MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 153 



end of the first week a remarkable improvement in the diseased skin was ap- 

 parent and the physical and mental status of the woman greatly bettered. 

 Six weeks from the time of the first examination and the event of the fifth 

 injection of the staphylococcus opsonogen, both the confluent and discreet 

 lesions of the arms and legs had given way to a normal looking skin coyered 

 with delicate fluffy scales, and the only evidences of the original fearful con- 

 dition were two narrow, slightly elevated reddened crescents under the 

 breasts. The woman, whose a])petite had at once improved had been placed 

 on a generous mixed diet to replace the restricted one previously prescribed, 

 she had gained five pounds in weight, her strength and spirits had revived, 

 she slept comfortably all night, her skin had become moist, soft and pliable, 

 and her her hair had become soft, oily and with renewed luster. One ad- 

 ditional point of interest was elicited in the previous history, that is, that 

 the forerunners of the dermatosis were a boil on the wrist, one behind the 

 ear, then a crop about the genitals, to be followed first by the discreet and 

 later by the confluent dermatosis. As a supplement to this account I may 

 now add that at present, four months since treatment began, this patient 

 is still in excellent health. Several slight tendencies for the affected skin 

 to become irritated have been successfully met by injections of the staphy- 

 ococcus in doses of 500 millions at intervals of two to three weeks. 



Eczema. — That some forms of eczema will be remedied by bacterial therapy 

 is illustrated by my experience in a private patient, a young man, 20 years 

 of age. This individual had, as an infant, a generalized eczema of a most 

 distressing kind which persisted for several years in spite of the treatment 

 prescribed by a number of the leading dermatologists in various parts of 

 the country. After this condition finally mended spontaneously, recurrent 

 attacks were experienced, especially during the winter. It was for one of 

 these attacks, which occurred some two months previously, that the patient 

 consulted me. Both ears and the sides of the neck were in a weeping, acute 

 eczematous condition, and overlaid with the usual crusts. The face was 

 reddened as by a sunburn and covered with a scale exfoliation. On both 

 forearms and across the breast was a reddened punctate eruption. The 

 skin of the body as a whole was dry and harsh; the hair of the head was 

 coarse, very dry, lusterless, and the scalp was the seat of dry dandruff so 

 abundant as to be easily shed upon the clothing. This condition of the 

 skin, of the hair and of the scalp had existed so long back as the patient 

 could recollect. 



Bacteriologic anal^vsis of the secretion from the acutely diseased portions 

 of the skin yielded Staphylococcus citreus. The staphylo-opsonic index was 

 0.65. Accordingly inoculations with the autogenous bacteria were insti- 

 tuted. Progress has been steady since this treatment, which supplanted 

 all other measures, was begun. After the second inoculation the lesions on 

 the arms and breast disappeared. The face speedily lost its reddened hue, 

 the scales ceased to form, and a fine, clear complexion established itself. 

 The areas on the ears and neck yielded more slowly, but steadily, and on 

 the occasion of the last injection all marks of the eczema had disappeared 

 except a slight, scaly coating over the seat of the worst lesions on the neck. 

 A gain in weight has occurred. The skin of the body as a whole has become 

 soft. A natural oily condition has appeared in the hair on the scalp and 

 the dandruff has entirely vanished. 

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