Artificial respiration was at once commenced, but in spite of this, in about another half hour, the face became deadly pale, the temperature sank to 32·9°. The pupils contracted, and the pulse was scarcely to be felt; 3 mgrms. (·04 grain) of strychnine were now injected subcutaneously; this caused tetanic convulsions in the upper part of the body and trismus. The heart’s action again became somewhat stronger, the temperature rose to 33·3°, and the pupils dilated; but soon followed, again, depression of the heart’s action, and the respiration could only be kept going by faradisation. Two mgrms. (·03 grain) of strychnine were once more injected, and the heart’s action improved. During the succeeding six hours the respiration had to be assisted by faradisation. The temperature gradually rose to 36·5°; ten hours after taking the dose the patient lay in a deep sleep, breathing spontaneously and reacting to external stimuli with a temperature of 38·5°. Eighteen hours from the commencement, the respiration again became irregular, and the galvanic current was anew applied. The last application aroused the sleeper, he took some milk and again slept; after twenty-seven hours he could be awakened by calling, &c., but had not full consciousness; he again took some milk and sank to sleep. It was not until thirty-two hours had elapsed from the ingestion of the poison that he awoke spontaneously; there were no after effects. § 205. =Chronic Poisoning by Chloral Hydrate.=--An enormous number of people habitually take chloral hydrate. The history of the habit is usually that some physician has given them a chloral prescription for neuralgia, for loss of sleep, or other cause, and finding that they can conjure sleep, oblivion, and loss (it may be) of suffering whenever they choose, they go on repeating it from day to day until it becomes a necessity of their existence. A dangerous facility to chloral-drinking is the existence of patent medicines, advertised as sleep-producers, and containing chloral as the active ingredient. A lady, aged 35, died in 1876, at Exeter, from an overdose of “Hunter’s solution of chloral, or sedative draught and sleep producer.” Its strength was stated at the inquest to be 25 grains to the drachm (41·6 per cent.).[188] [188] _Exeter and Plymouth Gazette_, Jan. 12, 1876.