Chloroform Poisoning

Sir,?I have recently returned to a well-known firm of druggists in Rangoon a consignment of chloroform which was labelled chloloform pure B. P. (made from pure alcohol dbc." It appeared to take an excessive amount to ansesthetise : patients became very cyanotic with irregular breathing: the pulse was often weak : and many had much vomiting, and felt very ill for two days. A sample was sent to the Chemical Examiner who reported that it was not up to B. P. Standard, that it contained products of decomposition, and that it was dangerous to use. Colonel Grainger, I.M.S., P.M.O.. Burma, tells me that the whole of the chloroform supplied to military hospitals in Burma, by the Meilical Store Depot has been returned, as in one case death occurred, and in another serious symptoms. This choloroform was not obtained from the same source as that first mentioned. It left a stain 011 blotting paper, and the Chemical Examiner gave a report 011 it identical with that submitted on my sample. The morals from the above would seem to be that only chloroform bearing the name of a well known maker such as Duncan Flockhart &Co., should be used. The reputation of Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. should guarantee a like excellence. That chloroform should be kept in a dark cool place, and that its purity should be tested from time to time. On the label of Duncan Flockhart's appears the word " non-