But little attention has been paid in this country to the habitual use of chloral. German and English literature is more abundant, but at best vague and unsatisfactory, and the professional mind does not seem to be at all settled upon the subject as to whether such a thing as a chloral habit does or does not exist. A committee was appointed by the Clinical Society of London, a short time ago, to investigate this matter. The result was a failure, owing to the fact that the medical gentlemen who received circulars asking for information upon various points failed to answer in sufficient numbers or with sufficient explicitness to make the results valuable. There were but seventy replies from the thousand circulars sent out. Not knowing until afterward of the work then undertaken by that society, I prepared and sent out some ten thousand circulars, containing a series of questions upon chloral, one of which related to the habitual use of the drug. To this circular I received over four hundred replies, one hundred and seven of which related to the chloral habit. One hundred and seven physicians reported 135 cases where the long continued use of the drug had led to a more or less marked craving for it. An analysis of these cases may prove of interest. The ages of the patients were obtained in ninety-four instances, and show as follows:— From 20 to 30 12 From 30 to 40 25 From 40 to 50 27 From 50 to 60 19 From 60 to 70 11 -- 94 The sex was obtained in one hundred and thirteen cases, as follows:— Males 77 Females 36 --- 113 There were among the number clergymen, physicians, editors, clerks, prostitutes, mechanics, farmers and hospital nurses. The majority of the females were married women, suffering from painful uterine complaints. The majority of the males, persons who had been or were addicted to the use of alcoholic stimulants. Some, both males and females, formed the habit through taking it for insomnia and mental depression, dependent on family troubles, business failures and the like. Some through hearing or reading of its magical effects and trying it to satisfy themselves. In many important points the habitual or long continued use of chloral differs from that of opium or morphine, viz: 1. Many persons take it for years without any obvious ill effect. 2. Its continued use is not so liable to be followed by a morbid craving for it as for morphine or opium. 3. The habit once formed is, in the majority of instances, easily broken. 4. An abrupt change from chloral to some other narcotic is often made. As regards the first and second propositions the following facts may be taken into account:—