ON THE COMPOSITION OF CHLOHODYNE. 
839 
communication endeavour to show my experience concerning the action of 
chlorodyne both with and without belladonna. Dr. Kidd states positively that 
two preparations of chlorodyne are free from belladonna, if not all. But these 
bare and brief remarks, as a previous correspondent says, call for limited com¬ 
ment, so I shall pass them by. But I must have a word with your correspon¬ 
dent of last February, and try to meet him upon his own ground, as his reason¬ 
ing is not only fallacious, but conspicuous for superficial observation. The 
following are some of his reasons for disagreeing with my p>lausible suggestion 
as to chlorodyne containing belladonna :—1st. He says, I have never known it, 
even in full doses, produce any result at all similar to the well-known effects of 
belladonna. Let me ask him what are the well-known effects of belladonna in 
ordinary doses ? As far as my experience serves me—and I have been in the 
habit of prescribing this drug for some years—they are, dilatation of pupil, 
relaxation of muscular spasm, somnolency, vertigo upon first getting out of 
bed, and, when continued, impaired vision (certainly not contraction of the 
pupil). Has he never found any of these symptoms after a full dose of chloro¬ 
dyne? Again, let me ask him, has he ever found contraction of the pupil after 
a full dose of chlorodyne, as he would most decidedly do, if, as he asserts, its 
active ingredient is nothing more or less than morphia? Or, again, has he 
carefully compared by clinical experience, as I have done repeatedly, a mix¬ 
ture of chlorodyne with and without belladonna? I most certainly think not. 
If so, he would have arrived at a conclusion rather different, as the following 
will prove. I took three chlorodynes, viz. Dr. Collis Browne’s, one made 
according to Mr. Smith’s form without belladonna, and another with belladonna 
added. I selected three male patients with whom I found morphia to agree. 
They were not habituated to taking either chlorodyne or morphia, neither had 
they any organic disease. Such, I thought, fair subjects for notifying how far 
the symptoms produced by each were similar or dissimilar. First, I will com¬ 
mence with patient No. 1. To this man I gave thirty drops of chlorodyne pre¬ 
pared according to Mr. Smith’s form. In half an hour he appeared drowsy, 
but did not sleep. There was slight headache and nausea. I therefore repeated 
the dose; in half an hour he was in a sound sleep. Upon awaking, which he 
did in seven hours after taking the second dose, his pupils were contracted to 
the size of a pin’s head. No. 2. To this man I gave thirty drops of chlorodyne 
prepared according to Mr. Smith’s formula, with the addition of the y^oth of a 
grain of atropine. In half an hour, or little more, he was in a sound sleep; and 
upon awakening, in three hours, his pupils were dilated. No. 3. To this man 
I gave thirty drops of Dr. Collis Browne’s chlorodyne; and, as no sleep was 
produced in an hour’s time,—only a feeling of stupor,—I gave him twenty 
drops more. In ten minutes he was in a sound sleep, and continued so for over 
five hours. When he awoke his pupils were unaffected (not contracted). The 
following day I reversed the order of things. To No. 1 I gave Dr. Browne’s 
chlorodyne; no alteration of pupil (no contraction). To No. 2 I gave Smith s 
chlorodyne ; the contracted pupil w r as well marked. To No. 3, Smith s chloro¬ 
dyne with atropia ; the pupils were slightly dilated. Hence, let me ask, what 
does this prove and impress upon the observer ? First, that chlorodyne, with¬ 
out belladonna, does most unmistakably contract the pupil of the eye when 
given in a dose sufficient to produce sleep. Second, that chlorodyne, with 
belladonna, does not contract the pupil. Thirdly, that Dr. Browne’s chlorodyne 
does not contract the pupil when given in a sufficient dose merely to produce sleep. 
Again, with regard to the action of belladonna upon the pupil. If to a 
patient be given the ^th of a grain of atropine, the pupil will be dilated in ten 
minutes. But if to this ^th of a grain of atropine be added the £th of a grain 
of morphia the pupil will remain unaffected. In any case of poisoning by chlo¬ 
rodyne it was shown that the pupils were alternately contracted and dilated, 
