Chloroform

(klor'o-form,) or PERCHLORIDE OF FORMYL. (Chem.) A transparent, colorle , oily liquid, which boils at 1420, and distils without change. The odor is pleasant and ethereal, and when inhaled the vapor rapidly produces unconsciousne and insensibility to pain; on this account C. is extensively used as an anæsthetic in surgical operations. A little of the liquid diffused upon the interior of a hollow-shaped sponge, a pocket-handkerchief, or a piece of linen or paper, and held over the mouth and nostrils so as to be fully inhaled, generally suffices in about a minute or two to produce the desired effect, but from its action on the heart, it ought never to be administered except under the superintendence of a medical man. It is prepared on a large scale by distilling hypochlorite of lime with alcohol. Form. C2HC18. [s. 181]