362 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS have received this award is evidence of your breadth of view and your appreciation of a multidisciplinary approach to cosmetic chemistry. I suspect that the years to come will continue to bring evidence bf your recognition of the value of broad horizons. If your Literature Review Committee, on which I served for one year, were to have even broader representation from the various scientific fields, it would not surprise me to find among future recipients of the award a man whose interests appear far removed from cosmetic chemistry, perhaps a nuclear physicist, an anthropologist or a psychologist. It would be wrong for me to accept this award without acknowledging the help I have received in my work. It is not possible to list all the sources of this help. In addition to the assistance given by willing technicians and the stimulation derived from books, conversations with many people have been of inestimable value--conversations with friends and acquaintances (both lay and scientific), with co-workers, with colleagues at a meeting like this, with scientists in other departments of the University, with members of one's own family. Conversation with anyone may help with the organi- zation of one's thoughts--may result in the genesis of an idea. From such communication comes much help. Some years ago, when my main interest was the use of sulfated oils for cutaneous hygiene, I was talking with Dr. Sidney Burwell, who was then the Dean of the Harvard Medical School, and, with a twinkle in his eye, he parodied the phrase "oil on troubled waters" and said to me, "It looks as though you are now using oil on troubled skins." As time went on, my interests turned from sulfated oils to water, and for some years I have advocated water on troubled skins. Today I am completing the cycle and I should like to return to a discussion of oil on troubled waters. Do not misunderstand me! I am not suggesting that the water I have advocated for troubled skins is now itself in trouble. I still recommend water for troubled skins, but possibly, as is so often the case, time may have tempered my enthusiasm a bit. The role of the naturally occurring lipids and the externally applied fats and oils in maintaining a pleasing cutaneous appearance is perhaps becoming more apparent to me. Oil on troubled waters! The troubled waters that I want to talk about are exemplified by an unsigned note which was printed in a recent issue of one of your trade journals. I quote: "The relation between chemists and dermatologists in cosmetics remains an uneasy one, aggravated more often than eased when there is direct contact between the two. The dermatolo- gists as practising physicians, as research investigators, or as teachers are prone to assume the customary physician's stance of infallibility. This is naturally accompanied by an unconcealed attitude of superiority, impolite even if it were warranted. Dermatologic language seems to call for the patronizing use, in talks if not in writing, of words like 'cosmetologist' and

WATER ON TROUBLED SKINS OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS 363 'cosmeticJan,' instead of the shorter and much more accurate 'chemist'... "The chemists in the cosmetic industry have welcomed the interest of dermatologists and have often gone out of their way to invite this interest. Two-sided cooperation is called for, however, not intolerable condescension from one direction, so that both may profit financially and otherwise." Now as you know, I am neither a dermatologist nor a cosmetic chemist, so, hopefully, I can look at this statement through neutral eyes. It is true that I have been more closely associated with dermatologists than with the cosmetic chemists. Nevertheless, I have had a good deal of contact with the cosmetic chemists and have attended a number of meetings where the scientific personnel of the cosmetic industry has been addressed by a derma- tologist. So I believe I know what the writer of this note meant. I, too have been conscious of the attitude shown by some dermatologists. When the writer of this note condemned "the dermatologists," he certainly meant "some dermatologists." Recognition of the existence of an uneasy relationship between derma- tologists and cosmetic chemists calls for an attempt to determine why relations are strained, in the hope that by doing so some improvement will result. I would like to explore with you the proposition that the tension results primarily from inadequate communication between dermatologist and cosmetic chemist and to propose the thesis that the "oil" which will help to quiet these troubled waters of communication is the body of sound, scientific facts which you, the cosmetic chemists, are constantly enlarging. As you recognize, I am using the word communication in its broadest sense. I am not implying that the dermatologist and the cosmetic chemist have difficulty in understanding each other's words. Communication is most successful when the individuals who are attempting to communicate with each other show a friendly attitude. Satisfactory communication is possible only in an atmosphere of mutual and sympathetic understanding. Adequate communication can occur only when there is a willingness to listen. When there is a willingness to listen, ideas may be exchanged when there is no willingness to listen, conversation lags or degenerates into heated argument. I will carry this proposition one step further willingness to listen increases as one's sense of security increases. Now let us get back to the tensions which are sometimes manifest when dermatologists and cosmetic chemists are together. Is there mutual and sympathetic understanding between these groups? Is each group willing to listen to the other? If my analysis of the situation is correct, it is possible that each group feels uncomfortable in the presence of the other. Why should this be so? I suspect that one of the major reasons for this feeling is that some members of each group are not adequately informed about the principles of the other's disciplines. The dermatologist is not adequately informed about the principles of cosmetic formulation not