Ɛpsilon

WCP607

Letter (WCP607.607)

[1]

35, DARTMOUTH PARK ROAD,

HIGHGATE, N.W.

1/2/98

Dear Sir

With reference to your letter of the 27th1 ult, the pigment cells in Herpes are not affected except through the ulceration & destruction of the true skin. I was professor of pathology for sometimes at Calcutta & satisfied myself on this point. (any test text book of pathology) on skin disease will inevitably [2 words illeg.] of following statements from Prof J. N. Hydes Diseases of the Skin2 1883. [3 words illeg.] to this fact.

In Herpes "there is always at some point in the corresponding nervous tracts pathological changes "...these are...softening & destruction of the nervous bundles...the cutaneous lesions originate in the deeper portions of the rate. [2] (true skin)...The destruction of the papillary layer of the corium results in a solution of continuity which is healed by granulation. Involution is accomplished by desiccation & the formation of crusts whose full is succeeded by indelible scars." And these scars in the case of negroes or dark races are white.

Yours sincerely | L. A. Waddell.3 [signature]

1
ARW’s letter to Waddell has not been found.
2
Hyde, James Nevins (1840-1910). A practical treatise on diseases of the skin, for the use of students and practitioners. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & co., 1883.
3
Waddell, Lawrence Augustine (1854-1938). Distinguished British army medical officer, orientalist and archaeologist.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP607.607)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Truong, Michael [2011-07-08] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2024-11-11]

Please cite as “WCP607,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP607