Beauty Culture (Woodbury)/Chapter 23

Scientists assert that both the primitive woman and the primitive man were entirely covered with hair, which in the process of evolution gradually disappeared from most of the body, although in the case of the man, more exposed to the elements, it remained on the chin and cheeks, and even became intensified, by natural selection operating through the woman's admiration, as an index of masculinity.

There are many instances recorded from the days of Hippocrates, "Father of Medicine," to the present, of women who possessed beards that caused the men to blush beneath their less luxurious whiskers. These, however, have been freaks of Nature, the exceptions that prove her rule. But slight, soft growths of hair on the feminine face, especially upon the upper lip, are so common in many countries that they cannot be classed as freaks. In the countries of Southern Europe, where the peasant women live much in the open air and join in the labors of the field, such growths are frequently ​found, being, indeed, considered by the peasant men as not at all detracting from feminine beauty.

There is, however, nearly everywhere else in the world a well-established feeling that any superfluous hair on a woman's face gives a disagreeable look of masculinity, and is a distinct misfortune which every woman ought to be freed from permanently. Beauty specialists, therefore, have made the removal of such growths a matter of chief concern. Unfortunately, as already stated on page 205, their devices have generally been only temporarily remedial, leaving the roots of the hair in the skin to produce new and equally abundant growths requiring the continual use of the device to remove.

Of recent years, however, there has been found in the use of a current of electricity applied through a special needle, a means of killing the root, and so forever removing the hair which grows from it. This is the only effective depilatory, or hair-remover, that has yet been devised, and all readers are warned against pretenders who claim to remove superfluous hair permanently by any other device.

While electricity in dermatology has been in use only forty-five years, so far has the art advanced and so easy of acquirement has it grown that now even an amateur with a fair tuition and exercising due care can effect results both pleasing and lasting.

The term Electrolysis means the application of an electric current to remove or destroy by electro-chemical means any growth or tissue with which it is brought in contact.

Electricity is a force the very suggestion of which inspires a feeling akin to fright in many minds. But this fact need not disturb an intelligent student, for the methods employed in this branch of Beauty Culture are ex​ceedingly simple—so simple, indeed, that any one possessing an average education should be able within a few days after a little study to prepare and connect the apparatus properly, and very soon after a small amount of practice to take up with confidence one of the best-paying specialties in the wide, rich field of Beauty Culture.

There are some things in general about this method of treatment which it is fundamentally important to know, and some of these are so important that they will be repeated several times in the course of this chapter so as to impress them thoroughly on the reader's mind.

First, the galvanic current is the only one to he employed. Second, the negative pole is the one to be used by the operator. Third, the strength of the current must be varied to suit different cases. Fourth, the size and shape of the needle must be altered. Fifth, it may be necessary to vary the method of application to suit the idiosyncrasies of particular patients. Sixth, there must be a definite form of treatment to obviate any slight lesion, however caused.

These points will be developed in fuller explanation subsequently, and are mentioned now in order to get them primarily in the mind of the student.

The current of electricity is capable of the most delicate handling. Its effect may be limited to an almost microscopical point or it may be carried to any depth beneath the surface of the skin.

The Apparatus. This current of electricity can be best understood by likening it to a flow of water, running from a pool, or what in electrical parlance is called a battery. Let us say then that this flow of water is downhill, and that the positive is at the beginning of the stream and the negative at the other end.

​To illustrate this in simpler fashion still is to imagine the stream flowing from the pool in a circular way as shown in Fig. 135, so that it eventually flows back into the pool again.

It can then be readily seen that the positive is where the stream flows out and the negative where it flows in.

The reader is now to consider the pool a cell or electric battery, as it is commonly called, and that the point where the electric current flows out is called the positive pole. This pole is marked with a cross (+) in electrical science. The point where the electric current flows into the cell or battery is called the negative pole and is marked with the minus (−) sign. The two signs arc used for brevity's sake, and will require little effort to memorize.

Fig. 135.

In place of the stream we now place a copper wire connecting it to both poles and a closed circuit or flow is established.

If now the wire is cut at the middle of the circle, we break the current or circuit and we have an open circuit. So long as these wires are cut, no electricity will flow through the wires; but as soon as they are joined the electricity will flow on again from the positive pole to the negative one. If now again we place a finger between the cut ends of the wire and allow the wires to ​touch either side of the finger, as in Figure 136, the one side will receive the positive and the other the negative current.

