366 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS facts. Let us all work together to build up bigger and more sturdy founda- tions--cos•netic che•nists, bioche•nists, physical che•nists, biologists, derma- tologists, management, advertising copywriters. Let us open all possible channels for free communication. From such communication ideas origi- nate profit comes to all. A SURVEY OF DR. IRVIN H. BLANK'S SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS TUE LITERA'rURE REVIEW COMMITTEE has p•epared the following few summary paragraphs in orde• to acquaint the membership of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists with the work of Dr. Irvin H. Blank, the recipient of the 1958 Special Award of the Society. Dr. Irvin H. Blank has studied the physical and chemical properties of human skin for over twenty years. These properties have been deduced and put into proper focus by Dr. Blank from observations of the reactions of skin with a wide variety of chemicals. The chemicals so studied range from plain water (5) through soap and detergents (2) to "degerming" agents (4) and finally to the very toxic sarin (11). As early as 1939 Blank--while searching for the active etiologic agent of soap in itation--drew attention to the importance of chain length and unsaturation of the fatty acid of the soap in causing irritation during extensive patch testing (1). He later confirmed the differences he sus- pected (3). Armed with the evidence on hydration of the stratum corneum and on the diffusion of water through the skin, Blank (5) argued against the old concept that the lipid film on the cutaneous surface was the major factor in preventing dehydration of the stratum corneum. Instead, he suggested that hydration depended primarily on the relative humidity of the environ- ment. The barrier at or near the base of the stratum corneum allows very little water to reach the cornified epithelium from the underlying lavers. A year later (6) Blank presented further evidence that the barrier does exist in human skin near the base of the stratum corneum. Blank also attributed chapping or "dry skin" to moisture loss from the stratum cor- neum when the relative humidity of the environment was low (5). The concept that flexibility... of cornified epithelium... is obtained with water, not with oils or greases, was further expanded by Blank before the scientific meeting of the Toilet Goods Association in May, 1955 (9). Blank also reported (6) that, although organic solvents remove very little lipid from callus, the solvents so modify the callus that water ex- traction following solvent extraction removes large amounts of hydro-

366 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS facts. Let us all work together to build up bigger and more sturdy founda- tions--cos•netic che•nists, bioche•nists, physical che•nists, biologists, derma- tologists, management, advertising copywriters. Let us open all possible channels for free communication. From such communication ideas origi- nate profit comes to all. A SURVEY OF DR. IRVIN H. BLANK'S SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS TUE LITERA'rURE REVIEW COMMITTEE has p•epared the following few summary paragraphs in orde• to acquaint the membership of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists with the work of Dr. Irvin H. Blank, the recipient of the 1958 Special Award of the Society. Dr. Irvin H. Blank has studied the physical and chemical properties of human skin for over twenty years. These properties have been deduced and put into proper focus by Dr. Blank from observations of the reactions of skin with a wide variety of chemicals. The chemicals so studied range from plain water (5) through soap and detergents (2) to "degerming" agents (4) and finally to the very toxic sarin (11). As early as 1939 Blank--while searching for the active etiologic agent of soap in itation--drew attention to the importance of chain length and unsaturation of the fatty acid of the soap in causing irritation during extensive patch testing (1). He later confirmed the differences he sus- pected (3). Armed with the evidence on hydration of the stratum corneum and on the diffusion of water through the skin, Blank (5) argued against the old concept that the lipid film on the cutaneous surface was the major factor in preventing dehydration of the stratum corneum. Instead, he suggested that hydration depended primarily on the relative humidity of the environ- ment. The barrier at or near the base of the stratum corneum allows very little water to reach the cornified epithelium from the underlying lavers. A year later (6) Blank presented further evidence that the barrier does exist in human skin near the base of the stratum corneum. Blank also attributed chapping or "dry skin" to moisture loss from the stratum cor- neum when the relative humidity of the environment was low (5). The concept that flexibility... of cornified epithelium... is obtained with water, not with oils or greases, was further expanded by Blank before the scientific meeting of the Toilet Goods Association in May, 1955 (9). Blank also reported (6) that, although organic solvents remove very little lipid from callus, the solvents so modify the callus that water ex- traction following solvent extraction removes large amounts of hydro-