Dr. W. M., an otorhinolaryngologist aged 58, consulted me on account of "cracked fingers" of several years' duration. The lesions consisted of deep longitudinal fissures, which started at the tip of each involved finger and extended to the base of the distal phalanx; the skin about the fissures was red, somewhat soggy and crusted. The left thumb and index and middle fingers, the tip of the right thumb and the right index finger were involved, and there was also a fissured longitudinal area of about 2 cm. on the left hypothenar eminence. The areas on the left hand were much greater in extent and in intensity. Washing and especially scrubbing of the hands caused a great deal of pain and inconvenience and played havoc with the patient's surgical schedule. He volunteered the information that after a day of rest from his work, as on a Monday morning, his fingers were