50 CHLOROFORM A SUBSTITUTE FOR SULPHURIC ETHER. 
until the preparation has acquired that temperature to 
which it is exposed in the course of consumption. Should 
a precipitation occur after these precautions have been 
adopted, it may be taken as a tolerably clear evidence that 
the preparation is decomposing ; consequently it is manifest 
that when the decoction is in this condition, neither the 
clear portion, nor the clear and thick together, should be 
used for the purposes of that ordered by the Pharmacopoeia, 
as the whole must necessarily be changed in its properties. 
As we are expressly forbidden to alter the constitution of 
any of the preparations of the Pharmacopoeia, any sugges- 
tions to remedy the evils complained of by such means are 
futile. There is but one course open to us, viz., to inquire 
under what conditions can these preparations be kept most 
powerful to resist their tendency to decomposition ? The 
answer will be, that as far as circumstances will permit to 
keep the preparations in bottles, filled and well closed, and 
in a low temperature, which are the conditions found to be 
least favourable to the development of the acetous fermen- 
tation. — Pharm, Joiirn. 
ART. XIV.— CHLOROFORM AN ANAESTHETIC AGENT AS A 
SUBSTITUTE FOR SULPHURIC ETHER. 
Dr. Simpson gives the following account of the chemical 
constitution of Chloroform : 
" Formyle is the hypothetical radical of formic acid. In 
the red ant (Formica rufa) , formic acid was first dis- 
covered, and hence its name. Gehlen pointed it out as a 
peculiar acid ; and it was ^afterwards first artificially pre- 
