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Preliminary experiences with lasers in the treatment of tattoos over a period of more than three years have shown that this is a safe procedure, both for the patient and for the operating personnel, when conducted in specially designed laboratories and with planned safety programs. The laser treatment of tattoos is still, and will continue to be for some time, an investigative treatment and not a conventional treatment.

In the course of our work on blood clotting, we came on a reaction which seems to differentiate typhoid fever from other infections. The reaction is given early in the disease, being therefore much more useful in diagnosis than is the Widal test. The difficulty of obtaining a positive blood culture, together with the delay in the development of a positive Widal reaction, gives added value to a reaction which is reliable and present throughout the active period of the disease. This reaction also sharply differentiates typhoid fever from another disease with which it is often confused, miliary tuberculosis.We were engaged in measuring the antithrombic activity of the blood serum under a variety of conditions when we found that typhoid fever was differentiated from other fevers studied by us by a most intense antithrombin production throughout the fever period. An excess antithrombin production was found in cases of pulmonary

Skin atrophy following prolonged application of topical corticosteroids is well known. Atrophy in the perianal area is emphasized since this is often confused with the persistent dermatitis for which the topical corticosteroids were used. If recognized early, the reaction is reversible. Eight patients are presented.

TO THE EDITOR.— One of the diagnostic aids now rarely used in dermatology is transillumination. A study has been underway for some years in the Department of Dermatology of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to determine the value and limitations of transillumination techniques for diagnosis of dermatologic conditions by incoherent bright light and also by laser light. If the optical qualities of normal skin of an area are changed by any structures that affect light transmission, absorption, and reflectance, these changes may be shown in a general diffuse fashion by transillumination. Some examples are cysts with and without blood, tumors with and without cystic or calcium changes, foreign bodies, etc.A Welch Allyn transilluminator has been used in these examinations. One of the most constant and clear findings of the value of transillumination is the use of this technique for the examination of mucinous pseudocysts of the finger. In