The invention relates to a method for the recognition of natural skin (5),
wherein the skin surface (4) is illuminated at an irradiation point (1)
with light from the visible spectrum or the adjacent spectrum, wherein
that part of the light entering through the skin surface (4) at the
irradiation point (1), scattered in the skin (5), and exiting from the
skin surface (4) again, is detected at a detection point (9), using a
detector (20), and wherein the signal determined by the detector (20) is
passed to a comparator and compared with stored data. Furthermore, a
device for carrying out the method is an object of the invention.