1873?*'  {  Decomposition  of  Eydtaie  of  Chloral.  75 
Thus:— 
R. 
Liq.  Chloral  Hydrat.      •..       .       "I  30. 
Syrup.  Flor.  Aurant.       .       .       z  iv.  ' 
Syrup.  Simplicis       .       .       .       3  iv. 
The  resulting  syrup  will  contain  ten  grains  of  chloral  hydrate  to 
the  drachm.    Should  a  colored  syrup  be  desired,  as  is  frequently  the 
case,  then  the  following  formula  may  be  substituted : — 
R. 
Syrup.  Rhceados      .       .       .       3  S3. 
Liq.  Chloral.  Hydrat.      .       .  m,  80. 
Syrup.  Flor.  Aurant.       .       .  adsj. 
Or/ 
Liq.  Chloral.  Hydrat.       .  nt  80, 
Tinct.  Cocci.  .       .       .  ij. 
Syrup.  Flor.  Aurant.  .  .  adgj. 
An  anodyne  draught  of  any  requisite  strength  may  be  expeditiously 
pTepared ;  and  the  solution  has  this  advantage,  that  although  in  so 
highly  concentrated  a  state,  it  will  keep  without  decomposition  any 
reasonable  amount  of  time. — Lond.  Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  Deo. 
7,  1872. 
THE  DECOMPOSITION  OF  HYDRATE  OF  CHLORAL  * 
By  M.  Byasson. 
Former  investigations  of  the  author  have  led  him  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  physiological  action  of  hydrate  of  chloral  is  not  the  same  as 
that  of  chloroform  introduced  slowly  into  the  system,  but  that  it  is  the 
joint  result  of  the  chloroform  and  the  formic  acid  produced  under  the 
influence  of  the  alkalinity  of  the  blood.f  He  has  also  shown  that 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  combines  with  anhydrous  chloral  to  form  a 
sulphydrate  analogous  to  the  hydrate,  and  like  it  having  soporific 
properties.  J 
In  the  decomposition  of  oxalic  acid  by  glycerin,  M.  Byasson,  by  re- 
placing the  water  by  alcohol,  has  etherified  directly  the  formic  acid, 
and  thus  obtained  formic  ether  by  a  new  process.    He  was  also  in- 
*  Abstracted  from  "  Comptes  Rendus,"  vol.  Ixxv,  p.  1628. 
t  Pharm.  Journ.  [3]  II,  p.  484.    Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1872,  p.  34. 
X  Ibid.,  p.  1045.    Ibid.,  1872,  p.  357. 
