TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION B. 6G7 



body not capable of crystallisation as readily as tlie true alkaloid. As, however, 

 some doubt exists as to the true nature of the root employed, it is perhaps hardly 

 necessary to consider this question further at present. 



14. Some neiv CAnnamic Acids. 

 By Professor Peekin and Dr. J. B. Cohen. 



The object of this paper was to indicate in what manner the preparation of 

 certain substituted cinnamic acids from aromatic aldehydes may be performed, 

 where the ordinary direct method known as Perkin's reaction cannot from the 

 nature of the aldehyde be employed. The cinnamic acids prepared are those 

 derived from Tilmaun and Reimer's ortho- and para-salicylic acids. A modifica- 

 tion in the separation of the two isomers is described. 



The aldehydo-salicylic acids are converted into the ethereal salts. 



The ethereal salts are treated with sodium alcoholate, and an atom of sodium 

 introduced into the phenol hydrogen. The resulting compounds are llnally heated 

 with sodium acetate and acetic anhydride and the cinnamic acids obtained in this 

 way. 



The properties and constitution of these compounds were brieflj' discussed. 



WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. The Antiseptic Properties of Metallic Salts in relation to their Chemical 

 Composition, and the Periodic Laio. By Professor Caexelley and 

 Miss Etta Johnston. 



A comparison of all the results obtained by previous observers and by the 

 authors themselves shows : (1) That for the salts of elements of a given family 

 and belonging to the same sub-group the toxic actum alters regidarly, creteris 

 paribus, with the atomic weiyht of either the positive or negative element of the 

 compound. (2) That this alteration almost always takes place in such a way that 

 the toxic action increases with the atomic iceight, and is therefore strictly analogous 

 to the increase in the toxic action of ordinary alcohols, which Baumetz and Miguel 

 have shown to increase with the atomic weight of the alcohol (cf. Blake, ' Comptes 

 Rendus,' t. xcvi. 4.39). 



It must be understood that these conclusions only hold good provided that the 

 organism and the mode of administration, &c., remain precisely the same for the 

 same series of compounds. 



Lithium, beryllium, boron, and fluorine appear to be exceptional, and are in this 

 respect, therefore, analogous to methyl alcohol, which is likewise exceptional 

 among the alcohols, both in losic and in other properties. 



2. On the Antiseptic Properties of some of the Fluorine Compounds. 

 By WiLLUM Thomson, F.B.S.E., F.G.S. 



Some time ago I was engaged in trying to find a substance which would act as 

 a powerful antiseptic, which was not volatile, and which was not destroyed by 

 oxidation. I tried the effects on flour paste, and on meat chopped into small pieces 

 and mixed with water, of a very large number of chemical compounds, and found 

 that those which had the most remarkable antiseptic properties were the compounds 

 of fluorine : hydrofluoric acid, the acid and neutral fluorides of sodium, potassium, 

 and ammonium and the fluosilicates of those bases. Of the.se compounds I found 

 the neutral sodium fluosilicate to be the one which for its powerful antiseptic and 

 unobjectionable properties was the one which for the general purposes of an anti- 

 septic was perhaps the best suited. This body is not poisonous, possesses no smell, 