Fig. 136.

Now it is a peculiar fact that each one of these wire ends or poles has a decidedly different effect on the skin of the finger. This could be better shown if we connected a fine needle to each end of the wire and stuck the needles into the skin.

The positive pole or needle would show slight or no effect for a little while, but in a few minutes the skin around the needle would turn black, as if it were tattooed; and after the withdrawal of the needle the spot would show plainly and perhaps remain for some days, or forever, if the current used was strong enough.

With the negative pole or needle it would be entirely different. The skin would at first become red, then quite pale, and presently a little white foam would bubble out alongside of and around the needle where it entered the skin.

The appearance of this foam shows that a chemical action is going on in the skin; and from experience we ​know that such action is destructive to the skin or tissue into which a negatively charged needle is thrust.

This chemical action, often referred to as a burning effect, must never be forgotten, for upon it depends all the work done under the term known as electrolysis.

In other words, the negative pole, or the pole of the battery to which the needle used is attached, is the working pole and is held by the operator; and the positive is the pole to which a sponge or plate is attached with which the operator does not work. This latter sponge or plate, called the positive electrode, in either case is to be held in one of the patron's hands during the entire duration of the sitting or operation.

This being understood, the question may arise how the operator is to know which pole is negative and which positive without sticking the needle into the patron's skin at the beginning of each sitting. This natural, sensible question can be easily answered thus:

If you will notice a battery or cell, you will find the two poles plainly visible. Each has a little nut or thumbscrew at its outer and upper end to which the wires may be attached. These are called binding posts. It is obvious from what has been said that one of these poles is (+) positive and the other (−) negative.

If now a battery is selected in which the one pole or part within the jar is a cylinder of carbon, and the other a stick of zinc, then we may know directly or by experimenting that the carbon pole corresponds to the positive and the zinc to the negative. Such a battery is used in electric work as answering the purpose best. They are called Le Clanche cells, and are made up of

​And a solution of sal ammoniac, in clean water to about two-thirds full. There are several makes of this cell, the latter differing only in the shape of the zinc rod and a cover to keep out the dirt. See Figure 137.

Fig. 137.SAL AMMONIAC CELL

These cells are also called wet cells, since they are operated with solutions. Other cells may be called dry cells. The latter are more easily transported from place to place without danger of spilling and thus ruining

Fig. 138.PORTABLE BATTERY

Fig. 139.A BATTERY

carpets or floors. Of the dry cells the best and most compact is known as the Chloride of Silver cell.

These have the disadvantage of being rather expensive, and since 10 to 16 of these cells are necessary, it would cost considerable to procure such an apparatus.

To carry sixteen ordinary dry cells besides a container would be rather cumbersome; hence for portable batteries, when needed, a distinctly different apparatus is made. One of these is shown in Figure 138.

In this illustration are shown (Fig. 1), a box of hard rubber containing a series of small compartments containing the solution called electrolyte (Fig. 2), and a long compartment into which are placed, when the battery is not in use, the zincs and carbons, which are attached to a hard rubber cover (Fig. 3).

When it is to be used, the handle is lifted up so that the zincs and carbons clear the box and it is turned so that in lowering the respective parts of the zincs and carbons may descend into the small compartments containing the solution. By now letting down the handle the battery at once begins to give out its current.

There are several of these portable batteries on the market, each having its peculiar advantage.

So much for the types of batteries that may be used in Electrolysis.

​The Necessary Battery. As has been said, from 10 to 16 cells are necessary to properly make up a working apparatus. Such a group of cells is called a battery. This battery may be made up of any kind of cells the student may select, but they must be connected properly to give out their current. To do this the student is referred to Figure 139, in which the zincs of the cells are marked (Z) and the carbons (C).

Fig. 140.CELL SELECTOR

It will be observed that in the above illustration the carbons are connected with a wire to the zincs, one cell after the other, leaving one negative (−), or zinc pole, and one carbon or (+) pole, positive open. The manner of this connection is called a series connection. By so connecting one cell adds its electric force to the next, and so on, until the end, so that if there are six cells the current then obtained at the free poles would be six times stronger than one cell.

​This series connection is used for the entire 16 cells which make up a battery according to electrical terms,

But a current from sixteen cells would be at first too severe to begin with; so something must be done to regulate the force of these cells, or to use only as many as are required to carry on the work. To accomplish this, a cell selector is used in which a number of metallic discs or buttons correspond to the number of cells used. This is shown in Figure 140.

