Foral is sold by the Foral Products Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., as an “antiseptic depilatory” with the special claim for its use for the removal of hair prior to surgical operation or the dressing of wounds. In addition to claims made for its hair dissolving action, it is asserted that, in removing the hair from an open wound, Foral acts as “an antiseptic, which guarantees against any infection.” It is also claimed that, though hair will return after its use, “by proper use it will diminish the growth of hair and cause the hair to grow much slower, and unlike the razor, the hair will not return coarser and thicker.”
We are informed by the Foral Products Company that their preparation is used in many hospitals and that “... one and all are well pleased and a great satisfaction to do away with the old style razor ...”
Foral is stated to be made according to the following formula:
To manufacture seventy-five pounds of FORAL
| Starch | 35 pounds |
| Barium-Sulphide | 20 pounds |
| Zinc-Oxide | 10 pounds |
| Calcium-Carbonated-Precip. | 10 pounds |
| Potassium-Permanganate | 10 grams |
| Menthol-Crystallized | 10 grams |
| Carbolic-Acid | 1⁄2 ounce |
| Lilac or Citronel oil | 3 ounces |
The four above chemicals are going to a heating process before mixing or sifting.
In consideration of the preceding, the Council declared Foral inadmissible to New and Nonofficial Remedies for conflict with its rules, thus:
1. Foral is an unessential and irrational modification of an established article.
While its manufacturer states that Foral has been on the market for eighteen years, the following depilatory formula appears in a book published thirty-five years ago (A practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin, Louis A. Duhring, Ed. 3, 1883) and is to be found in most books on dermatology: