Abstract
The temperature dependence of the bend elastic constant near the nematic-smectic-A-smectic-C multicritical point has been measured directly by use of Fréedericksz deformation. The bend elastic constant in two different binary systems is found to increase monotonically in the nematic phase as the smectic-C phase is approached. The relation between the bend elastic constant obtained in this study and the smectic correlation lengths derived from x-ray scattering is not described by existing theories. This result also raises questions about the interpretation of previous light-scattering data.