The effect of the density of the surface nucleons on the calculation of the total potential in reactions where the participant nuclei are on the stability line and at least one of the participant nuclei is rich in neutrons has been studied. The results obtained by the analysis of the 16O+209Bi, 16O+144Nd, and 16O+144Sm reactions using the Hartree{ Fock calculations of the neutron and the proton densities show a decrease of about 0.67, 0.53, and 0.45 MeV of the fusion barrier height in comparison to the corresponding values obtained when the nuclear density is taken to be proportional to the nuclear charge. It is shown that this decrease is due to the variation of the ratio of the density of neutrons to that of the protons in outer regions of the nuclear densities of 209Bi, 144Nd, and 144Sm nuclei.
