Chloroformum

Chloroform

Chloroform. Chloroforme,Fr.; Chloroform, Ger. A liquid containing at least 99 per cent by weight of absolute chloroform and not more than 1 per cent of alcohol. Its specific gravity should not be lower than 1·490. A heavy, clear, colorless, diffusive liquid, of a characteristic pleasant ethereal odor, a burning, sweet taste, and a neutral reaction. Soluble in about two hundred parts of water, and in all proportions in alcohol or ether; also in benzol, benzin, fixed or volatile oils.

If five cubic centimetres of purified chloroform be thoroughly agitated with ten cubic centimetres of distilled water, the latter, when separated, should not affect blue litmus-paper (absence of acids), nor test-solution of nitrate of silver (chloride), nor test-solution of iodide of potassium (free chlorine). If a portion be digested warm with solu. tion of potassa, the latter should not become dark-colored (absence of aldehyde). If a few cubic centimetres be permitted to evaporate from blotting-paper, no foreign odor should be perceptible after the odor of chloroform ceases to be recognized. (U. S. P.)

When shaken with an equal volume of sulphuric acid, in a bottle closed by a glass stopper, and allowed to remain in contact twenty-four hours, no color is imparted to either. When one fluid drachm is evaporated spontaneously with one drop of a neutral, aqueous solution of litmus, the color of the latter is not reddened. The result of the test is the same if the chloroform contained in a white glass bottle has been previously exposed to direct sunlight for ten hours.

Emulsum Chloroformi

Chloroform mixture. Purified chloroform, 40 c. c; expressed oil of almond, 60 c. c; tragacanth, 15 grm.; water, to make 1,000 c. c. M. Dose, a tea- to a table spoonful.

Spiritus Chloroformi

Spirit of chloroform. Purified chloroform, 60 c. c.; alcohol, 940 c. c. Dose, 3 ss— 3 j.

Aqua Chloroformi

A saturated solution of chloroform in water. Dose, 3 ss— oz ss.

Antagonists and Incompatibles

Chloroform separates from the mixture when prescribed with weak spirits or glycerin. It is soluble in alcohol (ten to six), in ether (one to seven), in water (one to two hundred). It dissolves very freely in olive-oil and turpentine, but does not dissolve in or mix with glycerin. It has very extensive solvent power, dissolving caoutchouc, gutta-percha, mastic, tolu, benzoin, copal, among the gums; iodine, bromine, the organic alkaloids; fixed and volatile oils, resins, and fats. In cases of poisoning by the internal administration of chloroform, the treatment should be conducted on the same plan as for irritant poisons. There is no chemical antidote. To overcome its effects on the respiratory and circulatory systems, artificial respiration, cold affusion, and galvanism, may be employed.

Synergists

Anaesthetic agents, opium, chloral, alcohol, etc., promote the action of chloroform.

Physiological Actions

The taste of chloroform is hot, sweetish, and pungent. Undiluted it excites violent irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane. In passing through the fauces the vapor may enter the larynx in such quantity as to cause great heat and inflammation, followed by oedema. In the stomach, chloroform produces a feeling of warmth, followed by coldness, like ether; but, when taken in large quantity undiluted, violent gastritis. Besides the local action, chloroform diffuses into the blood, and affects distant parts. Like alcohol and ether, it increases the action of the arterial system, and occasions excitement of the brain, followed by sopor. In lethal doses profound stupor and insensibility are produced by it.

Therapy

A little chloroform ( τη ij—τη v), dropped on sugar and swallowed, will remove some kinds of nausea and vomiting. It can be useful in non-inflammatory states only, as, for example, sea-sickness, the vomiting of pregnancy, sick-headache, etc. Gastralgia may sometimes be relieved in the same way. The following formula is an effective remedy for flatulent colic: Rx Spirit. chloroformi, tinc. cardamomi comp., āā oz ij. M. Sig.: A tea spoonful every half-hour in water. Hepatic and saturnine colic are also benefited by chloroform, but the addition of opium increases its efficacy, and is usually necessary in these cases. Chloroform is a solvent of biliary calculi, and has been prescribed with the view to effect a solution of calculi contained in the gall-bladder, or lodged in the hepatic duct. It undoubtedly affords some relief, but not probably because of its solvent action. As has been remarked of ether, it is in the highest degree improbable that sufficient chloroform, even when it is administered in large doses, can reach the calculus to effect its solution, when experiments out of the body have shown that some hours are required to dissolve a calculus immersed in chloroform. In irritable ulcer of the rectum, and itching about the anal region, an ointment of chloroform gives great relief: Rx Ung. zinci oxidi, oz j; chloroformi, 3 j. M. Ft. ung. The vapor of chloroform may be applied directly to these parts.

In hay-asthma, whooping-cough, spasmodic asthma, irritable reflex cough, the vapor of chloroform may be used as follows: To a cup of warm water, 80° to 100° Fahr., add a tea spoonful of spiritus chloroformi, and repeat every five minutes. This inhalation should not be used except in the presence of a medical man, and not more than five tea spoonfuls should be inhaled at a time. The patient should inhale the vapors as they arise, directing them into the air-passages from the cup by a paper shield. A little chloroform (a minim or two) is a useful constituent of expectorant mixtures, when a neurotic element is present.

Chloroform is a very valuable hypnotic in delirium tremens. It is unsafe when used by inhalation in the treatment of this affection, but, by the stomach, not infrequently excellent results are obtained from it. It is contraindicated when there are a vigorous action of the heart and an elevated state of the arterial tension, and useful when symptoms of depression and adynamia are present. It should be given in the form of the spirit. Rx Spirit, chloroformi, tinct. capsici, āā oz j. M. Sig.: A tea spoonful in water every half-hour, hour, or two hours.