MICROSPORON MENTAGROPHYTES. 157 



mentagra during one sitting, but when it has spread very much 

 several sittings are required ; it can be done by the diseased 

 person himself. The operation is for the most part easy and 

 painless; in old mentagra, when the hair has become loosened, 

 and the capsule somewhat separated from the papilla and the sac 

 of the follicle, the hair falls out by itself, and it is only in fresh 

 mentagra that the operation becomes painful. Epilation is some- 

 times accompanied by a slight effusion of blood caused by a 

 fungous state of the infested parts. 



After the epilation it is well to drop, by means of a pair of 

 pincers, a sponge, or a fine brush, a solution of sublimate (5 parts 

 to 100 parts of w r ater) on the injured spots. This treatment 

 causes sometimes an eruption of pustules on the lips and head, 

 which must be opened with a needle on the following day. In 

 order to prevent salivation, 1 2 parts of sublimate or 1 part of 

 acetate of copper to 500 parts of water should be used. 



Epilation produces an immediate improvement. The itching, 

 pain, and tension of the lips cease; the hardened parts become 

 more pliant ; and the eruption of pustules retires. A single 

 washing after epilation is sufficient ; no internal treatment, no 

 lotions or ointment are required. The patient need not go to 

 a hospital, or only in the case of old mentagra which has spread 

 over the whole face and the part of the skin which is covered 

 with hair, and even then he may be dismissed in from 8 to 12 days. 

 In slighjt cases, and when the parasite is absent, simple epilation 

 without washing will be found sufficient; it is, however, better to 

 employ both. The hair grows again soon, and often more beau- 

 tifully than before. Cases of relapse are met with in some places 

 which the patient is, however, quite able to treat himself. 

 Pudendagra is similarly treated. 



M. Santlus, of Hadamar, speaks favorably of epilation, and is 

 confirmed by Didot of Brussels. He orders afterwards bandages 

 wetted with " Aq. Phag. Pharm. Wii rtemb." The simultaneous 

 internal use of graphite with guaiacum seems, according to 

 Santlus, to be superfluous. 



Literature. Gruby, 1. c., 1844, xviii, p. 585; Bazin, 1. c., 

 1855, p. 41 43; Robin, 1. c., p. 430 436; Gudden, Vierordt's 

 'Archiv/ xiii, 3, p. 504506 (1853), Appendix. 



