_History and Composition._ Chloroform was first made in 1831 by two chemists who operated independently of each other. The liquid, which is formed by the union of equal volumes of chlorine and olefiant gas, and which is usually called Dutch liquid, was named chloric ether by Dr. Thos. Thomson (_System of Chemistry_, 6th ed., 1820). In consequence of a statement in Silliman’s _Elements of Chemistry_, that the alcoholic solution of this chloric ether was useful in medicine as a diffusible stimulant, Mr. Guthrie, an American chemist, attempted an easy method of obtaining it.[37] He distilled together chloride of lime and alcohol, and he considered that the product he had obtained was an alcoholic solution of the chloric ether of Dr. Thomson,[38] and it is still used in medicine under that name. About the same time, M. Soubeiran distilled together the above ingredients in France, and analysed the chloroform which he obtained. His analysis, which was incorrect, led him to name the liquid bichloric ether.[39] In 1832, Liebig examined the liquid which has been since named chloroform, but as he failed to detect the hydrogen which it contains, he called the liquid chloride of carbon,[40] a name which its alcoholic solution occasionally bore afterwards when used as a medicine. In 1831, Dumas examined this liquid. He proved that Soubeiran and Liebig had not obtained it pure, or had been incorrect in their analysis.[41] He showed that it consists of two atoms carbon, one atom hydrogen, and three atoms chlorine. Dumas gave the name of chloroform to the liquid, on account of the relation it bears in composition to formic acid, which consists of two atoms carbon, one hydrogen, and three oxygen.[42] Liebig, who, in common with other chemists, admits the accuracy of Dumas’ analysis, has proposed the name of perchloride of formyle.[43] He supposes that the carbon and hydrogen which enter, in the same definite proportion, into numerous compounds, form a base which he calls formyle; and although this base has never been obtained in a separate form, its existence is well supported by analogy, and the term formyle is useful in assisting the memory to retain the composition of a number of substances. For all practical purposes, however, the medicine we are considering is likely to go by the name of chloroform. In the last edition of the London Pharmacopœia, the article has received a name intermediate between the other two. It is called chloroformyl, a name which departs from the brevity of the word chloroform, without having the merit of expressing the chemical constitution of the substance. I believe that no one uses the word chloroformyl; not even the Fellows of the College of Physicians in their individual capacity.