With the cell selector the connections must now he changed slightly so that each cell may be added to the next at will. This is readily done, as shown in Figure 141.

Fig. 141.

In the illustration only four cells are shown connected in the circuit with the selector; but the arrangement for sixteen would be the same, provided, of course, there is a disc for each cell furnished for its connection and one extra for the outlet of the last or free wire.

To make sure of the connection, the student should place all the cells upon the floor so that she may plainly ​see what she is doing before placing them into a cabinet or closet in more compact space.

When it is preferable to use a rheostat in place of the cell selector, it can be connected as shown in Figure 142.

Fig. Fig. 142.

Rheostats are now made of graphite or other material, and are so arranged as to offer a varying resistance to the current as the handle is moved from one end of the ring of graphite to the other. The use of the rheostat gives a more even current than the cell selector, inasmuch as the first cell of the battery wears out first. Hence the operator must advance the switch handle of the selector another disc in order to procure the necessary current, and even then his current will be uneven, since it is hampered or interfered with by the resistance of the broken-down or used-up cell.

A standard form of graphite rheostat is shown in Figure 143.

If the operator is fortunate enough to have electric light service a great deal of trouble and expense can be saved by procuring a wall plate containing a rheostat, a lamp resistance and perhaps a milliamperemeter by ​which can be measured to a nicety the amount of current used. While the initial expense is perhaps more than that of a home-made battery apparatus, it pays in the end, since the batteries must be refilled from time to time and the zinc rods be renewed as fast as they are consumed.

Fig. 143.GRAPHITE RHEOSTAT

Such a wall plate is shown in Figure 144.

In the connection with the street lighting circuit all that is necessary is to screw a connecting plug to which two wires are attached into an empty electric light socket, making sure the street current to the lamp socket has been turned off. Then connect the wires from the plug to the two upper binding posts of the plate placed at either side of the milliamperemeter. It is understood that the board, usually of marble or slate, has been securely fastened with proper screws to the wall.

This being done, the operator is ready to turn on the ​switch at the lamp socket, first making sure that the switch on the wall plate is open. This switch must be left open at all times when the operator is not using the current, since an accidental crossing of the cords or electrode ends might injure the delicate milliamperemeter.

This switch is usually made to be closed at either side. This is done so that the circuit, going to the patient and from the needle, can be reversed when so desired. While not so useful in the performance of electrolysis, this is an important adjunct, when electric massage apparatus is used.

Fig. Fig. 144.WALL PLATE

This switch, because of its function, is called a pole changer which implies just what it does.

Since the milliamperemeter has been mentioned as being very essential for the accomplishment of the best re​sults in electrolysis, it might be well to state its particular use.

The milliamperemeter is a delicate instrument much like a compass and having a dial. The marks on this dial or scale (see Figure 145) divide it into sections, representing 5, 10, 15, 20, etc., etc., milliamperes, or so many thousandths of an ampere. The term ampere is given in electricity to signify the amount of current.

Fig. 145.MILLIAMPEREMETER

Now since the tissue of the body is very sensitive to electricity of high power, it is necessary to reduce it further, although the natural resistance of human tissue is considerable. The rheostat, as has been said, accomplishes this and this accomplishment is shown on the scale of the meter.

With a cell battery alone this would be impossible, as the current of each cell varies more or less over the rheostat, and will permit only a fair knowledge of the amount of current used as indicated by the effect on the tissue.

Furthermore, a standard had to be established whereby the required amount of current or dose could be accurately prescribed so that the measuring device or milli​amperemeter or milliammeter (as it is now technically called) became necessary.

Fig. 146.

The milliampere, one-thousandth of an ampere, is the measure of dose for the use of electricity on the human being, while in the commercial world the ampere is applied.

If now the operator wishes to equip herself with such an instrument, it can be easily procured and connected in circuit with her battery and rheostat apparatus. The connections are easily made, as shown in Figure 146.

A first-class instrument should be procured and be properly mounted on a fixed wall or a cabinet that is not easily jarred, for these instruments are delicate and very sensitive to abuse.

Fig. 147.SPONGE ELECTRODE

The student is now to be familiarized with the method of connecting the needle electrode and patient electrode.

