptible to the finger. I had no doubt that these skin 
patches were due to secondary infection from the glands. 
They showed a tendency, though as yet on a small scale, to 
the production of the en cuirasse condition. 

Nothing definite could be proved as to the presence of 
gland disease in the chest. The patient had a certain amount 
of difiiculty of breathing in exertion, and the breath sounds 
were very feeble on the right side. Judging from the con- 
ditions elsewhere, it was exceedingly probable that the 
mediastinal glands were involved. There was as yet no 
afifection of the inguinal glands. 

It will be observed that the secondary infiltration of the 
skin occurred only in proximity to the affected glands. 
There was no tendency to generalised production of skin 
cancer. 

The important fact that one of the patient's aunts had died 
with her skin covered with nodules of cancer might very 
nearly have escaped record. The patient himself did not 
know of it, and, as is not unusual, strongly denied that 
any relative of his had ever suffered from cancer ; his 
surgeon, however, was better acquainted with the family 
history. 



MALIGNANT LYMPH-ADENOMA. 49 

Case XXVIII. ^Fery large Lympk-adenomatous Tummirs 
rapidly developed in an elderly man — No hereditary 

history. 

Amongst the patients who attended my Demonstration on 
November 24, 1896, was a man aged 66, who had been sent 
by Dr. Stocker, of Forest Gate, with large glandular masses 
in his neck. On the right side there were two chief masses, 



each made up of distinct glands which had adhered together. 
The lower mass completely concealed the clavicle. The skin 
over them did not adhere, but it was somewhat reddened. 
The congestion of the skin, attended by slight thickening, 
extended in a large and definitely bounded area upon the 
chest and over the upper parts of Bteruum. There were 
enlarged glands in the right axilla and also in the left side of 
the neck. In both positione they were non-adherent. The 

VOL. IX. 4 



60 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

patient, a very intelligent man, was very weak and ill, but 
had no enlargement of the spleen and no indications of 
leucocythemia. He said that he knew of no history of 
either tubercle or cancer in his relatives. He thought that 
he had first observed the enlarged glands on the right side 
about a year ago, and those on the left soon afterwards. 
They were increasing rapidly, and with some pain. I could 
see no indications of primary disease in the mouth, nose, or 
throat. He had formerly suffered from nose-bleeding, and 
had had an attack of hemiplegia. The accompanying wood- 
cut illustrates this case. 

The large size and rapid growth of the gland tumours in 
this case induced a strong suspicion that they must be of a 
malignant nature, and secondary to some central growth in 
the nasal passages or sphenoid cells. There was, however, 
no evidence of the existence of such, and the fact that the 
axillary glands were also implicated showed that the malady 
was conforming to the type of acute lymph-adenoma. I 
wish to ask special attention to the congestion and slight 
infiltration of the adjacent skin, which was exactly like whq^t 
is so often seen in cancer of the breast, and is introductory to 
what is known as scirrhus en cuirasse. The same condition, 
but in a yet more definite stage, was present in the preceding 
case. 

Case XXIX. — Lymph-adenoma Tumour in the Neck — Ex- 
cision — Subsequent development of sarcomatous growths 
in the subcutaneous cellular tissue of various parts, 

I have recorded at page 208, Vol. VIII., the case of a 
medical man past middle age in whom, secondary to a gland 
tumour in the neck, a great number of growths were pro- 
duced in the subcutaneous cellular tissue. Death occurred 
about three years after the beginning of the illness. 

There is at present in the Cleveland Street Sick Asylum a 
man whose case is almost an exact counterpart of his. 
Through the courtesy of Mr. Hopkins, the medical super- 
intendent, I have several times presented this patient to my 
clinical class. He is about fifty years of age. His first 
ailment was a gland mass in the right side of his neck. 



MALIGNANT LYMPH- ADENOMA. 51 

This attained a considerable size, and presented, as he 
describes, a congeries of firm but loose glands when it 
was excised at Charing Cross Hospital. His neck shows 
a very long scar left by the operation, which must have 
been an extensive one. This was now three years ago. 
My friend Dr. Abercrombie, physician to Charing Cross, 
has kindly taken much trouble in the endeavour to find for 
me the description of the tumour and its microscopic ex- 
amination, but without success. The wound healed well, 
and there has been no extensive recurrence in the neck. 
All that is now present are a few loose glands as big as grapes 
under the scar. They show no tendency to grow. There 
are a few small, hard glands in the other side of the neck, 
and some in other positions, but none of large size. In the 
subcutaneous cellular tissues, however, all over the trunk, 
hard, isolated growths have occurred, and there are some 
also in the abdomen. Very slowly the man's strength has 
failed, and he is now confined to his bed. When I last saw 
him, in the early part of December, he had drooping of one 
eyelid, an indication not improbably of some growth implica- 
ting the third nerve. There can be little doubt that he is 
the subject of generalised sarcoma, but it began in glands. 

(To be concluded,) 



ON CEETAIN FOEMS OF PSOEIASIS-ECZEMA 
CHIEFLY AFFECTING THE HANDS AND FEET. 

Severe crippling of the Hands from Psoriasis-Eczema — 
An acute attack of General Dermatitis — Partial 
recovery — Death from Cancer of CEsophagus after 
having taken much Arsenic, 

I saw at Bamet, with my friend Dr. Thyne, an old gentle- 
man named C , who had been for many years a sufferer 

from an almost universal form of dermatitis. He was 70 
years of age, and had quite recently become the subject of a 
stricture of the oesophagus which was probably malignant. 
I was told that I had myself seen him for his skin disease 
many years ago, and that it had then been called " psoriasis." 
It was believed that he had in former years taken a good 
deal of arsenic. He said that he had never been quite free 
from the skin affection since it had first attacked him ; but 
it had varied a good deal at different times. He had been 
liable to what he described as severe attacks of it, during 
which his hands had become especially severely affected. 
Dr. Thyne told me that during one of these attacks, about 
two years ago, the whole surface had been affected, and that 
he had been at a loss whether to call it ** diffuse eczema " or 
"pityriasis rubra." The term eczema seemed justified by 
the fact that there was moist discharge which stiffened 
his bed-linen. When the more severe attacks subsided 
there was always very profuse desquamation, so that his 
bed every morning would be full of scales. During the 

attack to which Dr. Thyne referred, Mr. C had been 

so ill that it was feared he would die. I found Mr. C , 

at the time of my visit, confined to his bed by debility 
and much emaciated. He had retired from business fifteen 



HANDS CRIPPLED BY PSORIASIS. 53 

years before on account of the state of his skin and especi- 
ally of the disablement of his hands. During the greater 
part of that time he had been unable to use his hands 
for any purpose. They had been constantly affected by a 
diflfuse exfoliating dermatitis, under which the fingers had 
wasted and become much distorted. The digits were as thin 
as they could possibly be — ^mere skin and bone, and the skin 
atrophied and covered with dry flakes of peeling epidermis. 
The digits were bent backwards at the metacarpo-phalangeal 
joints, and forwards at all the others, giving them a claw-lik$ 
appearance. The nails were somewhat thickened and rugged, 
but there was no large accumulation of epidermis imder 
them. 

Mr. C *s face, at the time I saw him, was scarcely 

affected, and he was florid and of a thin transparent skin. 
He retained his hair, which was white. So far as anything 
was shown in his countenance he might have been supposed 
to be a healthy old man. He told me, however, that his 
face had often suffered with the rest of his skin, and I found 
a good deal of scaly accumulation over the whole of his scalp 
at the roots of his hair. He had a clean, red, and somewhat 
glazy tongue. Over the whole of his body and lower ex- 
tremities the skin was atrophied, very dry, and covered with 
peeling flakes, a condition suggestive of diffuse psoriasis. 

My visit to Mr. C at his own house was on March 2, 

1893. On returning home I was fortunate enough to be able 
to find my original notes of his case, Sept. 23, 1876. I 
had then diagnosed his disease as ''a pecuhar form of 
psoriasis,'* and had written against my notes ** an important 
case." The following is almost a verbatim transcript of my 
notes : — 

" Mr. C , aged 53, was sent to me by Mr. Crowfoot of 

Beccles. He has recently been for some time under Mr. 
Naylor's treatment, and has just returned from a long stay at 
Harrogate without any benefit. He is in excellent health, 
and tells me that he never needed a surgeon until the last 
two years. In boyhood he had no skin disease whatever, and 
his present affection began only two years ago. It com- 
menced in the palms of his hands. He has taken much 



64 ON CERTAIN FORMS OP PSORIASIS-ECZEMA. 

arsenic, and it has not disagreed in any way. He is covered 
with scaly, peeling inflamed patches, which are located with 
accurate symmetry. Both his hands are very severely 
affected. The patches on them are abruptly margined. 
There is considerable contraction in the skin of the palras. 
The eruption occurs both on his elbows and legs ; but there 
are no spots on the fronts of his knees. On the legs the 
patches are large, ill-margined, all of them eczematous, but 
never actually moist. His trunk, with the exception of tlie 
buttocks, is exempt. His nails are severely affected, being 
rough and thickened. Their disease appears to begin at the 
lunula and not, as in true psoriasis, at their free edges ; 
indeed, some of the nails have fallen and grown again. On 
his hands cracks are liable to occur.*' 

Although Mr. C believed that he had been taking 

arsenic under Mr. Nailor for two years, I could yet see 
nothing more hopeful for him than to prescribe it in a fresh 
combination. I accordingly ordered Pearson's Solution in 
m. xii doses. A month later I saw him again. He was then 
worse, his fingers more contracted and talon-like, red, tender, 
tense, and covered with scales. His hands were quite useless, 
and he was in a most distressing condition ; * the backs of 
his fingers solid, but not the backs of the hands. He told 
me that in boyhood he had a dry skin, but that of late he had 
perspired profusely. He believed that his mother, an old 
woman of 80, had two or three dry patches on her skin ; and 
one of his sons had once had a few patches. The condition 
of his feet was similar to that of his hands, but they were 
much less severely affected. 

It will be seen that this case belongs to the group in which 
eczema-psoriasis begins on the hands, and continues through- 
out to affect them with excessive severity. Of this I have 
not seen many examples; but a few very definite ones. 

Miss C 's case is probably one of the same group, and 

another is Mrs. , who was temporarily cured by opium 

(see Clinical Society Transactions and Atlas Plate XXII.). 
I have also preserved a portrait in the collection of the College 

* I have written against my description of his hands, " I have never seen 
hands so bad." 



CONGENITAL ICHTHYOSIS OP HANDS AND FEET. 55 

Of Surgeons, which shows a very severe and disabling form 
of psoriasis of the hands. Most of these cases were hable to 
very severe exacerbations, and in several attacks of universal 
dermatitis occurred much resembUng pityriasis rubra. These 
attacks equally merit the name of " diflfase eczema/' They 
differ in no respect from those seen in the workhouse 
epidemics. It does not seem very probable that the con- 
traction and crippling of the hands was in any way due to 
arsenic, but this is a possibility which must at any rate be 
kept in mind. Not long after my visit the patient died, his 
death being caused by the malignant stricture of his oeso- 
phagus. We have here another instance of cancer in a 
patient who had taken much arsenic. 

• 

Congenital Ichthyosis limited to the Palms and Soles occur- 
ring in many members of the same family in several 
generations. 

On Oct. 31, 1877, Mr. Tay showed me at the hospital an 
exceedingly interesting series of cases of hereditary ichthyosis 
of the hands and feet. The mother, a woman of near 40 and 
in excellent health, was herself the subject of it, and she 
brought her infant and two boys, all of whom had exactly 
the same conditions. In all of them the whole palm and the 
palmar aspects of all the fingers were affected. The condi- 
tion was uniform, not in patches, and the epidermis was 
accumulated in thick, rough layers of a yellowish colour, 
which were crossed by the natural creases, the latter being 
much deepened. The parts were not sore, and there were no 
fissures, but the thickness of the crusts interfered with 
pliancy of the hands, and the mother said that in herself it 
quite prevented doing needlework. The condition ceased 
abruptly where the palm joins in the wrists. The backs of 
the hands were free, but on the fingers over the last two 
phalanges and about the nail roots there were thin scales. 
The hands of all four patients were exactly aUke, and we 
were told that the feet were, so also. In all it had been 
present at birth, and no alteration had been observed subse- 
quently. In none was there any skin disease of other parts, 



I 



66 ON CEBTAIN FORMS OF PSORIASIS-ECZEMA. 

and in none was there the slightest tendency to general 
ichthyosis. 

The condition was known to have occurred in four previous 
generations, and in several families three or four individuals 
had been affected. 

In the facts as regards inheritance and in the circumstance 
that it affected several members of a family and was present 
at birth, this malady fits with what we know of ichthyosis 
and differs from what is usual in psoriasis. There can be 
little doubt that its real affinities are with ichthyosis. Yet the 
entire exemption of all the rest of the skin is remarkable. 
There was no evidence that ichthyosis had ever occurred in 
relatives. 

Case of Psoriasis {Qy. Ichthyosis) limited to the Palms and 

Soles in a boy, 

I brought before my class at the London Hospital, at the 
same time that this group of cases attended, a boy who was 
then in the hospital on account of another disease, but 
whose palms and soles were in almost the same condition. 
He was about nine years old, and asserted that the condition 
had been developed only recently. This was perhaps doubt- 
ful. In him the condition was limited to the palms and 
soles, with the exception that the tip of each elbow showed 
an ill-defined scaly patch. These patches on the elbows were 
not exactly like those of psoriasis, because there was no 
thickening and no abrupt borders, only a sUght desquama- 
tion. Still, their position was probably sufficient to denote 
an alliance with psoriasis. 

In some minor features the conditions differed from those 
present in the cases just described. Thus on the backs of 
the hands and fingers there were separate scaly patches over 
all the knuckles and over all the phalangeal joints. The 
skin over the phalangeal bones and that over the backs of 
the hands was quite free. These patches were like those 
on the elbows, without thickening or congestion, being 
simply scaly. In the palms there was much less of epidermic 
accumulation than in the other cases, but just as in them the 
entire palmar aspect from finger-tips to beginning of wrist 



ECZEMA OF PALMS AND SOLES. 57 

was uniformly involved, and there was no tendency to cracks 
or fissures. He was in fair health, and there was no history 
of importance. 

A reason for calling this psoriasis rather than ichthyosis iis 
that it was (as is asserted) not present at birth. Another is 
the existence of the elbow patches. Yet the close similarity 
in the conditions to those present in the congenital cases is 
most remarkable. 

Case of severe dry Eczema of Palms and Soles only after general 
Eczema in childhood — Influence of local causes. 

A robust sailor, aged 24, who came to the Skin Hospital in 
October, 1875, presented an example of severe Ary eczema of 
the palms and soles. The entire palms and the palmar 
aspect of all the fingers were dry, hard, red, and fissured. 
In front of some of the finger joints the skin was raised and 
so hardened as to prevent complete extension of the fingers. 
There was no tendency to the formation of patches, and the 
peeling was in irregular flakes. On the soles the same con- 
ditions were present, but much less severely. The dorsal 
surfaces were not affected, nor did the nails suffer. 

The question arose as to whether the condition should be 
regarded as a dry eczema or as xerodermia. The man said 
that in boyhood his skin had been dry and rough all over, 
but this state had now wholly passed away, and his skin was 
quite supple in all parts excepting the palms and soles. 

In favour of its alliance with eczema were the facts that 
he had been told by his mother that in infancy his head was 
broken out very badly for a long time and that he had scabs 
over him, and that he is still at times liable to an eruption 
on his cheeks which is ** watery.*' 

He suffers very much from his hands when at sea, in con- 
sequence of large, deep cracks forming. This is especially 
the case when exposed to wet and cold. His feet also 
become worse if he goes about in the wet without his shoes 
and stockings. 

It seems, therefore, clear that the eruption is an eczema 
which has become localised by local irritation. Probably the 
effect of the sea air has been good as regards his skin gener- 



58 ON CERTAIN FORMS OF PSORIASIS-ECZEMA. 

ally and has helped to cure the diffuse eczema, but the wet 
and cold handling of ropes, &c., has kept his palms bad. 

He stated spontaneously that whenever he was using fresh 
tar his hands got better. No other application did any good. 
He was almost driven to abandon his occupation. 

Dermatitis of the Hands and Feet — Cure. 

Mrs, S , aged 64, was sent to me by Dr. Martin, of 

Huddersfield. She was in good health, but of a very dark 
bilious complexion, the xanthelasma positions and the parts 
beneath the lower eyelids being extremely dark. In early 
life she had suffered from sick headaches, but not much 
since her marriage. She had twelve living children, and 
her menstruation had ceased comfortably some years ago. 
Above the left inner canthus in the xanthelasma position 
were some little spots and cysts which no doubt showed 
a tendency to that disease. 

Mrs. S consulted me on account of very severe chronic 

inflammation of her palms and soles. This had troubled 
her for eighte^ months, having commenced between the 
toes and next in the palms of her hands. The disease had 
progressed to such an extent as to almost disable the hands, 
and to render walking very painful. The influence of walk- 
ing in aggravating the disease was well shown in the soles of 
the feet. She had a high arch, and the part immediately 
beneath it was consequently quite exempt, and here the skin 
was quite natural. There were painful cracks both in the 
palms and soles. Her nails were not affected, nor was there 
any eruption on her face or head. There were, however, a 
few peeling patches on the backs of the hand, and on the 
legs and forearms there were ill-marked groups of irregular 
spots quite dry and much scratched. During the last week 
or two there had been much tendency to dry eczema in the 
axilla. She had been liable to cramp in her calves before 
the eruption appeared. She had not used her hands for any 
particular purpose or in any manner which would explain 
the location of the disease on them. 

Mrs. S *s case is interesting as an example of chronic 

dermatitis beginning symmetricaUy on the four extremities 



DERMATITIS OF HANDS AND FEET. 59 

without any obvious predisposition, and without exposure to 
any local cause. It shows also the tendency to gradual 
implication, possibly by infection, of other parts of the skin. 
It is similar to some cases which have been claimed as 
having alliance with pityriasis rubra, and showing a 
tendency to terminate in that malady. It is not wholly 
nnlike the remarkable case which I published in the Clinical 
Society's Transactions, in which a remarkable recovery took 
place under the use of opium internally, after all other 
measures had failed. In connection with this latter point I 
am glad to be able to record the interesting results of treat- 
ment, although at the same time I must admit that my 
measures were too complicated to admit of any safe 
inference as to the degree of credit to be assigned to any 

one of the drugs used. In the case of Mrs. F just 

alluded to it was different,, for in her almost all local and 
constitutional remedies had been tried before the opium was 
used. 

Treatment — On March 25, 1890, 1 ordered for Mrs. S 

a mixture containing min. v. of Pearson's solution of arsenic, 
min. iii. of liq. opii sedativus, with a little nux vomica and 
cascara to prevent constipation. She was to use an oint- 
ment containing a little chrysophanic acid with ammonio- 
chloride of mercury in lanolin and lard. She returned to 
her home in Yorkshire, and remained under the care of Dr. 
Martin, her medical attendant. I did not see her for six 
months, and during that time she had steadily continued 
the prescription. She returned to me on October 26, 1890, 
with her skin quite well, but somewhat out of health 
generally. 

(To he continued.) 



ON CANCEE AND THE CANCEEOUS PEOCESS. 

A Cystic and Hcemorrhagic form of Sarcoma commenczng 
in the vagina and spreading with extreme rapidity in 
the cellular tissue of the pelvis and abdominal wall — 
Death within four months from its beginning, 

I saw with Dr. Elam, at New Barnet, in January, 1896, a 
married woman, aged 35, concerning whom I had been told 
that she had some peculiar and very suspicious growths in 
the vagina. Just three months before our consultation an 
operation had been done for the removal of " cysts " or soft 
growths in the vaginal wall, near to the urethra. On this 
occasion two quite distinct tumours, described to me as about 
the size of cherries, had been dissected from the vaginal 
wall. One of them contained ** grumous fluid,*' but the 
other was ** like blood clot in a loose tissue.'* Unfortunately 
no microscopic examination was made, as the portions re- 
moved were accidentally thrown away. The parts healed 
well, but there was soon evidence of return. A florid mass, 
as big as a cherry, would become prolapsed from the upper 
wall of the vagina in the erect position, receding when the 
patient was recumbent. At this time the patient became 
the subject of a very severe eruption, a sort of bullous 
urticaria. This confined her to bed, and for some weeks 
absorbed attention. The general health now failed very 
rapidly, partly from the irritation of the eruption and 
partly from repeated haemorrhages from the growths. 

It was under the circumstances described that I was 

asked to see the case. I found Mrs. C in bed, very 

pale and very thin. She was still covered with the erup- 
tion, but it was said to be fading fast. On exposing the 
vagina the first object attracting attention was a smooth, 




H^MOBRHAGIC SARCOMA. 61 

pale swelling, the size of a half cherry, just to the left of the 
meatus and below it. It was soft, and might have been 
supposed to contain fluid. The mucous membrane over it 
was quite sound. On passing the finger into the vagina 
I found two rows of soft, partially pedunculated growths 
running up from the sides of the urethra, crossing the 
bladder, and almost reaching the cervix uteri. These were 
very soft and much lobulated, and together constituted two 
parallel ridges, each as thick as the thumb. From the lower 
end of the right ridge it was easy to bring down into view 
a mass which looked like a livid pile and at least as large as 
a cherry. The growths did not bleed much on pressure. 
Although very near to the meatus, they did not actually 
involve it. The urine, which easily escaped during the 
examination, was quite clear, and there had never been any 
difficulty in micturition. There was no enlargement of 
glands. On examining the abdomen above, I found in front 
of the bladder and crossing the supra-pubic regions a large, 
soft, cake-like mass as big as an outspread hand. This 
mass was distinctly circumscribed at its sides, but not below, 
as it passed under cover of the pubic bones. It was appa- 
rently in or adherent to the parieties of the abdomen, but 
the skin was quite loose over it. The patient's attention 
had never been drawn to the presence of this growth. 
There were no indications of growths elsewhere. We 
could only advise palliative measures. I did not see the 
patient again, but Dr. Elam was kind enough subsequently 
to furnish me with the following particulars :— 

After the consultation the growth extended, as it had done 
before, with most astonishing rapidity. Only a week before 
the consultation the abdominal wall had been carefully 
examined and nothing found. On January 5th, date of 
consultation, it was very obvious and extended a hand's- 
breadth above the pubes. A week later it was higher than 
the umbilicus, and at the time of death (January 17) it 
nearly reached the epigastrium. It apparently extended 
between the peritoneum and the abdominal wall. The 
growths in the vagina did not increase perceptibly. The 
patient suffered much pain and became rapidly exhausted, 



62 ON CANCEE AND THE CANCEROUS PROCESS. 

and SO sank. Unfortunately no post-mortem could be 
obtained. From the date of the first operation (October 7) 
to that of death (January 17) was little more than three 
months, and the growths removed had been recognised by 
the patient only about six weeks prior to the operation. It 
should be added that Dr. Elam had excised a mucous cyst 
from the vulva four years previously, and on two occasions 
abscesses in the vulva had occurred. 

The patient had lost a maternal aunt from cancer. She 
had been married five years and had borne three children. 

I append a description of the original growths and of the 
operation in Dr. Elam's own words. 

"On October 9th, 1895, I removed two growths from 
vulva ; one she had noticed about one month and the other 
rather longer. There had been profuse haemorrhage from 
both. That in the left labium was smooth on its surface 
except at one point, from which what was apparently a blood 
clot projected. It was freely movable and painless. This 
was clearly encysted and was easily dissected out. The 
other was situated partly in the right labium and partly in the 
vestibule to right of the urethra. It was not well circum- 
scribed, and was bleeding on its surface. It was partly 
cystic and partly made up of large venous spaces. It was 
with difficulty dissected out. The wounds healed in two or 
three weeks. When the growths recurred, then rapidity of 
growth was more remarkable than anything.'* 

Keloid recurring in the Scar of an Excision, 

I have just seen again the young man whose case, as 
illustrating the association of keloid with inherited liability 
to cancer, I have recorded in the Edinburgh Medical 
Journal. His keloid in the first instance developed in his 
vaccination scars, but subsequently it attacked almost every 
abrasion that he received, and at present he has on different 
parts of his limbs more than a dozen separate growths. 
Many years after their first formation a surgeon excised 
one of the vaccination keloids, and subsequently did skin 
grafting to complete the healing. The scar of the excision 
developed a keloid plate far larger than that which had 



AESENICAL CANCER. 63 

preceded it, and in addition the sites of the suture wounds 

and that of the skin graft (in the shoulder) all formed little 

buttons of keloid. It was with this experience to warn me 

tliat I yet felt obliged to advise the excision of a growth on 

the shoulder opposite to that of the vaccinated arm. This 

growth was not smooth and glossy like keloid, but dusky 

and superficially ulcerated. It had formed from some 

abrasion so slight that it had never been noticed, and it 

had become very painful. Its conditions were such that 

I much feared malignant ulceration, more especially as 

raany of the lad's relatives had died of cancer. 

A Case of Arsenical Cancer. 

Dr. Bullock, of Netting Hill, brought to me on October 9th 
a very important example of the evolution of cancer in a man 
who had taken arsenic for long periods. The cancer had 
developed, as was supposed, in the site of a patch of psoriasis 
a little above Poupart's ligament on the right side. When I 
saw the case it was a sore as large as a child's palm, with 
rolled everted borders and a red granulating surface. Portions 
of the edge had been excised and submitted to an expert for 
microscopic examination, with the result that nothing im- 
plying cancerous growth had been discovered. As a con- 
sequence of this verdict, the man had been subjected to a 
long and rather severe treatment on the hypothesis that the 
disease was syphilitic. No benefit had accrued, and in the 
meantime the glands in the adjacent groin had enlarged and 
suppurated. The man denied all history of syphilis, and the 
naked-eye aspect of his ulcer was characteristically that of 
cancer. 

Mr. F thought that it was as much as three years 

since he first noticed that the patch of psoriasis was ulcera- 
ting, but it was only during the last year that it had attracted 
much attention. Quite recently it had spread rapidly, and 
the implication of the glands had been rather sudden and 
attended by much inflammatory swelling. The structures 
around the enlarged and suppurated glands were glued 
together and adhered to the abdominal wall. It was im- 
possible to ascertain whether or not the glands within the 



64 ON CANCER AND THE CANCEROUS PROCESS. 

brim of the pelvis were implicated. The conditions, taken 
altogether, appeared to me to forbid any operation.* 

Mr. F , the patient, was a man of 46, very thin, and 

almost cadaverous looking. He had suffered from psoriasis 
from boyhood. At the age of 14 he had been taken to Mr. 
James Startin, subsequently to Sir Erasmus Wilson, and 
lastly to Mr. Milton. Arsenic had been given by all, and he 
had repeatedly taken it to definite disagreement. His skin 
generally had become dry and of a light brownish tint. The 
palms of his hands had become harsh and dry, but liad 
never developed definite corns. 

* This was exactly what had occurred in my first case of arsenical cancer. 
See Pathological Society Reports, vol. zzzix. p. 352 ; and I may add that the 
appearances of the ulceration were in some respects exactly similar in the 
two cases. 



'DISEASES OF THE NEKVOUS SYSTEM. 

t 

(Contintted from Vol. VIILj p. 378.) 

No. XCVIII. — On subjective Numbness unaccom- 
panied by any demonstrable Ancesthesia. 

This peculiar symptom, one often mentioned by patients,. 

was present in the case of Mr. P , whom I saw several 

times in consultation with the late Dr. Eamskill. Mr. P 

had had syphilis twenty-five years ago, and had for about five 
months been the subject of complete paralysis of the left 
sixth nerve. Not long after the failure of his external rectus 
the skin of his chin on the opposite side became numb. From 
his description, I should judge that the mental branch was 
first affected. By degrees it spread over the whole right half 
of face, including the forehead and side of nose. On October 
lf5th, when the symptom had been present two months, I 
carefully tested by pin-pricking, pulling hairs, &c., and could 
not prove any loss of sensation. He thought that if there 
was any difference he felt his moustache pulled on the right 
side more acutely than on the left. Yet he still insisted that 
the whole right side of face was **numb." He had no " pins, 
and needles,'* but *'a general perception of stiflhess, as if the 
cheek, &c., were of wood or leather." The pupils showed 
nothing peculiar; they were sluggish, but still acted, and 
were of equal size. He had no headache and no other 
symptoms except the two mentioned, of numbness of the 
whole right side of face and paralysis of left external rectus. 
Possibly an exception ought to be made in that he was a 
little hoarse. 

VOL. IX 5 



66 DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

No. XCIX. — Threatened Paraplegia with pupil 
symptoms eleven years after Syphilis — Becoveyy 
under Mercury, 

The following note is of much interest in reference to 
the diagnosis of syphilitic affections of the nervous system, 
and also as to the use of mercury during long periods of 
time. 

A married man, aged 33, was brought to me in April of 
1893. Great anxiety was felt as to his spinal' cord. His 
legs had become weak, so that he was unable to walk 
more than a few yards, and micturition was so feeble and 
uncertain that he was compelled to use the catheter 
habitually, though not quite invariably. He had pain in 
the middle of the back, and there was a girdle of hyper- 
sesthesia around the chest. On one occasion he had had 
retention of urine. His left leg was more weak than the 
other. In both the knee-jerk was exaggerated, but 
especially so in the left. He had suffered from neuralgic 
pains of great severity in his chest — ** fearful pain, as if 
red-hot needles were being pushed in." There had been no 
pain in his limbs. His sexual vigour had almost ceased. 
It was eleven years since his syphilis, and during the 
whole of that period he had been taking iodide of potassium, 
although not quite continuously. His pupils were almost 
motionless, the right very small, the left of normal size. 

My advice was that he should avoid the iodide of 
potassium and take mercury with nux vomica. I did not 
see him again for four years, but he was meanwhile under 
the observation of a very careful surgeon. 

In November, 1897, he called on me for a second time, 
and chiefly to report his cure. His only remaining troubles 
were a certain amount of chronic cystitis and entire loss 
of the sex-function. I made the following note of his 
condition. 

On April 13, 1893, I ordered a pill containing half a 
grain of calomel, a fifth of a grain of opium, and a third of 
extract of nux vomica. These pills he took regularly 
without intermission for two years, and since then less 



RECOVERY FROM PARAPLEGIA. 67 

regularly. He omitted the opium after a time because it 
caused constipation. 

He has steadily improved. Within six months after 
beginning the treatment he was able to disuse the catheter, 
and has never employed it since excepting for washing 
out. For the latter purpose it is still needed. The urine 
still smells badly. The pain in the chest also ceased. He 
now looks robust and well. He can now walk ** as well as 
-ever he did in his life." Has been shooting on the moors. 
His only remaining inconvenience is mucus in his urine, with 
proneness to decomposition. Salol makes the urine dark 
.and removes all odour, but it is very uncertain in its action. 
He is still costive. As a rule he is obliged to go to the 
-closet to relieve his bladder, as he cannot make water 
standing ; sometimes, however, he can pass it without effort 
when standing. He walks well with the eyes shut. 

For the two years whilst taking the pills he never had a 
pain or ache. The pupils are still all but motionless, and 
the right one twice the size of the left. The right dilates a 
little when shaded, the left scarcely moves. They do not 
act in accommodation. He can read easily, and as long as 
he likes. His sexual function is in abeyance, and he never 
attempts intercourse. 

The fallacies as to therapeutics are many, and they are 
by no means absent in this case. That the patient has, 
with certain persisting disabilities, recovered from a very 
threatening group of symptoms is undoubted. It is also 
-certain that during the period of his improvement he was 
taking half a grain of calomel three times a day. We must 
remember that he took also nux vomica and opium, and 
that he abstained from the idiode of potassium which he 
had taken far too freely before. It may be that the latter 
drug had much to do with the loss of sex-function. On the 
other hand it may be the fact that the result simply proves 
the superior efficacy of mercury. 



68 DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

No. C. — Epilepsy after SypJiilis — WJiite Atrophif 
of optic discs — Complete recovery of healthy zvitli 
blindness. 

The following fragment, although disgracefully inconaplete^ 

may be useful for purposes of prognosis. Mr. B , 

aged 42, came to me first in June, 1887. He was blind, 
and had suffered from epileptic seizures. The discs were in 
a state of white atrophy. Twenty years previously he liad 
contracted syphilis. I advised him to continue specifics 
which he was already taking. In May, 1891, I saw him 
again, and advised that mercury should now be given up. 
He had been very busy during the intervening three years,, 
and had had much excitement. His health had, however,, 
been very good, except for an attack of sleeplessness. 
There had been no sign of syphilis for several years. No 
fits had occurred since 1874, except one or two after long 
intervals. Previously he had one, two, or three a day for 
four or five months. Mercury and iodides had effected the 
cure. There was no knee-jerk. There were no pains in 
the legs ; and although they felt tired he could walk well. 
The pulse was very soft. The pupils were rather large and 
fixed, and the eyes diverged. The hearing was good, and 
there was just perception of light. 

No. CI. — Severe Contusions (two occasions) of 07ie 
thumb — Amputation of terminal phalanx, and 
subsequently of the proximal one — Neuralgia and 
contraction of all the digits into thep^ahn — Ampu- 
tation through forearm — Cure. 

The following notes refer to the case which the appended 
woodcut illustrates. I have recently had a report of the 
patient, and am assured that since the amputation through 
the forearm, now five years ago, the man has had no return of 
pain. He has been able to use his stump freely, and has en- 
joyed good health. The question of exaggeration and of feign- 
ing had been freely discussed during the whole course of the 
case. The patient's sex, and the fact that he was a married 



PAINFUL CONTRACTION AFTER INJURY. 69 

man engaged in business and with every motive for avoiding 
"the r6Ie of a valetudinarian, seemed to negative such a 
supposition. In support of it, however, were the entire 
aljsence of lesions of nutrition in the skin and the main- 
tenance of muscular health. The man was himself always 
ready to consent to amputation, but his surgeons were of 
course very unwilling to remove a hand which, except for 
the contraction, appeared perfectly sound. Finally, how- 
ever, this ultima ratio was resorted to with complete success. 



Mr. S . aged 25, who had been married three years, was sent to 

me in February, 1B91, by Dr. Thyne, of High Bamet, for an affection of 
the hand. The condition was the result of two accidents, both nearly 
five years before. At that time he was acting as third mate on board 



ship, and on two occasions, with about one month's interval, he had had 
his thumb end crushed. It never got well, and the whole hand became 
painful. In April, 1888, Dr. Thyne amputated the last phalanx. He 
was subsequently under Dr. Hughlings Jackson at Queen's Square 
Hospital, from the middle of 1BB8 to the end of 1889. Whilst there I 
was invited to see him. The proximal phalanx of his thumb had been 
removed by Mr. Victor Horsley some months after Dr. Thyne's opera- 
tion. When Mr. S — - was sent to me in February, 1891, the fingers 
were bent strongly into the palm, and the wrist was flexed, as firmly as if 
made of wood. They had been in that position tor three years, and any 
attempt to straighten them caused pain. The tendons of the forearm 
did not start forward, and the extensors were not atrophied. The nails 
were grown like claws. There was not the slightest defect of nutrition 
in the skin. Mr. Horsley hEid tried, under ether, to straighten the wrist, 
bnt did not succeed. I was told that Mr. H. had wished to cut the 



70 DISEASES OF THE NEEVOUS SYSTEM. 

posterior roots of the nerves. The patient had a peculiar staring look 
and nervous manner, and I found that he had been an opium eater before 
his accident. He was a bad sleeper. 

On February 26th he complained of pain in the left side of his head. 
There appeared to be hypersesthesia of the skin of the hand and forearfn. 
When it was touched anywhere, however lightly, e,g.^ by pulling a hair^ 
&c., fibrillation was produced in the small muscles of his thumb. Nutri- 
tion of the skin still remained good; and there was no atrophy of t»Iie 
forearm, nor of the small muscles of the hand. The girth of the forearra 
was nine inches, as compared with ten inches in the other limb. In 
March of 1892 Dr. Thyne amputated through the forearm. The neural^a 
and insomnia which had been so troublesome immediately disappeared. 
As already stated, the patient has during the last five years remained 
quite well. 

We have had two other cases recently under notice which 
may suitably be mentioned in connection with the above 
narrative. In one the facts were very similar. A woman 
had had all her fingers amputated in succession on account 
of pain and disability which had followed an injury to one 
of them. She still retained her thumb, but she could make 
no use of it on account of pain. It was not contracted, but 
it was atrophied, and the skin was glossy and shrivelled. 
I advised amputation through the forearm, and this was 
done by my son in the London Hospital. It is only six 
months since the operation, but thus far the stump is quite 
free from irritability. 

In the other case a young woman was sent up from 
Devonshire with her fingers contracted into her palm, much 
as shown in the woodcut, but with the difference that the 
whole hand was much swollen, and covered with excoria- 
tions. It had for long been disabled, and she was desirous 
of amputation. On baring her upper arm I found evidences 
of constriction, there being a deep furrow. She was 
subsequently detected, by an unexpected visit in the night, 
with a cord tied tightly round the arm. After this com- 
plete exposure she desisted from her practices, and before 
she left the hospital she could use the hand well, the oedema 
having to a large extent disappeared. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

(Continued from Vol. VIII. ^ p. 369.) 

No. XCIV. — Lupus Sebaceus occurring as a single 
patch — Its association with family history of 
Tubercle. 

I have recently had under treatment two examples of 
the single-patch form of lupus sebaceus. This disease is 
of course a variant of lupus erythematosus, but with some 
peculiarities. One of these is that it not unfrequently 
remains for a long time, possibly through the whole of 
its duration, a solitary patch. 

In the instance of Miss C , a lady of 40, whose 

brother had died of phthisis, came to me with a patch on one 
cheek the size of a shilling. She thought that it had been 
gradually spreading from a small point which showed itself 
nine years ago. I applied fuming nitric acid very freely 
over its whole surface, and a month later repeated the 
cauterisation to one small spot which did not look healthy. 
It is now four months since the first application and 
nothing remains but a smooth, pale scar. 

In the case of Mrs. T , my patient was an old lady 

of 71. Mrs. T came under my treatment for a well- 
characterised patch of lupus sebaceus in the middle of her 
forehead. It was as large as a shilling, and had been 
present six months or more. I destroyed it with fuming 
nitric acid, and it healed with the florid scar which is 

not unusual. Mrs. T had lost three of her sisters 

in phthisis; and in early life had herself been considered 
delicate on the chest. She had, however, regained good 
health, and had borne fourteen children. She showed no 
signs of delicacy at the time the lupus began. 



72 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

« 

No. XCV. — A somewhat peculiar form of Psoriasis 
of the Nails in association with Psoriasis patches 
on the Scalp. 

Mr. T 's nails are peculiar. In many the sides 

are becoming discolomred and loose from the nail-bed. At 
the free borders this has only proceeded to a very slight 
extent, but under one there is an abruptly margined patch 
of discoloration as big as a threepenny-bit. It is of a 
brownish tint, the border being more discoloured than the 
centre. It is clearly spreading, and is much like the patches 
on his scalp. This patch does not touch the borders of the 
nail, and is easily seen through its trq,nsparent structure. 
Some of the other nails show brownish discoloration 
running in ill-margined streaks. The nails are brittle and 
split up. On the scalp are large scaly patches, as big as the 
palm of the hand, of deep-red congestion and with scaly 
surfaces. They have been present four years. He has only 
noticed the patches under the nails for a few months. He 
has been drinking whisky too freely. 

No. XCVI. — A Comedonous and Spinous form of 
Lichen spreading over the whole trunk and limbs 
of an adult Woman. 

Mrs. H , a lady of about 46, consulted me on Sep- 
tember 3, 1897, at the suggestion of Dr. Blair, of Kew. 
I was told that her eruption had begun in April as a patch 
near right axilla, and that from thence it had spread over the 
whole trunk and limbs. It had never affected the face, but 
was plentiful on nape and to some extent on scalp. It 

was very abundant on back. Mrs. H said that she 

had never before suffered from any eruption, and that her 
skin was usually smooth and quite free from spots. She 
was covered, when I saw her, with small lichen papules, 
many of which were little black comedones, and from some 
of which distinct little sebaceous spines projected. These 
latter could be easily picked out, and the plugs of sebum 
beneath them could be ejected as in those of acne. The 



PIGMENTED STAINS ON ABDOMEN. 73 

eruption was general and diffuse, not being in the least 
arranged in patches. I was, however, assured that in the 
first instance there was a single patch, and that it was from 

this that the spots had spread. Mrs. H was not out of 

health, and the eruption had caused but little inconvenience. 

At my suggestion. Dr. Blair removed some of the little 
sebaceous plugs, and sent them to the Clinical Kesearch 
Association for examination. The report returned was- 
negative. No parasitic elements could be discovered. 

Three weeks after our consultation I heard from Dr. 
Blair that the eruption was receding, more especially on 
the chest near to the parts where it had first appeared. A 
month later the patient was good enough to attend at one 
of my Demonstrations in order to show her very peculiar 
eruption. It. was then still demonstrable on the shoulders 
and some other parts, but in the main it had disappeared, 
and the skin had resumed its healthy condition. No spines 
could then be shown, but there were still some small 
comedones. The face had remained quite free. The 
principal measure of treatment had been the free inunction 
of a weak ammonio-chloride of mercury ointment. 

No. XCYII. — Pigmented stains on the Abdomen of 

a middle-aged woman. 

I recorded some years ago the case of a lady, whom I had 
in the first instance seen with Dr. Buzzard, who had an 
eruption of brown spots over the trunk which had excited 
a suspicion of syphilis, but which persisted unchanged for 
years. She was past middle age, and my diagnosis was, in 
the end, a form of family freckles. I have just seen another 
case which may, I think, be very fairly placed in company 

with it. L — H is a remarkably well-preserved woman 

fifty-eight years of age, but looking like forty. She has lived 
many years in India, and was, indeed, born there. In early 
and middle life her skin was healthy and never gave her any 
trouble. Her complexion is that of a blonde, with brown 
sandy hair. About three years ago, in her bath, she observed 
that she had some dark spots ** like freckles " in groins, but 



74 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

beyond a thought that it was an odd place for freckles she 
gave them no attention. They continued, however, to in- 
crease in size and number, and spread over the whole lower 
part of the abdomen, and she began to imagine that the skin 
felt hot and irritable. She had much advice for them, took 
a long course of arsenic, much iodide of potassium, and was 
also sent to Buxton. No great change resulted. She 
thought it probable that some of the many applications 
which had been made had irritated the patches and made 
them spread. 

When on Sept. 23, 1897, I was consulted, her abdomen 
at its lower part was covered with dark brown, almost black, 
stains. Some in an early stage were not bigger than pins' 
heads, others might have required the end of one*s thumb 
to cover them. . Some were ill-defined, others presented a 
more or less definite ring with a paler centre. None were 
raised or perceptible to touch, but scattered amongst them 
were a few small comedones around which there was staining. 
A few of the stains passed as high as the chest, and under the 
breast on both sides there was an intertrigo patch of slightly 
thickened skin, upon which were many little indolent lichen 
spots with some diffuse yellow-brown discoloration. These 
patches were not actually eczematous, but threatened to 
become so. There were no " freckles " on the face or arms, 
and scarcely any on the back. A few small lichen acne 
spots might, however, be found on the face and shoulders 
on careful inspection. 

L H was not out of health, and although her 

eruption had caused her great annoyance, it had not much 
interfered with her comfort. She inherited gout, and I had 
myself prescribed for one of her sisters for eczema. 

I thought it possible that the arsenic which she had taken 
had deepened the colour of the blotches, but it was certain 
they were not caused by it, nor was there any general pig- 
mentation of the skin. No history of cancer was known 
in the family. 

I prescribed some applications for the submammary inter- 
trigo, and as regards the stains advised that they should 
be let alone. 



PIGMENTATION OF GLANS PENIS. 75 

No. XCYIII. — Aggi^essive Pigment Patches on the 

Glans Penis and Prepuce. 

Repeated references have been made in Akchives to the 
remarkable cases in which pigment staining of an aggressive 
form is occasionally the prelude to malignant growth. In 
most of the cases which I have described the disease was 
placed either on the eyelids or on the lips. I have, how- 
ever, recorded other cases in which the same process occurred 
at the roots of nails and in association with sarcomatous 
growths in the sole of the foot and other parts. I have at 
present under observation a remarkable example of pigmenta- 
tion, of patches on the glans penis and in the scar of a cir- 
cumcision done thirty years ago. The patient is a man of 
64, and the disease has been in progress three years. He 
was in the first instance (two years ago) sent to me in the 
fear that the condition was malignant, but excepting increase 
of pigmentation nothing further has been developed. 

No. XCIX. — Type-Case of Severe TJrticarious Der- 
matitis induced by Food Poisoning, and recur- 
rem^t on the slightest possible provocation. 

The following case may stand as a good example of that 
form of urticaria which occurs suddenly to a person who has 
previously not shown any special proclivities. Such out- 
breaks are probably almost always evoked by dietetic 
poisoning, but they leave the skin susceptible for a con- 
siderable period after the special cause h^s been wholly 
removed. 

Mr. , a robust Scotchman, was sent to me by Mr. 

Drummond, of North Shields, in October, 1897. He had 
suffered from nettlerash for six weeks, and at times most 
severely, although a rigid dietary had been enforced and he 
had taken saline aperients freely. His age was 45, and he 
assured me that until the present attack his skin had never 
shown any irritability whatever. No change of under- 
clothing ever caused him the slightest trouble, nor had he 



76 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

been liable to suffer in any special degree from the bites of 

insects. On the morning that Mr. came to me he had 

been three days in London, and his urticaria had wholly 
left him. I made him strip, and found his skin pale and quite 
free from all traces of irritation. He told me, however, that 
he had often been covered over his limbs and trunk with 
large red wheals, which he described as having been raised 
as thick as his finger. He said that the medical men ^vho 
had seen him had said that they had never seen so severe a 
case. The eruption had not been persistent, and had often 
left him for a few days at a time, but never quite so 
completely as during the last few days that he had been 
in London. He assured me that his underclothing did not 
irritate him in the least, and it appeared quite evident that 
the exciting cause was from within. 

I asked Mr. to tell me in detail how his first attack 

had been developed. He said that he had one night found 
his skin irritable, and had scratched a good deal, and that in 
the morning he had found himself covered with red wheals. 
The next day he saw his doctor, and he had been under 
treatment ever since. *' Had you taken fish for supper ? " 
** Yes, in all probability, for I usually do ; but there had 
been nothing particular. I never take shellfish. A day 
or two before I had eaten mackerel, and this was what 

Dr. D blamed." '*You have been forbidden fish 

since?" ''Yes; I have taken none. I have been put on 
a low diet, and had no salt meat, no stimulants, and no 
beef or mutton. Milk I have taken freely and cocoa, but 
no tea or coffee." "Have you been able to observe that 
any article of food brings it out?" **No; it has come 
without anything to explain it. I have been covered in 
the course of an hour or two without knowing what had 
produced it." *' Has it itched much? " " Oh, yes, intoler- 
ably. I have often been scratching half the night." " Does 
the scratching make it worse?" ** No, it relieves it. I often 
scratch till the blood comes." ** And yet the eruption goes 
away and leaves your skin sound ? " '* Yes, most com- 
pletely ; my skin the next morning often looks as if there 
had been nothing there." 



PLATE LXXVL 



MULTIPLE LUPUS VULGABI8. 



Portrait of a boy the subject of multiple lupus in the eaxly 
stage. For the later stage, after an interval of five years, see 
Plate LXXVII. For further particulars see the description of 
Plates LXVII. and LXVIII. 



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PLATE LXVIL 

MULTIPLE LUPUS VULGARIS. 



Tms portrait shows the earlier stage of the same case as ihat 
depicted in Plate LXVIII., the interval being about five years. 
The patient was a healthy boy, in whom, at the age of about three, 
an acute general eruption occurred, the nature of which was not 
easily recognised. Some of the patches were almost rupial, whilst 
others were lichenoid or pustular. At a later stage, however, many 
of the smaller spots had disappeared, whilst the larger ones had 
extended into patches characteristic of lupus vulgaris. It will be 
seen that the individual patches in Plate LXVIII. are very much 
larger than those in LXVII. 

In Plate LXYII. it will be seen that the whole of the prepnce 
is involved in a lupus patch. In Plate LXVIII. this had been 
removed by excision. A full narrative of this case is given in my 
Harveian lectures on lupus, which will shortly be reprinted. The 
boy when about twelve years old was well grown, and in fair health, 
but was almost covered by huge patches of exfoliative lupus. He 
died, as narrated at page 77, with albuminuria and pulmonary 
disease, probably tubercular, at the age of fourteen. 

Coloured portraits representing the face of the same patient in 
the two different stages of the disease will be found in Plates 
LXXVI. and LXXVn. 



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I L LOST RATIONS 



CONCLUSION OF A EEMARKABLE CASE. 77 

No. CI. — Conclusion of a remarJcable example of 

Midtvple Lupus Vulgaris. 

A case to which I have many times referred as my best 
illustration of multiplicity in the manifestations of lupus 
vulgaris and of the peculiar phenomena which attend its out- 
break has recently ended in the death of the patient. Por- 
traits in illustration of its different stages had been taken and 
are now reproduced (Plates LXXVI. and LXXVll., LXVII. 
and LXVIII.), the originals being preserved in the Museum. 

It is now ten years since Master L , then a healthy 

boy, -developed a general eruption of pustules and lichen 
papules, many of which inflamed and became covered with 
crusts. The diagnosis was in doubt for some time, but after 
a while much of the eruption disappeared, and what remained 
settled down into patches of lupus vulgaris in its exfoliative 
form. These were so numerous and soon became so large 
that it was impossible to subject the poor boy to efficient 
measures of local treatment, and after many trials the 
disease was allowed to run its course, excepting as in- 
fluenced by attention to the general health. Amongst other 
measures, Koch's fluid had a full trial at the time when it 
was in vogue. The patches increased steadily in size, but 
caused but little discomfort. In the end, probably a full 
third of the patient's surface was occupied by them. My 
object in now recurring to the case is to record the fact that 
the boy has died with albuminuria and tubercle of the lung. 
He had enjoyed fair general health until the last six months 
of his life. 



SYPHILIS. 

(Co7itinued from Vol. VII. , p. 177.) 

No. LXXIX. — A peculiar form of Induration in 
Sub-mucous Tissue ten years after a chancre 
near the same site. 

Mr. B contracted syphilis in 1872, followed by palmar 

psoriasis, &c. He was treated with mercury, but not for 
long, and got quite free from symptoms. In May, 1883, 
aged 35, he came to me with a sub-mucous collar, almost as 
hard as bone, in the prepuce, clos6 to the corona, in the middle 
line of the dorsum. There was not the least soreness or 
congestion. The mass was rather deeply placed, as big as 
a horse-bean, but flattened and abruptly margined. It was 
not like a chancre in the absolute absence of congestion, and 

I thought it was a gumma. Mr. B thought it was not 

exactly where the original chancre had been, but was not 
far from it. He admitted repeated recent exposure to 
contagion. The induration subsequently disappeared under 
treatment. 

No. LXXX. — The course of Secondary Syphilis un- 
usual and precisely parallel in two Brothers, 

A very demonstrative illustration of the influence of 
individual idiosyncrasy upon the development of syphilis 
has recently come under my notice. Two brothers con- 
tracted sores from the same woman, and nearly at the same 
date. They consulted me ten months later for a peculiar 
form of eruption which was exactly alike in both. It had 
been modified in both by treatment already adopted, and in 
each it had assumed the type of an urticaria in wheals and 



PLATE LXXVIL 

MULTIPLE LUPUS VULGABIS. 



PoBTRAiT of a boy the subject of multiple lupus in the later 
stage. For the earlier stage see Plate LXXVI. ; and for further 
particulars see the description of Plates LXVII. and LXVIII. 



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PLATE LXVIIL 

MULTIPLE LUPUS VULGABIS. 



This portrait represents the condition of the Lupas patches in 

the boy LI n, who was also the subject of Plate LXVII. A 

comparison of the two Plates shows the extent to which the disease 
has advanced during the four years which had intervened between 
the dates at which they were taken. It will be seen that all the 
patches are much larger in size, and that in some places several 
have coalesced. The prepuce, which in the first Plate is seen to be 
involved in lupus, has in the second been removed by circumcision. 
The Plate is not to be regarded as anything more than a map 
indicating the size of the patches. 



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PECULIARITIES IN A FINGER-CHANCRE. 79 

rings. In both it was wholly free from irritation, and both 
stated that it became much more conspicuous after a warm 
"bath. In both patients the original chancre had, after lasting 
about three weeks, healed and disappeared spontaneously, and 
in both the sore throat had been very slight. In both the 
original eruption had been, I was told, quite different from 
that which now persisted, and was described as a roseola. 
It will be seen that the eruption presented by these two 
men when they came to me in the tenth month of treat- 
ment was precisely that which I have described as occa- 
sionally occurring at that stage, and which is, I think, never 
seen unless mercury has been used. It is by no means 
common, and its development in the two brothers is there- 
fore the more remarkable. 

No. LXXXI. — Primary SypJdlis in Hindoos, 

It is very desirable to collect trustworthy information as 
to racial peculiarities in reference to disease. As such I 
record the following fragment : — - 

I am at present seeing three Hindoos for primary syphilis. 
In all the chancre has been a very large induration. In one 
the sore became phagedaenic after induration and required 
cauterisation. All the three had large tonsils, and in all 
superficial sores showed on their surfaces. 

No. LXXXII. — SypJdlis from a Finger -Chancre 
which was ill characterised in its early stages. 

A surgeon has just been with me who has a chancre on 
the side of his forefinger and is covered with a syphilitic 
eruption. His case presents some features of special interest. 
In the first place, he has, in addition to a considerable mass 
of glands in his armpit, enlargement also of those under the 
clavicle. This is just what happens in infection of the 
lymphatics from cancer of the breast, but I do not remember 
to have seen it before in the axillary bubo of sjrphilis. The 
latter usually restricts itself to one or two isolated glands in 
the armpit itself. The next point is that, although my 
patient is an observant man, he cannot offer the slightest 



80 ' SYPHILIS. 

conjecture as to how he got infected. He says that he 
never recollects any prick or scratch on his finger. He is 
not to any great extent exposed to risk, not seeing many 
syphilitic patients and not doing much midwifery. What 
he first noticed on his finger was a little pustule, which he 
pricked with his scarf pin to let out a small quantity of 
matter. It was somewhat painful from the first, and latterly 
has been very much so. No one of his medical friends to 
whom he showed it would at first admit that it was suspicious, 
and as a consequence he got no treatment until the eruption 
came out, and this was five or six weeks after the first 
observation of the pustule. The sore meanwhile had in- 
flamed, and had come to present a hard, raised margin as far 
round as a sixpence, with an ulcer in the centre. 

No. LXXXIII. — A healthy infant nursed hy a 
syphilitic mother — No contamination — Urticaria 
pigmentosa mistaken for a syphilitic eruption, 

A married lady (Mrs. K ), aged 27, consulted me in 

February, 1892, she being then covered with a syphilitic 
eruption. The disease had not been diagnosed, and no 
treatment had been adopted. I found that she was nursing 
an infant seven months old, and of couVse told her that 
she must at once wean him. A year later she brought the 
infant to me because he had an eruption which she had 
assumed to be syphilitic. I found not the slightest indica- 
tion of S3rphilis, and the spots appeared to be flea-bite 
urticaria. They were said to come out at intervals, now 
on one part and now on another, and were attended by 
excessive irritation. A year later still I heard that the 
child was in good health, but still liable to the eruption, 
which was reported to leave brown stains. His mother 
still held that the child must have suffered from her " blood 
poisoning.'' Three years later the boy was again brought 
to me, the behef being that I should now be forced to 
admit that he was sjrphilitic, as his hair had begun to fall 
off in patches. He was the subject of well-characterised 
alopecia areata. The patches were large, and perfectly 



A SYPHILITIC NURSE. 81 

smooth. There was no history of ringworm, but I was 
told that in an early stage the patches had been scaly. 
The boy showed no indications of syphilis. He had his 
twenty milk teeth, all still quite white, and none showing 
any caries. 

The facets which this case seems to prove are that an 
infant may be nursed by a woman suffering most severely 
from secondary syphilis without receiving from her milk 
any taint and without contracting any chancre on the 
mouth. 



VOL. IX. 



DIET AND THEEAPEUTICS. 

(Continued from Vol. VIIL, p, 384.) 

On the use of Indian Hemp. 

I have of late years used Indian hemp freely for the 
relief of chronic rheumatism, and often with very good 
effect. I fear, however, that it cannot be denied that it is a 
very variable remedy, and that the prescriber is much at the 
mercy of the dispenser. This applies especially to the fluid 
forms, which, imless carefully made up, may easily concen- 
trate into one dose the quantity which should be divided 
into many. For this reason, having been warned by a case 
in which dangerous symptoms occurred, I now never prescribe 
it otherwise than in pills. Even in pills, however, it is 
variable. A patient who had some months before taken the 
extract in grain doses, was made so ill by doses of one-third 
of a grain that he had to keep his bed several days. His 
symptoms were mental confusion and inability to walk 
straight. He did not know what he was saying. He 
persuaded his wife to take three or four of his pills, and 
they had the same effect on her. I have just received the 
following from a patient: "The last prescription you gave 
me with the small pills seems to affect my nerves so much 
that I really cannot take it any longer. It makes me 
tremble all over." The dose in this instance was only a 
third of a grain, with a grain of quinine. 

Another patient wrote : "Your quinine and Indian hemp 
pills quite paralysed my speech when I had taken only four. 
I was very ill, and had to remain in bed some days." In 
this instance the dose was only a third of a grain. 



TREATMENT OF RAYNAUD'S PHENOMENA. 83 

Opium in Baynaud's Disease. 

I have just heard from Dr. Clarke, of Upper Clapton, that 

Mrs. W , whom I saw with him three years ago, when 

she was the subject of Eaynaud's phenomena in a severe 
form, is now ** quite well.'* Small doses of opium have, I 
believe, been the main influence in her recovery. Her case 
is published in the Medical Week. 

The following letter from Dr. Clarke gives more details. 
It was written in reply to one of mine in which I inquired 
whether it could really be said that the patient was 
" cured,'* and also asked him to bring her, if possible, to 
one of my Demonstrations. 

" Nov. 4, 1897. 

" Deab Mr. Hutchinson, — I have deferred writing, hoping to per- 
suade Mrs. W to visit Park Crescent, but in vain, or to bring her 

myself ; thus far my efforts have failed. 

** I consider the case a cure, and so do the patient and her family. 
The fingers have been well for a year at lea^t — no further micJvief at 
those extremities. Feet and toes entirely free; but some six months 
ago (I suspect from over- walking) superficial ulcerations — three or four 
small but deep ulcers — ^formed in the triangular space above the os calcis. 
The pain was most acute, as she described it, exactly like that in the tips 
of her fingers when the disease was active. This was relieved by a 10 
per cent, solution of cocaine, and the ulcers locally treated with boric 
acid lotion and cajrbolic acid, and support by bandaging. The internal 
treatment was solely pulv. opii gr. i. in pill twice or thrice daily. She is 
now qtdte well, only suffering from time to time from dyspepsia, relieved 
by ext : nuc : vom : gr. J ter die in pill. This smts her best." 

A case illustrating the Treatment of Psoriasis — 

Arsenical Zoster. 

I prescribed for a boy aged 14, who was the subject of severe 
and extensive psoriasis, an ointment of chrysophanic acid 
si ad. 5i) and Fowler's solution of arsenic in four-minim 
doses, three times a day. The effect of the ointment was 
to cover him with erythema, which was for some days 
thought to be scarlet fever and which was followed by 
peeling. About a month after taking the arsenic he came 
out in herpes zoster on the left side of the trunk. It was 
well marked, but not a severe attack. As a result of the 
combined influence of the arsenic and of the acute dermatitis 



84 DIET AND THEBAPEUTICS. 

produced by the chrysophanic acid, his skin was at the end 
of a month almost entirely free. His father thought that 
the so-called scarlet fever did it, for after the peeling the 
spots of psoriasis were all gone. It is worthy of note that 
the ointment, although continued afterwards, did not 
irritate again. It was my usual ointment, which twenty 
years ago obtained, I believe, some little reputation in the 
profession as a compound petroleum ointment. When the 
boy was brought to me a month after his first visit he had 
the zoster still out, but with this exception his skin was 
everywhere pale and soft. 

Carbolic Acid as a Topical Bemedy in Lupus 

Erythematosus, 

A lady who recently consulted me for rheumatoid 
arthritis of her knees told me that I had cured her of 
**Batswing Lupus" some years ago. On inspecting her 
face I could find only the faintest traces of scar on the 
nose and cheeks. At first glance, indeed, I did not see that 
there was anything. She told me that she had consulted 
me only once, as she lived at a great distance, but that she 
had continued my treatment for nearly a year. She was 
exceedingly pleased with the result, having been told before 
she saw me that the disease was almost incurable. On 
turning to my notes I found her diagnosis confirmed by a 
brief entry on December 12, 1893: "Mrs. E- — , aged 48. 
Lupus erythematosus spreading symmetrically from the 
nose over both cheeks ; sunburn on the nose the beginning 
of it." I was naturally anxious to know what the measures 
were which I had advised, and a week later at my request 
her husband forwarded to me the prescription with a letter, 
from which I extract : 

**I beg to enclose you the prescription you gave Mrs. E in 

December, 1893, for Batswing lupus, and which, as you saw, entirely 
cured her. She was obliged to continue the use of it for a lengthened 
period, but she was most careful and persistent in doing so ; indeed, 
continued it for some time after the disease appeared to be cured." 

The prescription was for a mixture containing tincture 
of nux vomica with one minim of Pearson's solution of 



ALCOHOL AS AN HYPNOTIC. 85 

arsenic in tincture of « orange-peel. The more important 
measure was, however, the topical use of undiluted carbolic 
acid. The written directions were : ** With a bit of wood 
paint this acid over the edges of the patches once or twice 
a week.*' A boracic acid ointment (a scruple to the ounce) 
had also been given for daily use, and especially after 
applying the acid. 

As regards the use of carbolic acid, I believe that I have 
repeatedly published the opinion that for patients who wish 
to carry out treatment at home and cannot see their 
advisers often, it is by far the safest and most effectual 
form of caustic. Some of the best and most complete cures 
of lupus vulgaris which I have ever seen have been under 
its persevering use. It has also the great recommendation 
of leaving viery healthy and supple scars. It is necessary 
that the patient should be persevering, and make the appli- 
cation freely once or twice a week. In lupus erythematosus, 
of which the present case is an example, I have been less 
commonly successful, but this case is certainly one of the 
best cures of a formidable example of it which I have ever 
witnessed. 

Alcohol as an Hypnotic, 

I was urging very strongly on a man who well knew his 
failing that he should reduce his quantity of whisky. In 
giving a reluctant assent, he remarked: "But, you see, it 
gives me such sound sleep. If I do not take my usual 
allowance at bedtime, I dream dreadfully all night ; but if I 
have had it, why I sleep like a child and never dream at all.** 
** But,** I suggested, ** do you not wake with a dry mouth 
and a headache?** "No,** he said, "I wake as bright as 
possible and enjoy my breakfast.** His assertion on the 
latter point was confirmed by the fact that he had a perfectly 
clean and soft tongue. He had, as he well recognised, been 
on the verge of delirium-tremens more than once, and was 
anxious to amend his mode of life. What made it especially 
difficult for him was that alcohol always seemed at the time 
to suit well, and never gave him any immediate discomfort. 
There are many who are, I believe, in the same position as 



86 DIET AND THERAPEUTICS. 

my patient, and those may be thankful in whom indiscretions 
and excesses are followed by prompt and well-recognised 
penalties. 

Leprosy and Fish-eating in Persia, 

The highlands of Persia are one of the districts which have 
often been quoted as affording an objection to the accept- 
ance of the fish-theory of leprosy. It has been said the 
leprosy prevails there, and that the inhabitants, owing to 
their position, can get no fish. I have before me a reprint, 
from the Geographical Journal, of a paper by Capt. Vaughan 
entitled " Journeys in Persia.*' For my benefit Capt. 
Vaughan has been good enough to add some notes as to 
the diet and food, from which I extract the following : — 

** The chief diseases are — 

** 1. Ophthalmia very common, and probably due to dust 
and glare. The inhabitants attribute it to a diet of dried 
fish and dates. 

'* 2. Skin diseases. 

*' 3. Some form of venereal disease. I saw no true syphilis. 

** 4. Fevers are rare. 

" I do not remember having seen any lepers. The diet of 
the people all over the country consists largely of dried and 
salted fish imported from the Persian Gulf and the Caspian 
Sea." 

Although Capt. Vaughan saw no leprosy, yet the testi- 
mony of others establishes the fact of its occurrence. Pro- 
bably it is not common. Capt. Vaughan's evidence entirely 
overturns the assertion of those who say that fish is not 
obtainable. Clearly it is obtainable, and that in its most 
dangerous state, salted or dried. Very probably it is eaten 
uncooked. 

Zosteriform pigmentation of Skin as a consequence of the 

medicinal employment of Arsenic. 

It has been well established respecting arsenic that it may 
produce diffuse pigmentation of the skin and also that it 
may cause herpes zoster, a malady which affects the areas 
of distribution of individual nerves. I have now to offer a 



ZOSTEEIFOBM PIGMENTATION FEOM ABSENIC. 87 

connecting link between these two different classes of 
phenomena, and to suggest that this remarkable drug 
may produce pigmentation which is not diffuse, but which 
is arranged in streaks like those of herpes. In other words, 
it would appear probable that the pigmentation may be 
caused or permitted by special nerves. Three, if not four, 
cases illustrating this fact have come under my observation, 
but for the present I shall record the details of only one, as 
the facts respecting the others were somewhat less conclusive. 

Mr. S. A. C , a single man aged 44, was sent to me 

from Yorkshire on account of an eruption which was sus- 
pected to be in connection with syphilis, from which he had 
suffered ten years before. When he was stripped, I found that 
his "eruption" consisted only of brown stains, without 
the slightest thickening or surface change. These stains were 
arranged in long streaks curving forward on the sides of 
the chest and abdomen. There were also streaks down the 
inner aspects of the upper arms (in the district of the 
humeral branch of the intercosto-humeral). A long streak 
passed vertically up his back over the vertebral spines. 
The ** eruption ** caused him no inconvenience, and he 
would not have known of its presence if he had not seen 
it. He had no other indications of syphilis, and the history 
of the primary disease was, as I have said, ten years ago. 

The appearance of the stains roused my suspicions as to 
arsenic, and on inquiry I found that he had been taking 
that drug on account of deafness. He was clear in his 
statement that he had no stains before the arsenic was 
given, and that he was in his usual health when he sought 
advice for his hearing. The medicine which was given him 
made him, he said, feel very ill. After taking it for about a 
month he could not sleep, and had difl&culty in walking. He 
was breathless and had much palpitation. It was in October 
that the arsenic was prescribed, and it was left off, I believe, 
in December. If was in February that he came to me for 
the stains, which had then been present six weeks or more. 
The other symptoms of arsenical poisoning had then for the 
most part passed away. There had been no disturbance of 
the nutrition of the skin in his palms or soles. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

{Contimied from Vol. VIIL, p, 288.) 

No. CCLXXXIX. — Frequent recurrence of Hay- 
naud^s Phenomena with Hematuria in an other- 
wise healthy man^ and in connection with 
exposure to cold. 

A somewhat remarkable narrative illustrating the 
paroxysmal form of Eaynaud's malady was given me 

by a gentleman from Lancashire, Mr. B , of T . 

Although looking very well, and accustomed to vigorous 

exercise in hunting, &c., Mr. B told me that he had for 

years been liable to bloody urine if he was exposed to 
unusual cold. During his attacks he became, he said, quite 
blue, and had most severe backache. It was necessary to 
put him to bed and wrap him in blankets, &c. The attacks 
always began by shivering. The backache was often very 
severe. He did not, however, refer the pain to the region of 
the kidneys, but rather to the sacrum. It was, he said, 
always relieved as soon as blood appeared in the urine. 
Some of the attacks had been so severe that he had expected 
to die, and, according to his account, large quantities of 
blood had been passed. Sometimes a paroxysm would occur 
every day for a week, but more usually they were only once 
a week or once a month. They occurred only in winter, 
and he could always trace them to exposure. He had been 
obliged to be most careful as to exposure to risk, and during 
the last year had managed to almost wholly avoid attacks. 
The first attack occurred after a long drive in an open gig 
in very cold weather. Although florid and looking well, Mr. 



BALDNESS IN THE TWO SEXES. 89 

B had a very feeble pulse. He had suffered from 

syphilis many years ago, but had never lived in an ague 
district. 

No. CCXC. — On the relative frequency of Baldness 

in the two sexes. 

 

A distinguished author on skin diseases writes : — 
** Females are more liable to alopecia than are males; their 
susceptibilities are greater, and they are more open to the 
influence of disturbing causes. In one hundred cases, sixty- 
three were females and thirty-seven males." 

Now I cannot but think that theje is a great fallacy in 

this statement of fact, and if so, in the inferences. I do not 

believe that loss of hair depends upon "susceptibilities," or 

that ** disturbing causes " have much to do with it. Nor do 

I believe for a moment that females are more prone than 

males to become bald. The author quoted seems to have 

trusted to his ** statistics " rather than to his common sense. 

The susceptibihties of women lead them to be very sensitive 

as to loss of hair, and they naturally seek help under 

circumstances which a man would probably disregard. A.s 

a rule, indeed, men accept the beginnings of baldness as 

inevitable, or they have something more important to think 

about. Possibly they even do not notice it until some 

friend makes a kind remark. A woman's long hair enables 

her to observe at once if it is falling unduly, and she takes 

alarm and will often assert that she " is losing all her hair " 

at a stage when no one else can see anything peculiar. 

There are, I admit, a few men, mostly young, who are as 

sensitive as women on this matter, but they are fortunately 

exceptional. 

In spite of Sir Erasmus Wilson's statistics, I have no 
hesitation in believing that loss of the scalp hair is really 
far more common amongst men than women. If there 
were as many bald women as there are bald men, wig- 
making would be a very profitable trade. One of the 
reasons, and perhaps the chief, of the frequency of bald- 
ness in men is, that the free growth of sexual hair on the 



90 , MISCELLANEOUS. 

face, and sometimes on the trunk as well, competes with 
that of the scalp. 

No. CCXCI. — Description of the condition of the limb 
many years after detachment of the Upper Epi- 
physis of the Humerus, with great displacement. 

