27O which would not congeal at even very low room or storage tempera- tures it should not have any odor itself, and it should not be toxic or irritating in the slightest degree. It is rather a big order for any chemist to produce such a product, but our chemists were fortunate in being able to make a beginning which comes encouragingly close. Unfortunately, as in many of these cases, the economic factor is of considerable importance some- times, scientifically correct prod- ucts do not immediately find their full value with the consumer for this the scientist cannot be made responsible, but it does not dimin- ish the value. Time will usually solve that problem. But it is a step forward which goes parallel with the development and adoption of the theories of the telefinalist. Not only does the cosmetic chemist have to seek higher and higher levels in the world of his products, he must continuously fight deterioration which may creep in for many rea- sons, and must fight preparations manufactured by factors in the industry, who for economic rea- sons, or others, do not submit their product to the gruelling and exact- ing demands the true cosmetic chemist imposes on himself and/or his product before it is put on the market. The skin, as anyone can see on his own hands, is full of large and small blood vessels. And if you touch something very cold or very hot, you promptly become aware of the innumerable nerve endings in JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS your skin. If you walk through poison ivy, you will discover with sorrow that the skin is capable not only of absorbing chemicals of a benevolent nature, such as found in creams, but also harmful sub- stances, such as found on poison ivy and poison oak. It has, as you know, been proved that a good many chemicals can be introduced into the body and the blood stream, through the skin. Hence, hormone creams and creams used as carriers of antibiotics have been developed. That subject brings us to dangerous ground, since as a whole, and rightly so, cosmetics should not become drugs. However, the fields are so related that they cannot be separated abso- lutely from one another. Take the case of secondary infections: they may be the result of blackheads, or of an inflammation of the follicles of a hair, perhaps a slight injury to the oil or sweat glands, or to many other possibilities. They all have the tendency to mar the beauty of the skin. The cream that prevents secondary infection, a cream that has more or less healing qualities, surely is also a beautifying medium. But even if we do not go as far as to emphasize the value cream in preventing fections, if we only slight lesion in the protection against micro-organisms in chanical way, we of a cosmetic secondary in- admit that a skin obtains all types of a purely me- come within the scope of what you would call preventive medicine. Surely, no medical man would construe such a

COSMETICS AND THE FUTURE 271 preventive action exercised by a cream as an infraction or intru- sion of his territory. But not only does the cream protect nerve end- ings and a multitude of blood ves- sels, but it also covers the exit of our hairs. Even the breathing is affected, as it has been calculated that one per cent of our breathing is done through the skin. It thus be- comes obvious that it is of para- mount importance to give our most careful attention to maintaining a skin condition which will allow the proper functioning of all the various organisms which will live in it and are part of our life line. Cx)smeti•s, and not drugs, can best fulfill this ntission. In the field of soaps and deter- gents, it is interesting to note that all soaps and detergents, through mechanical action, can and do pre- vent infections. Some soaps con- tain gem•icides in therapeutically effective quantities, and still they are soaps and not drugs. We surely do not want to bring cosmetics within the scope of medicinal prod- ucts. But every day we want to widen the field of their application and increase their value to the human skin. And today I would like to submit to you a suggestion for your investigation, which per- haps will help to find a sharper line of demarcation between a medicinal ointment and a cosmetic which exercises beneficial action upon the skin and body. Just a little more than one hundred years ago, Dr. Hahnemann created what is known as homeopathy, and introduced his science to the field of medicine. I have found 11 homeo- pathic hospitals, three of them bear- ing his name. Many other medical men took up his theories, elabo- rated on them, and I am inclined to think that the guild of cosmetic chemists may find it worth while to look into these theories, and find their preliminary work a source of inspiration and value to the modern cosmetic scientist. I do not want to go inlo the theory of the homeo- pathic science, if you want to use the word science at all in this con- nection. It is my understanding that the me•dical profession does not consider a homeopath a medical man, nor could his materia medica, that is, his prescriptions, be con- sidered drugs. Essentially we could say, and I am giving a liberal inter- pretation to the teachings of the homeopaths, that they prescribe the use of extremely small quanti- ties of salts, of herbs, and even of drugs, that are used in the homeo- pathic science of curing and healing. I am almost under the impression that their actual healing and curing is a combination of the nature of the human body and the faith of the human mind in homeopathy. Is it not true that cosmetics, too, exercise great beneficial influence on the human body, on the human skin, if the user has faith in them ? Is it not true that the psychological aspect of the human mind is one of the major reasons why people are using cosmetics? Today, we have an immense variety of therapeuti- cally effective drugs of the one