For this reason the connecting agent is preferably silk-covered insulated cord, an insulated bundle of very fine wires that render it flexible and light. Two cords are ​necessary, one for the positive and one for the negative. At each end of the cord will be found a pin end. One of these pins is put into the hole of the binding post, coming, say, from the positive of the rhcostat, and the other pin of the same wire is fixed into the end of a sponge holder or sponge electrode, shown in Figure 147.

To the pole coming from the milliamperemeter, or, when the latter is not used, to the negative pole coming from the rheostat, one pin of the second cord is attached and its remaining free end to a needle holder. This is an insulated handle of hard rubber or wood having a hole or screw device at one end to receive the flexible cord pin and an arrangement to hold a fine needle at the other end as shown in Figure 148.

Fig. 148.NEEDLE HOLDERS

In (A) the needle holder is plain, allowing the current to flow through the needle continuously, while in (B) a little springlike arrangement has been added which permits of the current being broken or closed at the will of the operator.

The practical use of either of these forms will be considered later. In the selection of a needle holder take one of light weight and size. It should have about the diameter of a slate pencil, but never thicker than the ordinary lead pencil. Clumsy instruments are the cause of clumsy work and in electrolysis delicacy and a steady ​hand are of the highest importance. So much for the complete apparatus.

Now with a wetting of the sponge electrode in water rendered slightly salty by the addition of a pinch of table salt, and with a cleansing of the needle to be used by a pledget of absorbent cotton soaked in listerine or an antiseptic of like nature, the operator is ready to begin the interesting branch of electricity termed Electrolysis in its various applications.

This is one of the most annoying and humiliating blemishes that can befall the fair face of woman. The writer personally knew one beautiful girl who became so obsessed with the dreadful fancy that she was going to be disfigured by superfluous hairs that it unsettled her mind and she committed suicide.

The condition of hypertrychosis is far more prevalent than usually supposed, because many women so afflicted are unfortunately addicted to the pernicious habit of pulling out the hairs as fast as they appear, or to the equally futile and sometimes fatal habit of using one of the many widely advertised "positive and permanent" depilatory pastes or washes. These alleged depilatories in reality never accomplish anything more than to remove the hair as far as the liquid or paste can penetrate, which is just slightly beyond the plane of the skin. In this connection, Professor P. S. Hayes, M.D., very pointedly remarks: "Application of any chemical which will penetrate deeply enough to destroy the hair papilla must of necessity destroy the skin as well." But if this be not destroyed, the hair is bound to grow again.

The wrong methods employed for removing superflu​ous hairs have a double effect: They stimulate the growth of the offending hair, making it increase in size and depth of root, and they irritate the skin. The following are the principal wrong methods, always to be avoided and advised against:

All of these are painful and of no permanent value, There is only one way known to science of removing superfluous hairs permanently, and that is electrolysis.

Causes of This Abnormal Growth. Some cases are undoubtedly the products of heredity. Scientists have found that in several instances the mother of a girl so afflicted had a hairy growth on the face, or that the daughter resembled in features the father very strongly, as if she had been intended for a son and accidentally was born a girl. In such cases, if the father had a decidedly heavy beard, traces of his facial hirsuteness would appear on his daughter,

One practitioner has noted a case of heredity that went farther back. His patient had such heavy eyebrows—"penthouse" brows, as they are commonly called—that they were more than a deformity—a monstrosity. She told him confidentially that her grandfather. was so marked in this way that he was nicknamed "the man with the eyebrows."

Abnormal growth of facial hair is often noticed in young women when approaching maturity of the development of their physical functions. This appears to correspond with the appearance of the beard or mustache ​on the face of a young man, and may be, probably is, one of the reflex results of the establishment of a hitherto dormant function. In many of these cases, however, on the complete establishment of regular functions, the growth begins to diminish and may of itself gradually disappear—particularly if the girl marries early.

One noted practitioner states that the majority of his cases have been women of thirty or more, who had never married, "many of them being school teachers," and adds that married women who are childless incline, as they mature, to take on this unbecoming hairiness. The same phenomenon is observable in women who are approaching or undergoing what is termed the menopause, or "change of life." All these facts tend to show that, apart from the cases clearly attributable to heredity, the growth of superfluous hairs depends to a considerable extent in women on uterine reflexes. The causes of this growth in men are obscure. Balzac, probably the greatest observer as well as the profoundest writer that has hitherto appeared, noted that men who lead immoral or extremely sensual lives are likely to be marked by this growth on the nose and in the nostrils.

