CHLORAL 777 



CHIT7OLINE BLUE, Cyanine or Lepidine Slue. A. crystalline compound, pre- 

 pared by heating chinoline oil, which consists chiefly of lepidine, -with iodide of amyl, 

 and treating the product "with caustic soda. A black resinous precipitate is thus 

 obtained, which dissolves in alcohol with production of a fine blue colour. 



CHINTZ. (Zitz, Ger.) Probably derived from the East, the Hindoo name 

 cheent, and the Persian chins, signifying spotted or stained. The term is applied in 

 this country to a fast-printed calico, in which several colours are imprinted upon a 

 white or coloured ground, and usually glazed. 



CHIOS or CHIAXT TURPENTINE. The Pistdcia terebinthus, growing in 

 Syria and the Greek Archipelago, yields this turpentine. The turpentine harvest of 

 Scio, according to Tournefort, is made from the end of July to October, by cutting 

 crossways with a hatchet the trunks of the largest trees. The turpentine runs down 

 on flat stones placed under the trees, where it hardens. The quantity produced from 

 each tree does not exceed eight or ten ounces. Its consistency is that of honey ; its 

 colour greenish-yellow, with an agreeable turpentine odour. It is often called 

 Cyprus turpentine, but is seldom seen pure in this country, other coniferous turpen- 

 tines being sold for it. 



CHLORAL. C'HCl'O 2 (C'HCl'O). This compound, discovered by Liebig in 

 1832, is prepared by the long-continued action of chlorine on ethyl-alcohol. A current 

 of dry chlorine gas is passed slowly but continuously through absolute alcohol, and 

 the final product is a yellow liquid rich in chloral. Both the gas and the alcohol 

 should be free from moisture, as otherwise the proportion of chloral is diminished, 

 whilst that of aldehyde and acetic acid is increased; the reaction, towards the close, 

 should be assisted by heat. It appears that an alcoholate of chloral is first formed by 

 the action of chlorine on alcohol ; but on agitating the product with about three times 

 its volume of strong sulphuric acid, and warming the mixture, the free chloral 

 separates as an oily liquid floating on the acid. To purify this crude chloral it should 

 bo distilled first from oil of vitriol and then from quicklime, to remove hydrochloric 

 acid. The production of chloral admits of being approximately represented by the 

 following equation, but it should be remembered that the reaction is really more 

 complicated, and that other products accompany the chloral : 



C*H0 + Cl" = C 4 HC1 8 2 + 5HC1 



Alcohol. Chlorine. Chloral. Hydrochloric acid, 



C H O + Cl = C-HCrO + 5 HC1. 



Chloral may also be obtained by other processes, such as the distillation of starch 

 with hydrochloric acid and peroxide of manganese. 



Pure chloral is a thin, oily, colourless, volatile liquid, almost tasteless, but with a 

 peculiar pungent odour. It is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and benzole. Its 

 specific gravity is 1'502, and its boiling point about 200 F. (94 C.). Chloral may 

 bo regarded as acetic aldehyde, C 4 H 4 2 (C 2 H 4 O), in which three atoms of hydrogen 

 are replaced by three of chlorine. 



When chloral is long preserved in a hermetically-closed vessel it suffers a curious 

 change, becoming converted into a solid white amorphous substance, called insoluble 

 chloral or metackloral. 



Chloral combines readily with water, forming a definite hydrate containing 

 C 4 HC1 3 0*.2HO (C*HC1 3 O.H 2 O). This is a white, solid crystalline substance, 

 slightly volatile on exposure to the air, and incapable of being distilled without 

 decomposition. An aqueous solution of hydrate of chloral, treated with caustic 

 alkali, is resolved into chloroform and an alkaline formiate. When hydrate of 

 chloral is injected under the skin it undergoes a similar decomposition, reacting with 

 the alkali naturally present in the blood, and generating chloroform. The physiological 

 action of the chloroform thus liberated within the system has been studied by Dr. 

 Liebreich, of Berlin, and by Dr. W. B. Eichardson. In July 1869, Liebreich took out 

 a patent for the use of chloral, hydrate of chloral, and trichloracetic acid for anaesthetic 

 purposes. Since that time, the hydrate of chloral has been very largely employed 

 as a powerful narcotic. According to Dr. Richardson, a dose of 90 grains taken 

 internally will produce deep sleep, whilst 140 grains throw the patient into a sleep 

 which is really dangerous. But the hydrate, like other narcotics, requires to be used 

 with great caution. It unfortunately happens that persons who have been accustomed 

 to take moderate doses to relieve pain and induce sleep, frequently acquire a tendency 

 to use it habitually. This habit cannot be too strongly denounced ; for, like opium- 

 eating, it not only affects the physical organisation leading eventually to confirmed 

 disease but it exercises a most baneful influence on the mental and moral constitution 

 of the unhappy individual. 



