Chloroform
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes.
As an anesthetic
Chloroform was once a widely used anesthetic. Its vapor depresses the central nervous system of a patient, allowing a doctor to perform various otherwise painful procedures. On 4 November 1847, the Scottish obstetrician James Young Simpson discovered the anaethestic qualities of chloroform when he and his friends were experimenting with different substances on themselves in search of a replacement for ether as a general anesthetic. He was so astounded by the success of his own trial that the next morning he hired a chemist and within the next few days was administering it to his patients during childbirth. The use of chloroform during surgery expanded rapidly thereafter in Europe. In the 1850s, chloroform was used during the birth of Queen Victoria's last two children. In the United States, chloroform began to replace ether as an anesthetic at the beginning of the 20th century; however, it was quickly abandoned in favor of ether upon discovery of its toxicity, especially its tendency to cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia analogous to what is now termed "sudden sniffer's death". Some people used chloroform as a recreational drug or to commit suicide. One possible mechanism of action for chloroform is that it increases movement of potassium ions through certain types of potassium channels in nerve cells. Chloroform could also be mixed with other anaesthetic agents such as ether to make C.E. mixture, or ether and alcohol to make A.C.E. mixture.
In 1848, Hannah Greener, a 15 year old girl who was having an infected toenail removed, died after being given the anesthetic. A number of physically fit patients died after inhaling it. However, in 1848 John Snow developed an inhaler that regulated the dosage and so successfully reduced the number of deaths.
Chloroform has been used by criminals to knock out, daze or even murder their victims. Joseph Harris was charged with using chloroform in 1894 to rob people. In 1901, Chloroform was also used to murder the American businessman William Marsh Rice, the namesake of the institution now known as Rice University. Chloroform was used to murder a woman in 1991 as a toxic dose was delivered while she was sleeping. In 2007 a man was convicted of using chloroform to sexually assault minors.