232 
PATH G 
According to Dr. Bateman, in this complaint the tu¬ 
bercles arife firft on the under-lip, or on the prominent 
part of the chin, in an irregularly-circular clutter ; but 
this is fpeedily followed by other clutters, and by diftimft 
tubercles, which appear in fucceflion along the lower 
part of the cheeks up to the ears, and under the jaw to¬ 
wards the neck, as far as the beard grows. The tuber¬ 
cles are red and finooth, and of a conoidal form, and 
nearly equal to a pea in magnitude. Many of them con¬ 
tinue in this condition for three or four weeks, or even 
longer, having attained their full fize in feven or eight 
days; but others fuppurate very tlowly and partially, 
discharging a fmall quantity of thick matter, by which 
the hairs of the beard are matted together, fo that (ha¬ 
ving becomes impracticable from the tender and irregu¬ 
lar furface of the (kin. This condition of the face, ren¬ 
dered rugged by tubercles from both ears round to the 
point of the chin, together with the partial ulceration, 
and (cabbing, and the matting together of the unfhaven 
beard, occafions a confiderable degree of deformity; 
and it is accompanied alfo with a very troublefome 
itching. - 
Though this complaint occurs, of courfe, chiefly in 
men, women are not altogether exempt from it. But in 
them it is commonly flight, fince it is not expofed to the 
lame irritation as when it occurs in the male fex. Its 
duration is very uncertain ; being fometimes removed in 
a fortnight; fometimes the fuppuration goes on for 
many weeks ; and fometimes the fuppurating tubercles 
heal, and again begin to difcharge. Occafionally the dif- 
eafe difappears for a feafon, and then recurs. 
6 . Sycoiis capilli, (S. capillitii, Bateman.) Tumour 
foft, unequal, cluttering : (bated in and about the hair 
of the head ; difcharge ichorous, copious, and fetid, 
from a fungous furface. See Plate I. fig. a. 
The Sycofis capilli is feated chiefly about the margin 
of the hairy fcalp, in the occiput, or round the fore¬ 
head, and temples, and near the external ear, which is 
alfo liable to be included in the eruption. The tuber¬ 
cles rife in cl niters, which aft'ebt the circular form; they 
are fofter, and more acuminated, than thofe on the chin ; 
and they all pafs into fuppuration in the courfe of eight 
orten days, becoming confluent, and producing an ele¬ 
vated, unequal, ulcerated furface, which often appears 
granulated, fo as to afford fome refemblance to the in¬ 
ternal pulp of a fig. The ulceration, as Celfus dates, is 
generally humid ; for there is a confiderable discharge of 
a thin ichorous fluid, which emits an unpleafant rancid 
odour. 
Dr. Bateman informs us that “the Sycofis, under its 
firfl-mentioned form, may be diftinguifhed from Acne 
indurata, by its feat being exclufively on the bearded 
part of the face; by the fofter, more numerous, and 
cluftered, tubercles ; and by the ulceration which they 
tend to produce. And, under its fecond form, in which 
it is fomewhat affimilated to the eruption of favous puf- 
tules, or Porrigo favofa, affecting the face and the bor¬ 
ders of the capillitium, it may be difcriminated by the 
tuberculated and elevated bate of the fuppurating tu¬ 
mours ; not to mention the adult age of the patient, and 
the abfence of contagion.” 
As to the treatment of Sycofis, when the tubercles are 
numerous, inflamed, and confluent, and efpecially w hen 
the fuppuration is either beginning or confiderably ad¬ 
vanced, the molt fpeedy benefit is derived from the ap¬ 
plication of poultices, at night, of linfeed powder, 
bread and milk, or other Ample ingredients. In the 
lefs fevere forms, warm ablutions or fomentations may 
be fubftituted. When the inflammatory fymptoms are 
reduced, and in cafes where they are from the firft mo¬ 
derate, the healing procefs is much promoted, and the 
difcharge moderated and reftrained, by the application of 
the unguentum hydrargyri nitrati, diluted with three 
or four parts of Ample ointment, or by the ung. hydrarg. 
prascipitat. united with an equal portion of the zinc 
LOGY. 
ointment, or the cerate of acetate of lead. At the fame 
time it is ufeful to prefcribe antimonials, with alterative 
dofes of mercury, followed by cinchona, or ferpentarJa, 
and the fixed alkalis; or fuch other meafures as may be 
required to re-eftablilh the functions of the chylopoietic 
vifcera, which arealmoft always difordered in Sycofis. 
