COSMETICS IN INDIA Indian conditions instead of blindly following the standard formulations of the West, which have been devised after intensive research to meet mainly Western requirements. Manufacturers would do well to modify the same (even the technique of manufacture, if necessary) to suit Indian needs, so that, as far as possible, the consumer may be given the type of product he needs. Thereby a positive step would be taken towards the revival of ancient Indian cosmetics with such modifications as may be necessary to suit the needs of the present day. Another point worth noting is the desir- ability of using as high a proportion as may prove practicable of raw materials indigenous to India and sometimes of a highly specialised character. If this can be done while still following the tremendously successful methods of the West with Western methods of experimentation and control, a market of very great potentialities may be opened up in the not too distant future. REFERENCES I•tdian Soap Journal, Vol. XIV, No. 5, November, 1948. Ibid., Vol. XIV (serial commencing from No. 4, October, 1948). Ibid., Vol. XV, No. 11, May, 1950.

ALLANTOIN -- ITS PROPERTIES AND USES By A.M. POSNER, B.Sc., Ph.D. THE FOLLOWING is a critical survey of the literature dealing with the therapeutic and cell proliferant action of allantoin (glyoxyl-diureide). HISTORICAL The use of infusions of the common comfrey root to promote healing has been known for several hundred years. Macalister in 1912 • reported his observations on the healing power of this substance and in addition submitted some of the root to chemical analysis. Amongst other substances isolated was allantoin, which was present to the extent of 0.8 per cent. Macalister then successfully treated three refractory nicers with a solution of synthetic allantoin. Many other cases of a similar nature were also reported. • The apparent beneficial effects of maggots growing in open wounds has also been known for a long time, and Baer,, during and immediately after the First World War, developed a maggot therapy for the treatment of refractory wound infections. Robinson, • in a critical examination of maggot therapy, showed thai amongst other substances produced by the maggots was allantoin. He was able to obtain successful healing of severe osteomyelitis cases using allantoin however, the rate of healing was not so rapid as when maggots were used. Robinson and Norwood' demonstrated by dissection and culturing tech- niques that pyogenic bacteria are destroyed in the alimentary tract of the maggot. Thus bacteria taken in by the feeding maggot will be destroyed. They also showed' that the extract derived from maggots had no effect on bacteria cultures. It is possible that some of the active principle was destroyed during the maceration process. Livingston,, 8 treated 415 cases of osteomyelitis, ulcers and similar conditions with living maggots and maggot extract, and 605 cases by extract only. From 60 to 100 per cent of the cases showed clinical improvement through growth stimulation and a pathogenic bacterial inhibition. The maggot extract was shown to contain sulphydryl groups, allantoin, calcium, cysteine, glutathione and embryonic growth-promoting substances. Maggot therapy exhibits the following features. 1. Thorough surgical removal of diseased area. 2. The wound is actively sterihsed by the maggots, which physically remove micro-organisms by ingestion. 3. The proteolytic activity of the maggot enzymes breaks down the 58