These statements do not apply, however, to the creams that are used as depilatories. Most of the widely advertised ointments for this purpose have as their basis a salt of the metal barium. Application of the ointment removes the hair, but does not affect the growing end within the skin. In most instances the new growth of hair is thicker and coarser and darker than the original growth removed by the depilatory. In some instances, superfluous hair is removed by the application of the X-ray. It has been found, however, that X-ray machines seldom kill the living cell from which the hair grows, unless it is applied in dosage so strong as to produce definite changes in the skin itself. Specialists in diseases of the skin are being called on to treat thickening of the skin, or so-called precancerous keratosis, resulting from the use of the X-ray for the removal of hair by inexperienced persons. Those who give special attention to these problems are agreed that the one certain method of removal of superfluous hair is the use of the electric needle. It must be understood, however, that it is possible to remove only a few hairs at a single treatment, and that the method requires great expertness in its application. SKIN DISEASE QUACKERY Faith springs eternal in the human breast and credulity is not the property of any single class. One finds our best educated citizens just as easily susceptible to false and fraudulent claims as the most ignorant. Indeed, in many instances, particularly in relation to medical science, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, since its possessor is likely to be impressed with his own ability to make suitable judgments. Of particular interest in this connection are the many cosmetics offered to women who seek eternally for artificial beauty. According to an investigation recently made, the American public paid, in 1921, $150,000,000 for perfumery and cosmetics. There were purchased 240,000,000 packages of talcum and face powders and 18,000,000 packages of rouge. Students of diseases of the skin constantly emphasize the difficulty of determining the nature of any eruption. Red spots and slight inflammations may be due to disturbances of digestion, to special sensitivity to various food substances, to eczema, to any one of a half-dozen infections, and possibly to tuberculosis or to syphilis. Since the tendency of some minor conditions is to recover without treatment, persons are likely to indulge in self-treatment and thus to neglect the more serious complaints to a time when a cure is far more difficult than when they are seen early. Cancer of the skin appears in its beginning as a small and rather unnoticeable spot; if seen early, it is easily controlled, but if stimulated by the use of all sorts of caustic acids or pastes it may become so serious as to produce death.