482 
TIIE COMPOSITION OF CHLOEODYNE. 
tain what it is they are giving to their patients ? And are we to suppose that 
chemists are so unobservant that they take no note of whatever information 
reaches them respecting chlorodyne ? or so indifferent that they do not care to 
take the trouble of communicating their information ? Or is it that, from a 
feeling of fellowship, they are reluctant to say anything that may possibly in¬ 
jure vested interests? u Not to put too fine a point upon it,” it would have 
been more agreeable if chemists had had more to say on the subject, as well as 
more to do with it, in the way of analysis. I am afraid that my notions must be 
either rather heterodox or rather in advance of the times. For to me it appears, 
that, having regard to the anarchy which prevails with respect to the composi¬ 
tion and strength of the numerous so-called chlorodynes, and to the great 
extent to which compounds, of all degrees of strength, and of considerable 
variety of composition, are used throughout the kingdom, it became the duty 
of our Council to take up the matter officially, and to put forth an authoritative 
statement on the subject. Does no power reside in the Council to give its offi¬ 
cial sanction, or at least its approval to a necessary formula, in the interval be¬ 
tween the editions of the Pharmacopoeia ? 
However, what has been wanting in the tale of communications, has 
been amply made up in the weight; and in Dr. Dowse’s letter on the physio¬ 
logical aspect of the case, and Mr. E. Smith’s communication on the phar¬ 
maceutical side, we have all that we need towards a settlement of the 
controversy. 
The brief remarks of Dr. C. Kidd call for very limited comment; the most 
remarkable among them being that, while he confesses that he “ has tried all 
three specimens pretty extensively,” he appends the naive declaration, that 
“ the profession, if guided honestly . . . should discountenance secret formulce.” 
(But Dr. Kidd writes from Ireland.) I quite coincide in his opinion, that two 
of the specimens he names do not contain belladonna. But his statement, that 
“ one kind of chlorodyne, as to certain symptoms, differs as much from the others 
as crude opium from prussic acid, if not more,” must be taken cum grano. An 
allegation, so contrary to all probability and to all experience, cannot dispense 
with the support of distinct and well-defined cases. 
Dr. Dowse (whose obliging expressions towards myself I take this opportu¬ 
nity of acknowledging), in the very interesting and graphic history which he 
records, of a case of poisoning by Dr. Browne’s Chlorodyne, has furnished a 
most valuable contribution towards the decision of the controversy,—a contro¬ 
versy now, however, no longer. This case, as indeed I had anticipated that 
any such case would do, proves most distinctly and indisputably that, that 
chlorodyne in sufficient doses does contract the pupil, and thus sweeps away the 
one flimsy screen, viz. the assertion that his “ Chlorodyne never contracts the 
pupil,”—that Dr. Browne had set up to hide the nakedness of the exclusive 
pretensions of his “ remedium .” Notwithstanding the disingenuous subterfuge 
which, under the title of a “ Warning,” he still persists in advertising, I greatly 
doubt—whatever his success with the public may be—whether, after the pub¬ 
lished analysis, he will be able much longer to hoodwink the profession, or to 
smother the now ascertained and proven fact, that chlorodyne is very little 
more than a disguised solution of morphia,—mixed with much faith in those 
that prescribe it. 
Belladonna. Notwithstanding the plausibility of Dr. Dowse’s suggestion, 
that Dr. Browne’s chlorodyne owes part of its efficacy to belladonna, I find 
myself unable to agree with him, and for the following reasons :—1. I have 
never known it, even in full doses, produce any results at all similar to the 
well-known effects of belladonna. 2. We must not draw too large inferences 
from a solitary case. Is it impossible that the joint action of morphia and 
hydrocyanic acid may have produced the symptoms described by Dr. 
