582 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



hydrolysed into salicylic acid and phenol. As the latter 

 substance may in the long run produce toxic effects, an 

 improvement on salol has been made by the Bayer Company, 

 who have brought forward the product acetyl-para-aminosalol 

 (XXX.), or salophen. This substance, like salol, is insoluble 

 in the gastric juice, but when hydrolysed in the intestine it 

 furnishes salicylic acid and acetyl-para-aminophenol, an in- 

 nocuous product like para-aminophenol itself {see p. 572), which 

 is eliminated without further change. 



Mesotan (Bayer Company), HO . C 6 H 4 . C0 2 . CH 2 . OCH 3 , 

 another drug of this class, is chiefly employed in external 

 applications for the local treatment of rheumatic and gouty 

 affections ; it is used as a substitute for oil of wintergreen, 

 and is free from the disagreeable properties of this substance. 



Although benzoic acid is a comparatively inert substance, 

 the introduction of a double linking between the carboxyl 

 group, C0 2 H, and the benzene nucleus leads to the formation 

 of a more physiologically active compound, namely cinnamic 

 acid (XXXI.). 



O. CO.CH :CH.C 6 H 5 

 '^ S |CH:CH .C0 2 H ^NC0 2 .CH 3 



XXXI. XXXII. 



Drs. Jowett and Pyman, of the firm of Burroughs, Wellcome 

 & Co., have endeavoured with success to combine the useful 

 properties of salicylic and cinnamic acids in methyl cinnamyl- 

 salicylate (XXXII.), a compound which has been exhibited 

 in rheumatism and allied conditions with excellent results, 

 being tolerated in cases where aspirin has given rise to 

 dyspeptic symptoms. When given with quinine it prevents 

 the headache and other symptoms of quinism observed in 

 those who are sensitive to this alkaloid. Cinnamic acid in 

 the form of its sodium salt has been recommended in early 

 cases of tuberculosis. When injected intravenously into 

 animals it produces a marked increase in the number of 

 white corpuscles, many of which assume a more active form, 

 indicated by a more granular appearance of their protoplasm. 

 This phenomenon is known as leucocytosis, and this increased 

 activity of the leucocytes is an important factor in the combat 

 incessantly waged by these cells, and more particularly their 



