Page:EB1911 - Volume 25.djvu/208

 Selective distribution.

superficial layers of the skin of one or other of the different varieties of fungus grouped together under the common name of ringworm, a reaction more resembling that of eczema is produced. There is the same dilatation of the vessel with exudation of fluid, sometimes reaching the surface in the form of vesicles, sometimes spending itself through and among the epidermic cells and only evidenced clinically by the presence of more or less scaling. In other cases the exudation early becomes purulent (this is said to occur regularly when the disease is contracted from the horse), a change which, though occasionally noted, is by no means frequent in eczema.

The inflammations of the corium or deeper layer of the skin are due, with very few exceptions, to the growth of well-known organ- isms. Erysipelas, furuncle, anthrax and glanders are diseases which run an acute course and rapidly terminate, the two former usually in re- covery, the two latter often fatally. The other more chronic affections all follow one course; in their earlier stages there is a new growth of connective tissue cells in their lowest forms (granuloma), and this later breaks down, either rapidly, as in syphilis, or slowly, as in tuberculosis and leprosy. Most of these diseases leave behind them a well-defined scar.

The new growths of the skin are the same as those found else- where. Only two present special characters requiring notice here. Keloid is a peculiar form of fibroma which, although benignant as regards any general infection, invariably recurs locally after re- moval. Rodent ulcer is a form of cancer which occurs usually on the face, and whose malignancy is almost entirely local. The class of atrophies of the skin comprises those diseases where the atrophy is primary, and those where it succeeds to previous hypertrophic or inflammatory changes. Anomalies of pigmentation are those of excess and lack. Chloasma, in which dark patches appear, most frequently on the face, is usually associated with disease of some internal organ, such as the liver or uterus, being frequently observed in pregnancy. The cause of vitiligo, in which the pigment normally present disappears from certain areas, a phenomenon more striking in coloured than in white races, is unknown.

Diseases of the skin tend to manifest themselves in certain parts of the body; i.e. certain diseases exert a selective influence on the sites of their eruption. Symmetry is characteristic of eczema, psoriasis, drug rashes and the eruptions of specific fevers, while others, such as herpes zoster, ring-worm, tertiary syphilis and new growths, tend to be asymmetrical. Eczema selects the flexor aspect of the limbs and the neighbourhood of folds of skin and opposed surfaces, while psoriasis favours the extensor surfaces and the outer side of the elbows and knees. In certain diseases of nervous origin, notably in herpes zoster, the eruption follows the course of a certain nerve. In the face we get erythema, lupus erythematosus, rosacea, eczema, actinomycosis, &c, and syphilitic and malignant ulcers. Rodent ulcer usually selects the face, and generally the nose or orbit. The face too is usually the selective site of lupus vulgaris. The scalp is the chief site oi two varieties of lesion â€” the pustular, as in pustular eczema and impetigo contagiosa, or the dry and scaly eruptions, as psoriasis, ringworm and squamous syphilides. The genital organs are the seat of vesicular eruptions such as herpes or eczema or occasionally scabies; they are also the seat of ulcers, chiefly venereal, and of secondary syphilides. Scabies or itch tends to occur on the hands, and the characteristic burrows are noticeable between the fingers. The hands too are subject to various forms cf eruption known as trade eruptions, due to the handling of paraffin, tar, sugar, salt, lime, sulphur, &c. The lesions mostly simulate eczema, and are frequent amongst tanners, dyers, chemists, bakers and washer-women, and workers in the electro-plating trade. Exposure to the X-rays sets up a form of dermatitis, either an acute erythematous form due to a single prolonged exposure or a chronic form affecting operators who have been exposed over prolonged periods. Ulceration and considerable destruction of the epidermis may take place together with the occurrence of warty growths which tend to become epitheliomatous.

For an account of the treatment of the best known skin diseases see under their separate headings.

