BLAISDELL DISCUSSES DANGERS INCURRED BY MISUSE OF COSMETICS

"Age for age, the average man who uses relatively no cosmetics has as nice a skin, if not a better one, than the ladies who are spending millions on cosmetics," according to J. Harper Blaisdell, former instructor of Dermatology.

Dr. Blaisdell spoke yesterday afternoon in the second of a series of free public lectures at the Medical School.

Dangerous Cosmetics Cause Death

"In the past few years," he declared, "there have been three outstanding cosmetic procedures that have been dangerous to the general public: Removal of superfluous hair by X-ray which has resulted in scars and cancer; the use of certain dyes on the eyelashes and eye-brows which has caused blindness and death; and the use of thallium acetate in creams to remove superfluous hairs which has caused serious illness and death."

Discussing the history of the cosmetics, Dr. Blaisdell pointed out the great rise of the business in the United States since 1868, when the first beauty parlor was established in Philadelphia; today there are 30,000 and their business amounts to 200 million.

"The ladies of Egypt used cosmetics much as we do today. They had oils and ointments for the body, perfumes for the hair, clay packs from the Nile for the face, and henna dyes for the finger nails and palms."