The most extraordinary growth on record among women due to reflex is one recorded by Dr. W. S. Gottheil. The lady was a young Jewess and suffered from amenorrhea, or suppression of natural functions. During the continuance of this a stout beard grew upon her face and more than ten thousand hairs had to be removed. After this, when she had been cured of her affliction, she "noticed that the few remaining hairs on her face fell off and that there was a slight deflusium capillorum (shedding of hair) from the other normally hairy portions of her body."

To these causes, inherent in nature, may properly be ​added another very frequent one; namely, the irritation and stimulation of the skin by the improper creams and washes widely advertised, some of which have been recently exposed as costly humbugs by the United States government.

The operator is hereby cautioned against using any preparations or allowing the patron to use any preparation that has not received the sanction of experts and is particularly advised to find out what the patron has been in the habit of using, or may, during treatment, be using at home, upon her face or person for any purpose. In many cases it may be something which would directly nullify the good obtainable by your treatments; may be a thing highly deleterious on general principle, and in any case, even if harmless, is likely to be utterly useless or superfluous. If the operator cannot at once decide as to the character of the thing the patron may be habitually using, it is better to insist on a complete cessation from it during the course of treatment.

Allusion has been made to an extreme case of sensitiveness, a case of real phobia, or exaggerated foundationless fear as to the coming of superfluous hairs that once came under our observation. Such a thing, of course, is very rare, but on the other hand it is by no means uncommon for high-strung women, when these unsightly superfluities begin to appear on an otherwise comely and attractive countenance and grow coarser and far more numerous in proportion to the amount of mistaken efforts at removing them, to become exceedingly sensitive. Such women gradually shun their former companions, often eventually avoiding even their relatives, and not a few very serious cases have resulted in such deep mental disturbance as to necessitate confinement in an asylum or a sanitarium.

​Thanks to electrolysis there is no longer any need for women to suffer from the consciousness of this grotesque disfigurement, this mock masculinity of facial appearance. The needle, which has been woman's most faithful weapon in warfare of the painful ages, now endowed with the tamed lightning of the electric current, can forever annihilate this foe to her peace of mind.

Method of Procedure. The patient to be operated on is to be placed in a reclining position with her face on a level with the operator's chin, who sits or stands slightly to one side at her head. The light falling on the face of the patient should be sufficient to show distinctly the hairs to be removed and yet not enough to irritate her eyes. A north light or southeast light is usually pleasant to work by.

To the patron in the chair is given a wooden-handled sponge electrode to hold in the right hand. To this sponge electrode the positive pole from the wall or battery should be attached. The sponge should at first be moistened with a little salt water as already described. The switch of the apparatus to turn on the current is now closed. The handle on the rheostat is moved down as little as possible to give the least amount of current, or where no rheostat is used, the cell selector is moved to the first disc.

The operator now takes up the needle holder into which a fine steel or gold electrolitic needle has been placed, Cambric sewing needles should not be used as they are too coarse. Very fine jeweler's broaches answer very well.

With the needle holder attached by the cord to the negative pole of the apparatus in the right hand, and with the eye fixed on the hair to be removed, introduce the point of the needle into the hair follicle and move ​it down into this follicle until there is a feeling of obstruction. The needle is allowed to remain in place, holding the right hand steady.

Then the patient is asked to touch the wet sponge surface of the electrode held in her right hand with the palm of the left hand. This completes the circuit, and there will at once be felt a stinging sensation where the needle has entered the hair follicle. If now a milliamperemeter has been added to the apparatus, the delicate pointer will begin to move to one side of the centre of the scale.

The handle of the rheostat is then moved forward, little by little, until either a little white froth issues from the mouth of the follicle around the needle shaft at that point, or until the pointer of the milliamperemeter rests over the line under the figure 10.

This means that you are using to milliamperes, which is usually enough for the average kind of hair to be removed. For coarser hair 12 to 16 milliamperes may be found necessary. If no milliamperemeter is used, advance the rheostat handle until the frothing begins; and if neither of these parts are added to the apparatus and only cells are used, move the handle of the cell selector forward from the second to the third disc and so on until the foam appears.

The current from six cells will usually suffice at the beginning, but this number has to be increased for coarser hair, and as the battery is used up.

It is understood, of course, that no cell selector is necessary, if the rheostat has been employed, since that answers the same purpose. The needle having now remained in the hair follicle for six to ten seconds, the patron is asked to take her left hand off the sponge. This breaks the current.

