(_l_) Scarlet fever or scarlatina has received its name from the color of its eruption. This affection presents itself differently in different cases. It may be so mild in its attack that it constitutes a trifling ailment and again it may be so severe that life is seriously threatened, and destroyed in a few days. This has formed the basis of dividing scarlatina into three varieties, namely: simple scarlatina, diphtheritic scarlatina and malignant scarlatina. The fever, as a rule, is notably higher than in other eruptive fevers. The attack may begin with a chill, nausea and vomiting and headache. There is also bleeding from the nose in a certain proportion of cases. The most constant sign is redness and more or less swelling of the throat, either with or without a sense of soreness and pain in the act of swallowing. The stage of development lasts in the average twenty-four hours, although exceptionally it may appear in a few hours after the first symptoms of the disease have appeared. The eruption often begins on the back first, and from there rapidly spreads over the entire body in twenty-four hours. It greatly differs from the eruption in measles in not allowing any healthy or white skin to intervene between the red specks, but the entire skin has a reddish blush. This has given rise to the expression _boiled lobster_ appearance in scarlatina, and indeed nothing could illustrate the color of the skin better than by comparing the one with the other. The eruption is sometimes accompanied with a great deal of itching and burning and reaches its fullest development on the third day after its first appearance; it lasts from four to six days. The extent and redness of the eruption varies greatly in different individuals, in some it is very slight and transient while in others there is not a spot as large as a dime which is not covered. Yet a very light attack in one patient when communicated to another individual may develop in that one a most malignant form. One attack secures against a recurrence. The throat affection seems to modify the eruption of the skin for in some instances in which the throat is very bad, the skin eruption is comparatively slight. There may be simply a little redness over the tonsils, extending more or less over the soft palate, or on the other hand, the disease in the throat may become in every respect equal to if not identical with the worst type of diphtheria. Some writers consider the sore throat of scarlatina and that of diphtheria identical, and from a practical point of view there is certainly no difference, and the very best results are obtained when all severe sore throats of scarlatina are treated precisely as if they were diphtheria; this has always been my practice.