Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1391. 
Br  onto  form. 
8i 
entirely  non-poisonous ;  giving  a  child  of  5  to  10  years  of  age  15 
to  20  drops  in  100  to  120  cc.  of  solution,  he  claims  to  cure  in  5  to 
10  days.    It  may  also  be  administered  in  capsules.    {Phar.  Zeitsch. 
fur  Rus stand,  1889,  p.  775.) 
Since  then,  his  statements  have  been  confirmed  by  Prof.  Senator 
and  Dr.  Loewenthal,  in  Germany,  and  recently  by  Dr.  Louis  Fischer, 
of  New  York.  The  latter  details  in  the  Medical  Record,  a  number  of 
cases  of  pertussis  in  which  he  had  used  bromoform  and  writes  :  "  I 
have  in  all,  used  bromoform  in  fifty-one  cases  and  still  have  several 
under  observation ;  and  there  is  no  question  but  that  it  is  the  best 
known  remedy  when  properly  applied."  He  prefers  "  giving  it 
after  food  in  a  small  teaspoonful  of  water.  Owing  to  its  weight, 
care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  the  child  swallows  the  bromoform 
and  that  it  does  not  remain  in  the  spoon."  Dr.  Fischer  recom- 
mends the  following  doses  :  "  One  year  or  under  2  to  3  drops  three 
times  a  day,  two  to  four  years  of  age  3  to  4  drops  three  or  four 
times  a  day.  Under  eight  years  of  age  4  to  6  drops.  After  the 
third  or  fourth  day  the  dose  was  usually  increased  gradually  by 
adding  one  drop  to  the  usual  dose." 
Dr.  Rabuteau  long  ago  proposed  to  use  bromoform  as  a  local 
anaesthetic,  claiming  that  it  was  less  revulsive  and  painful  than  the 
application  of  chloroform.  .  (Amer.  Journ.  of  Pharmacy,  1875,  p.  370.) 
In  1874,  Prof.  Walter  George  Smith,  in  the  course  of  a  lecture  on 
"  Therapeutical  Remedies  Recently  Introduced "  (see  Pharm. 
Journ.  and  Trans. ,  1874,  January,  p.  623),  speaks  of  bromoform 
CH.Br3  as  a  reddish  liquid  and  says  "  it  is  irritant  and  does  not 
appear  likely  to  fufil  any  useful  indications  in  practice."  It  is  per- 
haps needless  to  state  that  the  specimen  of  bromoform  possessed  by 
the  professor  must  have  been  decomposed  and  unfit  for  use. 
In  looking  over  the  literature  relating  to  bromoform,  one  is  con- 
fused by  the  discordant  statements  of  the  various  investigators. 
As,  for  example,  Carnelly,  in  "  Melting  and  Boiling  Point  Tables," 
quotes  the  boiling  point,  as  obtained  by  various  authorities,  1440  C. 
to  1 5 2°  C,  and  solidifying  point  at  -f  7-8°  to  — 90,  and  the 
specific  gravity  has  been  variously  stated  at  from  2-13  to  2  90 
These  varying  statements,  copied  into  the  various  text  books  and 
dictionaries  of  chemistry,  leave  one  desirous  of  preparing  the  com- 
pound, in  doubt  as  to  the  correct  data  to  accept  as  proof  of  the 
purity  of  the  product. 
