Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A manual of medical diagnosis / by A.W. Barclay. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
597/642 page 573
![§ 4. Vesicvlar Erwptions.—In this class we meet with cases of very varying intensity, which, accordiug tto the stage at which they are seen, may resemble ssquamous or pustular eruptions. The reason for ggrouping them together is, that the primary element iin all is a vesicle, and the practical utility of such a cclassiticatiou consists in this, that when such an origin ccan be traced, there is no difficulty in deciding to which of the vesicular diseases any case ought to Ibe refeived. The first inquiry, therefore, will be how Hong the disease has lasted, and how it commenced ; iiand then search must be made for a vesicle in the early sstage. If the first appearance of the disorder cannot Ibe traced, we have to remember that the serum must leither continue to ooze away, keeping the part con- sstantly moist, or harden into a gum-like crust, or tthat it may dry up altogether, leaving small, round, cdry scales, as the only remains of the vesicle; but, on tthe other hand, by exposure, the cutis may be irri- ttated, and produce a purulent secretion, whicli forms ccrusts like those of the pustular eruptions. The two Hast alone can give rise to any difficulty in diagnosis, tand they belong to one form of eruption—viz., eczema. In this variety a number of vesicles are always ifound together, coalescing and forming a patch of ■'varying size. It is distinguished from the other vesi- (cular eruptions by their neither being disposed in 1 regular groups, nor occurring singly. In its simple I form the vesicles either constantly foi’m on an unin- I flamed surface, and gi-adually disappear, or the skin (Continues red and moist after they have burst; in the 1 former, the appearance of fresh vesicles prevents our 1 referring the shrivelled and dry ones to any scaly I eruption ; in the latter, the moistened surface prevents iits being mistaken for erythema, or erysipelas, which i is the name commonly applied to it by patients. Occasionally the reddened skin is dry, and covered with small scales : that this is not psoriasis is ])roved by the cii-cumstances that the skin is evenly inflamed](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24989812_0597.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
