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SUMMARY.– The effect of a local increase or decrease in skin temperature on the rate of sebum excretion from forehead skin was studied in 9 subjects. The relationship between skin temperature and sebum excretion rate was highly significant, and heating and cooling produced changes of the orders of 10% per 1°C. These changes occurred within 90 min., which suggests that the sebum excretion rate measured by the present technique may not always accurately reflect the rate of sebum production deep in the glands. Variations in temperature affect the rate at which sebum is absorbed by the collecting papers, probably due to changes in sebum viscosity, and this could explain the observed changes in sebum excretion.

To orient properly tiny biopsies, the tissue may be put on paper or absorbable gelatin sponge (Gelfoam) for formaldehyde fixation. With Zenker's fixation, the tissue may be attached with egg albumin to a piece of cucumber.

(1967). Dermatitis in the Forest Product Industries. Archives of Environmental Health: An International Journal: Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 322-326.

Instances of contact dermatitis from free formaldehyde in textiles continue to be reported from abroad, especially from the Scandinavian countries. 1-3 In the United States, a single report of dermatitis due to formaldehyde in paper has appeared. 4 Various formaldehyde resins are widely used for impregnating certain textiles in order to make them crease-resistant, crush-resistant, shrink-resistant, water-repellant, etc. Similarly formaldehyde compounds are used to add "wet strength" to paper. Such paper includes certain facial tissues and paper towels. The usual principle for resin treatment is the impregnation of the textile in a bath consisting of a resin precondensate and a catalyst. Drying and curing at a high temperature then takes place. This is followed by washing to remove the catalyst and uncondensed resin and excess free formaldehyde. The result of this process is the formation within the textile fiber of a thermosetting resin which makes the fiber crease-resistant, etc. and

SUMMARY.— The method introduced by Strauss and Pochi (1961) for measuring the rate of sebum secretion has been critically investigated and a number of sources of error defined. These are choice and preparation of absorbing papers, the technique of sebum collection, weighing, and the ambient humidity. A decrease in the absorbency of the paper during the collection was not found. Modification of the method with careful attention to detail has increased the reproducibility of the results and there is good agreement of the results on both sides of the forehead and in collections made over a 7-week period. The amount of sebum collected in the first 3-hr, period was greater than in subsequent 3-hr, periods but there was a direct linear relationship between the amounts collected in the first 3 hr. and subsequent 3-hr, periods. The view that the method measures the sebum secretion rate is critically discussed in the light of this observation. It is suggested that the amount of sebum collected may be more directly related to the pool of sebum already secreted. Since the size of this pool is related to the rate of sebum secretion the method provides an indirect measure of this function. Until we know more precisely what we are measuring we prefer to use the descriptive term “rate of sebum excretion”.

Between October, 1956, and February, 1957, six male office workers, employed in the billing department of a large corporation, were seen, suffering from a rather severe dermatitis which was proven to be caused by Thermo-Fax paper, used in a Thermo-Fax Copying Machine. There was nothing remarkable about the dermatitis. There were eczematous vesicular and crusting patches on the dorsa of the hands and forearms in all patients, dermatitis of a contact type on the face and neck in the case of two of the patients, and a generalized "toxic" type of dermatitis in one of the patients. Patch tests were done with the usual office contactants, such as carbon paper, cleansers, and typewriter ribbon, and were also done with dry Thermo-Fax Copying Paper. All 48-hour tests were negative save that done with Thermo-Fax Copying Paper, and to this a vesiculation of the test site developed in from 6