484 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 1G, 1871. 
French India, states* that he has found shark-liver 
oil equally efficacious with cod-liver oil, and, more¬ 
over, has noticed its great usefulness as a medicine 
in certain ulcers of the inferior members, very com¬ 
mon in equatorial regions, and against which other 
medicines were usually found ineffective. 
The abundance of sharks in all seas, and especially 
in those warm latitudes, and the facility of the 
fishery gives an interest to this subject hi a commer¬ 
cial point of view. 
The medicinal employment of shark-liver oil opens 
up, however, a scientific question of some import¬ 
ance. Sauvages, the celebrated professor of Mont¬ 
pellier, has recorded a case of poisoning produced 
by the liver of Squalus canicula. Do these veno¬ 
mous properties belong to certain species only, or 
are they merely developed in certain conditions ? 
We know that but little care is employed in the 
East in cleansing the livers or obtaining the oil, 
and putrefaction soon ensues in tropical climates. 
We would especially direct the attention of persons 
occupied with chemical inquiries and natural his¬ 
tory to the study of this question, which is one 
highly interesting in a zoological and sanitary point 
of view to the inhabitants of warm countries. 
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF 
CHLORAL HYDRATE. 
BY M. H. BYASSON. 
In a note presented to the Academie des Sciences,f 
in anticipation of a more detailed memoir, the author 
gives some of the results of an investigation having 
reference specially to the physiological action of 
chloral hydrate. The conclusions, which differ from 
those of Dr. Oscar Liebreicli, and have been founded 
upon the comparative action of chloroform, formate 
of soda, hydrate of chloral, trichloracetic acid and 
trichloracetate of soda upon frogs, rats and dogs,— 
and incidentally of hydrate of chloral upon men,— 
are formulated as follows:— 
1. The action of hydrate of chloral upon similar 
organisms is different from that of chloroform. 
2. The action is peculiar to that body, and may 
be considered as the result of two products into 
which it is decomposed, principally upon contact 
with the blood, viz. chloroform and formic acid. 
8. Trichloracetic acid and trichloracetate of soda 
differ from hydrate of chloral in their action upon 
the animal organism, since they both break up into 
chloroform and acetic acid. 
A part of the chloroform formed by the action of 
the alkaline carbonates of the blood upon the hy¬ 
drate of chloral is eliminated by the lungs; and a 
part of the formic acid is found in the urine in the 
shape of formate of soda. As a practical result of 
the experiments, the author found that he could dis¬ 
tinguish three degrees, produced gradually and suc¬ 
cessively by increasing doses, but varying in in¬ 
dividuals. 
(1.) A feebly soporific action and slight sedative 
effect upon the sensitive nervous system, which may 
be accompanied by intervals of a peculiar agitation, 
similar to that produced by some dreams. 
(2.) An energetic and powerful soporific action, 
* “Note sur l’emploi medical et cliirurgical de l’huile de 
foie de requin” (Revue Coloniale, March, 1856, p. 206). 
f Comptes Rendus, lxxii. 742. 
with diminution of sensibility. Then follows a 
period of calm slumber of variable duration, but 
without apparent disturbance to the principal func¬ 
tions of life. By means of successive doses admi¬ 
nistered when the effects of the previous ones have 
nearly disappeared, this slumber may be extended 
during a comparatively long time. 
(3.) Anaesthetic action, with complete loss of sen¬ 
sibility and muscular power. Death has generally 
been found to follow when this stage has been 
reached, in consequence of the inability of the 
organism to sustain the increasing action of so large 
a quantity of the drug until its complete transforma¬ 
tion and elimination. 
Cijagto for SfAents. 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PHARMACOPCEIA. 
BY WILLIAM A. TILDEN, D.SC. LOXD. 
DEMONSTRATOR OE PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
Potass.® Bicarbonas, KHCOj. — A pretty strong 
solution of carbonate of potassium is exposed to the 
action of carbonic acid gas, till, in consequence of 
the formation of the bicarbonate, and the inferior 
solubility of that salt, a crop of crystals has been 
deposited. This is one of those cases in which 
the manufacturer might have fairly been left to his 
own discretion as to the mode of operating, and the 
elaborate description of the apparatus to be em¬ 
ployed omitted, with no disadvantage, from the Phar¬ 
macopoeia. 
The bicarbonate differs from the carbonate in 
being less soluble in water, in crystallizing in larger 
and more distinct crystals, in not being deliquescent, 
and in giving, with a cold solution of sulphate of 
magnesium, no precipitate. 
Bicarbonate of potassium dissolves in about four 
times its weight of water. 
PoTASsiE Bichiiomas.— Chromium is found chiefly 
in the form of ‘ clirome-iron-stone,’ a compound 
having the formula FeCr 2 0 4 , or Fe0.Cr 2 0 3 , and 
analogous to magnetic iron ore. This is pulverized 
and roasted with a mixture of carbonate of potas¬ 
sium and chalk, sometimes with the addition of a 
little nitrate of potassium, in a furnace through 
which a current of air passes. The ore is gradually 
disintegrated with formation of chromate of potas¬ 
sium and oxide of iron. 
2 [FeOCi'o0 3 ] -f 4K 2 C0 3 +70 
= Fe 2 0 3 + 4 K 2 Cr 0 4 + 4C0 2 . 
The chalk is added to keep the mixture in a 
porous state by diminishing its fusibility; a little 
chromate of calcium is thus frequently produced. 
The solution obtained by treating the fused mass 
with water, and acidulating with sulphuric acid, 
yields red chromate of potassium. [§ In large red, 
transparent four-sided tables, anhydrous; fuses 
below' redness ; at a higher temperature is decom¬ 
posed, yielding green oxide of chromium and yellow 
chromate of potash, which may be separated by dis¬ 
solving the latter in water. 
(2 K 2 Cr 2 0 7 = 2 K 2 Cr 0 4 + 2 Cr 0 3 
= 2 K 2 Cr0 4 -f Cr 2 0 3 -f 3 O.) 
The bichromate dissolved in water gives a yel- 