• 

A gentleman of thirty, who consulted me about his right 
shoulder, remarked casually that the left was permanently 
damaged by an unreduced dislocation which had occurred in 
boyhood. He added that his surgeons had at the time 
repeatedly put the bone into place, but that it would not 
remain there and was still out of its socket. I requested 
leave to examine the shoulder, and found that so far from 
there being any hollow under the acromion, there was a 
lump of rather rough bone projecting strongly in front of it 
and almost on its tevel. This bony mass was almost under 
the skin, and was easily seen and felt. It concealed the 
coracoid, and was close to its inner side. It was not difficult 
to recognise in it the upper end of the shaft of the bone 
from which the epiphysis had been detached. Its upper 
surface presented the uneven ridges which are so character- 
istic of that part. On further examination it seemed ahnost 
certain that the epiphysis itself remained in the glenoid 
cavity, and that the upper end of the shaft displaced 
forwards was imited to its front aspect. There was nearly 
an inch and a half of shortening, and although the acromion 
did not project much, there was a hollow behind and at a 
little distance below it. The movements of the joint were 
fairly free, and my patient said that he could do almost any- 
thing with the limb. He could not, however, easily get his 
hand behind him so as to button his braces, and was 
accustomed for this purpose to use his other hand. The 
accident had occurred in the hunting-field at the age of 
fifteen, when the bone had probably attained almost its 
adult length. Had it occurred earlier the shortening would 
probably have been greater. 

I have seen, and have recorded some years ago, several 
examples of detachment of the head of the humerus at the 



DETACHMENT OF EPIPHYSIS. 91 

epiphysal line, but I have never met with an instance of a 
similar displacement to that in the present case. I have 
liad but very few opportunities for ascertaining the state of 
parts long after an unreduced displacement. It is not 
cominon for the displacement to be complete, that is, for 
the surfaces to so leave apposition to each other as to permit 
of overlapping and real shortening. The large size of the 
surfaces involved will easily explain this. When complete 
displacement with shortening does occur, it is probable that 
there is fracture of the end of the shaft as a complication 
of detachment at the epiphysal line. Such it may be sup- 
posed had probably occurred in this instance. If a fragment 
had been broken from the posterior border of the upper end 
of the shaft the kind of displacement which had occurred 
would have been more easy of production, and the difficulty 
encountered in keeping the bone in place more easy to 
understand. 

It is hardly necessary to ask attention to the almost 
complete recovery of the movements of the joint, and con- 
sequently of the usefulness of the limb, in spite of the 
unreduced and very considerable displacement. Injuries 
to the epiphyses of the long bones are often very difficult to 
treat, and in some instances, as in this, it is found impossible 
to keep the bone in the position of perfect reduction. They 
often cause much undeserved loss of reputation to the 
surgeon concerned. It is satisfactory to be able to assure 
parents that however great may be the seeming deformity 
at first, there will be in the end, after the lapse of years, 
almost complete restoration of usefulness. 

No. CCXCII. — Usefulness of the Hand after Anchy- 
losis at Elbow. 

Mr. W , 52, has an anchylosed left elbow (from boy- 
hood), with scars in front of radius and much shortening of 
bones of forearm. Pronation and supination absolutely 
lost, the palm of hand looking downwards. He can do 
almost anything with the hand. 



92 MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCXCIII. — Anchylosis of Patella on inneT Con- 
dyle — Useful limb. 

In Mr. W the left knee has the patella on its inner 

side and there quite fixed. The quadriceps is wasted so 
that I cannot discover it. Yet he has walked well all his 
life on the limb. He can flex it a little. 

No. CCXCIV. — A peculiar form of Lupus resembling 

Psoriasis. 

Mr. W , 8Bt. 52, has a very peculiar form of psoriasis- 
lupus. Some of the patches are exactly like serpiginous 
lupus, others Hke psoriasis. There are none in the psoriasis 
regions. 

No. CCKGY.— Sclerosis of Tongue in a non-smoJcer — 
Syphilis doubtful — Xanthelasma of Eyelids in 
a mother and son. 

Mr. H , aged 50, a stout man in good health. In 

very early life he remembers to have had a small chancre, 
but he does not think that he had secondaries. He took 
medicine for some time. He does not appear to have had 
any reminders. His father had diabetes, and died of heart 
disease and apoplexy set. 56. 

Mr. H has a sclerosed tongue with many little 

abrasions at the sides, and over the whole surface a thin 
** white paint layer." Yet he has not smoked. He has 
been fond of painting, and was accustomed to suck his 
brush constantly. I can find no other local cause, and he 
has not a single stopped tooth nor any artificial ones. He 
habitually uses a gasogene. 

He has xanthelasma in the usual situations, thick 
yellow patches. His mother had them in middle life also. 
Both were very bilious. He has been married twenty 
years, but has no children. Lately has been out of tone ; 
easily tired. Is very thirsty, and often wakes with dry 
tongue. 



THE CIECULATION IN PABALYSED LIMBS. 93 

No. CCXCVI. — On the influence of Paralysis of 
Muscles upon the circulation in the affected 
limbs. 

The influence of motor paralysis upon the circulation of 
the blood and the nutrition of tissues was illustrated in a 
very instructive manner in the case of a man who had been 
twelve months hemiplegic. His hemiplegia had been in 
the first instance complete, but had implicated the muscles 
only, there having never been any degree of anaesthesia. 
At the end of the year he had regained the power of walk- 
ing, but his upper extremity was still to a large extent 
paralysed, and he could not move his fingers in the least. 
All the muscles of his forearm were somewhat wasted, and 
those of his hand yet more so. His fingers were habitually 
curved into his palm, but there was no fixed contraction 
and they could be easily straightened. The difference in 
the strength of the pulse at the two wrists was most 
remarkable. He was a vigorous, well-nourished man, and 
his pulse in the unparalysed arm was full and strong, whilst 
that of the affected one was feeble, soft, and small. The 
capillary circulation of course shared in the peculiarities. 
His hands were of a dusky red tint, cold and flabby. He 
was obliged always to keep a glove on this hand, whilst not 
needing one on the other. In a warm room the hand soon 
became warm and at the same time more florid and less 
dusky. The circulation was much at the mercy of the 
external temperature, for on going into the cold again 
the duskiness and objective coldness soon returned. No 
lesions of nutrition had occurred, nor had there been any 
pain excepting a dull ache when very cold. It is, I 
suppose, to be held that the main influence in causing the 
defective circulation is the loss of functional use on the part 
of the muscles, thus bringing on a large reduction in the 
vis a f route. Some share may perhaps also be due to inter- 
ference with the vaso-motor nerve supply. 



94 MISCEUiAKEOUS. 

No. CCXCVU.— Death of Sterne— Catarrhal Pneti- 

monia during Chronic Phthisis. 

. Laurence Sterne died rather suddenly in lodgings in 
London at the age of 55 (1768). He had been suffering 
from a chest aihnent for several years, and had been sent 
for long periods to the South of France. He was liable to 
attacks of what he termed ''my vile influenza." It w^as 
from one of these that he died — ^no doubt intercurrent 
catarrhal pneumonia. 

No. CCXCVni.— D^a^^ of George II. frmi Rup- 
ture of the Bight Ventricle of the Heart. 

On the 25th of October, 1760, at his palace at Kensington, 
King George 11., without having complained of any previous 
disorder, was found by his domestics expiring in his chamber. 
He had arisen at his usual hour, and said to his attendants, 
that as the weather was fine, he would take a walk into the 
gardens. " In a few minutes after his return, being left alone, 
he was heard to fall upon the floor. The noise bringing his 
attendants into the room, they lifted him into bed, where 
he, with a faint voice, desired that the Princess Amelia 
might be sent for ; but before she could reach the apartment 
he expired. An attempt was made to bleed him, but with- 
out effect. Upon opening the body, the surgeons discovered 
that the right ventricle of the heart was ruptured, and that 
a great quantity of blood had been discharged." The king 
was seventy-seven years of age. 

No. CCXCIX. — Last illness of Lorenzo tJie Magni- 
ficent (Son of II Gotoso). 

Lorenzo the Magnificent, the son of Lorenzo il Gotoso, 
died at the early age of forty-eight. The cause of his death 
is doubtful. He had long suffered from ill-health, and had 
frequently had recourse to the baths of Siena and Porrettana. 
He was, however, looking forward with confidence to the 
enjoyment of rest and literary pursuits when his fatal ilhess 



DEATH OF LOEENZO THE MAGNIFICENT. 95 

seized him. I extract the following from Boscoe*s life of 
laim : — " Politiano describes his disorder as a fever, of all 
otliers the most insidious, proceeding by insensible degrees, 
not like other fevers by the veins and arteries, but attacking 
th.e limbs, the intestines, the nerves, and destropng the very 
principle of life. On the first approach of this dangerous 
complaint he had removed from Florence to his home at 
Careggi, where his moments were enlivened by the society 
of his friends and the respectful attentions of his fellow- 
citizens. For medical advice his chief reliance was upon 
the celebrated Pier Leoni, of Spoleto, whom he had fre- 
quently consulted on the state of his health; but as the 
disorder increased, further assistance was sought for, and 
Ijazaro da Ticino, another physician, arrived at Careggi. It 
seems to be the opinion of Politiano that the advice of 
Ijazaro was too late resorted to ; but if we may judge from 
the nature of the medicine employed by him, he rather 
accelerated than averted the fatal moment. The mixture 
of amalgamated pearls and jewels with the most expensive 
potions might indeed serve to astonish the attendants and to 
screen the ignorance of the physician, but were not likely 
to be attended with any beneficial effect on the patient. 
Whether it was in consequence of this treatment, or from 
the nature of the disorder itself, a sudden and unexpected 
alteration took place, and he sank at once into such a state 
of debihty as totally precluded all hopes of his recovery, and 
left him only the care of preparing to meet his doom in a 
manner consistent with the eminence of his character and 
the general tenor of his life." After this followed the cele- 
brated interview with Savonarola, and others with his son 
and friends. Although no definite diagnosis appears to have 
been arrived at, it is clear the symptoms were held to pre- 
clude all hope ; it is further clear that the patient retained 
his faculties to the last. The malady, having regard to 
the antecedents, may not improbably have been disease of 
the kidneys and bladder. 



96 MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCC. — Syphilis in the Sixteenth Century. 

The father of Catherine de Medici (the wife of Henri II. 
and Queen-mother during the reigns of Francis II., Cliarles 
IX., and Henri III.) is stated to have died of syphilis a few 
days after his daughter's birth.* Catherine was an only child, 
and her mother died at her birth (1518) . H^j portraits, which 
are numerous, show no evidences of inherited taint. At that 
time syphilis was a new disease in Europe, and, as it had 
not then been in any way associated with sexual habits, no 
disgrace was supposed to be attached to it. Historians felt 
no delicacy in recording the fact that any one of whom they 
wrote had suffered from it. Many deaths of ecclesiastics as 
well as civilians were attributed to it. 

* See vol. ii. Boscoe's " Life of Lorenzo de Medici." 



AECHIVES OP SUEGEEY. 



APRIU 1898. 



ON SYMBIOSIS IN EEFEEENCE TO HUMAN 

PATHOLOGY. 

Kecent observations in what is known under the name of 
Symbiosis are likely, if I mistake not, to throw light on many 
of the problems of pathology. By this name is designated 
a peculiar forip of parasitism, in which one organism lives in 
the tissues of another, but without necessarily causing any 
damage to them. The two thrive together in a sort of 
partnership which may or may not be disclosed. There is 
nothing to prevent the one becoming inimical to the other, 
but at the same time there is nothing to necessitate it. 
Sometimes indeed the intruder — or shall we say the visitor? 
— ^is actually beneficial to the host. This may occur, for 
instance, when a vegetable organism, living in the tissues 
of an animal, actually decomposes carbonic acid and sets 
free oxygen. 

The intimate and seemingly permanent union in which 
two vegetables live into each other in the case of lichens ib 
one of the most startling examples of s3rmbiosis. Almost 
all our more advanced physiological botanists now admit 
that lichens do not constitute a separate family of plants, but 
are produced by the structural union of an alga and a fungus. 
The two plants which habitually live in this close union may 
be artificially separated and cultivated apart. It is not easy 
to say which is the host and which the parasite. The two 

VOL. IX. 7 



98 ON SYMBIOSIS IN REFBRBNCB TO HUMAN PATHOLOGY. 

are in structural union and thrive together without undue 
preponderance of either. 

A more simple example of symbiosis occurs in the 
instance of the green sea anemone (Anthea viridis). It is 
known that the green colour of this coelenterate is caused by 
the presence in its struct\ire, enclosed in its outer tissues, of 
an alga of imicellular form. Mtoy others of the same class 
of animals — corals, jelly-fish, and anemones, are known to 
be coloured either green or yellow by the presence of similar 
algse; and according to the researches of Mr. P. Geddes 
these algae remove carbonic acid from starch and give out 
oxygen, being in this way distinctly advantageous to their 
fortunate possessor. 

Now in reference to human pathology I would venture to 
suggest that although we have arrived at the crude fact — a 
very important one — that bacilli are present in many more 
or less specific forms of disease, we as yet know but little as 
to the possibilities of their intimate relations with the 
tissues in which they dwell. It may be that they are 
often present in a sort of symbiotic relationship and without 
evoking any obvious disturbance of nutrition. It may be 
that they are only liable to be excited into states of disease- 
producing activity by influences which are by no means uni-^ 
versally present. Thus the bacillus leprae may possibly 
have been present quietly in the tissues of the subject of 
leprosy for years, awaiting the stimulus of salt-fish diet to 
rouse it into activity. There is nothing in the present 
condition of our knowledge to exclude the possibility that 
the dormant form may be one of considerable diflfer- 
ence as regards size, &c., from that finally produced 
when it assumes activity and causes the phenomena of 
disease. 

Some such conjecture as this seems to me essential in 
order to the explanation of inheritance, latency, and recur- 
rence in reference to many specific forms of the inflam- 
matory process. Those of scrofula, tuberculosis and leprosy 
are perhaps the most important, but we have others 
in erysipelas, elephantiasis, some forms of eczema, and 
possibly in psoriasis. It is even possible that the tertiary 



ON SYMBIOSIS IN REFEBENCE TO HUMAN PATHOLOGY. 99 

stage of syphilis may depend upon the persistence of 
parasitic organisms which have passed into a sjntnbiotic 
state of existence and are no longer capable of leaving the 
cell structures in which they dwell and of becoming infective 
to others. In order to explain the local origin of a gumma we 
must, I think, invoke the hypothesis of either a chemical or 
vital element which has been left behind in the tissues. 
There must have been some residuum which determines the 
peculiar tj^e which the local inflammation or growth finally 
assumes. That residuum is incapable of originating a specific 
contagium which may be transferred to other persons or to 
other parts, but it is not incapable of causing cell-contagion 
in the affected part. Infection spreading by continuity of 
tissue is one of the best characteristics of the gumma, and it 
is more easy to explain it on a theory of symbio^s of living 
organism than by one of a chemical ptomaine. So also I 
think is the fact that tertiary gummata, however long may 
have been the interval between their formation and the 
original disease, and however complete the proof of their 
non-contagiousness, are still amenable to the influence of 
the specifics for syphilis, mercury and iodides. 

It will, I know, be objected to all suggestions of symbiotic 
parasitism in human disease that they lack objective demon- 
stration. To this I reply that the microscope has never yet 
shown us the organic element of syphilitic contagion, and 
that in a disease so definitely tuberculous as lupus ery- 
thematosus it has not as yet found a bacillus. We are 
merely on the threshold of our knowledge in these matters, 
and although I admit that what I have suggested is mainly 
conjectural, yet there is so much of a priori probability 
about it that I feel sure that it is worthy of our attentive 
consideration. 



» u 




ON SUDDEN OCCLUSION OF AETEEIES BY 

COAGULATION. 

Ebfeeencb has been repeatedly made in the pages of 
Archives to cases in which large arteries had become 
obliterated without obvious disease, and in some instances 
quite suddenly. In one of these a man in apparent health 
had fallen unconscious on his own hearth, and had on 
recovery remained hemiplegic with complete obliteration of 
the opposite carotid. He had also obliteration of one femoral . 
I have also asked attention to two valuable case-narratives,, 
one by Sir William Gull and the other by Sir W. Savory, in 
which one or other of the large arteries of the neck were 
found (post mortem) to be quite obliterated. In one of 
these the opening of the innominate from the aortic arch- 
was smoothed over and the vessel itself was a solid cord. In 
these cases there was no evidence of preceding arterial 
disease, nor was there any explanation forthcoming of the 
cause of the obliteration. One if not more of the patients 
was under middle age. 

At the date of the above reports, and, indeed, until the 
other ddy, I was unaware of the existence of a most valuable 
paper from the pen of Dr. Dickinson in the St. George's 
Hospital Beports which supplies a sdrt of complement to 
them. In all my cases, and those which I quoted from = 
ptbers, the condition was of old standing and the account 6f 
. :flie original symptoms somewhat imperfect. Dr. Dickenson 
^ ^dfe'als with recent cases which had been treated in the warda 
of St. George's Hospital, and in which autopsies had been 
obtained. His facts go to establish the proposition that it is 
possible for the blood to coagulate almost suddenly in large 
arteries, and thus produce paralysis and obliteration of the 
vessel concerned and corresponding paralysis. It implies. 



DB. DICKINSON'S CASES. 101 

although this may be considered as less assured, that this 
coagulation may be quite independent of embolism and of 
disease of the walls of the vessel and of any special form of 
dyscrasia in the patient. The subject is one of so much 
novelty and importance that I must give abstracts of his 
cases. 

In Case I. the whole length of the left internal carotid and 
all its branches, as far as they were traced, was filled by a 
black coagulum. Outside the skull the vessel was empty 
and natural. Nothing abnormal could be discovered in the 
walls of any of the cerebral vessels. There were no coagula 
' in the heart or in other arteries, and no vegetations in the 
valves. The subject of the case was a coachman, aged 39, 
who until within twenty hours of his attack had been 
supposed to be in good health. He had fallen in a fit quite 
unconscious, and with foaming at the mouth, whilst in the 
act of hanging up his harness after having been out during 
^the greater part of a June night. His symptoms, in addition 
to the unconsciousness, had been loss of sensition, motion 
and all reflex action in the right limbs, with slight ptosis on 
the left side. About an hour and a half before death there 
was an accession of symptoms, with slight convulsions and 
much foaming at the mouth, after which the breathing 
became stertorous. It should be added that the right lateral 
ventricle was full of fluid, whilst the left was empty. This, 
however, could have nothing to do with the hemiplegia, 
since it was on the same side. 

This case is not unlike the one which I have recorded at 
page 36 of Vol. VII. The only differences are that in my 
case the patient survived, and that not only the internal 
but the common carotid was obliterated. 

In Case II. the circumstances which preceded the attack 
were not known. The patient was forty-three years old 
and the mother of six children. 

*' The attack, which was the first that had occurred, was preceded by 

a feeling of giddiness. She only Hved a few hours after her admission. 

/There was no return of consciousness. The left side was palsied*; the 



102 SUDDEN OCPLUSION OF AETEEIES BY COAGULATION. 

right leg was frequently drawn up, and with her right hand she was for 
ever wiping and rubbing her face. She swallowed with difficulty. Before 
her death there was much foaming at the mouth." 

The following is the account of the condition of the cerebral 
arteries:— 

" The arteries at the base were obstructed in many places by recent 
coagula ; these were most abundant in the right hemisphere ; the end of 
the right internal carotid was filled by a plug an inch and a half in length, 
which was slightly attached to the wall of the vessel. The surface had 
become slightly decolorised. Many similar plugs were found in the 
smaller arteries. They were generally about an inch in length, and 
manifested a tendency to place themselves on the cardiac side of a 
bifurcation. The left posterior cerebral was one of the vessels affected. 
There was no difference in consistence between the two sides of the 
brain." 



All the valves of the heart were the seat of fibroid 
thickening, and the mitral orifice was contracted to the size 
of a button-hole and quite rigid. There were, however, no 
vegetations or fibrinous concretions. 

The subject of the third case was a young woman of 23, 
who had long been the subject of heart disease and was 
liable to attacks of vomiting. She was admitted into the 
hospital, and it was noted that her face was bluish and 
flushed and her pulse indistinct. She was, however, up and 
about. One morning, whilst washing her face, she became 
suddenly faint, and died quickly without having spoken. Dr. 
Dickinson writes: "Death was almost the first symptom" 
of the coagulation. '* The patient must have expired almost 
on the instant of its formation." In this instance coagula 
had formed in both internal carotids. The plug on each 
side measured two inches in length, and extended from the 
bony canal up to the smaller divisions of the vessels. Many 
of the smaller vessels contained detached coagula. Outside 
the skull the internal carotids were empty, but on the right 
side the external carotid was plugged. 

In the fourth case, a man aged 36, who had tramped from 



DR. DICKINSON'S CASES. 103 

Leeds in July weather, was seized by a fit on his arrival in 
London. There was partial paralysis of the left arm and 
inability to speak, although consciousness was not lost. He 
sank on the third day after his attack, having had a very 
rapid pulse, profuse sweating, and incontinence of urine. 
Long black coagula were drawn out of both carotid arteries 
from the base of the skull. They were not adherent. All 
the larger arteries at the base were similarly occupied, but 
the coagula were not quite continuous. The heart and 
arterial walls were healthy. 

This case would appear to have been one not improbably 
of only partial obstruction. The clots were still loose, and 
did not fill the vessels. Some circulation still went on past 
them, and thus the patient escaped the sudden fate which 
occurred in the preceding one. 

In the fifth case it was the basilar which was obstructed. 
A firm buff-coloured coagulum distended its whole length and 
also the adjoining quarter of an inch of the right vertebral. 
The clot was an inch and a half long, hard, and somewhat 
adherent to the walls of the vessel. It was more perfectly 
decolorised in its outside than in its centre. There were 
no coagula in other vessels and no trace of atheroma any- 
where. The valves of the heart, especially the mitral, were 
thickened and leathery, but there were no vegetations. 
The other organs were healthy. Dr. Dickinson points out 
that a coagulum large enough to distend the basilar artery 
could not have passed upwards through either of the small 
vertebrals, but must have formed in situ. 

The patient in this case was an intemperate carman aged 
26. His first symptom had been giddiness, which began 
suddenly late one night. After this for two days he went 
to his work, but was eventually obliged to take to his bed. 
Four days later he suddenly lost his speech and had pins 
and needles in his right arm, followed by loss of power. 
He did not lose consciousness, but subsequently became 
delirious. His pulse became very rapid, and he died on the 
second day after admission and the ninth after his first 
symptom. 




1Q4 SUDDEN OCCLUSION OF ARTERIES BY COAGULATION. 

This very remarkable group of cases appears to afford 
conclusive proof that coagulation of the blood in the 
cerebral arteries may take place suddenly and independently 
pf disease of their walls. In no one single instance was 
atheroma noted, and in none was there any indication of 
embolism. The occurrence indeed of coagulation simul- 
tpineously on both sides, and in one instance in the external 
carotid independently, put the probability of embolism out 
of question. In four out of the five cases — and this is a 
point to which Dr. Dickinson draws especial attention — the 
circulation was placed at disadvantage by the presence of 
o^bstructive disease in the central organ. In only one case 
was the heart free from disease, whilst in several the mitral 
orifice was very definitely contracted. In one, however 
(Case IV.), the heart was normal. This was the case in 
which the man was probably much exhausted by a long 
tramp in hot weather. In no single case is any suspicion of 
syphilis recorded, but indeed in the entire absence of evi- 
dence of disease of the arterial coats it is difficult to see 
how syphilis could contribute to the conditions under con- 
sideration. 

Dr. Dickinson's paper refers only to the cerebral arterie^. 
It is my wish ifco extend the conclusions deducible from his 
facts to the rest of the arterial system, and to suggest that 
what has been proved in the case of the intra-cranial vessels 
may occur in any of those of the limbs, and that it is not very 
infrequent. Naturally we do not get many opportunities 
for post-mortem demonstration in the case of the latter. It 
is only the vessels of the brain the sudden occlusion of 
which endangers life. Surgeons are, however, familiar with 
cases in which patients have experienced sudden pain in a 
limb, and that pain has been followed by peripheral gan- 
grene and other sjrmptoms of arterial obstruction. We 
have been accustomed to assume that these are instances of 
embolism or of occluding arteritis, but the not infrequent 
suddenness of onset would suggest coagulation of blood as a 
much more probable event. 

During the last few months I have seen two such cases. 
In one the toes had become gangrenous, and in the other 



A CASE-NAEBATIVB. 105 

there was sloughing of the skin of the leg. In the latter 
the femoral artery could not be felt, but in the other the 
obstruction was probably lower down. Both were remark- 
$bble for the suddenness with which the symptoms of 
obstruction had developed. 

In amputations for gangrene it is not uncommon to find 
the arteries plugged,- I remember well one in which the 
hand had suddenly passed into gangrene, and in which I 
found the brachial artery as high as the axilla stuffed with 
firm coagulum ; and in several in amputation through the 
thigh, a similar condition in the femoral has come undey 
my notice. Hitherto it has been the custom to regard 
arterial thrombosis under such circumstances as being 
probably secondary to other changes, but in the light of 
present facts it may reasonably be suggested that it is 
primary. 

In strong contrast with what usually occurs in syphilitic 
pcclusion of arteries we have in these cases a remarkably 
sudden onset. In the syphilitic cases the obstruction is 
commonly somewhat slowly produced outside the vessel, and 
if thrombosis finally occurs it is usually consecutive. In the 
present group there is no external obstruction, and there 
aore no premonitory symptoms. 

Left Hemiplegia occurring suddenly in the night in a 
healthy mafi who had suffered from Syphilis twenty 
years previously — Diagnosis Arterial Thrombosis not 
due to Syphilis. 

In the following case, a year after the attack the loss of 
muscular power is still almost absolute in the hand and 
foot, and much less so in the face, thigh, and upper arm. 
Thus the man can walk but cannot move his toes, and ca^ 
to some slight extent move his upper arm and bend his 
elbow, whilst he cannot stir a finger. As regards his facial 
muscles he can both frown and close his eye, but cannot 
whistle, and his mouth is drawn to the opposite side. He 
has control over his sphincters, and can protrude his tongue 
straight. In all these points his case conforms, I believe, to 
what is usual in patients recovering from almost complete 



106 SUDDEN OCCLUSION OF ABTERIES BY COAGULATION. 

hemiplegia. His account of the seizure which produced the 
paralysis is that exactly a year ago, when he was feeling quite 
well and was wholly free from discomfort in his head, he one 
night went to bed as well as usual, but half tipsy. He woke 
at his usual time with a call to make water, and on attempt- 
ing to get out of bed found that he could not use the left 
limbs. He was quite alone. He could not speak, and had 
no alternative but to lie still till his housekeeper came to 
know why he did not get up. He was then obliged to make 
signs for his pencil, for he could not articulate. He 
was perfectly conscious and wrote a request to fetch a 
certain doctor. After this he remained in bed three 
months. During that time he had constipation, but no 
trouble with his bladder. His face was, he says, so com- 
pletely paralysed on the left side that he could not move 
it, and his tongue was pushed over to the left side so 
strongly that he frequently bit it. 

On the day following the attack he began to be able to 
speak, but it was only very indistinctly. During the next 
six months his speech continued gradually to improve, 
and he can at the present date talk well if he -does so 
deliberately. 

This case appears much more like one of sudden throm- 
bosis than of haemorrhage. I do not see any reason to 
suppose that the previous syphilis had anything to do with 
it. Neither before or since were any indications of syphilis 
present. 

I have recently seen another very similar case as regards 
the suddenness of the attack. The patient was in the 
second year of syphilis. Death followed after about ten 
days of hemiplegia, with intervening symptoms not unlike 
delirium tremens. As we did not get a post mortem it is 
not worth while to record details. 



THE SEQUEL OF A CASE OF 
OPHTHALMOPLEGIA. 

By the courtesy of Dr. E. J. Cross, of St. Neots, I have 
just been suppUed with the details respecting the death of a 

patient whose case I had recorded in 1878. B. B was 

the subject of Case VII. in my original paper on Ophthal- 
moplegia Externa in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions 
(see vol. Ixii. page 15). He had then recovered under 
iodides from almost complete paraplegia after syphilis, and 
was at that date slowly improving under similar measures as 
regards the partial paralysis of the muscles of his eyeballs. 
The case is of importance as an example of complete 
recovery, without relapse, in the first place from paraplegia, 
and, secondly, from ocular conditions which more usually 
prove aggressive. He took pills containing a third of a grain 
of calomel three times a day, with iodide of potassium in 
scruple doses for, I believe, at least two years. From 1878 
to 1895 he enjoyed good health, and had no tendency to 
relapse. In the latter year he had, in addition to consider- 
able dyspepsia, some return of diplopia, and again on his 
own responsibility took iodides. His death was attended by 
symptoms which might not improbably indicate an abscess 
in connection with the gall bladder. There was slight 
jaundice and clayey stools, and finally sudden profuse 
vomiting of foul fluid. The symptoms were suggestive 
rather of an abscess which had given way into the stomach 
than of any form of syphilitic disease. Unfortunately there 
was no autopsy. 



108 THE SEQUEL OF A CASE OF OPHTHALMOPLEGIA. 



Schedule of the Case of Mr. B. B- 



DATE. 


AGE. 
26 


1869 


1870 


27 


1871 


28 


1872 


29 


1873 


30 


1874 


31 


1876 


32 


1876 


33 


1877 


34 


1878 


36 


1879 


36 


1880 


37 


1081 


38 


1882 


39" 


1883 


40 


1884 


41 


1886 


42 


1886 


43 


1887 


44 


1888 


46 


1889 


46 


1890 


47 


1891 


48 


1892 


49 


1893 


60 


1894 


61 


1896 


62 



DETAILS. 



Syphilis complete. No record of treatment. 



Threatened paraplegia, and for a time confined to bed. 

Recovered under iodides, &c. 

Paresis of ocular muscles. Ptosis and diplopia. 

Under my observation with ophthalmoplegia externa. 

Still under treatment (mercuir and iodides). 

In January attended at Med. Chir. Society. 

Well. 



In good health. Married. In constant occupation as a butler. 



Dyspepsia and flatulence. 

Died on August 17th. Abscess about gall bladder ? 



The following details as to his fatal illness have been 
supplied by Mr. Cross : — • 



" Present illness (August, 1896). — For the last two years he has had 
pain in the stomach, a great deal of flatulence and some indigestion ; has 
noticed that he has been getting gradually larger round the waist. Two 
months ago he noticed that he began to see double again, and had an 
old prescription of Mr. Hutchinson's made up, and now he sees quite 
well again. 

On examination, — A well-nourished (fat) man, complaining of intense 
pain over region of liver, which is considerably enlarged and very tender. 
A distinct lump may be felt at the level of the mnbilicus, and about two 
Inches to the right of it. Tongue furred. Bowels constipated. Con- 
junctivBB slightly yellow. Temperature 100°. ' 

Urine. — Acid 1020. No albumen, ^o sugar. Treatment — injection 
of morphia and a calom< 




THE SEQUEL OF A CASE OF OPHTHALMOPLEGIA. 109 

Atcgtcst 9th. — Pain much easier. Has had a fairly comfortable night. 
Bowels open twice. Motions clay-coloured. 

Av^tist 10th. — Bather more comfortable. 

August 11th. — Abdomen less distended. The lump is not nearly so 
distinct nor so tender. Temperature 100°. 

AttgiMt 12-14th. — Much the same. Fairly free from pain. 

Aiigust 15th. — Bather more pain. Bowels not open since 12th. A 
calomel purge. 

Atigust 16th. — Diarrhoea very profuse. 

August 17th. — ^^Sickness has eome on.. About 12.30 patiei^t raised 
himself, vomited about three pints of very foul fluid, and expired almost 
instantly. (I was present at the time.)" 

f From this narrative of the symptoms which attended the 
fatal illness, there does not appear any reason to suspect 
syphilitic mischief. A gumma would have developed much 
more quietly,' The symptoms were those of an acute in- 
flammatory process, and the matters Vomited were most likely 
the contents of an abscess. I have recently seen two cases 
illustrating similar conditions. In one a lady vomited the 
contents of a very large swelling which had formed in con- 
nection with the stomach or liver, and nearly died at the 
time. In the other a man who was extremely ill with 
symptoms supposed to denote suppuration in the liver was 
found at an operation to have a large abscess containing 
grumous fluid behind the liver. ^ It was on the point of 
giving way into the peritoneum. 



f 



ON THE NATUEE OF GUMMATA. 

It is very necessary in order to a clear understanding of 
tertiary syphilis that we should know what we mean by a 
gumma. This word, which has come down to us from very 
ancient times, was, I believe, originally applied to a soft, 
indolent swelling occurring in association with a syphilitic 
taint. More recently its meaning has been somewhat 
extended, and it has been recognised that a gummatous 
process may be present although little or nothing that can 
be called a tumour is ever produced. It would perhaps 
assist our comprehension of the matter if we were to speak 
rather of '* the gummatous process " than of a gumma. 
Under that term we should include all forms of chronic 
inflammation attended by chronic swelHng, and tending to 
break down, which occur in connection with a syphilitic 
taint. I do not know that we gain much by calling o, 
gumma a " granulation tumour,'* it is rather a somewhat 
peculiar form of chronic inflammation. Its peculiarities 
consist in an indolent character, a tendency to produce 
swelling, and but little liability to suppurate. A gumma 
may break down and soften, or it may slough, but it does 
not as a rule form an abscess containing pus. We must 
not, however, push these distinctions too far. Between 
syphilitic inflammations in which the swelling is from the 
first attended by considerable increase in vascularity and in 
which there is a decided tendency to suppurative ulceration, 
if not to the formation of a circumscribed abscess, and the 
more characteristic gummata, we have all gradations. As a 
rule, however, gummata resemble new growths rather than 
inflammations in that they are not very vascular, are not 
very painful, and are in all stages slow and indolent. The 
cellular tissue is probably the invariable site of the gumma- 



ON THE NATURE OF GUMMATA. Ill 

tous process. An indurated chancre is an example of one 
form of gumma. The lumps which sometimes form in the 
substance of the tongue or in other muscles, and which are 
sometimes very hard and closely resemble new growths, are 
our best examples of tertiary gummata. 

Just as definitely as primary indurations melt away under 
the influence of mercury, so do these muscular gimimata 
under that of the iodide of potassium. It is, indeed, this 
easy amenability to specifics which chiefly distinguishes 
these " tumour-gummata " from independent new growths. 
When a gumma breaks down there is often disclosed a 
sloughy mass of cellular tissue, and when this separates, 
which it does very slowly if specifics have not been efficiently 
used, an unhealthy base will be exposed, and there will be a 
tendency to peripheral spreading, with induration of the 
walls which may constitute a very close resemblance to 
cancer. There are few more difficult problems in diagnosis 
than to distinguish certain forms of open gummata of the 
tongue from cancerous sores. The degree and quality of 
the induration, and frequently the flabby state of the over- 
hanging borders, are amongst the most useful signs. 

Something of the gummatous process probably attends 
many forms of syphilitic inflammation which yet do not 
earn the name of gumma. Such, for instance, are many 
examples of syphilitic lupus and of the ulcerative destruction 
of the soft palate and adjacent parts which occur in the 
tertiary stage. In these the tissues inflame and ulcerate 
before any appreciable tumour has formed. The chronic 
infective inflammations of the subcutaneous cellular tissue, 
which ulcerate to a slight extent whilst they undermine 
widely, are also gummata. These are often seen about the 
knee in women. Some of these subcutaneous gummata are 
often very like sarcomatous growths. A very remarkable illus- 
tration of this is recorded at Vol. VIII. p. 221 . In this instance 
a tumour gumma, which had been once cured by iodides, 
relapsed, and was (by another surgeon) excised as a new 
growth. It relapsed again and was again cured by iodides. 

The gummatous process is certainly attended by the 
development of cell elements which are infective. Whether 



112 ON THE NATURE OF GUMMATA. 

tdcerated or not, gummata tend to spread by " the contagion 
of continuity." They need to be destroyed just as do 
cancers. The least bit of gummatous tissue left living will 
Reproduce the whole thing. On the other hand, if once a 
sound scar have replaced the gumma in every part there is 
but very slight risk of relapse. 

' Gummata are very rare in the secondary stage of syphilis, 
and the longer the interval since the primary disease the 
greater is the probability that the peculiar features of a 
gumma-'tumour will be well shown. Under these con- 
ditions they are to be regarded as local, just in the same 
sense as a cancer is local. They differ, however, from 
cancer in having no power of infection, either to th6 
lymphatic system or the blood. Their infection is, like that 
of the rodent ulcer, limited to the tissues in continuity with 
them. In these, however, it is often very strong, and 
repeated recurrences after partially successful treatment 
will be witnessed. 

The treatment of gummata should be based, as just hinted-, 
upon the same principle as that of malignant new growths. 
They should be utterly destroyed. Fortunately it is not 
needful to excise them. Their vitality is low and is easily 
influenced by several different remedies. The local use of 
iodoform will often remove those which are sufficiently 
superficial to give it adequate access. Iodide of potassium 
reaching them through the blood will have the same effect. 
An attack of acute adventitious inflammation artificially 
induced, as for instance by a free application of nitric acid, 
will often succeed, and that even when the internal use of 
the iodide has partially failed. 

The important point to bear in mind is that every particle 
of the morbid tissue must have been brought into a normal 
condition, or the process will be reinitiated. There is no 
more tendency to the spontaneous cure of tertiary gummata 
than there i^ to that of cancers. In some desperate cases 
scraping, excision, or even amputation of the part may 
become desirable. 

As i^egards the theory of tertiary gummata, they are, I 
think, clearly residual in their nature. Something ha& been 



ON THE NATUBE OF GUMMATA. 113 

left behind in the tissues from the date of the secondary or 
blood phenomena which originates these peculiar forms of 
cell-growth. It does not seem probable that the " some- 
thing*' is of a merely chemical natmre. If it were so its 
action would probably be more widely manifested. I 
incline rather to suspect that a process of the nature of 
symbiosis must be taken into account, and that in a state oi 
niodified vitality the specific germs of the syphilitic fever 
must be regarded as having entered into a Hfe-partnership 
with the cell-structures of the part concerned. There are 
plenty of collateral facts in pathology to justify such an 
hypothesis. It would also explain what the chemical 
theory would fail to do, the fact that a drug which 
certainly possesses some power over the inflammations of 
secondary syphilis is also a specific for these, and further 
that their type is often remarkably like that of the primary 
sore. 

One of perhaps the very best illustrations of the gima- 
matous process is to be met with in the " recurred chancre.** 
Here we may have, after the lapse of many years, during 
^hich the part has appeared to be in a state of perfect 
health, a new induration form of large size, and exactly 
like a primary Hunterian sore. The chief difference is, 
that whilst the one begins by an ulcer which indurates, the 
other begins as an induration which ulcerates. These 
gummata are almost always exactly in the site of the 
original sore. They are not contagious to other persons,, 
nor do they infect the lymphatic glands or the blood of the 
patient himself. 



VOL. IX. 8 



CASES ILLUSTEATING EECUEEING HEEPES OF 

THE MOUTH, TONGUE, &c. 

The Herpetic group of affections assumes year by year 
increasing importance. More and more clearly do we 
accept, in all that we name as "herpes," illustrations of 
what the nervous system can effect in inducing local patho- 
logical changes, and in proportion as we perceive this does 
our interest increase in the examination of the facts. 
Herpes zoster and herpes labialis still remain for us, as 
they were for our ancestors, the two type forms ; the one 
of the single attack, the other of the frequently recurring 
form. We recognise, however, a number of eruptions which 
do not conform closely to the ordinary laws of either of 
these, and which yet clearly belong to the group Herpes. 
Thus we have cases in which a zoster form is frequently 
recurrent, and we have cases in which the labialis form 
recurs so quickly that it is almost persistent. We have 
also certain generalised, eruptions on the whole body, or 
large parts of it, which appear to partake of the herpetic 
type, but which sometimes approach so closely to pemphigus 
that we are puzzled how to classify them. An unexpected 
observation has also recently accrued, to the effect that 
certain forms of severe pemphigus of the limbs and trunk 
are preceded by months, or it may be years, of liability to 
recurring herpes in the mouth. 

The collection of cases which I now propose to record 
vdll comprise illustrations of many of the more infrequent 
forms of Herpes. In the first place, however, I purpose to 
deal with those just alluded to in which severe, and fre- 
quently recurring, attacks occur, affecting the mucous mem- 
brane of the mouth. It is not all of these that end in 
pemphigus ; or perhaps it would be safer to say-since the 



HERPETIC STOMATITIS SIMULATING SYPHILIS. 115 

development period may occupy several years — ^it is not in 
all that the pemphigus stage is attained. It is, however, a 
matter of great importance to determine, if possible, what 
the nature of the relationship between the two really is. 
The cases which I have now to record are remarkable 
examples of herpes of mouth without pemphigus of the 
body, but in former papers I have given several of the latter 
class. Thus in the case of so-called pemphigus vegetans, 

given at a former page (Mr. S ), a liability to herpes 

of the mouth, frequently recurring, had been present six 
yegirs before the pemphigus was developed on the skin 
(Vol. VIII,, page 130). 

In the case of Miss L , given at page 333, liability to 

herpetic sores in the mouth had preceded by one year the 
appearance of pemphigus on the body. 

The conditions presented in these cases of severe and 
almost persisting herpes of the mouth so closely resemble 
those of syphilis, that in almost all cases they are at one or 
other period so diagnosed and so treated. This occurred in 
my first case of " Inflamed mouth with eruption,'' published 
in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, and has happened 
in almost all examples of " pemphigus vegetans." It will be 
convenient, therefore, if I first deal with this part of the 
subject. 

ON THE LIABILITY TO MISTAKE RECURRING HERPES 
INSIDE THE MOUTH FOR SYPHILIS. 

Herpes of the Mouth recurring with increasing frequency 
during fifteen years — No previous Syphilis, 

As I have said, the diagnosis of herpes of the mouth is 
important on account of the risk of those not familiar with 
the malady mistaking it for syphilis. The mistake is indeed 
one of very frequent occurrence. It is especially likely to 
happen in cases where the patient has really had S3rphilis, 
for in such cases the patient himself abets the error. In 
some sense such cases are perhaps syphilitic, but, like 
recurrent herpes on the penis after chancres, they are not 



116 RECURRING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

to be cured by mercury or iodides, but by arsenic. Occa- 
sionally, however, we may encounter recurring herpes of 
the mouth in which there has been no antecedent syphilis 
whatever. Of this the following is an example. 

In 1889 Dr. Daly, of Amherst Boad, sent to me a gentle- 
man of thirty-two, who was in excellent health, had a 
healthy child, and who declared that he had never in his 
life had a chancre. He showed me inside each cheek one or 
two oval, greyish, superficial ulcers, and along the right side 
of his tongue several little similar spots which were all but 
healed. He said that they were going away, and the result 
of his experience was that they would be gone in the course 
of another week. The spots on the cheeks were exactly like 
what are generally believed to be characteristic of sj^hilis. 
He assured me that he was liable to them, and had been so 
for fifteen years past. They had of late so much increased 
in severity and frequency that he was scarcely ever free from 
them. He was quite clear, however, in his statement that 
no individual spots lasted long ; in a week or ten days they 
would heal, and others would come. With these facts the 
diagnosis of herpes was clear. 

The diagnosis being made, I was interested in examining 

the facts as to the history in a little more detail. Mr. F 

told me that he had never had the eruption on his lips, and 
he did not think that as a boy he had been liable to it there. 
It had always come on the insides of his cheeks and sides of 
his tongue. Sometimes it would be restricted to one si(Je, 
and sometimes to the other, and sometimes, as on the occa- 
sion when I saw him, it would be on both sides at the same 
time. As far as he could remember, when he first became 
liable to it, ten or fifteen years ago, it was a slight matter, 
and did not come very often. His first attack occurred after 
a visit to the seaside, and after he had bathed on a cold 
morning. His tongue and cheeks became covered with sores, 
and the former much swollen. He was for the first time 
obliged to consult a medical man, and placed himself under 
the care of a very intelligent friend of my own, who quite 
refused to believe his story that he had never had syphilis. 
The attack, however, passed quite away in the course of ten 



HERPETIC STOMATITIS. 117 

days. This was in July, 1888, and he did not have another 
severe one until October of the same year, when he was 
obUged to place himself under the care of Dr. Daly. Since 
that to the present time, March, 1889, he had never been 
free for more than a week or two together. He had not 
been able to trace the attacks to the influence of any article 
of food, or to any special derangement of health. He always, 
he said, felt chilly and creepy before they occurred, and 
during the last six months he thought that he had felt a 
httle nervous and low. He still, however, had the appear- 
ance of excellent health. Since October, the almost con- 
stant soreness of his mouth had compelled him to desist 
from smoking. 

In June, 1890, he was very much better, after having taken 
arsenic quite regularly for a whole year. Although he was 
never more than a few days without the herpes, yet it was 
not nearly so severe as formerly. I found on examination 
only a single sore on the right side of the tongue, near the 
tip. 

Becurring Herpes of the Palate — No Syphilis — Arsenic given 
— Immunity from the Herpes of Palate — Very severe 
Zoster from the Arsenic, 

Captain C , aged 50, formerly accustomed to go to 

sea, but for six years residing on land, consulted me in 
June, 1883, on account of liability to herpes in the mouth. 
He was in excellent health, and had never had syphilis. 
For the last two years he had been liable to attacks of 
herpes on his palate once every month or two; they had 
often been slight ones, but on the present occasion it was 
very severe ; his whole palate was covered with little ulcers, 
which also extended down the sides, and he was hoarse to 
a degree which suggested some implication of the larynx. 
The attack had lasted two weeks, and was now passing off. 
I could find no cause for his liability excepting that he had 
some bad teeth. For the prevention of his attacks I ordered, 
as usual, arsenic. He took the liquor sodae arseniatis m. iii 
three times a day from June 14th to August 23rd, and had 
complete immunity during that time. Six weeks from the 



118 EECURRING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

beginning of the arsenic, however, he had a very severe 
outbreak of zoster in the lower dorsal region ; the spots were 
gangrenous, and when I saw him three weeks later they had 
not quite healed. On account of the shingles he left off the 
arsenic for about three weeks, but afterwards resumed it. 
He subsequently became again liable, although continuing 
it, to recurring attacks on the pillars of the fauces, but they 
were on a much more limited scale and did not last long. 
On September 22nd of the same year I saw him for a slight 
attack of this nature. I advised him to continue the arsenic, 
and I believe that he subsequently got quite well. 

Becurring Herpes in the Mouth — No Syphilis — Besistance 

to Arsenical treatment. 

The case of Mrs. W is an example of great distress 

caused by the very frequent recurrence of herpes in the 
mouth. It. is also, I am sorry to say, an instance in which 
arsenic did not cure. She came under my observation on 
June 2, 1890. She was a married lady of fifty, and had 
suffered from acne rosacea on the face. Her chief trouble 
was, however, that for several years she had been liable to 
recurring herpes on her tongue and lips. The ^.ttacks came 
so frequently that the sores had scarcely time to heal in 
their intervals. She said that the individual spots were 
jfclways well in two or three days, but that fresh crops 
came every few weeks. It appeared that they were seldom 
non-symmetrical, but on the day when she came to me the 
right side of the tongue and the right side of the lower lip 
were the only parts affected. I ordered her liquor arseni- 
caUs in two-minim doses three times a day, and gave her a 
sulphur wash for her acne. She came to me again six 
months later, February 10, 1891, with her face very much 
better, and stating that she had had very few and very sUght 
attacks of herpes. She was much pleased with the result, 
Piud I thought that by persevering with the arsenic it Would 
prove a cure. She came again, however, oji February 13th, 
saying that her herpes had recurred, aud that she was now 
scarcely ever free from it. It made her mouth so sore that 



CASB-NABEATIVES. 119 

she often could scarcely eat, and was obliged to keep to 
fluids. She assured me that she had taken the medicine 
steadily. The usual position for the herpes spots was on 
the sides of the tongue and near to the fraenum. She 
thought that as a rule both sides were affected at the same 
time. At the time of her visit to me there was a single 
large and much inflamed sore on the inner side of her lower 
lip. She complained much of feeling out of tone, saying 
that she could not give attention to things and could not 
remember. It appeared possible that some of the benefit in 
the previous autumn had been in connection with the visit 
to Wales. I advised that she should increase her dose of 
arsenic and get another change of air. I do not know the 
ultimate result. There was no reason whatever to suspect 
syphilis. 

Herpes of the Mouth recurring with extreme frequency and 

following Neuralgia — No Syphilis. 

In the following narrative we have an example of recur- 
ring herpes consequent, in all probabiHty, upon persisting 
disease of the nerve centre. It had been preceded by severe 
neuralgia. The patient, an old woman of sixty, was sent to 
me by Mr. Waren Tay on February 1, 1872, when the notes 
were taken which are subjoined. 

The attacks recur so frequently that she is seldom quite 
free. Its present stage is, she says, the best that it ever 
gets into. She expects that in a few days a new " crop of 
blisters" will make their appearance. At present she has 
merely a number of superficial ulcers, most of them of oval 
form; some are three-quarters of an inch long, others smaller. 
They occur in the inside of left cheek, upon both sides of 
hard palate, and upon the front gums. On the hard palate 
and front gums they are placed almost symmetrically, but 
there are none whatever in the right cheek. Some of them 
are distinctly pellicular, and from one I peeled a membrane 
three-quarters of an inch long and a third broad, firm and 
coherent. It left a clean red surface which bled slightly. 

She is a stout old woman of sudkM^H^B|a^y two years 




12Q RBCUREING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

since the eruption first came. It first showed itself on the 
left gums, and in the cheek and on the tongue. At first 
she used to have intervals of two or three weeks, much 
longer than she now has. She had been liable to neuralgia 
in the face, always on the left side, for many years. Since 
the eruption appeared she has had less neuralgia. Never 
had shingles; never any eruption on cheeks or lips. The 
pellicular character of the eruption is a very marked feature. 
In this case, as in the preceding, I lost sight of the 
patient. Both were cases in which there was much reason 
to fear that the herpes might prove introductory to 
pemphigus. 

Becurring Herpes of the Throat — Intervals very brief — 

Bemote history of Syphilis. 

The case of a gentleman aged 63, named S , afforded 

a good example of recurring herpes of the palate. He 
consulted me in July, 1886, on account of sore throats, 
which constantly varied in severity, but hardly ever left 
him. He had been Uable to them for three years, and 
before that he had had what he described as an abscess in 
the root of the tongue. His first attack of herpetic throat was 
the worst that he had had, and occurred at Cape Town. He 

was then a week in bed. Mr. S had lived much abroad, 

and had in a general way enjoyed good health. He had been 
told that his throats were syphilitic, and was curiously 
anxious to believe them so. His syphilis had occurred, 
however, at the age of twenty-one ; he had never since had 
any reminders, and his children were in sound health. 

My next case is a very important one, and must be given 
in cletail. 

A very severe case of Becurring Herpes of the Mouth, Lips, 
and Tongue — Suspicion of Syphilis, but no other symp- 
toms — Temporary benefit from Arsenic but relapses, 

Mr. T consulted me on account of a liability to 

herpes, which had persisted for four years. The eruption 
came out symmetrically on the tongue and lips. I pre- 



A TBRY SEVERE CASE. 121 

scribed arsenic, and under its influence he became for a time 
quite free from the attacks, and gained a stone in weight. 
I asked him to write me out the details of his illness, fend 
the following are his notes : — 

** February 5, 1889. — A little over four years ago I first remember 
the ulcers on my tongue and throat. The ulcers would disappear after 
taking medicine, and reappear again about every two months. I was 
under this treatment for two yeaxs, when my medical attendeuit was also 
treating my wife for ulcerated womb, and he said that my ulcers were 
caused by my wife being in that state. He changed my physic, but still 
ulcers came. He ordered me away on the moors, but had to come home 
again, as old complaint came on more severe. I then consulted one of 
the leading allopathic physicians ; he also said it was liver complaint, 
and he treated me for twelve months, but to no purpose. I then went 
to another physician, and he examined me and pronounced it to be 
syphilis. Treated me for same for fourteen months. I have continuously 
taken the medicine, and have been most careful in my mode of living. 
But still the ulcers came on about every four or six weeks, would stay 
about a week, and then disappear gradually. During the period of my 
mouth being bad I always lose my appetite, and am unable to put any- 
thing inside my mouth except liquids, as the tongue is so sore I cannot 
bear it. I also lose from seven to ten pounds in weight every time I 
have an attack, but when I get well I pick up the weight again, and am 
as well as ever. Until lately I have always had a slight thin running 
from the nose of the influenza kind accompanying my mouth. I gene- 
rally get an irritable itching all round the bag of the testicles a few days 
before my mouth gets bad. Since taking the iod. pot. and mercury the 
attacks have not been so severe as they were before, neither have the 
ulcers remained as long on my tongue. The itching of my testicles has 
always been an attending symptom of a recurrence of my tongue. I 
always lose the saliva from mouth at these periods, and my tongue 
and mouth get parched and dry. I have been very ill two summers 
running, and have taken a trip to Jersey for fourteen days, and have 
come back thoroughly well, and generally remained well for twice the 
length of period to what I do when at home. A friend of mine at 
Christmas (a medical man) told me to discontinue taking the last physic, 
as he said I was not suffering from syphilis. He has treated me for dis- 
ordered stomach, and I have been worse since then, having had two 
attacks in a month, and being very bad each time. If I have a cold 
when I am bad it thoroughly upsets me, and makes me feel very ill. Of 
ftU the physic I have taken, I have felt better when well when taking the 
kind prescribed for syphilis. It has driven spots out all over my face, 
and greatly disfigured me. When well I am generally very windy, wind 
sometimes belching up from the stomach, other times passing freely 



122 EECUEEING HEEPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

through the bowels. But when I am bad this disappears, and I get 
more costive." 



When I first saw Mr. T *s lips I made not the 

slightest doubt that it was a case of syphilis. His tongue 
showed a number of red abrasions scattered on its surface, 
and there were some also under its tip. His lips on their 
inner aspect showed many sores, which, although quite 
superficial, were much inflamed. Some similar ones were 
seen on looking into the pouches of his cheeks. I had 
rather hastily told him that it must be syphilitic, when he 
at once led me in a different direction by saying that he had 
had it over and over again, and that he expected it to get 
well of itself. He said that he had already had much advice 
about it, and that some had assured him it was syphilitic, 
others not. On inquiry there did not appear to be much 
reason to suspect that he had had syphilis. I may briefly 
state that his history pointed to the conclusion that the 
disease was recurring herpes, and that it probably had no 
connection with syphilis. I sent him to Mr. Burgess to 
have a sketch taken. This sketch does not show the disease 
in its early stage, but only the condition of the ulceration 
left nearly a fortnight after the outbreak. There was 
nothing at that time distinctive of herpes ; in fact, as just 
said, the abrasions looked like those of secondary syphilis. 
The portrait was taken at the College of Surgeons on 
Monday, February 4th ; and on Wednesday, the 6th, there 
was no trace remaining of the sores on his tongue, and 
little or nothing of those on his lips. I had some difficulty 
in believing that he was the same patient. The following 
are some of the particulars as regards his history. 

It was four years since his first attack. It used at first to 
come on the back of the throat, and was referred to the 
drains by his medical man. At first it used to recur every 
two months, but of late every month. He was accustomed to 
experience itching on the penis for a day or two before the 
herpes showed itself. He had seen several physicians in 
Plymouth, and had different opinions given him. One 
thought it syphilitic, and gave iodide of potassium and liq. 



A VEEY SEVEBE CASE. 123 

hydr. bichloridi, which he took regularly for fourteen 
months with bark. He thought his health better under this 
treatment, but the herpes still returned. He nearly always 
had a sort of influenza cold, and felt chilly, especially down 
his back, when the herpes was coming. The attacks were 
attended by temporary dryness of the mouth, and it became 
dry and parched. He had had much eruption, but it 
appeared to have been due to the iodide. He was rather 
thin and pale, and he counted each attack as causing a loss 
of half a stone weight, which he regains in their intervals. 

Six months later I received by letter the following report. 
I had, of course, prescribed arsenic. 

"Dbae Sir, — On the 4th day of Februaary I came to London to see 
you about a very obstinate ulcerated tongue, which I had been suffering 
from for four years, perhaps you will remember sending me to the 
Boyal College of Surgeons to hare my tongue and lips sketched. 
You at first sight thought it syphiUs, but afterwards said it was not so, 
and gave me a prescription. I have been taking the medicine regularly 
ever since, and I am pleased to tell you I have not had any serious return 
of my old complaint. Last week I had one ulcer on my tongue, which I 
attribute to my smoking cigars. I have felt so well that I smoked a 
little too much, which I think brought on the ulcer, but having put aside 
the smokmg, the ulcer soon disappeared. I have regained my usual 
weight, 140 lbs. (which is 11 lbs. heavier than when I saw you), and am 
well in every respect. It is now over three months, and before your 
treatment I never went longer than a montii or six weeks." 

After this, Mr. T once came up to see me and I 

found his mouth well, and he was much pleased with his 
almost complete immunity. 

In July, 1893, not having seen or heard anything of my 
patient for two years, I wrote asking for a report. The 
following letter was received : — 

" July 21, 1893. 
" My dear Sir, — In reply to yours of yesterday respecting the sore 
mouth and tongue you treated me for in February, 1889, I beg to say 
that I frequently get relapses of same, but have not taken the medicine 
regularly for two years, and have only had one bottle since Christmas. 
I find a change of air does me most good. I was in London a month 
ago, and my tongue was very bad then, and I intended to have called 
upon you, but the day after I arrived I was so much better that I did not 



124 RECURRING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

call, but if you think I ought to see you when I am in town again I will 
call. I have never been free longer than three months at a time, but 
when I take the medicine it does me good again. If I catch cold the 
ulceration on mouth or tongue generally accompanies it.** 

After this letter I never saw the patient. In the present 
y^ar, wishing to publish the case and having heard that the 
man was dead, I wrote to my friend Dr. Clay, of Plymouth, 
to ask if he could ascertain for me the subsequent history. 
Dr. Clay unexpectedly replied that the patient had originally 
been under his own care, and that he well remembered the 
case. He told me further that the man had lived intemper- 
ately, and that he had died of rupture of an oesophageal 
varix in connection with cirrhosis of the liver. Bespecting 
the latter. Dr. Clay was good enough afterwards to procure 
for me full details, and these I shall make the subject of a 
separate notice. It will be convenient here to deal only with 
the herpes. Dr. Clay assured me that there were good 
reasons for believing that the man really had suffered from 
syphilis, and he thought that the sore mouth had at various 
times been benefited by specifics, especially iodides. We 
must therefore leave this question in some doubt. It 
remains quite certain that at the date of my being con- 
sulted there were no other indications of syphilis, that the 
stomatitis was herpetic in nature and prone to spontaneous 
cure, that specifics had not prevented it, and that arsenic 
did, for a time at least, most definitely restrain it. It is 
very possible that syphilis may have been a predisposing 
cause, for we know that it often takes that role in reference 
to recurring herpes. At the same time it is quite clear that 
the herpes of the mouth was not sjrphilitic in the sense of 
being amenable to anti-syphilitic treatment, and that it did 
conform closely to the type displayed in other cases in 
which specific history is wholly absent. It must also be 
left an open question whether the patient's habits as 
regards alcohol had exercised any influence in aggravating 
liis herpes. He had not, so far as I observed, any of the 
usual indications either of intemperance or liver disease. It 
is to be observed, however, that a period of six years 
•elapsed between the date of my seeing him and his death. 



RECUBRING HERPES OF PHARYNX. 125 

He appeared, when he called on me, to be in good health, 
excepting his liability to sore mouth, and he so considered 
himself. 

My next two cases are examples of recurring herpes of 
the pharynx, but were probably in more close connection 
with syphilis than any of the preceding. 

persisting hut variable Eruption in the third year of Syphilis 
— Bepeated attacks of Herpes on Penis and in Throat. 

Mr. M , a young man of florid complexion and good 

health, had chancres two years ago. A year later he had a 
gonorrhoea. I saw him for the first time on April 19, 1891. 
He had then herpes on the under surface of his prepuce, 
some spots like herpes on his soft palate and tonsils, and an 
eruption of ill-defined and inconspicuous yellowish-brown 
stains on his thighs. A few of the latter stains occurred on 
other parts of his skin and body. He told me that they 
were liable to come and go, and that he thought their 
increase generally preceded an attack of herpes in the 
prepuce. He had been taking mercury in pills for the 
last six months, and could not get rid of the liability to his 
herpes, nor of the sore throat and the blotches on the skin. 
His gonorrhoea had for long been quite well, and there was 
lio tendency to recurrence of his chancre, nor any enlarge- 
ment of lymphatic glands. The herpes on his prepuce was 
quite definite, and he described his attacks as occurring 
about once a month. The eruption on his thighs, although 
m.uch worse at some times than others, never quite dis* 
appeared. It consisted of patches which were not abruptly 
margined but of rather oval form, and were little more 
than yellow stains. He was very confident in his statement 
that this rash varied in severity with his preputial herpes. 
Concerning the latter he volunteered the statement that it 
was sure to come out after a nocturnal emission. 

I was interested in the speculation as to whether in this 
case the whole of the phenomena were of herpetic or, in 
other words, of neurotic nature. It was certain that the 



126 EECUEEING HBEPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

long-continued use of mercury had not cured it. That part 
of them were herpetic there could not be the slightest 
doubt. 

Epilepsy eighteen months after Syphilis — Becurring Herpes 

of Pharynx, 

Mr. E. H. S , a gentleman aged 34, had primary 

syphilis in May of 1888, for which he took mercury. 
Subsequently he had herpes of the pharynx, and several 
times after taking cold had sore throats, probably of an 
herpetic character. For these he was under my care in 
November of 1889, and he then gave me the history which 
chiefly makes his case of interest. He had been suffering, 
he said, from headache, and had had an epileptic fit. The 
fit occurred when he was in the water-closet. It came with- 
out warning, and was attended by tongue-biting. He had 
been feeling unwell for some little time previously. . Thus 
his hands used to shake, and he had frequently a feeling of 
giddiness, and at other times of sleepiness. It will be seen 
that this fit occurred within eighteen months of the primary 
disease, and the question was whether it should be regarded 
as in connection with the syphilis. His syphilis had in the 
first instance not been very efficiently treated. I did not see 
him until seven months after the chancre, and he then still 
had his eruption out. The eruption quickly disappeared 
under the mercury which I ordered, but even whilst taking 
it he had a sharp attack of iritis in one eye. Of the latter 
he got quite well, and I did not see him for nearly six 
months, when he came with the history of his epileptic 
£ittack and headaches. 

In the cases of herpetic pharyngitis which occur, not 
infrequently, soon after the secondary stage of syphilis,, the 
vesicles are, I think, usually seen on one side only. In 
these cases recurrences not unfrequently occur, but the 
liability to them does not last very long. In such as those 
just quoted, in which the recurrences are very frequent 
and persist for many years, all tendency to unilateral de- 
velopment is, I believe, lost. It. is seldom that any differ- 




BEOUBRING HEBPES OF BUTTOCK. 127 

ence can be detected between the two sides, and if it be so 
it is seldom maintained in different attacks. These cases 
stand apart from those to which I have next to ask 
attention, in which groups of herpetic vesicles, like shingles 
on a small scale, recur repeatedly on or near to the same 
region of the skin. These cases occur in my experience 
almost always either on the face or neck or near to the 
buttocks. They are exceedingly rare on the limbs or on 
any part of the trunk. The subjects of recurring shingles 
on the face or neck are usually females and young children, 
and there is no association with sjrphilis. Those who have 
these attacks on the buttocks or upper part of thighs are, on 
the contrary, usually adult men who have suffered from 
syphilis. My next group will refer exclusively to the latter. 



GBOUP OF CASES IN WHICH HERPES RECURRED 
REPEATEDLY ON THE THIGH AND BUTTOCK. 

Herpes recurring on the Thigh — Syphilis two years before. 

Of this patient, Mr F , my notes under date March, 

1880, record : — He has had four attacks of herpes on the 
right buttock. He now shows me his fourth eruption, three 
long oval groups of abortive vesicles sloping down the buttock. 
He thinks that he feels rather ill whenever it comes, and the 
right leg feels weak and there is some tenderness in the 
inguinal region of right side. He never has herpes on the 
penis, and he never had ordinary shingles. His first attack 
of herpes was a year or more ago, and he has had three 
since last Christmas. He had syphilis two years ago. 

Becurring Herpes on the Buttock^ with history of former 

Shingles. 

Dr. P , aged 45, first consulted me in the spring of 

1881. He had had half a dozen attacks of herpes on the 
right buttock during the preceding four months. As usual, 
I prescribed arsenic. 

He told me that he had had a fearful attack of shingles 



128 RECURBING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

oh the chest twenty years ago, and also herpes on penis 
several times. 

In April, 1882, he reported that he had got rid of the 
herpes on leaving H , but he had taken arsenic as well. 

Herpes recurring on the Thigh, 

The following letter from a surgeon in the country 
describes his own UabiUty:— 

" Deab Mr. Hutchinson, — Can you tell me what is the reason of my 
having two or three times a year one single patch of herpes on the outer 
and posterior side of right thigh, about two inches or so above the bend 
of the knee ? It has come out pretty steadily two or three times every, 
year for some years now, and I have taken no particular notice of it. Is 
it due to some local nerve influence ? It is confined to the right thigh. 
During the intervals nothing is to be seen or felt. I should be glad of 
any hint or advice. I have the notes of your Lectures on Skin Diseases 
at Blackfriars, but don't find anything referring to my case." 

Becurring Herpes on the same spot on the skin of Buttock. 

The case of Sir H. M. T offers us another example of 

recurring herpes. He is a gentleman of forty years of age, 
in good general health, liable to gout. It is possible that he 
had syphilis many years ago, and it is certain that he has 
had gonorrhoea on many occasions. Formerly he was under 
the care of the late Sir Wilham Gull on account of recurring 
herpes preputialis. His liabiUty to this ceased after a long 
course of arsenic. His present trouble is the repeated re- 
currence of a patch of ordinary herpes, exactly like zoster, 
on the back of one buttock, midway between the crest of the 
iUum and the great trochanter. During the last three or 
four years he has had ten attacks, always in the same place. 
One for which he came to me on April 9, 1881, was, he 
said, the worst he had ever had. The patch was as large as 
a crown-piece and of oval form. As is, I think, usual with 
recurring herpes, the eruption seldom gives him much pain. 
He told me that its outbreak was usually attended by a sense 
of chilUness and general discomfort, as if he had caught a 
cold. On the present occasion it was accompanied by a 
distinct attack of nasal catarrh. 



RECURRING HERPES OF BUTTOCK. 12& 

Becurring Herpes on Sacral Begion and on Penis after 
doubtful Syphilis — Hypercesthesia of whole back of 
Thigh — Ten years later tingling in skin of Lip, dec. 

Dr. W came to me in September, 1877, on accomit of 

very troublesome herpes in the sacral region, which had 
recurred over and over again. The eruption usually came 
out on an area as large as the palm of a hand on the upper 
part of right buttock. It sometimes crossed the middle line 
in the cleft, but was always chiefly on the right side. It 
ran the usual course of herpes and subsided quickly, but- 
recurred every two or three weeks. At the same time some 
herpes spots often came also on the penis, but this did not- 
always happen. 

Dr. W attributed his herpes to syphilis, but his history 

was not conclusive. Three years previously he had con- 
tracted a chancre. He described the sore as ** punched out,**^ 
and said that he was sure that it never hardened. It lasted 
only a fortnight, and he was assured by the surgeon whom 
he consulted that it would be followed by nothing. Six 
months later, however, he had a sore throat, and, three 
months later still, some eruption under each arm. At almost- 
the same date he began to be liable to the attacks of herpes 
on the two parts mentioned. 

I saw Dr. W again two years later, in July, 1879. He 

was then very anxious as to loco-motor ataxy, and consulted 
Dr. HughUngs Jackson also. He had su£fered from vague 
pains in various parts and was still liable to herpes. He was 
now 28 years old. He told me that the outbreak of herpes 
occurred usually every six weeks, and that it was attended by 
hypersBsthesia of skin of buttock, extending down the back 
of thigh to knee (small sciatic). Sometimes the skin would 
be actually painful as well as 6ver-sensitive, and now and 
then this hyperaesthetic state of skin would occur without 
any herpetic eruption. Respecting the latter, he said that, 
it now occurred sometimes on one side of the coccyx and 
sometimes on the other, but never on both sides at the same 
time. He was rarely more than six weeks without it, but 
he did not now have it often on the penis. I did not find 

VOL. IX. 9 



130 RECURRING HERPES OF THE MOUTH, TONGUE, ETC. 

any definite signs of ataxy. His pupils acted tolerably 
well. 

Nearly ten years later still I again heard from Dr. W . 

He wrote that he had got rid of his "lightning pains," 
that his herpes recurred much more seldom, and that his 
general health was better. He had, however, been recently 
troubled (May 31, 1887) by "a burning sensation which 
comes near the left angle of mouth and is followed by 
tingling of lips, especially of lower one, and of anterior 
part of tongue. These sensations used to pass away in about 
an hour, but the tingling is now nearly constant. Movement, 
articulation, taste, &c., are not affected." 

I much regret that I cannot give the sequel to this case. 

Becurring almost painless Herpes on the Buttock — No history 
of Syphilis — Patient chilly and catarrhal. 

As another example of this recurring herpes on the 
buttocks, I may quote the case of a gentleman from York- 
shire, aged 37, who had been for three years liable to it. 
The patch of herpes always came exactly on the same place. 
It was on the back of the thigh, just beneath the middle of 
the fold of the nates. It usually occupied a space about as 
large as a child's palm. He thought that on an average his 
attacks had occurred once in three months, and, as is usual 
with recurring herpes, they were attended by very little 
pain. With one exception, the eruption had always dis- 
appeared quickly and healing had soon followed ; but an 
attack which occurred in October, 1890, left sores which did 
not heal for some weeks. On the first occasion there was a 
good deal of smarting and pain, such as made him suspect 
he had been stung. During a stay of three months at 

Bournemouth, Mr. E had been quite free from his 

herpes. He attributed the attacks to catching cold, and 
said that he was a very chilly subject, Uable to catarrh, and 
never well unless the weather was hot. He had never, 
either in youth or early life, suffered from herpes labialis. 
He had never had syphiUs. He was a tall, thin man, very 
bilious, and liable to diarrhoea. In youth he had been cured 



RECURRING HERPES OF BUTTOCK. 131 

of lupus of the nose by Sir Erasmus Wilson. The cure 
was remarkably good, sound white scar remaining without 
any teisdency to relapse. 

Recurring Herpes on lower part of Abdomen — Bemote Syphilis* 

Mr. S tells me that in former years he was liable to 

herpes over the abdomen, on the root of the penis. It used 
to come very frequently. He had, I beUeve, had syphilis 
many years ago. He married six years ago, and since then 
has only had an attack of herpes once every one or two 
years. It almost ceased soon after his marriage. [January 
9, 1891.1 

(To be concluded.) 



NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

No. XXIX. — The liability to Cramp after sleep. 

It is, I suppose, well known that the state of sleep pre- 
disposes to cramp in muscles. The exciting cause is probably 
always muscular action. Of all the muscles in the body the 
gastrocnemius is probably the one most prone to it. The 
usual time for its occurrence is just after waking in the 
morning. It may, however, in restless sleepers who move 
their limbs in bed, come on during sleep and put an end to 
it by the pain caused. Those liable to cramp in the calf 
must be very careful as to movements of their legs just after 
waking. When once the sleep state has passed off and the 
muscles are, so to speak, thoroughly awake, there is com- 
paratively little risk of its coming on. 

