Figure 14 T.S. Mouse Tail Skin: Petro- leum Jelly control treatment (perifollicular granular layer only). Magnification (o[ original photomicrograph) x 80. Figure 1,7 T.S. Mouse Tail: treated with Vitamin Ain Petroleum Jelly (perifollicular and interfollicular granular layer). Magnification (of original photomicrograph) x 81).

THE INVESTIGATION OF DANDRUFF {329 ß primarily to the pathological presence of androgen. Therapy often fails in seborrhoeic alopecia because there is no chemical substance able to "neutralise" pathological androgens and fats. An original treatment which I am using with success in men and women suffering from dandruff, greasy hair and alopecia, involves surgical interference with the blood supply to the scalp by reducing the arterial circulation. It is usually argued empirically that an adequate circulation must be provided for the vessels supplying the follicles. Surgical experience, however, shows that interruption of scalp circulation by trauma or neurosurgical operation is without effect on the state of the hair. Furthermore, homografts 3 to $ mm in diameter, con- taining a few hairs the follicles of which are healthy, are able to flourish in a completely bald region where the follicles are almost dying. I therefore conclude that lack of blood flow in the scalp will not increase dandruff and alopecia. I have ligatured and resected superficial temporal vessels iust above the artery in front of the ear on both sides, using local anaesthesia. 20 men and 7 women have been operated. The result has been that greasy hair lost its lipid coating after 8 days, and the scales disappeared after 2 to 6 weeks as for hair-loss, this took longer to diminish but after 10 to 12 weeks our patients lost only a few hairs or were completely cured. After 6 months we noticed no recurrence of the scales and hair-loss. THE LECTURER: I would like to emphasize that the paper avoids trying to deal with the treatment of dandruff, which is a large subject in itself. None the less, it is interesting to encounter a proposal to deal with a scientific problem by turning existing ideas upside down most authorities believe that an increase in the blood flow to the scalp is desirable and therefore the proposition to reduce the blood flow to the scalp is of considerable interest. With regard to the statement that androgens have a significant role in dan- druff, it would not be surprising if this were true but so far it is not proven. Studies on tension in the scalp throw some light on hair growth and seem to imply that there is a tendency towards starvation of blood flow to the scalp, which appears to have a relationship to baldness. This would contradict your view. If dandruff is an inflammatory condition, one of the obvious features would be vaso-dilation. It is therefore rational to expect some change in the condition if the blood flow is reduced, and this is perhaps the main effect of your surgical manoeuvre it therefore seems to be a sympto- matic treatment but may have no more profound significance than this. DR. M. CANTLE¾: IS there any information available on the relative amounts of desquamation from dandruff and normal epidermis conditions ? THE L•CTURER: No. We found it impossible to measure the total amount of scaling. For that reason we measured the amount of scale attached to the scalp. Measurements have been made in the case of ex-