Excerpt from A Practical and Theoretical: Treatise on the Diseases of the Skin The regional system of classification, grounded on a distribution of skin diseases according to their locality, was not likely to find favour when these became better understood. Although commenced by no less an authority than Alibert, he was soon obliged to abandon it. Admitting the advantage of the situa tion of a cutaneous eruption, as assisting us often to arrive at a true diagnosis, its value is not so great that we can always rely upon it; much less can we found a system, which should take it exclusively for a base. For the third, or natural system, which claims for its foundation the anatomy of the skin, we are indebted to Mr. Erasmus Wilson. The several divisions and sub divisions which he has instituted are no doubt in the main correct. At the same time it may be a question, whether this plan is not liable to degenerate into an excess of detail, and lead to distinctions, which, while they scarcely allow of an accurate appreciation, are yet hardly avoided. Another point open to inquiry, and which meets us at the threshold of all classification of skin diseases, is the obscurity which envelopes their pathology; and until this point is satisfactorily cleared, no system of classification can be pronounced complete. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.