I was explaining the above to a patient who had suffered 
much from cramp, when he replied : *' Yes, I have found 
that out for myself, and I am so determined to avoid bending 
my legs soon after waking, that I always take care that the 
bed clothes are not tucked in, so that I can slide out of bed 
feet first and so keep them straight.'* 

No. XXX. — Additional Notes on Horripilatio. 

"Creepy sensations," **A wave comes over me,** "A 
wave runs down me,** — such are the expressions which our 
patients use to describe what is technically designated as 
Horripilatio. The phenomenon is so common, and under 
most circumstances of such slight import, that it is disre- 
garded. Now and then, however, it may, either by the great 
frequency of its occurrence or the severity of the attacks,. 



NOTES ON HOREIPILATION. 133 

rise to the dignity of a disease, and may in itself compel 
the attention of the patient and his adviser. Although allied 
in nature to what we know as a rigor, or shivering, horri- 
pilation is yet somewhat different. It concerns the skin, 
and in all probability its muscles, whilst in rigor there is 
arterial spasm. Spasmodic contraction of the muscular 
coats of the blood vessels is probably the essential cause 
of true shivering, whilst spasm of the arrectores pili is that 
of horripilation. The two are both nervous phenomena and 
often go together, but they may occur quite separately. At 
any rate horripilation may occur without any real shivering. 
It is perhaps less certain that shivering can occur without 
horripilation. 

Some general remarks in description of horripilation will 
be found in Vol. VI. at page 3. In Vol. VIII. at page 311, 
I have referred to a case in which the symptoms had attained 
a high development. The patient spoke of his attacks as 
his "seizures." They were little more than momentary 
and from his description of his sensations it seemed probable 
that they were really of the nature of horripilation. It 
might be doubted, however, whether they should not have 
been considered as a form of petit maly and this doubt 
suggests a further inquiry whether the phenomena of 
horripilation are in any degree allied to the epileptic state. 
The patient in the case to which I have just referred was a 
man o'f 50 who had had syphilis, and who had lived freely. His 
nervous system was undoubtedly damaged, and he had twice 
had attacks in which speech was temporarily lost, and had 
once been for a few minutes unconscious. His knee-jerks 
were excessive, but his pupils very sluggish. At the time 
that he was liable to the attacks of exaggerated horripilation, 
(or petit mal?) all the more serious symptoms were in 
abeyance. His attacks would, however, occur several times 
in a day. He described it as a sort of shiver, beginning at 
the head and running down to his legs, and attended by a 
creepy sensation. They were very quickly over, and were 
not attended by any loss of consciousness. His wife said 
that he always looked pale during them, and that his eyes, 
one or both, were drawn back into their sockets. I pre- 



134 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

scribed quinine, mercury, and iodides, and under these 
remedies and a regimen of total abstinence from stimulants 
he got rid of the liability and improved in health. He 
returned after a time to a distant colony. I have heard that 
he has since had severe epileptic seizures. 

By the side of this case I may place another which is very 
similar in some respects. Again I am puzzled what to name 
the attacks. Again the patient is a man who has had 
syphilis, and who has lived freely. He is at the present 
time liable to periostitis on the skull at various spots, and is 
obliged to take iodides for its relief. This patient complains 
of attacks which may occur at any time, and which are 
attended by creepy sensations and a feeling as if a wave 
were passing over him. I asked if the creeping ran down 
from his head to his feet. ** No," he replied, " not when it is 
bad ; it then always begins in my back and runs upwards to 
the head." He describes it as '' a horrible sensation," but as 
always over in a few seconds and leaving no ill consequences. 
He always feels inclined to clutch hold of something, and 
although he never in the least degree loses consciousness, he 
feels as if he should do so, or, indeed, as if he might die. 
Under the use of iodide of potassium, in combination with 
nux vomica, the liabiUty to these attacks has very much 
ceased. 

It will not surprise me if some of my medical readers 
think that in the description which I have given there is 
nothing more than what is known as petit mal. If it be so, 
however, I feel sure that horripilation is an important 
element in that state. The wave-like creeping sensation in 
the skin was one of the feelings upon which both patients 
laid most stress. The entire absence of any disturbance of 
consciousness is also an important difference. The two 
cases given are examples of the symptoms in an exaggerated 
form. In minor grades, just what they mentioned is not 
unfrequent. 

In the description of these cases, the phenomena being 
almost wholly subjective, we are dependent upon the 
intelUgence and observing faculties of our patients. In each 
of the instances adduced, I had repeated opportunities for 



URETHRAL PAIN WITH PROCTALGIA. 135 

listening to the statements made. I also requested the 
patients to notice their sensations as accurately as possible. 

No. XXXI. — Liability to pain in the Urethra^ and also 
to Herpes on the Prepuce^ and Proctalgia — 
Tabes suspected — Recovery under Arsenio and 
Tonics. 

In August of 1868 I saw a gentleman named G , aged 

38, who had in all probability suffered from syphilis eight 
years previously. He complained chiefly of recurring attacks 
of pain in the urethra. He had no stricture and no gleet. 
I thought that he might be liable to herpes in the urethra. 
He had, however, some other symptoms which suggested 
that possibly he was in an early stage of tabes. He was 
losing sexual appetite, and was liable to proctalgia after 
intercourse. He had also some backache, and his knee- 
jump was poor. Arsenic and nux vomica were prescribed. 
He had had definite attacks of herpes on the prepuce. From 
boyhood he had been the subject of the ordinary form of 
leucoderma over the whole trunk in patches. 

In the following October he had, after a year's immunity, 
a severe attack of herpes on the prepuce. In all other 
respects he was better. After this he continued the arsenic 
for a year or more, and was free from symptoms. 

In July of 1894, he came to me for another rather severe 
attack of herpes of the prepuce, with excoriation around the 
meatus. He was still liable to the attacks of pain and 
soreness in the urethra, but had been for a year quite free 
from external herpes. He was still, as he had always been, 
a healthy-looking man, and had no indications of sjrphilitic 
taint. 

In February, 1898, ten years after my first consultation, 
he was brought to me again by his surgeon, Mr. Denton, of 
Brixton, on account of an outbreak of skin eruption of three 
months* duration. It had begun, he said, rather suddenly, 
by severe irritation after his morning bath, on one leg. The 
eruption was mixed on his legs, being in part pustular on hia 



136 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

legs, but on his back, over the sacrum, and on the sides of 
the abdomen it assumed the characters of lichen planus. 
There was, however, none on his wrists. 

This visit afforded me an opportunity of inquiring as to 
his old symptoms as to herpes, tabes, &c. He said that he 
had been for some years almost wholly free from them, and in 
good health. He had taken a good deal of arsenic on and 
oflf, and believed that it usually prevented the recurrence of 
herpes. There was, however, no definite proof of this. He 
had been for a year, at least, quite free. 

No. XXXII. — Aggressive Pigment Patches on the 

Glans Penis and Prepuce. 

Repeated references have been made in Archives to the 
remarkable cases in which pigment-staining, of an aggres- 
sive form, is occasionally the prelude to maUgnant growth. 
In most of the cases which I have described, the disease 
was placed either on the eyelids or on the lips. I have, 
however, recorded other cases in which the same process 
occurred at the roots of nails, and in association with 
sarcomatous growths in the sole of the foot, and other parts. 
I have at present under observation a remarkable example of 
pigmentation of patches on the glans penis, and in the scar 
of a circumcision done thirty years ago. The patient is a 
man of 64, and the disease has been in progress three years. 
He was, in the first instance (two years ago), sent to me in 
the fear that the condition was malignant, but excepting 
increase of pigmentation, nothing further has been de- 
veloped. 

No. XXXIII. — Herpetic Teethache and Deafness ? 

Certain cases raise the interesting question as to whether 
there can be anything of the nature of herpetic inflammation 
of the pulps of the teeth. Also whether a nerve of special 
sense, such as the gustatory, can be attacked, and, if so, what 
are the consequences. We know already that the eyeball as 
B» whole is often involved in herpes. In severe cases white 
Atrophy of the optic disc may ensue. Great defect of sight, 




STUDY OF PAIN IN BONES. 137 

unexplained by corneal opacity, is not very uncommon, 
and in at least one case I have had to excise an eyeball 
which was lost and painful after herpes. These cases prove, 
with many others, that herpetic affections of nutrition are 
by no means confined to skin and mucous membranes. 
There may easily be such a thing as herpetic loss of hearing. 

No. XXXIV. — Ptosis in a Boy — Becovery. 

We had one day about a year ago, a boy in whom ptosis had 
developed after an attack of headache and sickness, and in 
whom, as his father was the subject of lupus, a conjectural 
diagnosis of meningeal tuberculosis had been ventured. The 
case is described in the Clinical Journal. I advert to it now 
in order to record that the symptoms passed off, and that the 
boy is now at school again, and quite well. 

No. XXXV. — Pain in the Shin-bones — A Study of 

a Symptom. 

A gentleman has just been with me whose account was 
that he had been laid up for six weeks with pain in his shin- 
bones. He said that it had been most severe at night, and 
had kept him awake night after night until early morning, 
when he usually fell asleep. It had, however, never wholly 
left him either night or day. He described it as ** just as if 
I had been severely kicked." He assured me that there had 
never been any swelling, nor, for the most part, any tender- 
ness on pressure. He could always bear to have the bones 
tapped without any discomfort on the subcutaneous surface 
of the shin, but here and there on the edge there would be a 
spot upon which a tap would elicit sharp pain. I examined 
his legs, and found the shins quite clean. There was not the 
slightest evidence of periosteal thickening. A note which 
he brought me from his surgeon contained the following : — 

*' He had syphilis fifteen years ago, for which he was well treated. 
Ten years ago he was laid up with syphilitic rheumatism for seven 
weeks. For the last six weeks he has had pains in his tibiae, chiefly at 
night, and of a boring character. I have regarded it as a syphilitic re- 
minder, and have treated him with iodide of potassium in four-grain 



138 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

doses three times a day. He is now improving, but we should be glad of 
your opinion." 

It will be clear from the above statements that the 
diagnosis lay between an arthritic affection and syphiHs. 
The pain had been in both shins, and without any swelling, 
and the patient assured me that it had begun in both almost 
together and almost suddenly. There had been no tender- 
ness, only intolerable aching. Although it is true he had 
had sjrphilis, yet it was a long time ago, and he had for 
seven years or more been wholly free from reminders. So far 
against syphilis. In favour of gout were the following points : 
The patient's grandfather (paternal) had suffered from gout, 
and his own mother, in early life, had been through a severe 
attack of rheumatic fever. He himself from boyhood up 
had been liable to attacks of severe pain in his great toe 
joints, sometimes attended by redness and swelling. He 
had been a free beer-drinker all his life, and he had a pale 
but rather bloated face, suggestive of both beer and gout. 
For the sjnnptoms described he had often had colchicum 
given. The attack which had been called syphilitic rheu- 
matism ten years ago began, he said, very suddenly by most 
severe pain in one knee-joint, which was followed by inflam-^ 
mation of almost all his joints, and kept him in bed six 
weeks. There seemed no real reason for connecting it with 
his syphilis. It had been an ordinary attack of acute 
generalised rheumatic gout, with more of gout in it than 
rheumatism. Lastly, as to treatment, iodide of potassium 
had not relieved the pain in the shins in the definite way 
in which it usually does that of syphilitic periostitis. It 
is true, however, that some benefit had accrued, and that 
the doses had not been large, Again, however, it is further 
true that iodides will relieve the pains of arthritis as well as 
those of syphilis. 

On the whole I was inclined to regard the attack of bone 
pain which he had just passed through as of a gouty rather 
than a syphilitic nature, and I prescribed quinine with 
colchicum and aconite, in addition to the iodides. The 
suspicion that it might prove the precursor of tabes did 
not escape me. If not better he must try mercury. 



SELECTED CASES IN ILLUSTEATION OF 
INHEEITED SYPHILIS. 

f 

(Concluded frofti page 16,) 

No. XX. — Details of a Syphilitic family, both parents 

having suffered. 

In the following case I had myself treated a husband and 
wife in the sixth year of their marriage for secondary 
syphilis. Both suffered severely, the wife especially so, 
She had a most acute attack of iritis. They continued 
in unrestrained cohabitation, and the following list furnished 
to me by their medical attendant shows the results. Prior 
to the syphilis three healthy children had been bom. After 
it were as under : — 

1st child, a boy, bom whilst under treatment, lived six 
months. Contracted smallpox, which was followed by 
cancrum oris in cheek. 

2nd child, a boy, bom twenty months after the primary 
disease (premature seven months), lived five months; died 
(convulsions). 

3rd child, a boy, born two years and seven months after 
(premature and stillborn). 

4th child, a boy, bom four years after (full time — still- 
bom). 

5th child, a boy, bom nearly six years after (full time and 
healthy) ; living now, in seventh year. 

6th child, a boy, bom about eight years after (full time) ; 
very strong and healthy. 

7th child, a girl, about ten years after ; strong and healthy 
now. 



140 SELECTED CASES OF INHERITED SYPHILIS. 

8th child, a girl, bom twelve months ago ; very strong and 
healthy. 

In this instance, although both parents had suffered and 
the mother very severely, none of the children showed 
definite sjrmptoms. We may, however, hold it as highly 
probable that those stillborn were tainted. By this calcu- 
lation the disease may be supposed to have persisted in the 
mother with heritable potency for four years. After that 
she bore four strong and healthy children. 

No. XXI. — History of a Syphilitic family. [Notes taken 

June 20, 1889.] 

A Mr. L married eighteen months after syphilis. 

Six months after his marriage his wife complained of sore 
in the vagina, but nothing further was observed. She was 
confined within a year of her marriage, and her infant, a 
boy, had the usual train of syphilitic sjonptoms and re- 
covered under the usual treatment. He was at that date 
aged 18, and to all appearance perfectly well. The next 
child, a boy, never showed any specific sjntnptoms, nor did 
the third, a girl, although always delicate. The fourth, a 
boy, suffered severely, worse even than his eldest brother 
had done. He was brought to me for advice on June 20, 
1889. He was eight years of age and suffered from a 
chronic form of interstitial keratitis. The eyes had been 
inflamed on and off for two years, in spite of much treat- 
ment, circumcision of the cornea, &c. He still had some 
superficial grey white deposits on both cornese with some 
vascularity. 

Three children younger than this boy had been bom and 
were livijig. None of them had ever presented any symp- 
toms. Both parents were apparently quite well. 

Comments, — In this case probably the mother, who 
acquired her disease two years after the father, was the 
source of infection to their children. Hence its long persist- 
ence. The entire escape of the mother herself, as regards 
any obvious manifestations, is worthy of note, though not 
very unusual. 



C ASE-N ABRATI VE S . 141 

No. XXII. — Primary Syphilis contracted during the late 
months of pregnancy — A mild attack in the infant — No 
constitutional symptoms in mother — The five following 
conceptions diseased — Mother apparently in good health. 

Mrs. T brought me an infant, aged three months^ 

covered with a syphilitic papular rash, but well-grown and 
thriving. This was in December, 1866. My chief reason 
for relating the case is to illustrate the absence of relation 
between the severity of the symptoms in parents and off- 
spring. Mrs. T herself appeared to be in robust health, 

and was a remarkably fine-looking woman. She had borne 
a large and healthy family. None of her infants before the 
present one had presented a single symptom. Her account 
made it probable that both she and her husband had suffered 
from primary syphilis just before her confinement. Her own 
sjmaptoms had, however, been ill-marked. She had had a 
profuse discharge and much vaginal irritation, and after 
delivery a large bubo in one groin. The bubo did not break. 
She did not recollect any rash or sore throat, nor had she, 
when I saw her, a single symptom. Dr. Armstrong, of 
Gravesend, who had seen the infant, had told her the cause 
of its symptoms. I treated the child by mercury and it got 
quite well quickly. 

In 1867 Mrs. T had a premature dead birth. She- 

herself still remained in excellent health, and her husband, 
though delicate, was free from symptoms. 

In December, 1868, Mrs. T brought another infant 

to me. It was two months old, and had a sjrphilitic rash on 
the neck, face, and buttocks. It improved rapidly under 

iodide of potassium and mercury. Mrs. T herself was 

florid and in vigorous health. She reported the child first 
treated to have remained quite well ever since and to be 
now ** the picture of health." 

I last saw Mrs. T , for her fourth child, on February 

21, 1870. The child, a girl, had been bom healthy-looking ; 
at the age of a month begun to snuiSe, but did not till three 
months old show the rash. Her thighs, &c., were covered 
with eruption, and there was some also on her face. She 



142 SELECTED CASES OF INHEEITED SYPHILIS. 

was much wasted. One child which I had not seen had 
died with seveBe sjonptoms. 

It will be seen that in this instance both parents had 
suffered from primary disease. I do not know what treat- 
ment they had had. The mother continued to bear syphilitic 
children for at least four years. The case, therefore, gives 
support to the opinion that the poison may maintain itself 
in the mother much longer than it usually does in fathers. 

No. XXIII. — Important family history of inherited Syphilis 

with Keratitis, 

Miss K , aged 16, was brought to me on December 19, 

1873, for syphilitic keratitis of the left eye. It was quite 
characteristic, as were also her teeth. She was a good- 
looking girl, the physiognomy not being affected. The 
attack had begun a fortnight before. The father was 
living — a pubUcan by trade. The mother had died of 
apoplexy, after a five hours' illness, nineteen years before 
which she had had **slow paralysis of the legs." The 
father had had a chancre, a rash, and sore throat a 
year before marringe, and had been some time under treat- 
ment. Since his marriage he had, he alleged, been per- 
fectly well. He told me that he had always suspected a 
taint of syphilis in his children. There were seven children 
living; two had died in infancy, one of smallpox and the 
other of cholera, and a third of asthenia. 

The following is a list of the children : — 

1. Female. Living. ''Headache sometimes.'* 

2. Female. Died of variola, aged 4J. 

3. Male. Living and healthy. 

4. Male. Died of cholera in infancy. 

5. Female. Has had "bad eyes." 

6. Male. Died, aged 19, of ** asthenia and bronchitis." 

7. Male. Aged 20. "A fine strong fellow and wonder- 

fully healthy." 

8. Female. Aged 16. The patient, ** delicate as a 

baby." 

9. Male. Aged 13. Has had bad eyes. 
10. Male. Living, aged 11. 



CASE-NABEATIVES. 143 

Comments. — There is no proof that any were really 
syphilitic till No. 8. Between the seventh and eighth 
children there was an interval of four years, and I should 
feel little doubt, looking at the fact that No. 7 is strong and 
never suffered, that on the part of one or other parent a 
fresh introduction of syphilis had occurred. 

No. XXIV. — Inheritance of Syphilis erroneously suspected 
by parents — Microcephalus and partial blindness after 
severe infantile convulsions. 

Mr. and Mrs. B had been married seven years when 

they brought their infant child to me in July, 1893. The 
husband said that he' had contracted syphilis about a year 
before marriage. His wife had always been well. The 
child, who looked healthy, had a narrow forehead with 
closed fontanelle, and was believed to be blind. She used 
to squint at times and turn her eyes up, and for two or 
three days shortly after birth was much convulsed. She 
was an eight months' child. The sight was certainly very 
defective. The discs were of a greyish colour, but not 
markedly atrophic. The child was the first born, and had 
never had either snuffles or eruption. Means had been 
taken to prevent conception during the early years of 
marriage. 

Comments. — I explained to the parents that the conditions 
present were not those usually seen in syphilis, and that in 
fact the infant did not display a single symptom of that 
disease. On the other hand it was, I said, well recognised 
that such results might follow severe infantile convulsions. 
I assured them that they might continue normal cohabita- 
tion, and that they need not fear that other children would 
suffer. Seven years had now elapsed since the disease in 
the father, a period abundantly sufficient to give safety. 

No. XXV. — A healthy family after Vaccination Syphilis. 

Mr. W , jun., was one of those whose cases are narrated 

in my first Report on Syphilis from Vaccination. He suffered 
rather severely, and his arm-chancre recurred several years 



144 SELECTED CASES OF INHEBITED SYPHILIS. 

later. He married in 1878, seven years after his syphilis. 
In 1885 he brought his eldest child, who looked quite healthy. 
He then had three living and healthy children, and had lost 
none. He was himself in good health. 

I mention this case because some authors hold that erratic 
or non-venereal chancres are productive of more severe 
syphilis than others. 

No. XXVI. — Dactylitis in an infant with periosteal nodes 
on skull and threatened abscess on bridge of nose — 
Syphilis or Struma, 

Alfred K , aged one year and eight months, was brought 

to me on February 3, 1891. His father was living, but his 
mother was dead. Six weeks before, he was said to have had 
a blow on the bridge of the nose, which- had caused the whole 
bridge to be now concealed by a soft swelling. For the last 
week there had been a discharge from the nose. There were 
large diffused periosteal swellings, symmetrically situated on 
the sides of the skull just above the temples, and rounded 
swellings of the fingers due to what is generally considered 
syphilitic dactyUtis. 

The patient was a big boy and looked well. There were 
no definite symptoms of syphilis and no clear history. 

Comments, — Although I was not able to get any clear 
history of syphilis, yet the multiple periostitis was very 
suspicious. I would, however, by no means feel confident 
in that diagnosis, having seen precisely similar conditions 
in connection with struma. 



ILLUSTBATIONS OF CANCEE OF THE BEEAST. 

The interesting paper which was recently read by Mr. 
Marmaduke Shield at the Medico-Chirurgical Society, and 
the important discussion which foUo^ved it, have drawn the 
attention of the profession to the encouraging fact that 
operations for cancer are in the present day far more 
hopeful than they were regarded by our forefathers. The 
paper referred to dealt with cancer of the breast only, but 
its conclusions are applicable to all forms of maUgnant 
disease which come within range of the knife. Nor is there 
anything unexpected in the fact which was chiefly dealt 
with, that many patients who have had cancerous breasts 
removed remain afterwards free from recurrence. It is only 
what those who believe in the local origin of these growths 
have all along asserted. 

It is not my intention to, nor would it be suitable that 
I should, here attempt to go over the ground occupied by 
Mr. Shield's paper. I have, however, been induced to look 
into my case-books and to select for publication a few cases 
of special interest. 

Large, soft growth ofScirrhus Cancer of six months' duration 
— Excision of breast and glands — Good health sixteen 
years afterwards. 

1 excised the breast and axillary glands of Mrs. B on 

July 23, 1880. Her history was that the tumour had first 
been noticed' enlarged in January, and that for a time it 
seemed to subside, but had been rapidly increasing for two 
or three weeks before I saw her. The tumour proved to be 
a large, soft mass of scirrhus (microscope used). I did the 
operation at her own house in the country, and did not see 

VOL. IX. 10 



146 ILLUSTBATIONS OF CANCER OF THE BREAST. 

her afterwa«rds. She came to me in November, 1880, with a 
perfectly sound scar. 

I did not see her again for fourteen years. She came to 
me in the latter part of 1894, being then in perfect health. 

(N.B. — This case and the following were referred to in 
my remarks at the Medico-Chirurgical Society, and have, I 
believe, been previously mentioned in print.) 

Bemoval of a rapidly -growing and ulcerating Cancer in a 
young married woman — Good health six years later. 

Mrs. J , of A-^= . I excised her breast at Mrs. 

E 's in February, 1891, on account of a large tumour 

with open, fungating ulcer. She had been quite unable to 
get rid of her milk. After two pregnancies, she had had 
profuse discharge of milk for six months, although not 
nursing ; and in each pregnancy it had commenced six 
months before delivery. She had no menstruation after 
her confinements, whilst this flow of milk continued. At 
the time of my operation, although it was eight months 
since her last confinement, she still had milk running freely 
from her left breast. 

I took away the breast, all the adjacent skin, great pectoral 
muscle, and the axillary glands, leaving a large wound to 
heal by granulation. The tumour had grown very quickly, 
and had been recognised only a few months. She did quite 
well after the operation, and, six years later, had no sign of 
return. The microscope had declared it a soft form of 
scirrhus. 

Mrs. J was only 29 years of age. Her father was 50 

when she was bom. 

Inheritance of tendency to Cancer — Both breasts affected in a 

mother and daughter. 

Dr. G. T , of W , related to me an interesting 

example of inheritance of cancer which had occurred in his 
own family. His mother and one of his sisters had, he said, 
each had both breasts removed for scirrhus. In each the 
operations were done with a considerable interval. His 



SCIRBHUS RESEMBLING KELOID. 147 

mother had survived the second operation several years, and 
his sister was still alive ten years after her second. In each 
of these cases the cancer had developed in senile periods of 
life. The daughter was the eldest child of the family, arid 
was now nearly 80. A sister of the elder patient (arid aunt 
of the younger) had also suffered from cancer. 

No evidence frorii the microscope is forthcoming in any of 
these three case. The name of the operator in the younger 
patient was given me, and I corresponded with him. He 
told me that he had registered the cases in his notebook as 
** cystic sarcoma," because there was in each " a cyst or 
cavity in the deeper part." The tumours were, however, 
hard, and looked like scirrhus. He had taken them for 
scirrhus before the operation, but had felt encouraged, after 
finding the cyst, to hope that there would be no* return. 
The case may have been only one of lobular induration, 
although it is scarcely likely that a well-experienced surgeon 
would have been twice mistaken. 

Scirrhus mass in the skin resembling Keloid, and developed 
before any tumour in the breast was recognised. 

About twenty-four years ago a lady from K came up 

to town on account of an indurated patch in the skin over 
the breast. The patch was scarcely larger than a shilling, 
and was at least a quarter of an inch in thickness. It was 
smooth and somewhat glossy. The involved portion of skin 

was quite movable. She consulted Mr. P as well as 

myself. One of the questions of diagnosis was between 
keloid and scirrhus. The age of the patient, 54; the fact 
that no scar had existed previously on the spot; and the 
short duration assigned to it, three or four months ; as well 
as some minor peculiarities in its aspect, led us to think that 
it was scirrhus. Next came the question, was it primary 
scirrhus of the skin ? This seemed a priori improbable, and 
I carefully examined the mammary gland. The lady was 
very stout and her breast large, but deep in its centre a 
certain amount of thickening was felt, of very suspicious 
character. We could not feel sufficient confidence in the 



148 ILLUSTRATIONS OF CANCB» OF THE BREAST. 

diagnosis of cancer of the mammary gland to advise th6i 
fOiznidable operation of removing the whole, and she was 
accordingly allowed to return into the country to have the 
nodule in the skin excised by her own medical attendant. 
This was done at once, but within a month or two it became 
very evident that our suspicions as to the existence of primary 
disease in the breast itself was correct. She put herself for 
some months under the care of a quack, and it was not until 
about a year after our consultation that she determined to 
sujbmit to removal of the breast itself. This operation was 
performed by an eminent provincial surgeon. The massi 
removed was very large, and the axillary glands had to be 
taken away as well. The patient sank within forty-eight 
ho^rs of the operation. ; 

Cancer of both breasts — Fracture of Clavicle from slight 

violence — Good union. 

The following notes, taken in May, 1893, describe a case 
in which I declined any operation* Both breasts were 
affected and in an advanced stage of the disease. A point 
of much interest is that a fracture of a long bone had 
occurred from very slight violence, and yet probably in- 
dependently of any malignant disease in it. 

Scirrhus. of both breasts in a woman, aged 52, with en- 
larged glands in both axillae. In this case both breasts were 
of considerable size and adherent to the chest-wall and to the- 
skin, the latter being infiltrated and puckered. The exact 
date of the commencement was uncertain, but it was probably 
present 18 months. A point of some interest in the case was- 
that the woman had a recent fracture of one clavicle, which 
had united well, although with considerable thickening. It. 
had been caused by a fall in getting out of bed in the dark.> 
The poor woman, who was very anxious to. keep her more, 
serious trouble secret, boasted that she had succeeded in' 
concealing from . 1;he surgeon who treated her fractured 
clavicle the faK^t that she had tumours in her breasts. V 
do- not think that there was any reason to believe that the^ 
bone itself wad affected with cancer, although on6 may suspects 



SECONDABY INFECTION OF BONES. 14Q 

that it was unduly brittle. I have in other cases known 
patients, who were the subjects of cancer, break bones, 
which yet united quite well. ' 

Soirrhibs of Breast — Excision — No local recurrence — Death 
five years later ^ after spontaneous fracture of thefefrjm/r,^ 

In May, 1881, I saw Mrs. B- , a married lady from 

the country, concerning whose casiie the following letter 

which I wrote at the time is the only memorandum I 

possess : — 

" 15, Cavendish Square, W. 

"May 28, 1881.^ 
^ '* My dear Sib,— I should confidently believe the disease to be 
scirrhus, and should, on tha whole, advise an operation. The case is 
not, however, a very favourable one, and I would not urge an operation 
if she is unwilling. If no operation is done I would cover the lump with 
lint wet in a strong lead and spirit lotion, and so endeavour to retard its 
growth. 

" Believe me, yours truly, 
r . . " JoN, Hutchinson." 

Although I do not remember anything about the patient, 
and have sought in vain for any record of the case, yet from 
the tenor of my letter I have little doubt that the tumour 
was unusually large and the patient much out of health. I 
have always been a strong advocate for operations, and have 
. never countenanced their omission if the conditions seemed 
hopeful. Some years ago I received the following as a post- 
script to a letter respecting another patient. At the same 
time my own letter, as given above, was enclosed : — 

" P.S. — I sent Mrs. B to see you about six years ago, suffering 

from scirrhus of the left breast. You advised operation, but you did 
■not advise me to press it if the patient was at all unwilling. She yi9& 
quite willing and anxious to have it done. The glands in the, axilla were 
affected. I renioved the breast and glands affected. Dr. Ed^^ard 
Swales was present. I did it antiseptically, and there was no pus from 
beginning to end. She lived five years afterwards, and then it did not 
iattack the breast ; but she fractured her thigh by slipping downstairs, 
and there was secondary deposit in the -thigh, and shei died |rppi 
exhaustion.*' .^ 

Facts such as the above, whilst in the main strongly 



150 ILLUSTRATIONS OF CANCER OF THE BREAST. 

encouraging operative interference, would appear to prove 
that blood infection may occur at a stage when the local 
disease is yet restricted. The local cure was presumably 
complete, for five years elapsed without any local return. 
The growth in the femur may possibly have been wholly 
unconnected with that of the breast, and an evidence only 
of constitutional, possibly inherited, tendency to cancer* 
On the more probable supposition that it is from infection 
from the breast, the case illustrates the long latency which 
is possible even when germinal matter has found access to 
the blood. A fact which would favour the belief that the 
disease of the femur was really secondary to that of the 
breast, is that after scirrhus of the latter, spontaneous frac- 
ture of the femur is not very uncommon. A singular 
coincidence in illustration of this once occurred. Two ladies 
for whom I had removed the mamma on account of cancer 
in the same week and in the same home, both had spon- 
taneous fracture of one femur about two years later, and 
within a few days of each other. Neither of them had had 
any local return (so far as I remember). 

A lady whose breast I had removed on December 8, 1878, 
wrote to me respecting another ailment on May 29, 1893, 
and took occasion to remind me of the fact, and to report 

that she had had no return (Miss B C ). . The weak 

point in the case is that I cannot offer any proof as to 
microscopic diagnosis. 

Cancer in both Breasts, with a ten years interval, 

I excised the left breast of Mrs. T in 1884. In 1889 

I removed a gland from the axilla, and in 1894 the other 
breast. In the interval I had also operated on a younger 
sister for the same disease. Both sisters are now living, 
and free from any return. The elder is now fifty-four. 

We may safely assume in such a case as this that the 
tissue-tendency to cancerous processes is strong. It is not 
probable that the disease in the second breast was in any 
connection with that in the one first affected. 



CASES OF LONG IMMUNITY. 151 

Examples of long immunity after Excision of the Breasts. 

My friend the late Dr. Smith, of Cheltenham, related to 
me several cases supplied by his long experience strongly in 
favour of excision of the breast for cancer. 

A lady whose breast was removed in 1849 by Mr. Phillips, 
of the Westminster Hospital, and examined microscopically 
by Mr. Quekett and declared to be scirrhus, lived till 1869, 
and then died from " keloid of the skin of the chest.*' The 
so-called keloid began on the other breast, and spread over 
a large extent. In all probability it was cancer of skin. 

Another lady whose breast was removed by the same 
surgeon in the same or the following year, was at the time 
of our conversation still alive and well (1870). In her case 
also I believe the diagnosis had been confirmed by Mr. 
Quekett's ncdcroscope. 

PliLgging of Veins following Excision of the Breast on two 

occasions — Gouty antecedents. 

A lady aged 45, in excellent health, but with gouty ante- 
cedents, required the removal of the left breast for scirrhus. 
During her recovery, which was in all respects favourable, 
she had an attack of plugging of the veins of the left leg. 
Six years later (July, 1893) I had to remove her right breast, 
and on this occasion, a week after the operation, she being 
still in bed, a long tract of vein in front of the right elbow 
became plugged. She was doing perfectly well at the time, 
and no ill consequences followed from the phlebitis on either 
occasion. 

(2^0 he continued) 



INCKBASB OF GENEBAL PARALYSIS OF THE 

INSANE. 



The outlook as regards the alleged increase of general 
paralysis of the insane is not a cheerful one. It is asserted 
to occur precisely amongst those in whom it might hove 
heen least expected. Its victims are married men of the 
well-to-do classes. Amongst women it is, as it has always 
heen, rare, and is becoming yet more so, and the labouring, 
or for Asylums the pauper class, shows no increase. The 
same is true in the main of the unmarried amongst the 
middle class who supply private establishments for the 
insane, but when we come to the married we have a very 
startling statement. I am taking these statements from a 
paper apparently compiled with great caare by Dr. R. S. 
Stewart, of the Glamorgan County Asylum. It may be 
well before proceeding further to allow Dr. Stewart to speak 
for himself. After showing that the total increase of 
insanity in England and Wales is probably ;yery slight, he 
proceeds to prove that the increase of general paralysis 
amongst widowers and married men is alarmingly great. 
The following are his figures on this point. 

Contrasting general paralysis with other fprms of mental 
disorder, the order of increase (per 10,000) of the average 
annual admissions of the five years 1882-92 over the .five 
years 1878-82 in relation to the marriage state, is as 
follows : — 



Acbndseions, excluding 


General 






Paralytica, 






Oeneral Parahftics* 


Married Men 




01 


Married Women 


... 0-005 


Single Men 




0*2 


Single Women 


... 0-010 


Single Women ... 




0-3 


Widows 


... 0-026 


Married Women 




0-4 


Single Men 


... 0-060 


Widows 




1-4 


Widowers 


... 0-261 


Widowers 




1-7 


Married Men ... 


... 0-804 



GENERAL PARALYSIS OF THE INSANE. 153 

The most striking feature of the foregoing figures is the 
position occupied by married men, for while the increase of 
the admissions (other than general paralytics) is least of all 
pronounced in their case, they most of all are responsible 
for the increase of general paralysis ; in relation to these 
two groups of mental disorder they occupy the extremes. 
The extreme position occupied by married women and men 
in the increase of general paralysis is another very note- 
worthy point. The increase among single women is twice', 
and among widows five times what it is among married 
women; while as regards men the increase among the 
widowed is over four, and among the inarried five times 
what it is in the single. 

The first thought which will occur to most in reference tp 
these statistics is one which found expression in regard to a 
yet more important narrative : '* Let us hope that it is not 
true." The fallacies of statistics are indeed so many that 
there is some ground for this hope. It seems at first sight 
equally difficult to assign any plausible reasons of increase 
of general paralysis amongst married in the present age as 
for its greater relative prevalence amongst them in contrast 
with single men. Married men are generally supposed to 
lead lives more conducive to health in all respects than 
those of bachelors. If the conditions of married life have 
during the last quarter of a century changed at all, they 
have probably changed for the better. Men drink less than 
they did, gamble less, and take more holidays. No South 
Sea bubbles have broke of late, and the days of the railway 
mania are now half a century past. We have lived througli 
comparatively quiet and absolutely prosperous times. Thu^ 
it is not easy to see that social conditions involving excite- 
ment can have acted in causing an increase of this form of 
insanity. If we turn to the question of syphilis as a pre- 
disponent to it — and this is the aspect in which it chiefly 
interests me — ^we are met by the fact that more of the 
unmarried than the married have probably suffered. The 
reason in very many cases for a man remaining unmarried 
is that he has had syphilis. My own experience as- to 



154 GENERAL PARALYSIS OF THE INSANE. 

general paralysis is naturally fragmentary and one-sided. I 
see not a few cases in which the thought occurs " that man 
is in danger of general paralysis/' These are all cases in 
which syphilis has preceded the nervous phenomena, or they 
would not be brought to me. Almost all of these, under 
the prolonged use of specifics, get quite well. Concerning 
a minority I never know the sequel, and as to a very few I 
am made acquainted with the fact that the malady does 
develope. Of the latter class — although I may have known 
of more — only three are well impressed upon my memory, 
and in order to obtain some clinical basis for my remarks it 
may be well that I should relate some particulars as to these 
before proceeding further. They are good typical cases, 
and were all three the subjects of repeated consultations 
with others. Of these three, one was an honestly married 
man ; a second married his mistress during the early stage of 
his symptoms, and ought, so far as sexual habits are con- 
cerned, to be counted as unmarried ; the third had never 
niarried. All had had syphilis, and all are now dead. 

Case I. — Tabes followed by General Paralysis of the Insane 
and death — Patient a man of free life who had suffered 
from Syphilis. » 

In this instance the patient was a man of great business 
ability, who had made a fortune and who kept it. He had 
never had any sort of business anxiety, but he was accus- 
tomed to speculation. When he became ill his delusions 
were always in the direction of exaltation. He always 
boasted of his wealth and prospects, and was never 
depressed about anything. He had lived freely and was 
fond of champagne, but he was too keen a man of business 
to have ever been intemperate. He had probably indulged 
very freely with women, but he had, I believe, always been 
very vigorous, never until his illness experiencing any ill 
results. As regards his syphilis, he appeared to have got 
over it easily, and, excepting his nervous illness, no reminder 
or tertiary symptoms ever occurred. As in the case which is 
to follow, unless he had avowed his syphilitic history I 
should have found nothing to make me suspect it. 



CASE-NABRATIVES. 155 

Mr. E 's illness began with symptoms of tabes. He 

lost his knee-jerksy and optic atrophy followed. At this 
stage he was seen by Dr. Hughlings Jackson, and I give the 
diagnosis of tabes on his unquestionable authority. 

My acquaintance with Mr. E began in 1894. He 

then told me that he had had syphilis twelve years before — 
but this he subsequently denied, and alleged, without the 
slightest grounds, that he inherited the disease from his 
father. This delusion became very firmly fixed in his mind. 

During the whole of the time that Mr. E was under 

my care I gave mercury and iodides, and often with apparent 
improvement. He continued, however, to indulge in stimu- 
lants and sexual intercourse, and in these directions I think 
counteracted the drug treatment. 

In February, 1896, I had the following diagnosis from 
Dr. Savage, and he was now placed in an asylum and I saw 
no more of him. I heard that he had died six months later. 

DR. SAVAGE'S REPORT. 

Feb. 18y 1896. — The patient is in the fat and demented state of 
general paralysis. He has great want of facial expression, greasy skin, 
bright capillary stigmata over malars, tremor of facial muscles and of 
tongue ; when trying to speak there is a tendency to a kind of spasm, 
giving a sardonic look ; swallows fairly but does not masticate properly. 
His hands are waxy and wanting in fine power of adjustment ; gait very 
ataxic ; K. J. absent ; he has loss of control over rectimi ajid bladder ; he 
has only perception of light ; pupils equal, dilated ; discs not examined ; 
hears well ; seems to taste and smell well. His memory is very defective 
for recent events ; he is fairly amiable, and has lost all his old antipathy 
to his father. He has a way of denying all things : thus, if asked where 
he is, says ** nowhere " ; if asked if has money, says " there is none " ; 
that he "has no parents," ** no relations," "no wife," " no house," etc. 
When asked further, said he created himself ; that he had two shillings, 
which were enough to keep him for two weeks. He has had no fits ; he 
is now hopelessly demented. 

Case II. — General Paralysis of the Lisane, beginning in the 
tenth year after Syphilis, and ending fatally in its fourth 
year. 

The subject of the following case was a man in whose 
family no insanity was known to have occurred. He had 



156 GENERAL PABAI4YSXS OP THB INSANE. 

suffered from sypbiUs, had been cured by specifiee^ and never 
showed any further symptoms. Two years, or perhaps less, 
after hi9 syphih^^ he married. His wife retained good, health, 
and bore him four children, all quite healthy and all living 
at the present tinxe. He had married above his own position 
and acquired property with his wife, which was a source of 
great satisfaction to him. This induced him to engage in 
speculations, which, although they involved no serious 
disaster, were not profitable and caused much disappoint- 
ment. His first depression of . spirits was distinctly in con- 
nection with them* He was a total abstainer as regards 
alcohol, :and apparently a man of moderation in all things. 
!No one would ever have suspected him of having had 
syphilis if he had not voluntarily revealed it to' bis sui^oii 
when he became ill. Although he had been wholly free 
from symptoms for ten years, that is ever since the 
secondary stage, yet when his more serious nervous 
symptoms ensued he had a fixed idea that they were duei 
to syphilis, and mentioned it . over and over again to every 
medical map. whom he consulted. From first to last there 
waiS an entire absence of indications of persisting taint, th^ 
ease being an ordinary one of general paralysis. ' 

Schedule of Case. 



TZAB.I DETAILS. 



1871 , Syphilis complete. Mercurial treatment. 

1872 ! Details of treatment, &c., not known. 

1873 I Married.^ 

1874 , 

No further symptoms of a syphilis. A family of four 

[ healthy children, all still living. 



1876 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1888 
1884 






Losses hy speculations and some anxiety. 

His illness began by fits of depression. 

Went abroad and zoade foolish speculations. 

Liable to tongue symptoms, &c. (s^e memoranda below). 

Symptoms pronounced (see memoranda below). 

Died in an asylum. 



From the date of his first depression of spirits to his death 
was five years, but during only the last three of these had 



CASE-NARRATIVES. 157 

the symptoms been pronounced. Mercury was given twice 
during his worse attacks, and pushed to sUght ptyahsm. 
It was not, however, continued long. He was for a long 
time the subject of very profuse flow of saliva, possibly in 
connection with the mercury. 

The case is the same as that briefly mentioned in Com,- 
mentary LXIX. of my work on Syphilis. 

Aiiditional Memoranda. 

Oh March 5, 1882, his wife wrote : *' He has to-day had 
a curious sort of a fainting attack in church. He felt a 
sort of numbness in one side, and, on rising, found he could 
not stand. He lost consciousness for a few moments, and 
then after a rest was able to walk home, and now feels per- 
fectly well again. His face looked, I thought, rather on one 
side, and he complained of the feeling being all down his 
left arm and leg. His speech was rather affected. During 
the last nine months he has had three slight attacks in his 
speech : his tongue seems to get cramped and for a few 
minutes he cannot speak plainly. Then he recovers entirely 
and is all right. This last seems to have been a similar 
attack, but affecting more than the tongue. He has been 
much better lately in general health, and he appeared quite 
well this morning when he went to church. I have been 
rejoicing to see him so well." 

On December 20, 1882, one of his friends wrote: **He 
forgets the names of such places as London and York, and 
could not tell me how he had got here. He was unable to 
write to his wife this morning to say that he was coming 
home, and could not be made to understand the time at 
which he would arrive. A telegram which he received about 
business made him quite nervous and ill for the rest of the 
day, though it contained nothing of importance. Anything 
connected with money transactions seems to have a peculiar 
effect upon him. He talks almost incessantly, and seeitis 
impatient of any interruption. He often cannot or will 
not answer a 'simple question. He tells you the same story 
over and over again,' and sometimes forgets who he is 



158 



GENEEAL PARALYSIS OF THE INSANE. 



speaking to, and talks to you about yourself in the third 
person." 

On June 5, 1883, the report of his wife was : " During the 
last week he has been increasingly irritable, the least thing 
putting him out. Last evening he seemed to quite lose his 
balance, and he became almost violent. Two doses of 
morphia were needed to get him to sleep.'' 

On July 8, 1883, the Medical Officer of an Asylum to 
which he had been sent, wrote, ** In many ways he shows 
the typical symptoms of G. P. of I., but he is constantly 
alluding to an attack of syphilis which he says he had some 
years ago, and of which he describes the symptoms very 
accurately. He sleeps well and has a wonderful appetite. 
His mental condition is one of extreme exaltation, with 
hallucinations of sight and hearing. He was much excited 
one day and broke the windows.'* 



Case III. — General Paralysis of the Insane in the sixth 
year of Syphilis — First symptom^ Paralysis of Third 
Nerve — Death. 



YEAB. 


AGE. 
32 


1892 


1893 


33 


1894 


34 


1895 


36 


1896 


36 


1897 


37 


1898 


88 



DETAILS. 



February : a sore. May : roseola. Sore throat and tosgue. 

Bupia on leg whole year. Mercury and arsenic. 

Well. September : transient motor aphasia. Iodide and mercury. 

Well. Little or no treatment. 

January : brought to me, paralysis of left third and fourth nerves. 

He was for a short time in an asylum with G. P. of I. 

Death occurred nine months after leaving the asylum. 



Additional Memoranda, 

Mr. W was a man of no sHght attainments. I saw 

him only once, and do not know details as to his progress 
beyond the fact that he became a G. P. His mother and 
two or three sisters had died of phthisis. He had cough 
from boyhood, but at the date of the consultation he looked 
well, and complained only of his digestion. 



ON HYDKOCYSTOMA. 159 

He had paralysis of all the muscles supplied by the 
third and fourth nerves, and possibly some weakness of 
the external rectus also. His attack of ophthalmoplegia 
occurred suddenly. He had been out that morning on 
horseback. Drooping of lid was the first symptom. No 
headache had preceded it. He had been very busy in an 
arduous avocation. 

It will be seen that the treatment in the first instance 
was not commenced until the secondary stage was well 
developed. The treatment throughout was mixed and in- 
termittent. In the third year the nervous system was 
threatened. 



ON HYDEOCYSTOMA. 

It would appear that the condition known as Hydrocystoma, 
and which is said to be fairly common in the United States, 
is rare in England. When I published in the British 
Jaumal of Dermatology, in May, 1896, the case of the 
patient of whom I now give a portrait, I stated that I had 
seen a few much less well-marked cases, but none others 
which in the least approached it in definition. Now, four 
years later, I have to repeat the same statement. No other 
well-marked case has come under my notice in private 
practice, nor have any of those who assist at my Museum 
Demonstrations produced any. 

Dr. Eobinson, of New York, who was the first to describe 
the phenomena of Hydrocystoma as constituting a distinct 
malady, stated when he read his paper (1884) that he had 
four examples of it under observation, and he has sub- 
sequently said that he has seen thirty or forty. It is said 
to occur chiefly in washerwomen, whose faces are much 
exposed to hot steam. It may be that there is something 
peculiar in the kind of influence to which women of this 
calling in New York are exposed which does not hold in 
this country. 

It will be seen, in the portrait, that the patient's face shows 
a great number of little watery vesicles which might at first 



160 ON HYDBOCYSTOMA. 

sight be mistakem for those of a mild herpes. Although, how- 
ever, they are in this instance far more abundant on the 
right than on the left cheek, they occur on both. Nor do 
they pass up the forehead as herpes would have done. In 
the paiient there is no difficulty in excluding herpes, for the 
little vesicles axe persistent and not transitory. The sub- 
ject of the case ,was a florid woman, aged 64, whose chief 
employment was in charge of a chufch as sextoness, and 
who did no more washing than for her own/ domestic 
purposes. She had on the whole enjoyed good health, but 
had been subject through life to very severe headaches. 
Her case gives support to the theory that the nervous 
system takes a considerable share in the production of the 
condition. This suggestion had already been made by Dr. 
Hallopeau of Paris, and Dr. Allan Jamieson of Edinburgh, 
both of whom have pubUshed cases very like mine. 

..My patient had been liable to unilateral sweating of the 
face and also to neuralgic pain of very severe character, 
chiefly in the right side of the tongue. The vesicles or little 
oysts had been present more or less for ten years. They 
were tense, and varied in size from pins' heads to peas. 
Their contents had an acid reaction. There could be little 
doubt that they were sweat-cysts. Mr* Sequeira, to whom I 
was indebted for the opportunity of examining the patient, 
told me that he had often verified her statement that she 
was liable to sweat on this side of the face. It was clear 
that her neuralgic pain, her headaches, and the sweating 
had all been most marked in the same side of the head as 
that in which chiefly the cysts had developed. They had 
not, however, been wholly confined to it, nor were the cysts 
on the face wholly one-sided. 

'We may regard Hydrocystoma as an affection of the 
sweat glands-—** retention-cysts '* — to which those who 
perspire freely on the face are liable. The cause of the 
increased perspiration may probably be neurotic in some 
cases and from external heat in others. In the neurotic 
cases, of which the present is an example, we must expect 
deviations from bilateral symmetry, whilst in others the 
two sides of the face will probably be equally affected. 



PLATE CXLIV. 

HYDROCYSTOMA OF THE FACE. 



The particulars of this case are given on page 159. 



I .« 'I 



HUTCMIN90HS OLINIOAL ILLU3TBATION8. 



•••• • 

• • • • 

V: 






TEEATOLOGY. 

(Continued from Vol. VIII,, p, 361.) 

No. XIX. — Congenital defects in lower extremities. 

I once saw in the Ipswich Hospital, under the care of Mr. 
Hetherington, an interesting example of defective develop- 
ment of the lower extremities. The infant was a female 
child about six months old, one of a family of five, the other 
four being quite free from defect. The most conspicuous 
feature was a form of talipes varus, the feet being much 
bent and strongly turned inwards. For the relief of this 
several tenotomy operations had already been performed. 
There were, however, other and more exceptional defects. 
Thus the knees were turned inwards until they faced each 
other. It was even difficult to recognise the knee by sight. 
On examination of the knee with the finger I could identify 
the condyles of the femur, but could not find a patella or 
any ligamentum patellse. The tibia was very loose on the 
femur. There was a fleshy substance in front of the femur 
which might be a quadriceps muscle ; but it never, so far as 
I could tell, took on any action. The lower limbs were 
altogether short, this being perhaps due to the fact that the 
great trochanter was higher up than usual. As far as I 
could tell, neither of the femurs had any neck or head, and 
very probably the acetabulum was absent. As the child lay 
on its back it was constantly lifting the extremities up into 
the air, evidently by means of its psoas and iliacus. This 
movement it accomplished very vigorously, but I never 
noticed that it moved its knees or ankles. The conditions 
appeared to be quite symmetrical. 

VOL. IX. 11 



162 TERATOLOGY. 

No. XX. — Congenital defects in all the limbs. 

A girl aged sixteen months, under Mr. Tay's care in the 
London Hospital, had congenital defects in the development 
of all its limbs. They were much more marked on the left 
side than the right. 

Left hand : the middle and ring fingers were webbed 
together and dwarfed to one-fourth their proper size. 

Eight hand: the middle and ring fingers almost of full 
length, but wanting their nails and pulps. The last phalanx 
of thumb wanting. 

Left leg showing a little below the knee a deep furrow 
as if it had been compressed by a band ; below this furrow 
the limb was of normal size, but looked more dusky and 
congested than the other ; the foot was twisted inwards, and 
all the toes were very short and small. It appeared that the 
bones of the digits were either wholly absent, or almost so. 

The right lower limb was quite without defect, excepting 
that the ends of the three middle toes were absent. 

The child had no other defects. 

No. XXI. — Depressions in the Skull behind the Ears. 

William W , set. 37, came to see me November 10, 

1888, with Dr. Tapson, for facial paralysis with numbness 
on the left side. His history was that he had been very 
delicate as a boy, and had suffered much from eczema, but 
was now well of that. Four years ago he had partial 
paralysis of the facial muscles, with numbness of the face. 
There was much general weakness, and his pulse was very 
feeble. Eecently he had had pain and swelling over the 
antrum. He had previously been treated for syphilis. 
There was a peculiar depression, quite symmetrical, behind 
the ears; it was deep and shelving in the mastoid and 
occipital bones at the base of the mastoid process. No 
•deafness or defect of sight. 

No. XXII. — Congenital defects — Multiple. 

I saw Master C , aged 4, on Januarj^ 20, 1894, in con- 
sultation with Dr. Molyneux. He was a seven months' 



ABSENCE OF DIGITS. 163 

child, and at birth weighed If lbs. The anus was im- 
perforate, and two days after birth an operation was per- 
formed, and at the age of eight months this opening had to 
be enlarged. In infancy he was subject to obstinate consti- 
pation, and when one year old enemata were used constantly. 
The scrotum was divided by a deep raphe. Hypospadias 
was present. The end of the sacrum projected under the 
skin, and there were no signs of a coccyx. The left testis 
was undescended, the right one being of normal size. There 
was a doubtful tendency to spina bifida, and the child could 
not walk well. The forehead was very suspicious of syphilis. 
The mother had had three children in twenty-eight months. 
Two children bom since our patient were dead ; one having 
been bom at six, the other at seven months. One of these 
infants was believed to have had some malformation in the 
throat. 

No. XXIII. — Congenital absence of one finger^ with 
slight general excess in size of all the others. 

In May, 1867, 1 had under observation a married woman 
in whom the right forefinger and its metacarpal bone were 
absent. There was no trace of appendage, nor even of scar. 
The girth of the knuckles on this side was an inch less than 
in the sound hand. All the digits were, however, individu- 
ally larger than their fellows. This increase concerned their 
bulk only, for they were not longer. Thus the middle 
finger of the left hand had a girth of two inches and a half 
round its middle joint, that of the right being only two and 
a quarter. The difference in the size of the nails on the 
two hands was very conspicuous. The wrist of the right 
was a quarter of an inch greater in girth than that of the 
left. Thus it would seem that the hand which had grown 
only three fingers had used the nutritive force, or blood 
supply, to increase the size of all its other parts, and that 
with equal distribution. The woman was right-handed in 
spite of the defect. She had six children, none of whom 
had inherited any defect. She had the normal number of 
toes on both feet. 



164 TERATOLOGY. 

No, XXIV. — A Spina bifida in the cervical region. 

I saw at Shottermill, many years ago, a child nearly two 
years old in whom a spina bifida was present between the 
shoulders. The tumour was rounded, and the skin over it 
very thin. It was as big as a fist. It evidently sprang by 
a large neck from the lower cervical region, and certainly 
did not pass up to the occiput. There was no positive 
tahpes, but the lower extremities were fltabby and cold, and 
the child made but little attempt to use them. The child 
was well grown, but had a large hydrocephalic head. 

I heard some time afterwards that the tumour had given 
way and was draining a serous fluid, and still later that 
the child and its mother were both dead in consequence of 
accident. I record the case because spina-bifida tumours in 
the cervical region are very rare. 

No. XXV. — Optic Atrophy and white discs in asso- 
ciation with Occipital Encephalocele, 

An infant under observation in October, 1866, had an 
occipital encephalocele as large as a hen's egg. The swell- 
ing became tense when the child cried. It was well covered 
with scalp hair, and bony plates could be felt in its walls. 
The infant was blind, and had white discs. It died at the 
age of seven months. 

No. XXVI. — Conditions supposed to be characteristic 
of Intra-uterine Constriction by Bands occurring 
in four members of the same family. 

Photographs representing the condition of the hands in 
B. brother and sister, whose cases were briefly alluded ta 
in my last Archives, p. 360, have been placed on the screen 
in the Museum and may be examined by any one who takes 
interest in the subject. It seems scarcely worth while to- 
reproduce them as woodcuts, since the conditions are almost 
exactly those shown in the illustration from another case 
which I now, for the reader's convenience, again insert. 



A FAMILY MAIFOEUATION. 165 

The point is that a brother and two sisters have been bom 
with their hands deformed on exactly the same pattern, aoid 
that it seeniB impossible to explain such an occurrence by 
supposing the deformities to be due to constriction by 
amniotic bands. There is the further fact — possibly of great 
importance — to he mentioned, viz., that a great-uncle pre- 
sented the same malformation. 

Now the conditions present are exactly and precisely those 
usually attributed to the mechanical effect of constricting 



bands; yet, as just remarked, it seems absurd to suppose 
that such bands should chance to have been formed on the 
hands of three different fcetuses, affecting in alt the same 
hand and producing exactly parallel results. These facts 
of family occurrence and inherited defect look much more 
like some arrest of development. Yet if we admit arrest 
of development as a cause in this case, surely it must be 
allowed in others which are just like them. It seems highly 
improbable that precisely the same result should be in con- 



166 TERATOLOGY. 

nection now with one and now with another cause, such 
causes being extremely different. I can, I may confess, see 
but one supposition by which it is possible to admit or 
reconcile the two hypotheses. It is this, that possibly a 
defect, originating in a mechanical cause (constriction by 
bands) in the first instance, may be transmitted hereditarily. 
This supposition, of course, contradicts the general creed 
which denies that acquired defects are transmissible. I have, 
however, on several occasions mentioned facts which seem 
to invalidate that creed. If it can be got rid of, and if we 
may believe that the results of injury and of disease may, 
in some instances, have the effect of stamping peculiarity of 
structure on future generations, a great step will have been 
taken towards our comprehension of the phenomena of 
family diseases as well as of the general possibilities in 
reference to struX5tural inheritance. In the present in- 
stance it is to be remembered that it is a great-uncle and 
not a grandfather who is supposed to have shown the 
malformation. On this point, however, my informant's 
knowledge may be inexact, or it may be that the great-uncle 
himseJf inherited from a predecessor. 

I have been in correspondence with Dr. J. W. Ballantyne, 
of Edinburgh, a very high authority in all that relates to 
Teratology, and the following extract from his letter will, 
I am sure, be valued by my readers. 

" In reference to the influence of pressure — amniotic, fimic 
or otherwise — in the production of the so-called intra-uterine 
amputations ; that they are sometimes due to constricting 
bands is, in view of the evidence of Simpson, Montgomery, 
Eeuss and others, undeniable. I believe, however, that they 
may also be due to a diseased condition of the skin itself, as 
Jeannel holds, while it is just possible that some are really 
want of development from inherent absence of formation as 
occurs undoubtedly in the more advanced hemimelic and 
amelic types. If they be due to these two latter causes, it 
is easier to understand how they may be hereditary, but to 
my mind it is incomprehensible to think of an amniotic 
band, or the umbilical cord, producing similar conditions, 
and necessitating exactly similar arrangements in successive 



ENCEPHALOCELE WITH OTHER DEFECTS. 167 

pregnancies. Nevertheless, although incomprehensible, it 
may be true." 

No. XXVII. — Absence of Limbs. 

In the College of Surgeons Museum there is a specimen 
of a child without limbs. It is a large baby and probably 
lived some time after birth, a male. The skin over the 
shoulders is smooth, there being no trace of arms. The 
muscles of the left hip have been dissected (338). It is 
otherwise well developed. (I have two portraits of the like.) 

Specimen 278 is also a skeleton without limbs. There is, 
further, the skeleton of a one-legged seagull. 

No. XXYIII. — Occipital Encephalocele associated 
vrith cleft palate, convulsions^ and blindness — 
Death in the third year. 

On June 5, 1868, an infant aged one month was sent to me 
by my friend Dr. Dove, of Pinner, on account of a large 
occipital encephalocele. The infant had been bom at full 
time and was its mother's first. It was rather small. Both 
fontanelles and the whole length of the sagittal suture were 
open. The head was well formed with the exception of the 
occiput, which looked very small, as if sliced off. The 
tumour was of irregularly oval shape, its long axis being 
horizontal and its chief projection to the right. It was as 
large as an adult fist, and fully half the size of the rest of 
the infant's head. At right projecting end the skin and mem- 
branes were distended so as to be quite transparent: On the 
tipper part the tumour was covered with scalp hair. This 
filled up the nuchal cavity and hung upon the back; it 
pushed the head forwards so that the child's ears touched 
its shoulders, and its chin its chest. The spine seemed to 
be rounded and to project backwards, but probably all these 
deformities were merely the result of the displacement by 
the tumour. 

Parts of the skin of the tumour were in the condition of 
port- wine noBvus. The palate was cleft nearly up to the 



168 TERATOLOGY. 

alveolus, the cleft being double and leaving the vomer in 
the middle. The feet were not distorted. Convulsions 
had occurred several times, attended by blackness of face. 
Owing to the cleft palate the infant could not suck. The 
infant did not use its arms well, but still it could grasp, and 
perhaps there was but little deficiency. 

Dr. Dove was subsequently kind enough to inform me 
that the child had died at the age of three years. It had 
been blind, or almost so, for some time before its death, 
and had also repeatedly suffered from convulsions. 

No. XXIX. — Spina bifida in two brothers. 

An instance of spina bifida occurring in two children of the 
same family was brought under my notice by Dr. Byles, of 
Victoria Park, in 1870. The conditions were very similar 
in the two. Death resulted, I believe, in both. Both were 
boys. There were about eighteen months between them. 

No, XXX. — Case of Hypospadias with apparent 
absence of Testicles^ and some curious features 
of resemblance to the female sex. 

July 20, 1883. The subject of this case was a boy aged 
16. He was short for his age, with wide pelvis and some- 
what female gait. His voice was an ordinary boyish one. 
Some fine hair on the upper lip and chin was commencing 
to grow. The pubic hair was rather plentiful and long, and 
there was also some on the scrotum as far back as the anus. 
The penis was small. There was a large meatus at its 
base and under-part, the lower lip of which was a thin fold 
of mucous membrane. The penis was grooved, and in the 
groove were three openings which seemed to pass only for 
a few lines into the wall of the groove, and were probably 
glandular follicles . A gum-elastic catheter passed fairly easily 
for several inches, but no urine came, and it could be felt 
by the fingers to be close to the rectum ; at the same time 
no prostate could be felt. A silver catheter with some 
difficulty was made to enter another canal leaving the one 



INTBA-XJTEBINB BEPAIR OF DEFECTS. 169 

mentioned at some distance from the meatus, and this led 
more upwards and into the bladder. The lower canal could 
not have been a false passage, as he had not been catheter- 
ised before. The instrument passed readily, and no blood 
followed its withdrawal. The scrotum had a marked groove 
leading back from the meatus and the perineum also, the 
bottom of which had the appearance of a scar. 

The testicles could not be found either in scrotum or 
abdominal wall. There was no impulse at the inner ring 
when he coughed. 

No. XXXI. — Intra-uterine repair in Goloboma. 

In many cases of coloboma of the iris (congenital) we 
have evidence of a sort of intra-uterine repair: of a defect. 
In one eye there may be a large open coloboma, in the 
other a wedge-shaped portion of fibrous-looking tissue in 
the corresponding part which is destitute of colour of the iris. 

In the case of the Eev. M. B. A. this wedge was grey 

and pigmented, and looked exactly like scar tissue. The 
coloboma was complete in the left and this scar existed in 
the right. A similar evidence of repair is sometimes seen 
in the upper lip, a child being born with a scar in place of a 
cleft, looking exactly as if a harelip had been closed by 
operation. 

No. XXXII. — Congenital defect in development of the 

femur. 

There is in the University College Museum the skeleton 
of a man in whom the femur on both sides is almost wholly 
absent. The rest of the bones are almost normal ; those of 
the trunk and upper limbs are remarkably well formed. 
The front part of the pelvis is very light; the leg bones, 
especially those of the left leg, are, I think, almost of natural 
length and size. Those of the right leg appear to be smaller 
and somewhat bent, and the right foot is small and with a very 
high instep. The femur on each side is represented, above 
by two fragments of bone as big as half-walnuts, possibly 
the two epiphyses, and below by a fragment which clearly 



170 TERATOLOGY. 

represents the lower epiphyses. The whole of the diaphysis 
is wanting, and the leg appears to have been attached to the 
pelvis, just below the anterior iliac spine. I am describing 
the specimen on a cursory examination, and without having 
had reference to the catalogue. It has, I beUeve, been 
figured and described by Mr. Liston. 

No. XXXIII. — Hydrocele of the NecJc. 

[A note written Nov. 18, 1878.] An infant now attend- 
ing at the London Hospital has a large tumour in the right 
side of the neck which bulges forwards in front and under 
the chin. It consists of large cysts, most of which have a 
bluish tint. They adhere closely to the skin. It is not quite 
in the usual position, coming much more in front and less 
in the side. On the left side, just in front of stemo-cleido 
mastoid is a very soft swelling, only detected by the finger 
(not visible). I did not notice it on the first occasion. It is, 
I think, quite distinct from the other, but they meet in the 
middle. The infant is four months old. I advise to defer 
treatment. 

No. XXXIV. — Dwarfdom and defective development 

in many regions. 

In May, 1883, I had under observation at the London 
Hospital a very peculiar case of multiple and disconnected 
defects in development. The young woman, although 23, 
was, I should think, not more than 4 ft. 6 in. in height, and 
looked like 16. Her frontal eminences were prominent, 
and the forehead somewhat squared. The upper half of her 
sternum projected strongly, but at its middle there was a 
deep depression. There was a very curious depression of 
the skull bones on the left side a little above the occipital 
protuberance, much as if it had been indented by a severe 
fracture, and at both elbows the head of the radius appeared 
to be much larger than natural, and the external condyle 
much smaller : thus the upper and outer two-thirds of the 
head were quite free from the condyle. In the upper jaw 



POSTEEIOE DICHOTOMY. 171 

she had bpit two teeth, a bicuspid and a molar on the 
left side. In the lower jaw she had no incisors or 
canines, but six or seven bicuspids and molars irregularly 
placed. The teeth that were present were of large size ; 
the gums in the incisor region were much shrunk. She 
had epicanthus, and the eyes looked small, the pupils 
not being exactly in the middle, but rather towards 
the nasal side : her sight was defective, and she had 
a high degree of hypermetropia. Her forehead and face 
were suggestive of inherited syphilis ; but I could not find 
any evidence of periostitis in the long bones, and she had 
never had keratitis. She was the eldest of six or seven, 
and reported her brothers and sisters healthy. She had 
had fits in infancy. 

No. XXXV. — Note on cases of Congenital Absence of 

part of the Pectoral Muscle. 

In the cases of congenital deficiency of the pectoral 
muscles to which I have twice referred (Vol. V., page 342, 
and Vol. VIII., page 356), the fact is repeatedly noted that 
the sterno-costal portion may be absent whilst the clavicular 
part is perfect. The essential distinctness of these two 
halves of the muscle is confirmed by what is sometimes 
observed in the results of disease. Thus Gowers has noted 
that in Duchenne's paralysis the sterno-costal portion is 
often wasted when the other escapes. 

Two cases of this congenital defect are recorded in 
Virchow's Archives, vol. cxxi., p. 598, with a lithograph. 
I am indebted to Mr. H. C. Durham for this reference, 
which I am glad to add to those already given. 

No. XXXVI. — Double Monsters — Posterior 

Dichotomy. 

In my last issue mention was made of two specimens of 
the "Double Monster'* which had recently been obtained 
and were in process of dissection. A graphic illustration 



172 TEBATOLOGY. 

(copied) of the condition in a living hare was also given- 
This woodcut showed an animal with one head, but three 
ears. Its shoulders were so joined that two of its fore-legs 
came to the ground, whilst two others were on its back. Its 
hind-quarters were quite separate, so that it ran vdth four 
hind-legs all touching the ground. These conditions are 
almost exactly reproduced in the two specimens which I 
have recently dissected. One of these was a pig, the other 
a kitten. I mention the subject again here in order to 
reproduce the accompanying illustration which shows the 
manner in which the bowel is united into a single trunk in 
the ileum. The woodcut is copied from one given at page 288 
of the Ephemeridum Medico-physicorum for 1686. It will 
be seen that the bowel, which was of course double from 
the anus upwards, in the dichotomised lower quarters of 
the animal becomes single by union of the two at the certain 
position in the middle of its course. In place of speaking 
of union of the two bowels at this point it might perhaps 
be more correct, though less convenient, to speak of division 
commencing here. The result is, however, the same. This 
union of the duplicated bowel at a certain point appears to 
supply a strong argument in support of the doctrine of 
dichotomy as opposed to union of two embryos. Were 
these double monsters produced by the latter process it is 
very difficult to understand how the organs should, in the 
upper part of the trunk, become single in such a well- 
ordered arrangement ; whereas it is just what would be 
expected if division of the embryo had taken place from 
below. On the dichotomy hypothesis it would appear to be 
usual for there to be some simultaneous tendency to division 
from above as well as from below; — anterior as well as 
posterior dichotomy. In the specimens from which the 
woodcut was taken this was marked, there being two heads, 
and the upper extremities as well as the lower being dupli- 
cated. It will be seen that there are two stomachs and two 
spleens. Only a very short central region are the viscera 
single. Thus it will be observed that the liver is single and 
the gall bladder single. So also is part of the duodenum and 
the whole of the jejunum. It is from the human subject, 



ANTERIOR AND POSTEBIOB DICHOTOMY. 



Expi.iKATiON OP Woodcut,— The viscera from a double n 
in which the bodies were united only at the thorax and upper part of abdomen. 
There are two Etomacbs and two spleens, a single malformed liver and a aingla 
gall bladder. The first part ol the small intaatine is single, but dichotomy 
occurs in the ilium, and below the bowel is duplicate. (Seen from behind.) 



174 TERATOLOGY. 

the twinned monster being united only along the chest and 
abdomen and possessing a single mnbilicus. 

In neither of the two specimens which I have recently 
had under examination was there a double head, but in both 
there were conditions which suggested a tendency to division 
from above. In one there was cleft palate and non-union of 
the symphysis of the lower jaw. In the other there were 
four ears and a cleft palate. 



DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

No. XXIV. — Becurring (jbud persisting Hyalitis in one 
Eye only — Great benefit from residence abroad — 
Gout probable. 

In the case which is to follow we have, I think, a good 
example of the insidious form of inflammation of the eye- 
ball with opacities in the vitreous which I described many 
years ago as occurring occasionally in connection with gout 
tendencies. We have also an instructive instance of the 
benefit to be obtained in these cases from a change of 
climate. 

Mrs. P , aged 32 (?) was sent to me by a distinguished 

ophthalmic surgeon. A letter which she brought with her 
described her ailment as *' a very curious retino-hyalitis of the 
right eye, which makes the fundus quite obscure,'' and gave 
me the following additional particulars : — 

*' The fandus has been more obscured than it is at present, and to-day 
for the first time I thought I got a glimpse of the O.N. The vision has 
usually been t\, and is to-day t\. The other eye has myopic astigmatism, 
but I have not yet ordered glasses. She developed symptoms of glaucoma, 
and I used eserine. It has improved since. Her husband had syphilis 
many years ago. Inquire of him as to their marital habits, and let me 
know if you think any part of the eye-mischief traceable to either cause. 

Mrs. P had blue pill at first, with a blister, but latterly bark and 

iodide of potassium, \mder which she thinks she has had much benefit. 
It is a very obscure case." 

