All too frequently the word purpura is used as a diagnosis. This is obviously unsound, since the word has been employed to describe anything from a minute petechia to gross capillary hemorrhage. Since purpura is derived from the Greek word πoρφνρα meaning "purple," its use should be limited purely to description. The term hemorrhagic diathesis is more accurate than the older term purpura. It may be correctly applied to any extravasation of blood through the endothelial wall of the capillaries, regardless of amount. Hence, it includes not only the external, visible evidences of capillary damage, such as bleeding into the skin, the oral mucosa, the nasal mucosa or the conjunctiva, but also the hidden bleeding from the mucosa or the serosa of the internal organs. Tidy 1 coined the term "angio-staxis" to include the "primary" purpuras and the various manifestations of the hemorrhagic states. However, there is no need for