320  CHLOROFORM  NOT  DECOMPOSED  BY  SUNLIGHT. 
Chloroform  of  1*490  to  1-492  spec.  grav.  did  not  show  the 
slightest  alteration  under  these  circumstances.  The  influence  of 
the  direct  sunlight  could  be  had  almost  without  interruption 
from  9  A.  M.  to  5  P.  M.  These  specimens  of  chloroform  were 
unaltered  after  an  insolation  of  three  weeks,  in  the  filled  as  well 
as  half-filled  bottles  ;  likewise  in  the  bottles  kept  in  the  dark 
and  diffused  light. 
Chloroform  of  spec.  grav.  1*496 — 1*499,  directly  exposed  in 
half-filled  bottles,  began  to  show  the  decomposition  already  on 
the  second  day,  for  a  glass  rod,  moistened  with  ammonia,  pro- 
duced white  clouds,  particularly  on  the  bottle  containing  chloro- 
form of  1*499.  On  the  third  day,  the  vapor  of  this  chloroform 
was  so  irritating  that  an  examination  by  smelling  could  not  be 
risked.  The  same  chloroform,  in  entirely  filled  bottles,  showed 
only,  after  five  days'  insolation,  an  alteration  recognizable  by  its 
odor ;  and  this  may  be  explained  by  the  insufficient  exclusion  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  air,  since  the  bottles  had  repeatedly  been 
opened  to  be  examined.  A  small  bottle  was  completely  filled 
with  warm  chloroform  of  1*499  spec.  grav.  and  then  hermetic- 
ally closed.  After  an  insolation  of  eight  days  it  showed  not  the 
slightest  alteration,  which,  however,  commenced  the  day  follow- 
ing the  opening  of  the  bottle. 
The  specimens  kept  in  diffused  daylight  and  in  half-filled 
bottles  differed  from  the  above,  for  only  that  of  1*499  spec.  grav. 
showed,  after  three  weeks,  an  alteration  and  incipient  decom- 
position. 
Of  the  specimens  kept  in  the  dark  in  half-filled  bottles,  the 
chloroform  of  1*496  spec.  grav.  showed  an  unimportant  acid  re- 
action, but  strangely  not  the  chloroform  of  1*499  spec.  grav. 
But  a  sample  of  the  same,  kept  with  the  same  precaution  at  a 
temperature  of  about  20°  C,  was  in  the  state  of  complete  de- 
composition. The  specimens  filled  warm  into  bottles  and  these 
hermetically  sealed,  were  all  unaltered. 
A  sample  of  chloroform,  which  had  undergone  spontaneous 
decomposition,  but  had  been  restored  as  well  as  possible  by 
treatment  with  carbonate  of  alkali  and  repeated  rectification, 
underwent  decomposition  in  half-filled  bottles  after  an  hour's  ex- 
posure to  the  sunlight  ;  even  after  keeping  it  in  a  c<jo1  dark 
