A chronic circular, itching exudative dermatitis on the dorsum of the right hand which appeared and disappeared in relation to certain aspects of his work led a twenty-five-year-old dental student to seek analysis. It was found that the dermatitis served as a protection against castration anxiety and was a form of restitution for his own castration tendencies, permission for masturbation, and for partial impulses toward voyeurism, exhibitionism, sadism and masochism. The lesion disappeared when analysis exposed this protective mechanism, and has not recurred during the two years since the analysis ended.