116 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION B. 



the degree of dissociation of the acid at concentration C. The inter- 

 pretation of this equation is that the undissociated molecules are the 

 immediate catalysts (for possible cycles of change of these molecules, 

 see Orton and Jones, and Acree and Johnson, in report dealing with the 

 chlorination of aniUdes, B.A. Reports, 1910), and that their activity is 

 modified by the presence of the ions. 



No case is yet on record where it has been proved that an undis- 

 sociated molecule can act so as to modify the catalytic activity of another 

 molecule or ion, but such a case is by no means improbable. It wovild 

 seem likely, therefore, that the more accurate dynamical measurements 

 become, the more complicated may catalytic activity of acids appear, 

 and perhaps the smaller the chance become of correlating separate 

 dynamical investigations. 



DISCUSSION ON THE EUCALYPTS AND THEIR 

 PRODUCTS. 1 



Mr. Henry G. Smith, F.G.S., Assistant Curator and Economic Chemist, 

 Technological Museum, Sydney, 



ON 



The Minor Products of the Genus. 



The question before this meeting is the consideration of the products 

 of the eucalypts in their scientific and economic aspects, and as these 

 trees constitu.te the major portion of the natural vegetation of Australia, 

 it becomes a matter of considerable importance to us to recognise the 

 capabilities of this national inheritance. 



As others will deal with the question as it relates to the timber 

 industry, I purpose restricting my remarks to the possibilities, from a 

 chemical stand-point, of the minor products of this large group of trees; 

 and to consider their economics so far as they relate to their essential 

 oil products, their tanning capabilities, and other avenues of possible 

 utilization. 



At the meeting of this Association held in Sydney in Janu:ary, 

 1911, I had the honour to submit a paper on " Some Remarkable 

 Essential Oils from the Australian Myrtacese " ; this will be found 

 on page 73 of Volume XIII. To a certain extent the present remarks 

 are supplementary to those contained in that paper ; it is thus unne- 

 cessary to again repeat the statements then made. 



The exploitation, of the minor products of the eucalypts would, 

 and does even at the present time, provide considerable employment, 



1 For further oontribiitions to the Discussion te» under Sections D and G. 



