April 27,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
863 
»1nis and Muscidce), and there is no reason why they 
should not infest the honey-bee which frequents 
similar flowers, as they actually are known to do in 
Europe. These larvre are probably hatched out 
near where the bees liybernate, so as to creep into 
their bodies before they fly in the spring, as it would 
be impossible for them to crawl up a willow-tree ten 
feet high or more, their feet being solely adapted for 
climbing over the hairy body of the bee, which they 
do not leave until about to undergo their strange and 
unusual transformations.’ ’ 
(2o he continued.) 
THE THEORY OF THE FORMATION 
OF CHLORAL. 
In the preparation of chloral by the action of 
chlorine upon alcohol, it has hitherto been generally 
supposed that the reaction, keeping out of view 
secondary products, proceeded in two stages, the 
production of aldeliyd being preliminary to that of 
chloral. And the latter body has been considered 
to result from the direct replacement of three atoms 
of hydrogen in aldeliyd by three of clilorine. 
C CH, ( C Cl, 
[ CHO [ CHO 
Aldehyd. Chloral. 
Recent experiments by Wurtz and Vogt appear to 
show, however, that the changes involved in the 
operation are less simple. They find that by 
passing a current of hydrochloric acid gas into a 
mixture of alcohol and aldehyd, the latter fixes the 
elements of ethyl chloride, and yields the com¬ 
pound— 
rcH 3 
|ch | OC 2 H 5 This Sll ^ m ^^ ec ^ the 
action of chlorine in presence of a small quantity of 
iodine, furnishes a tetraclilorinated body. 
fCCl 3 
| CH ■ which is 
identical with the compound C 4 H c C 1 4 0, obtained 
by Malaguti as a product of the action of chlorine 
upon common ether, and also with the body recently 
obtained by Henry by acting upon chloral alcoliolate 
with phosphorous pentachloride. 
This tetraclilorinated ether heated with water 
readily gives chloral according to this equation. 
/ca 3 
(ch |OC 2 H 5 + H 2 0 = 
■ CHO + CW 10 + HCI 
Chloral. Alcohol. 
Distilled with sulphuric acid, the same compound 
gave chloride of ethyl and chloral. 
Chloral has, therefore, in these experiments been 
procured from aldehyd, alcohol, hydrochloric acid, 
and chlorine ; and these are just the substances pre¬ 
sent in the preparation of chloral by operating with 
chloral upon alcohol. 
The presence of aldehyd among the products of 
that reaction has been proved by Stas, although it 
can readily be understood that it can never accumu¬ 
late in notable quantity, inasmuch as it is at once 
attacked by the alcohol and liydrocliloric acid. The 
water necessary is supplied, independently of that 
which may be present in the alcohol, by the reaction 
of the hydrochloric acid, which has been generated 
upon the aldehyd and alcohol. 
{ CHO + C 2 H 5 0H + HC1 = 
CH 3 
CH 
( oc 2 h 5 +h„o 
\C1 
Aldehyd. Alcohol. Monochlorinated Ether. 
It decomposes the tetraclilorinated ether, accord¬ 
ing to the equation already given, into chloral, hy¬ 
drochloric acid, and alcohol, which last may again 
react with a new quantity of aldehyd and hydro¬ 
chloric acid. It is easy to conceive, therefore, that 
a limited quantity of water, alternately formed and 
decomposed, may take part in the formation of a 
considerable quantity of chloral 
Wurtz and Vogt also show in their paper (Comptes 
Rend., lxxiv. 777) that by passing chlorine through 
a cooled mixture of aldehyd and aqueous hydro¬ 
chloric acid, or even of aldehyd and water, chloral, 
contrary to the experiments of other chemists, is 
formed in notable proportion. 
POISONOUS PROPERTIES OF JATROPHA 
URENS. 
BY JOHN R. JACKSON, A.L.S., MUSEUM, KEW. 
The following are the authentic details concerning 
a case of poisoning by this plant, which has formed 
the subject-matter of a paragraph that has recently 
been going the round of the papers:— 
The occurrence took place in 1823, and the plant 
in question was raised from seeds sent from Trinidad. 
It is a small soft-wooded plant having lobed leaves 
which, together with the younger shoots, are covered 
with numerous stinging hairs. In the case mentioned 
above, the wrist accidentally came in contact with 
some of these hairs, and in a very few minutes the 
lips became swollen, the face became very red, and the 
whole system was affected. This was succeeded by 
faintness and a general suspension of the vital ener¬ 
gies, so that for about five minutes the sufferer was 
thought to be dead, but after the lapse of this time 
he rallied, the first recollection of recovery being a 
feeling of relief from the head as if from the removal 
of a series of weights, each accompanied by a loud 
sound; sickness succeeded, and in twenty minutes 
he was again able to stand and was soon quite well. 
After this sensational occurrence, the plant was 
put in a remote corner of the house and attended 
with great caution, but it soon died. About fifteen 
years ago another plant was raised at Kew from 
seed, and this was placed under a wire cage to pre¬ 
vent accidents to visitors. It would seem that Mr. 
Smith's experience of this plant, though sufficiently 
alarming, must have been mild by comparison, for 
we are told that in some persons unconsciousness 
last for a length of time ; the pain and swelling also 
last for some days, and an itching sensation fre¬ 
quently continues for a much longer period.. 
The plant is a native of South America, and 
appears to extend into the Southern States ot North 
America. Mr. Smith tells us that Mr. W. Purdie, 
who was botanical collector in New Granada for 
the Royal Gardens, Kew, from 1843 to 1840, spoke of 
the plant as being a constant terror to his guides 
during his collecting expedition. In Porcher s Re¬ 
sources of the Southern Fields and Forests’ it is said 
