This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
For many years, the relation of certain groups of dermatoses to the general condition of the patient has been well recognized by all dermatologists. The entire erythema group, lupus erythematosus and the papulonecrotic tuberculids may be mentioned as examples of diseases in which a search for internal factors and a careful survey of the patient as a whole are necessary to do justice to the patient.
The relation of the commoner forms of dermatitis to the patient as a whole are not so clearly recognized. With the differences between the Austrian and the French school over the relative importance of internal and external causation, this paper is not concerned. Both factors undoubtedly play a part, and their importance varies in individual cases. What we are chiefly interested in is the factor of the patient as a whole in predisposing to any type of local or general irritation or infection, and