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To the Editor:—
In the eleventh revision of the United States Pharmacopoeia petrolatum was substituted for lard in official ointments and pastes. The twelfth revision is now being prepared. Experience in clinical practice during the past decade has indicated to many dermatologists that return to the use of lard is highly desirable.Petrolatum, solid and liquid, lacks the property of emulsification leading to absorption of moisture from the surface of the skin. Cutaneous lesions accompanied by oozing or vesiculation thus tend to spread when covered with a petrolatum base. The animal fats, such as butter, lard and goose grease (benzoinated or not), have the property of emulsification. Their application to the skin leads to absorption of the ooze or product of ruptured vesicles. The physical and chemical properties of colloids and the intricacies of emulsion phases need not be discussed at this time. They are, of course, responsible for the