CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES. 359 



CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES. 



Certain disorders affect some portions of the body 

 specifically, yet produce symptoms which are not referable 

 to that region alone, but affect to a serious extent the 

 whole economy, and hence are spoken of as constitutional. 

 It must be admitted, however, that it is not easy to deter- 

 mine always how best to classify certain diseases ; but the 

 main thing is to grasp the condition of affairs by whatever 

 name called. 



Erysipelas. Some would class this disease as an inflam- 

 mation of the skin, and treat it under the head of " skin 

 diseases." The constitutional symptoms are so pro- 

 nounced we prefer to consider it a constitutional disease. 



Erysipelas is an inflammation of the skin, with a 

 strong tendency to spread, to attack the tissues beneath, 

 to end in abscess or sloughing of parts, and attended by 

 fever and prostration. It may attack the unbroken skin, 

 but is particularly liable to occur around wounds, especial- 

 ly if patients with the disease are near. It is contagious 

 and infectious, associated with and probably caused by a 

 microbe, though certain constitutions are much more pre- 

 disposed to it than others. 



Symptoms. Locally, heat, pain, redness, swelling, a 

 peculiar tense, hard feel, with a dark tinge in the redness 

 in some of the worst cases. Constitutionally, chill, nausea, 

 fever, loss of appetite, prostration in bad cases, etc. 



Treatment. This must be both local and constitu- 

 tional. 



As to the local applications, practice differs much. 

 Some paint with tincture of iron, or tincture of iodine ; 



