Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [226]
forehead, side of the nose, whole face, chest, abdomen, backs of the hands, finger-tips, and the flexors, flexures at the axillae, groins, and popliteal spaces. Although the color is generally black, nearly every color has been recorded. Colcott Fox reported a genuine case, and Crocker speaks of a case at Shadwell in a woman of forty-seven of naturally dark complexion. The bowels were habitually sluggish, going three or four days at least without action, and latterly the woman had suffered from articular pains. The discolored sweat came out gradually, beginning at the sides of the face, then spreading to the cheeks and forehead. When seen, the upper half of the forehead, the temporal regions, and the skin between the ear and malar eminence were of a blackish-brown color, with slight hyperemia of the adjacent parts; the woman said the color had been almost black, but she had cleaned her face some. There was evidently much fat in the secretion; there was also seborrhea of the scalp. Washing with soap and water had very little effect upon it; but it was removed with ether, the skin still looking darker and redder than normal. After a week's treatment with saline purgatives the discoloration was much less, but the patient still had articular pains, for which alkalies were prescribed; she did not again attend. Crocker also quotes the case of a girl of twenty, originally under Mackay of Brighton. Her affection had lasted a year and was limited to the left cheek and eyebrow. Six months before the patch appeared she had a superficial burn which did not leave a distinct scar, but the surface was slightly granular. The deposit was distinctly fatty, evidently seborrheic and of a sepia-tint. The girl suffered from obstinate constipation, the bowels acting only once a week. The left side flushed more than the right In connection with this case may be mentioned one by White of Harvard, a case of unilateral yellow chromidrosis in a man. Demons gives the history of a case of yellow sweat in a patient with three intestinal calculi.
Wilson says that cases of green, yellow, and blue perspiration have been seen, and Hebra, Rayer, and Fuchs mention instances. Conradi records a case of blue perspiration on one-half the scrotum. Chojnowski records a case in which the perspiration resembled milk.
Hyperidrosis occurs as a symptom in many nervous diseases, organic and functional, and its presence is often difficult of explanation. The following are recent examples: Kustermann reports a case of acute myelitis in which there was profuse perspiration above the level of the girdle-sensation and none at all below. Sharkey reports a case of tumor of the pons varolii and left crus cerebri, in which for months there was excessive generalized perspiration; it finally disappeared without treatment. Hutchinson describes the case of a woman of sixty-four who for four years had been troubled by excessive sweating on the right side of the face and scalp. At times she was also troubled by an excessive flow of saliva, but she could not say if it was unilateral. There was great irritation of the right side of the tongue, and for two years taste was totally abolished. It was normal at the time of examination. The author offered no explanation of this case, but the patient gave a decidedly neurotic history, and the symptoms seem to point with some degree of probability to hysteria. Pope reports a peculiar case in which there were daily attacks of neuralgia preceded by sweating confined to a bald spot on the head. Rockwell reports a case of unilateral hyperidrosis in a feeble old man which he thought due to organic affection of the cervical sympathetic.
Dupont has published an account of a curious case of chronic general hyperidrosis or profuse sweating which lasted upward of six years. The woman thus affected became pregnant during this time and was happily delivered of an infant, which she nursed herself. According to Dupont, this hyperidrosis was independent of any other affection, and after having been combated fruitlessly by various remedies, yielded at
Wilson says that cases of green, yellow, and blue perspiration have been seen, and Hebra, Rayer, and Fuchs mention instances. Conradi records a case of blue perspiration on one-half the scrotum. Chojnowski records a case in which the perspiration resembled milk.
Hyperidrosis occurs as a symptom in many nervous diseases, organic and functional, and its presence is often difficult of explanation. The following are recent examples: Kustermann reports a case of acute myelitis in which there was profuse perspiration above the level of the girdle-sensation and none at all below. Sharkey reports a case of tumor of the pons varolii and left crus cerebri, in which for months there was excessive generalized perspiration; it finally disappeared without treatment. Hutchinson describes the case of a woman of sixty-four who for four years had been troubled by excessive sweating on the right side of the face and scalp. At times she was also troubled by an excessive flow of saliva, but she could not say if it was unilateral. There was great irritation of the right side of the tongue, and for two years taste was totally abolished. It was normal at the time of examination. The author offered no explanation of this case, but the patient gave a decidedly neurotic history, and the symptoms seem to point with some degree of probability to hysteria. Pope reports a peculiar case in which there were daily attacks of neuralgia preceded by sweating confined to a bald spot on the head. Rockwell reports a case of unilateral hyperidrosis in a feeble old man which he thought due to organic affection of the cervical sympathetic.
Dupont has published an account of a curious case of chronic general hyperidrosis or profuse sweating which lasted upward of six years. The woman thus affected became pregnant during this time and was happily delivered of an infant, which she nursed herself. According to Dupont, this hyperidrosis was independent of any other affection, and after having been combated fruitlessly by various remedies, yielded at