THE USES OF AND POISONING BY THE BARBITURATES

and was recently honored with the Eben J. Carey Award in anatomy. The topic of this paper was chosen with the realization that the barbiturates are too widely used at present and are far too easily obtained by the general public. The writing was stimulated by attendance on a patient with severe barbiturate intoxi-cation, associated with a toxic psychosis following the self administration of a large amount of a particular barbiturate.-EDiToa The barbiturates comprise a large group of compounds which act to depress the central nervous system and are derived from the same parent substance. They are sold as tablets or in capsules or solutions. This group of drugs finds wide use as sedatives, anesthetics, and in the prevention or treatment of convulsions. The action of all the bar-biturates is essentially similar, differing only in speed of action, dura-tion of effect, and rapidity of excretion. Some of these compounds are excreted in the urine while others are destroyed by the liver. Generally speaking, the rate of excretion is slow and is about at its height on th