CASE REPORTS 169 



Observation 9. 1 Recurrent Psoriasis Caused by Iodine. 

 One of these cases was of special interest. Treated in 1915, 

 for the first time with an autogenous preparation, for psoriasis 

 in small plaques spread all over the body, and completely 

 relieved, the young woman returned in 1917 with the same 

 plaques, this time localized exclusively on the back of the 

 thorax. She stated that these plaques appeared some time 

 after painting this region with tincture of iodine. 



Relieved anew, but this time by means of a heterogeneous 

 preparation containing a mixture of colon bacilli and of a 

 small non-motile bacillus, she returned in 1918 covered from 

 head to foot with a multitude of plaques which caused intoler- 

 able itching and which had appeared after the ingestion of 

 an iodized preparation "taken on the advice of a friend," 

 which was supposed to cure her of a little general fatigue. 

 This time a series of ten injections of a mixture prepared 

 especially with heterogeneous diplo-, strepto- and entero- 

 cocci, conquered the eruption under the same conditions as 

 previously. 



The observed persistence of hypersensibility to iodine in 

 this case, makes one believe that the treatment by the differ- 

 ent antigens was simply symptomatic, and that it had not 

 attacked the fundamental cause of the evil. 



From all these observations it seems that, though the 

 treatment of psoriasis is practically very simple, the theo- 

 retical explanation of it appears to be rather complex. 



The identity of the results obtained in the majority of 

 cases by autogenous and heterogeneous preparations, but of 

 very similar composition, would lead one to think that the 

 disappearance of psoriatic lesions results from a reaction 

 caused by the same antigens or by closely allied antigens. 



Observation 6 indicates the predominating action of an 

 anaerobic germ which we did not use in any other case, while 

 Observation 7, as well as the results from the cases treated 

 with rabbit-marrow and luargol, seem to prove that the same 

 results may be obtained by any antigen. 



One must, however, take into account the difference in 



1 Observation 8 omitted in English translation. 



