There is occasionally a feeble state of pulse with a feeling of faintness as the effects of the chloroform subside, and in two or three cases in which the patient was in a sitting posture, positive syncope occurred, which, however, was promptly removed by the horizontal position. The persons most liable to a feeling of faintness after chloroform, are those who are subject to syncope from slight causes. _Action of Chloroform on the Nervous System._ Chloroform, when inhaled, immediately reaches every part of the nervous system through the circulation, and it acts on every part of that system from the first, as a careful observation of the symptoms proves. It does not, however, act equally on all parts of the nervous system, according to the quantity which is absorbed; some parts of that system have their functions entirely, or almost, suspended, whilst others are but little under the influence of the vapour, and it is owing to this fact that the most severe pain may be prevented without danger. M. Flourens made the following remarks respecting the action of sulphuric ether, and they apply equally well to the effects of chloroform, when it is inhaled gradually: “Under the action of ether, the nervous centres lose their powers in regular succession—first, the cerebral lobes lose theirs, viz., the intellect; next, the cerebellum loses its, viz., the power of regulating locomotion; thirdly, the spinal marrow loses the principle of sensitiveness and of motion; the medulla oblongata still retains its functions, and the animal continues to live: with loss of power in the medulla oblongata, life is lost.”[51] I may add, that after the breathing has ceased, from the loss of power of the medulla oblongata, the ganglionic nerves still perform their functions, and the heart and intestines continue to move for a time, often with vigour.