Verrucae or Warts

These are little raised tumors, sessile or pedunculated, hard, generally round, rugose, and mammillated. They are made up of coherent and enlarged papillae, each containing a loop of blood vessels, and more or less nerve-tissue, especially at their base. The sessile warts, or the true hypertrophous papillae, are seen mostly on the hands in children; they may be multiple, solitary, or aggregated in clusters. They may form a flat mass or present a digitate appearance. Warts are often the result of syphilis about the anus, vulva, penis, but they may also arise from simple irritation.

Venereal warts are pinkish or reddish vascular vegetations, and occur for the most part on the genitals, preferably on the penis and labia. They may also form about the mouth and anus, in the axilla and between the toes. They are apt to grow very rapidly, and may attain considerable size. They are caused by the contact of irritating fluids, and may be either dry or moist, according to their location. They may occur in connection with gonorrhoea, but are never like the condylomata, a sign of constitutional syphilis.

The causes of warts are unknown; they appear sometimes to be contagious. The local treatment consists in destroying the abnormal growth by caustics - the acid nitrate of mercury, caustic potash, arsenical paste, perchloride of iron, or chromic acid. The smaller warts may be removed by the curved scissors, and the larger and more vascular ones by the curette, ligature or galvanocaustic wire.


Venereal warts need the strictest cleanliness. The dry ones may be treated locally by thuja or mercuric bichloride lotion. The moist ones respond best to dusting with the mercuric chloride.

Thuja externally and internally has great reputation in removing all kinds of warts.


Moles may be removed by the' topical use of the acid nitrate of mercury.

The following repertory of warts and condylomata, prepared by Dr. Olin M. Drake, is so complete and excellent, that I transcribe it here:

Warts, confinement, following, small;  Calc. c.
girls, upon young:   Sep., Sulph., Thuja.
horses, upon:   Lach., Thuja.
upon about the head and ears; bell-shaped, small at the attachment and one to one-and-a-half inches long:   Thuja.
imagines w. upon the body; Mez.
internal:   Caust.
isolated:   Calc. c. Caust., Lyco., Natr. c.
onanists, upon:   Nitr. ac, Sep., Sulph., Thuja.
salt, from abuse of:  Natr. mur., Nit. d. s.