Chloroform for Kids

I've embarked on a new writing project. I'm don't want to give away too much yet but I think it is a real marketable idea that I'm going to try to get published as a book. The book in part features some chemistry experiments and so I've been going through old chemistry books looking for good experiments no one does anymore. There are often good reasons they aren't done anymore. Check out this gem from a 1960s era book for kids.

"Sniff carefully" indeed. Chloroform is now considered to be a carcinogen and OSHA considers it "immediately dangerous to health and life." It can apparently cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Still, I'm not sure how much this would make and I'm not sure this experiment would produce enough to be of any danger. It would be interesting to know if it actually makes a dangerous amount.

Please don't use this information to trap-door-spider "chloroform sandwich" any of your friends.

~Kirk