The Probert Encyclopaedia of Medicine

CHLOROFORM

Chloroform (trichloromethane) is a compound of carbon, hydrogen and chlorine, and was made from alcohol, water and bleaching powder. It was discovered by Soubeiran in 1831 and independently by Liebig in 1832. It was first used as an anaesthetic in 1847 by Sir James Simpson of Edinburgh. In the presence of light, however, it tends to decompose, yielding the highly poisonous compound phosgene. Even when pure, it causes fatal cardiac paralysis in about one out of 3000 cases, and so is seldom used for anesthesia anymore.
Research Chloroform