34  Physiological  Action  of  Chloral  Hydrate.  {^jS^Sl^ 
twelve  hours'  standing.  The  mixture  should  either  be  clear  yet  very- 
thick,  or  entirely  converted  into  a  crystalline  mass;  the  mixture 
should  then  exhibit  no  longer  the  peculiar  odor  of  oil  of  mustard  seed, 
but,  in  addition  to  a  slight  smell  of  sulphurous  acid,  that  of  leek. 
The  color  of  the  mixture  should  not  be  turned  dark  ;  when  2  parts 
of  the  essential  oil  are  mixed  with  1  of  absolute  alcohol  and  from  6 
to  8  of  strong  liquid  ammonia,  and  heated  to  50°  for  some  time,  the 
result  should  be  that,  on  cooling  in  open  shallow  vessels,  the  mass 
becomes  crystalline  (formation  of  thiosinammin)  ;  the  mother-liquor 
from  these  crystals  should  leave,  by  spontaneous  evaporation,  crystals, 
but  hardly  any  fluid,  which  should  scarcely,  moreover,  exhibit  the 
smell  of  leek.  These  reactions,  along  with  the  specific  gravity,  char- 
acterize mustard  seed  oil  very  distinctly. —  Chcm.  News,  Nov.  24th, 
1871,  from  N.  Jqhrb.  f.  Pharm. 
THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  CHLORAL  HYDRATE. 
By  M.  A.  Byasson. 
In  a  note  presented  to  the  Academie  des  Sciences,'1'  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  Liebreich,  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  incident- 
ally of  hydrate  of  chloral  upon  men, — are  formulated  as  follows: — 
1.  The  action  of  hydrate  of  chloral  upon  similar  organisms  is  dif- 
ferent 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. 
3.  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  car- 
bonates of  the  blood  upon  the  hydrate  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, 
*  Comptes  Rendus,  lxxii,  742, 
