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Proceedings of the Roval Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
XXVI. — On the Histological Changes in the Liver and Kidney 
after Chloroform administered by Different Channels. By 
G. Herbert Clark, M.B., D.P.H. (From the Physiological Laboratory 
of the University of Glasgow.) (With Three Plates.) 
(MS. received April 17, 1909. Read May 3, 1909.) 
In a paper published in the Proceedings of this Society in 1908, D. Noel 
Paton (1) showed that chloroform acts very differently upon the metabolism 
when administered by different channels : that, when given by the respira- 
tory tract, its effect generally is simply to increase the protein metabolism, 
but that when given by the mouth, it produces a marked disturbance in the 
distribution of the urinary nitrogen, which he considers to be due to the 
chloroform acting as an hepatic poison. The action of the drug when 
administered hypodermically was found to be in the same direction as when 
given by the mouth. Miss Lindsay in conjunction with D. Noel Paton (2) 
showed that the rate of elimination varies with the mode of administration, 
being most rapid when given by the respiratory passages, and slowest when 
given by the mouth. It was further shown that the chloroform is fixed in 
the liver to a greater extent when given by the mouth than when given by 
the respiratory passages. They also, in confirmation of the work of others, 
recorded the appearance of albumin and of cellular debris and tube casts 
in the urine, especially after administration by the mouth or hypodermically. 
It therefore seemed desirable to study how far the action of chloroform 
upon the tissues varies with the mode of administration. 
Previous Investigations. 
Already a very large amount of work upon the action of chloroform 
upon the tissues has been recorded. An excellent resume of the literature 
is given by Stiles and McDonald (3) in their paper on delayed chloroform 
poisoning, and only a general statement of the results of previous investiga- 
tions is necessary. 
It appears to be generally recognised that administration of chloroform 
is often followed by degenerative changes in various tissues, and the 
majority of writers consider the change to be of the nature of a fatty 
degeneration. According to some, droplets of oil are to be seen in the 
blood-vessels. 
