334 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS of various nail polishes. The rat- ings were largely based on abrasion resistance as determined by allow- ing a fine stream of sand to impinge on a polish film poured on glass. The weight of sand required to wear through the film is taken as a measure of the abrasion resistance. Unfortunately there is little correla- tion between the abrasion resistance measured in this manner and the wear resistance of the polish on the nail. This may be due to the fact that few wearers of nail polish build castles in the sand. The polish does not usually fail by abrasion but it often fails by chipping which is probably caused by the bending of the nails and the failure of the adhesion bond be- tween the polish and the nail. This adhesion between the nail and polish film is an important factor in the wear resistance of any polish. Un- fortunately this adhesion is very difficult to measure. However, fair correlation has been found between the adhesion of a lacquer film to a glass plate and wear resistance. The same pours on glass used for observing gloss and hardness may be used for the ad.hesion test by testing them with a knife or scapel. Small differences in adhesion are quite easily noted by an operator who has tested a few such pours. Unfortunately there has been found to be little correlation be- tween the laboratory tests and actual wear resistance of the polish as used by the customer. This is an indication of the complexity of the problem with which the producer of nail lacquer is faced. His task is quite different from that which confronts the makers of lacquers for other applications. His principal problem resul{s from the fact that the nails are living tissues. This means that the surface to which the lacquer is applied is different, not only from person to person, but also it may change on the same person due to variations in the physiological condition of the individual. This sort of prob- lem does not confront the maker of a lacquer to be used on brass, or steel, or other materials which have constant surface properties. This means that the final evalu- ation of a nail lacquer can only be made by actual wear tests on the nails. The wear testing of nail polish also presents problems. However, it has been found that a comparative evaluation can be made by applying the polish under test to the alternate right and left hands of about a dozen girls and a stand- ard polish of the same shade to the other hand of each. After four days a comparison is made between the two hands of each subject and in this way the relative wear resistance of each polish may be determined. The polish is applied to both left and right hands because the right hand usu- ally is used more than the left. This test will not show up small differences in wear resistance, but will bring to light wide differences. Small differences can only be de- tected by conducting wear tests on a large number of subjects and mak-

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR THE COSMETIC INDUSTRY 335 ing a statistical study of the results. Having established the fact that a given formulation produces a lacquer which satisfies the require- ments with respect to color, appli- cation properties, and wear resist- ance, the tests outlined will enable the control laboratory to be sure that the lacquer delivered meets the specifications. CURRENT SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR THE COSMETIC INDUSTRY* By GERTRUDE SCHUTZE Research Librarian, Bristol-Myers Co., Hillside, N. As THE TITLE suggests, my primary concern is with the current sources of information. Although the origins and early developments are fascinating, this aspect of the literature has already been reported. Edward Sagatin traced the back- ground of the literature of per- fumery when he spoke before this group in December, 1947 (1). He has recently published a charming article dealing with the popular literature of this industry (2). Florence Wall has surveyed the historical background of cosmetics (3) and predicted that qualified research workers would make the major contributions to our literary resources. In the 20th century science and research literally command the field. All the wonderful advances in this great industry are reflected in its literature. Technical information of interest and value to the cosmetic * Presented at the December 5, 1950, Meet- ing, New York City. chemist is to be found in various publications of which books, period- icals, house journals, publications of professional societies, trade cata- logs, technical reports, specifica- tions, and patents provide the main sources. The chemist, the manu- facturer, the societies and associ- ations, and the government are fertile sources of informational material. Continental texts will not be considered in this session since our time is limited and for the important reason that English is the most important language of publications in the fields of pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and perfume chemistry. The new "Encyclopedia of Chemi- cal Technology" (60) contains many articles of interest and value to the cosmetic industry. Florence Wall did the section on cosmetics in Volume IV and the section on hair preparations will appear in a later volume. Although texts are not the real life-