314 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS total of thirteen numbers have ap- peared to date (up to and including volume three, number three), and well over 850 pages of printed mat- ter comprise the record of this OURNAL. In addition to its annual and semiannual national meetings, the Soct•.2'¾ has local meetings, organ- ized by local sections. The local sections consist of Cosmetic Chem- ists in a particular area, and the most active such local section now functioning is in Chicago, where well-attended meetings on subjects of great interest are held once a month. The SOCIETY has grown, both in ,the United States and abroad. A fraternally affiliated organization, the Society of Cosmetic Chemists of Great Britain, is actively function- ing in co-operation with the Amer- ican Soc•.T¾, and our members in the United States were very pleased indeed to receive an issue of the Jot•RN^L, Volume 2, Number 3, printed in England and containing articles principally by our British associates. More than 100 pages of technical material on nine sub- jects of outstanding interest were to be found in that issue of the JOURN^L. Another issue, Volume 3, number 3, is now being readied in England. From the dozen members of the SociEty who gathered a few years ago, we now number nearly 500, and growth continues. Most of the manufacturers, both of cos- metics and of raw materials for the cosmetic industry, are among the employers of our members. A pro- gram of dynamic struggle for the continued amelioration of profes- sional standards, cosmetic educa- tion, publication of technical ma- terial, interchange of valuable in- formation, and further recognition of achievement--all this is envi- sioned for the future.

BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES LESLIE THOMSON* By L. I. PUGSLEY Chief, Laboratory Services, Food and Drug Division, Department of Na- tional Health and 14/elf are, Ottawa, Ont. JAMES LESLIE THOMSON was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and followed the usual education course in that beautiful city, where educa- tion is one of the main industries. He attended one of the more an- cient schools where the flagstones and turret stairs have been worn hollow by geneiations of school boys through more than 300 years. His interests in those days were chemistry (in which admittedly the properties of gunpowder, etc., played a part, fortunately without serious mishap), photography, and day-long tramps in the neighbour- ing Pentland Hills so beloved by Robert Louis Stevenson. His in- terest in chemistry usually paid off in the form of a prize in that sub- ject. German was another prize- winning subject, and in his final school year he was "dux" (head of school) in that language, taking home what he considered a very hard-won medal. Rather strenuous years at the University of Edinburgh followed, for Scottish university standards * Read by Maison G. aleNavarre, in the author's absence. are high, and leave little leisure for amusement. An interest in essen- tial oils and perfume compounds developed about this time and of course continues. The later years of academic study were interrupted by World War I. During the second half of that war c.hemists became very scarce, and all final year stu- dents found themselves engaged in some war activity or other. Mr. Thomson was first concerned in the manufacture of explosives and then in the catalytic production of nitric acid, a comparatively new process at that time. After graduation in 1919, Mr. Thomson joined a well-known firm of alkaloid manufacturers (T & H Smith Company, Ltd.) as research chemist, first on morphine and its derivatives and then on physostig- mine. The firm was then em- barking on the first British produc- tion of physostigmine and its salts, and it fell to Mr. Thomson to devise suitable manufacturing procedures. After $ years of industry, Mr. Thomson returned to academic life as a lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, combining 315