This section is from the book "Materia Medica And Therapeutics: An Introduction to the National Treatment of Disease", by John Mitchell Bruce. Also available from Amazon: The pharmacology and therapeutics of the materia medica.
Source. - Obtained from Chloroform by the action of nascent Hydrogen, one atom of which replaces one atom of chlorine in the Chloride of Dichlor-methyl (chloroform), CHC12.C1.
Characters. - A colourless volatile liquid, with an odour like chloroform. Specific gravity, l.344. Soluble in water, ether, and alcohol.
Bichloride of methylene acts as a general anaesthetic very much like chloroform. It is said, however, to depress the heart even more than this substance; and it is now very seldom used for general surgery, but is the anaesthetic most frequently employed in ovariotomy.
 
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