Several months ago the attention of the senior author was attracted by the investigation of the action of the benzyl esters carried out by Macht1 at Johns Hopkins University. The pharmacologic action of the two esters, benzyl acetate and benzyl benzoate, which formed the subject of Macht's investigations, suggested, as Macht has pointed out, their application to the treatment of the protozoal dysenteries, especially in view of the nontoxic nature of these infections. In his paper, Macht cited a case in which benzyl benzoate was applied, with apparent success, in the treatment of a case of endamebiasis of fifteen years' standing which had been contracted in the Philippine Islands, and this determined us to make a trial of the drug in the wards of the Philippine General Hospital.
Some benzyl benzoate was prepared locally for us and it was found to exert no untoward effects on guinea-pigs when injected pure