Apart from eczema rubrum, the acute forms have been designated according
to their seat and the nature of the attendant eruption.
=Acute General Eczema.= This may be often traced to various causes of
irritation local or general: overfeeding, over-stimulating or spiced
food, digestive, hepatic, or urinary disorders, irritant dust or
inspissated secretions on the skin, hot seasons, over exertion, cold
baths when heated, skin parasites and scratching.
_Symptoms._ The whole skin, or a portion thereof is the seat of
pruritus, causing active scratching and on separating the hairs on the
affected parts there is found redness, congestion, and swelling with the
formation of papules or vesicles, abraded, or moist surfaces, and scales
or crusts. These patches are common on the _back_, the _head_, _ears_,
_rump_, (=Caudal eczema=), the _palpabræ_, the _lips_ (_eczema
labialis_), the _interdigital space_ (=interdigital eczema=), the
_scrotum_, or the _anus_.
Sometimes the formation of crusts and the loss of hairs is to be noted,
sometimes the eruption of large vesicles which burst and discharge a
honey like fluid (=impetiginous eczema=), sometimes blood escapes from
the irritated surface and concretes in dark crusts. The vesication and
moist exudation is especially common about the head, ears, eyelids, and
rump, while bleeding is especially seen around the claws and in the
interdigital spaces in connection with running on rough ground, snow or
stubble. The impetiginous form often bears a strong resemblance to
vesicles caused by a burn with hot water. The treatment of these
different forms does not differ materially from that of eczema rubrum,
being first dietetic and hygienic, then soothing, and finally
stimulating.