(3) The colour varies from a pale red to a brownish or livid red, according to the part affected.
(4) There is always present a fine pityriasic desquamation more or less marked in different cases.
(5) There are at times in some of these cases, aggregations of small flattened papules which may be considered as links connecting it with the second variety.
(6) There is no infiltration of the integument appreciable to the eye or touch.
(7) The face is rarely affected, and there is the same extremely slow evolution, great resistance to local treatment, and few or no subjective symptoms.
Referring to the whole group, he says: “We know nothing very definite about the etiology or pathology of these affections. They may appear at any age, but seem more frequent in youths or adults. He has observed cases in men and women and in all classes of society. They seem to be slightly more frequent in women than in men.”
It must be confessed that there are many points of resemblance of this third variety to Xantho-erythrodermia perstans, and, as regards the lady, Case 10, it is probably what Brocq has described as “Erythrodermie pityriasique en plaques disseminées,” although I should say there was distinct infiltration in a large proportion of the lesions, and many of the patches far exceeded the limits in size that Brocq lays down.
With regard to the other nine cases, the differences are somewhat more marked, and they should, at least for the present, be either kept apart or treated as a distinct variety.
The differences are:
(1) The patches are frequently much larger, 3 and 4 inches or more in their long diameter, and the margin is not very sharply defined.