A treatise on diseases of the skin with special reference to their diagnosis and treatment : including an analysis of 12,000 consecutive cases / Thomas McCall Anderson.

  • Anderson, McCall, 1836-1908.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on diseases of the skin with special reference to their diagnosis and treatment : including an analysis of 12,000 consecutive cases / Thomas McCall Anderson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the discoloration of the skin in vitiligo and that of Addison’s disease, which is now all hut universally considered to be a neurotic affection. The contents of the capsule on one or both sides were evacuated without the animals appearing, as a rule, to suffer in general health; their nutrition was rarely affected, indeed there was generally an increase of weight in about a week after the operation. But after the lapse of about a month—except in the case of white rabbits— a brown discoloration of - the muzzle, and later on of the mucous membrane of the mouth and nose was observed, beginning in the shape of small spots, which gradually increased until they coalesced. When only one capsule was removed the pigmentation appeared chiefly or exclusively on the side operated upon. This abnormal distribution of the pigment was the sole result of the experiments, none of the other symptoms of Addison’s disease being produced.* When I come to speak of alopecia areata (circular patches of baldness) reference will be made to the apparent relationship between it and vitiligo. The exciting cause is sometimes apparently a lesion of some kind, thus Lecat once met with a case in a negro after a burn, and Hamilton after a surgical operation. In all the cases reported the discoloration commenced at the seat of the lesion, and the following case, which came under my notice some years ago, is no exception to this rule. This patient was a domestic servant, twenty-seven years of age, who, without questioning, volunteered the following statement as to the origin*of the complaint:—“About eight years ago, whilst working in a hay-field, I was struck on the back of the head by a fellow-worker so forcibly as to drive a hair-pin into my head.” About a year after this her attention was called by a companion to a patch of grey hair on the back of her head; and, on close examination, the scalp in this situation was found to be white in colour. Shortly after this she noticed many white spots on the sides of her neck. On examination of the patient, a swarthy-looking Irishwoman, the following appearances were noted : —On the occipital region and upper portion of the neck, in the median line, the hair, to the extent of nearly four inches in length and two in breadth, was quite grey, and the skin from which it grew of a clear, white tint; while at the edges of the patch, which was irregular in form, the skin was much darker than the healthy skin in the vicinity. On the sides of the neck above the clavicles were two patches four inches long and one broad, presenting exactly the same characters minus the hair. Similar patches, varying in size from that of a threepenny piece to a florin, were seen on the chest and right arm. Gazz. degli Ospitali, June 22, 1884.