HISTORICAL REVIEW Diphtheritic infection of the skin, a rarity in civilian dermatologic practice, has been noted with considerable frequency among the armed forces of various countries during the present war, and may be considered a not uncommon military dermatosis in certain geographic areas where diphtheria is more or less endemic and climatic conditions are favorable. These areas include the south of Europe, the Near and Middle East, India and the coasts of Africa. This increase of cutaneous diphtheria in the current conflict parallels in a most interesting fashion a similar outbreak during World War I, when Scott1 and Manson-Bahr2 separately noted a sharp rise in the number of cases of so-called veld or desert sore among British troops, resulting in a considerable amount of disability in Egypt, the Near East and at Gallipoli. The latter author pointed out that at least in 1 instance the