With a view to learning the status, on a wide scale, of the new-infection of hookworms in a rural district, the author examined the pupils of lower secondary schools in Ichiharagun, Chiba Prefecture, and obtained the following results: 1. The ratio of hookworm-ova positive cases was as high as 29.7%of all the pupils examined. By sex, it was higher in the male group than in the female group; and farmers'children showed a higher percentage than non-farmers'.
2. The percentage of new-infection was 2.2%at the minimum, 28.0%at the maximum, 12.4%on an average.In the 20 schools of all the 21 examined, percentages were not higher than 20%.And a significant correlation was found between the total infection rate and the rate of new-infection.
3. The rate of new-infection was also higher among the male than among the female examinees. By their family occupation, it was higher among farmers' children.
4. Distribution of different species among the group of people newly infected with hookworms was closely correlated with such distribution picture in the corresponding area.

In Ichihara-gun, Chiba Prefecture, a rural district, two villages where no anti-hookworm measure had hitherto been taken were selected for the study. The inhabitants of these two villages were first given mass anthelmintic treatment twice, but after that no more anti-hookworm measure was taken. In such natural conditions, theconditions of newand re-infection were observed for more than one year's time byway of stool examination.
1. The hookworm egg-positive rates: 82.4% for Itohisa, Miwa-machi, and 41.2% for Nakano, Shitsu-mura. Both species were present, but Necator americanus predominated in either of the two areas.
2. The cumulative rates of new-and re-infection for the whole year: It was higher in Itohisa (36.9%) than in Nakano (8.4%). But, in the two other villages where antihookworm measures had been executed over a long period of time, such rate was extremely low.
3. The seasonal fluctuations of the rates of new-and re-infection: In both of these subject villages it was higher in the warmer season including the wet season, i. e. mid-April to mid-July.
4. Analysis of the rates of new-and re-infection by modesof living: In Itohisa, school children showed a higher rate of new-infection, and the adults of the same area presented the higher rates of both new-infection andre-infection.In Nakano, no significant difference was seen between school children and adults, but one thing to be noted is that the cases of conversion to positive among school children were all of them new-infection cases.
5. New-and re-infection rates by sex: No particular difference was recognized in either of the two areas.
6. Classification of new-and re-infection cases by species: In bothof the villages, majority of the cases carried Necator americanus only.

We report a case of massive, life-threatening from a varicose lesion of the right lower extremity. An 81-year-old lady was brought to the emergency room at our hospital because of massive bleeding from her right leg. She had had high ligation of the right saphenous vein at another hospital 2 years ago. After hemostat and transfusion, she recovered from hemorrhagic shock. Three-dimensional enhanced computed tomography angiography revealed a residual right great saphenous vein and recurrent varicose lesion. We performed high ligation of the great saphenous vein and closed all of the residual perforators. The patient was discharged hospital 10 days after the surgery and experienced no bleeding episodes within 8 months after the surgery. Certain high ligation and elimination of perforators of the great saphenous vein in surgery for varicose vein of leg is necessary to prevent lethal bleeding.

[Objective]The skin is the biggest organ in the body. The human epidermis functions as a defence against various antigens in addition to physical and bio-chemical protection. The dermis consists of dense connective tissue which contains the circulatory system and sensory nerve endings. In this paper, regional differences in the structures of human skin are described.
[Materials and Methods]The skin of different regions in the human body was examined by optical and electron microscopy and by utilizing various morphological techniques.
[Results and Discussion]Epidermis:The cornified layer in the finger pulp and heel, which receives strong mechanical stimuli, is considerably thicker than other regions. The germinal layer consisting of spinous and basal layers becomes thinner with aging. Langerhans cells that produce antigens are scattered in the germinal layer. Furthermore, Merkel cells situated at the basal layer are found in the finger pulp, bottom of the foot and the hair disks of limbs. These cells are involved in the sense of touch or pressure. Dermis:The dermis is divided into the papillary and reticular layers, which consist of loose and dense connective tissue, respectively. In the papillary layer, fibrocytes and mast cells are distributed. Large-sized dermal papillae are found the in finger pulp and bottom of the foot, but there are also a few small papillae in other regions. In large papillae, loops of blood capillaries and Meissner's tactile corpuscles were observed. In addition, large-sized lymphatic capillaries are present in the papillary layer.A dense network of free endings, which are situated beneath the epidermis and are responsible for thermal nociception, are abundant in the face, palm, forearm and sacrum. Corpuscles of Vater-Pacini situated in the deep dermis or subcutaneous tissue are found in the finger pulp, and bottom of the foot.
[Conclusion]In conclusion, it is likely that acupuncture and moxibustion may directly or indirectly stimulate Langerhans cells, Merkel cells, fibrocytes, mast cells or various nerve endings.

The skin condition of patients with senile pruritus is considered to be in the state of “Kekkyo” in oriental medicine. For the treatment of this disease, “Ho-ketsu-zai” has been primarily used in the past in the therapy of oriental herbal medicine. There have been reports describing “Jyuzen-taiho-to” as effective in healing itchiness among patients with atopic dermatitis, but not very much is known about the results of the use of this drug for the treatment of senile pruritus. I have encountered four cases of senile pruritus, for which the administration of “Jyuzen-taiho-to” extract preparation was effective. These cases included two male and two female patients with an average age of 79 years. In all cases, skin dryness was observed and “Kikyo” and “Kekkyo” were present. To these patients, 1/3-1/2 of the normal dosage of the extract preparation was given, and the effects appeared within two to six weeks. “Jyuzen-taiho-to” seems to be one of the drugs very useful for the treatment of the patients with senile pruritus. The presence of “Kikyo” is suggested as an index for the administration of the drug.