338 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Now this would not, in itself, be unusual--but the subjects of his publi- cations cover a wide range--they include: surface chemistry, colloidal systems, mass transfer stddies, biological processes, olfaction, reaction kinetics and philosophy. He is presently studying, among other things, the damping of waves and ripples, and the "stickiness" of cells. In these and other tasks, he has worked with many internationally known scientists--McBain, Schulman, Rideal, Klevens. Another facet of John's nature•organizational ability--was revealed to me at our second meeting when he was assisting at the presentation of the Second International Congress on Surface Active Agents. This organiza- tional ability is also a necessary ingredient in his present assignment ... Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. He has held this post only a few years so far, having been at Cambridge previously. You are all aware of Cambridge as a quiet, lovely, university town. John's comments on Birmingham are, "I might as well live in the U.S. We have to maintain two cars, and there's so much traffic you can't drive them !" John, though born in Great Britain, spent a decade in New Zealand. He was one of those fortunate persons who knew his goal while in high school. Later, he spent two years at Stanford and was married while there. However, being ever loyal to Britain, John married a British girl. They have two children, Brian and Christopher. John admits to having a few hobbies--mountaineering, swimming, sail- ing-and then says, "none serious." They no doubt cannot be with the demands of his family and, what must be an even greater self discipline, the demands of science. I am sure you will be interested to know that your award recipient will be the guest lecturer later this month at Stanford University in California. In a Society such as is represented here, there are many who labor behind the scenes in a wide variety of assignments. But, I'm sore, none has a more difficult job than the award panel ... trying to select the most qualified man in such a wide area of endeavor. I'm sure they have done well this year--and I'm honored to present--Dr. John Tasman Davies.

SPONTANEOUS EMULSIFICATION By J. T. DAVIES, M.A. (CANTAB.), D.Sc. SYSTEMS which emulsify without any stirring whatever are of considerable fundamental interest. In such spontaneous emulsification the entire energy required for the emulsification comes from the redistri- bution of materials within the system. We shall see that spontaneous emulsification may occur by either condensation or dispersion mechanisms, the visible effect being the same--if the oil is placed quietly on the water, the interfacial region gradually becomes cloudy due to spontaneously formed emulsion. If the oil and water (with certain additives) are brought quietly into contact, spontaneous emulsification may occur on one or both sides of the interface. Usually the requisite energy comes from the free energy release as the additive is redistributed to its equilibrium state in the two phases, but occasionally electrical energy rather than chemical energy can be responsible for spontaneous emulsification, as explained below. In prac- tice, particular care is necessary to distinguish emulsification occurring truly spontaneously from emulsification occurring easily: this easy emul- sification, made possible by a very low interfacial tension, is often referred to commercially as spontaneous emulsification. However, in true spon- taneous emulsification no external mechanical work whatever is required. Three mechanisms have been suggested to account for spontaneous emulsification: (i) INTERFACIAL TURBULENCE This mechanism was originally proposed by Quincke in 1888: it had previously been noticed that, when solutions ooe laurie acid in oil are placed very gently on aqueous sodium hydroxide, an emulsion is formed in the water phase (1). Quincke suggested that the spontaneous emulsification is caused by localized interfacial tension lowerings, due to the unequal formation of soap at different points in the interface. The ensuing violent spreading may tear droplets of oil away from the interface, which are then stabilized by the soap produced. (ii) DIFFUSION aND STRANDING Spontaneous emulsification can occur by diffusion alone when, as in the example mentioned above, a solution of ethyl alcohol and toluene is placed 339