4. Phyma anthrax, (Erythema anthrax, Cullen.) Car¬ 
buncle: tumour common to the furface; flat; firm; 
burning ; penetrant; livid and veficular; orcrufty above, 
with a fordid and gangrenous core below; imperfectly 
fuppurative. There are two varieties. 
a. Pruna, the efcar carbuncle: cruft black; oozing 
an erofive ichor,, or fanies. 
Q. Terminthus, the berry or fungus carbuncle. See 
the article Surgery. 
Genus IV. Ionthus, [Gr. a violet or purple eruption ; 
from ion, purple; or from onSo?, filth.] Tubercles in the 
face. Generic characters — Unfuppurative tubercular 
tumour; ftationary, and chiefly common to the face. 
This genus (the Acne of Dr. Bateman) is charaCter- 
ifed by an eruption of diftinCt, hard, inflamed, tubercles, 
which are fometimes permanent for a confiderable length 
of time, and fometimes fuppurate very llowly and par¬ 
tially. They ufually appear on the face, efpecially on 
the forehead, temples, and chin, and fometimes alfo on 
the neck, (houlders, and upper part of the breaft ; but 
never defcend to the lower parts of the trunk, or to the 
extremities. As the progrefs of each tubercle is (low, 
and they appear in fucceflion, they are generally feen at 
the fame time in the various ftages of growth and de¬ 
cline; and, in the more violent cafes, are intermixed 
likewife with the marks or veftiges of thofe which have 
fubfided. There are two fpecies. 
1. Ionthus varus, the ftone-pock : red, hard, pimply, 
diftinCt, gregarious; fore to the touch ; fometimes oozing 
a little fluid at the tip. This fpecies has two varieties. 
a. Simplex, (Acne indurata, Bateman.) Broad-bafedj 
bright red, and folid. This variety is defcribed as an 
eruption of fmall tubercles, which appear fingly, and 
are not very numerous, nor accompanied by much inflam¬ 
mation, nor by any intermediate affeCtion of the (kin. 
When it has continued fome time indeed, a little rough- 
nefs of the face is produced, where the larger tubercles 
have difappeared, in confequence of a flight cracking or 
difpofition to exfoliate in the new cuticle; but thefe 
marks are not permanent. Many of the tubercles do not 
proceed to fuppuration ; but gradually rife, become mo¬ 
derately inflamed, and again ilowly fubfide in the courfe 
of eight or ten days, leaving a tranfient purplifh-red 
mark behind. But others go on to a partial fuppuration, 
the whole procefs of which occupies from a fortnight to 
three w r eeks. The tubercles are firft felt in the (kin, like 
a fmall hard feed, about the fize of a pin’s head, and en¬ 
large for three or four days, when they begin to inflame : 
about the fixth or feventh day they attain their greateft 
magnitude, and are then prominent, red, finooth, and 
(liining, and hard and painful to the touch. After two 
or three days more, a final 1 fpeck of yellow matter ap¬ 
pears on the apices of fome of the tubercles; and, when 
thefe afterwards break, a thinner humour is fecreted, 
which foon dries into a yellowifli fcab. The inflamma¬ 
tion now gradually declines, the fize and hardnefs of the 
tubercles diminifti, and the fmall fcab becomes loofened 
at the edges, and at length falls oft’about the third week. 
The individual tubercles, which rife and fuppurate in 
fucceflion, pafs through a fimilar courfe. 
This eruption recurs frequently, at fliort intervals, in 
fome individuals, who have it partially; but in others, 
who are ftrongly predifpofed to it, it is more ex- 
ten five, and never Wholly difappears, but is, at uncer¬ 
tain periods, more or lefs troublefome. It is generally 
worft after eating heartily, or drinking an unufual por¬ 
tion of wine, or after the occurrence of any other caufe 
of indigeftion ; as well as after any inordinate excitement 
