A NEW CUTANEOUS MANIFESTATION IN THE SYNDROME OF VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY

It may be presumptuous to refer to the dermatosis which I am to describe as "new." In these remote parts it is not easy to be sure whether an observation is original or not. I have searched such literature as is available, and have called in the assistance of both the librarian at Tavistock House, London, and Dr. Paul Unna of Hamburg, but no reference to the condition that I am describing has been found. If I am justified in my title I shall be the happier; if I am not, I can do no more than make my apology. The general manifestations of vitamin A deficiency are now so well known that an account of them would be superfluous; the cutaneous changes, however, seem to be dismissed summarily with such references as "dryness of the skin," "acne" or "dermatitis with loss of fur" (in experimental animals). Pillat,1who