JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS nail bed, separation of the nails and hyperkeratotic changes. Unless these nail dyscrasias became infected with fungi or bacteria, the nails returned to normal in several months' time when the use of the preparation was discontinued. Usually there have been only very mild, if any, subjective symptoms-- occasipnally tenderness and pain--and the glab- rous skin around the nails has not been affected. DETERGENTS AND DENTIFRICES Some of the new detergents have produced very evident nail changes, usually consisting of a marked trans- verse ridging and some breaking of distal portions. An interesting case of this type was one where a newly married man helped with the family washing on Saturday mornings. Certainly recently introduced dentifrices have produced quite a number of cases of cheilitis and stomatitis in the mouth. SOME OTHER •EXAMPLES One of the more bizarre manifesta- tions in recent years has been -the areas of de-pigmentation or leuko- derma that have occurred in the skin where synthetic rubber has been used, e.g., in. gloves and in some armpit pads. It was found to be due to an antioxidant added to the rubber to improve its ageing pro- perties. This antioxidant was said to be the monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone. Recently a new lacquer type of 214 permanent wave solution has pro- duced areas of baldness--alopecia-- in the scalp, as observed by Reiches and Lane? On the glabr9us skin, sensitisation from the permanent wave process is more apt to be due to perfumes, gums and resins used in the waving solution rather than the cold wave solution itself. Ander- son ? has recently reported several cases of a curious type of alopecia, or scalp baldness, due to a caustic preparation for hair straightening. Sometimes there are concomitant areas of de-pigmentation on the forehead. A serious hazard in some cases of contact dermatitis in people who are unusually hypersensitive is the wide- spread dissemination of the dermati- tis from the original .area, to involve large segments of the cutaneous .:: surfaces. One case recently observed was that of a• young man who had•,!i• used a hair dye which had caused a marked cedematous eruption on his. scalp and had thence spread to,::. involve practically the whole so-called exfoliative dermatitis:? These types of cases can be because of the possible complication ::':• of pneumonia. The hospitalisation?•i! time has, however, been decreased a7 great deal because of the ACTH• treatment and the use of the antb'!:'i hist aminics. •.•:i 'The serious possibility of inhalation has been mentioned. a rule, there are very few such:: iiJ:i hazards, but a case has been recently reported by Simeone and Hardy' of chronic progressive infectious' gaff: grene in a hairdresser who had been'

CUTANEOUS SYNDROMES DUE TO VARIOUS COSMETICS ,osed to a cold wave solution for years. She had shown no of toxicity except that the became sore after she the solution. For two years • She had shown an unusual suscepti- •j•:bility to infection. The causal ::•ii•elationship between the gangrene }•iand.previous prolonged exposure to 532•ii•i cold wave solution was not fully :•:!eStablished, but a relationship i.•!:.be considered witMn the realms of ?'Possibility. •???':•Th•ium acetate w• used for ::• •?'•veral years to produce a loss 'of //}•?aciM hirsutes. More recently it ?. •:?h• been tried in an attempt to •}?Cause a scalp Mopecid where the •}•:•:•'hair was infected with ringworn. '(: • It was t•en intern•y according to • '•:'an exact menured dosage for th• •: •½age and weight of the infected c•d. •: The•e were severe constitutional • •eactions and its usage was discon- •.•'• tinued. In using it in a cream to be •.•' applied •o the •eas on the •ace •th • • exce•iv• h•e•tfichosis, the absorp- • •ion caused the lo• o• hair elsewhere :• • (especially on the scalp) and natur- •y p•oduced inte• toxicity, such as extensive neuritis. Incident•ly, •. the hair did not •all out on the •acial areas to which the cream was app•ed. These •acts may we• be o• interest to cosmetic chemists, though I •y :• revise that tha•um acetate not been used in any so• o• cosmetic preparation •or very many years. DERMATITIS MEDICAMENTOSA Dermatitis medicamentosa is the term used to denote cutaneous erup- tions appearing from a sensitivity to a drug taken by oral administration. Several cases have been observed recently where dexedrine sulphate was taken for reduction of obesity. I would conclude by saying that the very wide demand for cosmetic preparations (some of which may well have value as therapeutic aids) makes it most desirable that their ß composition. should be formulated and perfected, by the cosmetic chemist, in such a way as to keep their index of sensitivity as low as possible. BIBLIOGRAPHY • Smith, Austin, Editor of the Journal of the A.M.A.: Personal communication to the Society .of Cosmetic Chemists. ' Anderson, George C.: "Dikeases of the Skin," Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Co., 3rd Edition, 1948, p. 102. a Becker, S. William: "Commoner Diseases of the Skin," I•ew York, National Medical 13ook Co. Inc., 1935, p. 8. 4 Sulzberger, Marion 13.: "Dermatologic Allergy," Thomas, Baltimore, 1940, p. 108. • Tobias, Norman: "Essentials of Dermatology," Lippincott, Philadelphia, 3rd Edition, 1948, p. 72. • 2Reiches and Lane: "Alopecia_ of Scalp Due to a Lacquer Permanent Wave Solution." J.A.M.A.: 144, 305 (Sept. 23), 1950. ' Anderson, James •v.: "Alopecia from Hair Straightening." Arch. Derre. and Syph., December 1950. • Simeone, F. A., and Hardy, H. L.: "Chronic Progressive Infectious Gangrene of the Skin." Ann. $urg., 128: 1112-1123 (Dec.), 1948. 215