Essentials of Diseases of the Skin / Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine

by Henry Weightman Stelwagon

To what is favus due?

Solely to the invasion of the cutaneous structures, especially the epidermal portion, by the vegetable parasite, the achorion Schönleinii. It is contagious. It is a somewhat rare disease in the native-born, being chiefly observed among the foreign poor. The nails are rarely affected primarily.

It is also met with in the lower animals, from which it is doubtless not infrequently communicated to man.

What are the diagnostic features of favus?

The yellow, and often cup-shaped, crusts, brittleness and loss of hair, atrophy, and the history.

Fig. 67.

Epilating Forceps.

How would you distinguish favus from eczema and ringworm?

From eczema by the condition of the affected hair, the atrophic and scar-like areas, the odor, and the history. From ringworm by the crusting and the atrophy. In this latter disease there is usually but slight scaliness, and rarely any scarring.