I found the eye in the condition described in my friend's 
letter, the vitreous full of fine films which obscured the fundus. 
The ciliary region was somewhat congested and the eye very 
irritable. It was necessary to wear a shade constantly, and 



176 DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

she never attempted to read. She was a florid woman, 
rather thin, looking well, and of nervous temperament. I 
could not find any indications of syphilis. It appeared that 
she was her husband's second wife, and that his syphilis 
was prior to his first marriage and more than seventeen 
years ago. He had a healthy child by his first wife. The 
eye affection had been coming on for about a year, but had 

varied much at different times. Mrs. P had herself had 

some attacks of pain in her toe-joints, but I could not learn 
that definite gout had ever been recognised in her relatives. 
Neither she nor her husband were in the least out of tone, 
and I did not think it worth while to prosecute inquiries in 
the direction which my friend very plausibly suggested. 
My diagnosis was inherited gout, in spite of the absence 
of history, and I advised most strongly an inunediate 
change of climate. 

My advice was promptly acted upon, and Mrs. P 

spent the ensuing five months abroad in Egypt. She 
returned to me at the end of that time with the statement 
that her eye was no longer in the least irritable and that she 
was able to read with it. I found the vitreous much less 
hazy, the fundus easily seen, and the vision f g. It appeared 
that the irritability had ceased six weeks after she left 
England, and she had then been able to throw aside her 
shade. It had never returned, and she had been able to do 
a certain amount of reading. She thought that she had 
again been threatened with gout in her toe, but she had not 
had any definite attack. 

Whilst abroad she had taken quinine, small doses of 
aconite and iodide of potassium, and had been carefully 
dieted (see page 184 for details). 

My next case must be related in two letters from a surgical 
friend. I saw the patient only once and very hurriedly. He 
was a young man of 20, in somewhat feeble health, and 
practically blind. His father came with him, and there was 
a clear history of family gout. I could not find any symp- 
toms to support the suggestion of syphilis, nor did any such 
develope subsequently. The case seemed to me to be an 



OPHTHALMITIS OF INHERITED GOUT. 177 

tmusually severe one of the relapsing ophthalmitis of in- 
herited gout. In the strongest language that I could use I 
urged an immediate emigration to a southern climate as the 
only chance of saving any sight. 

The first letter gives the history of the case and describes 
the patient's state when he was brought to me. The second, 
written six months later, gives the sequel. 

''Aprils, 1896. 

** The first attack occurred seventeen months ago, taking, I gather, the 
form of a severe iritis. He was under several men, but the iritis con- 
stantly recurred. He came to me in May, 1895, with sight very much 
impaired, suffering from an acute attack of iritis, which subsided under 
leeching, belladonna fomentations, and pills of mercury and opium. The 
media remained opaque for many days, but were gradually clearing, 
when the other eye suffered in a precisely similar way, and this has been 
the history for months, alternate eyes suffering. Gradually the other 
tissues of the eye have became involved, and each time the media show 
greater delay in clearing up. 

'* Latterly he has had several (three or four times) attacks of pain, 
inflammation and high tension of the eyeball, which have been only relieved 
by tapping the anterior chamber. 

'' I have tried to build up his system by diet, steady exercise, and all 
that might conduce to good health ; have treated him for rheumatic gout 
and with iodide of potassium. 

'' I should say that when he came to me in May, 1895, he had a round 
ulcer on the scrotum with hard raised edges, which soon yielded to lotio 
nigra, and a hard, swollen condition of the left leg. No edema or apparent 
obstruction of the veins. 

** He denies having had syphilis.*' 

" September 13, 1896. 

" About ten days after seeing you, Mr. W and his father went to 

Woodhill Spa ; his eye was then clearing. The next day he felt great 
pain in the right eye and commenced vomiting ; they took train home. 
The vomiting persisted on the journey home as well as the pain. They 
put leeches on the temple, without any effect on the pain. In the night 
they sent for me. He was suffering from acute glaucoma. I performed 
an iridectomy, which relieved the pain at once. About a week afterwards 
the pain recurred violently, and as the sight was completely gone, after 
consultation I removed the eyeball. The left eye seemed to improve for 
a time greatly, and he began to distinguish objects with it, when he had 
another recurrence of the iritis, and he can now hardly distinguish light 
from dark. Unfortunately there were pecuniary reasons which prevented 
them adopting your advice as to residence in a tropical climate." 

The whole history and progress of the case fits exactly 

VOL. IX. 12 



178 DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

with what occurred in the girl Mabey, the first example of 
this malady which attracted my notice. In her, although the 
attacks were not so severe, they were recurrent after just the 
same fashion and were attended by glaucomatous tension, 
which was relieved repeatedlyby paracentesis and iridectomies. 
In her also one eye was lost and excised. The other was 
saved only by iridectomies, which in the end had taken away 
almost the whole iris. Her father had had gout. She her- 
self subsequently died of phthisis. In reference to the 
suspicion of syphilis, it will be seen that the sore on the 
scrotum occurred long after the first attack of irido-hyaUtis. 

No. XXV. — Bemote results of a blow on the eye- 
hall — Complete detachment of the retina and 
secondary cataract. 

Mr. C , a Lincolnshire farmer, aged 50, was sent to 

me by Dr. Stiles, of Spalding. His left eye had long 
been quite blind, and had recently become painful. It was 
congested, rather hard and showed a swollen, cataractous 
lens, which bulged into a widely-dilated pupil and almost 
touched the cornea. I had no hesitation in advising its 
excision. After the operation we found complete, umbrella- 
detachment of the retina and entire absorption of the 
vitreous. 

Mr. C reminded me that he had consulted me some 

years before, and on looking up my notes I found, under date 
May 13, 1885, the following interesting facts : — Ten months 

had then elapsed since Mr. C had received a severe 

blow on the eye from the handle of a winch. He had after 
it a bad black eye, but the sight was certainly not destroyed 
at the time. He was confident that two months lafer he 
had been able to shoot from the left shoulder. By degrees ^ 
however, the sight had failed, and when, on the date given, 
he came to me he could not count fingers. The ophthal- 
moscope showed subretinal effusion in several different 
places. There was no great elevation of the retina, but 
it showed long white streaks and thin folds. There were 



RESULTS OF BLOW ON THE EYE. 179 

also some films in the vitreous. There were some pig- 
ment patches at one or two places in the retina, which 
probably represented the remains of haemorrhages, and the 
retina near the disc was hazy. Five months later Mr. 

C could only just discern light with the injured eye 

and the subretinal effusions had increased ; and three years, 
later the lens had become so opaque that it was impossible 

to inspect the fundus. After this I did not see Mr. C 

until the occasion on which, in December, 1896, I excised 
the eyeball. There had been no material irritability of 
the remaining eye, and throughout it had enjoyed perfect 
vision. 

The case is of interest in reference to the prognosis 
after blows on the eyeball. Although the eye was not 
disorganised nor, indeed, apparently much injured at the 
time, yet we find a tendency to subretinal effusion following 
in the course of six months, which, gradually increasing, 
led to complete detachment of the retina and absorption 
of the vitreous. Through this process the eye retained 
its normal tension. In connection, no doubt, with the 
removal of the vitreous, the lens became opaque, and 
finally, at the end of eleven years, a state of increased 
tension with congestion and severe pain made removal 
necessary. 

No. XXVI. — Ophthalmitis of those hereditarily gouty . 

Miss T . Left eye was formerly the worse, but is 

now the better. She can read with it for hours together, 
and does read a good deal. 

The right eye has been worse since an illness at Christ- 
mas, 1880. In February, 1881, she had an attack of 
inflammation in the right eye, with great pain, and at 
present she cannot read anything with it except the largest 
print. Sometimes there is a little aching in it after reading, 
but no recent relapses of inflammation. Still she thinks 
eye worse during last few months. I found a large bees- 
wing opacity in the vitreous, which caused the failure of 



180 DISEASES OP THE EYE. 

sight. The disc could be seen easily, but was veiled. She 
was not liable to any form of arthritis, but five years ago 
she had an affection of the hip, from which she had quite 
recovered. There was gout in the family. 

No. XXVII. — The Mdbey Group — Belapsing Gyclitis 
with feeble circulation and Gout. 

Miss F , aged 39, has got stout, but is not strong. 

Iridectomy a year ago. Got through the early winter pretty 
well. Caught neuralgia in the left jaw in April. Whilst 
suffering from its effects the eye relapsed. Has been freely 
blistered, and has taken belladonna till the pupils were large 
and the throat dry. There is a large downward coloboma, 
with much discoloration of the ciliary region, and some pits 
due to sub-conjunctival scars. Every spring she is accus- 
tomed to get eczema on her hands. This last spring she 
** stopped it by a soda solution,'* and as soon as it was well 
her eye inflamed. " See-saw Ailments." 

No. XXVIII. — Inherited Syphilis — Consanguineous 
marriage — Belapsing Ophthalmitis between the 
ages of ten and eighteen — Keratitis — Gyclitis — 
Iritis — Choroidal changes and glaucomatous 
tension in one eye. 

No. XXIX. — Vitreous opacities in both eyes — Patient 
a young woman in poor health and liable to 
severe headaches. 

No. XXX. — Detachment of the Betina from Sea- 
sicJcness in a healthy young man. 

A young gentleman in good health, at sea in rough weather, 
had prolonged retching with the head bent forwards. A few 
days afterwards he found that there was a waved line across 
the letters which he was reading, and that when he closed 
the left eye he could see nothing above this line. In the 



H^MOBBHAGE INTO VITBEOUS. ' 181 

course of a week or two the affected eye had so far failed that 
he could see nothing distinctly with it. An ophthalmic 
surgeon recognised detachment of the retina, and ordered 
him to bed. He was kept six weeks in the recumbent posture 
and under the influence of pilocarpine, but with no benefit. 
He came under my care for another matter two years after 
this occurrence. His eye was almost blind, but had given him 
no further trouble. His health was good, and he could see 
perfectly with the other. As an example of detachment of 
the retina from a definite cause, and apparently in a man of 
sound tissues, the case seems worth mention. 

No. XXXI. — Case illustrating the symptoms of 

Hcemorrhage into the Vitreous. 

A very voluble but at the same time keenly observant 
woman has just been describing to me her husband's illness. 
He is, she says, paralysed in one side of his body and blind 
in one eye. The eye is affected on the same side as the 
limbs, the left. **He lost his eye, you know, some days 
before his paralysis. He went into his workshop one morning, 
and suddenly exclaimed to the men, ' Look, look ! there is blood 
running down the window ! * and then almost directly after, 
* I am blind in my left eye ! ' After this he came to me, 
and I tried to laugh at him. He said he felt quite well and 
would have his breakfast, but in trying to go into the next 
room he knocked against the door-post, and I saw that he 
was really blind on that side. The paralysis came on 
during sleep about two weeks later, and the limbs affected 
have been disabled ever since.'* This was two years ago, and 
the man still retains good health, but cannot walk or use his 
left hand. ** The curious point is," adds his wife, " that he 
is not always blind. Sometimes he will shut his right eye 
and say, " I can see you with my blind eye. You are there ! 
Now you are gone ! Are you gone ? ' It is as if a curtain 
came over his sight." The patient is a man aged 64. 
Kespecting his paralysed hand, his wife gives the interesting 
fact — ** The fingers are always contracted into his palm and 
cannot be straightened. But this is only when he is up and 



182 DISEASES OF THE BYE, 

about. When asleep they are quite straight, and for some 
little time after he wakes you can move them about quite 
easily. They are as loose as those of the other hand. 
Gradually, however, when he gets about they stiffen and 
contract, and it is impossible to straighten them." 

The diagnosis of intraocular haemorrhage preceding by a 
fortnight haemorrhage into the right corpus striatum is here 
clearly indicated. No doubt a large membranous opacity in 
the vitreous has remained after the partial absorption of the 
blood-clot, and it is by alterations in the position of this veil 
that he is enabled at times to see with an organ from which 
more usually light is shut out. 



No. XXXII. — Retinitis pigmentosa in three 
brothers — No consanguineous marriage. 

In January, 1887, Dr. Osbom, of Dover, consulted me by 
letter in the case of a gentleman, aged 62, who had lost his 
right eye and in whom the left was failing. In November 
of the same year the patient came up to tov^m for my 
examination. There was most extensive pigmentation of 
the retinae with pale, waxy discs. There was no history of 
special cause. The chief interest of the case lies in the fact 
that two of his brothers, both older than himself, were also 
blind. In all the disease had been of a slowly aggressive 
kind. In all the disease had begun in early life. The family 
consisted of seven. Two sisters had wholly escaped, whilst 
of five brothers three had suffered. In this instance there 
had been no consanguineous marriage. It was believed that 
a paternal uncle who was in the army had very defective 
sight, and that he lost his life owing to his mistaking the 
enemy for his own corps and riding into their ranks. 

Mr. S was in fair health, and said that he had never 

known a headache in his life. His pupils were small and 
sluggish. He was frequently troubled with a glare of light 
before his eyes, and at other times by the appearance as 
of a white ceiling over him. He had but bare perception of 
light and shadow when I saw him, and could not count 



RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA. 183 

fingers. It was a year since he had read, and then by the 
aid of a hand-glass. 

About ten years before I saw him, Mr. S had, with an 

interval of a year, gone through two amputations. The first 
was through the thigh for diseased bone, and the second at 
the hip joint. On the second occasion there was almost fatal 
secondary hsemorrhage. He himself believed that the loss 
of blood on each occasion had very much prejudiced his 
already failing eyes. After each operation he had been for 
a time "in a mist," and after the second this was very 
marked and he never regained his former sight. It is quite 
probable that severe losses of blood might be felt by 
structures already degenerate and with contracted arteries, 
and not unlikely that such influence might be in some 
degree permanent. 



THEEAPEUTICS AND DIET. 

Bheumatio Gout of the Knees and Diverticulum into the 
Popliteal space — Record of Treatment. 

An intelligent patient from the country, making a second 
visit, two years after his first, very prudently brought with 
him a memorandum which he had himself written of what 
I had told him. It was so clear and explicit that I venture 
to transcribe it here : 

"Mr. H. said that my trouble was caused by rheumatic gout 
which had led to a Diverticulum ^ that is a bursar communicating with 
the knee-joint. On no account am I to have the bursar cut out or 
interfered with. It is caused by rheumatic gout, and will cease when 
the gout is less active. I am to use a salt-pack and take the medicine 
prescribed as long as the knees are troublesome. I am to take any 
exercise I like so long as it does not hurt the knee. To drink only 
whisky and to take plenty of weak tea. No Burgundy. Eat plenty of 
fresh green vegetables, but no fruit which requires sugaj:, e,g, gooseberries 
or rhubarb." 

Under these measures, aided perhaps by drugs, the 
effusion into the knees had disappeared and the bulging 
diverticulum had receded. 

Arsenic causing Ascites, 

I have recorded in detail two cases in which an inflammatory 
form of ascites, requiring repeated tappings, occurred during 
a long course of arsenic. One of these will be found in Vol. 
VI. at page 389, the other at page 23 of the current volume. 
The cases were much alike and both patients recovered and 
regained good health. 



. ABSENie ' AND ACONITE . 185 

Effects of LanrgiR Doses of Arsenic, 

On August 21st I ordered for an adult man six minims of 
Pearson's solution of arsenic, with three of Fowler's, and 
four grains of iodide of potassium. These quantities w^tq. 
to be taken three times a day. For about a fortnight he 
took, in error, double doses. It made his legs heavy, and 
caused a dragging feeling, especially in the calves. After 
walking a little way his legs ached so that he Qould go no 
further. He had no pricking of eyes, no herpes, nor any 
sickness, but he lost his appetite. On discovering his 
mistake he reduced the dose and went on with that ordered ; 
but finding his appetite still bad he left it off entirely. On 
doing so he at once felt better, and three weeks later his 
legs were all right again. The psoriasis for which the arsenic 
had been ordered had been much better during its use, but 
showed a tendency to relapse a month after its discon- 
tinuance. 

Absence of odour in the Urine from eating Asparagus. 

The disagreeable odour which is communicated to the 
urine by asparagus is well known. In the case of a gentle- 
man of intemperate habits, who was the subject of albu- 
minuria, the curious observation was made by his attendant 
that when the albumen was absent asparagus might be 
taken to any amount without causing any smell. When the 
albumen was present, then the urine received its odour as 
usual. The urine had a specific gravity of 1010. The 
absence of odour was observed during several days. The 
patient was at the time the subject of acute pemphigus, 
and the return of odour and of the albumen was coincident 
with marked improvement of his eruption under the use of 
arsenic. 

Physiological effects of Excessive Medicinal Doses of Aconite. 

In December, 1890, I gave to a lady who had diverticula 
from her knee-joints my favourite prescription for all active 
forms of rheumatic gout. It contains ten minims of tincture 



186 THERAPEUTICS AND DIET. 

of aconite to the dose, three times a day. She took it for 
several weeks with great benefit and not the least incon- 
venience. It was dispensed in London. On a subsequent 
occasion she had the prescription made up in Pau, and again 
had no ill symptoms. 

In the end of 1896, the same prescription was made up in 
an English county town. Two doses of it made the patient 
so numb and cold that she had to walk about the room to 
keep warm. On that occasion she did not venture to take 
any more, but six months later she ventured to try half- 
doses from the same bottle. These had precisely the same 
effect, though in less degree. 

A year later Miss W called on me again and narrated 

the above experience, bringing with her the prescription, and 
declaring that although it had once cured her, she dare not 
take it again. I asked her to tell me exactly what had 
happened, and what precisely her symptoms had been. She 
said that on the first occasion she took a dose at bedtime, 
and slept through the night without experiencing anything 
special. In the morning she took another dose, and very 
shortly afterwards began to feel cold down her back and a 
sense of constriction in the throat, just as if a bad cold were 
beginning. The sense 6i coldness spread from the back to 
the limbs, and the latter felt as if they would go to sleep. 
Nothing relieved her but incessant walking. On the second 
occasion two half-doses produced similar effects, the back 
and the throat being again affected. No tongue sjmaptoms 
were experienced. 

There can be little doubt that in this instance the dose of 
aconite as dispensed by the provincial chemist was from 
some error much stronger than it ought to have been. The 
patient had tak^n the same prescription from two other 
chemists for considerable periods with impunity. The 
patient was very careful as to her doses, always using a 
graduated measure, and there had been no error in this. 
Probably the quantities had been miscalculated by the dis- 
penser. The symptoms produced were distinctly those of 
aconite poisoning, and it is of interest to note their 
character. I am in the habit of using tincture of aconite 



MEECUEY IN SYPHILITIC OSTEITIS. 187 

in ten-minim doses, three times a day, for strong adults 
without the sKghtest fear. For the pains of neuralgia, of 
rheumatic gout, and of cancer, it is invaluable, as also for 
the control of all forms of arthritic inflammation. I always 
enjoin great care in measuring the dose, and with that 
precaution have never known any serious ill consequences. 
The case now narrated is almost the only one in which I 
have ever known any physiological effects to be observed. 
In one sense it is a matter of satisfaction that such effects 
should now and then be witnessed; they prove that the 
remedy is really powerful. The production of coldness and 
numbness is precisely what we want in the affections just 
named. 

Mercury in the treatment of Osteitis of the Tibice from 

Inherited Syphilis. 

The mother of a lad who was under my care for keratitis 
told me, when I examined his shins to ascertain whether he 
had any nodes, that he had formerly and for long suffered 
from ** periostitis." She knew what she was talking about, 
and added, when I asked whether iodide of potassium had 
been prescribed, ** Yes, and it did no good. He took it for 
two years, and it made him so weak that I thought he would 
die. He suffered very much from pain in his legs, and got 
no better until I took him to another doctor, who gave him 
mercury, and in a few weeks he was well." 

I cross-questioned my informant a good deal without in 
any way shaking her testimony. She insisted that large 
doses of mercury were given, and that the pains in the 
bones and the lumps in them soon disappeared, and that 
they had never returned. The boy's shins confirmed her 
statement, for only very slight unevenness here and there 
remained. He was now seventeen, and it was eight years 
since the periostitis was cured, and there had been no 
tendency to relapse. Thus I think we must accept it as a 
fact that mercury did really cure a chronic osteitis which 
iodide of potassium had failed to relieve. The fact is by no 
means a novel one. Although as a rule iodide of potassium 
is a specific for syphilitic periostitis, and equally as a rule 



188 THEBAPEUTICS AND DIET. 

mercury rather tends to increase the pain and the risk of 
suppuration, yet we have long known that there are cases in 
which the reverse is true. The practical rule seems to be 
this : that when iodide fails, we should try mercury instead- 

'* Fish is Leprosy.*' 

Mr. W. Clark, who has long lived as a missionary in 
Madagascar, has given me the following Malagasy proverb: — 

Ny tbondro no boka = Fish is leprosy. 

Mr. Clark tells me, as I have been told before, that the 
consumption of a small fresh- water fish like a gold fish is 
very large in the interior of Madagascar. The proverb bears 
testimony to the native creed as to the association between 
fish-eating and leprosy. • 

Effects of certain Dmgs in Comhination, 

The prescription referred to in the following letter con- 
tained ten minims of tincture of aconite with two grains of 
quinine in solution, together with a third of grain extract of 
Indian hemp in pill. The pill and mixture were to be taken 
together three times a day. 

" Sir, — ^The enclosed prescription will remind you of a consultation 
some three weeks ago. As soon as I began to take the physic and pill I 
experienced a burning and stinging feeling in the hands and feet. This 
extended to the rest of my body, and red splotches appeared all over my 
body, accompanied by a most intolerable itching which effectually banished 
all sleep. The rheumatism, however, disappeared except from my left 
shoulder, where it still remains. After a fortnight of the physic (the 
itching continuing all the time) I was obUged to give up taking it. 
The spots and itching then disappeared, but the rheumatism is developing 
again in my arms, but I am positively afraid to resume th^ physic. I 
write, therefore, to ask whether there is anything in the prescription that 
may be eliminated to avoid the itching which it sets up.** 

The symptom of itching which was here complained of 
may have been due to the Indian hemp, but I should incline 
rather to suspect the quinine. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCCL — Fatty Tumour on the side of one finger. 

The tumour in the case referred to in the following letter 
was about as big as a small marble flattened out. 

** Dbab Mr. Hutchinson, — Perhaps you may remember a lady calling 
some time ago to show you her finger, when you were good enough 
to say you should be interested to know exactly what the growth 
turned out to be. I had it taken out a week or two since, and it proved 
to be a fatty tumoiur. The finger is quite healed now, I am happy 
to say." 

No. CCOII. — An Eruption after Vaccination. 

An infant three or four months old was brought to one of 
our Demonstrations a month after vaccination. It was in 
good health. The vaccination sores were not yet healed. 
The history given was that the child had had a general 
eruption of red spots over the body, face, and limbs, but 
this had disappeared, leaving only slight stains. There was 
said to have been some peeling in the feet, &c. The eruption 
was first noticed between ten days and a fortnight after the 
vaccination, and came out suddenly. The child had not 
been seriously ill. The eruption had disappeared without 
any special local treatment. It had been attended in parts 
by some little watery blisters. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What may be inferred from the fact of spontaneous 
disappearance? 

2. What was the nature of the eruption ? 



190 MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCCIII. — Scarlet Fever after Measles. 

A child of eight during an epidemic of measles passed 
through an attack of moderate severity. She had appa- 
rently got quite well, and was allowed to be out of doors, 
when one evening she complained of sore throat and felt 
unwell. Next morning a scarlet punctate rash appeared. 
The throat was much inflamed, and the tongue was red. 
The eruption developed during the next few days, and three 
medical men who saw it declared that it was scarlet fever. 
The temperatures for several days ranged from 101° to 103®. 
The tongue was said to be characteristic as well as the 
eruption, but it was a lobster tongue, not strawberry. 
Several other children who had not had scarlet fever were 
in the house, but no other cases occurred. There was no 
known source of infection, and the disease was not in the 
neighbourhood. Of course as soon as the diagnosis was 
made, all precautions as regards isolation, &c., were taken. 
The disease ran the usual course of scarlet fever, but was 
not followed by albuminuria or oedema. Moderate but defi- 
nite peeling took place, and during convalescence erythema 
nodosum developed in the legs. The so-called scarlet fever 
occurred about three weeks from the date of onset of the 
measles. The child had never been further than the garden 
of the quite isolated house in which she lived. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Is it probable that the second illness really was scarlet 
fever ? 

2. If so, what was its relation to the measles? 

3. What suggestions can be made as to the source of 
infection ? 

No. CCCIV. — Urticaria recurrent almost daily in 
connection toith trivial exciting causes. 

Miss P , a fair, florid woman, aged 43, consulted me 

in July, 1883, on account of a liability to attacks of urti- 
caria. Menstruation was still regular, but she was very 



LUPUS OF PHABYNX. 191 

liable to flush. The first attack had . occurred eighteen 
months previously) and came on whilst at church during 
the evening. Since then she had rarely been free for a day. 
The eruption was better out of doors, but came on again 
at night. Almost always it appeared after meals, without 
much regard to the kind of food. . Changes in diet had 
proved of no benefit. French plums were most certain to 
bring out the eruption. Sleep fairly good. Bowels open. 
Tongue clean and not abnormal in any way. For nine 

years a total abstainer. Miss P had had a similar 

attack of urticaria some years before. 

No. CCCV. — Congenital and symmetrical prolonga-- 

tion of the Olecranon. 

A man has both olecranons prolonged into a blunt . spur 
which is directed inwards. It is developed from the inner 
side of the bone. He thinks it has grown lately, but I feel 
sure that it must have been congenital. It is quite sym- 
metrical. I told him that it must be an assistance in getting 
through a crowd, and he seemed quite aware of his 
advantage. 

No. CCCVI.- — Lupiis of the Pharynx. 

Lupus of the pharynx is not a common malady, and when 
it does occur is almost always secondary to lupus of the nose. 
I have seen only two or three cases in which the disease had 
begun in the throat itself. One of these has quite recently 
come under notice. A delicate-looking little boy 8Bt. 9 

was brought to me by Dr. , with the history that he had 

already had much treatment for his throat, and that recently 
lupus had shown itself at one nostril. The diagnosis had 
throughout been that of lupus of the pharynx, &c., and 
scraping and cauterisation had been repeatedly practised 
with great benefit. The throat was now practically well, 
the uvula and the free border of soft palate having been 
destroyed. A small patch of ulceration on one tonsil was 
all that remained which could be called lupus. At the orifice 



192 MISCBIiLANEOUS. 

of the right nostril, however, there were quite characteristic 
conditions of lupus vulgaris. Here the disease had not as 
yet involved much skin, but it clearly spread within the 
nostril. I have no doubt that it had advanced from within 
by direct contagion. The results of treatment in the throat 
were most satisfactory. 



No. CCCVII. — Severe Convulsions — Hydrocephalus 

Loss of both Eyes with Iritis ^ Corneal Ulcers j 

and probably Optic Neuritis. 

. The following are the notes of a case which was sent to 

me by Dr. B in February, 1878. I saw the child only 

once, and do not know anything as to his subsequent 
progress. He had been, I believe, an out-patient at Great 
Ormond Street. I give his name, as it is possible that some 
of my readers may identify the case and be able to complete 
it. It was thought that one eye was clearing a little. The 
case is of interest in reference to certain examples of destruc- 
tive ophthalmitis which occur in children after the exanthe- 
mata and severe illnesses. 

William Barton, now two years and two months old (February 2, 
1878). His mother's first. During his first year he ailed nothing, but 
when he began " to cut his double teeth " he had fits. He had five 
attacks of considerable severity within six months. The last was seven 
weeks ago. His head began to enlarge after the first fit. He " seemed 
to lose his sight with the fits," and his eyes inflamed. He is now believed 
to be blind^ and has considerable leucomata in each cornea, but the pupil 
of right is not covered. His mother thinks that he cannot see light. In 
each there has been perforation of cornea, and anterior sanechisB have 
formed. He has a very large head, the displacement of bones being in 
the posterior two-thirds. The forehead is not enlarged. He is very 
thin. Ko evidence of rickets. Premature growth of hair. He is 
growing a distinct moustache, and his forehead is covered with downy 
hair. Dentition rather backward. The lower incisors have fallen out. 
I did not succeed in inspecting his eyes with the ophthalmoscope on 
account of his fretfulness. He has probably had inanition ulcers of 
comese in consequence of his severe illness, but his blindness is probably 
due to optic neiiritis. 



PLATE CXLIL 



LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS. 



This portrait is that of a woman of middle age who had been 
several times, in the course of her life, suspected of phthisis. The 
diagnosis of tubercle in the apex of one lung was confidently given 
by a well-skilled physician at the time that her lupus commenced. 
She has been the subject of lupus now for ten years. Her case is 
a typical one of the erythematous form, with the somewhat unusual 
feature that patches have developed in the chest. At the time of the 
introduction of Koch's injections for tuberculosis she was made the 
subject of systematic treatment by them. The result was on every 
occasion a great rise in temperature and much constitutional dis- 
turbance, but the lupus patches did not inflame and were not 
benefited. This discrepancy was supposed to be explained by the 
presence of tubercle in the lungs. During, however, the six years 
which have since elapsed the patient has maintained fair health, 
and has certainly not become the subject of definite phthisis. The 
lupus has not been much benefited by any treatment, and still 
maintains its hold. On some parts of the face cicatrisation has 
resulted, and the erythema has disappeared, but the patches have 
spread at their edges. All the usual remedies have been tried. 
The patches on the chest have much increased in size, and have 
been very irritable. 



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AECHIVES OP SURGEEY. 



JULY, 1898. 



TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGLISHMEN. 

The papers * on Yaws which have recently appeared ; the two 
Oovemment Blue Books; and the Selected Essays repub- 
lished by the New Sydenham Society, may be considered 
to have brought the facts very fully and fairly before the 
British profession. They may be held to have made it 
certain beyond cavil that either yaws is syphilis modified by 
•climate and race, or that it is a distinct malady of a pre- 
cisely parallel type. Observation and experiment have con- 
curred in showing that these two diseases always originate 
in a primary local sore, that they observe the same periods 
in their stages of evolution, are both of them attended in 
their secondary stage by an abundant and general eruption 
on the skin, and that both may have remote sequelae. In 
each instance immunity is conferred for a very considerable 
period. The chief points in which they are alleged to differ 
are, that in yaws the primary sore is rarely on the genitals, 
whilst in syphilis it is usually so placed ; that in syphilis 
sores on the tonsils are common in the secondary stage, 
whilst in yaws the mucous membranes are not affected ; 
and lastly, that the secondary eruption, which in syphilis 
may present many varieties of type, is in yaws always the 
same, and always framboesial. 

• See Archives, Vols. VII. and VIII., also The Lancet and British 
Medical Journal, 

VOL. IX. 13 



194 TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGLISHMEN. 

Those of US who have never visited districts where yaws 
is indigenous have been at some disadvantage, in that we 
could not critically examine these assertions. In the case 
of diseases so much alike in their main features it has 
always seemed to some of us a possible source of fallacy that, 
unconsciously by the observer, the examples of "yaws" were 
selected. We have proved that even in temperate climates 
the eruption of sj^hilis is sometimes frambcesial, and it is 
of course well known that the primary sore may be on any 
part of the body. It has therefore seemed to us that in a 
country where both maladies (if they be two) are prevalent 
all the cases beginning from genital sores may be counted as 
** syphilis," and so also all those which exhibited mixed erup- 
tion and sore throats. By a few exclusions of this kind the 
type of supposed yaws might be kept pure. It might easily 
be asserted that yaws never had a sore throat, and always 
had a framboesial form of eruption, by the simple expedient 
of calling all exceptions to these statements syphilis. I do 
not for a moment hint that any one did this consciously, 
but I think it highly probable that it has really been done. 

Amongst the weak points in the argument of those who 
contend that yaws is a disease wholly distinct from sjrphilis, 
has hitherto been their inability to produce an imported case 
for the inspection of English surgeons. As the disease is 
one which has stages as prolonged as those of sjrphilis, and 
as it is asserted that it is no respecter of race, we might 
have expected that, by chance, a case would now and then 
find its way to England. If I were to assert that no case 
of yaws, or what has been called so, has ever been recog- 
nised in England, it would be going beyond the truth. A 
few cases have been so named, but they have, I believe, all 
been in negro patients, and all in the late or tertiary stage. 
Now in this stage the diagnosis from syphilis is impossible, 
and rests rather with the self-confidence of the observer 
than with any demonstrable manifestations in the patient. 
The cases which we have wanted were not cases of this kind, 
but examples of the general eruption in the secondary stage. 
Of this I believe that, until the last three months, no case 
has been seen. I have often commented on this fact, and 



TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGLISHMEN. 195 

when conversing with those who have lived abroad, and who 
beheve in the specificity of yaws, have challenged the pro- 
duction of a patient. It is also remarkable that, although 
it is asserted that in the yaws-districts Europeans are not 
exempt, yet no one, writing on the malady, has given a good 
circumstantial narrative of such a case. One such was 
published long ago by Dr. Joseph Adams, but on examination 
of his statements no one can, I think, doubt that his patient 
really suffered from syphilis. I have recapitulated this case 
at p. 79, Akchives, Vol. VII. Nor can I doubt that most of 
those who have studied the cases as detailed in the reprint 
of Professor Breda's essay in the New Sydenham Society's 
volume, have come to the conclusion that the supposed 
yaws was really syphilis. This conclusion is also supported 
by the plates there given, illustrating, amongst other points, 
ulcerations in the mouth and throat. 

Such being the state of the facts, it has been with keen 
interest that I have during the last three months been en- 
abled to examine two English patients who had contracted 
yaws abroad, and still displayed its phenomena in the 
secondary or eruptive stage. Both patients have come 
under my observation in private practice. 

I will briefly record the chief facts as regards these two 
most important cases so far as they have at present gone. 
Both will probably be the subjects of more detailed state- 
ments at some future time. 

Case I. 

In this instance the patient is a surgeon who pricked his 
finger with an injection-needle which he had just used upon 
a yaws patient. Nothing followed for nearly two months, 
when a little tubercle showed itself at the site of the puncture. 
Almost immediately another appeared by its side. They were 
treated very liberally and repeatedly with sulphate of copper, 
and never became painful and never showed any fungus 
growth. The latter was, the patient beheves, prevented by 
the repeated cauterisations. There was never any enlarge- 
ment of the glands in the armpit. The puncture was on 



196 TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGIilSHMEN. 

July 17, and it was not till the beginning of September th«bt 
the primary sores were recognised. Three months later 
tubercles began to appear on the ankles, and these were 
followed by a general eruption on the body. At this stage 
the patient says that many of the sores were characteristically 
frambcBsial, and he made no doubt as to the diagnosis of the 
disease. The primary sore had now soundly healed. From 
this date mercury and iodide of potassium were used, but the 
former only in very small doses (m. xv of Liq. Hyd.). 

It was on April 19, 1898, nine months after the inocula- 
tion, that I first saw Mr. B . At that date he had a 

general eruption of mixed character over his Umbs and body. 
In the palms were peeling areas like the psoriasis pahnaris 
so frequently seen in sj^hilis. On the wrists were well- 
margined patches of congestion with spreading edges 
slightly crusted, and on the limbs, &c., were many blotches 
and indefinite papules. There were also many stains and 
slightly marked scars where I was told framboesial masses 
had formerly been. Nowhere, with a single exception, was 
any framboesial growth still present. The exception was a 
single strawberry-like growth on the side of one ankle. This 
growth, the size of a shilling and raised much like the half 
of a strawberry, was very peculiar and quite characteristic. 
I inspected the throat and found nothing. The scars of the 
primary sores were hardly visible, and there was no trace of 
enlarged glands in the axillae. 

I advised Mr. B to take the grey powder pill (gr. i) 

four times a day, and with it five grains of iodide of potassium. 

Six weeks later Mr. B called on me again. His eruption 

had almost wholly disappeared. The palmar patches were 
represented only by stains, and the strawberry had withered 
and left only a florid scar. On the inside of one thigh a 
patch still slightly thickened and papillary remained, but it 
also was in course of disappearance. On the right tonsil were 
two small filmy patches. These were either new or had not 

been observed on the previous occasion. Mr. B told me 

that the mercury had purged him, and that he had not con- 
tinued it more than half the time since his last visit. He 
had, however, continued the iodide, and been very diligent 



J 



TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGLISHMEN. 197 

in the local use of an ointment containing the white pre- 
cipitate. On the supposition that the filmy sores on the 
tonsil were not part of the disease, but were caused by the 
mercury, they are important as evidence of the constitutional 

influence of the latter. Mr. B told me that at the time 

that he left it off the f ramboesial sore on the ankle was still 
persisting, and that the chief improvement had occurred since. 
He was disposed to think that the iodide rather than the 
mercury had worked the cure. There is, however, nothing 
unusual in seeing improvement continue rapidly after 
mercury is left off, if the iodide be continued and local 
applications persevered with. At any rate, as regards the 
gross result, !• may record the belief that I never saw a 
syphilitic eruption yield more rapidly and satisfactorily 
under specifics than this had done. 

Case II. 

My second case is that of a gentleman aged 28, who had 
long lived in South Africa (Benin). He had seen much of 
yaws, and had lived in company with those who had it. 
In January of 1897 a sore formed on the front of one fore- 
arm. He was not aware that he had been inoculated. The 
sore, according to his description, fungated. It lasted two 
months, in spite of repeated applications of caustic. In 
March some spots appeared about the ankles. They were 
called eczema, but were quickly followed by a general 
eruption over the whole surface. This rash was not 
attended by sores, and was probably in the main erythe- 
matous. The doctors who saw it spoke of syphilis, but one 
of the most experienced gave it as his opmion that it was not 
syphilis. No definite diagnosis was given. This was in 
May and June. In July the spots began to enlarge, and 
some of them fungated. This eruption persisted in spite of 
some treatment, and in December of the same year Dr. 

F , who had seen yaws repeatedly and who was quite 

familiar with the malady, declared that this case was 
unquestionably yaws. 

In April of 1898 Mr. W— returned to England, still 



198 TWO CASES OF YAWS IN ENGLISHMEN. 

suffering from the eruption. He placed himself under the 
care of Dr. Adam, of Liverpool, a surgeon who had practised 
abroad and was familiar with yaws. In May he came up to 
London and called upon me. 

On May 11th, I found Mr. W covered from head to 

foot by a polymorphous eruption, which was especially 
severe on the lower extremities. Excepting that it was 
much more severe and abundant, the eruption was exactly 

like that in Dr. B , and could not be distinguished from 

many seen in the secondary state of syphilis when inefficiently 

treated. Mr. W readily consented to my suggestion 

that he should attend at one of my Demonstrations, and his 
condition was there subjected to the observation of many 
competent observers. A photograph of his legs was also 
taken. At this stage no part of the eruption was definitely 
framboBsial. It was exceedingly mixed in character. There 
were lichen papules, pustules, erythematous areas, and 
patches with abrupt margins and with more or less of crust 
which resembled ill-marked forms of rupia or of lupus. 
Everywhere the spots were dusky and discoloured. It must 
be remembered that at this date the case had received much 
treatment, chiefly by the iodides, and that the eruption was 
probably in part controlled by it. There was no sore throat, 
and had not been any from the first. 

I prescribed mercury, as I had done in the previous case, 
but do not as yet know the result. I also wrote to Dr. Adam, 
who had been consulted before I had, to know his opinion. 
He replied that he had considered the case as an undoubted 
instance of yaws. 

As these two cases are still under observation, I will for- 
bear to comment in detail upon them. We shall probably 
in the course of another year be in a position to speak more 
positively as to their nature. I may, however, venture now 
to point out that they quite discredit the statement that 
the eruption of yaws is not polymorphous, but always keeps 
to the framboBsial type. The two cases were alike, and in 
both the eruption was mixed and closely resembled what 
we see in syphilis. At the same time it is to be admitted 



PLATES CXLVI. & CXLVII. 

THE ERUPTION OF YAWS (AN EARLY FORM). 



These two Plates, which have been executed from photographs, 
are intended to illustrate an early form of eruption in Yaws. They 
show the front and back aspect of the same patient, apparently a 
lad or young adult. The eruption consists of small patches, for 
the most part isolated, which occur freely over the trunk, limbs, 
face, and even the scalp. They are arranged with fair symmetry, 
and are tolerably uniform in appearance, with the exception that 
there is one in the left groin much larger than the rest. 

It would be unsafe to use these portraits as demonstrating 
anything more than the location, size of patches, and generalised 
character of the eruption in the secondary stage of Yaws. The 
portraits do not show enough detail as to the condition of the crusts 
to make any description trustworthy. It may be stated, however, 
that in this stage the eruption of Yaws is described by authors as 
presenting different characters in different cases, being sometimes 
papular, sometimes scaly, and in others attended by greater or less 
tendency to the growth of raspberry-like granulations. As a rule, 
however, the latter are not seen till a later stage of the malady. 
The eruption here shown is stated to occur usually at about two or 
three months after the date of contagion. 

N.B. — These two portraits, as well as the following one, have 
been published before. I re-introduce them for the reader's con- 
venience, in order to keep in mind how closely the secondary eruption 
of Yaws, even on a dark skin, resembles that of secondary syphilis. 
The next Plate, CLX., shows how closely secondary syphilis in an 
Englishman may resemble Yaws. 



HUTOHINW)Hr% , 



PLATE CXLVI. 



/ 



/ 



PLATE CLX. 

FBAMBCESIA IN AN ENGLISHMAN. 



This Plate, copied from a photograph, represents a well- 
characterised example of Framboesia or Yaws Eruption in aji 
Englishman. In this instance there was not the sUghtest doubt 
that the eruption, which was everywhere of framboesial type, was 
syphilitic. The patient had had a chancre, and he was quickly 
cured by mercury. His eruption disappeared without leaving any 
conspicuous scars. 



COMMENTS. 199 

that in neither has there been any characteristic sore throat. 
The absence of enlargement of the axillary glands in both 
is probably no more than an accident, for no observer of 
yaws has failed to remark that as a rule there is a bubo. 
This was present in all cases in the series of experiments by 
Dr. Charlouis (see New Sydenham Volume, p. 341). One 
of my cases has yielded to mercury and iodides, just as 
syphilis might have been expected to yield. Here, then, I 
leave these important cases for the present, not, however, 
without venturing to hint the belief that, thanks to the 
attention which has been attracted to the subject, and the 
ready communication which now exists between the yaws- 
districts and England, the question is likely before long to 
be finally set at rest. 

POSTSCBIPT. 

Since the above statements were in type, and only just 
before going to press, I have seen for a second time the 
patient who is the subject of Case II. He has taken mer- 
cury for about five weeks and is almost well. His eruption 
has everywhere faded and for the most part only stains 
remain. As in Case I., the symptoms have disappeared as 
rapidly as is ever witnessed in cases of syphilis. Some peel- 
ing patches in the middle of his palms still persist. I had 
omitted in my notes to say that he had suffered from pain 
and tenderness over the upper part of the tibia. Of this also 
he has been quite cured by the mercurial course. It was 
precisely in the position in which syphilitic patients in the 
secondary stage often have a slight and temporary periostitis. 

I feel justified by what has occurred in this case, coinciding 
as it does so exactly with what was observed in Case I., in 
saying that I feel no doubt that yaws and syphilis are one 
and the same disease. These two cases were unquestionably 
yaws in Africa, and in England they have most certainly 
proved to be syphilis. The supposed differences between 
the two maladies are simply due to race and climate. 



ON XANTHOMA AS A SYMPTOM. 

To the zoologist some of the most interesting animals are 
those which appear to afiford connecting links beween 
species, or which indicate alliances between different genera. 
It is the same in clinical pathology, although here the 
lines of distinction between differing species are much less 
definite than in the zoological field. In other words, the 
factors of causation are more easy of combination, and 
hybrids and mongrel forms are more easily produced. 

We recognise in the Xanthoma or Xanthelasma group 
four different types: 1. The common xanthoma which occurs 
on the eyelids, and is often indicative of liability to sick 
headaches from liver disturbance, but not of organic disease 
of the organ. 2. A general eruption of sudden outbreak and 
capable of spontaneous disappearance, which occurs to the 
diabetic, and also sometimes to those who are severely bilious 
but in whom the urine does not contain sugar. 3. A form 
which is consequent on persisting jaundice and indicative 
of organic liver-disease and great disturbance of health. In 
this form plates and lines of xanthoma form in various 
parts and notably in the flexures of the finger-joints. 4. A 
congenital and family form in which, without any dis- 
turbance of health, children present xanthoma spots and 
patches on various parts', more especially on those prone to be 
affected in psoriasis. Thus, then, we count X. palpebrarum, 
X. diabeticorum, X. ictericorum, and X. congenitalis. The 
bond of connection which allies them all is the circulation of 
bile-acids in the blood as a primary cause, and this receives 
its modifications from other conditions, such as inheritance, 
the proneness to psoriasis, and the degree of persistence of 
the liver-disturbance. We meet every now and then with 
mixed cases, and one such, of very remarkable interest, I 
have now the pleasure to narrate. 



XANTHOMA IN EXCEPTIONAL POSITIONS. 201 

Case I. — Xanthoma of Eyelids in exceptional positions — 
Deep pigmentation of Eyelids, dtc. — Jaundice — Lobules 
of Ears affected. 

Miss B , a fair coraplexioned, thin, and somewhat 

fragile-looking young lady, was sent to me last April by 

Mr. K C , of H . She was twenty-three years 

of age. Her eyelids were deeply pigmented, not in patches 
but in a diffuse manner, the upper ones being especially so. 
Large ill-defined patches of xanthoma were present on 
both lids, but they occurred not, as usual, above and below 
the inner canthus, but on the middle of the lid. They were 
not in the least raised, but looked rather as if the skin had 
been scorched. On the deeply pigmented skin they were 
not very conspicuous, but sufficiently so to have caused the 
patient great distress. On the tip of the lobe of each ear 
was a patch as large as the end of the little finger, which at 
first sight I took for lupus, but on careful inspection it was 
evident that here also was the dull-yellow growth of 
xanthoma. The patches on the ears, like those on the 
eyelids, were accurately symmetrical. No other spots of 
xanthoma were to be found on other parts of the surface 

either on trunk or limbs. Miss B , however, alleged 

that she had suffered much from eczema, and the eruption 
to which she gave this name consisted of little dry nummular 
patches on the face, arms, &c. 

The history of the antecedents was as follows. Xanthoma 
was not known in the family, but there was gout and liability 

to severe bilious attacks. Miss B herself had suffered 

much from headaches, often so severe as to make her go to 
bed, and always attended by dark pigmentation around the 
eyes. Her xanthoma on the eyelids had first been noticed 
about ten years ago, at the age of twelve, and the patches 
on the lobules of the ears had followed soon after. Two 
or three years after this she experienced an attack of deep 
jaundice which lasted a considerable time. This had, how- 
ever, passed completely away, and had left the skin not in 
the slightest degree tinged. With these exceptions the 
general health, although not strong, had been fairly good. 



202 ON XANTHOMA AS A SYMPTOM. 

She had suffered from habitual chilliness, but not specially 
from cold extremities. Her chief reason for seeking my 
advice was the desire to get rid of the disfigurements. As 
regards treatment, I advised that the ends of the lobules 
of the ears should be cut away, but that the patches on 
the eyelids should be left to themselves, as they were too 
large and too ill-defined to admit of excision. A mixture 
containing nux vomica, taraxacum, and small doses of 
mercury was prescribed. 

Amongst the noteworthy features in the case we may 
remark : (1) the early age of the development of xanthoma 
palpebrarum; (2) the unusual position of the patches; 
(3) the extreme pigmentation of the eyelids; (4) the 
occurrence of xanthoma on the lobules of the ears and 
the simulation of lupus vulgaris in these positions ; (5) the 
occurrence of a prolonged attack of jaundice in a patient 
already the subject of xanthoma of the eyelids. 

Case of sev>ere Nervous Disturbance in association with 
Xanthoma of the Eyelids and Biliotcs Headaches — 
Hemiopia and Petit-mal. 

A case which is instructive in reference to the nervous 
disturbances which occur in connection with the liver dis- 
order which is denoted by xanthelasma palpebrarum, has 
recently been under my observation. Its subject, Mrs. R. 

E , is now forty-three years of age. She has been 

married twelve years, but has borne no children. Her 
xanthoma consists of very thin yellow patches placed in the 
usual positions above and below the inner canthi. They 
have been demonstrated to my class at Park Crescent on two 
occasions. The patches are sjrmmetrical and extensive, but, 
as usual, larger on the left than the right side. She has also 
slight acne rosacea with tendency to eczema on cheeks. 
The xanthoma patches had been present some years at 

the date of my first consultation by Mrs. E in 1896. 

The exact date of commencement could not be assigned. 

At that date Mrs. R was described in my notes as of 

*' a bright, clear, florid complexion.** 



XANTHOMA WITH NERVOUS DISTURBANCE. 203 

It seems probable that the liver disorder is on the increase 
rather than otherwise, and in spite of treatment. At present 

Mrs. E 's complexion could not be described as clear or 

bright. Her nervous disturbances have also increased. She 
asserts that her liability to sick headaches began only about 
the time that she first noticed the yellow patches on her eye- 
hds. At any rate she was never considered bilious in girlhood. 
After the age of twenty, however, she became liable to a 
bad sick headache about once a year. One of her grand- 
mothers had been liable to similar ones. These had in- 
creased on her until, when she came to me in 1896, she 
frequently had them once a fortnight. She was also at this 
time liable to what she described as "awful sensations" in her 
head. A sort of wave, lasting not longer than half a minute, 
would pass over her brain, making her feel as if she must 
lose consciousness or might even die. She was liable also to 
waves of icy coldness in her limbs. For eight years past 
she had been annoyed by incessant noises in one ear. They 
never ceased day nor night, and were synchronous with the 
heart's beat. "When the pulse intermitted, so also did the 
noises. To these statements, which all refer to April, 1896, 
may be added that she had never had jaundice. I prescribed 
small doses of mercury with nux vomica. 

My notes in November of the same year record that her 
sick headaches had been less frequent since she had taken 
the pills, but that she was not better in other respects. She 
had become liable to attacks which would seize her in the 
street and oblige her to stand quite still for a few minutes, 
feeling as if she would lose consciousness or fall. On other 
occasions she would experience a feeling of faintness and 
her face would become momentarily of a claret colour 
and then white. She had also exaggerated sensations of 
horripilatio and " tinglings as of electricity.'* She had 
occasionally "flashes of electric light" in her eyes, and 
her hands and feet often became quite cold. 

After the above note I did not see Mrs. E for eighteen 

months. When she came to me on April 22, 1898, 1 noted 
that she had lost her florid complexion, and looked pale, 
with a slight tinge of yellow. She had become liable to 



204 ON XANTHOMA AS A SYMPTOM. 

attacks of hemiopia, daring which she lost perception of 
objects on her left side. These attacks would often last 
half an hour at a time, and sometimes she lost all perception 
of things around her, although never in absolute darkness. 
Her custom was, when they occurred, to go to her bedroom, 
draw the blinds, and lie down until the attack passed off. 
Almost always severe headache followed. In addition to 
these she was frequently troubled with palpitation and had 
what she called ** seizures." During these she would have 
to catch hold of some support to avoid falling. 

On a subsequent occasion (June 1, 1898) I made the fol- 
lowing note : — 

" She complains very much of her heart. It is often rapid, and then 
does not intermit ; but when it slows down, then she is troubled with 
painful intermissions. The pulse is often 120, and very feeble. When 
lying down, she says it is seldom that five beats occnr without an inter- 
mission. 

*' She was feeling better than usual at Christmas. She once took the 
Yi-Cocoa, and it made her heart very bad. She has been liable to sensa- 
tions in the top of her head, brought on by assuming the erect position 
and attempting to walk. It comes as a sort of wave up the top of the 
back of head and causes a dreadful sensation in the vertex, and makes it 
impossible for her to walk. The important point is that the recumbent 
posture quite relieves her. Dming the whole of January last this liability 
was so distressing that she never did more than just leave her bed, dress, 
and get to the sofa. She believes that nux vomica makes her worse, and 
so also digitalis. 

'* At present she is often obliged to sit up all night on account of noises 
in her eax," 

General Comments on the preceding Cases. 

1 have ventured into considerable detail in describing 
the symptoms present in this case because I believe that 
it presents a good example in an exaggerated form of 
what is very common. It may perhaps be allowed to stand 
as a type of what is possible in connection with long 
persisting disorder of the liver. The xanthoma patches 
are valuable as affording the most conclusive evidence of 
such disorder. Although functional and only temporary 
in the first instance, we may reasonably suspect that 
organic tissue changes in the liver have been slowly set 
up. Or it may be that the organic and permanent changes 



GENEEAL COMMENTS. 205 

are in the nerves which regulate the hepatic functions 
rather than in its gland constituents. For clinical pur- 
poses the distinction is perhaps not of great importance. 
What we have to recognise is that liability to liver- 
derangement may induce in youth paroxysmal attacks 
attended by such symptoms as sick headache and the 
like, which in more advanced age may culminate in retinal 
epilepsy, migraine, hemiopia, and a variety of alarming 
nervous phenomena. Amongst these we may probably 
count some of the examples of Meniere's symptoms. The 
ancient popular creed which attributes a large proportion 
of human infirmities — especially those of the recurring or 
chronic class — to the liver, is probably well founded. This 
large and most important viscus is very prone to derange- 
ment from very various causes, and when disturbed in 
function reacts very seriously on the general health. This 
it does partly by reflex influence on the nervous system 
and partly by poisoning of the blood. As a revealing 
symptom, giving, as I have already said, conclusive proof 
that such agencies have been at work, we have the various 
forms of xanthoma. 

No doubt in the production of the sjmaptoms described 
in the case before us the heart and the circulation take a 
very considerable share. The derangement of function in 
the heart is, however, yet secondary to that of the liver, and 
not organic. 

I am particularly anxious to assert, and if possible to 
prove, the influence of the liver in producing the disturb- 
ances of health alluded to, because it is possible to bring 
that organ into a better ordered condition by the use of 
drugs, exercise, and diet. More especially do we possess 
in mercury and taraxacum two remedies which, if used 
with judgment and at the same time with sufl&cient 
freedom, are capable of effecting wonders for those who 
are liable to recurring attacks of liver disorder. Many 
patients who have in the course of treatment for sj^hilis 
submitted to long courses of small doses of mercury obtain 
complete immunity from bilious attacks to which they had 
been for long previously subject. 



CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS 

OF HEEPES. 

{Concluded from page 181.) 

Becurring attacks of Herpes, preceded by low spirits and 

irritability. 

A medical friend has supplied me with the following inter- 
esting observation as to recmring herpes, of which he is 
himself the subject. He is of a somewhat melancholic dis- 
position and spare habits. Although married, he leads, I 
believe on account of his wife's health, an almost absolutely 
celibate life. His age is about 48. For several years he has 
been Uable to recurring herpes, sometimes on the penis, but 
more usually on the upper part of the right thigh. He 
seldom passes more than a month or six weeks without one. 
The attacks are, he says, always followed by a remarkable 
improvement in his temper and spirits. For some days 
before they occur he is moody, despondent, and irritable ; as 
soon as the herpes begins he feels cheerful and himself again. 
He assures, us that he often longs for an attack for a week 
before it comes. He has been quite unable to associate the 
attacks with any special cause. They do not, he thinks, 
appear to be catarrhal. 

General remarks on cases of Becurring Herpes, 

It can scarcely be supposed in such cases as that just 
narrated that the herpes is in itself any cause of relief to the 
system. The extent of the dermatitis is far too small to be 
productive per se of any material influence. It is rather to 



EEOUEEING HEEPES. 207 

be suspected that the herpes is itself caused by some more 
general change in the organism of which it is symptomatic. 

The study of the phenomena of recurrence in herpes must 
be conducted broadly and with full recognition of the laws 
of both physiological and pathological periodicity. There is 
no doubt that changes in season have their influence on the 
animal organism, and remotely connected with them, but to 
a large extent independent, are also those of the sexual 
system. Although only females menstruate, there can be 
little doubt that the male organism also experiences periodi- 
cally recurring excitement of a certain kind. Amongst 
pathological facts we have the well-known proneness to 
recur, after intervals, of epilepsy and of catarrh. We know 
also that those who have once suffered from a malarial fever 
are liable for many years afterwards to periodically recurring 
symptoms which are in dependence upon some influence 
then received by the nervous system. It is of causes such 
as these that we must think if we would explain the recur- 
rence of herpes. A previous attack of syphilis is probably by 
far the most common cause. The sexual system and a 
liability to catarrhal explosions probably come next, each 
separately taking its share. In the English population 
malaria is probably not now a very frequent agent. Amongst 
maladies most nearly parallel with herpes in respect of recur- 
rence we have erythema multiforme and cheiro-pompholyx. 
Of all three it is, I believe, true that a long course of arsenic 
will break the habit, and at the same time improve the 
patient's general health. A very remarkable case in proof of 
this is one which I have often quoted in which a mother 
used to give her boy his arsenical mixture whenever she 
observed him to be out of temper. It also always prevented 
attacks of erythema, to which he was liable. 

A severe Herpes of the Penis, Glaus, and Skin, after Ague 
and Syphilis — Very frequent recurrences, 

• 

That herpes of the glans and prepuce often follows 
venereal sores and may be very troublesome in its repeated 
recurrences is well known. What the state of health ia 



208 CASES ILLUSTEATING EXCEPTIONAIj FOBMS OF HEBPES. 

which favours its development we have not yet recognised. 

The case of Mr. V , who consulted me in August, 1877, 

suggests that possibly the state left after severe ague may 
have sometimes a share in causing it. He has for the last 
eighteen months been seldom more than a week or two at 
a time free from herpes on the penis in some form. Some- 
times it comes on the glans or prepuce in oval patches, and 
sometimes in long groups of vesicles on the skin of the 
organ. Each crop fades in a week and heals, but fresh ones 
recur so frequently that he is rarely well for long. He had 
syphilis some years ago, and three years ago he suffered very 
severely from ague in Bulgaria. 

Becurring Herpes on the Cheek from cet 4 to 17, 

Miss H . She is seventeen, and since the age of five 

has been liable to recurring attacks of herpes on the right 
cheek. Once she was a whole year without it. During the 
last year she has had it more than once a month. It has 
always been on the right cheek and near to the same place, 
but not exactly. In the present attack it curves forwards 
and downwards from ear to comer of mouth, just like zoster ; 
but on former occasions she says it has been much more 
limited. She is well grown and in good health. She is not 
catarrhal, and does not associate the herpes with cold- 
catching. She is regular, and does not think that the 
herpes has anything to do with her periods. 

Her mother once had shingles. (October 27, 1892.) 

Becurring Herpes in the Nose in a girl whose mother and 

brother were liable to Herpes. 

Miss S , aged 15, has a crop of herpes spots on the 

edge of left ala nasi. On the tip of the nose is a red patch 
which has not developed vesicles. 

Her first attack was a year ago, and she has had very 
numerous attacks since. During June and July she was 
exempt. The present attack has been one week, and the 
spots are healing. Sometimes the attacks are so near to 
each other that there is scarcely any interval of freedom. 



HERPES OPHTHALMICUS. 209 

Her mother has been liable to the same on the middle of 
chin. She has had recurring attacks with long intervals 
since girlhood. She feels sure that her attacks come from, 
exposure to cold ; not so much catching cold as exposure to 
cold wind. 

A brother has very bad attacks of herpes labialis, and 
others in the family are also liable. In all it is believed to 
come in cold, damp weather, and to be in some sort a taking 
of cold. 

CASES ILLUSTRATING HERPES FRONTALIS AND HERPES 

OPHTHALMICUS. 

The following cases are additional to those which I have 
pubHshed in the Ophthalmic Hospital Reports, Vol. V., 
1866, and in Archives, Vols. H. and VIII., 1866. 

Herpes of the Forehead and Nose with affection of the Eye. 

Mrs. Gr , a thin old lady of seventy-four, was sent to 

me by Mr. L , of I , in August, 1884, on account of 

fronto-nasal shingles with inflammation of the eye. The 
eruption had been on the left side, and deep scars remained 
both on the forehead and side of nose. The whole of the 
side of nose had suffered. As regards the eye, it had been 
very painful and much inflamed, and although it was six 
weeks since the attack when I saw her, a condition 
resembling phlectenular ophthalmitis was still present. 

Herpes Frontalis of great severity — Some years of after- 
pain — Extensive scarring. 

Mrs. C , aged 54, consulted me on account of the 

after-pain of herpes frontalis. It was three years since her 
attack. She said that it began by pricking pain in the eye- 
brow, " as if two little bits of glass were pricking or jagging 
in it.'' ** I never had such a pain before." This pain was 
present for two days before any spots came. The pain 
increased when the spots came, and the skin sloughed. The 

diagnosis of herpes was given from the first. Dr. G , a 

physician who saw her, advised the use of cocaine. Cocaine 

VOL. IX. 14 



210 CASES ILLUSTBATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

made her, she thought, very much worse and increased the 
pain fearfuDy. So did carbolic acid. 

I never saw such scarring from herpes. It looked at first 
sight like morphoea. A line ran straight up her forehead, 
and from it to the middle of the temple the whole was a 
white scar. She had had dreadful after-pain, which had 
lasted two years and had only recently abated. The pain was 
now a burning one, and came only when she was tired, but 
there was always some discomfort. Not the least scar was 
present on the lower two-thirds of nose, and not the least 
damage had been done to the eye itself, although the whole 
upper lid was in a state of scar. There was a scar on the 
side of bridge of nose, but it was abruptly limited. 

Loss of Sensation (temporary) after very severe Herpes 

Frontalis, 

Mr. W , of Pontefract, aged 35, came to me in 

January, 1884. He had been through a most severe attack 
•of herpes on the left forehead. He had been in bed a fort- 
night, and for a time was delirious. His forehead and scalp 
were deeply scarred, and he still experienced much pain and 
numbness. The skin had been so numb that at one time 
he could not feel the prick of a needle in the least, but after 
«ome months this had improved. 

Severe Herpes Frontalis; rmcch after-pain, 

Mrs. N , a lady of 63, consulted me on October 3, 

1880, on account of the after-pain of herpes frontalis. She 
had been in bed three weeks and the attack had been called 
'* erysipelas.'' It had left her right forehead and upper 
■eyelid covered with scars. 

Severe Herpes Ophthalmicus attended by congestion of the 
Eye — Severe inflammation of the Eye with Iritis three 
months later. 

Miss McT , aged 41, was sent to me on September 16, 

1893, by Dr. McQuitty, of Belfast. On June 10th an attack 
of shingles had begun, involving the left forehead. She was 



ABORTIVE HERPES. 211 

in bed a fortnight and was for a month in the dark. She 
was taking medicine at the time for nemralgic rhemnatism of 
the right arm and right side of the face. There was Httle 
antecedent pain, but while the eruption was out there was 
much throbbing in the temple. The vesicles appeared on 
the whole side of the nose, with a group on the lower part of 
the cheek and on the upper lip, and scars had been left in 
these positions. Some vesicles also formed inside the 
mouth. The eye had suffered at first, but had got fairly 
well when, as she thought, she had caught cold in it. When 
she came to me the eye was acutely inflamed. The cornea 
was a little steamy and the iris very muddy and adherent at 
its pupillary edge, but the pupil dilated well with atropine. 
There was much congestion of the ciliary region and some 
thickening of the conjunctiva. There was very severe pain, 
especially at night. The sight of the eye, however, 
remained fairly good. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF ABORTIVE HERPES. 

The dermatitis of Herpes must always be regarded as a sort 
of complication of neuritis. It is the latter which is the 
essential part. Following on this is the admission that 
very probably many cases of neuritis of what we may call 
the herpetic type do not proceed so far as to produce vesicu- 
lation over the end-organs in the skin. This latter being 
absent, there would be no *' herpes " in the ordinary accepta- 
tion of the word. To such cases the designation of ** incom- 
plete " or ** abortive " herpes may be given. It may possibly 
be the fact that they are far commoner than the completed 
cases, and that the eruption should be regarded as an excep- 
tional complication, present only in severe cases. Thus many 
forms of localised pain, unexplained by any concomitants, 
may be of herpetic character. The following cases appear 
to bear upon these statements. 

Abortive Symmetrical Zoster, from Arsenic. 

Miss McE , set. 21. She has a very sHght, quite 

abortive eruption on both sides, curving round about the 
hips like herpes. Has taken arsenic m. vi. for one month. 



212 CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

The spots have been present a few days, and have caused no 
pain. No vesicles have formed. 

Zoster whilst taking Arsenic — Abortive Papular Eruption on 
neighbouring parts, bilateral but not symmetrical. 

Mr. S , aged 33, on May 20, 1893, presented on his 

back, curving round the right side of chest and crossing 
the lower angle of the scapula, the healing sores of a profuse 
herpes zoster. The curious point, however, was that the 
neighbouring regions, chest and arm, were covered with 
papules. These were almost solely on the right side (back 
and front), but there were also a few on the left upper arm. 
I thought that he had used some irritant, but he assured me 
that nothing stronger than vaseline had been employed. He 
had been in good health throughout. Three weeks pre- 
viously he had felt a pricking in his back and arm, and for 
the last ten days had been taking Fowler's solution in five- 
minim doses, three times a day. 

On May 27th, the eruption was everywhere better. The 
pustules were fading. There had been no pain. 

Double and m/ultiple Herpes Zoster arrested at the papular 
stage and then persisting for some weeks — Entire 
absence of irritation. 

The subject of the following case was a man who was sent 
to me by Mr. Tay from the London Hospital, September 10, 
1875. I print the notes as they were then written. 

The peculiarity of this case consists in the fact that the 
patient has on various parts of his trunk large groups of 
papules arranged like herpes zoster, but which have, he 
states, remained exactly in present condition for six weeks. 
The resemblance to herpes zoster in an early stage is so 
exact that at first sight I made not the slightest doubt as to 
its being an example of that disease, nor was this similarity 
diminished on more careful inspection; but it is the early 
stage of zoster which alone is represented ; there being 
papules only and no vesicles. 

The chief patch, or rather group of patches, extends round 



ABOBTIVE HBEPBS. 213 

his right side about the level of the lower dorsal vertebrae to 
the middle of the abdomen close to the ensiform cartilage. 
It is a broad patch, and at its middle as large as the out- 
spread hand. It is distinctly corymbiform, and there is a 
small patch a Httle below crest of right ilium. There are 
irregular areas of healthy skin between the principal groups 
of papules. He has another distinctly corymbiform patch 
half the size of the palm of the hand just over the middle of 
the crest of the left iliac bone, and there are some scattered 
groups of similar nature about the posterior margins of left 
axilla, on side of chest just below axilla, and over the pos- 
terior edge of deltoid. There are a few scattered spots also 
passing from axilla backwards over lower part of scapula and 
spine. There is a much less marked irregular patch just 
over inner side of right knee, and another smaller about six 
inches higher up on inner side of the right thigh. There 
are some ill-marked patches on inside of upper part of cleft 
of buttocks. 

Thus it will be seen that the herpetic patches show a 
tendency to symmetry ; i.e., there are two groups on each side 
of the trunk, but not exactly on the same level. Those on 
the iliac crests coincide very closely, but on the left side the 
upper group is on a level with the lower border of the axilla, 
whilst on the right side it passes considerably below the 
nipple. There is no representative on the left knee of the 
patches on the right knee. Thus the right side suffers more 
than the left. 

His statement is that the large patch on the right side was 
the one that first attracted his attention, and that all the 
others made their appearance ahnost immediately, or at any 
rate within a week afterwards. He is a healthy man, set. 23, 
of fair complexion. Never had shingles before. The patches 
have been wholly unattended by irritation, and he states that 
imless he had seen them he should never have been aware of 
their presence. He thinks that they are now, at the end of 
six weeks, almost exactly in the same state as when they 
first appeared. 

There is no suggestion as to cause. When I heard of its 
long persistence I suspected that it must be syphilitic, but 



214 CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL FOBMS OF HERPES. 

on inquiry it seems certain this is not the case. He had 
not been taking any medicine. 

Numbness and Pain in one Hand and Ann, probably in 
connection toith Herpes Zoster — Some senile changes in 
the Nerve supply, 

Mrs. E , a thin old lady of 81, came to me in January, 

1866, on account of pain, with numbness, in her right hand. 
For about a year her little finger had been getting numb 
and contracted, and she now had scarcely any sensation in 
it. Within the last three months the other fingers had 
followed, those nearest to the little finger being most 
involved. Her thumb she could still use. In November, 
1865, she had an eruption on the ulnar side of front of arm, 
from axilla to wrist, which, from her description and from 
the scars left, I should suppose to have been herpes zoster. 
It caused her great pain. She had also a few spots on the 

right chest and shoulder. Mrs. E complained very 

much of pain about the ulnar nerve behind the inner 
condyle, and said that it was tender when touched. All 
her fingers were somewhat contracted, and all swollen and 
glossy, but at their pulps somewhat shrivelled. They were 
tender when touched. The swelling did not affect the 
joints more than other parts. The arteries of the limb 
appeared to be in good condition, and I could not feel any 
rings of chalk in their coats. She could still see to thread her 
needle without a glass, and had only a moderate arcus seniUs. 
It was a curious feature in her case that the pain came on 
only in the daytime. It was often very severe for hours 
together, but at night it went off and she slept well. The 
fingers ached very much if exposed to the air. She had 
noticed that they soon got chilled if exposed, and hot if 
covered. We kept her arm and hand enveloped in cotton- 
wool, and thus protected, she was fairly comfortable. 

A few weeks after her first visit to me she began to 
have swelling of the right foot, and redness in the dorsum 
of the great toe, and I feared that possibly an attack of 
gout was threatening, or, worse, that she might have senile 
gangrene. 



HBEPES AFTER INJURY. 215 

Herpes affecting the Cervical Plexus district and abortive 

on the Peripheral regions, 

September 13, 1871. Amy S , set. 10. Mr. Tay sent 

me to-day a good example of herpes affecting the cervical 
plexus tract of skin. The spots covered all the side of 
neck and mastoid region, the whole also of the ear, and 
also extended just above the ear a little way into the skin 
of the hairy scalp. In front of the ear they covered the 
aural region of the cheek, and passed downwards to- 
wards the angle of mouth and chin. There were none 
between the eye and temple, and none on the nasal half of 
cheek, none on the lip-regions or within an inch of the 
angle of the mouth. On the front of the neck they came 
everywhere up to the median line. The spots ceased to be 
numerous a little above the level of the clavicle, but there 
were scattered groups of them on the clavicle and below it, 
and these were especially abundant just in front of the 
shoulder joint itself, and inwards over the tendon of the 
great pectoral. Behind, the eruption did not pass so low 
down as in front, ending for the most part just behind the 
upper edge of the trapezius, but there were a few well-marked 
clusters lower than this over the supra-spinous fossa, and 
one very ill-developed on the infra-spinous district. 

I may note in this case, what I have often seen before,, 
that the groups outlying the legitimate district were every- 
where faintly marked. Some of them were scarcely vesicular, 
merely abortive papules. The further off the slighter was 
their development, whilst those in the middle of the district 
were acutely inflamed and contained bloodstained serum. 

