REVIEW. 
153 
water, but undergoes solution in ether, oil of turpentine, and 
alcohol. It readily dissolves camphor, caoutchouc, cantha- 
ridine, and the gumresins. It boils at about 140°, and is 
with some difficultyinflamed, burning with a greenish flame. 
“ Its vapour, when inhaled, produces insensibility, as that 
of ether does, but more rapidly and effectually than it. As 
an anaesthetic for the horse, it is only necessary to cause a 
piece of sponge, held in the hand in a piece of bladder, to 
imbibe from one to two ounces of chloroform, and bring it 
near one nostril during inspiration, while the other is closed. 
This being continued for a short time, temporary insensi- 
bility takes place. Smaller animals are quickly affected 
by it, and these also require no apparatus for its adminis- 
tration. 
“ It has been conjectured that the action of ether, chloro- 
form, and the allied substances used for the purpose of in- 
ducing insensitiveness, from their being hydro-carbons, is 
referable to the conversion of their contained carbon into 
carbonic acid, and their hydrogen into water, by the oxygen 
of the blood. This, however, is disputed by Dr. Snow, who 
avers that they pass out in the expired air, unchanged, and 
are detectable in the urine, and even in an amputated limb, 
or a dead body. We have, at any rate, proof here given that 
they enter the blood, and they produce their depressing in- 
fluence on the nervous system by temporarily paralysing the 
brain and spinal cord. Mr. G. W. Yarnell destroyed a horse 
while under the influence of chloroform, by opening the 
carotid artery ; and he found the blood to smell strongly of 
the agent, and not to coagulate as it ordinarily does. 
“ Tests . — Absence of colour, odour pleasant, its specific 
gravity not less than 1*48. Not soluble in water, nor does it 
redden litmus ; quickly evaporotes when rubbed on the skin, 
producing coldness ; does not coagulate albumen ; and re- 
mains colourless when agitated with ether.” 
“Butea Seeds for Worms. 
ec Mr. Western, V.S., Madras Horse Artillery, says, c he 
has used for many years, with perfect success, the seeds of 
the Butea frondosa , a tree growing in India, the juice of 
'which, when evaporated, becomes a hard astringent sub- 
stance, known in commerce as East Indian Kino. The lac 
insects also are found on the smaller branches and leaf-stalks 
of this tree. The seeds are thin and flat, kidney-shaped, and 
covered externally with a red epidermis ; breaking with a 
starchy fracture, and having a slightly astringent taste, with 
