AmsStr;i886arm'}         S°aP  as  a  Hygienic  Material.  437 
I  believe  no  better  example  can  be  given  how  carefully  and  deli- 
cately the  surface  only  of  the  horny  tissue  must  be  cleansed  than  to 
call  to  mind  the  processes  that  are  gone  through  in  a  wool-cleansing 
establishment.  Here  the  wool  is  to  be  freed  from  the  natural  choles- 
terin  fat.  The  aim  of  the  cleansing  is  to  remove  the  fat  carefully 
from  the  hair  without  attacking  the  substance  of  the  hair.  Even 
with  the  employment  of  soda,  one  has  to  proceed  with  the  utmost 
caution,  as  the  wool  is  easily  rendered  brittle,  the  wool  cannot  then 
be  spun. 
In  the  process  of  washing,  then,  only  that  fat  is  to  be  removed 
that  is  on  the  surface  of  the  wool  hairs.  Free  alkali  or  other  sharp 
chemical  substances  extract  the  fat  from  the  keratin  tissues,  and 
without  it  the  wool  becomes  brittle,  and  therefore  unusable.  If  we 
keep  this  point  in  view  from  the  very  commencement,  all  extracting 
material  are  to  be  rejected,  such  as  ether  and  sulphide  of  carbon,  that 
indeed  extract  more  fat,  but  which  completely  lixiviate  the  horny 
tissue. 
The  cleansing  of  the  skin  is  to  be  considered  in  an  exactly  similar 
manner.  We  wish  to  remove  the  impurities  that  are  deposited  on  the 
skin  without  attacking  the  epidermis,  and  above  all  the  fat  contained 
in  the  epidermis  must  not  be  removed.  For  this  purpose,  above  all 
things,  a  neutral  soap  is  required.  There  should  be  no  question  of 
dissolving  the  secretions  present  on  the  skin.  Soap  acts  only  as  an 
emulsifying  agent.  It  is  an  old  experience  that  when  tar  has  to  be 
removed  from  the  skin  the  tarry  spot  is  to  be  rubbed  with  fat,  be- 
cause then  the  soap  acts  as  a  better  emulsifyer  on  the  tar. 
Soap  should  be  perfectly  neutral,  and  free  from  foreign  substances 
or  "  complementary  "  material.  I  would  certainly  reject  the  various 
kinds  of  soap  in  general  use,  as  hygienic  toilet  articles ;  the  only  re- 
liable kinds  of  neutral  soap  fit  for  toilet  use  are  those  manufactured 
in  accordance  with  the  method  published  in  the  Berichte  des  Vereins 
fur  Gewerbfleiss,  Nov.  3,  1884,  in  which  the  impurities  and  excess  of 
alkali  are  got  rid  of  by  a  twice-repeated  centrifugal  process.  For 
the  purpose  of  securing  an  excess  of  fat  in  the  soap,  I  recommend 
the  addition  of  lanolin. — Abstract  from  The  Medical  Press. 
Mydrochlorate  of  Caffeine  has  been  observed  by  Dr.  Terrier  to 
possess  an  aneesthetic  action  almost  identical  with  that  of  cocaine. — Jour.  de. 
med.  de  Paris. 