CASES OF HERPES AFTER CONTUSIONS. 

Many observers have noticed herpes as a consequence of 
bruises and other injuries. I saw recently a lady who, after 
a severe fall down some steps in her garden, had great pain 
over one hip. For some days it was supposed to be from 
sprain or contusion, and she kept her bed, being quite 
unable to sleep. After about four days of this pain and the 
use of many forms of anodyne there appeared an eruption of 



216 CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

herpes, which ran its usual course and ended the more deep- 
seated pain. I had myself seen this lady before the herpetic 
vesicles made their appearance, and quite failed to predict 
their advent. The pain was not referred to the skin, and 
there was at first not the slightest redness. 

Mr. Clouting, of Thetford, once reported to me a case in 
which a woman who had received a severe blow on the side 
from the handle of a windlass had zoster come out on the 
bruised part. 

Mr. Alfred Kebbell, of Flaxton, York, has given me the 
notes of a case in which a boy was kick^ by a horse on the 
side of his chest. There was no proof of fractured rib, but 
he had great pain in inspiration. Six days after the kick 
zoster was well out. It was reported that some appearance 
of spots was observed as early as thirty-six hours after the 
kick, but possibly this was a mistake. 

Dr. Hirosa, of Buenos Ayres, was kind enough some 
years ago to send me the notes of a case, with a sketch, in 
which herpes of both arms had followed the use of the 
interrupted electrical current. 

MISCELLANEOUS CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL 

FACTS. 

Herpes of Cervical Territory in Cheek, 

Mr. C , aged 42, was the subject of herpes in front of 

the ear and on the chin ; regions supplied by the cheek- 
branches of the cervical plexus. There was one vertical 
patch midway between the tragus and the eye, another in 
the whiskers and another under the jaw. There had been 
severe pain and stiffliess of the neck, and there was still 
much swelling. (October 25, 1880.) 

In 1884 I learned that Mr. C had had no further 

attack of herpes. There was then a scar-leaving acne on 
his forehead and temples. 

Symmetrical and severe Herpes of both Ears in association 
with a severe Bigor and Sore Throat. 

A young man, aged 21, liable to sore throats, had on a 
Thursday a severe rigor with a commencing sore throat. It 



SBVEEE HEBPES OF PHABYNX. 217 

proved to be a worse throat, and was a far worse rigor, than 
he had ever had in his life before. He shivered till his 
teeth chattered. This was on a Thursday, and on the 
following Saturday he found both ears hot and covered with 
little red pimples. On the Tuesday following. Dr. Sangster 
sent him to me, and he then had ulcers in his tonsils and 
a copious eruption of herpes on both ears. The latter was 
remarkably symmetrical. It affected both lobules severely, 
and spread over the helix and antihelix, but not to the upper 
parts of the latter, nor did it pass into the concha. The 
back of the ear on both sides was affected. It had been 
developed a little more rapidly on the left than the right 
side and was already fading there, on Tuesday, whilst still in 
perfection on the other; but perhaps this was due to the 
circumstance that it was more severe on the right. On both 
sides the vesicles were in groups, and on both some small 
groups occurred on the skin of the cheek just in front of the 
tragus. 

No doubt in this cg.se the herpes was symptomatic and part 
of the consequences of the severe rigor. Probably herpes 
of the ears may not unfrequently be in this relation ; but 
I do not recollect ever to have seen it so definitely such as 
in this instance. Nor have I ever, I think, seen it so 
symmetrical. The young man told me that he had often 
had spots on his lips (herpes) when he had colds. 

A febrile illness with high temperature — Herpes of the 

Pharynx. 

A gentleman, aged 36, whom I had attended twelve years 
before for syphilis, came to me with the following curious 
history. He had been four days in bed with a febrile illness 
and much sickness. His temperature had one evening 
reached 105°. He had had no pain anywhere excepting 
** just a little catch in my throat now and then.*' He looked 
ghastly pale, and he had indeed very improperly left his bed 
to come to me. I found a crop of herpetic sores on the right 
side of his pharynx and one or two on his lip ; but on careful 
examination, could not find any evidence of visceral inflam- 



218 CASES ILLUSTRATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

mation. In proof of his good health previously he had 
presented himself for examination for life insurance on the 
day before his attack commenced. (October 5, 1894.) 

Extensive Herpes of the Lips and Chin in a child — Devia- 
tions from symmetry. 

Herpes is almost never present round the mouth on both 
sides. In the following case, one might have at first sight 
been inclined to exclaim " symmetrical herpes," but on 
carefully looking it became evident that it was most 
definitely non-symmetrical. The patient was a little girl 
aged 8. The right upper lip was involved ; but the left 
side had escaped. The lower lip was involved everywhere 
excepting just below the oral commissure. The eruption 
was also present below the chin on the left side, reaching to 
the middle line but not beyond it in the least. There was 
an oval patch in front of the right ear. (January 31, 1877.) 

It is to be observed that this case was not an example of 
herpes labialis only. Branches of the cervical plexus were 
also affected. 

Case in proof that Herpes labialis may be symmetrical, 

1 have to-day (October 21, 1862) seen herpes labialis 
acute, severe, and most characteristic whilst quite sym- 
metrical. It involved both upper and lower lips, smd 
completely surrounded the mouth, extending, as usual, to 
some distance from its angles. 

The patient was a healthy-looking boy aged 13, and the 
rash had only shown itself one day before I saw him. He 
said that his lips had never been sore before. He had 
otorrhcea from right ear. He stated that on the day of the 
outcome of the eruption he had much running from the 
nose. He did not, however, to me, appear to have much 
catarrh. 

Zoster affecting branches of the Cervical Plexus. 

Miss E , aged 26, was the subject of severe herpes 

zoster on the left side of the back of the neck, extending in 



EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 219 

an almost horizontal bar lengthwise over the whole clavicle. 
The eruption was very abundant over the whole length of 
the back of the neck, and there were some ill-developed 
spots on the deltoid, but they did not extend on the chest 
lower than the clavicle, and there was a free space between 
the back of the neck and the affected area over the clavicle. 
The important point was that the patch over the clavicle 
ran almost horizontally (just like morphcea in my portrait). 
It had begun a week previously. (November 1, 1893.) 

Bilateral but unsymmetrical Eruption of persisting pustules, 

Mr. E , aged 40, in good health, was the subject of 

numerous and large groups of ulcerating pustules arranged 
exactly like herpes zoster. Two groups on the left side of the 
chest curved downwards and forwards just like those of zoster, 
and there were other groups on the neck, arms, and thighs 
and one just below the left knee. The eruption was bilateral, 
but most definitely non-sjmametrical, and no two patches 
corresponded. The pustules left scars, but had never 
ulcerated extensively. They did not coalesce, but remained 
as separate papules. 

I am sorry that the above note is a very imperfect record 
of the case, but I cannot give further particulars. It appears 
to be important as an example of a most unusual form of 
herpetic eruption. It had persisted for some weeks, but I 
cannot state exactly how long, nor do I know the sequel. 

A case in which Facial Paralysis followed immediately after 

Herpes of the Teinple and Ear, 

On July 12, 1888, Mr. F. M. Corner, of Manor House, 
Poplar, sent me an interesting example of paralysis of the 
portio dura in association with herpes zoster. The eruption 
had affected the auriculo-temporal branch of the fifth nerve, 
and had been severe. It had lasted three weeks, and was 
fast disappearing when facial paralysis on the same side 
occurred. The latter was very definite but not quite com- 
plete. By strong efforts the patient could bring down the 
upper eyelid so as to nearly touch the lower one. He could 



220 CASES ILLUSTBATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

not raise the lower one at all. The lower one drooped so as 
to expose the conjunctiva. The mouth was drawn to the 
left, and he had little or no power of moving the cheek. He 
could wrinkle the forehead on both sides. 

The patient was a man of about fifty, the superintendent 
of a Sailors* Home. I believe that he recovered in the 
course of a few weeks. 

Severe Herpes of the Lesser Sciatic Begion during the use 

of Arsenic. 

A very marked case of herpes during treatment by 
arsenic occurred to me in May, 1876. A young man, the 
subject of psoriasis, was imder care at the Skin Hospital, 
and had taken Fowler's solution in doses of three minims 
three times a day for one year. He was just well of the 
psoriasis and in good health, excepting that he had some- 
what lost flesh, when his herpes occurred. It affected the 
back of his left thigh, and a group of vesicles occurred 
also just below the popliteal space, whilst other small ones 
were present on each side of the ankle, just below each 
maleolus. The calf wholly escaped, and there were no spots 
on the perineum or scrotum. The region of the lesser 
sciatic nerve was that chiefly affected. I admitted the man 
into the London Hospital in order to demonstrate to our 
students the very unusual distribution of the herpes, as well 
as to illustrate its apparent connection with the use of 
arsenic. We had cured this man of his psoriasis eight years 
before, and he had remained quite well for five years. On 
that occasion arsenic agreed with him well. 

It is difl&cult to explain anatomically why with herpes of 
the lesser sciatic region a few vesicles should occur below 
the maleoli, but no doubt they proved that, in this individual 
at least, some of the nerve twigs found their way there. 

Two examples of Becurring Zoster. 

. Mr. Davey, late of Eomford, related to me the facts of a 
case of persisting shingles. It occurred in a lady of 65, who 
for a year and a haK was liable to herpes in a belt on the 
left side of the chest. Vesicles formed over and over again. 



CASES WHICH ABE SLOW TO HEAL. 221 

but always on the same area. At the end of the time men- 
tioned the tendency ceased, and she lived ten years longer, 
in fair health. 

Mr. Davey also told me of another case, in which an 
elderly gentleman had had three attacks of shingles with 
intervals of a few years. They were all on the same side, 
and nearly on the same region. 

On Cases in tvhich the healing of Herpes is delayed. 

Now and then, with extreme rarity, we encounter cases 
of herpes in which the sores are slow to heal. "When this 
occurs we may almost take it for granted that the patient 
is the subject of syphilis. The only other cases which I 
have met with in which herpetic sores lasted longer than 
their usual duration, were one or two in which the herpes 
had been caused by arsenic, and in which that drug was 
continued after it had appeared. This happened in the 
case of a young lady named B , for whom I had pre- 
scribed arsenic in very full doses for the cure of psoriasis. 
After some months' use of it she had a most copious eruption 
of common zoster on the right side of the chest. She left 
off her arsenic for a week only, and then resumed it. 
Instead of disappearing, the scars assumed the condition of 
scaly papules, and in this state they persisted, I believe, for 
two or three months. They were not in the least irritable, 

and Miss B was in good health and had no other 

symptoms of arsenical disagreement. 

The study of herpes as an illustration of peripheral 
neuritis, and in reference to pathological doctrine, is of 
extreme interest, quite apart from its clinical aspects. 

Arsenic causing Zoster. {A note written in May, 1876.) 

" Some years ago I published the opinion that arsenic, 
given medicinally, might produce herpes zoster. No year 
passes without my having under observation cases in con- 
firmation of this belief. It is of much interest to note that 
sometimes it occurs only after a long course of the drug, 
which has not disagreed in the least. Indeed it is, I think, 



222 CASES ILLUSTBATING EXCEPTIONAL FORMS OF HERPES. 

never attended by the more common symptoms of intoler- 
ance of arsenic, and the patient may resume or even 
continue the drug without fear of a repetition of the 
herpes, and without in the least interfering with its usual 
course." 

Ca^e of constantly recurring Herpes on the skin of the Penis 
and on both sides of the Buttocks — Becurrences so fre- 
quent that he was scarcely ever well — History of an 
indefinite sore four years previously, cured by local 
treatment and not followed by constitutional symptoms 
— On the Buttocks scars left by the Herpes — Arrest of 
Herpetic tendency by the use of Arsenic, 



AESENIC-KEEATOSIS AND AESENIC-CANCEE. 

At page 63 of the present volume, the case of a patient 
under the care of Dr. Bullock, of Notting Hill, is briefly 
recorded as an example of Arsenic-Cancer. The patient, 
a man of forty-six, had been from boyhood the subject 
of psoriasis, and had taken arsenic liberally for many years. 
Finally two of his psoriasis patches had taken on cancerous 
ulcerations, and in connection with one of them a large 
gland growth had developed in the right groin. It was only 
for about a year that the ulceration had attracted much 
attention, but it had been present for a longer period. So 
deceptively like syphilitic ulceration had the disease appeared, 
that, under the advice of a distinguished physician who had 
been consulted, although the history of sjrphilis was wholly 
absent, a long course of mercury had been given. The same 
history has, I may remark, been present in most of the 
examples of arsenic-cancer which have come under my 
observation. I am now enabled to record the conclusion of 
this case and also to cite some others. 

By the courtesy of Dr. Bullock I visited this patient at 
his own house in February, 1898. He was now confined to 
his bed, and very ill. We noted some important features in 
the progress of the sores. The gland mass in the groin had 
broken down, and formed a large excavation, at the bottom 
of which masses of firm granulations projected. This ex- 
cavation involved Poupart's Hgament, which stretched as 
a bridle across it. There appeared to be also a large gland- 
mass within the brim of the pelvis. No enlarged glands 
were to be found in other parts. The original cancerous 
ulcer on the abdominal wall had to a large extent lost its 
features. Its elevated border had softened down, and its 
surface showed florid low granulations. It might indeed 



224 ABSENIC-KERATOSIS AND ARSENIC-CANCER. 

have been supposed that it was about to heal. The sore 
on the back had undergone similar changes, and was no 
longer characteristic. It also looked clean and florid, as if 
about to heal, but it had during two months made no pro- 
gress in scarring. The man's skin generally was harsh and 
dry, and in many parts of the abdomen and limbs there were 
little dry scaly pits as big as a small finger-nail, with slightly 
raised edges not unlike those which occur on senile skins 
and sometimes precede epithelioma. Yet the process which 
had produced them was in the main one of atrophy, and the 
evidences of growth in their edges was exceedingly shght. 
All traces of the original psoriasis had disappeared. 

A few weeks after my visit I heard from Dr. Bullock that 
the man was dead. He had died from exhaustion and pain. 
It was not possible to obtain permission to make an 
examination, and no specimens were obtained for the 
microscope. I have, however, already recorded that a micro- 
scopic examination of portions excised from the ulcer for diag- 
nostic purposes had formerly been made by a highly skilled 
histologist with only negative results. Exactly the same had 
occurred in another case. Yet, in spite of the microscope, 
both cases had run a malignant career. 

Arsenic given in early life — Liability to Epilepsy — An 
eighteen months' course of Arsenic — Subsequently Kera- 
tosis of the palms and soles — Excision of Ulcers from 
the palms — Cancerous implication of cervical glands — 
Multiple Keratosis with ulceration — Bapid extension and 
death, 

A lady, aged 45, was sent to me with a very peculiar 
combination of symptoms. She had long suffered from 
keratosis of her palms and soles, and recently a growth had 
developed under the skin of the left mammary region, and a 
large glandular mass in her right neck. There were also 
smaller gland tumours in the left groin. The keratosis had 
been diagnosed and treated as specific, but the surgeon who 
sent her to me wrote that there was no history of syphilis, 
and that she had three healthy children. She had been 
from time to time under several specialists. Her own 



CASE OF ARSENICAL KERATOSIS AND CANCER. 225 

account of her case was that her skin ailments had begun 
twelve years ago by a loosening of the nail of her left middle 
finger. The nail fell oflf, but the part did not become sound. 
Three years later her heels and palms became dry and hard^ 

and she was sent up to London to see Dr. L . Syphilis 

was not at that time diagnosed. The palms and soles sub- 
quently became very troublesome, and in 1894 she went to 
Harrowgate, where the opinion was given that the disease 
was due to syphilis. Treatment on that hypothesis, how- 
ever, did no good. About a year before I saw her she 
recognised a lump in the middle of the right neck, and a 
little later another under the breast. About the same time 
warty growths appeared on several other parts. There was 
something in the appearance of the palms and soles which, 
together with the multiplicity of the lesions, led me to at 
once suspect that she had suffered from arsenical poisoning, 
and this suspicion derived some support from the facts that 
new growths were developing independently in two distinct 
regions, and that she had formerly suffered from epilepsy. She 
told me that she had taken much medicine, but did not know 
what. In her younger days she said that she had taken arsenic 
for several years to clear her complexion. I communicated 
my suspicion to the surgeon who had sent her to me, and he 
was good enough to search out her old prescriptions, and 
found that during the years 1879 and 1880 for twenty 
months consecutively she had taken ten minims of Fowler's 
solution a day. It was given her for her epilepsy, and this 
was five years before the affection of her palms and soles 
began. From admissions which the patient made to me, 
however, there were grounds for suspecting that she had 
taken more arsenic than her medical attendants knew of. 
As has been said, she admitted having taken it for several 
years in girlhood for the sake of her complexion, and not 
improbably it had been the cause of the epilepsy which it 
was afterwards prescribed to cure. This, however, is the 
sum oi the evidence that was obtainable, and it is to be 
added that her friends doubt much whether she had taken 
any arsenic later than 1880. My diagnosis was that the 
gland mass in the neck was of a sarcomatous nature. It was 

VOL. IX. 15 



226 ARSENIC-EERATOSIS AND ABSENIC-CAXGER. 

Tery firm, and was in the middle of the neck ; not, as usual, 
under the jaw. The glands composing were firmly welded 
together. The mass altogether was as big as a child's fist. 
The tumour xmder the left breast did not implicate the 
gland itself, but was developed apparently in the cellular 
tissue. It was somewhat ill-defined, and not very hard. 

The sequel of the case may be briefly told. The gland 
mass in the neck was excised. I was not present at the 
operation, which was done in the country. ' It was attended, 
I was told, with much difficulty, as the tumour had grown 
rapidly since my consultation, and had become adherent to 
the adjacent parts. It adhered both to the carotid and 
subclavian, and was probably not completely got away. A 
portion of it was sent to the Clinical Besearch Association 
for examination. The report was that it was not sarcoma- 
tous as I had suspected, but '' a squamous-celled epithelioma, 
either in or closely attached to a lymphatic gland. There 
are very few cell-nests, and in places the growth is de- 
generative.'' 

The operation wound healed for a time, but the growth 
quickly recurred. It grew most rapidly, and spread up the 
neck to the side of the head. The patient became insane, 
and subsequently comatose, and so died, about four months 
after the consultation and three after the operation. It was 
believed that growths had developed within the skull. 
There was no autopsy. 

In view of the verdict that the gland mass in the neck 
was epitheliomatous, we had to seek for some primary growth 
on skin or mucous membrane. There had never been any 
growth in the mouth or throat, though at one time she had 
had difficulty in swallowing. A not improbable supposition 
seemed to be that the infection had come from the hand. 
On two occasions thickened and ulcerated portions of skin 
had been excised from the palm. These unfortunately had 
not been examined microscopically. On each occasion the 
wound had healed well, but the disease had soon returned. 
In these features the course of the disease had closely 
resembled that of the patient who was the subject of my 
first report on Arsenic-Cancer. It was indeed the resem- 



CASE OF CANCEE FOLLOWING ABSENICAL KEEATOSIS. 227 

blance of her palms to his which made me suspect arsenic. 
They were, however, in a less pronomiced condition. For 
the reader's convenience I here reproduce the portraits of 
the hands in the former case. In the present instance we 
had no opportunity for taking a sketch. The suggestion that 
the growths in the palm were the source of infection to the 
glands in the neck is supported by the fact that the axillary 
glands had not wholly escaped. In my former case the gland 
tumour appeared in the armpit according to rule. It is clear, 
however, that in these cases of arsenic-cancer the infection 
is not quite according to rule. In the former case, growths 
were found at the autopsy in the chest and adherent to 
ribs. There is a definite tendency to multiplicity, the 
tissues of the body generally appearing to have been 
predisposed by the arsenic to take on the cancerous process. 
I may state that not only were my own suspicions as to 
arsenical causation at once aroused when I saw this patient's 
palms, but that when I showed my drawings of my original 

case to Mr. L , the surgeon who had excised the ulcers 

from Mrs. L 's palms, he at once remarked that the 

conditions exhibited were exactly alike. We may therefore 
fairly assume that the appearances presented by arsenical 
keratosis and arsenical cancer are peculiar, and that they 
are to some extent trustworthy as a means of diagnosis. 

In my next case, as yet, no cancer has been developed. 
We have only the condition of arsenic-keratosis. The 
arsenic has been wholly relinquished for some years, yet the 
keratosis persists. In this we have an illustration of a 
most important possibility. It would appear — for several 
other cases confirm the fact — that the influence of arsenic 
upon the skin in predisposing it, first to keratosis and next to 
cancer, is not limited to the time during which the mineral 
is in use, but may be evidenced years afterwards. It is, 
indeed, not impossible that the prolonged use of arsenic 
gives to the tissues a proclivity towards cancerous pro- 
cesses which may last through the remainder of life. 

In one of the cases above cited, although the evidence is 
open to some question (since it is not certain that the 



228 ARSENIC-KERATOSIS AND ARSENIC-CANCER. 

patient had not taken arsenic on her own account and 
unknown to her medical friends), the interval between the 
disuse of the drug and the appearance of the cancerous 
ulcers in the palms would appear to have been several years. 
All the stages of the disease are, indeed, peculiar and 
especially prone to delay. The early periods of the can- 
cerous process are ill-marked, develope very slowly, and 
infection of the l5miphatic glands occurs only after a long 
interval. Even when the disease reaches the lymphatic 
glands it is erratic in its course, and may be either very 
slow or very rapid. In the case just referred to the patient 
came under my observation for a large gland-mass in the 
neck, which at first was thought to have been primary. It 
was only on careful inquiry that the facts came out that she 
had formerly had enlarged glands in the armpit, and before 
that ulcerations in her palms, which had been excised and 
repeatedly scraped. 

Arsenical Keratosis of Palms some years after the disuse of 
Arsenic — Conditions persisting without change for two 
years. 

Miss C , aged 35, a nurse, was in the first instance 

sent to me in January, 1896. I saw her for a second time 
in February, 1898, when she was good enough to attend for 
demonstration at one of my Conferences. Her condition 
during the two years had undergone little or no change. 
She was the subject of keratitis of the palms and soles con- 
sequent on the use of arsenic. The arsenic had originally 
been prescribed for the benefit of an erythematous acne of the 
face, and at that time the palms and soles were soft and 
quite free from irritation. The prescription was continued 
steadily for two years or more. Towards the end of that 
time the palms and soles had become dry and homy, and 
this condition had continued ever since. 

At the present date, five years have elapsed since the 
arsenic was left off. The soles of. the feet now show, 
under the tread of the toes, thick and large plates of indura- 
tion like widely spread-out corns. The same are present 
under the heels. At other parts the skin is dry and 



PLATE XX. 

AESENIC-KERATOSIS AND ARSENIC-CANCER. 



The palmar surfaces of the two hands of Dr. W , who became 

the subject of arsenic-cancer. It will be seen that the palms are 
exactly like that of the hand shown in Plate XVIII., but with the 
addition of a fungating growth in each. That in the right palm 
is of considerable size and thickness, and is placed just above the 
wrist. That in the left is much smaller, having been of more 
recent development, and shows only a reddened excoriation 
between the index and middle fingers, beneath which there is a 
certain amount of thickening. In this case common psoriasis had 
been present in the first instance, and arsenic had been given in 
large doses over a long time for its cure. 

After this portrait was taken. Dr. W ^had his right hand 

removed by amputation through the forearm. He died within a 
year, with recurred malignant growths in the glands and viscera. 
The form of cancer was a modification of epithelial. 

The case is narrated in full in the ' Pathological Transactions,* 
and I possess reprints of the paper. 



,••. 



PERSISTENT ARSENICAL KERATOSIS. 229 

rough, and shows little corns and pits. Immediately under 
the arch of the foot the skin is comparatively soft. The 
palms of the hands and palmar aspects of all her fingers are 
harsh and dry, and the skin uniformly a little thickened. 
There are also numerous low corns, most of them slightly 
excavated in their centres. 
At my Demonstration I placed several drawings from other 

cases by the side of Miss C *s hands, and the changes 

present were seen to be most strikingly similar. It should 

be added that the arsenic had in Miss C left no other 

ill consequences. The rest of the skin was soft and healthy. 



SOME FUETHER NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 

One of the chief features of interest attaching to what are 
now known as Bazin's legs is the deceptive resemblance to 
syphilis which they present/ jl have seen many in which the 
simulation was close, but none more instructive than the 
following :— 

Ulcers 071 the Legs spreading serpigiiiously and assuming the 
Horseshoe form — No history of Syphilis — Diagnosis of 
Scrofula, 

The Rev. Mr. B brought to me his daughter, aged 16, 

a blooming girl of florid complexion and fair skin. I had 
previously heard respecting her that " a large horseshoe- 
shaped ulcer*' had formed on the right calf, and "some 
smaller ones on the left, deeply ulcerated and sloughing, 
their edges blue and congested." My informant added, 
" These ulcers have gradually taken a healthier tone, and 
the large one is healing in its centre. In spite of this 
improvement there seems to be forming a line of ulceration 
outside the original sores, and taking the same shape." 
These expressions well described the principal features, but 
did not give an adequate idea of the extent of the disease. 
On both legs the child had ulcers as large as the palm of the 
hand, healing in their centres, but spreading and very 
unhealthy at their margins. Outside the margins were also 
a number of smaller ones with undermined edges and very 
unhealthy surfaces. The horseshoe form and the punched- 
out character were conspicuous features. In some places 
the edges were ragged and flabby. I was told that the 
ulcers had been present and advancing for four months. 



FURTHER NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 231 

and that the earliest condition had been a sort of chronic, 
painless boil which broke down in the centre. The child 
had not been obviously out of health, and she lived at the 
seaside under favourable conditions. Her appetite was, 
. however, always very poor, and her circulation feeble. She 
had had chilblains. 

Now against the diagnosis of sjrphilis we had in this case 
the facts that all history of it was wanting, and that the 
girl's physiognomy and teeth showed nothing whatever in 
the least suspicious. Add to these that the ulcers on her 
legs were just like those in other cases of Bazin's malady. 

In support of the diagnosis of scrofula her mother, who 
came with her, showed me extensive scars of scrofulous 
ulcers in her own neck, and told me that several near 
relatives had died of lung disease. Further, the child had 
had inflamed eyes and eyelids of the strumous type. 

There is a symptom which I always inquire for as cor- 
roborative evidence in these cases. It is the condition 
which Dr. Tilbury Fox named cacatrophia folliculorum, and 
is usually present as little hard, livid, lichenoid papules on 
the backs of the arms just above the elbows. Many persons, 
have this who have no ulcers on the legs, but few who have 
the latter fail to show also this cachectic or scrofulous form 
of lichen. It was present in a marked degree in our 
patient. 

The question of treatment is very important in these 
cases. With such extensive ulceration, and with a general 
condition of slight oedema of the legs, it seems an obvious 
thing to insist on confinement to the recumbent position. It 
is, however, most certain that no definite improvement results 
from that measure. I have seen several cases in which it 
failed completely, and in which the ulcers finally healed 
whilst the patient was walking about. Exercise and fresh 
air are indeed important measures. It is well, however, to 
insist on the recumbent position whenever, under other cir- 
cumstances, the patient would be sitting, and a good deal of 
time should be spent in bed. Warmth is essential. Tonics, 
wine, cod liver oil, small doses of opium, are all valuable ; 
but, above all, it is important to use ointments or lotions 



232 SOME FURTHER NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 

containing mercury. Great benefit sometimes accrues from 
caustics, such as pure carbolic acid or the acid nitrate of 
naercury. 

As regards the association of these scrofulous ulcers on the 
legs in children with scrofula in a parent, the explanation is 
of great interest. It is difl&cult to believe that the inheri- 
tance is solely that of tissues of a vulnerable kind. There is 
not the slightest probability that any external infection is 
necessary to evoke the malady. On the contrary, indurations 
under the skin are almost always its first stage. This is the 
second case in which the mother of the patient has shown 
me her own neck seamed with scrofulous scars. The pro- 
probability is, I think, very great, that at the time of 
conception the bacilli of tubercule do in some form pass over 
from parent to child, and that they remain in the latter latent 
imtil roused into activity by local conditions pertaining to 
the legs. The cacatrophia foUiculorum to which I have 
adverted is probably a form of scrofulous lichen. 

The results of treatment in this case were very satis- 
factory. I prescribed an ointment containing several salts 
of mercury, and advised that the legs should be carefully 
bandaged and the patient allowed to go out. The diet was 
to be liberal, the clothing especially warm. Six weeks 
later I heard that the ulcers had been soundly healed for a 
fortnight, and that the general health was much better since 
exercise had been allowed. 

Bazin^s indurations on one Leg in association with Lupus 

Vulgaris on the other. 

I saw with Dr. George, of Brondesbury, a very interesting 
example of this affection, the point of exceptional importance 
being that the patient had the typical erythema induratum 
knots on one leg without any ulceration, and on the other a 
large patch quite indistinguishable from superficial lupus. 
Our patient was a young woman of about twenty-six, who 
had a scar in one side of her neck which had been left by an 
abscess in childhood. She had lost a paternal aunt in chronic 
phthisis and a brother in ** consumption of the bowels." She 



FURTHEB NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY; 233 

herself was stout, but pale, and her shoulders were covered 
with acne. She had never been suspected of lung disease. 
The affection of her legs had existed for three years, but had 
several times been nearly well. It had been wholly confined 
to her left leg until within the last eight months. It was 
during about the same period that the sore on the left calf 
had assumed the condition of lupus. 

A peculiar form of infective Ulceration of the Shin of the 

Thigh in association with Scrofula, 

A most peculiar, indeed in my experience unique, form of 
infective disease of skin and subcutaneous cellular tissue was 
presented in the case of a young lady whom I saw in March, 
1898. She was twenty-six years of age, and had come over 
from New Zealand with a letter giving a full description 
of her case. She was tall, of rather dark complexion, and 
bore not the slightest indication of inherited taint. Her 
teeth were perfect. I mention these facts because there had 
been doubts expressed, and her father had admitted that he 
had, in youth, had a chancre. He had since enjoyed 
excellent health, and none of his children had shown any- 
thing. One of his sisters and ** all her family, one after the 
other," had died of consumption. Our patient showed no 
signs of scrofula, but had suffered very much from cold feet 
and headaches. 

The affection for which Miss K had been sent to me 

consisted in a large, very irregular area of ulcerated cicatriced 
and indurated skin in the front of her left thigh, about its 
middle. It extended from near the great trochanter down- 
wards and forwards to the inner side. There were no crusts, 
and only the very smallest ulcers, at the time of my seeing 
it, but the skin was in the condition of a hard, seamy scar, 
with very irregular prolongations in various directions. The 
induration was as great as that of cicatricial keloid, but it 
involved the subcutaneous tissue rather than the skin itself, 
and nowhere rose above the general level. It had been 
diagnosed as an example of Bazin's malady, affecting the 
thigh, and in some respects this name seemed appropriate. 



234 SOME FURTHER NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 

It did not appear, however, that there had ever been the 
inflamed subcutaneous nodules which characterise that 
affection. It seemed that there had been continuous 
infection and no separate foci. The history was that it had 
begun insidiously as "a rough, hardened spot " at the age of 
seventeen, and had been slowly advancing ever since. 

Erythema induratum of the Scrofulous under exceptional 
cmiditions and in unusual positions — No Ulceration. 

A most instructive example of subcutaneous indurations 
which became erythematous, and which occurred in associa- 
tion with scrofula, occurred in the person of a gentleman 
who came to me from Southampton in May, 1898. He was 
fifty-three years of age and in good health, but from boyhood 
had been unable to digest fat, and nine years ago he had 
required an operation for fistula. These facts were, I must 
admit at once, all that I could get as justifying the belief 
that he was scrofulous. Nor was there any known history 
of tuberculosis in his family. He had never had syphilis. 

The conditions shown me by Mr. H when he called 

on me on May 26, 1898, consisted of a number of indurated 
plaques in the subcutaneous cellular tissue. There were 
six of them, and in various stages of development. 
There were also some depressions in the skin where others 
had formerly been, but as none of these had ever actually 
ulcerated, there were no scars which really involved the 
cuticle. The initial condition was a rather deeply-placed 
knot, very hard and but little tender. These knots gradually 
spread out and became closely adherent to the skin, but for 
a considerable time without obvious congestion. In the 
later stage the skin overlying the induration became of a 
dusky red. Some of the plaques which I am describing had 
attained the size of crown pieces, and the largest was as big 
as the palm of the hand. Their edges gradually shelved off* 
In their centres the induration was probably half an inch in 
thickness. This largest one was threatening to soften in its 
middle and to ulcerate. 

Five of the indurations described were on the left lower 



FUETHER NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 235 

extremity, one of them being behind the hip, two on the 
thigh, and two on the leg. The sixth, which was of quite 
recent formation, was on the right leg, and as yet showed 
no redness. Thus it will be seen that the left lower 
extremity had chiefly suffered, and it may be added it was 
on the left side of the anus that the fistula had been present. 

Mr. H told me that it was five years since the first 

induration (in his left leg) had formed, and from that time 
onwards he had never been wholly free. Those which had 
disappeared had vanished completely, leaving a thinned spot 
in the skin. They had been very slow in their stages, 
occupying many months in progress. None had ever looked 
so much ulcerating as did the one now present in the left 
thigh just above the knee. It was indeed the threatening 

condition of this patch which had caused Mr. H to seek 

further advice. The indurations had never been painful, 

and Mr. H had throughout continued his occupation 

and enjoyed good health. He had lived liberally, but not 
too freely. 

At first sight I was disposed to suspect that these indura- 
tions were specific gunmiata, not observing that none of 
them had shown any tendency to spread infectively at their 
borders. My mind soon relinquished that suspicion, and 
noted their similarity to the multiple strumous abscesses of 
young children. We had, however, the obvious difference 
that none of these had ever formed abscesses, and that 
although one now threatened ulceration the inflammation 
was quite superficial. The theory which finally I was in- 
clined to adopt was that they were really of the same cha- 
racter as those of children, and that their differences resulted 
from the age of the patient and the vigour of his health. 
Suppuration occurs far more readily in the young, whilst in 
the sixth decade most inflammatory processes are slow. It 
seemed very probable that the original tuberculous infection 
had spread downwards in the lymphatics from the fistula in 
ano. The case differed from the more ordinary forms of 
Bazin*s malady (Erythema indur^ des scrofuleuses), in that 
although it had begun on the legs on both sides, yet it had 
spread to the thighs, and in that the tendency to suppurate 



236 SOME FURTHEB NOTES ON BAZIN'S MALADY. 

had been restrained. In this latter feature, however, the 
case fits better with what Bazin described than do the large 
majority of examples of the disease as observed in English 
practice. Bazin, as the name chosen by him implies, 
recognised erythema rather than ulceration. With us, 
however, in England the erythematous indurations almost 
invariably break down, and the resulting ulcers constitute 
the most characteristic feature. 



I 

4 



CANCEE AND THE CANCEEOUS PEOCESS. 

Keloid caused by a hot poultice — Family history of Cancer, 

A young lady at a boarding-school had a sore throat. A 
hot linseed-meal poultice was applied just over the top of 
the sternum. She complained of the heat, but was told to 
bear it. Next morning there were blisters, and sores 
followed. Three months later she was brought to me with 
a group of glossy keloid buttons on the scar of the scald. 
Some of them were a quarter of an inch in thickness. 
There was a history of two relatives having suffered from 
cancer. A grandfather had died of cancer of the tongue. 

This is the third case in which I have seen keloid follow 
the use of poultices applied too hot. The history of malig- 
nant growths in other members of the family is quite usual. 
It gives strong support to the belief that peculiarity in vital 
endowment, and not the attack of any parasite, is the cause 
of cancerous modes of growth. 

Bodent Ulcer on the same part with similar peculiarities ^ 
and beginning at the same age, in a brother and sister, 

I have had under observation for eight years a gentleman 
of upwards of sixty of a very fair skin, who has had a rodent 
ulcer on his right malar region. After repeated cauterisa- 
tions it has soundly healed, and has now needed nothing for 
two or three years. It was always somewhat remarkable 
for its exceedingly superficial spreading. My reason for 
now recording the case is in order to mention that a sister 
of the patient, ten years younger than her brother, has just 
consulted me for a precisely similar ulcer on the same cheek 
and exactly in the same place. I never saw conditions 
more precisely repeated, and it will be observed that in each 



238 CANCER AND THB CANCEROUS PROCESS. 

case the disease has commenced at about the same age. 
Such cases make a strong impression in favour of the 
hypothesis which attributes cancerous action to congenital 
peculiarity of tissue and not to parasitic attack. 

On the prospect of lifk in cases of Cancer of the Lower Bowel, 
and on the inexpediency of premature operations, 

I fear that I sometimes very reluctantly hurt the feelings 
of my younger and more energetic colleagues by giving 
my vote against what seem to me premature operations for 
malignant disease of the lower bowel. Sometimes the 
operation proposed is for artificial anus, and sometimes 
a laparotomy in the hope of being able to excise the diseased 
part. I am told that I much overrate the dangers attending 
this latter procedure and the inconveniences of the former. 
It may be so, but we must all base our judgment in these 
matters upon the facts which have come before us. My 
mind is so framed that I find it impossible to yield implicit 
faith to statistical statements when they are at variance 
with my own experience. I am frequently seeing patients 
with cancer of the bowel, easily detected from the anus, 
in whom the symptoms are but trifling, and the general 
health is well maintained from year to year. One such 
used to call on me once a year for four or five years 
without getting materially worse, and the disease of which 
he finally died was a catarrhal attack on his lungs. In 
another, although at one time much reduced by bleeding, 
the patient recovered and had two years of good health 
before any serious symptoms set in. During these two 
years he had enjoyed field sports and lived as others. I have 
just seen an old gentleman of 80 whose case has prompted 
me to write this note. He is in excellent health, but is 
troubled by a bearing down in the rectum and a feeling as 
if he had not completely relieved the bowel. This is all 
that he suffers from. Yet it is more than two years 
since I first recognised malignant ulceration with much 
induration and polypoid growths. I might record many 
such examples, but the following one must suifice. 



RODENT ULCER IN A BROTHER AND SISTER* 239 

Mr. K , whose case is published in Archives, Vol. V., 

was brought to me for a second time on September 24, 
1895. It was then four years since I had recognised 
malignant disease of the rectum rather high up, It had 
then caused so much bleeding that a state of very serious 
anaemia had been produced. The haemorrhage having been 

arrested by ergot and steel, Mr. K had regained good 

health and resumed his ordinary mode of life. He had 
experienced very little trouble from his bowel until within 
the last few months. He lived two years longer. His 
death occurred on the 28th of December, 1897. It was thus 
six years since the cancer had been first discovered, and 
during the greater part of this period he had suffered little 
or nothing. 

I can only repeat that in consultations in cases of this 
kind, I often encounter statements which seem to me 
exaggerations in two or more directions. The danger of the 
operation is put at much lower than it really is, whilst the 
probable duration of life without it and the possible freedom 
from pain are much under-rated. The facts which come under 
my observation, as well in reference to the performance of 
operations as to their avoidance, do not incline me to 
recommend them excepting in cases in which the patient's 
sufferings are considerable and not relieved by drug 
treatment. 

Bodent Ulcer on the same part, with similar peculiarities, 
and beginning at the same a^e, in a brother and sister. 

I have had under observation for eight years a gentleman 
of upwards of sixty, of a very fair skin, who had a rodent 
ulcer on his right malar region. After repeated cauterisations 
it has soundly healed, and has now needed nothing for two 
or three years. It was always somewhat remarkable for its 
exceedingly superficial spreading. My reason for now re- 
cording the case is in order to mention that a sister of the 
patient, ten years younger than her brother, has just con- 
sulted me for a precisely similar ulcer in the same cheek 
and exactly in the same place. I never saw conditions more 
precisely repeated, and it will be observed that in each case 



240 CANCER AND THE CANCEROUS PROCESS. 

the disease has commenced at about the same age. Such 
cases make a strong impression in favour of the hypothesis 
which attributes cancerous action to congenital pecuharity 
of tissue and not to parasitic attack. 

Epithelial Cancer on the skin of the abdomen in a young 

woman — Paget' s Malady, 

A very important and unusual case was brought to our 
Demonstrations on May 26 by Dr. Jekyll, of Leytonstone. 
The patient was a married woman of twenty-six, of spare 
frame, but in good health. On the left side of the trunk, 
just above the iliac crest, was a large patch as big as an out- 
spread hand which, with some hesitation, had been called 
"Lupus.'* It had been slowly spreading at its edges for 
two years, but recently in the middle of it a fungating bossy 
growth had developed which had ulcerated in its centre, and 
now presented a very unhealthy, almost sloughy surface. 
It must be understood that this tendency to fungate had 
been present only two months, and was quite a new feature. 
The rest of the involved area was congested and discoloured, 
but not ulcerated, and was crusted in parts by a thick scab 
which could be detached without causing bleeding. These 
crusts were more like those of psoriasis than of lupus. Nor 
was the margin of the patch like lupus. It was most 
abruptly defined, and consisted of a low, sinuous roll like 
that of a very superficial rodent ulcer. There was not the 
least trace of apple-jelly-deposit nor of the flabby granula- 
tion masses which occur in lupus. The part which had 
been left by the advancing edge was not in a characteristic 
condition of scar. It remained dusky and discoloured, but 
it was not easy to demonstrate that there had been 
destruction of tissue. The skin adjacent to the borders of 
the patch was quite sound and white ; not the slightest 
congestion preceded the advance of the disease. 

The diagnosis of granuloma fungoides suggested itself, as 
also that of cancer of scar. Under either hypothesis it 
seemed very desirable that prompt extirpation should be 
effected, and with this object I procured the admission 



paget's cancer on skin of abdomen. 241 

of the patient under the care of my son into the London 
Hospital. 

The operation performed consisted partly in excision and 
partly in deep erasion. 

Microscopic examination of the parts removed demon- 
strated that the growth was epithelial, and of the type met 
with after eczema of the nipple and now recognised as 
^* Paget *s Disease.** In connection with this histological 
diagnosis, for which I am indebted to my son, the descrip- 
tion of the naked eye conditions acquires increased interest. 
The character of the spreading edge was very similar to that 
of the most superficial forms *of rodent. It may perhaps, 
indeed, be doubted whether there is any real difference 
between some of these and *' Paget *s ulcer.*' 

A good portrait showing the appearances referred to has 
been preserved for the Museum. 



VOL. IX. 16 



ON THE POSITION OF LICHEN SCEOFULOSOEUM 
AMONGST TUBEECULOUS AFFECTIONS. 

The affection of the skin which Dermatologists recognise 
as Lichen Scrof ulosorum presents a very.interesting problem 
to the students of tuberculosis. What is the nature of its 
connection with the bacillus ? Why is it so easily curable ? 
Why does it never merge into some one of the other forms 
of tubercular disease of the skin such, for instance, as 
lupus ? There does not seem to be any doubt that it occurs 
chiefly to the scrofulous or to those in whose near relatives 
other definitely tubercular disorders have shown themselves. 
The worst examples of it that I have seen have been in the 
subjects either of lupus vulgaris or angular curvature of the 
spine. Yet here we see a very superficial and insignificant 
skin affection which never runs on to ulceration, is scarcely 
attended even by congestion, and which seems to get well 
of itself. We have in the Clinical Museum an excellent 
water-colour drawing which all authorities recognise at a 
glance as exhibiting this disease in a typical form. It was 
shown at the Congress two years ago and was accepted by 
all. It is perhaps the best delineation of the disease extant, 
for Hebra's plate and some others show it in an exaggerated 
and not very typical form. It may be of interest if I briefly 
record the facts as regards the patient who was the subject 
for this portrait. 

Mrs. W is a widow, whose husband died of pneu- 
monia within a few years of marriage, and left her with two 
fair-haired, blue-eyed, very delicate-looking boys. It was 
the younger of these who developed the lichen scrofulosorum. 
His elder brother has recently become the subject of 
enlarged cervical glands. The boy with lichen was seven 
years of age when the portrait was taken. He had then 



LICHEN SCEOFULOSOBUM. 243 

had the eruption out for about a month. On more than one 
occasion I produced him for inspection at a Clinical Demon- 
stration. 

The following description of his eruption was written out 
when I first saw him : — 

Grouped minute lichen spots in areas as large as pennies, 
but not abruptly margined, and with no tendency to form 
rings. The spots in the middle of the patches persist, and 
are usually rather larger than the more recent ones at the 
periphery. No comedones. The spots where subject to 
friction become polished, but do not show any tendency to 
enlarge or to coalesce. 

The patches occur most abundantly over the outer parts 
of thighs and about the region of the great trochanters, but 
they are seen also on the shoulders, upper arms, abdomen, 
elbows, and sides of knees. They do not itch in the least. 
The skin upon which the lichen spots occur is pale or but 
very slightly congested. The spots themselves are scarcely 
reddened. They make the skin rough and produce " the 
nutmeg-grater condition," though on a very minor scale. 

I prescribed for Master W as usual, giving him tonics 

and using externally a weak ammonio-chloride ointment. 
The spots remained just as they were for several months, 
or rather increased in number. We tried various other 
ointments, and used cod-liver oil both externally and by the 
mouth. Nothing did any definite good, and as the boy re- 
mained in good general health, his mother at length got tired 
and desisted from treatment. I saw no more of him until, 
two years later, he was brought to me with his brother as 
the latter had enlarged glands. I now found that every trace 
of the eruption had disappeared. I begged his mother to 
tell me honestly and without any attempt at compliment, 
whether she thought that anything prescribed either by 
myself or any one else had helped the cure. She replied 
that she did not think that anything had exercised any 
influence. The eruption had, after lasting nearly a year, 
gradually faded away of itself. Its disappearance had, how- 
ever, been especially rapid during a month that the boy was 
at the seaside. 



244 SCBOFULOSOBUM AND TUBERCULOUS AFFECTIONS. 

As regards duration the eruption was, I believe, in this 
instance exceptionally prolonged. All authorities agree that 
it is usually quickly cured, some attributing its disappearance 
to one remedy and some to another. That the eruption, 
slight as it is, is yet really tuberculous can scarcely be 
•doubted. Nor can there be any reasonable hesitation in 
believing that it is, in the early stages, contagious. A parent 
patch originates others on the surface of the patient's skin, 
in connection, in all probability, with the transference from 
place to place of germ-material. The outbreak is always 
sudden and the spreading rapid. 

In these features it much resembles what I have 
repeatedly insisted on as the first stage of lupus vulgaris 
when it occmrs in multiple patches. In the rare examples 
of the latter, in which the multiplicity is great, there are in 
fact often many lichenoid pustules. Nor is it unknown in 
these cases for many of the patches developed in the outset 
to disappear spontaneously, leaving only a few, as persisting 
lupus, to spread at their borders, and last, unless cured by 
treatment, the rest of the patient's life. The outbreak 
period, that of contagion and great multiplicity, is only a 
short one. In these features lichen scrofulosorum and lupus 
vulgaris have a parallel course. The same is perhaps true 
of all forms of tuberculosis. Those which occur in glands 
and those which affect bones, and those possibly of internal 
organs as well, have all an early stage of virulence and 
naanifold development, then lapse into quietude, cease to be 
infectious, and undergo cur^ so far as local cure is possible. 
The tubercle bacillus in symbiosis with living tissue has not 
an unrestricted period of activity, but as a rule runs riot 
only for a limited time. It must be admitted, however, 
that in some of these forms, notably in lupus, local growths 
remain permanently which are persistently locally con- 
tagious. In this lupus multiplex and lichen scrofulosorum 
differ. 

It must, after all, be freely admitted that lichen scrofulo- 
sorum is by no means a well-defined malady. It is probable 
that it is present in a great number of children in whom it is 
never diagnosed, and that it exists in conjunction with a great 



LICHEN SCEOFULOSOBUM. 245 

variety of other scrofulous manifestations. That it is almost 
solely a disease of childhood seems clear. Any one, however, 
who has been accustomed to inspect the skins of naked 
children frequently must have often recognised, when not 
looking for them, groups of little lichen papules in no respect 
distinguishable from those of the most definite examples of 
the malady in question. We have recently, at our Demon- 
strations, had two remarkable illustrations. In one of these 
the patches were found in association with lupus, and in the 
other in conjunction with others which took the form of 
lichen planus. In this latter we have been obliged to hold 
the diagnosis still in doubt. Whilst some groups of spots 
retain all the characters of L. scrofulosorum, others have 
coalesced and acquired the polished surfaces of L. planus. 



ILLUSTKATIONS OF THE TEKTIAEY STAGE 

OF SYPHILIS. 

The clue to the right comprehension of the sequelsB or 
tertiary symptoms depends upon recognition of the fact that 
during the secondary or humoral stage every tissue in the 
body comes under the influence of the poison. The evidences 
of this have already been discussed. We have next to accept 
as a probable law that something is left behind in the tissues, 
or that their mode of vitality is permanently influenced, so 
that they are liable ever afterwards to develope inflammatory 
or degenerative processes of a peculiar t3rpe. The tissues 
are left, so to speak, with a specific vulnerability, and 
may, imder the varying influences of the after-life, take on 
various forms of morbid action. No limits as to time can 
be assigned to the occurrence of these manifestations. 
They may begin almost before those belonging to the 
secondary stage have ceased, or they may be deferred for 
many years. 

Severe Bone-pains in the Tertiary Stages of Syphilis pre- 
ceding^ the development of Nodes — Long contimcance of 
specifics — Ataxy (?) — Aix treatment twice. 

In the following case mercury was begun very early, and 
secondary symptoms were almost wholly prevented. The 
patient, however, had a prejudice to the drug, and did not 
take it regularly. Specifics were, notwithstanding, never 
wholly left oflf. He became, within two or three years of the 
chancre, liable to pain in the bones and to severe pain in the 
limbs. His own expression was that he had ** lived on mercury 
and iodides," and that he could never for long keep clear of 



ON TERTIAEY SYPHILIS. 



247 



the pains unless taking one or the other. In the tenth year 
of the disease the pains were so severe that he went to Aix. 
He was very liberally rubbed. In the following year he 

went there again, and now saw Dr. B . His symptoms 

were so entirely subjective that Dr. B , who had not 

treated him on the first occasion, doubted whether he had 
ever had syphilis, and only reluctantly allowed him to be 
rubbed again. After this he continued internal treatment. 
When he came to me three years later he had a large 
osseous node on one tibia and some small ones on the skull. 
I thought that he had suffered ataxic pains as well as those 
of periostitis. 

He appeared to have suffered severely from bone-pains 
before he had nodes, and it was difficult to distinguish them 
from tabetic pains. He described them as '' toothache 
pains," and said that they often kept him awake at night. 
They had occurred in both arms and legs. His pupils were 
small and sluggish, but they certainly did act. He had fair 
knee jump. 



YEAR. 


AGE. 
86 


1886 


1887 


37 


1888 


88 


1889 


39 


1890 


40 


1891 


41 


1892 


42 


1893 


43 


1B94 


44 


1895 


45 


1896 


46 


1897 


47 


1898 


48 



DETAILS. 



Syphilis. Mercury very early. Eruption, &c., very slight. 
*• I was erratic, and had a strong prejudice to mercury." 



\ 



) Pain in skull, &c. " Living on mercury and iodides." 



Was at Aix (for tabetic (?) pains). "Was overdosed by 
inunction." 

Was at Aix again under Dr. B , and again rubbed. 



March : comes to me. Large node on tibia, and liable to them 
on head. 



248 ILLUSTBATIONS OF THE TERTIAKY STAGE OF SYPHILIS. 

Good health for thirty years after mild Syphilis — Front 
thirty-first to thirty-sixth year a succession of Tertiary 
phenomena — Gummata of Testes — Phagedcenic Ulcer of 
Leg — Lupus on Neck. 

The following case is a remarkable example of tertiary 
phenomena, in different parts, developed after a very long 
period of good health. They were amenable to treatment, 
but continued to recur. The patient was sent to me by the 
late Dr. Eamskill in 1895. He was much out of health, and 
had an enormous superficial ulcer, with phagedaBnic edges, in 
his right leg. It involved the whole of the outer side of the 
limb almost from knee to ankle. I prescribed iodoform 
externally and the three iodides internally, and sent him 
home to keep his bed. It is to be noted that this ulceration 
was not that of a gumma breaking down, but was quite 
superficial and distinctly phagedsenic. It had advanced 
rapidly during six months, but there had been a chronic 
lupoid patch present for many years previously. 

After a single consultation, I saw nothing more of him for 
four years. In 1898 he again consulted me on accoimt of 
swelling of his remaining testicle. He reminded me of his 
leg, and showed a thin, supple, perfectly sound scar, one of 
the largest I have ever seen. He told me that he had con- 
tinued the remedies I had prescribed, and remained in bed 
under the care of his family medical man for about two 
months. At the end of that time the healing was complete. 
No doubt the iodoform was the chief agent in the cure. 
During this treatment the testis diminished much in size, 
but it was never restored to a normal condition. 

The condition of the remaining testis at the present date 
(June, 1898) is very peculiar. It is very large and very hard, 
but presents an irregular lumpy surface and nodulated form 
quite different from the smooth roundness which usually 
denotes gummatous infiltration. Nor has it shown the least 
tendency to soften. The skin is not adherent to it. Above 
the gland is a large encysted hydrocele. The testis itseK is 
as large as a child's fist, and the two together make up a 
very inconvenient bulk. Excepting its size, it does not 
cause him much trouble. I have suggested its removal, but 



TERTIAEY SYPHILIS. 



249 



he is not inclined to submit to another operation. It appears 
to be beyond hope of cure by specifics. He has taken them 
on and oflf for several years. 

The subjoined schedule will afford a clear view of the case. 



YEAR. 



AGE. 



DETAILS. 



1860 


21 


1861 


22 


1862 


23 


1863 


24 


1864 


25 


1865 


26 


1866 


27 


1867 


28 


1868 


29 


1869 


30 


1870 


31 


1871 


32 


1872 


33 


1873 


34 


1874 


35 


1875 


36 


1876 


37 


1877 


38 


1878 


39 


1879 


40 


1880 


41 


1881 


42 


1882 


43 


1883 


44 


1884 


46 


1885 


46 


1886 


47 


1887 


48 


1888 


49 


1889 


60 


1890 


61 


1891 


62 


1892 


63 


1893 


64 


1894 


66 


1896 


66 


1896 


57 


1897 


68 


1898 


59 



Had a chancre and open bubo. Took mercury. 

Does not remember any secondary symptoms. Iodides. 



fHis wife remained well, and was living in 1898. 
They had only two children, both of whom re- 
tained good health, and in 1898 were strong men. 



/ In good health, and wholly free from symptoms. 



Lupoid ulcer on leg and sarcocele of left testis. 

The testis had suppurated. 

Left testis excised on account of gumma. 

April : came to me for ulcer on leg. 

Phagedsenic ulcers. Cured by iodides, idoform, and rest. 

Well, but with persisting enlargement of testis. 

Consulted me second time. Sarcocele. 



Additional Memorcmda. 

The surgeon who excised the testis stated at the time that he did the 
operation in order to rid the patient of a trouble, and not because it was 
absolutely accessary. There was no suspicion of malignancy. 

During the last year (1897-8) he has developed a patch of syphilitic lupus 
on the side of his neck. A sister of his died of lung disease. 

He has always gained in health on the iodides, and got stouter. 

In 1898 he looked in much better health than he did in 1895. 

The ulcer on the leg had been present in a lupoid condition several years 
before I saw him in 1896, but it had only been rapidly spreading for a few 
months. Its freedom from relapse when once entirely healed was most 
instructive. 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF HEMIPLEGIA IN SYPHILIS. 

(Continued from Vol. VL, p. 349.) 

A distinguished neulogical friend aaid colleague is never 
tired of telling me that there is no such thing as " Syphilitic 
Hemiplegia." I sometimes let slip that expression in our 
consultations, and he always corrects me by the assurance 
that hemiplegia from syphilis is the same as hemiplegia 
from other causes. I accept his correction, but am never 
quite convinced that the expression is inappropriate. It is 
quite true that there is no form of hemiplegia which is 
directly due to syphilis and directly curable by specific 
treatment. Intervening pathological changes are necessary, 
and some of these are not peculiar to syphilis. It would, it 
may be admitted at once, be more correct to speak of " the 
forms of hemiplegia which occur in the subjects of syphilis," 
but at the same time it would be more roundabout. The 
question as a practical one is this : Are there any cases of 
hemiplegia the symptoms of which, taken alone, would 
suggest the diagnosis of S3rphilis, and for which a prompt 
resort to specific treatment is urgently demanded ? To this 
question I incline to reply with a strong affirmative. In a 
majority of the cases in which hemiplegia occurs in direct 
association with syphilis there are peculiarities in the mode 
of onset which, if carefully studied, give valuable aid to 
diagnosis. The prognosis of such cases differs in important 
features from that of other forms, and the welfare of the 
patient depends to a large extent upon the vigour of the 
treatment. 

The explanation of the peculiarities of the syphilitic forms 
as regards symptoms is to be found in the peculiarity of the 
pathological changes. If we leave aside for the present 
all traumatic cases and all cases of tumour, and confine our 



HEMIPLEGIA IN SYPHILIS. 251 

attention to cases in which a sudden " stroke " occurs, we 
may, I suppose, say that the ordinary causes of non-syphihtic 
hemiplegia are three — ^haemorrhage, embolism, and throm- 
bosis. Now of these three, the last is the only one which 
occurs to syphilitics. They are not, with rare exceptions, 
liable to rupture of blood vessels, nor is there in them any 
source of supply of embolic plugs. Thrombosis they are 
very liable to, and it is often, indeed usually, of a peculiar kind. 
The disease of the vessels which induces it is usually exter- 
nal, and it has often been present for some time before it 
induces anything approaching to complete stoppage of the 
blood-stream. This involves the consequence that in many 
cases premonitory symptoms precede the final attack. It 
is these premonitory symptoms which so frequently stamp 
with peculiarity the cases referred to. In all other forms of 
hemiplegia premonitory symptoms are, I believe, exceptional 
and vague ; in sjrphilis they are the rule, and are often more 
or less pecuHar in character. In any given case in which it 
is wished from a patient's history to decide whether a bygone 
attack of hemiplegia was really syphilitic or not, careful 
attention should be given to the narrative of the advent and 
development of the symptoms. If there have been one or 
more attacks of numbness and tingling in the limbs which 
were finally paralysed, and if these conditions passed off for 
a time and recurred possibly more than once, it may be 
inferred that the arterial obstruction was from without, and 
that for a time it did not wholly stop the blood-stream. 
This is the condition which exists in a large majority of 
examples of sjrphiUtic peri-arteritis. Small gummata are 
present in the arterial sheath which gradually press upon 
the vessel, and finally may induce coagulation of its contents, 
or, by increasing pressure, complete occlusion of its canal. 
When this occlusion from either cause is complete, then 
comes the paralysis ; but before the advent of the latter 
there have usually been, as just stated, certain half-results 
which »nk ^ prlonitory .ympton.,. 

Another feature which characterises many cases of 
syphilitic paralysis, consequent as it almost always is on 
arterial obstruction, is its complicated type. This results 



252 ILLUSTBATIONS OF HEMIPLEGIA IN SYPHILIS. 

from the fact that several arteries at different parts of the 
same hemisphere, or it may be on the opposite sides, are 
affected at the same time. When syphilitic arterial disease 
occurs in the early stages of sjrphilis it is almost always 
multiple, and it is therefore in these early stages that 
multiple and mixed forms of paralysis are more usually 
met with. In the tertiary stages one vessel is usually 
affected alone, and the case will then approximate in this 
respect more closely to the non-specific forms. 

At page 319 I have described a case which was perhaps 
one of the first in which hemiplegia from syphilis came 
under my notice. It was in 1861. The symptoms did not 
present any marked peculiarity, and had I not known before- 
hand that the patient was liable to gummata I might not 
have suspected the real cause. 

Following the above another (page 320) was recorded, 
which illustrated prognosis, the patient being in good 
health twenty years after his attack, although still to a 
large extent hemiplegic. This case was of great interest, 
because more than a year before his hemiplegia the man 
had gone through a brain illness (with coma), from which he 
was not expected to recover. This illness was within a year 
of his syphilis, and probably denoted extensive disease of the 
arteries at the base of the brain. The hemiplegia was pro- 
bably due to a return of gummatous disease at one focus, 
and the occlusion of one large vessel. 

At page 321 of the same volume is mentioned the case of 
a man who in the fifth year of syphilis had facial paralysis 
occur in association with defective articulation and inability 
to write. No warning symptoms had occurred. 

Case IV., given at page 322, is one in which left hemi- 
plegia happened to a man who had suffered from syphilis 
thirty years before. It was by no -means certain that the 
paralysis was caused by thrombosis, or that it had any 
connection with the preceding sjrphilis. As, however, the 
patient had had other tertiary symptoms, it was very likely 



HEMIPLEGIA IN SYPHILIS. 253 

that he had local arterial disease at the base of the brain. 
The attack had been preceded by temporary weakness in 
the affected arm, and some discomfort in the head. He was 
the subject, fom: years after the hemiplegia, of very painful 
spasms in the affected limbs, which were brought on by 
sleep. 

In Vol. VI., at page 340, I have written some general 
remarks on hemiplegia in syphilitics, and have recorded two 
series of case-headings. One series comprises seven cases 
in which the hemiplegia occurred within two years of the 
primary disease. A second series consisted of twenty-five 
cases in which the interval varied from two to sixteen 
years. 

(To he continued,) 



THE VASCULAE SYSTEM. 

Vascular Tumours in the Fingers, 

I HAVE long been acquainted with the occurrence of little iso- 
lated vascular tumours in the ends of the fingers and the palm 
of the hand. These little growths are seldom much bigger 
than a large pin's head, but they are very prone to bleed. 
The epidermis over them is often broken away so as to leave 
a little pit. Probably they result from some slight injury, 
or they may be formed in congenital nsBvi which have never 
been noticed. Minute naevi in the palms are not very 
uncommon. I had two such myself placed with the most 
precise symmetry in the lower part of the palm. They 
were not bigger than pins' heads, and could be easily 
emptied by pressure. When I closed my palms the one 
exactly fitted upon the other. They never bled. At about 
the age of forty I one day noticed that one of my little naevi 
had disappeared, and a few months later its fellow had 
vanished also. 

I have had to treat one of the little bleeding growths 
above described on the forefinger of one of my daughters. 

My son Roger showed me in the finger of one of his 
patients at Haslemere an unusual example of this vascular 
disease. The patient was a woman of about 50, accustomed 
to use her hands in household work, but who was not aware 
that she had ever pricked or otherwise injured her finger. 
It was, she thought, at least nine years since she first drew 
the attention of her husband to the fact that there were 
some little holes in one of her fingers. They gave her no 
trouble until, three years later, they became liable to bleed. 
Recently the spots had increased in number and the patch 
in size, and on many occasions rather troublesome bleeding 
had occurred. 



VASCULAR TUMOURS IN FINGERS. 255 

The above statements may seem to suggest a rather for- 
midable condition, but really when I examined the fingers 
on November 10, 1894, there was nothing more than a little 
plum-coloured patch the size of a threepenny-bit in the pulp 
of her right forefinger, and wholly free from thickening. It 
was absolutely painless, and I was allowed to squeeze it, very 
firmly, over and over again. The epidermis over it no longer 
showed the ridges characteristic of the finger pulp, and was 
a little rough as if pricked by a pin. The patch was made 
up of an aggregation of little pin-head-sized spots of deep 
tint. It was clear that these spots were in a state of throm- 
bosis, for the blood in them could not be discharged by the 
firmest pressure. By pressure the skin could be made white 
excepting these spots, which, thus isolated, became more 
conspicuous. On removal of pressure the intervening tissues 
of the patch filled quickly with venous blood and restored 
the plum-colour to the whole of it, merging in general con- 
gestion the separate spots. I counted at least twenty-five 
of the spots but they were placed close together and occu- 
pied only a very small space. There was no tendency to 
bleed when I examined the finger, and my experiments in 
pressure did not cause any ecchymosis. I was told that 
sometimes the finger-end would swell and ache, especially 
after much washing. 

I could feel no doubt that the little spots described were 
vascular and not pigmentary, and that the whole should be 
regarded as a form of acquired nsBvus. It appeared to be 
placed in the substance of the true skin, and had not impro- 
bably had its origin in some slight injury. If the patient's 
account copld be trusted, there was something allied to an 
infective process going on, for the patch was increasing in 
size at its periphery. It had been cauterised with nitric acid 
before I saw it, but no scar was perceptible and the original 
condition had recurred. 

The subsequent treatment of this case proved of much 
interest. Nitric acid was applied several times, and yet the 
naevus returned. It was not until it was used so freely that 
a small portion of the terminal phalanx exfoliated that the 
disease was finally cured. 



256 THE VASCULAB SYSTEM. 

I have witnessed this difficulty of cure and proneness to 
redevelopment in several other cases. It is often needful 
to apply nitric acid several times, but they are always cured 
eventually. 

Spontaneous obliteration of a large Ncevus after an attack 

of Acute Inflammatory Swelling. 

At page 131 of the Sixth Eeport of the Vaccination 
Commission a case is described by Dr. Skinner, in which 
a congenital nsevus inflamed and assumed the conditions 
of a large tumour. This growth occurred after vaccination, 
at the age of six weeks, and was attributed to it. The 
tumour was diagnosed as sarcoma, but in the course of 
a year it underwent atrophy, and entirely disappeared. 
Apparently the tumour had attained its largest growth at 
the age of eight months, when it measured 4 J by 6 inches, 
and was estimated to have a thickness of two and a half. 

The case is an interesting example of what is by no 
means unknown, the inflammatory enlargement of a subcu- 
taneous naevoid structure, leading to spontaneous cure. I 
have recorded several such, and have suggested that these 
attacks of inflammation are ordinary events in the life 
history of these tumours. 



NOTES ON CASES ILLUSTEATING 

SYMPTOMS. 

{Continued from page 138.) 

No. XXXVI. — On Teethache as distinct frorrir 

'' Tootli-acher 

In common toothache the pain is in the fang of the toothy 
and soon involves the jaw itself. More commonly one 
tooth fang only is affected, and in the first instance this is- 
almost invariably the case. The pain occurs usually in 
" lunges," although it is more or less present between times^ 
It is sometimes unbearably severe. All these conditions are 
reversed in the affection which I would like, for the sake of 
distinction, to call "teethache." In this all the teeth in 
both jaws, or at any rate all the front ones, are affected 
together. The exposed parts of the teeth, and not the 
fangs, are the seat of the pain. The jaw is not at any stage 
involved. The pain is continuous for hours together, and 
although it may be attended by a sense of pricking, it is 
never unbearable, and is never attended by lunges. It is as 
if ice had been kept in the mouth, or the mouth had been 
opened in a biting wind. I have described this symptom at 
page 51 of Vol. V., under the heading " A Peculiar Form of 
Generalised Ache in the Teeth in association with defective 
tone." I recur to the subject now in order to add a few 
facts, and possibly to modify a little what was then said. I 
feel less certain as to its being always indicative of low tone, 
and am also less inclined to associate it with such influences 
as set the teeth on edge. In a case recently under observa- 
tion it has persisted during spring weather and east winds 
for ten days in spite of champagne and port and sea-air. It 
has been at times sufficiently annoying to prevent applica- 

VOL. IX. 17 



258 NOTES ON CASES ILLUSTBATING SYMPTOMS. 

tion to any subject, but has never prevented sleep. It is, I 
think, always relieved by a full meal with wine, and almost 
always made worse by tea. It is still a doubtful point 
whether it is in connection with gout and should be treated 
with abstinence and alkalis, or whether quinine and v^ne 
should be trusted to. I have no evidence in support of the 
hypothesis of gout, and incline to the latter creed. 

No. XXXVII. — Clear complexions in connection 

with phthisical tendencies. 

The three Misses Gunning, so renowned for their beauty 
and their successes in marriage, all died of consumption. 

Horace Walpole, in a letter dated August 1, 1760, writes : 
** My Lady Coventry is still alive, sometimes at the point of 
death, sometimes recovering. They fixed the spring ; now 
the autumn is to be critical to her." This latter prediction 
was realised. On October 5th Walpole wrote: ** The 
charming Countess is dead at last; and as if the whole 
history of both sisters was to be extraordinary, the Duchess 
of Hamilton (Elizabeth Gunning) is in consumption too, 
and going abroad directly. Perhaps you may see the 
remains of these prodigies ; you will see but little remains. 
Her features were never so beautiful as Lady Coventry's, 
and she has long been changed, though not yet, I think, 
above six-and-twenty. The other was but twenty-seven." 

The popular belief that clear complexions, bright eyes, and 
silken lashes imply delicacy in the direction of tuberculosis 
need not in the least conflict with modern knowledge as to 
the bacillus. They reveal the tissue-peculiarities which 
favour its growth. 

No. XXXVIII. — Lichen Planus -affecting the Palms. 

I have just had a good opportunity for observing lichen 
planus affecting the palms of the hands. The patient, a 
man otherwise in robust health, had been for two months 
the subject of lichen planus in a most characteristic form. 
It was very irritable, and was still not subdued by treatment 



DOUBLE MOBBUS COX^ SENILIS. 259 

in any degree, when one morning he drew my attention to 
the palms of his hands. In the middle of each was a little 
group of spots somewhat larger than pins' heads, and 
presenting in their centres a distinct excavation. There 
were perhaps twenty or thirty of these spots in an area as 
large as a halfpenny. They were quite dry and made the 
surface rough. They were very much like what I have 
occasionally seen on other regions in other cases of lichen 
planus. I have described them in an unusual case brought 
by Dr. Ferrace, and of which we have preserved a drawing 
at the museum. 

No. XXXIX. — Double Morbus Coxce Senilis. 

Amongst the patients which Mr. Hopkins, the resident 
medical officer at the Sick Asylum, offered me for a clinical 
lecture to post-graduates on May 11th was a most interest- 
ing example of double disease of the hip joints. It was 
indeed almost the counterpart of the one which I recorded 
at p. 347 of Vol. VIII. of Archives. The patient, an old man 
of 66, has both his hips quite stiff in the straight position. 
He walks with crutches, and can only shuffle along with 
very short steps. "When lying in bed on his back the limbs 
are quite straight, but both feet are everted, and the patellae 
look outwards. This position cannot be rectified. Although 
by effort the great toes can be made to touch each other, it 
is solely by movement of the feet at the ankles. If one 
limb is lifted into the air it lifts the pelvis and the opposite 
thigh also. Very little movement in any direction can be 
elicited at either hip. On examining the groins it is found 
that large lips of bone have been developed quite symmetri- 
cally from the upper borders of the acetabula. These crests 
project upwards, and at first suggested the diagnosis of 
exostoses. The femoral artery is on both sides lifted up, 
and being a large thick vessel the suspicion of aneurism 
occurred. The pulsations of the vessels can not only be 
felt on the slightest touch, but can even be seen. The 
thighs cannot be abducted, and it would be quite impossible 
for the man to straddle a horse. (It may be remembered 



260 NOTES ON CASES ILLUSTRATING SYMPTOMS. 

that difficulty in doing this was the first symptom in Colonel 

*s case.) The patient is a tall, well-made man, and 

although now a workhouse inmate, is of good family, and 
has long almond nails with smooth surfaces. His father 
and grandfather suffered from gout. He himself has had 
rheumatism, and on two occasions acute gout, once in one 
elbow, and once in one wrist. Excepting one finger joint, 
no joints other than the two hips are crippled. The disease 
in the latter has been in gradual process of development for 
the last ten years, and has not been attended by any severe 
pain. 



