CHEMISTRY OF PALMAR SWEAT

Abstract

AS PREVIOUSLY stated,¹ studies on the chemistry of palmar sweat, collected from normally functioning individual sweat glands, were undertaken with the hope that the information so gained would eventually lead to a better understanding of the "abnormal" sweat gland. As previously reported,^1a the chamber specially designed for these studies made it possible not only to collect pure uncontaminated sweat directly from the openings of the sweat ducts but also to observe the rate and manner of secretion of sweat from the individual ducts during the collection. Such observations^1b have made it possible to classify into physiologic types the manner in which palmar sweat is secreted: profuse, intermittent and a combination of these two types. These studies on palmar sweat showed that the concentration of chloride is low and equal to that of thermal-regulating body sweat when the gland secretes profusely, but when it functions intermittently the palmar