​The needle is now withdrawn and with the left hand the operator takes up the depilating forceps and with a gentle pull withdraws the hair from the follicle. The hair thus worked upon should come away readily. If it requires even the slightest effort, the electric needling process as just done should be repeated for several seconds, when the hair may be readily removed with the forceps.

The best kinds of epilating forceps are those having slender blades flattened at the lower and inner ends.

And now about the kind of needle holders to be used. When the patron connects the current by pressing her left hand on the sponge, the plain needle holder is required; but if the patron is allowed to hold the sponge disc in the palm of her right hand, or the arm sponge electrode is attached to her right arm just above the wrist, then naturally the connection is made the moment the needle touches the skin of the patient.

This causes slight shocks, frightens the patron and may make her so nervous as to refuse continuance of the treatment after three or four hairs have been removed. It is best, therefore, in these cases, to use the interrupting current needle holder.

The spring on the holder is left up, as the needle is introduced into the follicle, and then pressed down with the forefinger of the hand holding the holder. This closes the circuit and, although there is the same stinging sensation and a slight shock, the latter is not so severe.

In Figure 149 the incorrect and the correct methods of inserting the needle are illustrated. In the needle misses the root, and the hair is not killed. In B it follows the hair shaft down to the root, which it pierces, and thereby kills the hair.

​As one hair is removed another is treated, and another, and so on, until about 40 or 50 have been removed.

This number is usually enough for one sitting, and is about as much as the operator will want to do without a rest of her eyes, for this kind of work is quite a strain even on the best eyes.

With patience, however, a moment's resting of the eyes between every 10 or 15 hairs, the operator can work unweariedly on six or seven persons a day. Each sitting at first lasts about three-fourths of an hour, but, as the operator becomes more skilful, she will be able to remove fifty hairs in half an hour, and do the work well.

Fig. 149.INSERTION OF THE NEEDLE

A—Incorrect manner.B—Correct manner.

In removing the hairs of the face the operator must be cautioned not to remove at the same sitting hairs too close to each other, for this is liable to break down the skin between the hairs and leave a pit or scar.

At each sitting select the largest and darkest hairs first. Do not let the patient pull hairs out thereafter. If the growth is very strong, she may be allowed to cut them off with a scissors, letting enough of the hair re​main to allow you to get hold of it with the depilating forceps.

If the number of hairs is not great, one sitting a week should be sufficient.

If, of course, the disfigurement is a decided one, the hairs being dark and coarse, two or even three sittings may be given in the week, the operator working on different parts of the face, so that by the time the place treated at the third sitting is done, the area worked on at the first sitting is healed.

After each sitting a little antiseptic lotion is rubbed on the parts operated on, listerine being satisfactory, and the patron is requested to apply a cold solution of witch-hazel and water, each equal parts, with a little absorbent cotton. This need not be repeated on the following day.

Sometimes the parts operated on get rather sore and swollen, showing a number of scabs the size of pin heads. If this condition appears, it shows the operator has used too much current or has allowed the needle to remain in the follicle too long.

While this condition is not necessarily dangerous, it is annoying to the patron and keeps her from taking the next sitting as readily as otherwise would be done.

Returning Hairs. It is impossible to remove permanently at first every hair thus operated on. Some of the hairs will return. The number returning after each silting will vary with the experience of the operator. The best operators expect a return of five per cent. With others ten to twenty per cent. of the 50 hairs treated will return.

This is due to the fact that the papilla upon which the root of the hair rests cannot be seen, but must be felt with the fingers through the needle holder and needle, ​and either the touch of the operator is not delicate enough or not enough current has been used to destroy the hairs.

These failures must never depress the operator. They happen to the most skilful. And because they are bound to happen it is well to tell the patron frankly that a percentage will return and have to be treated a second time. But, while frankly imparting this information, which will forestall any complaint on the patron's part that you have not done your work thoroughly, you can with convincing truth of tone assure her of this fact: There is absolutely no doubt that even the worst hair growth on a woman's face can be absolutely removed to stay away.

And here let the author earnestly advise each operator not to agree to remove all the hairs on a woman's face or mustache or growth of hair on the chin, for a fixed sum. Nine times out of ten the number of hairs is not easily guessed at. It is better to work on a stated number of hairs at each sitting. The propriety of this method of work usually appeals to the patron.

After each sitting open the switch first, clean the needle in an antiseptic, wash the sponge in the same solution and lay it aside to dry.

