582 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



hydrolysed into salic3'lic 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 Companj^ 

 who have brought forward the product acetyl-para-aminosalol 

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

 in the gastric juice, but when h3-drolysed in the intestine it 

 furnishes salic3'lic acid and acet}'l-para-aminophenol, an in- 

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

 is eliminated without further change. 



Mesotan (Bayer Company), HO . C,W, . CO, . CH^ . OCH3, 

 another drug of this class, is chiefly emplo3'ed 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 carbox}-l 

 group, CO2H, and the benzene nucleus leads to the formation 

 of a more physiologically active compound, namely cinnamic 

 acid (XXXI.). 



O. CO.CH rCH.CeHs 

 r^CHiCH.CO.H j/NCO^.CHs 



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 meth}^ cinnam3'l- 

 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 S3^mptoms. When given with quinine it prevents 

 the headache and other S3'mptoms 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 intravenousl3' into 

 animals it produces a marked increase in the number of 

 white corpuscles, man3' of which assume a more active form, 

 indicated by a more granular appearance of their protoplasm. 

 This phenomenon is known as leucoc3'tosis, and this increased 

 activit3' of the leucoc3^tes is an important factor in the combat 

 incessantly waged b3' these cells, and more particularly their 



