The Outer Banks barrier islands of North Carolina, USA, contain a geologic record of inlet activity that extends from ca. 2200 cal yr BP to the present, and can be used as a proxy for storm activity. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating (26 samples) of inlet-fill and flood tide delta deposits, recognized in cores and geophysical data, provides the basis for understanding the chronology of storm impacts and comparison to other paleoclimate proxy data. OSL ages of historical inlet fill compare favorably to historical documentation of inlet activity, providing confidence in the technique. Comparison suggests that the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and Little Ice Age (LIA) were both characterized by elevated storm conditions as indicated by much greater inlet activity relative to today. Given present understanding of atmospheric circulation patterns and sea-surface temperatures during the MWP and LIA, we suggest that increased inlet activity during the MWP responded to intensified hurricane impacts, while elevated inlet activity during the LIA was in response to increased nor'easter activity. A general decrease in storminess at mid-latitudes in the North Atlantic over the last 300 yr has allowed the system to evolve into a more continuous barrier with few inlets.

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solution was kept as anhydrous as possible since moisture interfered with the crystallization. The product so obtained melted at 133-135°( cor.). The yield was 56 g. (79%). 0,0-Trehalose Octaacetate.-In a 2-liter three-necked flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, mercury seal, calcium chloride tube, and a 500-mi, dropping funnel, was placed 110 g. of 2,3,4,6-tetraacetyl-0-D-glucose, 180 g. of silver carbonate, 12 g. of iodine, 100 g. of powdered Drierite (previously dried for three hours at 500°), and 400 ml. of alcohol-free chloroform. The flask was covered with a dark cloth to prevent the entrance of light and stirred for thirty minutes. In 400 ml. of alcohol-free chloroform was dissolved 150 g. of 2,3,4,6-tetraacetyl-a-D-glucosyl bromide and the solution shaken with 50 g. of powdered Dri-

A series of 5-acyl-3-substituted-benzofuran-2(3H)-ones and their respective ring-opened o-hydroxy acids were synthesized. The antiinflammatory activity was evaluated in terms of their ability to improve adjuvant induced arthritis in rats. Their effect on the production of both cyclooxygenase (CO) and lipoxygenase (LO) metabolites of arachidonic acid in guinea pig peritoneal polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) was also examined. No correlation between the antiinflammatory activity and increasing stability of the lactones could be found. The degree of activity in general shown by the benzofuranones was similar to that of their corresponding o-hydroxy acids. This, coupled with the evidence from studies on opening of the lactone ring, suggests an in vivo transformation of the former into the latter. Benzofuranones displayed a dual inhibition of CO and LO products, while a moderate reduction in CO metabolites was shown by their acids.