Chloral

Chloral, produced by the action of chlorine on alcohol, since the discovery of its anaesthetic effects by Dr. O. Liebrich in 1869, is extensively employed medicinally in the form of chloral hydrate.

Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.

Chlo"ral (?), n. [Chlorine + alcohol.]

1. Chem.

A colorless oily liquid, CCl3.CHO, of a pungent odor and harsh taste, obtained by the action of chlorine upon ordinary or ethyl alcohol.

2. Med.

Chloral hydrate.

Chloral hydrate, a white crystalline substance, obtained by treating chloral with water. It produces sleep when taken internally or hypodermically; -- called also chloral.

© Webster 1913.