of Edinburgh, Session 1885-86. 
Ill 
Monday, l'lth May 1886. 
The Hon. LORD MACLAREN, Vice-President, 
in the Chair. 
The Chairman announced that the Council had awarded — 
1. The Keith Prize for 1883-85, to John Aitken, Esq., Darroch, 
for his paper “ On the Formation of Small Clear Spaces in Dusty 
Air,” and for previous papers on Atmospheric Phenomena. 
2. The Macdougall-Brisbane Prize for 1882-84, to Edward Sang, 
Esq., LL.D., for his communication “On the Need for Decimal 
Subdivisions in Astronomy and Navigation, and on Tables requisite 
therefor and, generally, for his Recalculation of Logarithms both 
of Numbers and of Trigonometrical Ratios. 
3. The Neill Prize for 1883-86, to B. N. Peach, Esq., for his con- 
tributions to the Geology and Palaeontology of Scotland. 
The following Communications were read : — 
1. On the Vitality of the Spores of Parasitic Fungi, and the 
Antiseptic Properties of Ferrous Sulphate. By Dr 
A. P. Griffiths. 
2. The Action of Benzoylecgonin. By Ralph Stockman, 
M.D., Assistant to the Professor of Materia Medica, Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh. 
{From the Pharmacological Laboratory of the University . ) 
The recent extensive therapeutic use of cocain has naturally 
aroused great interest with regard to its chemical constitution. As 
is well known, when heated with dilute mineral acids, it takes up 
two molecules of water, and becomes decomposed into benzoic acid, 
methyl alcohol, and another alkaloid eegonin. When cocain, how- 
ever, is simply heated in watery solution for some hours, a less 
complete decomposition ensues, the solution depositing on evapora- 
tion a crystalline substance, which is benzoylecgonin. This sub- 
