Am'Feb.?Sarm' }  Chloroform.  I  o  I 
solvent.  The  experiment  indicated  that  no  such  dissociation 
occurred,  but  that  the  ratio  of  iodine  to  chlorine  remained  unchanged 
throughout  the  mass  of  the  solution,  a  conclusion  in  harmony  with 
the  results  of  recent  work  by  Stortenbeker  reported  in  Zeit^ 
Physikal.  Chem.,  10,  183. 
CHLOROFORM. 
By  D.  Brown. 
How  many  varieties  of  chloroform  are  required  to  supply 
the  demands  for  preparations  suitable  for  anaesthetic  and  manufac- 
turing purposes? 
This  is  a  question  which  should  be  asked,  and,  after  careful  con- 
sideration, answered  by  all  interested  in  the  subject. 
It  is  the  general  opinion  that  for  manufacturing  purposes  a  fairly 
pure  preparation  only  is  required,  and  there  is  an  equally  unanimous 
opinion  that  for  anaesthetic  purposes  a  product  of  the  highest  degree 
of  purity  should  alone  be  employed.  There  is,  however,  some  dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  medical  men  and  pharmacists  regarding 
the  source  from  which  the  latter  product  should  be  obtained  ;  some 
believing  that  it  can  be  and  is  produced  from  pure,  as  well  as  from 
impure,  raw  materials,  while  others  contend  that  it  can  only  be  pro- 
duced in  a  state  of  purity  from  pure  materials,  such  as  pure  spirits  of 
wine  or  chloral  hydrate  crystals. 
In  order  to  ascertain  which  of  the  opinions  is  the  correct  one,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  state  a  few  facts  regarding  products  obtained 
from  pure  and  impure  materials. 
Pure  products  are  obtained  from  tar,  urine  and  putrid  flesh,  as 
well  as  from  many  other  impure  substances.  Alkaloids  in  a  state 
of  purity  are  also  extracted  from  numerous  impurities  ;  in  some 
cases  from  as  much  as  95  per  cent,  of  extraneous  matter,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  chloroforms  in  an  equal  state  of  purity  are  produced 
from  pure  as  well  as  from  impure  raw  materials.  In  evidence  of 
this,  we  know  that  all  attempts  which  have  hitherto  been  made  to 
determine  the  origin  of  pure  chloroform  have  proved  failures  ;  and 
published  analyses  speak  to  the  purity  of  alkaloids  which  have  been 
separated  from  larger  quantities  of  impurity  than  chloroform  is  ever 
found  associated  with. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  quality  of  the  finished  products 
depends  not  on  the  ctiaracter  of  the  raw  materials,  but  on  the 
