170 poisons: tiieir effects and detection. [§§205,206. 
he again took some milk and sank to sleep. It was not until thirty-two 
hours had elapsed from the ingestion of the poison that he awoke spon¬ 
taneously ; there were no after-effects. 
§ 205. Chronic Poisoning by Chloral Hydrate. —A number of people 
formerly took chloral hydrate ; the same class now take more recently 
introduced hypnotics. The history of the habit is usually that some 
physician has given them a prescription for neuralgia, for loss of sleep, 
or other cause, and finding that they can conjure sleep, oblivion, and loss 
(it may be) of suffering whenever they choose, they go on repeating it 
from day to day until it becomes a necessity of their existence. A dan¬ 
gerous facility to chloral-drinking is the existence of patent medicines 
advertised as sleep-producers, and containing chloral as the active in¬ 
gredient. A lady, aged 35, died in 1876, at Exeter, from an overdose of 
“ Hunter’s solution of chloral, or sedative draught and sleep producer.” 
Its strength was stated at the inquest to be 25 grains to the drachm 
(41*6 per cent.). 1 
The evil results of this chloral-drinking are especially to be looked 
for in the mental faculties, and the alienists have had since 1869 a new 
insanity-producing factor. In the asylums may usually be found 
several cases of melancholia and mania referred rightly (or wrongly) to 
chloral-drinking. Symptoms other than cerebral are chilliness of the 
body, inclination to fainting, clonic convulsions, and a want of co-ordina¬ 
tion of the muscles of the lower extremities. In a case recorded by 
Husband, 2 a lady, after twelve days’ treatment by chloral hydrate, in 
doses of from 1 to 2 grms. (15-4 to 30-8 grains), suffered from a scar¬ 
latina-like rash, which was followed by desquamation. Among the 
insane, it has also been noticed that its use has been followed by nettle- 
rash and petechiae (Reimer and others). 
§ 206. Excretion of Chloral. —Chloral hydrate is separated in the 
urine partly as urochloral acid (C 8 H 11 C1 3 0 7 ). Butylchloral is separated 
as urobutylchloral acid (C 10 H 15 Cl 2 O 7 ). Urochloral acid is crystalline, 
soluble in water, in alcohol, and in ether, reduces copper from Fehling’s 
solution, and rotates a ray of polarised light to the left. Urochloral 
acid, on boiling with either dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, splits 
up into trichlorethyl alcohol and glycuronic acid— 
C 8 H u C1 3 0,+H 2 0 -> C 2 H 3 Cl 3 O+C 6 H 10 O 7 . 
Triehloralcohol is an oily fluid (boiling-point 150°-152°) ; it yields by 
oxidation trichloracetic acid. 
Urobutylchloral acid gives, on treatment with mineral acids, trichlor- 
butyl alcohol and glycuronic acid. 
To separate urochloral acid from the urine the following process has 
been found successful:— 
1 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, Jan. 12, 1876. 
2 Lancet , 1871. 
