Chloral-caffeine appears as colorless, glittering, small rods or leaflets, solu ble in water. It is said to be a molec ular combination of the drugs repre sented, but this has never been defi nitely proved; certain it is that alkalies decompose it into chloroform and caf feine. Being hypnotic, sedative, and analgesic, it has been employed, both by the mouth and hypodermically, and in nervous insomnia, neuralgia, sciatica, rhenmatism, headache, etc.
Chloral-canzphor or camphorated chlo ral, thymolated chloral, carbolated chlo ral, quinine-chloral, and mentholated chlo ral, with the exception of the first named, are employed only in a topical way; all are made by melting the re spective constituents with chloral. Thus the camphorated—which appears as a transparent, almost colorless, syrupy liquid—is prepared by triturating equal parts of gum camphor and chloral-hy drate in a warm mortar; it is soluble in all proportions in alcohol, ether, oils, and fats, but not at all in pure water; is antiseptic, analgesic, and slightly epi spastic applied externally, and internally administered powerfully hypnotic and narcotic.
Chloral-phenol is an oily liquid com posed of 3 parts of carbolic acid and 1 part of chloral-hydrate; is analgesic and antiseptic, and employed by inhala tion, or is topically applied.
Chloral-quinine is another fluid devel oped by mechanical mixture of two drugs. but is more of a curiosity than a medicament.
Chloral-menthol a_nd chloral-thymol dif fer little from chloral-camphor, and are put to much the same uses.
Chloral-formanzide, or chloralamid, is unfortunate in having a rival called chloralimide. or chloral-imide, the latter being a trichlorethylidenimide. Thera peutically, they are practically identical, save that the latter is about one-third more active and is not decomposed by water. Both are obtained as _bitter, lustrous, colorless crystals, decomposed by heat, soluble in alcohol, 1 to 2, and in water about 1 to 20. Tbey are hyp notic, but not analgesic. The claim is advanced that undesirable effects are less frequent and less marked than from chloral-hydrate, but this is probably true only as regards tbe measure of activity. Neither are, in any degree, uni form as to action.
Chloralose is obtained from anhydrous chloral and glucose by means of heat, whereby are formed small, colorless crystals of bitter, disagreeable taste, slowly soluble in water, readily so in alcohol. It is deemed an hypnotic, and
claimed to act by reducing the excit ability of the gray matter of the brain, and also that it is free from the disa greeable after-effects manifested by the heart, and the elm-illative tendency that sometimes follow the exhibition of chlo ral-hydrate. Properly this compound is an anhydroglucochloral, ancl in large doses is intensely toxic.
Chloral-urethane (known also as chlo ral-carbamide, urethane-chloral, ural, uralium, and uraline) is obtained by heating chloral-hydrate with urethane, then successively adding concentrated hydrochloric and sulphuric acids. It appears both as colorless, shining, lam inated crystals and as a white powder, soluble in alcohol and ether. It is rec ommended as an hypnotic, especially in epileptic dementia, but is uncertain in effects and disagreeable to take, and not infrequently nausea and disorders of digestion follow its exhibition.
Chloral-hydrocyanate comes in white rhombic prisms, or as a white crystal powder, soluble in alcohol, ether, and water. It contains 15.33 per cent. of hydrocyanic acid, and is superior to the latter in that it is more permanent, and the dose more exact. One part dissolved in one hundred and sixty-six parts of water makes bitter-almond water.
The "liquor bromo-chloral compositus" of the British Pharmacopceia is made by dissolving 1600 grains of chloral-hydrate in 400 minims each of tincture of can nabis Indica, and tincture of fresh orange-peel, 1600 minims of henbane juice, 30 drachms of syrup, and 4 drachms of fluid extract of licorice; then is added 1600 grains of bromide of potas sium, previously dissolved in 7 ounces of distilled water, and the whole filtered; finally sufficient distilled water is added to bring the amount up to 20 imperial ounces.
Chloral suppositories, each containing 5 grains of chloral-hydrate and 10 grains of cacao-butter (oleum theobrom), can not be made with heat, for even if it should not wholly decompose the chlo ral, the mixture will not set firm; in stead, the combination, which, by the way, is apt to be very irritating, must be obtained by compression in molds. The suppositories are very useful in in fantile convulsions where nothing can be administered by the mouth, and each one should be forcibly retained within the sphincter for a few moments, by the finger if necessary.