264  CHLORODYNE. 
the  other  hand,  Squire  omits  all  mention  of  acid,  perchlor.,  tinct. 
cannabis,  or  capsicum. 
I  have  not  met  with  the  particulars  of  Dr.  Ogden's  so-called 
analysis,  and  in  truth  I  am  very  much  inclined  to  doubt  if  any 
chemical  analysis  has  been  attempted,  as  the  formula  bears  the 
impress  of  improbability  on  the  face  of  it,  i.  e.,  supposing  that 
Collis  Browne's  chlorodyne  be  intended ;  for  instance  the  dose 
of  the  latter  as  marked  on  the  label  is  from  ten  to  thirty  drops  ; 
now  this  would  contain,  if  Dr.  Ogden  is  right,  from  seven  to 
twenty  drops  of  chloroform,  a  dose  which  very  few  practitioners 
would  care  to  venture  upon,  particularly  as  it  is  to  be  repeated 
at  certain  intervals,  and  in  combination  with  from  a  sixth  to  half 
a  grain  of  morphia  per  dose.  I  rather  suspect  that  Dr.  Ogden's 
analysis  has  had  more  of  a  physical  character  attached  to  it,  the 
organs  of  taste  and  smell  having  perhaps  greatly  assisted  the 
supplimentary  chemical  tests. 
The  dose  of  chloroform  in  Squire's  is  not  unreasonable  ;  but 
that  of  morphia,  viz.  the  l-200th  to  the  l*70th  of  a  grain,  is  pal- 
pably absurd,  and  so  homoeopathic  that  it  might  practically  be 
omitted  from  the  compound.  The  only  conclusion  fairly  de- 
ducible  from  a  comparison  of  the  two  formulae  is,  that  neither  of 
them  can  be  said  to  represent  the  well-known  Browne's  chloro- 
dyne. 
The  results  of  an  examination  I  have  recently  made  of  the 
genuine  compound  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  pharmacists. 
The  positive  detection  and  isolation  of  the  alkaloids  in  com- 
plex organic  mixtures  is  not  always  a  very  easy  task,  more  es- 
pecially when  they  exist  in  small  proportions.  I  started  with 
the  intention  of  simply  satisfying  myself  of  the  presence  or 
absence  of  morphia  ;  however,  the  examination  gradually  de- 
veloped itself,  and  ultimately  I  managed  to  make  out  with 
tolerable  precision  what  I  believe  to  be  the  actual  composition  of 
this  preparation. 
Genuine  chlorodyne  has  a  sp.  gr.  of  1-216,  and  reddens  blue 
litmus  paper.  Distilled  over  a  water-bath,  it  yields  an  opaque 
distillate,  evidently  a  mixture  of  two  or  more  fluids  ;  on  the 
addition  of  an  equal  volume  of  water,  the  distillate  separates 
into  three  distinct  layers.     The  upper  one  has  an  ethereal 