It is the habit of the author to use a plain metal disc position electrode, and in place of the sponge part of it to use a piece of absorbent cotton moistened in the same way as the sponge. The cotton is thrown away after each sitting.

As the battery of cells wears out, if these are used, the rheostat handle or the handle of the cell selector must be moved farther on over the next disc, etc., to get the same results. When it is found that the current is just barely sufficient or when the 16th disc has been used, the whole battery should be renewed by putting fresh solution into each jar and a new zinc rod in place of the ​consumed one. This will make the battery as good as new.

With a fairly busy practice this renewing of the battery may be necessary only once a year. The operator must study each individual case as well as the behavior of the apparatus and will find that in a very short time she will have mastered various little points which will individualize the work and experience, and will come to regard the practice of electrolysis as a pleasurable pastime instead of a nerve-racking task.

The removal of moles of various kinds, whether flat or pigmented or fleshy, is best accomplished by electrolysis. Acid or other caustic methods are not only unreliable, but are likely to leave unsightly and depressed scars, because it is impossible to regulate the burning effect of these agents.

Fig. 150.PUNCTURING A MOLE

To remove moles the same method as for the removal of hair is used, the needle attached to the negative pole is thrust through the mole on a level with the skin, going in at one side and out at the other. The amount of current needed to destroy this tissue varies with the fleshiness or hardness of the mole. In flat moles and liver spots the same current used for destroying hairs is suf​ficient as a rule, but for the fleshy kind 12 to 20 milliamperes or the current from 10 to 12 cells are required.

The guide is the frothy appearance about the needle and a general loosening of the tissue around the latter.

Several punctures are usually necessary, made in crisscross manner, leaving about one-eighth inch between the needle entrances. Sec Figure 150.

After needling thoroughly, the mole is dried off with a piece of absorbent cotton and dusted with an antiseptic powder. Aristol will be found most satisfactory,

The scab that will form as a result of the mole drying and shrivelling must not he picked off, but allowed to fall off, which takes place between five and ten days, or even longer, according to the size and hardness of the mole treated.

If after the scab has fallen off there is still a roughness of the parts it should be needled again lightly to make it even. The pink color of the parts after the scab has fallen off will gradually whiten, leaving little or no appreciable scar.

Enlarged blood vessels are usually found about the wings of the nose and the checks. They are best removed with the electric needle much the same as superfluous hairs.

The needle connected with the negative pole is made to puncture the skin directly downward through the vessel, which can in the average patient be plainly seen.

In a little while the skin becomes pale around the needle and tiny bubbles will be seen to travel through the blood vessel. The operator must judge how long to leave the needle in place by the effect. From 10 to 15 ​seconds with 20 milliamperes are usually required and often more current for the larger vessels. It is well to puncture the vessel in two places so as to cut off a certain portion of it entirely on healing.

For very fine vessels, the needle may be introduced right through the skin into and through the canal or lumen of the vessel, thus breaking it up in its course. This usually in healing will give a splendid result. Spider-like vessel formations are treated in the same manner.

Nævi, birthmarks, or port-wine marks, so called, if not too large or elevated, are treated as follows:

A cluster of needles, say from six to ten, may be tied together and connected to the negative pole, or an electrode of that form may be procured for the purpose. This cluster of needles, having their points all on the same level and connected to the negative pole, is thrust into the mark here and there and allowed to remain long enough to thoroughly destroy the mark about each needle, it being understood that the patient holds the positive or sponge electrode in her hand, the color of the tissue and the froth and experience being the guides.

After the scabs, as in the case of moles, fall off, a second sitting and more may be given until the entire patch has been rendered white or pale in color—a condition much to be preferred to the deep red or purplish appearance before treatment.

Antiseptic powder should be dusted on the parts after each treatment.

Scars, particularly of a linear character, can sometimes be much improved by cutting the line up into small sections with the electrolytic needling process.

​To do this, the same method as for the removal of hairs is followed.

The needle attached to the negative pole is thrust through the scar, directly downward at points along the scar line about one-quarter inch apart until the whole scar has been worked on.

After the scabs that form fall off, the needle at the second sitting is thrust into the scar at the place between each of the former points treated, so that the whole scar presents in the end a sieve-like appearance.

Two or more sittings may be necessary to accomplish this result.

The effect is a cutting up of the scar line, as it were, and will prove very satisfactory to the patient. In reality, the object is to form a scar within a scar, the former causing by its contraction a reduction of the latter.