ON WAETS, COENS, AND VAEIOUS OTHEE FOEMS 
OF GENEEAL OE LOCAL PAPILLOMATOSIS. 

The papillae of the skin and mucous membranes are prone 
to overgrowth under a variety of causative influences 
and may assume very different conditions. Warts, corns, 
cutaneous horns, framboesoid vegetations, condylomata, etc., 
offer us examples of the various types assumed. The 
names Framboesia, yaws, acanthosis nigricans, pemphigus 
vegetans, ichthyosis, papilloma senilis, tuberculosis, papil- 
lomatosis, and some others, have been given to various 
special forms of disease attended by proneness to hyper- 
trophy of these structures. In attempting a general review 
of the facts at our disposal in reference to them, it may be 
well to conunence with the most simple forms, premising 
that the term papillomatosis, although not unobjectionable, 
is probably the best at our service by which to designate the 
process in general. 

Thus the word *' papillomatosis '* may be allowed to desig- 
nate the state of body in which, from any cause, there exists 
a tendency to the overgrowth of papillae, and the consequent 
production of warts or any form of papilloma. We have 
papillomatosis occurring as part of youthful or of senile 
proclivities in connection with some definite failure in 
health, as in acanthosis or pemphigus vegetans, or conse- 
quent upon the introduction of a specific poison into the 
blood as in syphilis and yaws. Whatever may be its cause, 
it probably reveals, as a fundamental condition, a certain 
degree of weakness of vital control in the individual 
organism. The endovnnents of each individual animal 
ought to be of such power, that every tissue and every 
special structure or organ in the body shall grow no other- 
wise than for the general good, and as parts of a whole the 



262 WARTS AND OTHER FORMS OF PAPILLOMATOSIS. 

perfection of which is the final aim of all. If any tissues or 
structures take on, as it were, independent growth, and 
develope to a size which is not helpful, but injurious to the 
whole, we may recognise in the fact a tendency to reversion 
to vegetative type. It is fair to assume that under such 
circumstance the life-power of the individual must be 
feebler than in one in whom all growth is subordinated to 
the general good. The government, so to speak, is weak. 
In common warts we have perhaps the simplest instance 
of this defective control, which attains its highest in the 
acute forms of malignant new growths. That the two, 
although apparently so different, are really allied in a 
common basis of somatic peculiarity there are abundant 
facts to prove. There are plenty of connecting links. In 
all, it may be repeated, the tissues lapse into a mode of 
growth more nearly allied to that common in vegetables. 
What has been said as to tissue proclivity and individual 
peculiarity by no means excludes the recognition of local 
exciting causes. 

On the Belation of Corns to Warts, 

One of the best illustrations which can be ofifered of what 
has just been said as to local influences is afforded in the 
phenomena of corns. Although we distinguish a com from 
a wart, by saying that in the one the process is mainly a 
keratosis or thickening of the epidermic layers, yet it is 
certain that the papillae are at the same time involved. 
Their hypertrophy is concealed under the thickened epi- 
dermis, but it is there. The painfulness of a corn, the 
freedom with which it may bleed when cut, and, finally, 
the appearances presented on a deep section prove this. In 
certain positions also, where comparatively exempt from 
pressure, the papillary basis of a com is well shown. Thus 
they are often seen under nails, sometimes in association 
with warts on the hands and sometimes with corns on 
the feet. 

The appended woodcuts exhibit this association. The 
patient's soles showed large corns, and all his toe-nails were 
lifted up by the formation of horny and papillary growths 



UNDSDAL DEVELOPMENT OF CORNS. 263 

under them. The patient was a young man who consulted 
me in August of 1897, and who at that date attended at 



one of my Demonstrations in order to show hia feet. I 
could not persuade him to stay and let Mr. Burgess make 



264 WABTS AND OTHER FORMS OF PAPILLOMATOSIS. 

a portrait, and the woodcuts are copied from very imperfect 
sketches which a friend of the patient made in the country. 
They must not be regarded as showing more than just the 
position and size of the corns. 

The following are the notes which I wrote out at the 
time : — 

Mr. G. E , aged 21, shows the largest development of 

corns on the feet which I have ever seen. It is coincident 
with chronic inflammation of the nail-beds of his toes and 
the formation of subungual corns and accumulations of epi- 
dermis. He is engaged in farm work, but if he takes a tool 
or cricket-bat in his hand his hands at once blister. After 
the blisters hard callosities follow. His palms, however, do 
not suffer nearly so severely as his feet, no doubt because 
not exposed to such constant pressure. 

He has six sisters, none of whom suffer materially from 
corns. He has himself suffered as long as he can remember. 
He has had much treatment. He attended a London 
specialist for three months, and was for six weeks kept in 
bed five or six years ago. He says that paring the corns 
does them no permanent good, for they thicken again very 
quickly. His father suffers from gout badly. 

He reports that he has never had a day's illness, his feet 
being his only trouble. His feet sweat "profusely " until he 
could wring his socks. His feet often feel hot and burning. 

The callosities involve the heels, curving round their 
borders ; they occur also under the tread of the toes as three 
large separate corns as big as halfpence and a quarter of an 
inch thick, and almost touching each other. On the toes 
they affect the very tips and under-surface of the pulps, 
being evidently located by his boots. The nails are thick, 
fibrous, and lifted up by accumulations of epidermis under 
them. One of them is raised at right angles. The great 
toe has a large com under its nail, but none on its tip. His 
finger-nails are not conspicuously affected, but there is a 
slightly excessive accumulation of epidermis under their free 
edges. He was liable to acne when a boy, and still is so to 
a slight extent. 

The skin on other parts of the feet is soft and supple 



PAPILLOMATOSIS IN BELATION TO CANCER. 265 

and perfectly healthy, there being nowhere the slightest 
tendency to ichthyosis. His feet are always worse in 
summer. 

PapHlomatous growths around the Anus in an elderly man, 

with family history of Cancer. 

The association of tendency to common warts with here- 
ditary proneness to cancer was well illustrated in the case 

of Colonel F . This gentleman had lost his mother after 

colotomy for epithelial cancer of the bowels. In youth he 
had been much annoyed by warts on his fingers. At the 
age of 68 he came to me on account of a large growth of 
warts about his perineum and anus. Many of them were 
low and flattened, with a great tendency to coalesce into 
patches. None had as yet ulcerated, but some showed very 
critical conditions. They advanced just within the orifice 
of the anus. He had no doubt subjected them to much 
rubbing and scratching. Under the influence of an 
anaesthetic I used Pacquelin's cautery very freely, and with 
the result of getting rid of most of the warts, though I am 
not certain that the cure was complete. 

A case of Senile Papillomatosis — Peculiar arrangement and 
form of the patches — History of Cancer in the patient's 
. mother, 

Mrs. L , aged 58, a stout woman, was sent to me from 

Brighton by her surgeon, Mr. W. Taylor. She had on chest 
and upper part of abdomen some brown spots and streaks 
which had attracted much interest. They were peculiar in 
form and arrangement, nearly all being long ovals or comet- 
shaped, and sloping downwards and forwards towards the 
middle line. Some were round spots. All were attended 
by some slight thickening, and were somewhat roughened 
on the surface. They differed only from the ordinary senile 
papilloma, or senile wart, in their form, and in the slight 
amount of papillary development. They were very con- 
spicuous. Mrs. L had very few on her sides and 

shoulders, but on examining her neck I found a great number 
of minute pedunculated warts. These were most of them 



266 WARTS AND OTHER FORMS OF PAPILLOMATOSIS. 

not bigger than large pins' heads, and could easily have 
been snipped oflf. 

On inquiring for the history of cancer in the family — 
which is, I believe, almost always present in these cases 
of aggravated senile papillomatosis— I was told that the 
patient's mother had died in old age with a large open 
cancer on the side of her abdomen. 

As regards the explanation of the peculiar arrangement 
and form of the patches in this case, I was inclined to 
attribute it to the patient having scratched herself by thrust- 
ing her hands downwards into her dress. She said that the 
skin of the parts had itched very much, and that when in a 
warm room she had often been obliged to leave her company 
in order to undo her dress and rub herself. It is only fair 
to say that she denied having scratched. 

Senile Papillomatosis — Abundant development of Warts on 
neck and trunk — Cancer in patient's mother. 

Another case, very similar to the above, came under my 

notice a few weeks later. Mrs. W , a lady of just fifty, 

undressed in order to show me what she called eczema. 
I found that her abdomen, back, and sides of chest were 
covered with low warts, which had become much discoloured. 
She said that she had noticed their presence for two years 
or more. As in the preceding case, her mother had died of 
cancer. The warts had been somewhat irritable, and more 
so of late, and she had scratched and rubbed the skin until 
it was almost eczematous in parts. On her neck and 

shoulders Mrs. W had many small pedunculated and 

fimbriated warts, quite different in these respects from those 
on the parts covered by her clothes. 



NOTES ON BEES AND ON SEX. 

In connection with recent discussion as to the influence of 
diet on sex and growth, the following memoranda respecting 
bees may not be without their interest for some of my 
readers. 

There are no "neuters" in the beehive. The workers 
are all females, in whom the sex-organs are present but 
undeveloped. 

The development of the sex-organs depends upon the food 
supplied to the young bee when in the larval stage. 

A certain stimulating food "jelly ** is given by the bees to 
any larva which it is wished should grow into a developed 
female, in other words a ** queen bee.*' 

Under the influence of this food the larva grows more 
quickly, both as regards size and development, than one fed 
from the common food, and, as a most special feature, its 
ovaries grow and become capable of forming eggs without 
fecundation. 

The queen bee attains her full growth in a shorter time 
than a worker does. 

Neither the developed females nor the males (drones) ever 
concern themselves about work. 

The males are called drones on account of their having 
no instinct for self-preservation by work. Unless fed by 
the workers they die. 

The drones, or males, always form a very small pro- 
portion of the inhabitants of a hive, and at some seasons 
of the year they are wholly absent, having been killed off by 
the workers. 

The queen bee can at will, if she has been once impreg- 
nated, produce eggs which will hatch out either as workers 
or drones. 



268 NOTES ON BEES AND ON SEX. 

If a queen bee have not been impregnated, she can pro- 
duce fertile eggs, but they will all hatch out males.* 

Sexual impregnation is absolutely necessary to the pro- 
duction of females. 

A single impregnation serves a queen for the rest of her 
hfe. A store of semen is preserved in her, and it would 
appear that she can at will allow it to impregnate the eggs 
or not. 

Thus it might be said that a single impregnation makes 
the queen hermaphrodite; she can in her own body dis- 
charge the functions of both sexes. 

Although in this sense hermaphrodite, an impregnated 
queen bee retains, however, her parthenogenetic endowment, 
and can, as before, produce eggs which are fertile, but which 
have received no influence from the semen. 

Thus if a queen wishes to produce drones, she deposits 
unimpregnated eggs ; and if workers are desired, eggs which 
have been impregnated. 

Copulation in bees never occurs in the hive, always in the 
air. The queen bee when fully grown takes what is termed 
her " nuptial flight," in which she is accompanied by males. 
A single impregnation suifices for her life. The store of 
semen may be demonstrated by dissection. 

If a queen bee, when fully grown, be unable from any 
cause to leave the hive, she will lay eggs, but only drones 
will be hatched. 

* This is a marvellous fact, and suggests strange considerations. It may be, 
after all, that there is some truth in the popular creed that males take chiefly 
from the mother and females from the father. We are sometimes consulted 
about very curious matters. The fungiform papillse of the tongue have brought 
me many fees, the projecting end of the metatarsal bone of the little toe a 
few, and more than once a young man has made application in the belief that 
the froenum preputialis requires to be divided before marriage. One of the 
most bootless consultations which I have ever had, however, was by a married 
man, whose wife had brought him five sons in succession, and who wished for 
a daughter. His friends had found out his weakness, and had made his life 
miserable by 'reminding him of the proverb, *' It takes a man to get a girl." 
I of course assured him that there was nothing in the proverb but an obvious 
truism, and ^hat he ought to make himself happy. With, however, such facts 
as the above before us, it is impossible to feel sure that prepotency on the part 
of one or other parent may not have some influence in determining the sex of 
ofispring. 



INFLUENCE OF FOOD ON SEBORRHCEA. 269 

Sometimes workers will deposit eggs, but in these 
instances the bee is to be regarded as a partially developed 
queen, and its larva has probably partaken of the " jelly." 
This may have happened from the circumstance of the cell 
of the queen-larva having been close to that of a worker. 

The eggs deposited by workers produce only drones. 
Such workers, although fertile, are yet insusceptible of 
impregnation. 

Beeswax a result of Seborrhcea — Its production caused by 

modification of diet and exercise. 

Beeswax is not a substance collected by bees from flowers, 
but a secretion formed by their own bodies. It may indeed 
be regarded in the same light as the smegma of the prepuce 
or the " wax " of the ear. To form wax, bees eat honey very 
freely and then go to rest in clusters. The wax exudes on 
the sides of the abdomen, and is scraped away either by the 
bee itself or one of its companions. Unless the bee has fed 
to repletion on honey, it cannot secrete any wax. Several 
pounds of honey taken as food are said to be required for 
one pound of beeswax. 

These facts suggest that possibly diet may be of more 
importance in the treatment of seborrhcea, as a disease, than 
has been supposed. Those troubled with greasy skins, 
comedonous acne, wax in the ears, &c., ought perhaps to 
reduce their consumption of sugar, bacon, butter, fat of 
meat, and, above all, of honey. These several conditions, 
I believe, not unfrequently go together, and are indicative of 
general tendency to physiological seborrhcea. 



ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC 

GLANDS. 

{Contimied from page 51.) 

In now resuming the series of cases illustrating infective 
diseases of the lymphatic gland system, it is not necessary 
to say much in the way of comment. My prehminary 
remarks, and more especially the " Conversation " given 
in Vol. VIII., p. 174, have sufficiently explained the main 
lines of my argument. Since the time of Hodgkin, many 
able observers have contributed to our knowledge of the 
disease with which his name is associated. If I have been 
fortunate enough — which I can scarcely hope — to add any 
novel suggestion, it has been in the direction of the 
recognition of predisposing causes. I have endeavoured, 
so to speak, to look at these maladies from behind as well 
as from before. It is not very difficult if we concern our- 
selves only with fully developed cases — with those which 
have run their course and brought out all their peculiarities 
in full perfection — to classify them into different groups, and 
to believe that such terms as scrofulous disease, lymph- 
adenoma, and lympho-sarcoma may be applied definitely to 
them. The successful accomplishment of such a classifi- 
cation does not, however, go the length of proving that 
these maladies are really and ab initio distinct. My con- 
tention is that they are not so, but rather that they all 
of them take their origin in common inflammation, and 
acquire their peculiarities, as they proceed, from the inherited 
proclivities of the patient. The quality of infectiveness 
which enables them to spread more or less quickly to other 
parts of the lymphatic system is the all-important one which 
they have in common. It is not, however, a quality which 
conclusively denotes either tuberculosis or malignancy, 



FUTILITY OF MICROSCOPIC DIAGNOSIS. 271 

but which both these share with processes which it is 
impossible to name otherwise than those of chronic in- 
flammation. I cannot think that in contending for this 
view of the facts I am arguing for what is a merely verbal 
matter. If we admit that these several maladies may have a 
common origin, that they are excited by similar influences, 
and are in their early stages indistinguishable, we shall, 
I think, be on a sound basis, and shall be prepared for that 
which we shall see in practice. Although in many cases 
the course of the disease may be typical, we shall be pre- 
pared to find that in many others it is not so. We shall 
expect transition stages, mixed forms, and connecting links, 
and these we shall find. 

It will of course be suggested that by appeal to the 
microscope we may make conclusive decision as to the special 
class to which any case should be assigned. Without 
doubting in the least that it is possible to recognise by 
its aid a sarcomatous form of growth, and to distinguish 
it from a tubercular inflammation, I yet venture to assert 
that there are early stages of both in which it is impossible. 
The microscope comes to our aid just when the battle of 
diagnosis is won, and not sooner. Prone to deceive us in 
all cases, it is especially so when lymphatic glands are in 
question. On this point I speak from a good deal of 
experience. The most recent item of it may perhaps be 
here fittingly introduced since it concerns one of the cases 
in my present series. Case No. III. at page 1»51 will be ad- 
mitted by all to be a most typical example of Ijmaph- 
adenoma with its final accompaniment of development of 
nodules in the spleen. As such, the patient had twice been 
the subject of clinical lectures. I sent some of the glands 
and a portion of the spleen to the Eesearch Association, 
not because there was any sort of doubt as to their nature, 
but hoping to secure some good sections from which 
drawings might be made. The report returned was to 
the effect that the conditions were not those of lymph- 
adenoma, but more probably those of syphilis. Apart from 
the fact that the man had never had syphilis, there had not 
been the slightest resemblance to syphilis in the clinical 



272 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

history of the case. About the same time I sent to the 
same association — and I know of no higher authority — 
a portion of skin which I had excised under the con- 
viction that it was primary sarcoma, and received a detailed 
report to the effect that it did not show any evidences of 
sarcoma, but was probably a mole or naevus. "?et within 
six months of that report the patient developed melanotic 
sarcoma in the lymphatic glands. I mention these facts 
not in the least as wishing to reflect on the ability of the 
Clinical Besearch observers, but rather to show that in 
attempting to pronounce upon the nature of new growths 
in early stages, and of the results of chronic inflammatory 
hypertrophy, the microscope is put to a task which it is 
impossible for it to accomplish. It is needless to point 
out that had measures of treatment been in question in the 
cases which I have mentioned they might have gone 
lamentably wrong. 

If, however, it were possible — ^which I do not believe that 
it is — for the microscope to tell ,us in the early stages of 
gland enlargement what will be the course of the disease, it 
would still remain unavailable as a diagnostic resource. At 
that stage we cannot obtain the specimen for examination. 
Nor are we in a better position as regards the patient's blood 
changes. These are usually the consequences of the gland 
mischief, and do not become demonstrable until the disease 
is well advanced. The conclusion, then, is that we must 
rely upon the patient's antecedents, the family history, and 
a careful observation of the present conditions as the basis 
both of prognosis and treatment. Nor is it, I think, desirable 
that we should trouble ourselves too much with minute 
pathological classification. If we can, taking each case on 
its own merits, predict fairly well the results of treatment 
and the final tendencies, we must be content. 

{To he concluded,) 



DIET AND THEEAPEUTICS. 

Recovery from severe Spinal Caries under treatment hy 

mechanical support and Sea-air, 

In 1872 I was consulted in the case of a boy, aged 6, for 
spinal abscess and angular curvature in the lumbar region. 
He was fitted with a spinal apparatus, and sent to live first 
at Swanage and subsequently at Margate. Three years 
later he went to the Cape for a time. I saw him occasionally 
for six years. At the end of that time the sinuses had 
been for some time closed, and there was a strong angular 
projection a little above the level of the iliac crests. He 
was dwarfed several inches in height, and his chest was 
thrown forwards, but he stood erect and no hump was 
visible through his clothes. 

I did not see anything more of this patient for twenty 
years, when he consulted me for syphilis. I was interested 
in learning that he had had no relapse of spine symptoms. 
He had been married, was the father of one child, but had 
lost his wife. He told me that he had been a good football 
player and rower, and that he could walk thirty miles a day. 
His back never gave him any material trouble. There 
could be no doubt that the destruction of the bodies of the 
vertebrsB had been considerable, for the angular projection 
was great as well as the loss of stature. 

I cite the case as a good example of recovery and repair 
after disease of the bodies in the lumbar region, and a fact 
in favour of treatment by the steel apparatus and change to 
seaside. It is also an excellent illustration of the well- 
known fact that even severe strumous disease, when once 
cured, does not tend to relapse. 

VOL. IX. 18 



274 DIET AND THEEAPEUTICS. 

Severe Pruriginous Eczema, protracted from childhood to 
adult age — Cure under the influence of tar lotions and 
Antimony, 

There are certain very rare cases in which the general 
•eczema of infants is protracted through childhood, and 
remains uncured even to adult age. These go to supply a 
contingent to what is known as **Hebra's prurigo," for they 
are almost always very pruriginous, and they take their 
origin in early life. They are, however, not absolutely 
incurable, but may, if the patient will submit to treatment, 
usually be got quite well. Sometimes, however, the malady 
has lasted sufficiently long to interfere with the integrity of 
the skin and in some degree with the general development 
of the frame. Such patients are often very pale, of earthy 
complexion, lean, and defective in sexual endowments, with 
thin hair and badly formed nails. All these statements are 
well illustrated in the case of a lady whom I have recently 

had under care. Miss D , now set. 22, has been for eighteen 

months absolutely free from a pruriginous dermatitis which 
had been present from early infancy. Two years ago, when 
she came for a second time under my care, the skin of her 
face, neck, and arms was thickened and fissured by long-per- 
sisting diffuse eczema. She had been more or less con- 
stantly under treatment all her life, and although often 
Jbetter for awhile, had never got well. Although well 
grown, she was thin and extremely pale. Her final recovery 
took place under the patient use of tar lotions and an anti- 
mony mixture. The latter was taken for six months con- 
tinuously, and I believe that to it much of the credit of the 
cure is due, for the external applications had been used pre- 
viously without success. Miss D 's cure is now so com- 
plete that her skin is everywhere soft and supple and shows 
not a trace of eczema. Nor has there been during eighteen 
months past, and at various places of residence, the slightest 
tendency to relapse. She is, however, still very pale, of a 
somewhat pasty complexion and slightly muddy skin. The 
hair on the chin and upper lip shows a tendency to grow, 
and her menstruation is scanty and irregular. Her fingers 
are thick and flabby and the nails stumpy and thin. 



TREATMENT OF LICHEN PLANUS. 275 

Antimony in the treatment of Lichen Planus. 

One of the most interesting cases brought to my Clinical 
Demonstration on June 14 was that of a man of about 60, 
who had attended one month previously. On both occasions 
he was brought by Dr. Sequeira, of Aldgate. He had been 
for nearly six months the subject of severe Lichen planus. 
On the first occasion the eruption was still, in spite of much 
treatment, in full vigour and the cause of much irritation. 
He had taken arsenic and used a variety of local applications. 
I suggested that antimony should be used. Mr. Sequeira 
brought him on the second occasion in order to demonstrate 
the success of the remedy. Within a few days of its com- 
mencement the irritability of the eruption had almost wholly 
ceased, and the progress had since been uninterrupted. 
Although still covered with stains, some of them in the legs 
being almost black, not a single characteristic papule re- 
mained. The dose given had been an eighth of a grain of 
tartar emetic three times a day: It had not caused any 
sickness. 



ON THE AVOIDANCE OF SPLINT-TREATMENT 

IN COLLES' FEACTUEE. 

When I was on the acting staff of the London Hospital 
I used to encourage my house-surgeons to treat many cases 
of CoUes' fracture without any splint whatever. My 
instructions were never to put on splints unless there was 
displacement which could be removed by extension and 
which returned when extension ceased. In all such cases 
— probably a very small proportion — continued extension by 
straight splints is clearly indicated, but even in these they 
ought not to be kept on long. During the last twenty years, 
my practice having been confined to private consultations, I 
have seen little or nothing of recent injuries to the wrist. 
I have, however, seen a great many at the end of long 
treatment by others which the patients considered to have 
been more or less unsatisfactory. The result has been a 
very decided conviction that if the routine treatment by 
splints could be wholly laid aside, it would be greatly to the 
advantage of the patients and to the credit of the surgeons. 
Case after case is brought under observation in which the 
orthodox treatment has been patiently and skilfully carried 
out, with the result that the wrist and the fingers are 
stiffened and the hand painful and useless. Nineteen- 
twentieths of these would, I believe, have done quite well 
and escaped all stiffening if the wrist had been simply kept 
for a fortnight between two cushion-pads, and at the end of 
that time wholly freed from encumbrance. It is, I know, 
exceedingly difficult to rid our minds of the idea that there 
is a necessary connection between a fracture and a splint. 
The public, as well as ourselves, are under the spell of the 
same superstition. The surgeon who is bold enough to be 



DISUSE OF SPLINTS IN COLLES FEACTUBE. 



277 



rational is in great danger of adverse criticisms, in the later 
stages ol his case. Even if his patient is well satisfied at the 
time, sooner or later some one is sure to recognise the fact 
that the bone has been broken, and to express astonishroent 
that it was not put up in splints. The end of the radius is 
always left somewhat thickened, and the patient is but too 
ready to entertain the belief that if only sphnts had been 
used and the fracture " properly set " this thickening would 
not have been there. As a matter of fact, some thickening 
is unavoidable if the carpal end of the radius has been 




fractured, and the main question is whether it shall be 
thickening plus stiffening. The latter addition, so common 
and so damaging, is, I am convinced, caused usually by the 
treatment and not by the injury. 

We have but to reflect upon what is the real condition of 
things in a Colles' fracture to be convinced of the truth of 
the above remarks. In many cases there is no displacement 
whatever, and no movements on the part of the patient 
could possibly produce any. In others there is definite 
displacement of the carpal fragment or fragments back- 
wards and to the radial side. If this is present, and can 
be removed by extension, and returns when extension is 
remitted, then a splint is necessary, but not otherwise. 



FOEEIGN BODIES IN THE RECTUM. 

A MIDDLE-AGED man, whose face expressed much distress, 
came into my room with the laconic statement, ** My fissure 
has come back again." When asked to explain himself, he 
told me that ten years ago he had been the subject of a very 
painful fissure in the anus, and that, having been advised to 
take to his bed and have it cut, he had called on me, and 
that then and there I had stretched the sphincter and cured 
him. ** But," added he, ** it has come back, and is worse 
than ever." A little further inquiry elicited the fact that he 
had been, through the ten years, quite free from discomfort, 
and that his present symptoms had set in suddenly the night 
before. He said that he had been awake all night, and that 
the pain was unbearable. On inspecting the part I found 
the anus red and irritable, and on telling him to bear dcwn 
he shrieked with pain, but succeeded in protruding some 
enlarged veins, between two lobes of which there certainly 
was a superficial but apparently quite recent laceration of 
the mucous membrane. I was about to advise him to 
foment and use some ointment, when my good angel whis- 
pered, ''Don't neglect to use the finger." I had some 
difficulty in persuading him to let me, for he flinched and 
declared that I gave him pain which he could not endure. 
Having, however, at length got my finger well within the 
external sphincter, I came upon a fish-bone about as long as 
a common sewing needle, and almost as sharp, lodged trans- 
versely across the gut. Having succeeded in extracting this, 
the case was at an end. 

It may perhaps be usefully added to the above narrative 
that, owing to the impossibility of persuading the man to 



ON FIBE-STAINS. 279 

keep still, the removal of the bone was very difficult. On 
another occasion I would certainly make no attempt without 
an ansesthetic. 

I well remember many years ago in a similar case, but 
with a much longer history of discomfort, removing from 
the lower bowel part of the breastbone of a bird. In 
another instance, in which constipation had been the chief 
symptom, I found the rectum of a woman occupied by at 
least a pint of maize, the corns of which had been swallowed 
whole. They had finally accumulated, unmixed with feces,, 
just above the anus and completely blocked the bowel. 



CASE OF VESICATING FIEE-STAINS. 

Miss J , aged 30, « has both her legs mottled all over 

their fronts and inner aspects by dusky ** fire-stains/* The 
peculiar feature in her case is that in winter these stains, 
inflame, vesicate, and become covered with adherent crusts. 
This state is quite confined to the tibial aspect of the legs. 
On the other parts there is neither congestion nor staining, 
although the orifices of the follicles are a little dusky. Her 
feet are very cold, and always red. Formerly she had bad 
chilblains on her feet, but never on her hands or ears. She 
is of fair complexion and delicate skin. 

I have never before seen legs in the condition which Miss. 

J showed me on February 24, 1898. The stains above 

referred to mapped out the whole of the fronts on her legs, 
and on all the bars of these stains were thick, dry-pus crusts. 
The crusts were thickest on the lower parts. I was told 
that the legs would get quite well in summer, but in winter 
always relapsed. During the mild winter of 1896-97 
she was six weeks in bed with them. This last winter they 
had been just as bad, but she had concealed their condi- 
tion, fearing that she should again be ordered to bed. 

In seeking for the cause of the condition, I learnt that 
Miss J , suffering always from feeble circulation and 



280 CASE OF VESICATING FIRE-STAINS. 

cold extremities, had been in the habit of sitting much with 
her legs exposed to the fire. She had been bom, and still 
lived, in a place where ague until very recently had been 
prevalent, but it was not known that she had ever herself 
suffered from any definite malarial fever. She was a twin, 
and her twin brother did not display any obvious peculiari- 
ties of circulation. Some of her mother's relatives had 

suffered from phthisis. Miss J herself looked delicate, 

and was losing flesh. She had always been a chilly subject, 
but until the last four years had not observed any tendency 
to sores on her legs. 

The measures of treatment recommended were — (1) warm 
clothing and warm rooms, but careful avoidance of exposure 
to fire-heat ; (2) if practicable, a prolonged change of place 
of residence to a warm and non-malarious district ; (3) cod- 
liver oil and quinine, minute doses of opium, and Dublin 
stout ; (4) a weak mercurial ointment. 

The diagnostic importance of fire-stains depends upon the 
fact that they are fire-stains, and that they reveal the habit 
which the patient has yielded to of sitting very close to the 
fire. The next step is to find the explanation of the chilli- 
ness which has induced this habit. The influence of the 
malarial poison is undoubtedly one of the most potent and 
persistent. The worst fire-stained legs which I have seen 
have been in the subjects of ague. Many other quite 
different influences may, however, produce the undue sus- 
ceptibility to cold which is at the bottom of the matter. It 
is, further, obvious that fire-stains can be acquired only by 
those whose family circumstances permit of personal indul- 
gence. Girls at school and servants engaged in household 
work do not get them, because, whatever may be their 
subjective chilliness, they are not allowed to sit close to the 
fire. It is not a slight or occasional exposure which will 
cause them, but the habit of cowering in front of a fire for 
hours together, and this can be^^|^ onlyjM^hose whose 
time is at their own disposal^^^Bbo^^^^Bnuch of it 

alone. In Miss J 's case i^^^^^B^^^^^^^had left 

school and gone to keep an un^^^^^^^^^^^^lpdition 
was produced. It is very pos! 




ON FIBE-STAINS. 281 

also have had its share in aggi-avating the tendency. Many 
young women suffer much from chilliness which is increased 
at the monthly periods. It is a curious fact that marriage 
and pregnancy give complete relief and may indeed induce 
the opposite. Pregnant women are seldom chilly subjects. 

In Wilson's Atlas of Skin Disease there is a good illustra- 
tion of this form of Melanopathia. It is labelled '' syphili- 
tica ,' but if, as is probable, a syphilitic dyscrasia and the 
consequent use of iodide of potassium caused the chilliness, 
I have no doubt that exposure to fire heat produced the dis- 
coloration. It is to be noted that the discoloration in these 
cases always takes a definite pattern. It is arranged like 
the stains which appear in the skin of a corpse, or the bands 
of dark hair on a dappled-grey horse. 



\ 



L 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCCVIIL — Tabetic pains induced by Gold. 

Mr. W- told me that he used formerly to be quite 

unable to sit down in a cold leather chair without its pro- 
ducing immediately nerve pains. These pains would shoot 
through the hips and thighs. Now he has got rid of this 
liability. The patient who thus described his peculiar 
symptom was a very intelligent observer. He had suflfered 
from syphilis some years before, and had taken iodides and 
mercury for very long periods. He had become liable to 
severe pains in his limbs, which it was difficult to diagnose 
as to whether they were tabetic. Some years later he was 
the subject of possibly a form of tabes. His pupils were 
small and sluggish, but acted somewhat. He could walk 
well with his eyes shut, and his knee reflexes were tolerably 
good. He had nodes. His description of the pains which 
he had suffered was exactly that of tabes. 

No. CCCIX. — Pain in Stomach and Abdomen, very 
severe and constant — Tabes probable — Pain 
caused by warm bath. 

Mr. B , whom I saw on November 19, 1889, with Dr. 

E and Dr. H. J . We then ordered only nux 

vomica and bromide of potassium. He has got much worse 
in walking. He spent the winter in Monte Carlo. At Aix 
les Bains he was promised a cure, but did not get one. He 
walks on his heels, and very badly. 

Last February a very bad attack of sciatica, right side. 
He has of late had very troublesome pain at stomach. He 
has taken antipyrin for a year for their relief, under Dr. 
E *s advice. He has never had developed crises, that is, 



THE LAWS OF INHEBITANCE. 'iSS 

po severe vomiting. He is never free from the pain, but it is 
always worse after making water. He can only pass water 
sitting, and with some straining. He takes food well, and 
always feels better after it. Sleeps well. He once had a 
fixed pain in two inches of the tendo achillis, ** like a hundred 
toothaches rolled into one.*' He has long used morphia injec- 
tions, which always relieve most when made near the spot. 
A warm bath of ordinary temperature would give him great 
pain all over. He can only bear it just tepid. Much pain 
between his shoulders. He has had pains in his great toe 
very like gout, but without swelling. He is married, and 
says that he is quite competent, and does not experience 
any ill results. 

No. CCCX. — Hysterical (?) affections of the Spine. 

In the Eeport of the Hunterian Society for 1834, under 
the head of '' Hysterical Affections of the Spine," the follow- 
ing occurs: *' A case in which there is loss of sensation, as 
well as of motion in the lower limbs. There is tenderness of 
the spine. Though menstruation is regular, the young lady 
is highly hysterical, and the paralysis is imputed to that 



cause." 



We have, I think, learned to be very careful as to calling 
paraplegia "hysterical." A case recorded at page 311 of 
Vol. V. may be read with interest in reference to the above. 

No. CCCXI. — Some Apliorisvis respecting Inherit- 
ance. 

Although all maladies which can be inherited tend to 
assume peculiar features when so transmitted, they but 
rarely keep to a simple or uniform type. 

Transmutation in transmission implies relationship in 
nature and descent. 

Whatever conditions are capable of frequent transmuta- 
tion in hereditary transmission are probably closely allied, 
if not the same — e,g., gout and rheumatic gout, the varieties 
of ichthyosis. 

When two different morbid states are frequently observed 



284 MISCELLANEOUS. 

to be transmuted the one into the other in hereditary trans- 
mission, then it is safe to infer close relationship, if not 
essential identity. 

When two diseases appear to spring by common inherit- 
ance, i.e,, the one in one child and the other in another of 
the same family, and this is ascertained to be of frequent 
occurrence, we may assume that there is some basis of 
relationship between the two — e.gr., different types of cancer, 
or of skin disease, or of arthritis. 

No. CCCXII. — Fragmentary Notes on various 

subjects. 

The Bengalees have no lunulas. Jews, as a rule, have 
large ones. In Greeks the thumb only has one. 

There is an important portrait in the collection of the 
Dubhn College of Surgeons showing gangrene of the ends of 
the fingers (acro-sphacelus) in an infant suffering from con- 
genital syphilis. It has been copied for the London College 
collection. 

The poison of syphilis enters into partnership with the 
previously existing proclivities of the individual. 

A tendency to perspire on the slightest exertion is not 
unfrequently coincident with habitual chilliness, and both 
are indicative of want of tone. 

In elderly persons acne never occurs on the shoulders. 

Amongst the maladies for which the climate of Pontresina 
is unsuitable I find, according to a circular which has been 
sent me, the following : ** Heavy diseases of the heart, fat- 
heartedness, arteriosclorose, crispation of the kidneys, strong 
emphysema of the lungs, heavy cachectical dispositions. 
Disposition for articular rheumatism." 

An Aphorism. — Don't try to make the diagnosis yourself ; 
let the symptoms do it. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN AND GOUT. 285 

A man aged 49 has had four attacks of ecchymosis of the 
conjunctiva; always in the right eye. No cause can be 
assigned. He is in good health. 

No. CCCXIII. — Diseases of the Shin in connection 

with Gout. 

Dr. William Corlett, of Cleveland, U.S.A., read before the 
Ohio State Medical Society, in 1886, a report of three cases 
vvrhich he cautiously named ** Disease of the skin in the 
subjects of gout." One of the three, of which a woodcut is 
given, presents some features of similarity to the cases which 
I have adduced. An Irish woman, aged 62, was the subject 
of chronic rheumatism, which was apparently complicated 
with true gout. She had had repeated attacks of inflamma- 
tion of the great toe, coming on in the night and attended by 
great pain. Although she knew of no history of gout in her 
ancestors, one of her brothers, who was dead, had suffered 
from sjmaptoms very like her own. Her face was pale and 
puffy. She had been troubled for seven years with an eruption 
on her legs, the spots being of a dark reddish colour, slightly 
scaly, and moist only when scratched. Some of the patches 
had ulcerated. Dr. Corlett gives a woodcut to show the 
location of the patches and ulcers, but it is unfortunately 
impossible to tell which are ulcers and which otherwise. It 
shows the eruption on the backs and fronts of the forearms 
also ; but no detailed description is given of it in these parts. 
A circumstance which produces some doubt as to whether 
the case is really similar to my own, is that although the 
eruption had been present during so many years, it is stated 
to have disappeared rather quickly under treatment. 

No. CCCXIV. — Albinism as a family peculiarity. 

Albinism may occur as a family peculiarity, and may be 
perpetuated by breeding. White rabbits, rats, mice, and 
ferrets are examples of the latter, and all are complete 
albinoes. Birds are but very rarely complete albinoes ; that 
is, they very rarely have pink or fiery eyes, which is the 
final character. Some instances are, however, on record in 



286 MISCELLANEOUS. 

which the condition is said to have occurred in more than 
one of a clutch of birds, and one at least in which there was 
a probability of inheritance. Mr. White, of Bongate, found 
white thrushes in two successive years. The nests were 
within fifty yards of each other. In one nest of four young, 
two were normal and two white with red eyes. In the 
•other nest only one bird was white, and its eyes are stated 
i;o have become darker as it grew up. Mr. J. Marshall, of 
Belmont, has supplied a very cUrious observation. A pair 
of thrushes had, in the summer of 1861, three broods. In 
-the first there were three young ones, one white and two 
normal ; in the second, three all white ; and in the third, one 
white and three normal. Mr. J. W. Lukes observed an 
instance in which two young birds in the same nest wore 
of a light yellowish-brown colour, their breasts showing 
incipient marks of the usual spots. Both parents were of 
the normal colour. 

I take these facts from Morris's ** British Birds,'' vol. iii. 
^. 63. The thrush family would appear to be especially 
prone to albinism. It is to be observed that the facts seem 
ijo indicate that partial albinism is really a minor stage of 
the complete form. Thus in Mr. Marshall's case, in which 
rseveral complete albinoes had been observed, one was of a 
rich fawn colour ; and in that of Mr. White, in one bird the 
^yes evidently were not red, since *' they became darker as 
the bird got older." Some facts as regards our domesticated 
birds and animals might have seemed to imply that white- 
ness of the feathers or hair may occur without any tendency 
to find a climax in red eyes. White oxen are common, and 
-so are white ducks and white fowls, but in none of these 
does complete albinism ever occur. 

No. CCCXV. — Danger of Meagre Statistics. 

Sir Algernon Borthwick (now Lord Glenesk) once re- 
marked to me, respecting some operation statistics, "You 
surgeons seem to me to trust to too small numbers for 
your calculations. Before you speak of a percentage you 
should at least get your centum." 



PKODUCTS OF INFLAMMATION INFECTIVE. 287 

No. CCCXVI. — Spontaneous improvement in Hyper- 

metropia in Children, 

In some statistical tables given by Landolt, it appears 
that nearly 30 per cent, of hypermetropic children experi- 
ence spontaneous improvement. In some the condition is 
simply reduced, in others enmetropia is attained, and in a 
third group the state overpasses the line and myopia is the 
result. 

No. CCCXVII. — Infective Materies generated in the 

act of Inflammation. 

Whilst there can be little doubt that the introduction, at 
the time of the injury, of some living germ matter (bacillus) 
developed in connection with the process of inflammation 
in the contributor, very greatly adds to the risk, and gives 
character to the inflammation induced, there are good reasons 
for doubting whether any such material is essential. It is 
highly probable that in some instances a chemical product 
of decomposition may take its place, and further that in 
some cases no poison of any kind has been introduced. In 
the latter group, we have to suppose that the tissues of the 
person wounded are capable of generating, as the result of 
merely mechanical irritation, a poison which shall prove 
infective. We have to accept the proposition — in all 
probability a truth — that the inflammatory process, how- 
ever initiated, is always attended by the production of a 
virus (living or chemical, or both). Inflammation in its 
early stages always leads to multiplication of modified cell 
organisms which may prove infective ; in its later stages it 
leads to death of cells, and may favour the access to the 
blood of chemical elements, the result of decomposition, 
which may prove very injurious. All inflammations attended 
by conspicuous gangrene are productive of fever and accom- 
panied by ** poisoning of the blood." 

No. CCCXVIII. — Erysipelas without Incubation 

Period. 

In a case (one of an epidemic) in which erysipelas followed 



288 MISCELLANEOUS. 

vaccination, redness was observed within twenty-four hours 
of the operation, the infant's arm being inflamed from 
shoulder to elbow. (See Appendix to Vaccination Com- 
mission Beports, p. 230.) 

No. CCCXIX. — Deformities of the Teeth cau-sed 

by Mercury. 

We have recently had at our Museum Demonstrations 
some excellent illustrations of mercurial teeth. I use the 
word mercurial because the teeth in question are, I believe, 
almost always caused by the use of mercury in infancy, 
though I by no means intend to deny that other forms of 
stomatitis may produce similar results. The peculiarities 
are damage to enamel of all the permanent teeth excepting 
the pre-molars. The exemption of the latter is usually most 
definite. These teeth present white, clean enamel, whilst 
all the others are pitted, uneven, and discoloured. I take 
especial interest in demonstrating these teeth and insisting 
on their peculiarities because they are constantly mistaken 
for syphilitic teeth. 

No. CCCXX. — Osteitis Deformans in a Mulatto. 

I have received from Dr. Kjiott, of British Guiana (for 
the Museum), photographs illustrating a case of osteitis 
deformans in a native of the colony. They show a very 
large head and much bending of the femora and tibisB. The 
lower jaw near to its angle on the right side is much 
enlarged. The tibiae are not apparently much thickened, 
but the bend outwards and forwards is very marked. The 
patient is obviously of negro descent, and almost black. 
Dr. Knott's notes state that she was aged 46 and a native. 
Her head had been progressively enlarging for eight years, 
and, owing to the curvature of the spine and lower Hmbs, 
she had lost several inches in height. There were no 
changes in the upper extremities or clavicles. She had 
suffered from aching in her limbs, but the affected bones 
were not tender. 

As a contribution to international pathology the oase is 
valuable. 



AECHIVES OP SUEGEET. 



OCTOBER, 1898. 



EXTEACTS FKOM MY DIAEY. 

June 9, 1898. — I have just seen Mr. W , who was one 

of those whose cases are recorded in my first Eeport on 
Vaccination Syphilis. It is twenty years since that occur- 
rence. Mr. W suffered rather severely from the ayphilis ; 

in consequence, I believe, of his not having persevered with 
treatment. Two or three years afterwards he had some 
cerebral symptoms, which were cured by specifics. He is 
now seventy-five years of age, and looks ten years younger 
than his age. Not having seen him for ten years I mis- 
took him for his son. His son also had syphihs at the same 
time, and curiously both in father and son the vaccination- 
scars showed a tendency to recurrence of induration several 
years later. The son is now a healthy man and the father 
of a healthy family. Such cases are of value in reference to 
the question of Life Insurance and Syphilis. 



June 16. — I have received this morning a letter from 
Mr. Eoyds, of Andover, informing me of the death, at the 

age of 75, of Mr. W. D. B , at Dunedin, New Zealand. 

Now I had removed this gentleman's tongue for sclerosis 
and epithelial cancer in August, 1879. I am informed that 
he has never since had any trouble in connection with the 
tongue, but that he has died from some internal disease, 
possibly cancer of bowel. His tongue is Fig. 3 in Plate L, 

VOL. IX. 19 




290 BXTBACTS FROM MY DIARY. 

of my Illustrations of Clinical Surgery. He has lived since 
the operation nineteen years. 



June 26. — Miss L , of E , has just called on me 

** merely to let you see that I am quite well.*' I removed her 
right breast and axillary glands for scirrhus on August 14, 
1889. The tumour had then been growing two years, and 
she was 58 years of age. 



July 11. — Mrs. G , formerly Miss C , who is the 

subject of lupus erythematosus, has called on me to report 
progress after a four years interval. Five years ago she 
came under my care with the usual symmetrical patches 
on the cheeks, on the nose, and in the ears. She developed 
a troublesome cough, lost flesh, and looked so much like 
phthisis, that I urged her to try a complete change of 
climate. She accordingly went to Natal, and has lived 
there ever since. Her general health has very much im- 
proved. She tells me that the first effect of the sunny 
climate of Africa was, apparently, to make her lupus worse, 
but that after a time it improved. The patch on her 
nose has coalesced with those on her cheeks, and the latter 
have somewhat advanced towards the ears. In the concha 
of each ear is a large scar. No new patches of lupus have 
developed, and over the greater part of those on the face 
the condition is that of a sound and not very conspicuous 
scar. These patches have, it is true, an erjrthematous 
border, but it is not advancing. The disease may be 
considered to have come to a standstill. This is according 
to rule, and it is probable that there will not now be any 
relapse. 

March 3, 1897. — I have just seen Mrs. D , whose 

portrait is in the Museum and is PI. 72 in my Smaller Atlas. 
The whole cheek is now one large scar, but perfectly sound, 
and without any trace of lupus growth at its edges. The 
scar extends more widely than the appearances shown in the 
drawing would suggest, passing on to the side of nose. 



ECZEMA SCROFULOSORUM. 291 

Mrs. D. is now the subject of most peculiar cake-like in- 
duration of the skin on the posterior parts of the deltoid 
regions and extending upwards from them towards the neck. 
I examined these four months ago at Park Crescent, and 
they were, I think, larger then than now. They are not 
inflamed and do not threaten to soften. Each patch is as 
large as an outspread hand and of much the same shape. 
The induration involves skin and subcutaneous cellular 
tissue, and a process of atrophy is at work which makes the 
surface uneven, producing irregular depressions. Over the 
spines of the scapula the skin adheres to the bone. The 
boundaries of the patches are indefinite, especially towards 
the neck. Mrs. D. thinks nothing of them and is under no 
treatment. 

It is still a question whether the original disease of the 
cheek was an ulcerating gumma, and whether the present 
indurations are of the same nature. 



In company with my esteemed friend Professor Boeck, 
of Christiania, I have just inspected a dozen London 
children, the inmates of a holiday home. My companion 
noticed that several had scaly patches on the face, and told 
me that he felt sure that these patches were indicative of 
the presence of the tubercle bacillus in the child's system. 
He added that the subject had attracted much attention in 
Norway of late, and that the evidence was, he thought, 
conclusive. The patches referred to were such as are very 
frequently seen on the faces of delicate children, and are 
attributed to using hard water and irritating soaps. Dr. 
Boeck seemed inclined to go even further than I have 
myself done in his suspicions as to the widespread pre- 
valence of the tubercle bacillus, and its frequent connec- 
tion with very minor phenomena. None of the children in 
question were regarded as invalids. 



It is very desirable to record facts which give encourage- 
ment for early operations for cancer. I have mentioned 
above, one in which a patient whose tongue I had removed 



292 EXTRACTS PROM MY DIARY. 

neaorly twenty years ago has only recently died of other 

disease. I have just seen the Bev. Dr. A. S. F , whose 

tongue I removed eleven years ago. Two years previons 
to the final operation I had removed by superficial excision 
some sclerosed patches which were in a doubtful condition, 
but not positively cancerous. At the date of the second 
operation there was no doubt whatever as to the nature of 

the disease. Dr. F is now seventy-one years of age 

and in excellent health. 



July 16th. — Dr. S. B has just called on me with a 

plentiful eruption of herpes on his forehead and side of head. 
He is anxious lest his eye should suffer. I console him on 
this point, for there is not a single vesicle on the side of his 
nose, the oculo-nasal twig having escaped. His conjunctiva 
for the present is not even congested, although there are 
spots on the upper lid. Although the vesicles are very 
abundant, they are very superficial and have the thinnest 
possible walls. This fits well with his statement that it has 
not been very painful, *' only a little pricking pain." He is 
only thirty-five, and his youth probably explains the mild- 
ness of the inflammation. He tells me that his father, 
when an old man, had shingles on his chest and suffered 
most severely. This suggestion of inherited, tendency is 

interesting, and so also is the fact that Dr. B has been 

recently taking arsenic. He thinks that he took his last 
dose of arsenic — it was only a single minim three times a 
day — at least three weeks ago. His herpes has, however, 
now been a week out, and we do not know how long its 
incubation stage may have been. 



June 10. — An engineer who had been engaged in a South 
American gold mine, working amongst fumes of arsenic, 
gave me the following facts. He said that the metal was 
deposited on the grass, and that the mules and asses died 
from eating it. In them the symptoms were loss of flesh, 
general drooping, with hanging heads, and death apparently 
from pain and debility. In men a sore nose was usually 



ACROMEGALY. THE SIX TEAR MOLAR, ETC. 293 

the first symptom, and next a sore mouth and spots on the 
face. Scarcely any one escaped a sore nose and choked 
nostrils. He had himself suffered, and had taken iodide 
of potassium as a remedy, which had made him weak, and 
brought out boils. He looked sallow in face, but the skin 
of his trunk was white, and not in any way pigmented. 



August f 1898. — I have just heard of the death of a patient 
who was the subject of Acromegaly, and who was indeed the 
first in whom I had observed the curious characters of that 
malady. 

His case is published in Archives, Vol. I., p. 141. It was 
one in which the features of the disease were extremely well 
marked. I am informed by Dr. Birch, of Newbury, that 

Mr. B had since my report of his case enjoyed fair 

health, though still suffering from his headaches. He was 
a man of keen intellect, which to the last did not in the^east 
fail him. His death was preceded by profuse hsematemesis. 
This was supposed to have depended upon ulcer of the 
stomach rather than upon varices of the oesophagus. For 
some months previously he had suffered a great deal of pain, 
sometimes in the epigastrium, sometimes in a spot opposite 
the third dorsal vertebra. The blood vomited was dark and 
probably venous. There had been no reason to think that 
he was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. 



I find that practical dentists are in the habit of speaking 
of the first permanent molar tooth as the " six-year molar." 
It might be convenient if this term were generally adopted, 
as it serves to emphasise the fact that it is one of the first 
of the permanent set, and that it comes up simultaneously 
with the lower central incisors. It is the tooth which 
usually shows the influence of mercury given in infancy (or 
of other forms of stomatitis), the explanation being that it 
is developed, and its enamel calcified, long before its fellows. 



I have recently been consulted by a gentleman who has 
just returned from Matabeleland, and has his hands covered 



294 EXTRACTS FROM MY DIARY. 

with dusky stains, which become conspicuous in the 
depending position and give him much annoyance. There 
are no actual scars and no traces of remaining inflammation- 
It appears to be simply a condition of weakened capillaries 
easily permitting of over-distension of the venules. The 
patient is a very tall man and, although in good health, of 
a somewhat feeble circulation. He tells me that when in 
Africa his hands were covered with sores, caused by slight 
bruises and exposure to sun, &c. He says that such sores 
are very common there, most persons suffering from them 
more or less. He will not admit that they are due to pricks 
of thorns or to the bites of insects; but attributes them 
entirely to mechanical injuries and to exposure of the hands 
to weather. 

I conversed with a surgeon who had practised in Africa, 
in a Yaws district, and suggested to him that it was very 
difficult to distinguish between yaws and syphilis. 

** In some cases," he said, *' it is impossible to tell which 
the disease is, but in others it is quite easy. 

Ego, Is not that because you have determined to call 
a certain group of symptoms Yaws and another group 
Syphilis, and thus artificially put examples of the selfsame 
malady into two classes ? 

Ille, Very likely it is so. 

Ego, It is said, for instance, that in yaws there is never 
any sore throat ; but may it not be that if it was a sore 
throat you would at once class the case as S3rphilis ? 

Ille, It is very possible. I may repeat that I have seen 
many cases in which I could not decide whether the disease 
were syphilis or yaws. 

Ego. Speaking of sore throats, may it not be that in the 
tropics the mucous membranes are not so prone to suffer 
as in colder climates? 

IIU, I am sure you are right there. We very rarely see 
sore throats from anything. I was myself very prone to 
sore throats when I lived in England, but I never had 
one in Africa. 



MULTIPLE FEACTUEES IN YOUNG CHILDEEN 

WITH TUMOUE GEOWTHS. 

• 

The two cases which I have to narrate bear a remarkable 
resemblance to each other. In both, numerous fractures of 
long bones occurred in early life. In both, symmetrical 
deformations existed at the elbow joints suggesting a want 
of development of the external condyle and consecutive 
dislocation of the radius. In both, enlargements of bones 
had occurred, more especially of the femurs. In one case 
the enlargement of the femur, first of one, then the other, had 
not been persistent, but in the other, what appeared to be 
a very large intra-osteal cartilaginous tumour has developed. 
In each case the tumour in one femur was at one time 
so large and so suggestive of malignancy that amputation 
was contemplated. Both patients were girls, and one 
was aged 12 and the other 10 at the time that ampu- 
tation was advised. In neither was there any evidence 
whatever in support of the suspicion of congenital syphilis. 
In one of the cases I much regret that I am not able to 
complete the notes, and am obliged to be content with 
describing the patient's condition as it was at the date of 
my last seeing her, twenty-eight years ago. It is possible 
that she may subsequently have come under the observation 
of some one of my readers. If so, the supply of further 
particulars will confer an obligation not, I feel sure, on 
myself alone. The child's name was Emma Mackinnon. 
Although in this cas6 I remember that I was at the time 
disposed to suspect syphilis in consequence of the rapid 
development of the osteal swellings and their disappearance 
under treatment by iodides, yet on further thought, and 
especially on comparing the facts with those of the second 
case, I do not think that this suspicion can be sustained. 
It seems more likely that the cases are to be assigned to a 



296 MULTIPLE FRACTURES WITH TUMOUR GROWTHS. 

small group in which interference with bone development and 
tendency to cartilaginous outgrowth, occurs in connection 
with some ill-understood inherited tendency. Althougli by 
no means the same, they are probably allied to those 
osteo-plastic conditions which sometimes result in dwarfdom. 

Case I. — Numercms fractures of various bones in a 
young child — Symmetrical deformity of elbow-joints 
(congenital ?) — Enlargement of lower part of right 
femAir. 

The patient whose case is recorded in the following notes 
was first brought under my observation by Mr. F. M. 
Mackenzie (then my House Surgeon) before the enlargement 
of the femur had occurred. On a second occasion she w^as 
sent to me by Mr. Oswald Baker in September, 1869, when 
the following notes were taken : — 

September 19, 1869. — Emma M , sst. lOJ. The two elbows are 

almost exactly alike. In each the head of the radius at the elbow-joint 
can be easily felt and seen, owing apparently to an absence of the 
external condyle. The internal condyle is well formed, and in dne rela- 
tion with the olecranon, but the external appears to be wholly absent, 
and the finger can be placed in the cup of the radius. This cup of the 
radius does not present a cavity as usual, nor does it appear to be quite 
so large or so evenly rounded as in the normal state. It is not at all 
closely confined to the ulna, and can be made to project at least as far as 
the extremity of the olecranon, being thus too long for its corresponding 
bone. At the back of the lower part of each humerus on its radial 
border is a strong ridge of bone with its convexity backwards. This 
apparently represents the external condyle. When the arms are 
extended they are not perfectly straight, but are bent a little inwards, 
and the extremity of the displaced radius then projects considerably. 
The ulna itself is in each arm considerably bent in its upper third. She 
is reported to have had three fractures in the right forearm and two in 
the left, three times of the right leg and once of the right thigh. Of 
none of these fractures do any very evident traces remain. The power 
of pronation and supination is limited, and the flexion also is in- 
complete. The child cannot put her arm behind her, nor to the back 
of her head. 

Her mother states that nothing was ever noticed amiss with her 
elbows before her arms were broken. The upper arms are both of them 
very thin, but, as far as can be tested, all the muscles are present. Her 
first fracture occurred at the age of fifteen months, and implicated her 
right leg. The left arm was broken at the age of two years and three 



A CASE-NARRATIVE. 297 

months, and before the splints were removed she broke the other. Her 
last fracture, three years and a half ago, was of her right thigh, and she 
was treated at the London Hospital. A year and a half later she had 
some effusion into the right knee-joint, which disappeared after treat- 
ment. During the last two months the lower half of the right femur has 
been slowly enlarging. The femur is now much enlarged in its lower 
third, the enlargement implicating all psurts of the bone to the joint 
itself, the condyles being involved. It is very hard, as if from a growth 
within the bone. There is no redness, and scarcely any heat of surface. 
Her mother states that it has been very painful, and has of fcen kept her 
awake at night. *' Jumping pain" is described: She is said to have 
lost her flesh since the bone began to enlarge. Girth of the right thigh 
above the knee, 11 j^ inches ; of the left, 8^. There is no effusion into the 
knee-joint at present. 

She is the eldest of a family of seven, only one having died. There 
is no history of mollities ossium, of rickets, or of cancer in the family. 
None of her brothers or sisters have had fractures. The paternal grand- 
mother had a fracture of the leg. There is nothing about her indicative 
of inherited syphilis, nor are there any suspicious facts in her early 
history. The conditions presented by the elbows are possibly consequent 
upon fra,ctures of the ulna with injury to the humeral epiphysis and 
unreduced dislocation of the radius in early life. The enlargement 
of the femur is suggestive of a myeloid tumour, but the severe pain, 
jumping, &c., must be kept in mind as possibly in connection with 
inflammation and abscess in bone. 

Some months later a very large swelling (periosteal) formed on the 
middle of left femur, and went through the same stages as the other 
had done. 

December, 1870. — The swelling has almost wholly disappeared from 
the right femur; but the one on the left remains. Another swelling 
has developed on the left tibia. 

After the last date I lost sight of my patient, and I have 
now no clue to her address. The treatment under which 
some of the bone tumours had to a large extent been 
absorbed was the iodide of potassium, but it will be observed 
that it did not prevent the development of others. It may 
possibly have been the fact that the growths were in some 
connection with the fractures, but on the other hand they 
did not follow them immediately, and most of the fractures 
had united well and without ** callus.'* The tumour of the 
right femur was at one time as large as an infant's head, and 
it will be noticed that it grew three years after the fracture. 
Neither in this case nor the one to follow were there ever any 



298 MULTIPLE FBACTURES WITH TUMOUR GROWTHS. 

periosteal swellings on the skull. In both the Umb bones 
were those which alone were affected. 

I have recorded in a former volume of Archives some 
other examples of deformities at the elbow very like those 
which were present in these cases. 

For the opportunity for investigating the following case I 
was indebted to my friend Mr. Hastings Gilford, of Beading. 



Case II. — Numero'^s fractures of long hones in early life — 
Malformed elbows — Large enchondroma of one femur — 
Severe cramps in legs — Fractures of ribs from coughing. 




1865 

1866 

1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 

1877 

1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1888 
1884 
1886 
1886 
1897 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1898 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 



8 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 
16 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 



A small child. Not suckled. Got on well. " Double jointed " 

at elbows from birth. 
Broke her arm when just able to walk. Could walk at twelve 

months. 
Good health. She cut her teeth early and well. 



n 



II 



Broke the opposite humerus in a fall, and the first a second time. 
Broke a rib in fall from sofa. 



Great pain in left thigh and a swelling developed. In St. 

Bartholomew's Hospital. 
Amputation urged, but parents refused. She was very iU at 

the time. 
Menstruation commenced and has since been regular. 
Broke her right leg in a fall. 

\ 



During these years the tum^our, which involved the whole of the 
\ left femur, persisted or even increased. It became finaUy of 
enormous size and extended from knee to hip. It ceased, 
however, to be painful, and became harder. 



Became liable to cramp in one leg. 

The cramp occurred in the other leg, brought on by walking. 

Seen by me with Mr. Hastings Gilford. 
Two ribs broken. 



Good general health. Conditions stationary. 



CARTILAGINOUS TUMOURS OF THE DIGITS. 299 

Additional Memoranda, 

She is the first-born. The next ohild died of diarrhcea setat 2. The third 
always strong. Rickets has never been mentioned in respect to any of them. 
There is no family history of brittle bones or of tvmiours. She is about 
4 ft. 9 in. Her hands and feet are well formed. Wrists not in the least 
thickened. The sternum projects forward a little above its middle. Both 
tibiae are bowed outwards and forwards. At both elbows the radius is dis- 
located. 

Her teeth show no indications either of syphilis or mercury. Her physiog- 
nomy can scarcely be said to be suspicious, but the skin is pale and dry and 
the frontal eminences a little more elevated than ordinary. 

In August of the present year (1898) Mr. Gilford kindly 
reported to me on the state of his patient. The tumour of 
the femur has not grown. Although the patient appears 
to be in excellent health, yet her bones remain very brittle. 
In November of 1896 she broke a rib in the act of coughing, 
and whilst Mr. Gilford was applying a bandage another fit 
of coughing occurred and another rib on the other side gave 
way with an audible snap. 

Cartilaginous Tumours of the Digits in association with Epi- 
physeal Exostoses, and dwarfing of one lower limb (pos- 
sibly after fracture) — Enormous development of the 
cartilaginous growths so as to completely disable the 
hands. 

The following case is an example, not only of the 
unusually free growth and multiplicity of cartilaginous 
tumours of the digits, but of their association with ten- 
dency to outgrowth at the epiphyseal cartilages. The 
dwarfing of one lower limb amounting to nine inches was 
obviously caused by arrest of growth of the femur, and 
although there was no known history of fracture, it seemed 
very probable that some injury to the lower epiphysis had 
been sustained. 

The notes given below do not record anything as to the 
toes, but I remember clearly that there were some small 
tumours and that they appeared to be attended by much 
thickening of skin. 

The case may be profitably compared with that of a man 
whose lower limb I amputated on account of disabling 
growths many years ago, and whose case is recorded in the 



300 MULTIPLE FRACTURES WITH TUMOUR GROWTHS. 

Pathological Society's Transactions. In him, also, one 
lower limb only was severely affected. 

The Clinical Museum contains portraits of both these 
cases, and of several others in which there was remarkable 
multiplicity of cartilaginous growths. 

Mary Jane N , then aged 19, was in the first instance 

sent to me by Dr. Elder, of Nottingham. Ten years later 
I was taken to see her, when an inmate of the Nottingham 
Infirmary, by Mr. Thomas Wright. The foUovdng notes 
describe her condition when I first saw her : 

" Her fingers are occupied by large, smooth, knobby outgrowths, looking 
at first sight like chalk-stones. The largest, on the left thumb, has dis- 
tended the skin until it looks tense and shiny like a scar, and in one 
spot, apparently from mere tension, the skin has ulcerated. This mass 
is as large as a hen's egg, and occupies the back of the thumb, leaving 
its palmar surface quite free. As a rule the terminal phalanges escape. 

" There is a very remarkable deformity of the left lower extremity. The 
femur is much shortened, and there is an obtuse curve in its lowest fourth ; 
with convexity outwards as if it had been broken. The knee is so much 
displaced outwards that the patella has left the inner condyle. I think 
it most probable that there has really been a fracture, or displacement of 
epiphysis, in infancy. 

** There is a marked family tendency to chilblains, and some of her 
brothers and sisters^ suffer severely, but she has not done so in any 
extreme degree. 

" She looks well. No family history of similar conditions or of tendency 
to gout. Her right leg was supposed to ail nothing, and is quite straight. 
I found, however, just above the ankle on both tibia and fibula, little 
bony outgrowths, quite definite and very hard. Also some neaor the 
knee, very small. The symmetrical arrangement is very definite, but 
the size of the growths on the two sides is very different. Although 
both hands are extensively affected and alike so, yet the size of the 
growths on corresponding fingers differs much. Most of the gro^rths 
occur near to epiphysis, but some in the middle of phalanges. Right 
limb from anterior superior spine of ilium to inner maleolus measures 33^ 
inches, left 24 inches. 

*' In the hands it is to be remarked that whilst aU the phalanges are 
occupied by tumours, all the metacarpal bones are free, as also all those 
of the carpus. There is some little exception to this statement as to the 
distal ends of some metacarpal bones which show ridges, but none have 
tumours in them. The hand on each side is pushed over by overgrowth 
of the ulna or arrest of that of the radius." 



CASE ILLUSTEATING THE NEUEO-CATAEEHAL 
NATUEE OF EEYTHEMA MULTIFOEME. 

The appended brief Schedule gives the particulars of an 
instructive example of erythema multiforme. The patient 
was a young lady, aged 26, when in 1895 she first came 
under my observation. It was her fifth attack, and was so 
well characterised that I asked her to attend at one of my 
Demonstrations, which she kindly consented to do. I have 
recently seen her in another attack, and during the present 
year, 1898, she has had no fewer than three. Previous to 
these she had had an interval of two years without any. In 
1895 I had prescribed arsenic in the hope of preventing the 
attacks, but she took it only for a few months. We cannot 
attribute her immunity during the two years to that treat- 
ment, for, as the schedule will show, she had had periods of 
freedom quite as long previously. 



7EAB. 


▲GE. 
19 


1888 


1889 


20 


1890 


21 


1891 


22 


1892 


28 


1898 


24 


1894 


25 


1895 


26 


1896 


27 


1897 


28 


1898 


29 



DETAILS. 



Her first attack. Saw her doctor. It was only unsightly. 

No attack. 

No attack. 

A second attack. 

No attack. 

No attack. 

Spring and autumn attacks. 

April 6, Erythema multiforme. Arsenic given. 

No attack. 

No attack. 

March 1, attack. May 2, attack. Jime 21, another. 



It would appear that the attacks had rather increased in 
severity than otherwise. Her first affected the hands only, 
and although it was bad enough to induce her to consult her 
doctor, it did not cause her much trouble. On subsequent 



302 NEURO-CATABRHAL NATURE OF ERYTHEMA MULTIFORME. 

• 

occasions the face as well as the hands had been affected, 
and during the last attack, when she came to me, there were 
vesications not only on the hands and face, but on the tips 
of the elbows and on the chest. On the elbows precisely the 
psoriasis positions were affected, a fact which it is important 
to note. On all occasions the eruption had disappeared 
spontaneously after a very short duration. The earlier 
attacks usually occurred in the spring. In 1894 she had an 
autumn attack also, and in 1898 one in spring and two in 
summer. The summer of 1898, it is to be noted, was cold 
and wet, the weather being throughout much like that of 
spring. 

I have taken much interest in endeavouring to associate 
these eruptions with the ordinary causes of catarrhal out- 
breaks, and with influences brought to bear through the 
nervous system. 

In reference to these theories Miss P gave me some 

items of evidence. She said that in girlhood she had always 
been liable to "heat-spots" on the lips (herpes labiahs). She 
thought that she was liable to catch cold, but said that her 
colds did not cause running at the nose, &c., as in other 
people. " When I get a cold I nev^r show it, but only feel 
chilly and starved, and have a cold feeling down the middle 
of the back.'' Now the association of herpes labialis with 
rigors is well known, and the symptoms described by Miss 

P are precisely those which would be likely to precede 

an eruption of neurotic causation. 



TWO CASES OF AN UN-DIAGNOSED DISEASE OF 

THE SKIN OF THE FACE. 

Case I. 

Miss B , set. 20. In August, 1896, " a little pimple " 

was noticed on the middle of lower eyelid. Nothing was 
done to it, and after two or three weeks "the lids swelled 
so that I could not open them.'* This subsided and left 
the present condition. 

There is now (December, 1896) a long, oval, elevated 
patch running lengthwise of the lower eyelid and without 
the slightest inflanmiation around it. Almost from the 
first there has oozed from the surface from different points 
a considerable quantity of clear watery fluid. The patch 
shows some little yellowish granular dots. (Portrait pre- 
served.) It is a quarter of an inch in elevation, and might 
be taken for keloid, but is not so glossy and not so hard. 
It is firm rather than hard, and a dull plum colour. There 
are no enlarged glands nor any other form of eruption. 

Her father is not in good health, but not consumptive. 
The girl herself has been very hysterical and weak, but not 
otherwise ill. 

This patient attended on three occasions at my Demon- 
strations, and her case excited great interest. At first 
iodide of potassium was given, but subsequently steel. 
The patch gradually and very slowly softened away, and 
in March, 1897, although still visible as a discoloration, it 
had no appreciable thickness. A few months later there 
was nothing but a thin whitish scar. 



30i UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE OF THE SKIN OF THE FACE. 

Case II. 

The following is an example of an induration almost 
exactly like that above described, but less raised, and in 
precisely the same position, the right lower eyelid : — 

Mrs. S , set. 75. She first noticed a little spot on the 

lower eyelid. It has not been painful, but has increased. 
It was at first *' under the skin and quite loose." At present 
there is an induration which involves the skin, and is 
smooth and glossy on its surface. It is conspicuous as a 
smooth, brownish-red patch, but is but little elevated. It 
is about as big as a filbert flattened out, and is very hard. It 
is a long oval in shape. She once had a violent fall and 
bruised her cheek, but that is six years ago. There is 
no history of tumours in her family, but much rheumatism 
and gout. 

When this patient consulted me her patch had been 
present about two months. It was extending, and she 
had been strongly urged to have it immediately excised, 
and had been told that it was probably malignant. Ee- 
membering the previous case I felt justified in advising 
delay, and prescribed only the iodide of lead and a tonic. 
A month later it was much less hard, and in the course of 
three months it had disappeared. Just, however, as it was 
disappearing, another similar one began to form in the skin 
of the forehead, a little above the eyebrow (on the same 
side). My patient lived at a great distance in the country, 
and I had no opportunity for watching the course of the 
second patch. She wrote me some months later that it 
also, under the use of the same ointment, had disappeared. 

Comments on the two Cases, 

The two cases which are briefly recorded in the above 
notes were, as far as external appearances go, very closely 
alike. In each case the patch was on the lower eyelid, and 
of a long oval form. In each it was raised above the level 
of the skin, in one very considerably so, and in both abruptly 
circumscribed. The patient in one case was a girl of 18, 
and in the other an old lady of nearly 70. In the girl the 



COMMENTS ON THE CASES. 305 

patch disappeared slowly in the course of five or six months, 
leaving behind it a very thin but quite definite whitish scar. 
This patient was seen repeatedly by many observers, and 
very carefully examined. She attended not only on several 
occasions at my Demonstrations, but also once at a meeting 
of the Dermatological Society of London. No nominal 
diagnosis was ventured by any one. The girl was somewhat 
out of health at the time, being anaemic and hysterical. 
The disappearance of the patch occurred under no more 
vigorous local treatment than keeping it covered with iodide 
of lead ointment. Under a long course of tincture of iron 
the general health was much improved. 

