A Case of Congenital Word Blindness

irritative eczema, with exfoliated epidermis, and a profuse sero-purulent discharge.When the sore was cleaned it had a smooth, glazed, pink surface, quite level with the surround- ing skin, very sharply defined, scarcely a trace of inflammatory redness extending beyond its edge.It was painless and almost insensitive.There were no granulations, as apparently only the cuticular layer was lost, having a surface exactly like that seen when the cuticle is rubbed off a dissecting room subject, except that it was a bright pink colour.Almost everything that could be thought of, in the shape of lotions, creams, powders, was used to try to check the copious serous discharge and get it to heal, but they were absolutely of no avail, being literally washed or floated off by the discharge.However, in about ten days the exudation began to lessen: the epithelium began to grow in from the edge, exactly as in a burn, and it was soon seen to be creeping up from the bottom of the umbilical recess.I at once commenced skin grafting, but though from from six to ten grafts were put on almost every day, comparatively few " took;" w1fether this was due to the constant motion of the part from respira- tion or not I cannot say.None lived in the central part.Healing steadily progressed till the last week of July, when the sore was reduced to an irregular patch about 3 by 31 inches, lying just above the umbilicus.After the healing process commenced it, for the first time, becamepainful, and was very sensitive to various applications.boric lotion caused considerable burning, and even a very weak ointment of salicylic acid could not be borne at all.When healing ceased it remained very irritable, the surface became grey and gradually covered with a thick semi-translucent material that could not be washed off, and which almost exactly resembled boiled white fish skin.On August gth the whole sore was deeply cauterised with solid nitrate of silver, some days after a thick slough separated, but the surface under- neath was grey and showed no sign of granulations.It radually became covered with a thick false membrane, not rikwthe previous one but tough, yellow, and opaque, and there was no tendency to heal.On September 2nd the patient was