The addition of small quantities of mixed fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon compounds ((perfluoroalkyl)alkanes or alkenes, FmHn(E)) to fluorocarbon-in-water emulsions results in remarkably stable systems. The contribution that such "molecular dowels" have upon the lowering of the interfacial tension at a fluorocarbon/water interface was investigated using a sodium laurate (NaL) model. It was found that, when these compounds were added to the fluorocarbon C8F17Br (PFOB), the gamma(min) at the PFOB/saline interface was not, or only very slightly, modified. On the other hand, the adsorption of sodium laurate at the same interface was found to depend significantly upon the presence and nature of FmHn(E) : there appears to be a direct correlation between the m/n ratio and the surface excess concentration of sodium laurate at the (PFOB/FmHn(E))/saline interface. The stabilizing effect of the FmHn(E) compounds on fluorocarbon emulsions is, therefore, to be attributed to a better structuration of the interfacial film (i.e., to the so-called dowel effect). The Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory, which does not take into account the presence and structure of the interfacial film, fails in predicting or interpreting the observed stabilization.