i6o 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI, No. 1 
rise to three phases in its effects when inhaled: First, excitation; second, 
insensibility; third, collapse. The first phase resembles that of ether. 
Laffont ( 12) in 1877 notes Morel’s results, but after testing the drug on 
dogs, cats, and frogs is unable to concur in Morel’s conclusions. He finds 
that it acts first on the brain and then on the spinal cord, producing re¬ 
flexes indicated by active movements. The action of the heart and lungs 
ceases when the medulla oblongata is affected. In the first phase, that of 
excitation, there are tonic and clonic movements of a constant character, 
the heart beat is disordered and augmented, and the arterial pressure 
rises and then falls, the pupil of the eye being constantly dilated. In the 
second phase, that of insensibility, the heart beat is very fast, the pulse 
feeble and the arterial pressure low, the pupil reaching its maximum 
dilation. In the third phase, that of collapse, the pulse is very feeble, 
the heart beat slows, and finally respiration and heart beat cease; ani¬ 
mals are rapidly revived by artificial respiration. The pupil may contract 
in the third phase. Carbon tetrachlorid does not affect the oxygen 
content of the blood. The safety factor in the administration of 
carbon tetrachlorid may be increased by the preliminary adminis¬ 
tration of morphine; this eliminates the spasmodic movements. The 
initial contracted pupil due to morphine gives place to a dilated 
pupil following the administration of the carbon tetrachlorid. Laffont 
notes that it requires 12 to 15 gm. to anesthetize dogs weighing 15 to 
35 kgm. He does not regard this drug as superior to chloroform. 
In the “London Letter” in the Journal of the American Medical Asso¬ 
ciation (5) for July 31, 1909, a case is reported where a woman 29 years 
old, a subject of status lymphaticus, collapsed while being shampooed 
with carbon tetrachlorid and never recovered. In 30,000 cases where this 
form of shampoo had been used this was the first fatality, and there had 
previously been no untoward results other than one or two cases of 
fainting. 
Mac-Auliffe (13) in 1916 reported carbon tetrachlorid as a safe and 
effective substance for use in war in cleansing the margins of wounds. 
The British Medical Journal ( 4) for September 25, 1920, has a report of 
carbon-tetrachlorid poisoning in a girl employed in painting golf-ball 
molds with a paint containing this substance. The symptoms were 
vomiting after every meal, headache, and anemia. It is noted by the 
editor that frequent inhalations of carbon tetrachlorid cause dyspepsia 
of a toxic type, anemia, and ultimately a toxic jaundice. The occurrence 
of jaundice is of interest as indicating that carbon tetrachlorid, like 
chloroform, may have injurious effects on the liver. 
Mr. F. C. Bishopp, of the Bureau of Entomology, United States 
Department of Agriculture, writes under date of December 27, 1920, 
that carbon tetrachlorid irritates wounds and retards healing and that 