SKINNER, JAMES (1778-1841), British military adventurer in India, son of Lieut. -Colonel Hercules Skinner, was born in India in 1778, his mother being a Rajput lady. At the age of eighteen he entered the Mahratta army under de Boigne, where he soon showed military talents; and he remained in the same service under Perron until 1803, when, on the outbreak of the Mahratta War, he refused to serve against his countrymen. He joined Lord Lake, and raised a regiment of irregular horse called " Skinner's Horse " or the " Yellow Boys," which became the most famous regiment of light cavalry in the India of that day. He was present at the siege of Bharatpur, and in 1818 was granted a jagir yielding Rs. 20,000 a year, appointed lieutenant- colonel in the British service and made C.B. He had an intimate knowledge of the character of the natives of India, and his advice was highly valued by successive governor-generals and commanders-in-chief. He died at Hansi on the 4th of December 1 841, and was buried in a church at Delhi which is called after his name.

See J. Baillie Fraser, Military Memoir of Lieut.-Colonel James Skinner (1851).

SKINNER, JOHN (1721–1807), Scottish author, son of John Skinner, a parish schoolmaster, was born at Balfour, Aberdeenshire, on the 3rd of October 1721. He had been intended for the Presbyterian ministry, but, after passing through Marischal College, Aberdeen, and teaching for a few years, he took orders in the Episcopal Church, and was appointed to the charge of Longside in 1742. Very soon after Skinner joined the Episcopalians they became, in consequence of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745, a much persecuted remnant. Skinner's church was burnt; his house was plundered ; for some years he had to minister to his congregation by stealth; and in 1753 he suffered six months' imprisonment for having officiated to more than four persons besides his own family. After 1760 the penal laws were less strictly en- forced, but throughout the century the lot of the Episcopalian ministers in Scotland was far from comfortable, and only the humblest provisions for church services were tolerated. He died at the house of his son, John Skinner, bishop of Aberdeen, on the 16th of June 1807. It is by his few songs that Skinner is generally known. A correspondence took place between him and Burns, who considered his " Tullochgorum " " the best Scotch song Scotland ever saw," and procured his collaboration for Johnson's Musical Museum. Other of his lyrics are: " The Monymusk Christmas Ba'ing," a football idyll; " The Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn " and " John o' Badenyon." His best songs had stolen into print; a collection was not published till 1809, under the title of Amusements of Leisure Hours. Throughout his life Skinner was a vigorous student, and published in 1788 an Ecclesiastical History of Scotland (2 vols.) in the form of letters.

A Life of Skinner, in connexion with the history of Episcopacy in the north of Scotland, was published by the Rev. W. Walker in 1883. His songs and poems were edited by H. G. Reid (1859).

SKINNER'S CASE, the name usually given to the celebrated dispute between the House of Lords and the House of Commons over the question of the original jurisdiction of the former house in civil suits. In 1668 a London merchant named Thomas Skinner presented a petition to Charles II. asserting that he could not obtain any redress against the East India Company, which, he asserted, had injured his property. The case was referred to the House of Lords, and Skinner obtained a verdict for £5000. The company complained to the House of Commons which declared that the proceedings in the other House were illegal. The Lords defended their action, and after two conferences between the Houses had produced no result the Commons ordered Skinner to be put in prison on a charge of breach of privilege; to this the Lords replied by fining and imprisoning Sir Samuel Barnardiston, the chairman of the company. Then for about a year the dispute slumbered, but it was renewed in 1669, when Charles II. advised the two Houses to stop all proceedings and to erase all mention of the case from their records. This was done and since this time the House of Lords has tacitly abandoned all claim to original jurisdiction in civil suits.

See Lord Holles, The Grand Question concerning the Judicature of the House of Peers (1689) ; T. P. Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History (1905) ; L. O. Pike, Constitutional History of the House of Lords (1894); and H. Hallam, Constitutional History, vol. iii. (1885).

 SKIPPON, PHILIP (d. 1660), English soldier in the Civil Wars, was born at West Lexham, Norfolk. At an early age he adopted the military profession and in 1622 was serving with Sir Horace Vere in the Palatinate. He took part in most of the battles and sieges of the time in the Low Countries. At the sieges of Breda in 1625 and 1637 he was wounded, and under his old commander, Lord Vere, he was present when Bois-le-Duc ('s Hertogenbosch) and Maestricht were attacked in 1629. A veteran of considerable experience, Captain Skippon returned to England in 1639, and was immediately appointed to a command in the (Honourable) Artillery Company. In 1642 the Civil I War was fast approaching, and in January Skippon was made