ON  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  CHLORODYNE. 
441 
remain  unaffected.  In  any  case  of  poisoning  by  chlorodyne  it 
was  shown  that  the  pupils  were  alternately  contracted  and 
dilated,  the  latter  more  so  than  the  former,  and  so  much  so,  that 
the  iris  was  at  times  scarcely  visible.  As  the  effect  of  the 
dilating  agent  passed  off,  and  the  patient  became  comatose,  the 
pupils  became  permanently  contracted.  This,  to  some  extent, 
led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  morphia  played  the  prime  part  in 
Dr.  Browne's  chlorodyne,  its  action  being  modified  by  bella- 
donna, not  the  converse,  as  one  of  your  correspondents  suggests, 
belladonna  modified  by  morphia.  Again,  your  correspondent 
puts  the  question.  Is  it  impossible  that  the  joint  action  of  mor- 
phia and  hydrocyanic  acid  may  have  produced  the  symptoms 
described  by  Dr.  Dowse?  To  this  I  cannot  give  an  answer 
unless  I  make  the  experiment,  bat  at  present  I  have  no  desire 
to  poison  any  one,  however  much  it  might  further  our  views  as 
to  the  composition  of  chlorodyne.  This  much,  however,  I  can 
affirm  most  positively,  that  your  correspondent  may  give  ordi- 
nary doses  of  morphia  and  hydrocyanic  acid  for  any  length  of 
time,  and  he  will  not  by  their  conjoint  action  produce  dilatation 
of  the  pupil.  On  the  contrary,  the  pupil  will  be  contracted 
until  such  time  that  the  patient  becomes  so  accustomed  to  its 
influence  that  it  becomes  inert.  Again,  your  correspondent 
states.  Finally,  if  this  chlorodyne  really  contained  any  operative 
proportion  of  belladonna,  I  think  this  very  decided  drug  would 
long  since  have  proclaimed  its  presence  there.  Now,  I  object  to 
this  final  assertion  upon  two  points  :  first,  that  belladonna,  in 
ordinary  doses,  is  not  the  very  decided  drug  your  correspondent 
imagines  ;  secondly,  its  action  is  so  modified  by  morphia,  that 
the  usual  effects  are  held  in  abeyance.  And  when,  further  on, 
he  states,  We  have  ascertained  with  positive  certainty  that  there 
are  present  in  Dr.  Browne's  chlorodyne  only  three  ingredients 
of  an  active  character,  viz.,  morphia,  hydrocyanic  acid  and 
chloroform  ;  and  again,  when  he  states  that  Mr.  Smith's  formula, 
with  the  addition — may  I  say  ? — of  a  little  caramel,  will  in  all 
probability  become  the  standard  of  chlorodyne  throughout  the 
British  realm,  I  am  not  surprised  when  "  Another  Provincial  " 
looks  upon  the  language  of  your  November  correspondent  as 
extremely  tall.  When  he  thus  summarily  disposes  of  the  ques- 
tion, I  am  extremely  sorry  that  I  cannot  agree  with  him,  neither 
