Ointments or lotions containing tar should always be tried at first upon a limited surface, as occasionally skins are met with upon which this remedy acts as a more or less violent irritant. The coal tar lotion (liquor carbonis detergens) is the least likely to disagree and may be used as a mild ointment, one or two drachms to the ounce, or it may be diluted and used as a weak lotion as already referred to. #What external remedies are to be employed in eczema of a sluggish type?# The various remedies and combinations (mentioned above) useful in acute and subacute eczema may often be employed with benefit, but, as a rule, stronger applications are necessary, especially in the thick and leathery patches. The following are the most valuable:-- An ointment of calomel or ammoniated mercury; forty to sixty grains to the ounce. Strong salicylic-acid ointment; a half to one drachm of salicylic acid to the ounce of lard. Tar ointment, official strength; or the various tar oils, alone or with alcohol, as a lotion, or in ointment form. Liquor picis alkalinus[B] is a valuable remedy in chronic _thickened_, _hard_ and _verrucous_ patches, but is a strong preparation and must be used with caution. It is applied diluted, one part with from eight to thirty-two parts of water; or in ointment, one or two drachms to the ounce. In such cases, also, the following is useful:-- [Rx] Saponis viridis, Picis liq., Alcoholis, .......... [=a][=a] ....... [dram]iij. M. SIG. To be well rubbed in. [Footnote B: [Rx] Potassae, ............................. [dram]j Picis liq., .......................... [dram]ij Aquae, ................................ [dram]v. Dissolve the potash in the water, and gradually add to the tar in a mortar, with thorough stirring.] In similar cases, also, the parts may be thoroughly washed or scrubbed with sapo viridis and hot water until somewhat tender, rinsed off, dried, and a mild ointment applied as a plaster. Lactic acid, applied with one to ten or more parts of water is also of value in the sclerous and verrucous types. Caustic potash solutions, used cautiously, may also be occasionally employed to advantage in these cases. Another remedy of value in these cases, as well as in others of more or less limited nature, is the _x_-ray. Exposures every few days, of short duration and 4 to 10 inches distance, with medium vacuum tube. This method has served me well in occasional cases; caution is necessary, and it should not be pushed further than the production of the mildest reaction. The repeated application of a high-frequency current, by means of the vacuum electrodes, is a safer and sometimes an equally beneficial method. #Is there any method of treating eczema with fixed dressings?#