162 



April 23rd, 1838. 

 SIR Wm. R. HAMILTON, A.M., President, in the CBair. 



The President continued the reading of the paper by the 

 Rev. Dr. Hincks, on the Years and Cycles of the ancient 

 Egyptians. 



Dr. Apjohn communicated a paper upon the subject of 

 a new and very complicated compound, consisting of iodine, 

 iodide of potassium, and the essential oil of cinnamon. 



This compound he stated to have been first observed in 

 the winter of 1837, in a solution prescribed by a medical 

 gentleman of this city, of iodine and iodide of potassium in 

 cinnamon water. It is best obtained by adding to a gallon of 

 cinnamon water four ounces of iodide of potassium, and forty 

 grains of iodine, dissolved in a minimum of cold water. Upon 

 admixture, the solution becomes turbid, and if the tempera- 

 rature be at or close to 32", the deposit becomes crystalline, 

 and slowly subsides. The properties of these crystals were 

 detailed, and a succinct account given of the different steps 

 of the process employed for effecting their analysis. 



As the result of a number of experiments, the author ar-^ 

 rived at the following numbers, expressing the composition 

 of 100 parts of the compound. 



Iodide of potassium . 12.55 



Iodine 28.14 



Oil of cinnamon . . 59.31 



100. 

 The empirical formula deducible from these results is 

 IK -f la -j- cie 

 in which ci represents Cis Uq 02, the atom of oil of cinnamon, 



