Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March  1,  1871. 
Chloral .  117 
quantity  of  chloral  compound  is  insoluble  in  chloroform,  I  should  con- 
sider it  a  hydrate, — -solubility  in  cold  chloroform  and  partial  insolubility 
in  cold  water  being  quite  sufficient  test  to  lead  to  doubt ;  and  so  in 
proportion  to  the  solubility,  should  I  judge  the  probable  quantity  of 
chloroform  which  the  ammonia  process  would  yield. 
Now  if  the  theory  of  Liebreich,  that  the  hydrate  of  chloral  coming 
in  contact  with  the  alkalies  in  the  blood  evolves  chloroform  in  the 
human  system,  be  correct,  a  moment's  glance  will  soon  convince  you 
of  the  immense  superiority  of  samples  No.  1,  2  and  3,  and  the 
decided  obligation  that  pharmacists  should  dispense  this  manufacture 
only  until  it  can  be  shown  that  hydrate  of  chloral  of  equal  compo- 
sition may  be  procured  elsewhere. 
Therapeutical  Value. — If  we  review  the  pages  of  the  medical 
journals  for  the  therapeutical  effects  of  hydrate  of  chloral,  we  shall 
find  many  cases  where  its  action  has  been  attended  with  marvellous 
results.  There  does  seem  not  a  little  danger  of  its  being  erected 
into  a  kind  of  panacea  for  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  of  its 
true  worth  and  fame  suffering  from  too  indiscriminate  use,  and  from 
the  administration  of  some  of  the  impure  compounds  which  are 
being  supplied.  Its  value,  however,  is  too  real  for  actual  collapse 
by  its  abuse ;  but  its  repute  may  be,  and  doubtless  has  been,  danger- 
ously compromised. 
We  find  it  employed  in  cases  of  "  maniacal  paroxysms,"  delirium 
tremens,"  "traumatic  tetanus,"  chorea,  diarrhoea,  whooping  cough, 
convulsions  (epileptic  or  otherwise),  with  more  or  less  benefit ;  it 
allays  vomiting,  and  prevents  sea-sickness  ;  in  puerperal  mania  it  is 
well  reported  of ;  in  fact,  as  a  sleep  compeller  it  is,  in  a  very  large 
number  of  cases,  unrivalled  ;  for  while  in  power  opium  alone  can  be 
compared  with  it,  there  is  this  superiority  to  opium,  tliat  its  use  entails 
no  unpleasant  after  symptoms,  no  head- ache,  no  nausea,  no  anorexia, 
no  constipation,  whilst  the  sleep  it  produces  is  gentle,  calm  and  con- 
tinued;  at  least,  this  is  the  general  rule,  but,  of  course,  there  are 
exceptions,  and  medical  men  complain  that  its  administration  is 
attended  with  uncertain  results,  and  that  its  quality  is  not  so  good  as 
it  was  when  first  introduced,  and  can  anything  justify  these  assertions 
more  than  the  foregoing  results?  but  even  with  true  hydrate  of  chlo- 
ral we  must  expect  to  find  exceptional  cases  so  long  as  human  beings 
differ  so  greatly  in  temperament,  constitution,  and  sensibility  to  the 
action  of  medicine. 
