SENSORY REACTIONS IN NUMBERS INSTEAD OF ADJECTIVES 283 they use "aromatic, fragrant, pun- gent." But the scientist devised the lumen to express intensity of light, in numbers. He devised the photometer to measure in lumens. Thereby he could compare one in- candescent filament material with another. He could study reflectors, coatings, and other variables in the field of illumination. He could dis- cover which level of illumination was most appropriate for human comfort in various situations. The by-products of the ability to meas- ure intensity of light have contrib- uted to our attainments in astron- omy, physics, optics, photography, etc. Measurement of the intensity of sound has followed a similar de- velopment and has taken place mainly within our generation. Rather than discuss this in de- tail, I merely point to our current ability to transmit speech or music to all parts of the world, to record these things for posterity, and to do so with high fidelity indeed. I have touched on the foregoing because in any work, no true science can be achieved without defining units of measure for the phenomena with which you are working, or without the associated creation of instruments which can measure in terms of those units. The Cosmetic Chemists who discover what are these measures will not only improve their own work. Their discoveries will inevitably aid other sciences as well. BIBLIOGRAPHY Juran, J. M., "Quality Control Handbook," McGraw-Hill, 1951. Seder, L. A., "The Technique of Experi- menting in the Factory," Industrial•uality Control, March, 1948 also Mechanical Engineering, July, 1948. Cochran and Cox, "Experimental Designs," Wiley, 1950. Peryam, David R., "Quality Control in the Production of Blended Whiskey," Indus- trial •uality Control, November, 1950. NOTICE The British Edition of THE JOURNAL of the SOCIETY of COS- METIC CHEMISTS this year is Volume III, No. 3. It will be mailed to all members from England.

CARRAGEENIN AND CARRAGEENATES* By V. C. LEGLOAHEC, D.Sc. dlgin Corporation of .4rnerica, New York 4, N.Y. THE GELATINOUS and mu- cilaginous nature of certain algae and marine plants has been attracting the attention of many investigators for a considerable number of years. Some of these observers and others interested in their findings grad- ually evolved a number of decoc- tions and extracts, first in simple and then gradually in more ambi- tious form, to some of which cer- tain emollient and even curative properties could be ascribed. Thus old-time medicine which was often guided more by empirical thought than by actual scientific knowledge used seaweeds in the treatment of gout and of scrofula. Carrageen in particular was used as a basis for certain poultices and was highly prized in certain localities in Ire- land for the treatment of pulmonary diseases. Peoples of the Far East long ago were acquainted with the fact that Carrageen will swell in water and will provide viscous solutions and that when these solutions are heated and then cooled again to ambient temperature, gels of considerable * Presented at the May 19, 1950, Meeting, New York City. rigidity will result. A number of culinary recipes were developed from this phenomenon. While this use of carrageenin has not become widespread among the occidentals it is nevertheless worthy of note that Huston, professor at the Royal College of Science in Dublin, reported in 1904 the use of carrageenin as food for ailing calves, and even as a remedy for calves that were afflicted with a type of debilitating disease. These facts were subsequently confirmed by Cotten in 1907. Many have been the forms of us- ing Carrageen in its original state or in the form of some rudimentary preparations. Even today viscous solutions or gels are made for a certain number of uses by the sim- ple procedure of boiling the original plants, preferably pulverized, in water or in other liquids that will properly accomplish some degree of liberation of the active viscosity and gel-forming principles of Car- rageen. However, these rudimentary proc- esses present the frequently seri- ous handicap of liberating also certain organic and mineral prod- ucts which are undesirable. Ac- 284