216  Large  Doses  of  Chloral  Hydrate,  {^MSTrnT"* 
particularly  when  the  bottle  into  which  it  was  filled  was  in  the  least 
damp. 
I  do  not  want  to  be  too  sanguine  about  my  preparation,  as  it  has 
jet  to  stand  the  heat  of  summer ;  but  I  feel  confident,  by  the  way  it 
is  prepared,  that  summer  heat  will  not  influence  it. 
Before  concluding  I  would  like  to  remark  that,  from  the  first  start, 
saccharated  pepsin  could  have  been  made  stronger,  but,  as  I  remarked 
in  a  former  article,  I  wanted  to  bring  it  in  conformity  with  the  liquid 
pepsin,  which  during  the  last  year  our  best  physicians  here  have 
found  a  valuable  medicine,  so  that  one  grain  corresponded  to  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  the  liquid.  My  standard  is,  that  10  grains  saccharated 
pepsin  in  one  fluidounce  of  water  acidulated  with  10  drops  hydro- 
chloric acid  must  dissolve  120  grains  of  coagulated  albumen  in  four 
hours  at  105°.  It  might  be  stronger,  but  I  never  allow  it  to  be 
weaker,  as  every  batch  made  is  tested  before  being  filled  into  bottles. 
Louisville,  Ky.,  Aj^ril,  1871. 
LARGE  DOSES  OF  CHLORAL  HYDRATE. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  : 
Dear  Sir, — As  the  article  of  chloral  hydrate  is  a  new  one,  and 
anything  throwing  light  upon  its  action  being  of  interest  to  the  pro- 
fession,  I  desire  to  inform  you  of  a  case  which,  for  the  large  amount 
taken  without  fatal  results,  exceeds  any  I  have  heard  of.  The  party 
was  an  old  opium-eater,  who  wished  to  quit  the  habit,  and  resorted  to 
the  hydrate  to  relieve  the  nervousness  which  followed  the  abstention. 
In  five  consecutive  days  he  took  5  ozs.  avd.  witho.ut  any  bad  effects. 
This  is  a  strong  contradiction  to  the  recent  opinion  of  Dr.  Richardson, 
of  England,  who  stated  180  grains  to  be  a  fatal  dose,  and  that  it  was 
not  prudent  to  give  more  than  120  grains  in  24  hours,  as  the  system 
could  not  decompose  and  eliminate  more  than  from  5  to  7  grains  per 
hour;  or,  does  the  habit  of  opium-eating  destroy  the  susceptibility  of 
the  system  to  the  efi'ects  of  the  chloral  ?  I  have  seen  no  opinion  on 
this  subject,  and  would  be  pleased  to  hear  of  any. 
Very  respectfully, 
B.  Lbmly. 
Jackson,  Miss.,  April  10,  1871. 
[We  know  of  several  cases  of  delirium  tremens  in  which  large  doses 
of  chloral  hydrate  (40  to  60  grs.,  repeated  at  short  intervals)  were 
