ACTION OF ANTIPERSPIRANTS 799 palm respond primarily to emotional rather than thermal stimuli. There is no evidence for anatomical differences between the eccrine units of the body. Therefore another yet unidentified variable is to be sought. SUMMARY Local eccrine anhidrosis was produced in human volunteers by appli- cation of 20% aluminum chloride, 10% formalin solutions, and water it- self, under oeelusive patches. It can be demonstrated that the sweat sup- pression of simple hydration and formalin is due to a high level obstruc- tion of the eeerine duct. Removal of the stratum eorneum relieves this type of anhidrosis. Methylene blue iontophoresis fails to produce a sweat pore pattern since the dye cannot enter the duets, and there is histologie evidence of duetal dilatation following sweating into the dosed system. A physical plug can be seen in the ease of formalin induced anhidrosis, while the water effect is temporary and due to a functional closure of the eeerine ostium. In aluminum salt produced anhidrosis, stripping off the stratum corncure does not bring about return of sweating, and an accentuated eeerine pore pattern results from the iontophoresis of methylene blue. Only after sweating is there an inflammatory infiltrate localized in the periduetal tissue surrounding the eeerine duet at the epidermal-dermal junction. It is concluded that aluminum chloride increases transduetal absorption of sweat. (Received May 10, 1966) REFERENCES (1) Shelley, W. B., Hurley, H. J., and Nichols, A. C., Axillary Odor. Experimental study of the role of bacteria, apocrine sweat and deodorants, Arch. Dermatol., 68,430 (1953). (2) Shelley, W. B., and Horvath, P. N., Experimental miliaria in man. II. Production of sweat retention anhidrosis and miliaria crystallina by various kinds of injury, J. Invest. Derrnatol., 14, 9 (1950). (3) Shelley, W. B., Experimental miliaria in man. V. The effect of poral closure on the secretory function of the eccrine sweat gland, J. Invest. Derrnatol., 22,267 (1954). (4) Ichihashi, T., The antisudorific effect of formalin by cataphoretic application and its practical use, J. Orient. Med., 25, 105 (1936). (5) Sulzberger, M. B., Zak, F. G., and Herrmann, F., Studies of sweating. ii. On the mechanism of action of local antiperspirants, Arch. Derrnatol., 60,404 (1949). (6) Blank, I. H., Jones, J. C., and Gould, E., A study of the penetration of aluminum salts into excised human skin, t•roc. of Scient. Sect. Toilet Goods Assoc., 29, 32 (1958). (7) Papa, C. M., A new technique to observe and record sweating, Arch. Derrnatol., 88, 732 (1963).

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