840 ON THE COMPOSITION OF CHLORODYNE. 
the latter more so than the former, and so much so, that the iris was at times 
scarcely visible. As the effect of the dilating agent passed off, and the patient 
became comatose, the pupils became permanently contracted. This, to some 
extent, led me to the conclusion that morphia played the prime part in 
Dr. Browne’s chlorodyne, its action being modified by belladonna, not the 
converse, as one of your correspondents suggests, belladonna modified by mor¬ 
phia. Again, your correspondent puts the question, Is it impossible that the 
joint action of morphia and hydrocyanic acid may have produced the symptoms 
described by Dr. Dowse ? To this I cannot give an answer unless I make the 
experiment, but at present I have no desire to poison any one, however much it 
might further our views as to the composition of chlorodyne. This much, 
however, I can affirm most positively, that your correspondent may give ordi¬ 
nary doses of morphia and hydrocyanic acid for any length of time, and he will 
not by their conjoint action produce dilatation of the pupil. On the contrary, 
the pupil will be contracted until such time that the patient becomes so accus¬ 
tomed to its influence that it becomes inert. Again, your correspondent states, 
Finally, if this chlorodyne really contained auy operative proportion of bella¬ 
donna, I think this very decided drug would long since have proclaimed its 
presence there. Now, I object to this final assertion upon two points ; first 
that belladonna, in ordinary doses, is.not the very decided drug your correspon¬ 
dent imagines; secondly, its action is so modified by morphia, that the usual 
effects are held in abeyance. And when, further on, he states, We have as¬ 
certained with positive certainty that there are present in Dr. Browne’s chloro¬ 
dyne only three ingredients of an active character, viz. morphia, hydrocyanic 
acid, and chloroform ; and again when he states that Mr. Smith s formula, with 
the addition—may I say ?—of a little caramel, will in all probability become 
the standard of chlorodyne throughout the British realm, I am not surprised 
when “ Another Provincial” looks upon the language of your November cor¬ 
respondent as extremely tall. When he thus summarily disposes of the ques¬ 
tion, I am extremely sorry that I cannot agree with him, neither can I under¬ 
stand how he arrives at such conclusion, unless it be from the analysis of 
Mr. Smith, which analysis, however perfect it may be, does not give us the 
composition of chlorodyne. And I cannot deny too emphatically the assertion 
of your correspondent when he says that Dr. Browne's chlorodyne is merely a 
disguised solution of morphia. In my former communication I stated my be¬ 
lief 5 that Indian hemp did not enter into its composition. This I adhere to. I 
also stated that I thought it probable tobacco did so. This statement I will not 
retract, although I give it advisedly, as I have not noted sufficiently the 
physiological action of this drug. Yet, as I do not like to make a statement of 
this kind without a practical reason, I will suggest to your readers to test it in 
this way :—Place a drachm of chlorodyne in a small porcelain capsule, and 
expose it to the air at the ordinary temperature for twenty-four or thirty-six 
hours until the more volatile constituents have'evaporated ; then place the cap¬ 
sule in a sand-bath at a temperature of 140° F., when a tobacco-like odour will 
be emitted. By way of experiment, let him try a drachm of chlorodyne 
according to Mr. Smith’s formula, and the result will be dissimilar. Lastly, I 
beg to state that the addition of belladonna to Mr. Smith’s formula will give 
results, both therapeutical and physiological, similar to Dr. Collis Browne’s 
chlorodyne. 
In this communication I might have entered more fully into the symptoms 
of those patients upon whom I experimented, but I have tried to deal with the 
clearing up of this matter in a clear and practical manner. The form that I 
have adopted for some time past is as follows :— 
