Chloral has antiseptic properties, de stroying lots- organisms and preventing the decomposition they induce. Small doses are without obvious effect upon the stomach; large doses may be fol lowed by nausea and vomiting. Biddle ("Mat. Med. and Therap.," '96).
Chloral-hydrate acts upon the cere brum as a, powerful and certain hyp notic; acts as a depressant to the centres at the base of the brain; depresses the functions of the spinal cord; produces slowness and weakness of the heart's action, vasomotor paralysis, and muscu lar weakness with ancesthesia. Murrell, Lond. ("Man. of Mat. Med. and Therap.," '96).
Resemblance of the psychosis of chronic chloral poisoning to natural sleep em phasized. The reason of this will be found in the fact that, like natural sleep, chloralism is the result of a congestion of the brain or of the action of a poison upon the brain-eeIls. A. F. Akopenko (Vratch, Apr. 29, 1900).
Various drugs have been employed, some of them dangerous, to render people stupid and unconscious as an accessory to robbery. The erhninal classes, how ever, have largely settled down to the use of chloral-hydrate, and it is from 30 to 60 grains of this substance, usually administered with beer., that furnishes the famous "knock-out" drops. Editorial (Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., Oct. 5, '99).
Butyl-chloral-hydrate acts very much like chloral-hydrate. but is less powerful as an hypnotic, induces somewhat less cardiac depression, is not so irritating to mucous membranes, and appears to have a specific action upon the branches of the fifth pair of nerves. Liebreich believes that its action upon the heart in even fairly large doses is not danger ous, and that life can be saved by- means of artificial respiration after the respira tion-muscles have ceased action, but the erroneousness of these conclusions has been demonstrated in the physiological laboratory. It is evident that its admin istration cannot be conducted with much less caution than that of chloral-hydrate. It is largely eliminated by the kidneys as urobutylchloralic acid.
Butyl-chloral-hydrate has hypnotic powers, but it is so rarely used for this purpose that on practical grounds it should be dissociated from the group of hypnotics in spite of many structural and other affinities. It produces ana2,
thesia of the head without loss of sensi bility to the rest of the body, which in man is confined to the area of the fifth nerve. ln large doses it produces sleep, and in fatal doses destroys by paralyz ing, the medulla oblongata. Ringer and Sainsbury ("Manual of Therap.," '97).
Chloralamid.—A marked effect of this drug is its tendency to produce mucous diarrhcea. It acts more powerfully upon the cerebral cortex than any other por tion of the nervous system, causing sleep and muscular relaxation; is claimed to be only feebly depressant to the cord, and in medicinal doses to have little effect upon the circulation. It \vas in troduced as a substitute for chloral-hy drate, backed by the assertions that it \vas less unpleasant to take, absolutely without objectionable effect on the heart, , and that its hypnotic effect is two-thirds , that of chloral. Although it acts with tolerable certainty in simple insomnia, it generally fails, if administered in medicinal doses, when pain and excite ment are present. On the whole, it can not be said to have met the expectations raised in its behalf. In moderate doses it seems to sometimes stimulate respira tion, rendering it deeper and fuller, but unless its administration is carefully watched an opposite effect is soon pro duced.
The physiological action of chloralamid similar to that of chloral upon the cerebrum, but upon the circulation is ordinarily so slight as to offer a marked contrast to the depression produced by the latter drug; only in large or poison ous doses does it depress the heart and cause a fall in blood-pressure. A moder ate degree of respiratory depression may follow the administration of large amounts, and death results from paral ysis of respiration. It has been thought to have a soothing effect upon the spinal centres and thus to diminish reflex ex citability, but its action upon the nerv ous system other than the cerebrum is hardly appreciable. It is excreted as urochloralic acid. Griffin (Foster's "Frac. Therap.," '96).