As the basis for my presidential address, I wish that I might have been able to announce the discovery of the cause of psoriasis or some similar important contribution. I have no such startling message, but I hope that what I have to say will help to bring closer the time when such an announcement can be made, perhaps, by someone who is here today. My ambition even as a medical student was to devote myself to a research career. In my third year at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, I became

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... ware of the unusual opportunities that the skin as an organ offered for the study of basic problems in human physiology and pathology. Since training in general pathology was considered a sine qua non for any field of investigation, it was fortunate for me that I was able to become associated with several outstanding American pathologists and finally was able to spend a year with Ludwig Pick in Berlin. My teachers, however, did not encourage me to become a dermatologist. On several occasions, I was told that while a few dermatologists had made worthwhile contributions to general medicine, dermatology as a specialty was of secondary importance. In spite of these admonitions, it was my lot to gravitate to dermatology. As a student of Dr. Pick, I became interested in the pathology of syphilis of the great vessels and in cutaneous skin pigment especially melanin. It was natural for me, therefore, to continue my work on melanin with the great master in that field, Bruno Bloch. Through the good offices of Pick, I became a volunteer at the Dermatologic Clinic in Zurich. Thus began my long years of association with Bloch and his assistants which convinced me further that dermatology was to be my chosen field. The brilliant research of J. Jadassohn, Bloch, Miescher and Werner Jadassohn have emphasized more than ever that data derived from the study of cutaneous skin function and disease could be used to establish broad principles in human physiology, immunology and pathology. Unfortunately, my belief is not generally accepted since many important people regard dermatology as a superficial specialty and feel that dermatologists by and large have not contributed much to our general medical knowledge. It is not difficult to show how wrong this idea is. For example, much of the fundamental data covering the whole field of allergy and immunology is based on the response of the skin to allergens and the study of various infections of the skin. The vaccination and revaccination of Jenner, the Shick and Dick tests, the tuberculin test, the Frei test and many other procedures employing the skin attest to the above statement. Basic studies in syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, fungous diseases-all carried out by dermatologists were most important in establishing broad principles underlying immunity,