Page:Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, volume 1.djvu/321

 with strong iodine. He had thought it would be an economical way of curing his coolie patients to put them in a sulphur bath, in which one after another could soak for half an hour or an hour, or even for two hours. He used a big tub with a solution of sulphuret of potash in hot water. The effect of it was to remove the scales of Tinea imhricata, but to leave the skin covered all over with the brown lesions which represented the attachments of the scales — in fact, the underlying fungus which was not killed. In his experience, sulphur was of no value whatever in the treatment of Tinea imhricata. For the treatment of Tinea cruris he used Vleminckx's solution — a solution of sulphuret of calcium. He diluted the solution in the proportion of one part to three parts of water-; that was used on the first night, and washed off next morning. The second night the eruption was bathed with half strength solution, which was again washed off next morning ; and the third night it was bathed with full strength solution, and this was allowed to dry on. That, as a rule, stopped the itching, and very often, for the time being at all events, caused complete disappearance of inflammatory trouble. The eruption often returned when the weather became warm, and if the patient was careless about cleanliness; but he found the method a good one, and it did not soil the clothes as chrysophanic acid did. He recognised Mr. Cantlie's description of foot tetter, which he used to treat- by putting the patient's feet in a bath of carbolic lotion for half an hour. If the feet were allowed to get thoroughly soaked with a 5 per cent. carbolic acid solution, the disease was sometimes cured.

Dr. Castellani, in reply, agreed with Dr. Pernet that dhobie itch originated, not in one fungus only, but in two and probably more species. Trichophyton perneti was not frequently seen in Ceylon, but it would be interesting to