170 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 867 



COCL ?± CO + CI,. 



It is likely that in the eases where 

 "chlorine" was identified as an indication 

 of incipient alteration of chloroform, hy- 

 drogen dioxide was the cause of the reac- 

 tions observed. No chlorine was found 

 when containers of anactinic glass were 

 used; and when chlorine is detected, it 

 must be the result of a secondary reaction. 



2. The products of the oxidation of an- 

 esthetic chloroform are primarily the oxi- 

 dation products of alcohol, and no decom- 

 position of chloroform itself occiirs while 

 the oxidation of alcohol proceeds. When 

 the oxidation of alcohol reaches a maxi- 

 mum, decomposition of the chloroform 

 goes on, as in the case of pure chloroform, 

 with the exception that chlorinated de- 

 rivatives of the oxidation products of alco- 

 hol may result. The decomposition of the 

 chloroform itself is retarded, even pre- 

 vented, so long as oxidation of the alcohol 

 proceeds, and the retardation is conse- 

 quently dependent upon the amount of 

 alcohol present. 



This leads to the role played by ethyl 

 alcohol in the preservation of chloroform, 

 for alcohol does prevent the decomposi- 

 tion of chloroform, as first suggested by 

 Squibb in 1857 and later (1863) by Brown, 

 independently. 



Those who have investigated the part 

 played by alcohol in preserving chloro- 

 form up to the present time have held that 

 either chloroform decomposes in the pres- 

 ence of alcohol and that the alcohol takes 

 care of the decomposition products or the 

 alcohol acts as a "catalytic retarding 

 agent" (Stadlmayr). 



The preservative action of alcohol is due 

 to the combination of the retarder with 

 certain of the reacting substances; and 

 any substance soluble in chloroform and 

 readily oxidizable will exert an inhibitory 

 effect on the oxidation of chloroform itself ; 



for example, sulphur and many other sub- 

 stances.^" All compounds which have 

 been found to serve as preservatives of 

 chloroform are reducing agents, and the 

 effect is only due to their capacity for 

 oxidation. 



Anesthetic chloroform should preferably 

 be furnished in vials or bottles of high- 

 grade anactinic giass,^^ containing about 

 the quantity sufficient for one narcosis, 

 and at the most not more than can be used 

 within several days. If, for any particu- 

 lar reason, chloroform is ordered in a large 

 container, it is advisable, immediately 

 after opening it, to subdivide the entire 

 remaining contents into two-ounce bottles, 

 taking care to fill the small bottles com- 

 pletely. It is important to see that the 

 bottles are completely free from water, 

 and empty bottles should not be refilled 

 without thoroughly cleansing and drying 

 them. In no case should chloroform be 

 gradually withdrawn in small quantities 

 from large bottles or carboys. When it is 

 found necessary to store anesthetic chloro- 

 form, it should always be kept in a cool, 

 dark place, in well filled, or, better still, 

 completely filled, tightly stoppered bottles 

 of anactinic glass. 



The condition of officinal chloroforms 

 which may be transported across the ocean 

 and continent or kept at sea for variable 

 lengths of time, where they would be sub- 

 jected to constant agitation, has been in- 

 vestigated. Anesthetic chloroform in un- 

 opened, brown glass bottles were subjected 



^^ Paper by Baskerville and Hamor, loc. cit. 



" The glass should show no alkaline reaction 

 when the bottle is filled with distilled water con- 

 taining several drops of phenolphthalein solution 

 and heated at 100° C. for six hours. On the 

 action of alkalies on chloroform, see Berthelot, 

 Bull. soo. chim., (2), 29, 4; Andre, Compt. rend., 

 102, 553; de St. Itfartin, Hid., 106, 492; and 

 Mossier, Monatsli., 29, 573. It appears to be well 

 established that potassium hydroxide in alcoholic 

 solution will slowly decompose chloroform. 



