NOMENCLATURE
The term "ichthyosis," derived from the Greek word [unk]χθύς (fish), has been used to designate keratosis, a condition in which the skin bears a fancied resemblance to the skin of fishes. It is, however, only in rare cases that the skin resembles somewhat the fish skin, the comparison appearing to be far fetched in the majority of cases of keratosis, both in the mild and in the severe variety. In the latter, the skin has more properly been likened to tortoise shell; skin of a baked apple; skin of potatoes cooked in water; dry yellow leather (morocco leather); armor of crustaceans, bark of trees, skin of a serpent, crocodile skin, etc. A number of names for these conditions have been derived from the gross appearance of the skin such as ichthyosis, fish skin disease, xeroderma (dry skin), xeroderma ichthyoides, sauriasis, crocodile skin, alligator skin, harlequin fetus. Riecke1 made