A practical treatise on porrigo, or scalled head, and on impetigo, the humid or running tetter : with coloured engravings illustrative of the diseases / by Robert Willan ; edited by Ashby Smith.

Date:
1814
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on porrigo, or scalled head, and on impetigo, the humid or running tetter : with coloured engravings illustrative of the diseases / by Robert Willan ; edited by Ashby Smith. 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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    greater part of' the scalp, and sometimes encroaches on the forehead, temj)les, and cheeks. As it is from time to time rencAved, the succeeding sca]>by incrustation is augmented, and often rendered soft, by the exuding viscous fluid. The scabs, however, soon become superficially dry and powdery, easily separable, and quickly reproduced. Hence consider- able quantities of them may be daily brought away on combing the hair. This complaint is attended with great itching, and tenderness of the scalp. Exquisite pain is usually produced if either the tops of the small pustules, or portions of the incrustation be detached by scratching or combing the head. Women are more especially liable to the Porrigo fur- furosa, by which their hair is weakened, thinned, and some- times altered in colour. In this respect, the complaint differs from Pityriasis, or any scaliness of the scalp connected Avith the Lepra and Psoriasis, Avhich is ahvays superficial, and does not detach the hairs, or alter their colour. The Porrigo furfurosa therefore requires a more strict attention than the Dandriff.* It is easily distinguishable by the pustular eruption at its commencement,'!' and by the slight ulcera- tions Avhich take place aftei Avards, by the occasional moist- ness of the scab, and by the frequent appearance of glandular SAvellings. Re fore * On Cutaneous Diseases, p. 192. f From not attending to the primary state of this complaint, autliors have ar- ranged it among the scaly diseases of the skin. Ad furfuraceos vel lichenosos morbos refertur. Lorry, page