A. Diaphoresis.

In cases where it has been taken for some time, it causes a pustular eruption upon the skin, 13, 54. Eruptions on different parts of the body, 178, Mar. '59, 138.

B. In ointment excites a characteristic inflammation, at first papular, then vesicular, and lastly pustular. The rash runs the course of the eruption of small-pox, and in each stage simulates it very closely, 5, 210. A superficial and slight redness is almost the only effect of the watery solution; but when the medicine is retained in contact with the skin by being mixed with fat or some adhesive substance, it at first produces redness, and afterwards pustules which closely resemble those of small-pox, like which they form scabs, and may leave indelible scars behind them. This eruption is usually mature on the fourth or fifth day from its first appearance. Sometimes, in consequence of the delicacy or diseased state of the skin, or the quantity of the salt applied, large or deep sloughs are produced, and create a permanent deformity. They may even prove fatal, 10, 2: 423.

Pustules very painful, 22, 2: 258.

Applied in friction on a distant part of the body, and may produce an eruption on the genitals without direct contact. Simeons, 129, '48, 192.

C. Squamous affections, 41, 141.

D. Alopecia areata (sol. gr. v. i.), Beauchamp, 124, Jan. '34.

Naevus, Bateman, 137, 2/69, 660.

Remarks

The statement of Simeons (supra) and others, to the effect that tartar emetic applied to one part of the body may, without direct contact, induce an eruption on another part, has given rise to much discussion. The fact of these secondary eruptions is beyond dispute, but the commonly assigned explanation is that a small portion of the tartar emetic has been mechanically transferred by the patient's hands from the site of the original application to the parts subsequently affected. This view is greatly strengthened by the fact that the secondary eruption most frequently appears on parts to which the hands are most likely to be applied, namely, the face and the genitals. On the other hand, the occurrence of eruptions on the skin, from the internal use of tartar emetic, would give a certain plausibility to the view that when tartar emetic is applied to the surface a portion of it may be absorbed and give rise to an eruption upon parts for which it had a special affinity. Recent physiological experiments on frogs have shown that tartar emetic exerts a very special influence on the skin. One other explanation has been offered, namely, that the irritation of the original application is transmitted by reflex action to distant parts, and thus excites the secondary eruption.