1905.] On certain Properties of Solutions of Chloroform, etc. 101 



Taking the experiments as a whole, there is evidence of two opposing 

 factors partially masking each other, the first being due to a setting free of 

 electrolyte from the proteid by the added chloroform increasing the con- 

 ductivity, and the second the well-known action of a non-electrolyte in 

 diminishing the conductivity, which is seen clearly in the case of the pure 

 saline plus chloroform. 



Summary and Conclusions. 



The experiments recorded in the present communication support the 

 conclusion drawn in our previous paper that anaesthetics form unstable 

 compounds or aggregates with the proteids of the tissue cells, and that 

 anaesthesia is due to a paralysis of the chemical activities of the protoplasm 

 as a result of the formation of such aggregations. 



The comparative experiments with ethereal extracts demonstrate that the 

 action is upon the cell proteids and not upon the lipoids. 



The compounds or aggregations so formed are unstable, and remained 

 formed only so long as the pressure of the anaesthetic in the blood is 

 maintained. 



The results of our experiments may be summarised as follows : — 



(1) The solubility of all anaesthetics experimented with is higher in serum 

 than in water. 



(2) At a certain concentration, definite for each anaesthetic, there occurs 

 opalescence and commencing precipitation of proteid. 



(3) At equal concentration of chloroform in water or saline on the one 

 hand, and serum, haemoglobin, or the tissues (brain, heart, muscle, and liver) 

 on the other, the vapour-pressure is always higher in the former than in the 

 latter. 



(4) The curve connecting vapour-pressure and concentration is, in the case 

 of water and saline, a straight line ; while in the case of serum, haemoglobin, 

 and the tissue proteids it is a curve showing association, especially at the 

 higher concentrations. 



(5) Comparative determinations of vapour-pressure and concentration, in 

 serum and brain tissue and in ethereal extracts of these equal in concentration 

 of lipoid, show that the proteid of the tissue combines with the anaesthetic. 



(6) Determinations of the effects of addition of chloroform upon the lower- 

 ing of freezing point confirm the results obtained by the vapour-pressure and 

 solubility determinations. 



(V) Determinations of the changes in electrical conductivity caused by 

 addition of chloroform indicate that accompanying the combination of the 

 anaesthetic with the proteid there takes place a splitting off of electrolytes. 



VOL. LXXVII. — B. I 



