Two pre-Willan descriptions of psoriasis.

Accurate descriptions of skin lesions, and in particular of those of what we now call osiriasis vulgaris, are rare before the book of Willan's On Cutaneous Diseases at the very beginning of the 19th century. Here we present two instances in which such clinical descriptions are given. Benjamin Franklin wrote about his own skin lesions and their evolution. Dr. Willam Falconer, physician in Bath, England, presents the clinical symptoms and his results with 83 patients with 'lepra graecorum' (the name used at that time) treated between 1772 and 1775. One can wonder why such a now frequent, obvious and distinctive disease had not attracted more attention.