Such  tubercles  are  generally  grouped  irregularly,  but  in  constantly
widening  areas,  about  the  primary  disease  in  the  breast ;  in  other  parts,
and  as  primary  cancers,  they  may  be  single  or  numerous.  They  are
almost  incompressibly  hard,  tough,  circumscribed  masses  or  knots  ;  they
are  usually  of  oval,  flat,  or  biconvex  form,  or,  when  large,  are  tuberous
or  lobed ;  they  are  imbedded,  as  infiltrations  of  cancer-structures,  in  the
exterior  compact  layer  of  the  cutis.  They  are  generally  equally  promi-
nent above,  and  sunken  beneath,  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  skin ;
and  this  condition  is  commonly  acquired  as  well  by  those  which  com-
mence Uke  little  prominent  papulae,  as  by  those  which  at  first  appear
like  knots  just  subcutaneous.  The  skin  covering  them  is  thin,  tense,
and  shining ;  it  is  usually  of  a  deep,  ruddy,  pink  colour,  tending  to
purple  or  brownish  red,  or  it  may  seem  tinged  with  brown,  like  a
pigment  mark.  This  change  of  colour  extends  a  little  beyond  the
border  of  the  cancerous  mass,  and  then  quickly  fades  into  the  natural
hue  of  the  skin.  Such  cancers  are  movable  vpith,  but  not  in,  the
surrounding  skin,  and  even  with  it  the  mobility  is  very  limited  when
they  are  large  and  deep.  They  may  be  found  of  various  sizes  ;  in  cir-
camscribed  masses,  ranging  from  such  a  size  as  can  just  be  detected  by
the  touch,  to  a  diameter  of  two  inches  ;  or,  when  diffused  in  the  skin,
occupying  it  in  an  expansion  of  hardly  limited  extent.
