A treatise on venereal diseases / by A. Vidal (de Cassis) ; translated, with annotations, by George C. Blackman.
- Auguste Vidal de Cassis
- Date:
- 1874
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on venereal diseases / by A. Vidal (de Cassis) ; translated, with annotations, by George C. Blackman. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
471/516 page 461
![On the one hand, we find the bnllse filled with well-formed yel- lowish pus, whilst in simple pemphigus they are filled by a clear or opaline serous fluid. In the one case, the color of the excoriated skin is red and livid; in the other, it is of a clear rosy hue. In the one the skin is eroded and even ulcerated; in simple pem- phigus it is never ulcerated; in the one case the bullte co-exist with syphilitic lesions in the other organs, such as eruptions on the skin or mucous membranes, with abscesses scattered through the substance of the thymus gland or lungs, with fibro-plastic de- generation of the liver, onyxis, &c. In simple pemphigus, on the contrary, the bullse constitute the only symptom. In fine, the one is with difficulty cured, and only by mercury administered to both child and nurse, whilst the other is cured by simple diluents.* I would remark that syphilitic pemphigus is not always accom- panied with other syphilitic eruptions, and the visceral lesions mentioned by M. Bouchut are revealed only by an autopsy. Besides the eruptions described and Avhich belong to the super- ficial forms, we may also observe the deeper seated. Indeed, the child is sometimes' affected with syphilitic ecthymatous pustules similar to those found on the extremities, especially the legs of the adult, pustules which are broad,deep, and the ulceration of which has perpendicular borders. The child may also present the tuber- cular form of eruption with an ulceration as if perforated. But it must be admitted these forms are rare. [Dr. Bulkley, in his elaborate paper on Syphilis in Infants {New York Jour, of Med. Oct. 1840, p. 247), alludes to the modified appear- ance of these eruptions and ulcerations as they appear in mulattoes and blacks, and relates some interesting cases, showing that in these they assume a whitish appearance. The dusky-colored spots on the skin were surrounded by whitish circles, the color of the white being lighter, and that of the dark deeper, than the natural hue of the skin. In the article from which we quote. Dr. B. states that up to that time (1840), he had had under his immediate care 85 cases of infantile syphilis, and we have recently been assured by him, that he has now treated some 60 cases, probably a much larger number than has fallen to the share of any American prac- titioner. We regret that our limited space prevents us from no- ticing this contribution to the subject of Infantile syphilis more fully, but we can only refer the reader to the essay itself, assuring him that he will here find every point of interest and importance connected with it, most ably discussed.—Gr. C. B.] In infantile syphilis we seldom find the bones or their append- ages involved. Bertin quotes but the following case : Pierre G., get. 35 days, removed from la Maternite to our de- partment on the 1st Jan., 1809, was attacked with a very severe blennorrhagic ophthalmia, and tubercular pustules, over nearly the whole surface of the body, and a tumor the size of a pigeon's egg over the left great trochanter, and a very considerable perios- titis on the superior and posterior surfaces of the ulna. The tumor * Bouchut, loc. cit.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21082340_0471.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
