nute blood-vessels are congested causing the skin
to be more vascular and redder than in its natural state. There is an
itching or smarting in the affected parts. The skin is raised in the
form of little pimples or vesicles, and a watery lymph exudes. Sometimes
the skin becomes detached and is replaced by a crust of hardened lymph,
or it may be partially reproduced, forming _squamae_, or scales. There
are three stages of this disease; the inflammatory, accompanied by
swelling, and the formation of pimples or vesicles; that of exudation,
which is succeeded by incrustation; and that of desquamation, in which
the skin separates in little scales and sometimes becomes thickened.
Rarely, if ever, does the disease pass through these successive stages,
but it is modified by its location and the temperament of the patient.

The many varieties of eczema are designated according to their
predominating characteristics. Thus, when pimples or vesicles are
abundant, it is termed, respectively, _eczema papulosum_ and _eczema
vesiculosum,_ a fine illustration of which may be seen in Colored Plate
I, Fig. 1. Again, when characterized by the eruption of pustules, it is
termed _eczema pustulosum_, a representation of which may be seen in
Plate I, Fig. 2; and, when the prominent feature is the formation of
scales, it is termed _eczema squamosum_.

Eczema may be general or partial; in other words, the eruption may
appear in patches or be distributed over the entire surface of the body.
The latter form often appears in infants, but rarely occurs in adults.
Two or more varieties of the eruption may be associated, or one form may
gradually develop into another.

[Illustration: Plate I.
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5.]

Infants and young children are peculiarly subject to this disorder, and,
if the disease be not promptly arrested, it will assume the severest
form and eventually become chronic. The muscles are soft, the eyes are
dull and expressionless, and the little sufferer experiences the most
excruciating torments. Frequently the whole body is covered with patches
of eczema, the secretions are arrested, and, where the scales fall off,
the skin is left dry and feverish.

Eczema has no symptoms proper, since the morbid feelings are due to
constitutional debility, of which eczema is the result. The _signs_ of
eczema are redness, heat, an itching or smarting sensation, the
formation of pimples or vesicles, exudation, incrustation,