Devergie

This affection is chiefly met with in persons between the ages of forty and fifty, and commences by the appearance of well-marked redness, with a sharply limited margin on the anterior aspect of the trunk and limbs. As it advances new surfaces are invaded, the skin slightly thickens, and the increase may be so rapid that the entire skin may become involved in from two to four weeks. Accompanying this diffuse redness we find free desquamation or exfoliation of medium-sized epidermic scales, with more or less watery exudation, resembling sweat rather than the lymphy and plastic exudation of eczema. There is also an intense burning heat of the surface, so that the patient suffers from the warmth of his clothing and of the bed coverings at night.

The acute symptoms mentioned are tenacious, and the affection may persist in this condition for months, but in perhaps the majority of cases they gradually subside, and recovery takes place.



On the other hand, the acute phase of the disease may be followed by one that is subacute, but more persistent, and continue to harass the patient for years, gradually' breaking down his health and terminating fatally, through the supervention of chronic diarrhoea or the development of pemphigus.

The prognosis is in the main favorable, except when it occurs in aged or debilitated subjects, or assumes the distinctly chronic form.