Chloroform: Alcohol Distilled with Bleaching Powder

Chloroform is a heavy liquid (specific gravity 1.53) with an ethereal smell; only 1 volume dissolves in 200 of water. Bleaching powder turns ethyl alcohol into chloroform; methyl alcohol will not do. This is the works method from Thorpe's Dictionary (1912): dilute alcohol and bleaching powder are warmed to 40 °C, after which the reaction heats itself and the chloroform distils over. It is then washed and distilled again. Chloroform vapour is an anaesthetic and toxic: closed apparatus, fume hood. The picture: our diagram.