ON CHLOROFORM. 
313 
ART. LXXV.— SOME OBSERVATIONS ON CHLOROFORM. 
By Messrs. Soubeiran and Mialhe. 
Two liquids are sold in commerce under the name of 
chloroform, which, although of very different origin, have 
nevertheless been hitherto considered as identical, and sub- 
stituted one for the other. However, they exhibit some 
remarkable differences in their properties; the one derived 
from the action of hypochlorite of lime upon alcohol pos- 
sesses all the characters which have been assigned by one 
of us to chloroform, and which we shall therefore call 
normal chloroform ; the other, obtained by the action of 
hypochlorite of lime on pyroxylic spirit or methylic alcohol, 
differs so much from the first that we were induced to sub- 
mit them to a careful comparative examination to ascertain 
the cause of this difference. 
The chloroform from pyroxylic spirit, which we shall 
call for convenience methylic chloroform, although pos- 
sessing the same physical appearances as the normal chlo- 
roform, has quite a different odor ; it is not sweet and agree- 
able, but empyreumatic and nauseous. Its density is less 
than that of ordinary chloroform; the latter weighs 1*496, 
whilst the specific gravity of the former is only 1*413.* Its 
boiling-point likewise appears to be lower; and lastly, the 
inhalation of the methylic chloroform, far from being agree- 
able and pleasant, produces a general feeling of sickness, 
followed by a heaviness in the head, and sometimes by 
vomiting. 
These differences led us to believe that they did not pos- 
sess the same composition, or that the properties of one of 
* We may observe that the density of chloroform, fixed by M. 
Liebig at 1-4S0. is too low : we have constantly obtained 1 496 at 54° 
for a perfectly pure chloroform. This difference undoubtedly arises 
from the presence of a foreign substance which had not been sepa- 
rated from the chloroform, as we shall presently show. 
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