Of the anesthetic agents recently introduced into clinical practice, tribromethanol appears to be one of the most promising. The drug was first introduced in Germany nearly three years ago, and there are now from 300,000 to 400,000 cases in which it has been used. In spite of this fairly wide experience with it in Europe, there is still a great difference of opinion among clinicians regarding its usefulness. Because of this situation, we have attempted to gather together the available pharmacologic and clinical data, to verify a few points by experimentation on animals and, with the knowledge so obtained, to apply the anesthetic to the human being.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Tribromethanol was first prepared, in 1923, by Willstätter and Duisberg1 through the reduction of bromal hydrate in yeast-sugar fermentation. In the manufacture of the substance on a commercial scale, this method of preparation apparently