Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Syphilis / by Jonathan Hutchinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![silvery white. If the habit of smoking be continued the patches gradually indurate and thicken more, until they present dense white leathery plates, the so-called ichthyosis of the tongue. The state first described is at no stage to be considered as wholly syphilitic, and all its conditions may be produced in great perfection in those who have never suffered from the disease. It is in reality the smoker’s tongue. But I do not think there can be any doubt that those who have suffered from a specific glossitis are far more prone to it than others. When the condition has advanced to sclerosis it is too late to expect any benefit from the interna] use of specifics. Whilst a diffuse lumpy condition of the tongue is a very common consequence of syphilis, swellings that can be classed as true gum- mata are rare. Occasionally, however, we see a well- defined swelling form in the muscular substance of the organ which is of this kind. Occasionally by their hardness, gummata may simulate malignant growths ; they always, however, answer very quickly to the iodide of potassium, and the diagnosis is thus easily established. Syphilitic lesions of the tongue are at all stages, but especially that of sclerosis, very liable to take on cancerous action. It is scarcely possible to repeat this assertion too emphatically, but as I have treated it in detail in another chapter, I need not re- peat here what has been there said. In the tertiary stage of syphilis, and indeed at any period after the secondary, acute phagedaenic inflam- mations may occur in connection with the mouth. They are most common on the soft palate, and not unfrequently destroy it. But they may involve also the pharynx, tongue, and larynx. They are seen both in the inherited and acquired form of syphilis, but are more common in the latter. The rapid destruction of parts, the swelling and the acute inflammation present, usually denote sufficiently clearly the nature of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21979819_0570.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
