CHLORAL. 
§§ 200 - 202 .] 
the animal dies, the respiration ceasing without convulsion or other 
sign. Moderate-sized dogs require 6 grms. for a full narcosis, and the 
symptoms are similar; they also wake after many hours, in apparent 
good health. 1 
§ 200. Liebreich considered that the action of chloral was due to 
its being broken up by the alkali of the blood, and the system being thus 
brought into a state precisely similar to its condition when anaesthetised 
by chloroform vapour. This view has, however,'been proved to be 
erroneous. Chloral hydrate can, it is true, be decomposed in some degree 
by the blood at 40° ; but the action must be prolonged for several hours. 
A 1 per cent, solution of alkali does not decompose chloral at a blood-heat 
in the time within which chloral acts in the body ; and since narcotic 
effects are commonly observed when, in the fatty group, hydrogen has 
been displaced by chlorine, it is more probable that chloral hydrate is 
absorbed and circulates in the blood as such, and is not broken up into 
chloroform and an alkaline formate. 
§ 201. Effects of Chloral Hydrate on Man. —Since the year 1869, 
in which chloral was first introduced to medicine, it has been the cause 
of a number of accidental and other cases oi poisoning. In nearly all 
the cases the poison was taken by the mouth, but in one instance the 
patient died in three hours after having injected into the rectum 5-86 
grms. of chloral hydrate. There is also on record a case in which, for 
the purpose of producing surgical anaesthesia, 6 grms. of chloral were 
injected into the veins ; the man died in as many minutes. 2 
§ 202. Fatal Dose. —It is impossible to state with any exactness the 
precise quantity of chloral which may cause death. Children bear it 
better, in proportion, than adults, while old persons (especially those 
with weak hearts, and those inclined to apoplexy) are likely to be strongly 
affected by very small doses. A dose of -19 grm. (3 grains) has been 
fatal to a child a year old in ten hours. On the other hand, according 
to Bouchut’s observations on 10,000 children, he considers that the full 
therapeutic effect of chloral can be obtained safely with them in the 
following ratio :— 
1 C. Ph. Falck has divided the symptoms into—(1) preliminary hypnotio ; (2) an 
adynamic state ; and (3) a comatose condition. 
2 This dangerous practice was introduced by M. Ore. In a case of traumatic 
tetanus, in which M. Ore injected into the veins 9 grms of chloral in 10 grms. of 
water, there was profound insensibility, lasting eleven hours, during which time a 
painful operation on the thumb was performed. The next day 10 grms. were in¬ 
jected, when the insensibility lasted eight hours ; and 9 grms. were injected on each 
of the two following days. The man recovered. In another case, Ore anaesthetised 
immediately a patient by plunging the subcutaneous needle of his syringe into the 
radial vein, and injecting 10 grms. of chloral hydrate with 30 of water. The patient 
became insensible before the whole quantity was injected, with “ une immobility rap - 
pellant celle du cadavre .” On finishing the operation, the patient was roused imme¬ 
diately by the application of an electric current, one pole on the left side of the neck, 
the other on the epigastrium, Journ. de Pharm. et de Chimie, t. xix. p. 314, 