In the older patient the process of involution was much 
more rapid, and in the course of two months from its 
commencement the patch had disappeared. Just as it was 
disappearing, however, another similar but smaller one 
showed itself above the eyebrow, on the same side. It also, 
after a few weeks' duration, underwent spontaneous absorp- 
tion. I have not seen my patient since the cure, but in 
reply to a recent letter of inquiry she assures me that both 
patches have quite disappeared, and have left little or no 
trace. As indicating the threatening aspect assumed by 

the disease in its early stage, I may mention that Mrs. T 

came to me in consequence of having had an immediate 
excision urgently advised to her under the diagnosis of 
sarcoma. I will not venture on any diagnosis of the disease, 
whether nominal or essential. In each instance I was at 
first disposed to regard the malady ai probably lupoid, that 
is of tubercular nature. The conditions were, however, 
not at all closely similar to any recognised form of lupus, 
and the almost spontaneous disappearance in each case was 
more rapid than is ever seen in lupus. It was also much 
more complete, for in neither instance is there any trace of 
the original growth remaining. I cannot speak with cer- 
tainty as to the elder patient, but in the younger one the 
skin affected has been disorganised, and a scar has resulted. 
In this the process has resembled that of lupus. In the 
older patient there is no reason to suspect tuberculosis, for 
she is in excellent health. 

VOL. IX. 20 



306 UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE OF THE SKIN OF THE FACE. 

In the yonnger one, although there is no very definite 
evidence of it, the state of health by no means precludes 
suspicion. 

These two cases are not, as regards the local appear- 
ances, unlike those of which I shall treat in the following 
paper. In the absence of multiplicity, however, and in 
the tendency to spontaneous cure they differ widely. I 
may add that in each instance I proposed excision of a part 
for microscopic examination, but by both patients this 
method of diagnosis was declined. 




PLATE CLII. 

MOBTIMEB'8 MALADY. 



The upper of the two figures ehowe the condition of Mrs. 
Morlimer'B face four years ago. At that time the disease had 
existed only one year. It subsequently increased considerably, but 
during the last two years baa been almost stationary. Six months 
after the portrait was taken the bridge of the nose was involved in 
a large suboutaneous soft swelling, which subsequently underwent 
spontaneous involution and disappeared. The lobules of both ears 
also became involved, and presented a fleshy thiokening, each as is 
seen in the next Plate. 

The lower figure shows the back of the right upper arm of the 
same patient. On this part also the patches subsequently attained 
a larger size ; hut still later, some of them have disappeared. Both 
on the face and upper arms the patches ooourred with almost exact 
symmetry. The patient is still living, and in fairly good health. 



i CLIF4ICAL tLLUSTRATIONS. 






• • • - 

• • •• 



.^'^ 



CASES OF MOETIMEE'S MALADY 

{Lupus Vulgaris Multiplex non-ulcerans et non-serpiginosus), 

I HAVE to describe a form of skin disease which has, I 
beUeve, hitherto escaped special recognition. It may not 
improbably be a tuberculous affection and one of the Lupus 
family, but if so it differs widely from all other forms of 
lupus, both in its features and its course. 

Of the four cases which I am about to relate, the first two 
are by far the most definite examples of the malady in 
question. The other two, as well as the two which have 
formed the subject of the preceding paper, are of much 
interest as probably presenting aUied conditions, but I by 
no means wish to claim them as identical. 

The disease is characterised by the formation of multiple, 
raised, dusky-red patches which have no tendency to inflame 
or ulcerate. They are very persistent, and extend but slowly. 
They occur in groups, and are usually on both sides and 
almost symmetrical. The multiplicity of the patches, their 
occurrence in groups, their bilateral symmetry, and the 
absence of all tendency to ulcerate or form crusts, are 
features which separate the malady from lupus vulgaris. To 
none of the other forms of lupus has the malady any 
resemblance. 

The malady might perhaps be named Lupus Vulgaris 
Multiplex non-ulcer anSy but for the present I prefer to 
recognise it, by the name of one of its subjects, as Mortimer's 
Malady. 

Case I. — The first and as yet the most marked example 
of the disease which has come under my observation is that 
of a very respectable elderly woman named Mortimer. The 
condition of her face and of one arm are shown in Plate 
CLII. The portraits from which this plate was executed 
were taken by Mr. Burgess in August, 1894. Ajfc that cUkte 




'dm CASES OF HOBTDfEB S MALADY. 

she was sixty-five years of age, and her sldii disease had 
been present about a year. The latter consisted of a niunber 
of quite separate patches arranged in groups on her cheeks 
and on the backs of her upper arms. The arrangement was 
accurately symmetrical, but the patches ^rere larger and 
somewhat more abundant on the left cheek and right arm than 
on the opposite parts. The patches were considerably raised 
and abruptly defined, on skin otherwise healthy. They were 
of dusky-red colour and rather soft structure. Although 
nowhere ulcerated, and quite unattended by pustules, some 
of them showed a sUgbt formation of exfoliative scale-crust. 
(The portrait gives a much more definite impression of this 
than was reaJly the case.) None showed any approach to 
the apple-jeUy condition, nor was there any definite scarring, 
though some of the patches were depressed in their centres 
as if in process of cicatrisation. Six months after this por- 
trait was taken the patches had increased in number and in 
size. The lobuie of the right ear had become involved, and 
presented almost precisely the condition often seen in this 
part in cases of common lupus. Her nose, however, pre- 
sented a very peculiar condition. It was much swollen 
across the bridge, but without any implication of the skin, 
presenting a thick, soft tumour. At this stage the patient, 
who had often attended at my Demonstrations, was presented 
at one of the meetings of the Dermatological Society of 
London. The general opinion was, I believe, that the 
disease was sarcoma, and it was strongly urged that portions 
should be removed for microscopic examination. This I 
subsequently suggested to my patient, and with the result 
that I did not see her again for two years. 

The above notes present a summary of the CEise, but have 
been written out from memory recently. The two foUowing 
are trans 

Mrs. J 
ago, cam 
has 8om£ 
the least 
the uppf 
scarcel'" 



MES. MORTIMBB'S CASE. QOQ 

appeared interspersed with the principal group. The 
tendency to symmetry has also been shown on the face, by 
the appearance of another patch in the middle of the right 
cheek. It is, however, much smaller than that on the left 
cheek. The several groups on the left cheek have advanced 
and coalesced so as almost to cover the whole of it, and the 
patches on the left eyebrow have very much increased 
in size and coalesced. The upper part of the external ear 
on the left side is involved in general thickening with some 
deep-seated indurations. There are, however, no tubercles 
or other form of eruption on its surface. The other ear is 
quite pale and not in the least inflamed. A soft swelling has 
formed over the bridge of her nose. It adheres to the skin, 
but implicates chiefly the subcutaneous cellular tissue. 
There are some little sores just within the nostrils. The 
characters of the tubercles are everywhere the same as 
before. They consist of rather firm papules, which by 
coalescing into patches form tubercles, some of which are 
quite flat-topped and others nodular. The thickest are 
about a quarter of an inch in thickness. They are of a dull 
red colour and scarcely desquamate at all. They have not 
the semi-transparent quaUty of apple-jelly. On the back of 
the right arm there are thirteen or fourteen separate patches, 
and on the back of the left nearly as many, but smaller ones. 
All the spots are much smoother looking and more tuberous, 
i.e., more elevated than they appear in the drawing. A very 
remarkable feature in the disease, supposing it to be a form 
of Lupus vulgaris, is its tendency to symmetry. There is no 
history of tubercle in the patient's family, but her mother 
died of cancer. 

July 3, 1895. — She reports herself in fair health, but 
looks thin. The patches in the middle of left cheek have 
now coalesced, but still remain nodular and to a certain 
extent distinct. Those on the sides of cheek, near to the ear, 
are still quite distinct. On the right cheek the middle is 
quite free, and so is the part in front of the ear. Nor has 
the ear on this side ever suffered. Many of the nodules are 
distinctly withering ; especially that in the lobule of the left 
is much smaller and paler than it was, and so also are 



L 



310 CASES OF mobtiheb's malady. 

those in her eyebrow. No new spots have developed lately. 
The disease seems to have reached its height six months 
ago. She herself feels very certain ''that it is going." The 
evidence is also very definite on the backs of the arms, wliere 
many of the nodules have shrivelled and left only thin 
scars. [In 1897 the conditions were much the same.] 

Case II. — The subject of my second case was a man aged 
about forty-five, apparently in good health. His eruption 
had been present several years, and he had of late paid but 
little attention to it. It did not disable him from his occu- 
pation, and he regarded it as an incurable disfigurement, but 
nothing more. He was willing to beheve that he had many 
years ago had syphiUs, but this was not certain, and unless 
the eruption was of that nature he had had no reminders. 
He was married, and had children who showed no signs of 
taint. His own eruption was not in the least benefited by 
specific treatment. 

The eruption in this case is fairly well shown in Plate 
GLIII. His face was covered with patches just hke those 
of Mrs. Mortimer, but more numerous and of smaller size. 
They showed no tendency to coalesce, and none whatever 
to ulcerate or form pustules. Many of them were disc-like, 
and had sUghtly depressed centres, but none had left definite 
scars. The lobules of his ears were swollen and dusky, as in 
lupus vulgaris, but in addition there were ill-defined patches 
on the helix and anti-helix. A very important feature which 
I think definitely connects this case with lupus has yet to 
be mentioned. • On both his legs were very many large areas 
of scar, at the borders of which the skin presented the con- 
ditions seen in lupus exfoliativus. Here again there was 
not and never had been any obvious ulceration. There were 
no pus crusts, but yet it was clear that a serpiginous disor- 
ganising inflammation was present, which left a scar behind 
it. This condition involved the greater part of both legs, 
and extended somewhat upon the thigh. 

Under three years of observation, with more or less of 
treatment, this patient's condition has changed but little. 
At first I gave mercury and iodides, thinking that it might 
be in part syphilitic, but subsequently tonics with very 






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CASE OF LUPUS VULGARIS MULTIPLEX. 311 

small doses of mercury were relied on. The local disease on 
tlie whole improved. It will be seen that it was too ex- 
tensive and of too Uttle importance to justify severe local 
treatment. Various ointments were of course employed. 

Whilst the man was under observation, one of his sons 
suffered from diplopia and pain in the head, and the 
diagnosis of meningeal tubercle was suggested. The symp- 
toms, however, passed oflf. The boy did not present any 
indications of inherited syphilis. 

Case III. — A case of Luptcs Vulgaris Multiplex, with 

very peculiar features, 

m 

L. M consulted me on July 8th for very unusual 

conditions. Just below and to the right side of her right 
nostril were two detached and quite isolated patches. The 
upper one of the two consisted of a streak an inch long 
and a quarter of an inch wide. It had an elevation of 
a quarter inch, was quite smooth, but not so firm nor 
so glossy as keloid. It had rather the brownish semi- 
transparent appearance of lupus apple -jelly. Near to 
this, on the upper lip, was a patch made up by the 
coalescence of two small beehive-like papules of exactly the 
same structure as that just described. If these patches had 
been all, I should have diagnosed lupus vulgaris, though 
fully recognising unusual features. Some spots in the palm 
of the left hand, however, made the diagnosis much more 
perplexing. Here was a little group of four smooth, 
brownish tubercles, each the size of a small pea and quite 
devoid of inflammation. They were like those on the upper 
lip, but smaller and tending to be pointed rather than bee- 
hive-shaped. The skin around them was pale and quite 
free from congestion. The patient told me that if she 
pressed suddenly on these spots a sensation of pins and 
needles was j)roduced. My touching them, even firmly, did 
not elicit this sensation, bat I was told that the sudden 
grasping of a door handle would be sure to cause it and to 
give '' quite an eleetiie tbodc/' 

L. M 's (Tfm miirirt €t ber spots was that those on 





312 CASES OF MORTIMER'S MALADY. 

the face had made their appearance about three months ago, 
when she was recovering from a confinement, and had 
gradually progressed. They were, she thought, on the site 
of scars which had resulted from scratches received in a fall 
in childhood. These scars could hardly be demonstrated. 

L. M was tall and of fair complexion. She had a 

feeble circulation, and had suffered mucTi from chilblains on 
her feet. She had, however, never had chilblains on her 
ears or face. There was much gout in her family, and she 
herself had been liable to pains in her joints which had 
been considered gouty. There was not the slightest reason 
to suspect syphilis. She had one child — a fine, healthy boy 
six months old. 

The patches in the palm of the hand reminded me of the 
nodules on the ears, &c. ("gelatinous tophi") sometimes met 
with in gout. I believe that it is a feature of certain forms 
of gouty inflammation that a sensation of pins and needles 
is elicited by sudden pressure. 

August lOth, — It is a month since L. M 's first visit. 

I have now little doubt that her spots are lupus vulgaris, but 
the conditions are very peculiar. I am told that a brother 
is in consumption, and that a sister has also spat blood. 

L. M herself, as well as her sister who comes with her, 

looks very delicate. They are both tall, thin, and of very 
transparent skin. 

L. M *s first patches were those on her face, and one 

of these certainly developed in an old scar. The two spots 

are much raised, semi-transparent, like those of Mrs. G 

and the girl B — -—, They are red and semi-transparent, like 
currant-jelly. To-day, however, L. M — '— shows me others, 
one near one knee which she has observed only a few days. 
It is a flat, lupus-like patch as big as a shilling, not raised 
and not ulcerated. The third group is in the palm of one 
hand, just below the wrist. It consists of four or five 
nodules which join each other in two lines. They look 
semi-transparent. A point as regards the patches on the face 
is that the surrounding skin is not in the least infiltrated ; 
the growths stand up abruptly on perfectly sound skin. 



CASE OF DOUBTFUL DIAGNOSIS. 313 

Case IV. — A case in which the diagnosis between Lupus 
Vulgaris Multiplex and Lichen Planus is in question, 

I append the notes of the following case with some 
hesitation, not feeling sure that it belongs to the series 
under consideration. By one distinguished dermatologist, 
who had seen the patient before I did, it had been diagnosed 
as Lichen planus. Eeasons for dissenting from this opinion 
will be found in the notes, and, taking all the facts into 
consideration, I am inclined to think that the sequel will 
show that it belongs to the present group. It will be seen 
that the eruption had been present about eighteen moliths 
when the patient came under my observation. I transcribe 
the notes as taken at the time of my consultation. 

Mr. H , aged 82. He says that he has always been delicate, 

suffering chiefly in his bowels. Never suspected of phthisis. No known 
tuberculosis. In childhood he was not expected to live. He had pro- 
bably a pericsecal abscess (set. 20). He is very tall and thin. 

His first spot occurred in January, 1897. It was on his right thigh 
behind the trochanter. He was in Australia^ and suffering at the time 
from ** catarrh of the bowels." Other spots followed within a few weeks 
on the same thigh, and soon afterwards some appeared on the other 
thigh. Next a few, only two or three, showed themselves on the front 
of the chest. Of these last he soon got rid, and only the very faintest 
scars have been left. He has none lower than the knees. He once had 
one on the front of right elbow, but it was cured, and has left no trace. 
On the right thigh is a large group of very conspicuous patches. Some 
of them are more or less ringed, but most of them show no subsidence 
in their centres. Some seem to be leaving small scars. They are elevated 
patches varying in size from a pea to a shilling, and irregular in form. 
Their close juxtaposition in groups might seem to indicate local con- 
tagion, but there is a very definite tendency to symmetry. He has had 
none whatever on the forearms or legs. One occurs over the sacrum. 

He took arsenic at one time until if disagreed, and he was obliged to 
leave it off. It did no special good. He has indeed had no advantage 
from any treatment, but a few of the patches have disappeared, appa- 
rently spontaneously. The patches do not ulcerate or inflame. They 
are of a dusky plum colour, and with here and there a sUght scale crust. 
Some are rather rough, and all are firm to the touch. In their early 
stages they itch much, and he scratches them, but the skin shows no 
evidence of injury from this, bemg perfectly smooth and quite pale 
between the spots. The case is certainly not one of psoriasis. The 
patches are constituted by infiltrated skin, which is raised above the 



314 CASES OF MOBTIMEB*S MALADY. 

level of what Burrounds it, and they are not sunnounted by scale crust, 
nor are they in the psoriasis positions. 

It is not like lichen planus in several features, although some of the 
individual patches might be supposed to much resemble the rough 
papillary form of this disease. None of the patches at any stage show 
the least tendency to polish. The patches are distinctly grouped, being 
closely set on the right thigh, but there are none whatever on the wrists 
or ankles. They developed rapidly, and have remained in bUUu qtio tot 
more than a year. 

In some respects the case closely resembles lupus vulgaris multiplex. 
The grouping of the spots, their persistency, their multiphdty, and their 
somewhat irregular approach to symmetry might easily fit with this 
diagnosis. None of them, however, show any characteristic apple-jelly, 
nor do they spread at their edges so fast as is usual in lupus ; nor are the 
scars which are left so deep as those usual in lupus. 

The subject of the above narrative came to me again on 
September 20, 1898. We both of us thought that most of 
his patches were receding, but the change was not very 
marked. They were all less elevated than they had been. 
Many showed a central depression of pale skin or scar. 
Superficial slightly marked scars were certainly left v^here 
patches had disappeared. No new patches had appeared, 
and they were still restricted to his thighs, with a single one 
over the sacrum. 

Comment on the Series. 

I feel the less scruple in thus placing in juxtaposition 
cases which are possibly not identical in nature, because 
I hold it to be important not to attempt to constitute species 
in nosology. The truth is probably that the various 
pathogenetic influences are capable of the most various 
combinations, and that we have on all sides connecting- 
Unks between maladies which have gained distinctive names. 
We do not, for instance, know enough as to the causes of 
what we call lichen planus to be sure that it may not have 
a lupoid form when occurring in a tuberculous patient. 
Patient investigation and great care in the observation of 
phenomena are needed before we can hope to arrive at truth 
on these matters. I have therefore thought it well at the 
present time to place these cases on record, hoping that the 
future may furnish materials for their better elucidation. 



ON EEUPTIONS WHICH OCCUE IN CONNECTION 

WITH GOUT. 

I HAVE figured in "Illustrations of Clinical Surgery" the 
hands of a man in whom abruptly margined patches of a 
blue-black tint formed, in the first instance, on his hands. 
During subsequent years the eruption became general, but did 
not interfere with his ordinary health. He had suffered from 
gout, and he finally died of contracted kidney. I wad inclined 
to consider the skin-disease as essentially connected with 
gout, although it undoubtedly displayed infective qualities. 
Beference was md.de to a drawing shown me in Christiania, 
exhibiting precisely the same condition of things on the 
hands of a Swedish sailor. Since then I have published 
several other cases bearing upon the subject, but none of 
them so definitely characterised. I have also endeavoured 
to trace a connection with another group of cases, of which 
Dr. Judson Bury*s well-known case is a type, in which 
somewhat similar conditions are met with on the hands of 
those who inherit gout tendencies, and chiefly in early life. 
The blue patches now under consideration occur chiefly to 
adults who are themselves gouty. The conditions appear 
to be halfway between chronic inflaiomation and new 
growth. By some they have been claimed as sarcoma, and 
I have but little hesitation in identifying Hebra's portrait of 
** Sarcoma Melanodes** on the two hands of a brewer as being 
of the same nature. The disease, however, does not run the 
clinical course of a malignant sarcoma. It usually begins 
symmetrically on the two hands. It is very slow in pro- 
gress, does not affect the he^alth, nor does it tend to ulcerate 
or to implicate lymphatics or viscera. 
I make these remarks as introductory to the narrative of 



316 ERUPTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH GOUT. 

a case in which I have been fortunate enough to obtain a 
microscopic examination, and to some others which have 
recently come under my observation, more or less cognate. 

Purple-tinted patch on the Shin in connection with Gout — 

Excision and Histological Beport. 

A man, aged 43, was sent to me in January, 1897, by Dr. 
Baber, of Brighton, with one of these patches behind his 
right ear. It was of irregular shape, and about as large as 
a small almond, slightly granular on its surface, but pre- 
serving a uniform level. It was raised about the twelfth of 
an inch, and had a very abrupt border. It had given him 
no trouble, and had been present about four months. He 
had none elsewhere. He was a rather stout man, of bloated 
aspect, and clearly a free liver. He said that his grand- 
father and great-grandfather, both of whom had lived freely, 
were reputed to have suffered much from gout, and that 
his father, who lived carefully, also suffered frequent attacks, 
though not often disabled. An aunt was at the present 
time crippled with rheumatic gout. Asked as to his ovm 
habits, he replied, ** I have been obliged to give up beer, 
because it always goes to my toe. Curiously I can drink 
a little stout without its affecting my feet, but as soon as I 
try beer, which you would think was lighter, my toes 
become painful, and I am obliged to leave it off." 

My diagnosis in this case before I knew the history was 
the pseudo-sarcoma of gout. The patch was in all respects 
exactly like those shown in the illustration to which I have 
referred. The tint was not the coal-black of melanotic 
sarcoma, but had a peculiar bluish tint. Nor did the patch 
tend to thicken in its middle as sarcoma does, but rather to 
spread at its borders, producing a flat area. The man 
attended at one of my Demonstrations, when special atten- 
tion was asked to these features and portraits of my other 
cases were produced for comparison. Eecognising the fact 
that in former cases the patches had appeared to possess 
some power of infection, I advised a free excision. This 
was done by Dr. Baber, who was good enough to send me 



SAECOMA MELANODES. 317 

the portion of skin removed. This latter I forwarded at 
once to the Clinical Eesearch Association, and in due course 
received a mounted section and Eeport which I append. 

'* The specimen consists of a portion of skin a little over half an inch in 
diameter, and circular in shape. It shows faint bloish-black pigmenta- 
tion to the naked eye. 

" On microscopic examination, the upper layers of the cutis are found 
to be irregularly infiltrated with collections of newly formed round and 
oval cells. The infiltration is found to be greatest in the papillary layer 
of the skin ;^in certain cases individual papillae show the presence of the 
infiltration, while the immediately underlying cutis is nearly free. In 
consequence the papillae are, as a rule, swollen and flattened, while the 
interpapillary processes of the epithelium show corresponding elongation.* 
The cells composing the infiltration are roimd or oval in shape, and 
present the characters of the cells forming a new growth, rather than 
those of a granuloma due to the action of specific micro-organisms, or 
mechanical irritation. 

^^ Presence of Pigment — Scattered throughout the new cell-infiltration 
are seen cells considerably larger than their neighbours, and frequently 
presenting well-formed processes. The protoplasm of these cells is full 
of the characteristic dark brown granules of melanin. These pigment- 
containing cells are found in greatest numbers at the apices of the 
papillae. In this situation these cells are not only more numerous, but 
larger than the similar cells scattered sparsely throughout the infiltra- 
ting cells. A few small pigment-containing cells are also seen at the 
periphery of infiltrated areas. The large pigment-containing cells at the 
apices of the papillae do not occur in the layer of cells immediately 
underlying the rete malpighii, but lie several layers deeper than the 
basement membrane, well within the limits of the cutis vera. 

** Diagnosis. — The specimen therefore presents the aspect of a con- 
genitally pigmented patch of skin, and gives evidences of recent growth 
of new cells of connective tissue origin, some of them containing 
pigment, while the majority do not. In other words the specimen 
seems to be a pigmented mole (naevus) imdergoing early sarcomatous 
changes.** 

As regards the suggestion in the last part of this report 
that the growth was in a congenital mole, I do not think 
that it can be upheld. The man knew of no mole, and 
assured us that the patch had been present only a few 
months. Nor had it, to the naked eye, any appearances 
suggestive of a mole. It was quite uniform in its surface 
and showed no disposition to ulcerate. I may add that 



318 EBUPTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH GOUT. 

before the above report was sent to me, Dr. Galloway, into 
whose hands the specimen had in the first instance been 
placed, had very kindly written me an informal report, 
thinking that it might be of importance in the further treat- 
ment of the case, assuring me that the growth presented 
the characters of an infective sarcoma. We may therefore 
take it as established that the appearances presented to the 
microscope were not distinguishable from those of melanotic 
sarcoma. How far these appearances could be trusted in 
the direction of clinical diagnosis is another matter and more 
open to question. So far as I at present know, the man has 
remained during the two years which have elapsed withont 
return. 

Note on the effect of Brine Baths on the Urine — Purple- 
tinted spots on the backs of hands in connection with 
Gout. 

Colonel S , the subject of rheumatic gout, has recently, 

on my advice, visited Droit wich. His experience has been 
that whilst taking a twenty minutes brine bath every day, 
his urine was loaded with urates all the time. It is usually 
quite clear. He is a very temperate man, but inherits gout. 

He has now, November 23, 1897, a very peculiar eruption 
of purple spots on the backs of both hands. Small discs, 
some polished ; some confluent and rather rough. 

I leave the above brief note just as it was written at the 

time. Nine months later Colonel S called on me again, 

this time to report the effect of mud baths which he had 
recently been trying. I was much interested in inquiring 
as to the condition of his hands. They were quite well. 
The spots had disappeared within a few months of my 
seeing him. As there had been no development of eruption 
elsewhere, I am not inclined to consider them as lichen 
planus, and having regard to their purple tint and peculiar 
features, am disposed to associate them with the patient's 
gout-history. I may add respecting the case that Colonel 
S *s chief ailment consists in disorganisation by rheu- 



A CASE-NABRATIVE. 319 

matic gout of the right knee, with great thickening of the 
synovial membrane. He has been under my observation 
for this for more than ten years. He is in other respects in 
excellent health, florid, and moderately stout. His age is 
fifty-six. If we accept the diagnosis of gout as regards his 
eruption, the case proves that these purple-tinted papules 
axe not always persistent or aggressive. 

Inheritance of Gout — Liability in a young lady to a scar- 
leaving Eruption on backs of hands, neckf and trunk — 
Non-crystalline Tophi on the ears — Lymph-adenoma. 

» 

The following case is of much interest in reference to the 
connection of certain diseases of the skin with inheritance 
of gout. Imprimis let me say that both the mother and 
maternal grandmother of my patient had suffered from bond 
fide gout, having both of them had attacks in the great toe. 
Next, the patient herself, a lady of only thirty, had in both 
ears, exactly in the position where chalk-stones * are so often 
seen, little indolent irritable swellings just like tophi, except- 
ing that they could not be proved to contain any concretions. 

Miss K — — was a tall, thin lady of feeble circulation and 
liable to cold extremities, but who had never suffered much 
from chilblains. She did not consider that season or 
weather ever caused her eruption to be worse, and the date 
of her consulting me was in the summer of 1898 (August 12). 
In girlhood she had been considered delicate, and had 
always been encouraged to take beer and wine in modera- 
tion. At school, however, at the seaside, she improved and 
got, as she said, plump and well. Since then, that is since 
8Bt. 17, she had been thin and constantly liable to the 
eruption which I have to describe. At the age of fourteen a 
chain of glands enlarged in the right side of her neck, and it 
had never wholly disappeared. For three or four winters 
she had been taken to the Mediterranean for the winter in 
order to avoid the cold of England. She had never, how- 
ever, been thought to be phthisical. Of one thing she 

* See paper on " Tbphi which are not Chalk-stones/' AacHiyEB, Vol. Vn., 
p. 146. 



320 ERUPTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH GOUT. 

expressed hdrself as quite certain, that whenever she took 
steel in any form her eruption was worse. She thought 
that quinine also aggravated it, but about this she was less 
positive. If we add to this that at the age of fourteen she 
had an attack of typhus fever and an abscess near one knee 
after it, we may next proceed to describe the eruption. 

Miss E 's hands, on their backs and chiefly over the 

thumb, index and middle fingers, showed a pustular scar- 
leaving eruption. The scars were abundant but not deep, 
and they were quite sound. The little pustules began as 
minute erythematous spots, which ran a very chronic 
course, but finally produced a small quantity of pus in their 
centres. When the pus had escaped they would dry up and 
leave a white scar. The little and ring fingers were .exempt 
from both spots and scars, but the others were almost 
covered with them. The eruption ended at the wrist, and 
there was none on the forearms. It was symmetrical on 
the two hands. Many similar pustules occurred on the 
neck and behind the ears, and there were some on the 
trunk and especially on the sides of the abdomen. Here 
white scars which had been left were far more numerous 
than the spots, but the latter were conspicuous, and in some 
places occurred in groups. The eruption on the trunk was 
not in the least restricted to the acne-positions, though 
some occurred on the shoulders. As regards the persistence 
of the eruption, I was told that it never got quite well, 
though it was often better and worse, and that it was not 
liable to sudden outbreaks. The symmetrical distribution 
on the hands and the exemption of two fingers suggested a 
nerve causation, and this was in part supported by the 
arrangement of the scars on the abdomen. 

It may be well to speak of the lymph-adenoma complica- 
tion in the above case separately, since it probably had no 
connection with the eruption. The right side of the neck 
had a long string of slightly enlarged glands, extending 
from the angle of the jaw to the clavicle. None of these 
glands were larger than small grapes, and they remained 
isolated the one from the other. They had been recognised 



CASE OF LYMPH-ADENOMA. 321 

for fifteen years and had never shown any tendency to 
inflame or to grow. Recently, however, they had shown 
infective prpperties, and a cluster of much larger glands 
had developed in the armpit of the same. Their conditions 
were characteristically those of lymph-adenoma. 



VOL. IX. 21 



ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF LYMPATHIC 

GLANDS. 

(Continued from page 272.) 

THBEE CASES OF ACUTE LYMPHO- SARCOMATOUS 
DISEASE ENDING RAPIDLY IN DEATH. 

Case I. 

Case XXX. — Syphilis without recognised chancre — Enlarged 
gland in neck — Acute Lymphosarcoma in the second 
year — Death — A utopsy . 

Mr. B came under my care in the first instance on 

June 22, 1896. Part of his ailment was an enlarged and 
elongated gland in the right side of neck, over the carotid. 
It received pulsation in a most deceptive manner, and 
might have been suspected as an aneurism. He said that 
he had never in his life had syphilis, and that for some 
years he had never had intercourse. Before the gland 
enlarged his throat had been sore. In addition to this gland 
affection he was covered with a dusky erythematous (almost 
urticarious) eruption which did not itch in the least. He 
told me that two years ago I had prescribed for him for 
headaches, of which he had been almost wholly relieved. 

I was much puzzled as to whether or not the eruption 
was syphilitic, and the state of his throat was also open to 
doubt. It seemed possible that he might have had a 
chancre of his lip. If so, however, it had healed without 
special treatment. At the time that the sore was present 
on his lip the glands in both sides of the neck were some- 
what enlarged. The eruption was, however, more uniform 
in appearance than sjrphilitic rashes usually are. It may be 
added that he had pruritus ani, and that the skin around 



LYMPHO-SABCOMA AFTEB SYPHILIS. 323 

the anus was white and thickened by scratching. I pre- 
scribed mercury. 

On July 10 the eruption was less conspicuous, but still 
present. He had abrasions on his tongue, and filmy sores 
on tonsils. I wrote in my notes, **I think there can be no 
doubt that he has syphilis." There were soma very hard 
glands in both groins, and some abrasions or mucous 
patches at thp anus. He had balanitis, but there was no 
definite sore. In August, under the continued use of 
specifics (mercury and iodides), he was " almost well.** 

On Dec. 12 I wrote, ** He has long been quite free from 
eruptions, but his tongue has relapsed, and is now covered 
with red patches. His tonsils still show films. There is not 
the slightest doubt as to syphilis.**, 

More than a year later, on April 22, 1898, my note records, 
" He has continued free from symptoms with the exception 
of some relapses on the tongue.** 

On May 10 he was quite free from symptoms of syphiUs, 
but complained that for three weeks past he had had much 
pain in the back. He said that this aching pain was on ' 
the increase, and that it was always present in the morning 
on waking. 

He now looked ill, and he drew my attention to some 
enlarged glands in both groins. He was passing almost 
sleepless nights from the pain in the back, and his tongue 
was dry and furred. He looked so ill that I advised him to 
go home and keep his bed. I feared, from the symmetrical 
enlargement of the glands and the groin and the very severe 
pain in the back, that he had some malignant growth com- 
mencing in connection with the vertebrae. At my sugges- 
tion he placed himself under the care of my friend, Dr. F. 
M. Mackenzie, of Hans Place, near to whose house he had 
lodgings. 

Dr. Mackenzie wrote me on May 15 that the condition of 
things was no better, that there was some elevation of tem- 
perature, and much pain in the lumbar and sacra regions 
and outer sides of thighs. He was now taking iodide of 
potassium and salicilate of soda. 

A fortnight later, as there was no improvement, the 



324 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

glands increasing in size, &c., and the patient's financial 
circumstances not good, I obtained his admission under the 
care of my son into the London Hospital. My diagnosis at 
this time was an acute form of lymph-adenoma. It should 
be noted that his mother and maternal grandmother had 
both died of cancer. 

I did not see Mr. B after his admission into hospital, 

and I am indebted to my son for the facts which conclude 
my narrative. 

After admission the pain in the back continued to be very 
severe, and there was increasing general weakness. The 
axillary, cervical, inguinal, and popliteal glands were all 
enlarged, some of them attaining the size of hen's eggs. 
Neither liver or spleen could be made out to be enlarged, 
though the former was tender on pressure. The tonsils 
were both enlarged, and sloughy in their centres. About 
June 6th a hard lump was noticed, the size of a walnut, 
attached to the right fifth rib in the mid-axillary line. 
Another firm swelling (evidently lympho-sarcomatous) sub- 
sequently formed over the second rib close to the sternum. 
Later on this invaded the sternum itself. Progressive weak- 
ness and loss of appetite, emaciation, sometimes delirium 
and coma, with almost constant elevation of temperature 
(100® to 101°) were the chief symptoms before death. He 
was given liquor arsenicalis in steadily increasing doses up 
to one drachm daily, with, as a rule, iodide of potassium. 
These drugs had a marked effect in checking the growth of 
the glands, which for a time actually diminished. The 
arsenic brought out an attack of herpes zoster, and caused 
some general pigmentation. The blood was very carefully 
examined by Dr. Bullock with quite negative results as 
regards the presence of micro-organisms. The white cor- 
puscles were relatively increased, but not excessively so. 
The urine was always normal. The condition of the throat 
was a curious one ; it and the tongue were always dry and 
the tonsils greatly swollen, though the latter diminished 
somewhat after some sloughs had come away from them. 
Death occurred on July 24th from exhaustion. 

Post-mortem examination (by Dr. Schorstein) : — Heart 



LYMPHO-SABCOMA AFTER SYPHILIS. 326 

and lungs normal. Spleen large and soft, weighed 9J 
ozs., otherwise normal. Liver weighed 6 J lbs. ; scattered 
throughout its substance were numerous round white secon- 
dfifcry deposits. Kidneys also contained many secondary 
deposits, the largest ones measuring about an inch in 
diameter. Lymphatic glands : The abdominal, inguinal, 
mediastinal, axillary, and cervical glands were greatly 
enlarged, soft, greyish in colour, but with no caseation. In 
the anterior mediastinum they were matted together to form 
a mass at least five inches in diameter. This invaded the 
pericardium. The aorta was completely surrounded by 
growth, which everywhere had the character of lympho- 
sarcoma. 

Although in this case, in the first instance — owing to the 
patient's positive statement that he had not had intercourse 
for two years, and the corroborative absence of traces of a 
primary sore — ^I felt some doubt as to whether his symptoms 
were really those of syphilis, yet in the end it quite vanished. 
I have little hesitation in believing that the primary sore 
was on his lip or in his mouth, and that the enlarged gland 
in the neck was due to it. Thus, then, we appear to have 
a case in which the adenitis of sjrphilis, in spite of specific 
treatment, passed on into lympho-sarcoma. 

In the case which is to follow, the main facts are 
similar, but the patient did not live long enough for such 
extensive implication of the lymphatic system. In him the 
syphilis was more remote, it having appeared to be quite 
cured three years before the gland disease showed itself. 
The latter, as far as could be ascertained, began as a primary 
affection of the axillary glknds. The patient was, at the 
time that this was discovered, apparently in robust health. 
I by no means wish to suggest that in either case the pre- 
ceding syphilis was an important factor. It is, however, 
well known that in the secondary stage of syphilis the 
lymphatic glands are often somewhat enlarged for a time, 
and my supposition is that lymph-adenomatous processes 
usually originate in glands which have at some former 
period been inflamed. 



326 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 



Case II. 

Case XXXI. — Primary enlargement of Glands in both Arm- 
pits in a healthy man who had had Syphilis — Rapid 
progress, with acute heal inflammation and high 
temperatures — Death — Autopsy, 

C R 's case was in its early stage of interest as 

apparently an example of inflammatory enlargement of 
axillary glands without obvious exciting cause. I had 
treated him, some years before for syphilis, but he had 
since enjoyed robust health, and there did not seem any 
ground for the supposition that syphilis had anything to do 
with his gland disease. He was a big, strong man, and 
considered himself in excellent health at the time that the 
gland enlargement began. He had been dancing in a dress- 
coat which was rather tight, and on undressing to go to bed 
found that there was a lump in his left armpit. There was 
no material pain, and he had at the time no sore on his hand 
or elsewhere. This was about three months before I saw 
him, and during the greater part of the interval he had, 

under the advice of his family surgeon. Dr. A. T , of 

B , who knew of his sjrphilis, been taking iodides and 

mercury. So far from these remedies having reduced the 
glands, the latter had steadily gained in size, and one had 
also appeared in the other armpit. 

When C R was brought to me by his surgeon on 

March 3, 1898, he had in the left armpit a mass of adherent 
glands which filled it, but of which the separate glands, 
though matted together, could be identified. There was no 
evidence of suppuration, and no redness of the skin. His 
chief discomfort was caused by. the desire to rest the elbow 
on something at a distance from the side so as to avoid 
pressure. At a hand's-breadth below the armpit there was 
an area of inflamed subcutaneous tissue and reddened skin 
where suppuration seemed threatened. This had been pre- 
sent only two or three weeks. In the other armpit there 
was a single enlarged gland as big as a walnut, and quite 
movable. There were no enlarged glands on the neck or 



LYMPHO-SARCOMA AFTER SYPHILIS. 327 

elsewhere, and I sought in vain for any source of irritation 
on his trunk and limbs. 

There was no definite history of tuberculosis or of malig- 
nant growths in the family. At the time of this consulta- 
tion I expressed a fear that the disease might prove acute 
lymph-adenoma, or possibly sarcoma. Large doses of 
arsenic were prescribed, and at the same time it was agreed 
to continue the mercury. I could find no reason to connect 
the disease with the previous syphilis. The inflammation 
of the cellular tissue on the side of the chest was such that 
I confidently expected that an abscess would form. As 
there was already gland disease in the other armpit, I did 
not think it a suitable case for excision. We agreed, at any 
rate, to defer the decision on this point. 

A fortnight after this consultation, which took place at 

my house, I was asked to visit C R at his home in 

the country, and to come prepared to excise the tumours if 
it seemed advisable. I was told that the advance had been 
rapid, and that the general health was rapidly failing. I 

found C R in bed, and looking ill. He had lost 

flesh, and his complexion was slightly yellow. The arsenic, 
&c., had been laid aside, as it appeared to cause nausea. 
The temperatures had during the past week usually ranged 
at 102^ in the evening. The gland mass in the left armpit 
had increased in size. That in the right armpit was much 
as it had been, and was still quite loose, but in the root of 
the neck above, where none had been discoverable on the 
previous occasion, several could now be felt. The inflamed 
patch on the left side of chest, which had seemed to threaten 
suppuration, had, under the application of an evaporating 
lotion, lost much of its congestion and oedema, and now pre- 
sented a fine cake-like mass as large as the palm of an adult 
hand. It now seemed clear that the disease was of a sarco- 
matous character, and that no operative treatment could be 

advised. From the manner in which C R during 

conversation seemed to lose his breath, I could not help 
suspecting that some impediment to respiration existed in 
the chest. We could not, however, on auscultation, find any 
evidence of this, and C R himself assured me that 



328 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF LYMPHATIC GLANDS. 

he was not conscious of any difficulty in breathing. He 
drew a deep breath, and assured me that he felt all right. 
Although his pulse was quick, and temperature somewhat 
high, he was in good spirits, and we had difficulty in per- 
suading him that he ought to keep his bed. He insisted 
that he did not ail much, and thought that we w^ere 
exaggerating. 

I felt bound to say to his friends that I thought the 
disease beyond the reach of treatment, and that the patient 
would not live many months. This led to their subsequently 
desiring to have the advice of a younger and more energetic 

surgeon. About ten days after my visit C R w^as, 

under the advice of a very able man, brought up to Liondon 
in order to have a serum-injection treatment tried. His 
temperatures continued high, usually ranging about 103®, 
and he sank a few days after his journey to town. Through 
the courtesy of the surgeon concerned, I have been informed 
that a post-mortem was made, and that no deposits were 
found in the internal organs. The left axilla and pectoral 
region were at the time of death occupied by a large, brawny 
swelling, hard in places and soft in others. The adjacent 
muscles were infiltrated. There were also enlarged glands 
in the other armpit. Microscopic examination pronounced 
the tumour to be a round-celled sarcoma. 

A very noteworthy feature in the above case was the 
presence of the ordinary phenomena of local inflammation. 
The swelling on the side of the chest below the armpit 
which rapidly followed the enlargement of glands was 
probably over lymphatic trunks. It was attended by acute 
oedema, vivid redness, and all the indications of impending 
suppuration. After a week or two, however, these condi- 
tions passed away, and only a solid cake-like induration 
remained. In the case which I have next to relate an 
abscess, attended by suppuration which required an incision 
for its relief, preceded the formation of sarcomatous growths. 

All cases illustrating the connection between inflammatoiy 
processes and those of maligant new growth are of great 
value. They tend to destroy the artificial distinctions 
which theoretic pathologists have sought to estaUiah 



ACUTE LTMPHO-SABCOMA. t529 

between the two. The following are the notes which I took 
on June 1, 1898, the date of the only occasion on which I 
saw the patient. 

Case III. 

Case XXXII. — Milk Abscess — Rapid development of Sar- 
comatous Growths in both Breasts, both Tamils, and 
the Lymphatics of Armpits and Neck. 

Mrs. M is only 27 years of age. She is the mother 

of three, and was in her normal health at the time of her 
last confinement, on November 23, 1897. She tried for a 
fortnight to nnrse her baby, and had a very large supply of 
milk. An abscess formed in the right breast, and her 
doctor made her give up nursing. She used the breast 
pump, and had great difficulty in getting rid of her milk. 
Three weeks after her confinement her surgeon opened the 
abscess and let out a moderate quantity of matter. The 
incision had healed in the course of a week, the drainage 
tube having been removed. Very soon after this she noticed 
a movable lump in the right breast. 

Such was the history which Mrs. M and her sister 

detailed to me on June 1, 1898. It will be seen that little 
more than six months had elapsed since her confinement. 
During that interval an enormous sarcomatous growth had 
developed in the right breast, gland-masses had formed 
in both armpits and in both sides of the neck, and both 
tonsils had been excised for growths of a lympho- 
sarcomatous nature. Although this rapid formation of 
malignant growths might have been supposed, in one so 
young, to imply a strong hereditary tendency, yet the only 
fact which I could obtain in that direction was that the late 
Dr. Braxton Hicks had many years ago operated on her 
mother f 
been "hi 
living. 

Thebi 
and both 
isfection 



330 ON INFECTIVE DISEASES OF LYMPHATIC QIiANDS. 

had spread through Ijnnphatics. In all probability the law 
of elective proclivity of similar organs had come into play, 
and cell elements, shed into the blood by the breast in which 
the abscess had occurred, had contaminated first the other 
breast and then the tonsils. That these separate foci of 
growth had all developed independently seems incredible. 
Having suggested this view as explanatory of the facts, I 
will now proceed to describe the latter in more detail. 

The left breast (the one in which the abscess had occurred) 
was at the time of her visit to me of small size, and painless. 
As the patient had lost all her fat the gland itself was 
easily felt, and there could be no doubt that its lower half 
was peculiarly hardened. It had, however, shown no 
tendency to grow, and had it not been that a large gland- 
mass was present in the axilla, doubts might have been felt 
as to whether the induration was really malignant. It was 
quite quiet. The other breast was as big as a child's head, 
very heavy, pendulous, and quite loose from the chest wall. 
It was inflamed and reddened, and presented several separate 
places which looked exactly like acute abscesses jnst about 
to break. Doubts had indeed been expressed as to whether 
it were an instance of suppuration or of growth, and my own 
opinion at first sight was that a case of milk abscesses had 
been previously neglected. On finding, however, that there 
was no real fluctuation anywhere, and that there was a 
mass of hard glands in the armpit, I soon felt sure that it 
was an inflamed sarcomatous growth. Numerous large 
veins coursed over the margins of the mass, more especially 
towards the clavicle, and in the root of the neck there were 
many hard and large glands. The patient had much 
difficulty in speaking, and I was told that within the last 
month both her tonsils had been cut out by a specialist 
surgeon who had declined to have anything to do with her 
breast. I found the tonsils exactly alike, very large, so that 
they almost met across the throat, and presenting each a 
huge excavated ulcer covered with greyish secretion. These 
ulcers probably occupied the line of the incision which had 
passed through the growth. The tonsils could be easily felt 
externally, and on the left side there was a mass of enlarged 



ACUTE LYMPHO-SARCOMA. 331 

glands close to it. The glands in the right neck were low 
down, and had probably been infected from those in the 
armpit, but those in left were from the tonsil. All the 
enlarged glands in the fom: different positions in which they 
were fomid presented similar features. They were firm, but 
not of stony hardness, and showed but little tendency to 
adhere to each other or to the surrounding structures. 

The case was obviously beyond the reach of treatment, 
and it did not appear likely that the patient would survive 
many weeks. 

Death took place about ten days after her visit to me. 
Unfortunately there was no autopsy. 

As regards the withering up of what I cannot but regard as 
the primary growth which was attended by abscess in the 
left breast, it may be remarked that shrinking of one 
tumour is not unfrequently observed when others are 
rapidly growing. This I have repeatedly seen when tumours 
in the lumbar glands have followed primary sarcoma of the 
testis. Under such circumstances the testis may shrink 
until the patient may forget that it was ever enlarged, 
and consult his surgeon for the abdominal tumour only. 

It is of interest to note that in Case I., as in this, both 
tonsils were infected. 



NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

(Continued from page 260.) 

The interpretation of subjective symptoms is often a 
matter of great difficulty and makes large demands on our 
patience. It must, however, be attempted if we v^sh to 
fill up the details of our clinical pictures. 

Mr. E is liable to attacks which he calls ** bilious," 

which leave him with deep transverse furrows across his 
nails. There is, therefore, no question as to their physical 
severity. The problem is, what is their real nature ? 

It is now about six weeks since his last, and the furrow 
which was the result has travelled forward on all his finger 
nails until it is only a quarter of an inch from their free 
edges. It is a very conspicuous one; single, accurately 
transverse, and the nail which has grown behind it is quite 
sound. It is the fifth or sixth time that he has experienced 
the attacks which leave this condition. I asked him to 
describe carefully the nature of the " attacks.** This he did 
as well as he could. He said that his finger tips became 
numb and tingly, as if frostbitten, but were neither bine 
nor pale. They usually felt hot rather than cold. The 
condition would vary much during the day, coming and 
going, and was, when at its worst, attended by a great sense 
of muscular weakness so that he could not use his arms nor 
walk. Always there was great weakness if he made exertion. 
Thus on one occasion during his last attack he had tried to 
take a walk, thinking it might do him good, but after half a 
mile had been obliged to ask for a friend* s arm. On another 
occasion a man on each side had been necessary. The feel- 
ing was that of stiffness in the muscles and inability to use 
them. Sometimes this loss of power and numbness had 



CRAMP AFTER SLEEP. 333 

come on him when playing at cards, and he had become 
unable to take up a card without assisting one hand with 
the other. The fingers became, he assured me, stiff as well 
as numb. He never experienced the sensation of ** pins and 
needles ** further than a slight tinghng. 

It is a defect in this narrative that no trained observer 
has ever noted the state of the pulse and the appearance of 
the digits during an attack. The explanation which would 
best fit the description is that of spasmodic arterial ischsemia. 
But then we have the patient's allegation that his fingers 
are neither blue nor pale. It is, however, scarcely possible 
to imagine any other condition capable of producing such 
definite arrest in the growth of the nails. It is to be 
observed that the condition must be one of considerable 
duration, the attacks usually lasting a whole day. The 
larger arteries must also be imphcated, since the limb- 
muscles become weak. All the larger limb-vessels must 
also be simultaneously affected. Nothing in the least 
approaching the gangrene of Eajmaud's malady has ever 
been observed, nor, as has been stated, are there any obvious 
indications of asphyxia. 

No. XL. — The liability to Cramp after sleep. 



ERRATUM. 

By a printer's error, Case XL. {Liability to Cravip after Sleep) has been 
printed here in duplicate, having appeared previously as Case XXIX. on p. 132. 



it by the pain caused. Those liable to cramp in the calf 
must be very careful as to movements of their legs just after 
waking. When once the sleep state has passed off and the 
muscles are, so to speak, thoroughly awake, there is com- 
paratively little risk of its coming on. 

I was explaining the above to a patient who had suffered 
much from cramp, when he replied : ** Yes, I have found 
that out for myself, and I am so determined to avoid bending 



334 NOTES ON 87UPT0MS. 

my legs soon after waking, that I always take care th.at the 
bed clothes are not tucked in, bo that I can slide out of bed 
feet first to keep them straight." 

No. XLI. — Bug-Htes mistaken for Syphilis. 

Patient. I had syphiliB eight years ago, and I wajit to 
know if I may marry. 

Consultant. How long have you been free from symptoms? 

P. I still have some symptoms. 

C. How were you treated ? 

P. I had two years' continuous treat 
taking medicines on and off ever since. 

C. Jnet tell me what you remember o: 
What did you have ? 

P. Oh, I was covered with blotcheS; 
it was syphilis. 

C. That is enough ; hut had you nc 
— a chancre ? 

P. I do not remember having had 
an eruption, bat my penis is often a 
have been. 

C. You say that you had two years' C( 

P. Yes, I took mercury regularly for 

G. Were you quite free from sympt 
off? 

P. To tell the truth, I have never be 
eruption. It comes ajid goes, and I ha 

C. Show me what you have. 

He exhibits a group of florid dusk 
irregularly (constellation-wise) on the i 
In the centre of each is a minute punc 

C. Why, those are nothing but bug-1 

P. You don't say so ! I am living ai 
but I admit I have caught a bug occasi 

At this stage I make him undress, e 
on limbs and tnmk vrith blotches and 
in various stages, all clearly of the i 
are many on his legs and ankles, and 



THREATENED PABAPIiEGIA. 335 

been scratched and made sore. The whole might easily 
have been mistaken for a syphilitic eruption, but in the 
middle of all the more recent spots a little puncture is 
visible. 

C, Tell me, now, how. does your eruption come out ? 

P. Oh, I find a new set of spots, now here, now there, 
when I get up in the mornings. They are red bumps, or 
sometimes little blisters, and they burn and itch. 

C How long does the burning last ? 

P. Two or three days, and then it goes away, but the 
spots persist for weeks and leave stains. 

C. And is this eruption all that you have had? Have 
you really never had a chancre ? 

P. No. I have never had anything but what you have 
seen. 

C. And you have been taking mercury for two years ? 

P. Yes, on and off ; not quite regularly. 

C. It has done your health good ? 

P. Yes, I think so, but it has never got rid of the eruption 
for long together. 

No. XLII. — Loss of ability to walk — Threatened 
Paraplegia^ supposed to be syphilitic ^ but more 
probably sexual. 

In the case of Mr. B , the symptom which had 

caused alarm had been temporary inability to walk. He 
was a man of 52, of heavy frame, who had suffered from 
syphilis (a mild and perhaps doubtful attack) just twenty 
years before he came to me. Eight years after the syphilis 
he had had inflammation of one eye, which was then 
attributed to it, and for which he had specific treatment. 
This attack had resulted in detachment of retina, sparkling 
synchesis, and loss of perception of light. The other eye 
had remained perfect, and with this exception nothing had 
occurred to him to remind him of the old taint. Five 
years before I saw him he had (at the age of 47) married. 
His wife was near his own age. Previous to marriage he 




336 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

had been excessively indulgent with women, but since then 
much more moderate. He had always been a heavy 
smoker, and free in the use of stimulants. 

The failure of power to walk had occurred on several 
different occasions recently. His wife had noticed that in 
sitting he would lean forwards, and that he always seemed 
to rise with difficulty. He had also complained of sense 
of weakness across his hips. One day (three months ago) 
after a drive he sat down in a chair at his club, and on 
attempting, after a short rest, to rise found that he could 
not walk. As he described it, he could move his legs freely, 
and could stand up if he remained still, but felt that he 
should certainly fall if he attempted to step forwards. He 
had at the same time a dull sense of weakness across his 
sacrum, but no sharp pain. On the occasion referred to 
he sat down again, moved his legs about, and after a while 
regained power sufficient, with assistance, to walk to a cab 
and to get home. For some days afterwards he walked 
badly ; but gradually he recovered, until, a few weeks before 
I saw him, another very similar attack occurred. From this 
also he was recovering when he was brought to me. He 
still, however, walked slowly and awkwardly, and had some 
difficulty in rising from his chair and starting. I may here 
remind the reader that he was a big, strong-looking man, 
though pale. He had not had any bladder symptoms, and 
his knee reflexes were good — ^possibly a little excessive for 
his age. 

On inquiry I learnt that he had had, some ten or fifteen 
years ago, an attack not wholly dissimilar from his recent 
ones, and had found himself unable for a time to use his 
lower limbs. He very readily accepted my suggestion that 
he had been very excessive in sexual intercourse, but denied 
that this had occurred of late. He had never had any 
severe pain in his back, but a disagreeable aching and sense 
of weakness. 

Mr. B had been brought to me in the suspicion that 

his attacks; which seemed to threaten motor paraplegia, 
were in connection with his old syphilis. I did not incline 
to support this view. He had no other syphilitic lesions. 



PAIN FEOM ARTERIAL OCCLUSION. 337 

The attacks had been transitory and wholly without sensory 
complication. I was inclined rather to attribute them to 
sexual causes and loss of tone in the spinal cord. In minor 
degree, many persons after sexual exertion experience an 
aching weakness across the hips, with some sense of 

insecurity in walking. What had happened to Mr. B 

seemed only an exaggeration of such feelings. The transi- 
tory nature of the muscular failure seemed to favour the 
view that it depended upon loss of tone, and not on struc- 
tural change. As regards sexual excesses, these were fully 
confessed to at former periods of life, and although denied 
of late they might still have been too much for the spinal 
cord of a man past middle life and which had previously 
suffered. As regards treatment, I had much confidence in 
advising that iodides should be avoided and tonics given. 
He was at the same time enjoined to give his spine rest. 

No. XLIII. — Pain in the tread, of the foot incapaci- 
tating for walking — Arterial Occlusion probable. 

The s3anptom of which Mr. K complained was pain 

under the tread of his left foot, aggravated by walking. It 
had persisted for some months and had almost disabled him 
from his occupation. He was employed as an inspector in 
the Health Department of the City of London, and was, 
he said, often quite unable to walk or even to stand. The 
pain disappeared almost wholly in the recumbent posture. 
Several consultations had been had before I saw him, and 
neurotomy had been strongly advised. 

At first Mr. K was inclined to locate his pain in one 

spot between the base of the great toe and the next, but on 
careful examination it appeared that there was no single 
tender spot, and that the aching extended across the whole 
foot at the level of metatarso-phalangeal joints. It in- 
volved also the toes themselves, to some extent. When 
both feet were uncovered and placed side by side, it was 
obvious that the toes of the affected foot were more dusky 
and redder than those of the other. This the patient had 
noticed, and he also said that they were colder. He had 

VOL. IX. 22 



338 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

varicose veins on both sides, but they were larger on the 
affected one. When he was in the recumbent position the 
difference in the dusky congestion of the affected foot was 
obvious. We now found that whilst the anterior and pos- 
terior tibials could be found very easily in the sound limb, 
they could not on the affected one. The femorals beat 
with equal force on the two sides. There was no very 
definite history of any sudden attack of arterial occlusion, 

but Mr. K remembered, when asked, that he had 

suffered from pain in his calf. There could be little doubt 
that the disabling pain complained of was arterial and not 
nervous in origin. 
The patient was a man of about 46. 

No. XLIV. — Arcus Senilis as a Symptom. 

The premature formation of the arcus senilis does not 
appear, any more than the premature blanching of the hair, 
to be indicative of premature seniUty. " Grey early grey 
long" is a proverb which amounts at least to a negative 
assertion of this fact as the result of popular observation. I 
have just seen a gentleman, aged 64, in whom the arcus v^as 
in both eyes very conspicuous. He was in good health, and 
was not liable to headaches or other ailments. He told me 
that a surgeon had remarked upon his eyes when he was 
little more than thirty years of age. It was a family matter. 

I have known two families in which several of the males 
acquired the arcus very early in life. Yet those who did so 
enjoyed good health and Uved to fair ages. 

No. XLV.— On Gold Feet. 

Digestion always increases the liability, and attacks may 
come on during a meal or soon afterwa>rds. If a meal 
causes cold feet, headache will usually follow. In many 
patients any little mental worry or excitement brings on an 
attack. Patients liable to frequently recurring coldness of 
the feet and hands sometimes say that nausea or even 
vomiting may be caused if the feet become very cold. I 



EXTBEME FEEBLENESS OF PULSE. 339 

think that the feet have more influence in this respect over 
the stomach than have the hands. The mere fact of the 
feet being cold (say from tight boots) will often cause head- 
ache. On the other hand, severe headaches, however caused, 
are usually attended by cold feet. ^ 



No. XL VI. — Description of a Fall in Fainting. 

A man fell in a faint whilst standing in my room. He 
fell backwards softly on to his buttocks and then on to his 
back, and lastly his head went back. He did not strike his 
occiput at all hard. He looked lividly pale, but by no means 
absolutely blanched. Consciousness was entirely lost for 
only a minute or so. 



No. XXiVII. — Extreme feebleness of the Badial pulse. 

Extreme feebleness of pulsation at the wrist, which in 
minor degress we often encounter in patients who are yet in 

tolerable health, was illustrated in the case of Miss M . 

On two occasions, with an interval of several weeks, I was 
quite unable at first to detect any pulsation at all. 

I examined the wrists very carefully in order to discover 
whether there were any abnormal distribution, but could 
not find any. Her hands were rather thin, and a very 
diminutive superficialis voles could sometimes be detected. 
Even when this were felt I could not perceive the pulsation 
of the radial, which was of course more deeply placed. At 
length, by carefully flexing the wrist and placing the hand 
at rest on the table, I succeeded in feeling a very soft and 
feeble pulsation in both radials, better in the left than in the 
right. 

This extreme feebleness of the peripheral circulation 
occurred in a young lady who was much out of tone, and 
consequently complained of cold extremities. On the second 
occasion of my examination of her, however, she had very 
much regained her health, and the hands were quite warm. 

If any one should feel surprised that so small a vessel as 



340 NOTES ON SYMPTOMS. 

the superficialis voIsb could be felt when the radial could 
not, it may be well to remind him that just after it is given 
off this httle vessel becomes, as its name implies, very 
superficial. In elderly persons with enlarged arteries, its 
pulsations may easily be counted by the eye, whilst tliose of 
the radial itself are quite hidden. 



CANCEE AND THE CANCEEOUS PEOCESS. 

Serpiginous Ulceration of the Palate in an Elderly Man — 
Cancer or Tuberculosis — Microscopic evidence of Epi- 
thelial Cancer — Repeated cauterisations and favourable 
progress during seven years, 

Mr. P is a thin, rather delicate looking man. The 

following notes describe the condition in 1889, at which 
time he was 58 years of age. 

*^ He has a patch over the right side of soft palate, extending from 
foot of uvula to pillar of fauces, and forwards to border of hard palate. 
It presents a level granulating surface and a slightly jagged edge with 
red margin — much like lupus. The border of the velum is notched by 
ulceration, but the peculiarities are that there is no deep ulceration nor 
any great thickening. It has a firm evenly thickened base. 

" The question is between scrofula and cancer, The sore is perfectly 
clean, and looks more like lupus than cancer. I fear, however, that 
some glands in the neck are enlarged, and the age of the patient and the 
short duration points towards malignant disease. 

*' He thinks that it has not been there more than six weeks. He 
discovered it by accident when he had some tickling in his throat. He 
first showed it to Dr. England two weeks ago. Three years ago Dr. 
E. cut his uvula. There is no family history of cancer." 

The above are the notes which I wrote at the date of my 
first consultation. On a second occasion, after a month's 
treatment with iodides and mercury, which had done no 
good, I excised some portions for microscopic examination, 
and the verdict was ** epithelial cancer." Feeling, however, 
still some doubt, and not liking hastily to undertake an 
excision which would have to be very extensive, I advised 
him to allow me to use the actual cautery. On two 
occasions under chloroform I used Pacquelin's cautery as 



342 CANCEB AND THE CANCEROUS PBOCESS. 

freely as possible to the whole diseased surface. The resnlt 
was a complete healing. The two cauterisations ^v^ere 
done in February, 1890, with an interval of three weeks. 

In August, 1893, Dr. England wrote to me that the parts 

had remained quite sound until May, 1892, when Mr. P 

contracted a sore throat, following on which was a return of 
the ^ulceration 'at one spot on the border of the scar. Dr. 
England again used the actual cautery, and with the resnlt 
that the resulting scar remained well until the spring of 
1893, when there was another recurrence, with tendency 
to spread on the left anterior pillar of the fauces. The 
cautery was used for the fourth time, and the sore again 
healed. At the date of Dr. England's letter, hoTvever, 

Mr. P was ill in bed with symptoms of disease in the 

stomach (sub-acute gastritis). 

In September, 1896, Dr. England was again good enough, 
at my request, to report on our patient's condition. He 
wrote to me as follows : — 

" I have looked up Mr. P . He is a very busy man, and hard to 

find at home. He tells me that he has been very well for the most part, 
but he looks thmner. We must remember, however, that he is five 
years older that when you first saw him. He is now sixty-three. He 
suffers occasionally in winter from the cold and damp, when his throat 
becomes dry and painful, and he is hoarse. EUs disease, you will 
remember, was on his hard palate, extending on the right side to pillar 
of fauces, soft palate, and uvula. There is now a dark red patch, almost 
round, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, on right side of hard 
palate, about half an inch in front of velum. It feels to me to be 
quite smooth, and like a cicatrix, but he says it spreads occasionally 
when he is not very well, and feels to his tongue as though it were 
about the thickness of writing-paper above the surrounding mucous 
membrane." 

In spite of the positive evidence given by the microscope, 
I am obliged to doubt whether the disease in this instance is 
really cancerous. My diagnosis in the first instance inclined 
rather to lupus than to cancer, and the progress of the case 
during nine years seems to favour that opinion. The use of 
the actual cautery on the soft palate is not very easy, and 
although I did it resolutely I could scarcely hope that it 




SAECOMA IN MUSCLES. 343 

would be efficient for the cure of epithelial cancer. The 
diagnosis must remain in some doubt. Meanwhile, however, 
whether tubercular or not, we may regard the success 
obtained by cauterisation with satisfaction. There has 
never been any aggressive gland disease, although in the 
first instance we thought that some enlargement could be 
detected. 

TWO EXAMPLES OF SABCOMATOUS GEOWTHS IN CONNECTION 

WITH THE VASTI MUSCLES. 

Case I. — Sarcomatous growth in connection with the Vastus 
externus — Excision — Early recurrence and death. 

Mr. P , aged 60, a saddler from Cawood, Yorkshire, 

consulted me in December, 1892. He was a thin, grey 
man, and was the subject of a large, smooth tumour in the 
outer part of the right thigh, which had been present for a 
year. It. did not adhere to the bone, but appeared to be 
developed in the vastus externus. I advised excision, but 
did not urge the operation. 

I subsequently learnt that he had the growth excised a 
week after I saw him, and that it very quickly recurred and 
grew to an enormous size, causing death six months later. 

I am indebted to Dr. Hamilton, of Cawood, for this 
information. 

Case II. — Sarcomatous growth in Vastus inter^ius — Expansile 

pulsation in the later stage, 

I mention the above case at the present time because I 
have recently seen another somewhat similar one. In this 
also the patient is a man past middle age. The tumour was 
in the first instance clearly in the muscle, and could be moved 
with it. The diagnosis seemed to rest between gumma and 
sarcoma. Iodide of potassium was liberally tried, without 
any good result. The tumour has grown and become more 
fixed, and has also acquired a slight but definitely expansive 
pulsation. 



344 CANCEB ANp TEE CANCEROUS PROCESS. 

Primary Melanotic Sarcoma of Skin. 
I excised a little nodule of melanosis from the cheek of 3 
girl of 17, on April 13, 1898. It had been growing for about 
five months, and had appeared in perfectly sound skin as a 
little, pin-head, black spot. It had increased rather rapidly, 
and was as big as a pea. Its section was homogeneous, and 
coal black, and measured a quarter of an inch across. It 
was well circmnscribed, and there were no other nodales 
near it. No history of cancer in the family, but much gont. 

Slow-growing Sarcoma of Glands. 
The portrait here given is that of a woman now aged 50, 
for whom, sixteen years ago, I excised a fungating tumour on 



the skin of the thigh, which had been of slow growth. The 
diagnosis by the microscope was that it was a spindle-celled 



SABCOMA OF GLANDS. 345 

sarcoma, and we constantly anticipated that it would recur. 
A large elliptical portion of skin was taken. The scar has 
since remained quite sound, and the patient has enjoyed on 
the whole good health. At the time that I did the operation 
there were some enlarged glands in the right side of her 
neck. They were of inconsiderable size, and showed no 
tendency to inflame. No special treatment was, I believe, 
adopted. I did not see my patient again for many years. 
Recently, however, she has again consulted me, and has 
allowed me to have the photograph taken from which the 
woodcut has been executed. The gland mass has been 
slowly increasing in size during the whole intervening 
period, but without causing any material inconvenience. 
It now presents a smooth, rounded exterior without any 
indication of separate glands. And as there has been no 
infection of the other side or of the axillary glands, it may 
be assumed that it has grown either from a single gland or 
from a very small number. An interesting fact in its present 
condition is that it has lifted the large vessels upon its sur- 
face, and that the pulsations of the carotid artery are now 
easily visible immediately beneath the skin. A shallow 
furrow in which the vessel rests may indeed be traced in 
the photograph. At no time has there been any evidence 
of obstruction either of vein or artery. 

Note on the position taken by the Carotid Artery in different 
tumours of the Neck — Sarcomatous growth in Glands, 

The position finally assumed by the carotid artery when 
displaced by tumours in the neck is often of much help in 
diagnosis. If a lobe of the thyroid gland has caused the 
displacement, the artery will have been carried to the back 
of the neck, and may be found behind the posterior edge 
of the stemo-cleido muscle. If, on the other hand, the dis- 
placing growth has begun in the cervical glands, the artery 
will, if not embedded, probably.be lifted forwards, and have 
become superficial in front. I had recourse to this condition 
as an aid to diagnosis in the case of a lady whom I saw with 
Mr. Butler at Guildford. In this instance the patient was 



346 CAKCBB AND THE CANCEBODS PROCESS. 

seventy-two years of age, and a swelling had been first 
observed in the right side of her neck towards the end of 
March, 1897. It was at first thought to be a, thyroid 
tumour ; by the '-»-■'■>  

Tangerine orau 
tassium ointm£ 
tumour much 
quently the gro 
pushed the lar 
that the patien 
in this conditic 
carotid artery n 
not grown from 
Death occun 
a sarcoma whii 
involve the thj 
the growth wer 
tion. 



SYPHILIS A FOEM OF YAWS. 

Chancres assuming the type of Frambcesia. 

One of the chief arguments urged by those who have 
hitherto held that Yaws and SyphiUs are distinct diseases is 
that the primary sores and the secondary eruption of the former 
are peculiar. Their peculiarity consists in their presenting 
the Framboesial type, that is, in being attended by the pro- 
duction of a granulation-mass, in form and general appearance 
resembUng a fruit, such as a raspberry. In reply to this 
I have urged over and over again that in England the 
eruption of syphilis not unfrequently takes this form, and 
have adduced the fact that cases described in Scotland as 
^* Frambcesia " and in Dublin as ** Morula" were without 
any reasonable doubt nothing but syphilis. Eemarkable and 
very definite examples of the Framboesial type of syphilis have 
been cited, not only from my own practice, but from that of 
Professor Petrini, in each instance published with a por- 
trait (see Archives, Vol. IX., p. 199). By a remarkable 
coincidence I am enabled this week to oflfer an illustration of 
the Framboesial type of the primary sore. The other cases all 
illustrated the secondary eruption. The appended woodcut 
has been executed from a photograph sent to me a fortnight 
ago by Dr. Crossley Wright, of Halifax. It exhibits three 
Framboesial chancres on the arm of a young man who had 
been tatooed by a man who was no doubt the subject of 
syphiUs. Nothing has been ascertained as to the operator's 
condition, but there is no doubt that the sores here shown 
were true chancres, for they have been followed by a specific 
wh. There were enlarged glands above the elbow and in the 
nnpitfl. It is believed that another youth who was tattoed 
: the same time has suffered in a similar manner, having no 
wer than six chancres. I feel sure that the formation of 



348 SYPHILIS A FORM OF TAWS. 

framboesial granulatioii-masses in connection with primary 
sores is not very uncommon in English practice where the 
chancre is erratic. The typical induration is seen for the 
most part on the penis only. We sometimes encounter it on 
other parts, as the finger, the lip, but on these latter parte 
the appearances presented by the chancres may vary -within 
very wide limits. From this proneness to vary, very 
numerous errors in diagnosis result. The portraits of 



vaccination-chancres, which I published many years ago, 
well exemplified this variety in local conditions in different 
persons from the same virus. In one at least the whole 
sore was covered and concealed by a granulation mass. It is 
time that these facts were fully and freely admitted, and 
when they are so there will remain but little upon which 
to base any argument against the identity of yaws with 
syphilis. 

The Absence of Sore Throat in Yaws. 

The asserted fact that the subjects of yaws seldom or never 
show any sores in the tonsils has been strongly lurged as 
implying that yaws is distinct from syphilis. In the first 
place it may be doubted whether the rarity is so great as 
is alleged, and next it is an unquestionable fact that the 
English climate renders the throat much more Uable to 
suffer than does that of the tropics. There may also — ^but on 
this point I have no information — be a 




SYPHILIS A FOEM OF YAWS. 349 

to tonsil affections in different races. As regards difference 
in climate, I have obtained many items of evidence. A lady, 
the wife of an Indian officer, described to me a severe attack 
of "blood poisoning*' which she had passed through some 
years ago in India. Wishing to know whether she had 
syphilis, I asked as to eruption. ** Oh, yes, I was covered 
with sores.'* "Had you a sore throat?" "I do not 
remember one, but then you know we never have sore 
throats in India. Before I went there I suffered much from 
them, and I have done so again since I returned, but during 
my ten years in India I never remember a sore throat." 

