438 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



when there was a great shortage of potassium salts in the United 

 States, 3,572 tons of potash (KgO) was produced from kelp which 

 represented only a small proportion of the harvestable kelp on the 

 Pacific coast. 



The cost of harvesting and drying kelp is high since kelp con- 

 tains a large amount of water. The operation of the kelp-potash 

 plants during World War I indicated that it was net possible to 

 produce potash alone from kelp in successful competition with foreign 

 potash. Only one privately owned plant operated during the war 

 was designed for byproducts and that plant produced materials 

 chiefly of value in wartimes. All commercial plants producing pot- 

 ash from kelp suspended operations immediately upon cessation of 

 hostilities. 



ALGAE AS COSMETICS 



As we have already mentioned, the Koman ladies of ancient days 

 used rouge extracted from Fucus. The young Kamchatkales mix the 

 Fucus with fish oil to redden their faces. The ladies of several mari- 

 time regions in Europe used to macerate Fucus (pi. 6, fig. 2) in water 

 and rub their cheeks with this mixture. 



Technicians of a certain drug company noticed that the people 

 who worked with Irish moss or Ghondrus crispus, (pi. 3, fig. 2 ; pi. 4) 

 preparing its mucilage as an emulsifier, never suffered from chapped 

 skin on their hands even in the coldest weather. They quickly took 

 advantage of this principle in making this seaweed the base of a 

 popular preparation. Other ointments are also made from Irish 

 moss. By using the gelatin of Irish moss as their base, a nongrease 

 ointment results which it is possible to apply without fear of soiling 

 the clothing. 



Chilson (1938) recommends a pineapple juice hand lotion since he 

 says that pineapple juice is an excellent hand cleanser in which a 3 

 percent mucilage of Irish moss forms 35 percent of the product. He 

 also recommends Irish moss curling fluid for the hair. Its mucilage 

 is the base for other curling fluids as for instance in sulfonated 

 oil curling jelly. Irish moss is among the ingredients listed in the 

 United States Government tooth-paste specifications for use as a 

 binder. A thick mucilage of Irish moss is also used in deodorant 

 pastes. Irish moss also forms an ingredient of compacts, powders, 

 and rouges. 



Agar, used as a binder in tooth pastes, may form 4 to 8 percent by 

 weight of the tooth-paste materials. 



The seaweed product which probably is used most in cosmetics 

 is algin or sodium alginate. Algin was discovered by Stanford in 

 1884 although its manufacture in the United States did not begin 



