Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1731

SIR ERASMUS WILSON (1809-1884) A practical and theoretical treatise on the diagnosis, pathology, & treatment of diseases of the skin. Lea & Blanchard 1843 xxviii [37]-370, 32 pp., plate (front.). 22.8 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1729

Wilson is credited with describing trichorrexis nodosa (1849), erythema nodosum (1857), lichen planus (1869), and exfoliative dermatitis (1870). His suggestion of adding benzoic acid to ointments as a preservative heralded the introduction of benzoated ointments. He established the first British dermatology journal in 1867 but it failed after three years. Wilson's writings on skin care were credited with having made the bath popular in England. First published at London in 1842, Wilson's treatise was well received and was soon published in the United States. Although Wilson gives credit to Willan for his work in dermatological classification, he comments that Willan's system is too artificial and presents his own Natural System of Classification which "rests upon Anatomy and Physiology, and herein lies its strength, its simplicity, its easy application, and its truth" (p. vii). Wilson's aim in writing this comprehensive treatise on skin diseases, "has been to simplify the diagnosis and treatment of disease in a branch of medicine to which I have given some years of thought. . . ." (p. xxii).