Syphilis a form of Yaws. 

In my last number I ventured to express, without any 
reserve whatever, my belief that in yaws we have the 
parent-form of syphilis. This amounts to saying that 
syphilis, as we know it in Europe, is tropical yaws modified 
by race and climate. If we accept the proposition that 
yaws has been long indigenous amongst native inhabitants 
of South America, it becomes not at all improbable that 
it was really imported into Europe in the sixteenth cen- 
tury. Three centuries of prevalence in European popula- 
tions may easily have sufficed to give the disease such 
minor peculiarities as now seem to distinguish syphilis from 
yaws. Nor indeed is it by any means improbable that some 
of these supposed peculiarities may be due solely to difference 
in race. No good narratives of the course and symptoms of 
yaws when occurring to Europeans have as yet been recorded. 
It is much to be hoped that those who have opportunities 
will carefully avail themselves of them, and record their 
observations in full detail. 

The hypothesis which I have suggested would well explain 
the occasional occurrence of framboesial S3rphilis in Europe 
which has been recorded, not only in isolated instances such 
as those recently published by Petrini, of Galatz, and myself 
(Archives, Vol. VII., p. 357), but in minor epidemics such 
as those of sibbens, button scurvy, and morula. These are 
but instances of syphilis reverting to its original type. 



A MYXCEDEMA NAKRATIVE. 

I HATE just bad a long coDversation with an intelligent 
lady who has been for six years the subject of myxoedema. 
The disease was, she tells me, first reco^sed by Sir John 
"Williams in 1892. There are, however, some facts as to her 
former history which it is of interest to record. She has 
through life had a dry skin. Not even dancing would ever 
cause the slightest tendency to perspiration. She has always 
been a chilly subject, loving the fire and the summer weather. 
She was always hable to have her lips easily become bine. 
Althoagh a good walker, she could seldom get her feet w&rm 
even by walking, and her experience of a Turkish bath on 
several occasions was that it made her head hot and very 
uncomfortable, whilst the feet remained cold. On one 
occasion the bath made her faint, and after that she never 
tried them again. 

Her own description of her myxcedemic symptoms ie that 
she became yellow or creamy looking with habitually bluish 
lips. Next her features changed, and she got bags under 
the eyes and thick lips. She was unable to exert herself, 
and spoke thickly and slowly. It is possible that the thyroid 



A CASE OF MYXCEDEMA. 351 

As regards, the use of the thyroid extract, although Miss 

S admits that it has done her good, and although she 

still has recourse to it occasionally if she has any tendency 
to relapse, she is not enthusiastic. She says that it often 
makes her feel weak and feverish, and, as she thinks, makes 
the psoriasis worse. It never produces the least moisture on 
the skin. She has of late suffered much from pain at the 
pit of the stomach. 

Miss S is at present at the age of fifty-two, and seven 

or eight years since the myxoedema conunenced ; a comely 
lady, but with somewhat full and expressionless features. 
Her complexion is, as she says, " creamy " with patches of 
congestion on the cheeks. She says that she can walk 
well and long distances, and she enjoys her life. Her pulse 
is extremely soft and feeble, and she still, as she has done 
through life, suffers much from constipation. 

I have thought the above narrative worth writing out 
because it carries the history of the case over a considerable 
period, and also because it records facts which may possibly 
prove useful as helping us to a full conception of the malady. 
The habitual constipation, the very feeble circulation, and 
the inability to perspire, with finally the addition of common 
psoriasis, are features which may have their bearing. Al- 
though myxoedema has been definitely associated with 
thyroid atrophy, it would be unwise to assume that in 
that fact its whole pathogeny is included. We must also 
keep our eyes open to discover, if we can, the meaning of 
the complications which may be associated with it. As 

regards treatment, although Miss S does not speak 

quite so gratefully of it as might have been expected, yet 
in spite of its drawbacks I have no doubt that it has been 
the means of restoring and preserving her health. 



I 



EHEUMATISM AND GOUT. 

No. LXVII. — Anchylosis of the Wrist. 

Mr. S. has his left wrist anchylosed, the hand in a 

dropped position. In this forearm he retains good pronation, 
&e. In the opposite limb, however, he has lost pronation, 
and the limb is almost fixed at right angles, the amount of 
flexion and extension being very limited. 

These conditions are attributed to a three months' attack 
of gonorrhoeal rhemnatism. He was three months in bed, 
the elbow and wrist were the only joints afl^ected. He had 
got wet through whilst suffering from gonorrhoea. 

He has had gonorrhoea several times (five or six) since the 
one which caused the rheumatism, and no rheumatism has 
complicated them. An uncle suffered much from gout. 
His father died young. He has himself been threatened in 
his great toe joint and thumb. 

No. LXVIII. — Spondylitis Deformans in a Cat. 

At page 350 of Vol. VIII. I recorded a remarkable case, 
with woodcut illustrations, of multiple arthritis deformans 
in a cat. Not only were many of the large joints severely 
affected, and the characteristic conditions produced, but the 
joints of the spinal column were also extensively involved. 
Since the publication of my case I have found almost its 
exact counterpart, so far as the spinal column is concerned, 
recorded long ago mLe Progris Midical. 

Dr. Brison, who records the case, speaks of it as an 
example of multiple exostoses, hyper-ostoses and synostoses 
of the vertebral column, and distinctly states that the bones 
of the limbs were almost wholly free. It would therefore 



SPONDYLITIS DEFORMANS IN A CAT. 353 

appear to have been a close analogue of what we know as 
spondylitis deformans in the human subject. In the latter 
affection, although it is unquestionably a form of rheumatic 
gout, it is not uncommon for the joints of the limbs to 
escape. In the cat in question the only osteophy tic growths 
on the limbs were two small ones near to the trochanters. 
The ribs, on the contrary, as is usual in osteitis deformans, 
presented many osteophytes. The author speaks as if the 
malady were well known in France, and says that it leads to 
death by marasmus after the duration of several months, or 
it may be of several years. He describes it as reducing the 
poor animal to a state of rigidity, in which, taken up by the 
head, it could be lifted without bending, and says that it 
merits the name of " chat barre de fer.** He did not know 
the exact age of his patient ; thought that it was at least in 
its fourth year. 

In my own case, although the osteophytes were numerous 
and large, and must have been sufficient to greatly diminish 
the flexibility of the spine, there was no true anchylosis. In 
Dr. Brison's case the synostosis was, however, quite com- 
plete in a great many of the joints, more especially in the 
cervical region. From the fourth to the tenth vertebrae 
inclusive no distinction whatever could be observed between 
the bodies of the vertebrae as seen from before. Dr. Brison 
inclines to attribute it to a form of periostitis of indeter- 
minate nature, " a chronic and special form of inflammatory 
action.*' 

It may be well to remark that this affection, so closely 
similar to spondylitis deformans in man, would appear 
to be quite distinct from the ossification of the anterior 
common ligament of the spine, which is not uncommon in 
horses and asses. In the latter affection, specimens of which 
are to be found in all our museums, a riband of dense bone 
passes down in front of the vertebral bodies and unites 
them. But there are no true 83mostoses, nor any develop- 
ment of osteophytes. 



VOL. IX. 23 



DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

No. XXXIII. — Flesliy Cyclitis in connection with 

Gout. 

A very marked example of chronic cyclitis was brought 

under my notice in the case of Miss B , aged 23, who 

was sent to me by Dr. Hewer. There was a dusky, fleshy 
thickening of the whole sclero-comeal region. It was 
especially conspicuous upon the upper parts, and although 
it had begun on the right eye it was now nearly symmetrical. 
Quite recently it had extended somewhat upon the cornea. 
The present attack had commenced about six months ago, 
after an attack of mumps. The history of the patient and 
her family very definitely connected it, as usual, with in- 
herited gout and its frequent concomitant, feeble circulation. 

Miss B 's mother was rheumatic, and one of her 

uncles had suffered from gout. She herself had in child- 
hood suffered severely from chilblains, but the liability 
had decreased since she grew up. She had once had an 
attack of very severe pain in one hip-joint. The pain sud- 
denly moved from the hip to the neck, and she was kept in 
bed by the attack for some days. She had frequently had 
fljring pains in her ankles and other joints, and had some- 
times had her eyes inflamed, ** as if pins were pricking into 
them." One of her brothers was liable to what was called 
" neuralgia in the eyes." ' 

Many of the facts above mentioned may, I think, be taken 
as evidences of inherited gout, and the condition of cyclitis 
was exactly similar to what I have seen in other cases with 
parallel history and like concomitants. I strongly recom- 
mended a prolonged change of climate. 

The date at which the above notes were taken was Sep- 
tember 23, 1885. 



CHOROIDITIS DISSEMINATA. 355 

No. XXXIV. — Optic Neuritis in one eye only — 

Question as to Syphilis, 

A case which I have just seen raises an important 
question as to the symptomatic significance of neuritis of the 
optic disc in one eye only. I did not myself see the patient 
during the neuritis stage, but the diagnosis had been made 
by a very competent ophthalmic surgeon. When I saw the 
case the disc of the affected eye was rather paler than that 
of the other, and at its lower border the choroidal rim was 
very definitely notched. Beyond these there were no 
changes. The disc was bright and clear and free from ^11 
trace of effusion, and its vessels were almost of normal size. 
The patient was a young man of twenty-six, apparently in 
excellent health, who had had gonorrhoea, but in whom 
there was no proof of syphilis. At the time of the optic 
neuritis he had no head symptom, excepting a little head- 
ache, and he had had none since. The recovery had taken 
place under specifics. Optic neuritis, affecting one eye 
only, and resulting in complete recovery, is, in my experi- 
ence, very rare. It is difficult to imaginfe, under the cir- 
cumstances described, any cause other than syphilis which 
could have caused it. 

No. XXXV. — An instance of very extensive Choroi- 
ditis Disseminata in Inherited Syphilis. 

On Friday, June 3rd, a very interesting example of 
extensive disseminata choroiditis in connection with 
inherited syphilis was brought to me. The patient, a lady 
of 27, could just manage to read one word at a time with 
her remaining eye. Her choroid in this eye was dis- 
organised all round the yellow spot, but the latter still 
remained sound. There were very large irregular areas of 
denudation in the central parts of the fundus, and at the 
circumference deposits of pigment after the retinitis pig- 
mentosa pattern. This was her only available eye; with 
the other she had barely perception of light, and it was 
not possible, owing to the state of the cornea and media, 
to inspect the fundus. 



356 DISEASES OF THE BYE. 

This was the most extensive example of choroidal 
denudation which I have ever seen in connection with 
inherited syphilis. I have seen its paralle] in the acquired 
syphilie more than once. In one of these latter the patient, 
who was a schoolmaster, retained for many years the nse ol 
his yellow spot region, all around being denuded. 

In the present instance there could be no reasonaWe 
doubt that the patient was hereditarily syphilitic. Apart 
from the state of her comese her physiognomy was charac- 
teristic, and there was a history of severe keratitis in early 
life. Her teeth were not marked. It appeared that sbe 
had had relapses of choroidal symptoms several times dnring 
the last ten years. Quite recently opacities in the vitreous 
and posterior pola>r cataract had made their appearance. 
Thus there was reason to fear that the conditions may prove | 
slowly aggressive, and that she may in the end lose all useful 
sight. This event is, in my experience, very rare in con- 
nection with inherited taint. She had good health in other 
respects. 

No. XXXVI. — Choroiditis simulating Retinitis Pig- 
mentosa with central denudation and divergence 
of Globe in connection zoith Inherited Syphilis. 
Another instance of the loss of an eye for all practical 

purposes in coimection with inherited syphilis has recentlj  

been under my observation in the person of a youth n&me'^ 

( 



DISEASES OF THE NEKVOUS SYSTEM. 

No. Oil. — Paralysis Agitans in a man who had had 
Syphilis J hut probably hereditary. 

Captain H (seagoing) was under my treatment 

twenty-six years ago for tertiary syphilis, and I have seen 
hivi occasionally since. He is now 65 years of age and in 
splendid health. He still follows his vocation as sea- 
captain, and might be taken for 50. The ailment which 
brings him to me to-day (July 16, 1898) is paralysis agitans 
in his right arm. He thinks it is quite recent, but I con- 
vince him, by reference to my notes, that he came for 
precisely the same symptom four years ago. He still writes 
a good hand. His mother had the same affection, and it 
became aggravated in her later years. I do not think that 
there is any reason to attribute the affection in the son to 
his long past syphilis. No doubt it is inherited. He has 
had no indications of syphihs for more than twenty years, 
and has a healthy, grown-up family. 

Captain H is the subject of rheumatic gout in his 

terminal joints, and also of Dupuytren's induration of the 
palmar fascia. He tells me that many seagoing men have 
their fingers contracted into the palm. He had thought 
that it was an affection peculiar to seamen. 

No. cm. — Hcemorrhagic Apoplexy — Absolute right 
Hemiplegia taitJiout any impairment of conscious- 
ness or memory — Diaphragmatic Respiration — 
No bladder symptoms. , 

The case of Mrs. F interested me much, possibly 

a.use I do not often see patients suffering from apoplexy. 

s lady was absolutely hemiplegic in her left limbs, 

1 neither move them nor feel in them, yet she retained 

ct consciousness, good memory, and could converse 



358 DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

well. I certainly never saw any approach to sach a 
condition after injury to the head, nor anything so well 
marked after either haemorrhagic apoplexy or embolism. 
There seemed good reason to think that the case was one 
of haemorrhage, and it no doubt involved central parts. 

Mrs. F was a stout lady, aged 52, a total abstainer 

who had enjoyed good health until her present illness. She 
had had two " seizures '* during the five weeks just before 
I saw her. She was of course confined to her bed. She 
told me, as regards her first attack, that it occurred soon after 
her return from the seaside, at a time when she was feeling 
unusually well. She was in her kitchen talking to a friend, 
when she suddenly felt " pins and needles '* in her left foot. 
She mentioned it to those with her, and it soon involved her 
arm and she sank down on her knees and buttocks. Con- 
sciousness was not in the least impaired. She was assisted 
to bed, and the hemiplegia soon became complete as regards 
both right limbs and partial in the right side of face also. 
Her buttocks showed much bruising from her fall. At the 
end of a month she was much better, could move the limbs, 
and had regained clearness of enunciation, when, without 
any fresh attack having been noticed, her symptoms were 
found to be greatly aggravated and the paralysis of the 
limbs was again complete. 

It was about the fifth day after this relapse that I saw 
her. She lay on her back in bed perfectly conscious, and, 
as I have said, able to converse though speaking indistinctly. 
Her face was sHghtly drawn to the right side. Her breath- 
ing was almost wholly diaphragmatic and very shallow. 
Her left upper and lower extremities were quite helpless. 
She could not move them in the least, nor could she feel the 
touch of the finger. When hairs were pulled on her leg she 
thought sometimes that she could feel a little, but it seemed 
uncertain. There had been, I was assured, no trouble with 
the bowels or bladder. She knew when she wanted to pass 
water, and there had been no dribbling, nor had the catheter 
been needed. 

Death took place about a week after my visit, but xmfor- 
tunately there was no autopsy. It is as an example of 



NEKVE SYMPTOMS EARLY IN SYPHILIS. 359 

complete double function (motion and sensation) hemiplegia 
with retention of perfect consciousness, that I think the 
case worthy of mention. 

No. CIV. — Insidious symptoms of general Nerve 
Disorder in the beginning of tJie second year 
of Syphilis. 

A young gentleman (Mr. M , aet. 23) was brought on 

account of a rather peculiar form of sj^philitic psoriasis 
which affected his elbows. It was a year and a month since 
his chancre, and he had been treated all the time with 
mercury, but with many interruptions and never efficiently. 
He was not considered to be ill, and one question was 
whether he might suitably leave England for India and en- 
gage in tea-planting. I found, however, on making a routine 
examination that he had some very ominous symptoms. 
He could see perfectly, but both discs were unquestionably 
swollen and their margins blurred. He was somewhat deaf, 
more especially in the right ear, and had during the last 
week, when exposed to noise, several times complained that 
he could not hear conversation. His right pupil was dilated 
and he had had squint and diplopia. His shins were still 
bruised by football kicks. He had no knee jerk on either 
side. Although he looked well and reported himself as 
perfectly so, yet it came out on inquiry that complaint had 
of late been made as to his temper. He had just been 
rejected at an examination, a result which he attributed to 
the fact that he had of late not been able to read long with- 
out feeling his head uncomfortable. I thought his manner 
hesitating and slow, but was assured that it was cjistomary 
to him. He denied any headache, and said he ate and slept 
well. It came out, however, that a few weeks ago he had 
experienced a sudden attack of numbness in the right limbs. 
It began in his right foot and then passed upwards to his 
trunk, arm, and face. It lasted, he thought, twenty minutes 
and then wholly disappeared. 

In the left eye, the pupil of which was moderately dilated, 
there was no loss of accommodation and no defect, so far 



360 DISEASES OF THE NEBYOUS SYSTEM. 

as I could ascertain, of any muscle. There was not, and 
had not been, any ptosis, and I was assured that the squint 
(now quite gone) had been convergent. Thus there waa no 
reason to think that the third nerve was affected. Th 
eruption on the elbows, which was the only extant 
evidence of the recent syphilis, was very peculiar. It was 
exactly in the positions which non-specific psoriasis usually 
affects, and it showed white scale-crusts like the latter. It 
was, however, serpiginous, and was speading in irregular 
crescents like a lupus. There was a single spot on the front 
of one knee. With these exceptions all traces of syphiUs 
had disappeared from the skin and mucous membranes. 

I was obliged to give an opinion that Mr, M was in 

danger of a very serious attack on his nervous system, and 
he ought at once to be put under the full influence of 
mercury and should on no account go from home. 

No. CV. — Diplopia^ Deafness^ Facial Paralysis^ and 
oilier nerve symptoms in the secondary stage of 
Syphilis — Recovery — Periostitis of Sternum seven 
years later. 

I treated Captain P eight or nine years ago for a 

very ominous attack of nerve symptoms in an early stage 
of syphilis, and have, I believe, published his case. He had 
diplopia, deafness, facial paralysis, and other symptoms. I 
ordered him into a Home, kept him in bed, and pushed 
mercury rapidly to salivation. He recovered completely, 
but with absolute and permanent deafness in the left ear. 
He has since served in India and other places, and has 
enjoyed good health. 

After an interval of seven years I have just seen him 
again. He is now in good health, but has during the last 
month suffered much from pain in his sternum. There is 
no definite node, but the pain has been worse at night and 
with decided tenderness, so that no doubt periostitis is 
present. 

P.S. — Eapid and complete relief by the iodide of potassium 
subsequently confirmed the diagnosis. 



SYPHILIS. 

No. LXXXIV. — Yaws in Benin. 

A gentleman who had lived in Benin, and who knew 
yaws, told me that the native children take the disease, 
and that their parents wish them to have it and get it over 
yomig. This is precisely parallel to the statement from the 
the Fiji Islands. In Benin the native name for yaws is 
" effier." 



No. LXXXV. — Three infections of Syphilis at inter- 
vals of thirteen and seven years — Lupoid eruption 
after tJie second. 

In the following there appears to be good evidence of 
three infections of S3rphilis. The only doubt attaches to 
the third, in which the indurated chancre has not as yet been 
followed by secondary symptoms. This, however, may 
probably be due to the fact that he has had mercury in 
anticipation. After the first and second, definite secondaries 
followed. His recovery from each of these would appear to 
have been complete, for he had entire .immunity from 
symptoms until the next infection. The lupoid eruption 
which occurred in the second year of the second attack was 
a very ' peculiar one (see memorandum below). * It is, I 
think, not unusual for the manifestations resulting from a 



second infectioD to receive Bome modificatioDS from tht 
fonner one. 



52 , 1890 / 

53 I 1891 

54 : 1692 

55 I 1899 



A second infection of ayphilis. I preBcribed mercury. 
After a, short course he left ofi treatmeat. 
Came to mo for syphilitic lupus Oct. 18, and again Dec 12. 
Second visit ; all the spota gone (Sept. 12). 



PBIMAEY SYPHILIS WITHOUT MERCURY. 363 

contracted them in Africa from a native woman, and the 
first of them had made its appearance exactly one month 
after the date of intercourse. The first was in the roll of 
the reflected prepuce, close to the corona. It preceded the 
others only but two or three days, and the remaining six 
came almost simultaneously. At first, on account of the 
multiplicity of the sores, he hoped that it was only herpes^ 
but as they persisted, became indurated and ulcerated 
more freely, he touched them all with nitric acid. When 
the effects of the acid had passed off he applied iodoform, 
but still took no medicine. Finally he had fever and an 
abundant eruption came out. 

Dr. Z came to me a few days after the appearance of 

his eruption, two months after the contagion and one after 
the recognition of the sores. He was freely covered on 
chest and abdomen by a characteristic erythematous and 
papular eruption. He had had much aching in his bones, 
and he thought some sore throat. I could, however, find 
no trace of sores in his tonsils, His seven chancres had all 
healed under the influence of iodoform, and were all in the 
well-known parchment condition. Any one of them might 
have been recognised without risk of error as an indurated 
chancre, although none were of large size or much thickness. 



No. LXXXVII. — A healthy family after Vaccination- 
Syphilis. 

Mr. W , jun., was one of those whose cases are narrated 

in my first Report on Syphilis from Vaccination, 1874. He 
suffered rather severely, and his arm-chancre recurred several 
years later. He married in 1878, seven years after his 
syphihs. In 1885 he brought his eldest child, who looked 
quite healthy. He then had three living and healthy 
children, and had lost none. He was himself in good 
health. 
I mention this case because some authors hold that erratic 

>r non-venereal chancres are productive of more severe 

yphihs than others. 



364 SYPHILIS. 

No. LXXXVIII. — Reputed transmission of Sypliiln 
seven years after tJie primary disease in the 
father — Fallacies. 

I have so often expressed the opinion that syphilis is very 
rarely transmitted to offspring when several years have been 
allowed to elapse before marriage, that it becomes a duty to 
record any facts which may seem to be an exception. One 
such is the following. I treated a gentleman from Cornwall 
on account of periostitis affecting his os calcis, and at the 
same time excised one of his eyes which had been lost. I 
sent him to the seaside, and he took specifics for several 
mo&ths, with the result that he entirely regained his health. 
This was in 1881 ; and in 1888, with my full permission, he 
married. The attack of sjrphilis to which we referred his 
periostitis was twelve years back from the date of his 
marriage, but he had had another sore, without constitutional 
symptoms, seven years later. 

It was in June, 1876, that I first saw him for the node on 
the OS calcis, and in October, 1881, he was under the treat- 
ment of another surgeon on account of another chancre. 
This second chancre led to nothing, and at the time of his 
marriage he appeared to be in excellent health. He married 
in April of 1888, and in December of the same year his wife 
was delivered of a seven months* child, which subsequently 
suffered, as I was assured by a very competent man, from 
symptoms of sjrphilis which were unmistakable. His wife 
also after her confinement had an eruption of an erythe- 
matous character on her chest and body which was beUeved 
to be specific. I did not myself see either the child or its 
mother. 

If the above facts can be trusted, it will be seen that a 
man who had himself had no symptoms of a secondary or 
tertiary class for thirteen years, and in whom seven years 
had elapsed since a primary sore of doubtful character, was 
the father of a sj^hilitic child which caused contaminatioo 
to its mother. But we must glance at the fallacies. 
Although my patient assured me most positively that he 



THE RECURRENT CHANCRE. 365 

had had no primary symptoms since the date mentioned, he 
yet admitted having been exposed to risk, and we well know 
that infection sometimes takes place without the primary 
sjnnptoms being observed. The case is in my experience so 
entirely exceptional, that I feel much more inclined to 
suspect that fresh syphilis had in some way been contracted 
shortly before marriage than to take the view which the 
patient wished me to entertain. The credibility or other- 
wise of such evidence depends much upon the frequency 
with which it is offered to us, and I may repeat that my 
experience has afforded extremely few narratives in the least 
parallel to the above. 

This case is of further interest as an example of the per- 
manent cure of a very troublesome node. The os calcis 

was very much thickened when Mr. P first came under 

my care, and his treatment gave us a great deal of trouble. 
It was of two years' standing, and he had already taken 
specifics for a considerable time. It entirely prevented his 
walking or wearing a boot. The treatment which succeeded 
was a long course of large doses of iodide of potassium 
during residence at the seaside. What is somewhat 
remarkable in connection with bone syphilis, after it once 
got well there was never any tendency to relapse. 

No. LXXXIX. — Recurred Chancre or New Infection 

— A question of Diagnosis. 

Captain A 's case is, in reference to the theory of 

recurred chancres, a very peculiar one. 

In 1888 he had a soft sore, which he treated himself by 
local applications only, which healed in a fortnight and was 
not followed by secondaries. It left, however, a definite 
scar. 

In January, 1896, he had gonorrhoea, or more probably 
a urethral chancre, and at the same time a large sore on one 
finger which was no doubt a chancre. Six months after 
the beginning of these (in July) , he was sent to me covered 
with psoriasis-lupoid eruption of a very severe character. 
Under mercury this quite disappeared, and in six months 



366 SYPHILIS. 

he was well but covered with deeply pigmented stains. He 
now left oflf specifics,* and he remained quite free from 
symptoms and in good health until December 1, 1897. 

On December 1, 1897, he came to me again with a very 
definite induration of considerable size, with rounded 
elevated borders and a depressed centre. It was in the 
corona, and, as he positively assured me, exactly in the site of 
the '*soft sore" which had occurred nine years ago. The 
scar of the more recent sore on his finger remained quite 

sound and quiet. Captain A admitted having exposed 

himself to risk just about a month previous tp this con- 
sultation, and said that the "sore had followed about two 
weeks after this occurrence. 

I feel almost certain that this new chancre ought not to 
considered as a gumma, but rather as the result of a new 
contagion modified by the fact that he had recently been 
under treatment for syphilis. If it were independent of the 
recent exposure to risk and of spontaneous formation (i.^., 
an indurated gumma), then it seems more probable that the 
process would have affected the site of the sore on the 
finger or that near the meatus, both of which were true 
chancres, whilst the scar in the corona was left by a sore of 
short duration which was not followed by secondaries. Its 
relation to the scar is probably simply that the latter was 
a vulnerable part and thus favoured the absorption of virus. 

No. XC — BemarJcable persistence of Secondary 

Symptoms. 

In the case of Mr. A , the secondary phenomena of 

syphilis were somewhat peculiar and remarkable for their per- 
sistence. This gentleman was 39 years of age when he for 
the first time contracted chancres. They were, as is but too 
common, diagnosed as being " soft," and no treatment was 
resorted to xmtil he was covered with eruption. When he 
came to me, in probably the third month from date of con- 
tagion, he was literally covered with erythematous blotches, 
which in some parts threatened to become papular, and the 
roll of the reflected prepuce, from the froenum on one side to 



SYPHILITIC MASTITIS. 367 

the same point in the other, was involved in induration. He 
had no sore throat. Mercury was, of course, at once pre- 
scribed. A sHght ptyalism occurred at the end of a 
fortnight, and at the end of a month the induration had 
gone, and to a large extent the eruption also. Two months 
later, however, although he had not wholly left ofif mercury, 
the eruption showed a tendency to return. The mercury 
vsras increased and regularity in taking it was insisted upon. 
In spite of this, however, the eruption persisted, and a 
month later still his back was still covered with large 
erythematous patches and rings, and there were many also 
on his limbs. The eruption was at this stage very peculiar. 
It consisted of erythematous patches, some oval, some 
round, and some irregular, all of which enclosed a pale, 
almost white centre. Most of them were from the size of 
a shilling to that of a halfpenny, and none showed the 
slightest tendency to become pustular or even papular, and 
from all the congestive redness was discharged completely 
by pressure. There was no eruption on the face and but 
little on the front of the body, but the back was covered. 
It will be seen that the patient had now taken mercury for 
four months. He was well in health, and from first to last 
had had no sore throat. His chancres had quite gone, and 
showed no tendency to relapse. It should be added that he 
had formerly suffered from malaria. 

It would seem certain that the mercury had kept the 
disease in a condition of three-parts cure. Probably we had 
not given quite enough. 

When I last saw this patient (Oct. 29) he was returning 
to his home abroad, and was almost, but not quite, free 
from eruption. 

No. XCI. — Gumma of one Mammary Gland in a 
man after Syphilis and during treatment — Com- 
plete but very gradual disappearance — A family 
history. 

It was ten years after the first syphilis, whilst under 
mercurial treatment for a second chancre, and when the 



368 



SYPHILIS. 



latter was disappearing satisfactorily, that the mammary 
gland enlarged. It became of considerable size and very 
hard. It was evenly rounded, and the nipple was fixed. It 
caused no pain. This enlargement persisted, with but little 
change, for six weeks. Meanwhile the chancre had become 
parchment-like, but no secondary sjnnptoms had shown 
themselves. After this, under the steady continuance of 
mercury, the induration of the gland slowly diminished, and 
in the following June no trace of it remained. Not long 
after this he married (against my advice). Two years later 
I saw him again for sore throat of a specific nature, and 
ascertained that he had had no relapse in the breast, and 
nothing further of the nature of tertiary symptoms. His 
wife had remained well and had borne him two children, one 
of whom had died of inanition, aged one month, whilst the 
other, aged two, was in good health. Early in 1893 he had 
a fresh sore, but no secondaries followed. 

From this date till his marriage, twenty months later, he 
continued the use of mercury. He married against my 
advice. His wife remained quite well, but their first child 
died, set. one month, of "inanition.'* He himself remained 
quite well until 1898, when he had sore throat. Ulceration 
above soft palate in right side. It is now better under 
mercury and quinine. A smoker. 




1884 


25 


1886 


26 


1886 


27 


1887 


28 


1888 


29 


1889 


30 


1890 


31 


1891 


32 


1892 


33 


1893 


34 


1894 


35 


1896 


36 


1896 


37 


1897 


38 


1898 


39 



Treated for syphilis, by Mr. Lee, by mercurial baths. 
Mercurial baths. Sore throats troublesome. 
I saw him for first time for his throat. 
Mercurial treatment. 



1 



Quite well. 



A new and very hard chancre in March. Breast enlarged. 

Married in October. 

First child died, set. one month, " inanition." 
[Excellent health, but liable to herpes in penis and herpetic 
j* sore throats. Second child, bom in 1896, healthy. 

Comes to me with sore throat. In good general health. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

No. GIL — An exceptional form of Pruriginous 
Eruption in a young child — (Varicella-prurigo ?). 

On June 14, 1898, Dr. Fortescue Fox brought me a 
patient in whose case the diagnosis was very difficult. 
Those who are fond of names whicih have no real meaning 
might have insisted that it was a form of " prurigo,'* whilst 
those who desire that their name should imply some know- 
ledge either of cause or natural alliance, might have wavered 
amongst a number. It might be the result of flea-bites ; a 
variety of psoriasis ; a lupus vulgaris multiplex in an early 
stage; a sequel of varicella, i.e., a varicella prurigo, or a 
hybrid between any two of these. 

The patient was a well-grown girl of four years of age, of 
gouty family. Her eruption was confined to the limbs and 
face. The trunk was absolutely free. Thus the buttocks, 
as well as the upper parts of thighs, were covered with 
spots, but there were none on the loins and upper sacral 
region, the favourite site of pruriginous lichen caused by 
fleas. The absolute exemption of the trunk seemed indeed 
to be conclusive against the idea of any insect causation. 
The character of the eruption varied much in different parts. 
Both cheeks were covered with spots, papules, and discs, 
some of them more or less abraded, and all congested and 
looking not unlike the very earliest stage of lupus. On the 
arms and fore-arms the spots were more sparingly located, 
but much of the same character. Many were slightly scaly, 
like psoriasis guttata, and in a few glossy indurations had 
formed like keloid. On the buttocks and thighs the features 
of the eruption were much the same as on the arms, but the 

VOL. IX. 24 



370 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

spots were more abundant and less indurated. On the legs 
the spots were plentiful and more inflamed. Irregular in- 
durations had been formed by their coalescence, and the 
subcutaneous cellular tissue was involved. Some thin crusts 
were present, but ulceration, although threatened, had not 
actually occurred. 

The history of the case gave us but little help. The 
eruption in the first instance came out when the child was 
on a visit in August, 1897. It was at first considered to be 
chicken-pox, but it then affected the limbs only, and was 
not severe. After a duration of three months it vanished, 
and during the four winter months the child was quite free. 
The next attack occurred in the following April, and again 
when the child was visiting, but not at the same place. She 
had been observed for some days to be out of temper and 
tone, and then the eruption developed in successive crops, 
and the cheeks were for the first time attacked. The erup- 
tion on this second occasion was far more severe than on 
the first, but it was not attended by any failure of health. 
After it had been out a month, however, albumen was 
discovered in the urine. The child was kept to bed, and 
purgatives used, and this disappeared in the course of a 
week. The irritation of the eruption had not been more 
than moderate, and the child had kept her health, and slept 
fairly well throughout. There was a history that in infancy 
she had some vesicular eruption on the wrists and ankles, 
but it had soon passed away. Vaccination had been per- 
formed at the usual age, and without any ill consequences. 
When I saw the child there was nowhere any indication of 
vesication, nor any spots which showed much erythema as 
if of recent formation. I was told, however, that fresh spots 
did appear from time to time, and that sometimes there 
were distinct vesicles. The eruption had never before 
assumed such proportions as at the date of my consultation. 

I presented this patient at one of my Demonstrations at 
Park Crescent, and directed attention to the fact that the 
eruption was almost exactly symmetrical and confined to 
the limbs and cheeks. This, I remarked, was conclusive as 
evidence against its being due to bites of any insect. A 



DERMATOLYSIS EXFOLIATIVUS. 371 

number of portraits illustrating cases of prurigo after 
varicella and vaccination were placed by the side of our 
naked patient, and the similarity was acknowledged to be 
obvious. Taking into account the fact that in its first 
outbreak the eruption was thought to be chicken-pox, I 
ventured to say that I thought the diagnosis of varicella- 
prurigo more probable than any other. 



No. cm. — Tebb's Eruption (Keratolysis Exfolia- 

tivus of Saiigster). 

Dr. Sangster has published in the Journal of Dermatology 
an interesting example of congenital exfoliation of the 
epidermis, and accompanied it with an engraving from a 
photograph. My chief concern with it at present is to ask 
whether it has any relation on the one hand to congenital 
pemphigus, or on the other to the eruption of which the 
Tebb family were the subjects. Dr. Sangster's patient was 
a man of twenty-four, and was one of ten children, of whom 
four others were living and free from disease. His affection 
was noticed in the third week after his birth, and began on 
the forehead. By the end of the third year it had become, 
as it remained ever afterwards, almost universal, the palms 
and soles being the only parts exempt. The epidermis could 
in some parts be peeled off in large flakes, the surface 
becoming afterwards of a brilliant red, but without exuda- 
tion. No bullae had ever appeared. Perspiration was 
usually free, more especially in the palms and soles. The 
case might have been considered one of aggravated ichthyosis 
of the exfoliative tjrpe ; there was, however, no family pre- 
valence. As showing some alliance to the Tebb cases. Dr. 
Sangster records that the patient was liable to attacks three 
or four times a year, in which the exfoliation became much 
aggravated. There was, as in the Tebb cases, great irritation, 
and, as in them, the appendages of the skin were not affected. 
I cannot but think that the case is very closely parallel to 
that of the Tebbs, and if so, further support is afforded to 
Dr. Sangster' s conclusion that the disease was in the main 



372 DISEASES OP THE SKIN. 

non-inflammatory, and due to a congenital imperfection in 
the development of the skin. In the Tebb family a brother 
and sister were alike its subjects. Dr. Sangster names the 
condition keratolysis exfoliativus. In the Tebb cases the 
congenital peculiarity appeared to be a liability to urticarioas 
irritation in association with keratolysis. Urticaria as a rule 
is not followed by exfoliation. I have referred to this subject 
at page 363 of Vol. VIII. 

No. CIV. — On Common Warts. 

A wart may be defined as an overgrown papilla which hs 
protruded through the level surface of the epidermis, takir 
with it only a very thin investment from the homy laye 
In many instances two or more adjacent papillae are i 
volved, and coalesce to form the wart. In what is call 
the foliated wart the papilla has budded out in vario 
directions more or less dichotomously, and a branch^ 
cockscomb-like growth is the result. When there is mu 
foliation there is almost always a constricted base, 
dilated arteriole always enters the stem of a wart. Althou 
warts often, or indeed usually, occur in crops, they ne 
become diffuse — that is, the papillae adjacent to them rem 
quite quiet, and are not involved in the process. In spe 
lating as to the cause of warts, we have therefore to : 
what it is which gives to certain individual papillae a t 
dency to grow beyond their due relations to the struct 
of which they form a part. In reply to this question 
may say that it seems certain that youthfulness of tisa 
favours their occurrence, but not extreme youth, for t' 
are seen frequently in children, but hardly ever in infants 

GY .^—Eruptions following Varicella. 

The following letter from the mother of a patient 
explain itself: — 

" Two and a half years ago Charlie had chicken-pox, which seemc 
afifect his skin to an unusual degree, and it was quickly follo^we^ 



LOSS OF HAIR WITH AN ERUPTION. 373 

jpernphigua^ which he suffered from in an acute degree for some months 

in spite of Dr. C 's treatment, and it is only since early last simimer 

that he has ceased to have any spots or gatherings. For a long time the 
least blow or scratch would always cause a kind of gathering with a 
great deal of discharge, and all the time he has off and on had this kind 
of eczema. He has almost constantly taken the tonic with a small dose 
of arsenic in it, and it has done him much good, but not cured him. 

The subject of the above narrative was brought to me in 
February, 1888. He was five years old, and was the subject 
of a most troublesome pruriginous eczema. I prescribed a 
tar wash and it suited admirably. In a few months he was 
well. 



]]- 



\-r No. CVI. — Falling of the Hair after Influenza (?) 

„iiv and in association with a Lichenoid Eruption 

^^ on the Body. 

Ill 1-' 

A young woman, aged 27, who had formerly had an 

unusually good head of hair, was sent to me because she 

was losing it. Her hair had unquestionably become very 

thin, and in parts, vertex and sides of temples, almost bald. 

The hairs which remained were gathered into tufts of two, 

three, or four together. There was a certain amount of 

adherent dirty and sticky scurf in some parts and here and 

there in little patches, and the skin of the scalp looked 

coarse. Her hairs were strong and very long. I inquired 



ate 

tieK"- 
:eJte 
irt,t 
s, tte- 
itteiii- 



P^P as to her nails, and she told me that she had had (in October) 
*\* an illness, during which the nails and finger-ends became 
'^l blue. It was called influenza ; she felt very weak and was 
lessot- ^^ j^gj ^ week. During this illness she had '* red patches of 
utv^^ the arms, neck, &c., which kept moving about.*' They did 
rin# uqI; [iq]^^ }y^^ burned. The falling of her hair occurred 

chiefly after this illness, and sometimes she would lose an 
,, ounce and a half or even two ounces a day. These weights 

are explained in part by the great length of her hair. Asked 
^ patient as to whether she had any skin disease now, she said she had 

a patch between her shoulders, and showed me one the size 
.^^ of the palm of the hand, over which were rough lichen spots 
^^[^0 and numerous tufts of dilated capillaries (like a neevus). 



374 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

She is a tall, rather thin yonng woman, of rather fair 
complexion and feeble circulation ; often pale, with dnsky 
lips. 

I polled out many hairs. Their bnlhs looked thin. None 
broaght away the root sheath. 

No. CVII. — Disease of the Nails and Fingers be- 
ginning in Childlwod — Family history of Skin 
Disease — A modified form of Psoriasis. 

Miss M , aged 16, a florid girl in excellent health, 

was brought to me by her mother, March 17, 1898. I was 
told that some years ago I had treated one of her aants 
(maternal) for similar disease. 

The condition was that of dry and cracked finger-ends, with 
pin-pricked finger-nails and dry cracks across the flexures 
of her finger-joints. The nails were also somewhat under- 
mined. They were much disfigured. The fold between 
thumb and forefinger was dry and cracked, and she had 
formerly had some ill-defined dry scaly patches extending 
from this fold towards the pahn. The paku itself was soft 
and healthy. There was no xerodermic condition of the 
skin generally, and she was accnstomed to perspire readily. 
On the tips of both elbows and on the fronts of both knees 
were dry scaly patches, but they were ill-defined and by no 
means presented the conditions of characteristic psoriasis. 
Of the nails the thnmbs were the worst, and the Httle and 
ring fingers were almost wholly exempt. Toe-nails reported 
free. She h^ had sebaceous tumours of the scalp since the 
age of six. 
had been t; 
phanic aci 
time her m 
of dry dusl 
It was bel 
that time 
defir'*" '™' 
el' 
hi 



ECZEMA AND XERODERMA. 375 

The family history was of much interest, and well illus- 
trates the doctrines of transmutation in transmission. A 
brother of the patient had from infancy suffered for a long 
time and very severely from eczema. Of this he was now 
well, but with a dry skin and such liability to asthma that 
he was obUged to live at the seaside. A sister had a *' dry 
skin,'* but no definite disease. On her father's side there 
vsras a history of eczema. The following are notes of the 
state of skin in a maternal, aunt, who, as already stated, had 
been formerly under my care : — 

No. CVIII. — Notes of case of Pruriginous Eczema 
on a Xerodermic Skin (Patient, the Aunt of 
the preceding one). 

May 24, 1895. Mrs. A , aged 45, consulted me on 

account of a pruriginous eczema on a xerodermic skin. 
She stated that she had troublesome eczema as an infant, 
and did not get well of it until, at the age of ten, she was 
sent to the Askem baths (sulphur). She was liable, on 
taking exercise, to burning heat in the skin, without per- 
spiration. She had taken much arsenic and had become 
liable to numbness of her fingers, which often caused her to 
drop things. She believed that her family was gouty, and 
one of her grandmothers had, she knew, suffered from an 
eruption. I advised the disuse of arsenic, and prescribed 
local measures only. I heard subsequently that she was 
much better. 

No. CIX. — Symmetrical Pigmented Areas on sides 
of cheeks, temples, and Jiands — A form of 
Morphoea (?). 

Jn the following case an eruption of brown or blackish 
vithout perceptible induration or thickening, seemed 
substituted for the more ordinary conditions of 
ea. The type of morphoea was that in which there 
herpetiform bands, but in which symmetrical ill- 
areas are affected (Mr. Denner's tjrpe). 



376 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

Mrs. C dated all her ailments from a shock from a 

gas explosion in June, 1895. In Jmie of the following year 
she had a miscarriage, after which "an irritable eruption" 
appeared on her hands and face. She had previously 
suffered from urticaria on her legs. The eruption soon 
assumed the condition of brown stains, and for these she 
was sent to me on January 10th, 1898. 

The parts affected were the cheeks near to the ears and 
the temples. The nose and whole front of face were normal. 
Mainly the changes were those of pigmentation only, but I 
thought that the affected area was slightly thinned and some- 
what rigid. She had often been told that her face needed 
washing. On the backs of her hands were numerous brown 
spots which looked like lichen, but were quite imperceptible 
to the touch. The regions involved were quite symmetrical. 
Opinions might have differed as to whether or not they were 

slightly indurated. I thought that they were. Mrs. C 

said that the spots on the backs of her hands had been 
usually red rather than brown. 

Mrs. C was liable to a sensation of violent throbbing 

in her head with noises in her ears. She had also much 
pain in the small of the back and a bearing down in the 
iliac fossae. She was also subject once or twice a month to 
violent headaches, attended sometimes by slight epileptoid 
attacks, followed by collapse. After these she would regain 
consciousness but slowly. She had also very cold feet, and 
according to her own expression, ** everything went to her 
head." She did not consider that she was losing flesh or 
strength. Her eyes were white and watery. She told me 
that she could not take either quinine or arsenic. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

No. CCCXXI. — Is Cystinuria a '^family disease " 

or an '' heritable disease " ? 

A distinguished writer on the urine states that **a curious 
circumstance in the history of cystinuria is its tendency to 
run in families.*' He then proceeds to cite as evidence that 
Dr. Marcet observed it in two brothers, that both Lenoir 
and Civiale had operated on two brothers, and that Peel 
relates the case of two sisters who voided cystinous urine. 
But clearly not one of these four cases illustrates more than 
** family prevalence'* in the technical sense. To **run in 
families " should mean to descend from parent to oifspring, 
but here we have nothing of the kind proved. Nor am I 
aware that inheritance has ever been observed in the case of 
cystinuria. 

No. CCCXXII. — Family Prevalence in relation to 

Inheritance. 

Family prevalence, as distinguished from inheritance, is 
certainly a remarkable phenomenon. It would imply that 
conditions so produced are due to some peculiarity resulting 
from that particular couple, and not from either parent 
singly. The close similarity often observed in twins, both 
as regards features and morbid tendencies, is an example of 
the same kind of influence. In animals which bring forth 
many at a brood we find no difficulty in conceiving that one 
litter may differ from others bred of the same parents. An 
instance in which of a litter of rabbits nearly all had con- 
genital cataract once occurred under my own observation. 



378 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Probably it will be found on careful investigation that this 
diflference between inherited and family prevalence, upon 
which Adams insisted so strongly, is not, after all, of univer- 
sal prevalence. Some degree of inherited tendency may 
probably be found in most instances of family prevalence. 
In the case of retinitis pigmentosa and deaf-mutism this is 
not infrequent. Still, however, the main fact remains un- 
questioned that it is quite possible for several brothers and 
sisters to show some very pecuUar form of proclivity which 
cannot be traced in any progenitor. 

No. CCCXXIII. — On Vibrissce (Nasal and Aural) 
as indications of race and family descent. 

Amongst personal peculiarities which may go to the 
recognition of family inheritance are the development of 
hairs in the nostrils and in the external ear. In the nostrils 
these hairs have been named Vibrissae, but I am not aware 
that those occurring in the ears have received any special 
name. Some persons have the orifices of the nostrils com- 
pletely protected from the entrance of dust by the develop- 
ment of these hairs. They grow, I think, more usually 
from the projecting fold of skin on the inner side which 
covers the columna, but some may often be found just 
within the outer margin as well. In the ear, the large tuft 
of hair often springs from the inner side of the tragus, and 
crossing the orifice, they completely protect it from intruding 
objects and to some extent from cold air. Those who have 
abundant vibrissse very commonly, I believe, have these 
tragal tufts of hair also. A Scotchman of my acquaintance, 
a thin, spare man, has both his nostrils and his ears quite 
occluded by these growths of hair.* 

Perhaps we might suitably speak of the hairs in the ear 
as aural vibrissse. Careful observation might perhaps 

• Quain, describing the vibrisssB, says, " Within the margin of the nostrils 
there are several short, stiff, and slightly curved hairs which grow from the 
inner surface of the alse and septum, nasi, up to the point at which the skin 
is continuous with the mucous membrane lining the cavity of the nose." 
Respecting the ear, he says simply that the tragus is frequently covered 
with hairs. 



U 



PERSISTING PELLICULAR CONJUNCTIVITIS. 379 

enable us to make some use of the presence or absence 
of these hairs as indicative of race. In all probability they 
belong chiefly to those races and to those individuals in 
whom the growth of the beard, whiskers, and moustache is 
also abundant. They occur chiefly, if not exclusively, in 
men. Whether they are in any relation to the general 
tendency to hirsute development in the individual I am 
unable to say, but should think it probable that they are 
rather local peculiarities incident to certain families belong- 
ing to hirsute races. As indications of family relationship 
no doubt they have their value and are worthy of study. 
Sometimes the regions affected by them become the seats of 
sycosis, and the removal of the hairs is then necessary. 
Under all other circumstances their presence is rather to be 
regarded as an advantage to their possessor. 



No. CCCXXIV. — Persistent Pellicular Conjunctivitis 
with lupus-liJce thickening of Mucous Membrane 
— Death from Croup. 

The patient to whom the following note refers was a 
little girl of six years old. I saw her only once. She had 
the mucous membrane of her upper eyehd much thickened 
and partially everted. The thickened surface was covered 
by a thick coherent membrane, and bled when the mem- 
brane was detached. The condition, I was told, had been 
present several years, and had resisted all treatment. She 
was the niece of a physician who brought her to me, and 
who had previously obtained much highly skilled advice. 
I thought that the disease was a combination of lupus of 
mucous membrane with pellicular formation, and advised 
the free use of the actual cautery. The appended letter 
gives all the further details with which I am acquainted. 
It would appear that the child had a remarkable proclivity 
topeUicular (diphtheritic) formations. 

*'Dear Mb. HuTCHnfsoN, — On the 8th of July last, you were good 
enough to look at my niece, who had been sufifering for the last five years 
ammnre from an extraordinary affection of the eyelid. This you were 



380 MISCELLANEOUS. 

inclined to think was a form of lupus, but said that you had never seen a 
similar case. 

'* As to the result of treatment, no kind of cauterisation, Paquelin or 
other, had the slightest result, the false membrane forming again alxaost 
immediately. 

** I regret to say that the child died after two days* illness — the cause, 
* Croup and Bronchitis.' The remarkable fact about this is that less 
than a year ago she had been subjected to a six- weeks course of injec- 
tion with Diphtheria Antitoxin in St. Thomas' Hospital, into which she 
had been admitted in order that that treatment might be thoroughly 
carried out. You may perhaps remember that she was an exceptionally 
well-developed child for her age. 

" I promised to let you know the further progress of the case, so tell you 
all I know ; but I have not seen her myself since the day you examined 
her. Believe me very faithfully yours, 

" P. B. M." 



No. CCCXXV. — hifluence of Race and Diet in 
Leprosy and Tuberculosis in Japan. 

The following extract is from the pen of a Japanese 
physician and contains some important facts. I take it 
from one of the reprints, &c., which Dr. Albert Ashmead 
sends us from time to time across the Atlantic : 

** Among the classes backward in development, leprosy 
still preserves its sway. In Japan, the population may be 
divided into three classes. In the rich, noble class, almost 
pure Indonesian blood, inbreeding of four families for 1200 
years, leprosy is very rare. In the great middle class it is 
more frequent. Among the outcasts, the Eta, the negroid 
element, it is rampant. 

*' In the first class tuberculosis makes numerous victims, 
more than in either of the other classes ; in the second class 
sjrphilis is the prevailing scourge, and has been so for 1300 
years ; the third, as before said, is a prey to leprosy. 

** These three different bacilli seem to have picked out 
their ground during 1300 years in which the closely-hemmed- 
in and isolated empire has been preyed upon by them. 

** By changing the environment congenial to the microbe 
one can change his characteristics. A change in the con- 
ditions of the lower class of Japan to the hi|^H^plaqewonld 
probably produce a corresponding changs.i 




FISH AND LEPROSY. 381 

** Two factors are necessary for the prevention of leprosy : 
obstacles to inoculation, that is isolation, and improvement 
of the human class preferred by the bacillus. 

** The Ainos of Japan, who have been always isolated 
from the Japanese, have never contracted leprosy (yet they 
are the greatest salt eaters in the world). This might be 
considered as an isolation of the healthy. It is our desire 
to have the whole human race isolated in the Aino manner. 
'*We do not know, of course, whether the Ainos have 
ever been inoculated. One individual would have acted as a 
nucleus for the disease. It is very probable that in the 
course of twenty centuries one or more Ainos were inocu- 
lated. However well isolated they were, although shunned 
by the Japanese as dogs because of their hairiness, as the 
country was after all a leper centre, some individuals were 
contaminated. Some poor Aino must have at some time 
joined the company of some outcasts in the Eta villages. 
The inoculation is certainly very probable ; and the absence 
of the disease among the Ainos is certain. We assume, 
therefore, that the Aino has immunity, or that the bacillus 
does not prosper in Aino flesh. Now, here is a curious 
remark : ' There has always been a suspicion that fish diet 
has something to do with leprosy. Now the leprous Japanese 
eats a great deal of fish, and no meat ; while the Aino feeds 
on bear meat, and is not very fond of fish ; he is, in fact, 
a nomad, consequently a hunter.' *' 



No. GGGXXYl.—Salt^fish in Iceland.. 

** Of Iceland to wryte is little nede 
Save of stock fische." 

These were the opening lines of a chapter in a geographical 
work of the sixteenth century. 



No. CCGXXYU.—aeneral Pruritus from Fish. 

"I become 'quite itchy if I eat salmon." This was an 
expression used by a patient, and supports an opinion which 



382 MISCELLANEOUS. 

was long ago forced on my mind that fish is often a cause of 
general pruritus, even in persons who do not develope actual 
urticaria. 

No. CCCXXVIII.— -N^imm Diligentia. 

It is an interesting illustration of the fact that to cease to 
do evil is often the first step in medical improvement, that 
one of the chief claims to the gratitude of posterity which 
the biographers of Petit put forward is that he succeeded in 
persuading surgeons th^t it was not necessary to cut the 
frcenum lingu© of infants. 

No. CCCXXIX. — Consultation Practice in the last 

Century. 

It is recorded quaintly of Dr. Thomas Wilhs, when in 
practice at Oxford, that ** He pursued his profession and 
kept Abingdon Market** (Hutchinson, Vol. II., p. 481). 

No. CCCXXX. — Distinction between a Stroke and 

a Fit. 

The' popular distinction between a stroke and a fit was 
well illustrated by a hemiplegic patient who asserted, *'I 
never had a fit; I never lost my senses; I only had a stroke." 

No. CCGXXXI.— Doctor and Patient. 

Consultant : "\i\Tio are you under ? 

Patient : Well, you see I go once a week to Dr. Brown, 
but whether I am under him or he is under me, I never can 
quite tell. I believe he would admit that I have had more 
experience of my complaint than he has. 

No. CCCXXXII. — Death of Van der Linden from 

Pneumonia. 

Dr. Van der Linden, of Leyden, 1604-1664, died after a 
short illness in March, 1664. Guy Paton, of Paris, who 




CAUSES OF DEATH OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS. 383 

T?vas his friend and correspondent, thus mentions his death 
in one of his letters: **Van der Linden died at Leyden, 
aged 53 years, of a fever and defluxion on the lungs, after 
having taken antimony and without being blooded. What 
a pity it is that a man who wrote so many books, and was so 
well skilled in Latin and Greek, should die of a fever and 
suffocating catarrh without being blooded.'* The illness 
was probably catarrhal pneumonia. 

No. CCCXXXIII.— D^a^/^ of Sir Thomas Browne 

from Abdominal Obstruction. 

Sir Thomas Browne (Beligio Medici) died after a week's 
illness from ** colic, with much suffering.*' He may have 
had an impacted gall-stone, or possibly a stricture and 
blocked bowel. He was aged seventy-seven. 

No. CGGXXXIY.— Cause of Napoleon's Death. 

Napoleon Bonaparte died at the age of 52 of cancer of the 
stomach, May, 1821. His father had died at the age of 38 
of the same. Napoleon was the son of a very young 
mother. His mother was possibly not sixteen when he was 
bom, and certainly not twenty. 

Cancer is, I believe, more common in the children of aged 
parents than of young ones. We must, however, here 
bear in mind the inheritance, and also the depressing and 
annoying conditions under which Napoleon's last years were 
passed. There can be little doubt that mental depression 
disposes the tissues to cancerous changes. 

No. CCCXXXV. — Coleridge at the London Hospital. 

Guy's Hospital has long made its boast of Keats, but it is 
perhaps not so well known that Coleridge was at times an 
amateur dresser at the London. The following is from his 
autobiographical memoranda : ** About this time my brother 
Luke, or " the Doctor," so called from his infancy because, 



3t» MISCELIiAMEOUS. I 

being the seventh son, he had from his infancy been devi:- 
cated to the medical profession, came to town to walk ir- 
London Hospital nnder the care of Sir William Blizari 
Mr. Samnarez, brother of the Admiral Lord Sanmarez. ^ca? 
his intimate friend. Every Saturday I could make or obtain 
leave, to the London Hospital trudged I. O the bliss if I 
was permitted to hold the plasters, or to attend the dressing- 
Thirty yeare afterwards Mr. Samnarez retained the liveliesj 
recollections of the extraordinary, enthusiastic blae-coa; 
boy, and was exceedingly affected in identifying me wilfc 
that boy. I' became wild to be apprenticed to a sorgeon. 
English, Latin, yea, Greek books of medicine read I 
incessantly. Blanchard's Latin Medical Dictionary I h3<5 
nearly learnt by heart. Briefly, it was a wild dream, which 
gradually blending with, gradually gave way to a rage for 
metaphysics" (p. 22). 



INDEX TO VOL. IX. 



A 

Abortive herpes , 

Absence of digits , 

of limbs , 

of odour in urine after eating asparagus 

of pectoral muscle , 

of testicles , 

Aconite, effects of doses , 

Albinism as a family peculiarity , 

Albuminuria , , 

Alcohol as a hypnotic , 

Acromegaly , 

Anchylosis of elbow, usefulness of hand , 

of patella 

—  of wrist 

Antimony for lichen planus , 

Aphorisms respecting inheritance , 

Apoplexy, hasmorrhagic , 

Arcus senilis as a symptom 

Arsenic cancer , 

keratosis , 

cancer of cBsophagus after 

causing ascites 

effects of large doses 

herpes whilst using , 

causing herpes , 

zosteriform pigmentation after 

Arteries, occlusion by coagulation 

Ascites caused by arsenic 

Asparagus, absence of odour in urine after .... 
Atrophy, white, of optic discs 

kuditory nerve epilepsy , 

B 

less in the two sexes 

ntyne. Dr. J. W., letter from 

I's malady 

notes on, in connection with sex , 

■al herpes , 

ikins in syphilis , 

cancer of 

)s mistaken for syphilis , 



VOL. IX. 

211 

163 

167 

185 

171 

169 

186 

285 

26 

85 

293 

91 

92 

352 

275 

283 

357 

388 

63, 223, Plate 20 

223, Plate 20 

52 

184 

185 

212, 220 

83, 117, 221 

86 

100 

184 

185 

68 

43 



89 

166 

230 

267 

219 

246 

145, 150 

334 



11 



INDEX. 





Cancer and the cancerous process 

arsenical 

fractures of bones in cases 

in both breasts 

of the breast 

of GBsophagus after arsenic 

of tongue 

Carbolic acid for lupus erythematosus 

Carotid artery, position of, in tumours of neck 

Cartilaginous tumours of digits 

Chfuicres assuming type of frambcasia 

progress when mercury not given . . 

Chancre of finger 

recurrent 

Choroiditis disseminata 

with inherited syphilis 

Circulation in paralysed limbs 

Coagulation, occlusion of arteries by 

Cold feet 

CoUes* fracture, splint-treatment 

Coloboma, intra-uterine repair in 

Congenital absence of pectoral muscle 

defect in femur 

defects in lower extremities 

ichthyosis 

Conjunctivis, pellicular 

Contraction, painful, after injury 

Cramp after sleep 

Cyclitis in connection with gout 

relapsing 

Cystinuria, is it a family disease ? 



D 

Dactylitis 

Deafness, with herpetic teethache .... 

Dermatitis, urticarious 

Dermatolysis exfoliativus 

Detachment of epiphysis of humerus . . 
of retina, complete 

of retina from sea-sickness 

Diary, extracts from my 

Dichotomy, posterior 

Dickinson, Dr., cases by 

Diet and therapeutics. 

Digits, absence of 

cartilaginous timiours of 

Double monsters 

Dwarfdom • 

Dwarfing in inherited syphilis 

E 

Ears, lobules affected by xanthoma . . 
Eczema and xeroderma 

scrof ulosorum 

Elbow-joints, symmetrical deformity . . 

Encephalocele, occipital 

Epilepsy after syphilis 



VOL, IX- 

237, 341 

63, 223, Plate 20 

148 

150 

145 

52 

289 

84 

345 

299 

247 

362 

79 

78,366 

355 

356 

93 

100 

338 

276 

169 

171 

169 

161 

55 

379 

69 

132 

354 

180 

376 



144 

136 

75 

371 

90 

178 

180 

289 

171 

101 

82, 184, 273 

163 

299 

171 

170 

3 



201 
375 
291 
296 

164, 167 
68, 126 



INDEX. 



Ill 



Epilepsy, auditory nerve . 
retinal, so-called. 



Epileptic hemiopia 

Epiphysis of humerus, detachment of 

Eruption after vaccination 

Eruptions following varicella 

in connection with gout . . , 



43 

33 

43 

90 

190 

872 

316 

Erythema induratum 234 

multiforme, neuro>catarrhal nature of j 301 

Extracts from my diary ' 289 

Eye, results from blow 178 



VOL. IX. 



P 



Facial paralysis after herpes 

paralysis in syphiUs 

Fainting, fall in 

Fatty tumour on finger 

Feet, psoriasis-eczema of 

Femur, congenital defect in 

Finger-chancre 

Finger, fatty tumour on 

Fingers, vascular tumour of 

Fish, general pruritus from 

" Fish is Leprosy " 

Fish-eating and leprosy in Persia . . . . 

Foreign bodies in rectum 

Fractures, multiple, in young children 
of bones in cancer cases . . . . 



Fragmentary notes 

Framboesia, chancres assuming type of 

in an Englishman 

Futility of microscopic diagnosis 



219 

360 

339 

189 

52 

169 

79 

189 

255 

381 

188 

86 

278 

295 

148 

284 

247 

Plate 160 

271 



G 

Greneral paralysis of the insane 

George II. , death of 

Glans penis, pigmented stains on 

Gout, cyclitis in connection with 

diseases of skin in 

eruptions in connection with 315 

inherited, ophthalmitis of ' ^^77 yjg 

Gumma of one mammary gland ; 357' 

Gummata, nature of hq 

of testes '. . 248 



152 
94 

75, 136 
354 
285 



G 

Hsemorrhage into vitreous 181 

Hsemorrhagic apoplexy 357 

sarcoma 60 

Hair, falling off, after influenza ' 373 

Hands, psoriasis-eczema of 52 

Hematuria with Beynaud's phenomena 88 

Hemiopia I 202 

epileptic '43 

Hemiplegia in syphilis 250 

Herpes, abortive 211 

after arsenic , 83, 117, 221 



IV 



INDEX. 



Herpes after injury , 

bilateral , 

double and multiple 

facial paralysis after , 

of buttock, recurring 

of pharynx, recurring 

of pharynx, severe 

ophthabnicus 

painless 

recurring , 

whilst using arsenic 

Herpetic stomatitis 

teethache and deafness 

Horripilatio 

Humerus, detachment of epiphysis 

Hyalitis, recurring 

Hydrocele of neck 

Hydrocephalus 

Hydrocystoma 

Hypospadias, with absence of testicles 



Iceland, salt-fish in 

Ichthyosis, congenital 

Indian hemp, use of 

Induration, peculiar form 

Infantile pemphigus 

Inheritance, aphorisms respecting 

Inherited syphilis, selected dases 

choroiditis in connection with 

osteitis from 

retinal epilepsy in 

Intra-uterine repair of defects , 

Ischsamia, retinal 



Japan, leprosy and tuberculosis in 



K 



Keloid 

Keratolysis exfoliativus 



Leprosy and fish-eating 

and fish-eating in Persia 

^ and tuberculosis in Japan 

Lichen scrofulosorum 

planus, antimony in its treatment 

planus of palms 

spinous form 



Life insurance and syphilis 

Lobules of ears affected by xanthoma. . 
Lorenzo the Magnificent, last illness . . 

LunulsB, note as to 

Lupus erythematosus 

carbolic acid for 

Lupus of pharynx 



VOIi IX. 

215 

219 

212 

219 

127 

125 

217 

209 

130 

125, 127, a06, 220 

212, 220 

114 

186 

132 

90 

175 

170 

192 

159, Plato 144 

168 



381 

55 

82 

78 

18 

283 

1,139 

356 

187 

39 

169 

37 



380 



237 
371 



188 

86 

380 

243 

275 

258 

72 

289 

201 

94 

284 

290, Plate 142 

84 

191 




INDEX. 



Lupus resembling psoriasis 

sebaceus , 

— vulgaris multiplex . 



Liyxnph-adenoma 



malignant 



Lyinphatic glands, diseases of . . 

Lympho-sarcoma, acute 

after syphilis 



M 



Mabey group 

Malignant lymph-adenoma 

Mammary gland, gumma of 

Meagre statistics, danger of 

Melanotic sarcoma of skin 

Mercury causing deformities of teeth 

progress of chancres, when not given 

Microcephalus 

Microscopic diagnosis, futility of 

Milk abscess 

Morbus C0X8Q senilis, double 

Morphoea, case of (?) 

Mortimer's malady 

Multiple fractures in young children 

lupus vulgaris 



Myxoedema, case of. 



N 



Nsevus, obliteration of large 

Nails, disease of 

psoriasis of 



Nervous system, diseases of 

Neuro-catarrhal nature of erythema multiforme. 

Nomenclature, remarks on 

Numbness, subjective 



O 



Occipital encephalocele 

Occlusion of arteries by coagulation 
GBsophagus, cancer of, after arsenic 

01ecra^on, prolongation of 

Ophthalmitis of inherited gout 

Ophthalmoplegia, sequel of case . . . , 

Opium in Raynaud's disease , 

Osteitis deformans , 

from inherited syphilis . . . , 



^ain in shin-bones 

unfol contraction after injury 

«|imalady 

^H||hen planus of 

^^^^ ~oles, dry eczema of 
various forms of 
circulation in.. 



VOL. IX. 

92 
71 
77, 307 ; Phites 67, 

68, 76, 77 \ 
819 
50 

44, 270, 822 
381 
828 



180 

50 

867 

286 

844 

288 

862 

148 

271 

829 

259 

875 

807, Pis. 152, 163 

295 

77, Pis. 67, 68, 76, 

77 
850 



256 

874 

72 

65,857 

801 

27 

65 



164, 167 

100 

52 

191 

177, 179 

107 

88 

288 

187 



187 

69 

240 

258 

57 

260 

98 



VI 



INDEX. 



Paralysis agitans , 

facial, after herpes. 

in syphilis 



general, of the insane 



Paraplegia, recovery from 
threatened 



Patella, anchylosis of 

Pectoral muscle, congenital ahsence 

Pellicular conjunctivitis 

Pemphigus and its variants 

syphilitic 

vegetans 



Persistence of secondary symptoms 

Pharynx, lupus of 

recurring herpes of .... 

severe herpes of 



Pigmented areas, a form of morphcea (?) 

patches on glans penis 

stains on abdomen , 



Plugging of veins 

Posterior dichotomy 

Proctalgia, urethral pain with .... 

Pruritus, general, from fish 

Psoriasis-eczema of hands and feet , 

Psoriasis of the nails 

Ptosis in a boy. , 

Pulse, radial, extreme feebleness 



B 



Ilaynaud's disease, opium in , 

phenomena with hematuria. 

Bectum, foreign bodies in , 

Becurred chancre , 

urticaria 

Becurring herpes. 



hyalitis 



of buttock , 
of pharynx. 



Belapsing cycUtis 

Betina, detachment from sea-sickness 

complete detachment 

Betinal epilepsy, so-called 

ischsemia , 



Betinitis pigmentosa 

Bheumatic gout 

Bodent ulcer in brother and sister 



S 



Salt-fish in Iceland , 

Sarcoma hsBmorrhagic 

in muscles , 

melanodes 

of skin, melanotic 

Scarlet fever after measles 

Scirrhus resembling keloid , 

Sclerosis of tongue , 

Scrofula, ulceration of skin with 

Sea-sickness causing detachment of retina 



•* 



vox., rx. 

357 

219 

360 

152 

67 

335 

92 

171 

379 

17 

12, Plate 97 

Plate 156 

366 

191 

125 

217 

375 

75,136 

73 

151 

171 

135 

381 

52 

72 

137 

339 



83 

88 

278 

78,365 

190 

206,220 

127 

125 

175 

180 

180 

178 

33 

37 

182 

184 

237 



381 

60 

343 

317 

344 

190 

U7 



INDEX. 



Vll 



Secondary symptoms, remarkable persistence 

Senile papillomatosis 

Sex, notes on bees and on 

Shin-bones, pain in 

Skin, diseases of 

in conneotion with gout . . .-. 



melanotic sarcoma of 
ulceration of, with scrofula. 



Spina bifida in two brothers 

Splint-treatment in GoUes* fracture 

Spondylitis deformans in a cat 

Spontaneous obliteration of nsevus 

Statistics, danger of meagre 

Sterne, Laurence, death of 

Stomatitis, herpetic 

Symbiosis, in reference to human pathology 

S3rmmetrical deformity of elbow-joints 

Syphilis a form of yaws 

bone-pains in 

bug-bites mistaken for 

choroiditis in connection with . . . 

epilepsy after 

facial paralysis in 

hemiplegia in 

inherited 

dwarfing in 

osteitis from 



in Hindoos 

in sixteenth century 

in two brothers, course of. 

life insurance and 

lympho-sarcoma after . . . 

mastitis , 

tertiary stage 

three infections of 

vaccination 



Syphilitic pemphigus 



VOL. IX. 

36G 

265 

267 

137 

71, 369 

285 

344 

233 

168 

276 

352 

256 

286 

94 

114 

97 

296 

349 

246 

334 

356 

126 

360 

250 

1,139 

3 

187 

79 

96 

78 

289 

323 

367 

246 

361 

363 

12, Plate 97 



Tabetic pains induced by cold 

Tebb's eruption 

Teeth-ache as distinct from " toothache 
Teeth, deformities caused by mercury 

Teratology 

Tertiary stage of syphilis 

Testes, gummata of 

Testicles, absence of 

Therapeutics and diet 

Three infections of syphilis 

Thyne, Dr., case by 

Tongue, cancer of 

sclerosis of 



** 



Tuberculosis and leprosy in Japan 

Tumours of neck, position of carotid artery in 



282 

371 

257 

288 

161 

246 

248 

169 

184.273 

361 

69 

289 

92 

380 

345 



U I 

Ulceration of skin, with scrofula ' 233 

Urethral pain, with proctalgia 135 

Urticaria pigxnentosa mistaken for syphilis ' 80 




VIU 



INDBX. 



Urtioarift, reonrrent . 
Urticarious dermatitis 



Vaccination, eruption after . . 

syijnilis 

Varicella, erujptions following 

Varioella-pningo 

Vascular tumours of fingers .. 

Veins, plugging of 

Vesicating fire-stains 

Vibrissa, nasal and aural . . . . 
Vitreous, hnmorrhage into . . 



W 



Warts, common 

corns, &c 

White atrophy of optic discs. 



Xanthelasma 

Xanthoma as a symptom 

in exceptional positions. 

Xeroderma and eczema 



Yaws 



in Benin 

— Englishmen, two cases 
syphilis a form of 



Z 



Zoster, arsenical 

whilst taking arsenic 

Zosteriform pigmentation after arsenic 



VOL IX. 



190 
76 



189 
863 

872 
869 
255 
151 

279 
876 
181 






872 
260 
68 



35,92 
200 
201 
376 



Pis. 146, 147, 160 

361 

193, Plate 160 

349 



88,117 
212, 220 
86