Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/334

 Then there is an eruption of numerous little pimples on the skin, called acne, to which also we have alluded. But much the most feared is that really distressing skin disease known familiarly as barber's itch, or tetter, and by physicians as sycosis. It is contagious, and can readily be communicated by a shaving brush, and even by a razor. It is also very obstinate, and when apparently cured, very apt to return. It is, in fact, a parasitic growth, which attacks the hair bulb and the hair itself. At first a small spot, red and itchy, is seen on the skin, and not long after some pimples are visible.

But this disease is much more rare than is usually supposed even by physicians, as it is very liable to be confounded with two other very similar diseases (acne and impetigo). The only cure for it is to pull out the hairs, and dress the part with some strong ointment destructive of parasitic life, as, for example, one that contains carbolic acid.

Ordinary tetter, on the other hand, is a comparatively simple disease, which will yield readily to proper treatment. One of the best applications is oil of turpentine. This should be painted over the part with a camel-hair brush two or three times a day, and allowed to remain. Or if it is desired to have a more elegant compound, this ointment may be procured and gently rubbed in, morning and evening:—